Monday, August 25, 2014

DIY: Halloween Banner

 We're coming up on my favourite time of the year, Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas!
Thanksgiving is nice to see family and such, but Halloween and Christmas are my favourites because I love decorating the house! I came across a fun Halloween scrapbook paper pack that gave me a crafty idea. Our dining room area is a pretty decent sized room, that in the next year I plan on making it into a family room on the one side - which will consist of an electrical fire place with a mantel. So the idea of having season related banners hanging off of the fireplace gets me really excited.



I quickly put together this Halloween banner using a few of my many craft supplies. This is what I used for this particular banner: 

1. The K & Company "Spooktacular" Paper Pack (Any Halloween scrapbook card stock would work)
2. My Cricut Machine and Cricut cartridge "Celebrations" (I used this to cut the banner out, you can find hand punches to do this as well, or simply cut out some triangles)
3. Orange or Black Bakers Twine
4. Lawn Fawn "Quinn's Capitol ABC's" Stamps (Or any alphabet stamps would work just as fine)
5. Tape Runner
6. Memento Ink (Black)
7. Small Hole Bunch (I believe mine is a 1/8")
8. Heavy white card stock (one that works well with Copic markers, mine is from Papertrey Ink)
9. Copic Markers (For this particular project, you can use regular markers as there isn't very much shading in the project)
10. Foam Adhesive 
11. Stickles
12. Paper trimmer or scissors

Firstly I cut out my banner shapes using my Cricut machine and the celebrations cartridge. I cut each banner at 4" and used a variety of different sheets from my Halloween paper pack. You can do as many of each design as you want.

I then cut out some white circles using my heavy card stock. I cut these at 3 1/4".


I stamped "Happy Halloween" using my Lawn Fawn stamps. I decided I wanted something on either sides of the "Happy", so I stamped two stars from another stamp set I had (Papertrey Ink stamp set, "Tremendous Treats Halloween"). 


I coloured in my stars using my copic markers. This step does not necessarily require Copics as I only shaded/blended a tiny bit.


I then proceeded to colour in all of my letters.





 I laid out all of my different patterned pieces, making sure there wasn't two of the same next to one another. I then used foam adhesive to pop up the circle and to give a little bit of dimension. 

I found the letters to be a bit boring, so last minute I decided to use coordinating stickles to jazz up the letters. 





I'm so glad I decided to add stickles to the letters, it really made a difference.

I made holes using my smaller hole punch and thread through my orange bakers twine. I decided to thread it through the back so the twine wasn't in front but you can choose to do it either way. I may even switch it around so you see the twine more. 




I left about 5 inches on either side and created a small loop on each end, just in case I wanted to use tacks to hang the banner up.

The photos don't actually do it justice, it turned out pretty cute. Once Halloween comes along, I will be excited to find someplace to hang it. I'm now thinking of doing some different banners for all of the holidays!

Update on Harper's sleeping situation


I am so excited to say that our little babe is finally sleeping in her own bed - all night! WOO HOO. I still cannot believe it and it has been a week already! This is how it happened:

First of all, Fraser and I have always been on the same page in regards to being against letting your child scream hours on end, to but themselves to sleep. This is why I bought all of the no-cry sleeping solution books. So for the past four months, I slowly made some changes, that I believe got us to where we are now.
 For instance, getting Harper used to her crib in order for her to feel safe when in it. I did this by putting her in her crib, several times throughout the day with some toys and books, to play. The whole time, I would be in her room with her, interacting with her. Then eventually I would put her in the crib with her toys, and would tidy up her room. Eventually I was able to put her in her crib and while she played, I could tidy up our house (all while checking on her every couple of minutes).

At this point in time, she was napping her bassinet or our bed - which was fine since she was only 5 months old and not moving around too much. When it got to the point of her rolling constantly and trying to wiggle out of her bassinet - it was time to try her naps in her crib. At first, the only way I could get her into her crib was if she was totally asleep and she would usually only last 15-20 minutes. This stayed this way for about three weeks. She would have numerous short cat naps, all through the day, which isn't the greatest. 
 Over the next few weeks, she started to get more comfortable and out of the blue started to nap for longer. The one morning I nursed her to sleep and she slept in her crib for an hour and forty minutes. I couldn't believe it. She was all snug in her crib, safe from rolling and crashed right out!

We eventually had her on a good routine of having two naps a day, each ranging from an hour and fifteen minutes to two hours. She was napping in her crib, but still co-sleeping in our bed at night. This was a great arrangement, until she became very active at night - tossing and turning constantly! 


After about three months of this, the one morning she decided she wanted to goof around in our bed from 4am until 6am. She was laughing, talking and kicking! I picked her up, but her in her sleeping sack and put her in her crib. She whined for about two minutes then put her head down and slept in her crib for 4 hours! I was so shocked I had to check on her at one point to make sure she was breathing! I couldn't believe it! I didn't nurse her or rock her to sleep!

That night, I said to Fraser "It is time to try putting her in her crib at night, AWAKE!". This was terrifying because we weren't sure what she was going to do and we knew it wasn't going to happen if she lost it, as we didn't want to leave her in there screaming her head off! So this is what her routine looks like:

6:30pm: Bath
6:45pm: Massage with lotion
7pm: Jammies on, hair brushed, teeth brushed and vitamins
7:15pm: Read book (if she's not overly tired)
7:30pm: Nurse (not allowing her to fall asleep)
7:45pm: Kisses and put her into her crib - AWAKE!

I want to also mention a few things I think help her sleep good.

1. Munchkin noise machine: It has multiple noises, from a heartbeat, the ocean, white noise and lullabies. I put the rain setting on low. It also gives off a slight light which is nice and makes it unnecessary to have a night light.
2. Fan: I have always had a fan on at night when she sleeps, its great for air circulation (SIDS preventative) and is great at drowning out outside noises. It's important not to point it right at them - as this will make them cold and will most likely keep them up! I point it towards her closet and I have it set so it doesn't move back and forth. 
3. A Lovey: This was something I read from one of my no-cry sleeping solution books. You pick out a small to medium sized stuffed animal that has nothing that can be chewed off (no buttons, plastic noses..etc.,.). Then you keep it close to you, for example while nursing. I would stick it in between Harper and I while I nursed her, so it would smell like me. This is the only thing I allow in her crib. 
4. A Sleep Sack: We use the Halo brand. Everything you read says children under the age of one, should not have a blanket in their crib. Firstly for the obvious reason, if it gets over their face, they may not be able to take it off all of the way. And secondly, it may come off of them in the middle of the night causing them to wake up because they are cold. Harper has had a sleep sack since she was born because I have always been paranoid of giving her a blanket. They are seriously amazing! They keep them nice and cozy and worry free.
I truly believe these items help Harper get a good sleeping during her naps and at night.
Now one thing I think all parents should invest in, is a video monitor. Don't bother with the other ones, you will most likely end up wanting a video one anyways! Nothing is more reassuring then being able to see your baby at any time while they are sleeping.
Here's miss Harper Lynn, sleeping on her belly (her favourite sleeping position) with her small pink teddy in the corner!
So the night Fraser and decided we didn't want to get kicked in the kidneys or FACE at night (haha) we both agreed that if she got overly upset and it lasted longer than a few minutes, we would keep things the same and try again in a few weeks. To our surprise, once I put her in her crib awake, she whined for 10 minutes. Didn't even truly cry, she would whine for a minute, then put her head down for one minute. She repeated this for 10 minutes and then finally kept her head down and went to sleep. I was so excited but also skeptical. I figured she would sleep as long as she normally does for her naps and wake up upset. She slept for two and a half hours, woke up to nurse, and we tried her in her crib again. She slept from 9:30pm when she woke up to nurse, straight until 6am! That whole night, I slept like total crap. Firstly because I was so used to having her in our bed that I felt out of place. I also kept turning on the baby monitor to make sure she was okay. We have continued this routine since. This is what our nights have looked like:
After normal bath routine (above)
7:45pm: Put into crib awake
8pm: Asleep (usually she rolls around for a few minutes, and whines a little)
10:30/11pm: Wakes to nurse, they usually call this the dream feed
4:30am/6am: Wakes to nurse
7am/8am: Awake for the day

So on average, she wakes maybe once a night to nurse or not at all until 6am. Before, when she was co-sleeping, she was waking every two hours like clock work to nurse, because it was there and available! So a HUGE difference. It's been amazing!

We have successfully managed to get Harper sleeping through the night, in her own room, with minimal tears. I'm so proud of her and us!

Now to end this post off with some random photos of Harper, enjoy :)





Monday, August 18, 2014

10 Year Anniversary and Harpers 9 Months

Our little girl is 9 months old today, I've said it before and I will say it again, where the hell has the time gone?! I find myself trying to remember, without looking at pictures, what she looked like when she was a newborn. When I do look at pictures of when she was smaller I laugh because she had so little hair compared to now. She is such a ray of sunshine, always smiling and laughing. I can't believe how happy she is all of the time!

She is still currently obsessed with our dog Josie. They both love each other and will play together constantly throughout the day! Josie will pick up her ball, knowing that Harper will want it, go over to her and drop it right in front of her. Harper will pick it up, try to put it in her mouth and then will wait for Josie to come get it out of her hand. They will do this over and over and over and over. Josie is so gentle with Harper too, which is amazing.

Today Harper half crawled. Yup. Half crawled. Like a war amputee with no legs. She sort of drags herself to a point, then sticks her bum in the air and then continues to drag herself to get wherever she wants to go. It's hilarious and very adorable. She wants to crawl so bad, but hasn't figured out how to tuck her legs underneath her self. She's so close though, I give it another week and she will be on the go!



It's incredibly insane to me that I have a child who is almost crawling. When the hell did that happen? I swear I blink and a month has gone by already. Why does time have to go so quick when you want to slow down and enjoy life but then will go at a turtle pace when you want to speed things along?! It's getting closer and closer to my return to work which makes me sad every time I think about it. I'm just going to sneak her into work with me, no one will mind I'm sure!



All I know is that I love this little girl so much it hurts.


Friday started off with Harper and I cuddling in bed till about 9:30am. She co-sleeps which means lots and lots of cuddles. 
For the past month and a bit, various times throughout the night, Harper will pull herself up off the mattress and position herself on my pillow so she is snuggling right up against me like the picture above. It's so freaking adorable, but sometimes she's not so graceful and I get a head butt at about 2am, haha. 

We love how snuggly our baby is and attachment parenting is definitely the perfect style of parenting for us. Having Harper close at all times is how we like it and I don't think we would change anything at this particular moment.
Waking up to this smile every morning, is totally worth not having our bed to ourselves!
 We just recently discovered a park around the corner from our house that has baby swings - which is so awesome! It was a tad chilly out this particular night, so she was in the swing for all of 3 minutes. We love taking Harper for walks, she just lays back and looks at all of the trees.


 I have to comment about our stroller. So we just recently hooked up the big girl seat to her stroller since she's getting too big for her car seat that also clicks onto the stroller frame. We have a peg-perego branded stroller and car seat combo and it is seriously expensive but is seriously amazing. For instance, this net hook up (pictured above) is pure genius. It keeps her shoes/blankets/toys from ever falling onto the ground. Every stroller should have this. The umbrella thing a-ma-bob is also awesome because if need be, it can pull down all the way to the railing - which comes in handy if your babe has fallen asleep and you want to block out the sun completely. The seat can either face you or face frontwards. I love having her face me. I just highly suggest this stroller to anyone who is looking at different models. The cost is pretty steep but I think it is 100% worth it.

This weekend was a lot of fun. Since Fraser and I's 10 year anniversary is today, we decided to celebrate a little this past weekend. Saturday we left Harper with her nana and went to Jack Astors for lunch - one of our favourite places to go and eat. It was delicious as to be expected and we stopped in at Bulk Barn to pick up some junk food, which is always necessary ;). It was nice to have a nice quiet meal, just the two of us, but I thought about Harper almost the entire time we were gone. 
We finished the day off with some quiet family time at home and just relaxed.

Overall this past weekend was a nice reminder of the amazing little family I have. I'm engaged to my best friend and the absolute love of my life, whom I have made a beautiful little baby with - a baby which I am obsessed with - and we have a very loving and quirky little fur baby.

This past weekend I have started planning two very important events in our life - which is SO exciting - our babies first birthday and Fraser and I's wedding!