When offered the opportunity to participate in ballet lessons at the base, Ella responded, "I already know how to dance. I don't need lessons!" So, in lieu of formal training, Ella is quite content to practice at home with an instructional ballet DVD and her homemade barre. What a character! 
Last week my mother-in-law and I worked on a diaper bag with coordinating changing pad for my friend Erin who is expecting her first baby in October. We used Amy Butler's "Nappy Bag" pattern, but ended up tweaking the original pattern a bit to better suit our needs. This bag is really nicely weighted due to a heavy weight canvas lining and sits comfortably on your shoulder. You can easily reach your hand into the bag while it is on your shoulder, which is a real bonus while juggling a diaper bag with a baby in the other hand.
What was supposed to be two panels to create bottle pockets instead became a two pocket pouch (with turquoise bow) because the specified location for the bottle pockets was going to compromise four of the six interior pockets, and we decided that was quite wasteful and impractical. Sorry, Amy Butler!! We also nixed the changing pad bag because I don't know many moms who actually have time to wedge the changing pad back into a bag with a wriggling babe vying for their attention. The changing pad is soft and cushy with two layers of bamboo batting and an additional top layer of extra plush material. 
I also experimented with some "taggie" toy blankets, with one side in a super soft plush material and the other in a fun animal print. I hope that all of these items make Erin's life as a new mom a little bit easier!
I recently decided to take next school year off from teaching and take care of my own kids instead. What a perfect opportunity to finally dive into some simple sewing projects, maybe even ones that I can make together with Ella! I have always wanted to experiment more with sewing, and it might seem a bit over ambitious given that I will have a four year old and five month old to supervise, but I am up for the challenge! This might just help me to fulfill my fantasy of opening an Etsy shop/selling my wares at Sigonella craft fairs! I am going to start with very simple projects, such as the ribbon tag blanket mentioned in the book above. I adore the straight forward instructions and cute hand drawn illustrations that accompany each project in Lotta Jansdotter's books. I'll let you know how things turn out. Stay tuned!
I picked this second book up today at JoAnn fabric. I am excited to dig into the cute and also practical projects in this book.
I first learned about the Puj infant bathing tub from Gabby of Design Mom. Although we already had a fold-up tub left over from Ella, I knew that I wanted something more convenient to use during our visit to Michigan this summer. Since Penelope is still too small to sit up unassisted and my mom's house is lacking in counter space for a conventional infant tub, the Puj was the perfect solution. I was able to order it from The Land of Nod. For an added bonus, its large package provided the perfect box for Ella to use to create a puppet theatre! We made the curtains using string and pieces of tissue paper from one of Ella's birthday presents.
Miss Penelope digging on her Puj. This is a must have for those first few months of bambino bathing. Save your back, buy a Puj!
