A visit to the vet

Chloe is sick.

I put her in the car to take her to the vet. 

 And she puked.  In. My. Car!  Ugh.

So this is what it's like going to the vet with me.  I have a 4 year old dog, a 3 three year old daugther, her toy "Puppy Friend", and a 7 month old baby girl to carry in.  Not to mention a purse full of "just in case" items.  Needless to say, I have my hands full.

Grace insisted on bringing Puppy Friend to the doctor and was quite disappointed when he left without a shot, too.  Lately, Puppy Friend has been going everywhere Grace goes.  On walks.  To school.  And apparently to Chloe's vet visit.  I'm not quite sure if I should tell Grace that Puppy Friend isn't a real puppy... 

Anyway, Chloe has another urinary tract infection and an infection in her throat.  Her UTI is due to me not wiping her hiney each and every time she goes potty.  Her throat infection is from licking her hiney.  Ick!  She received a shot and starts a round of antibiotics tomorrow.  Hopefully she'll be back to normal soon.

Fish biscuit

Seeing Faith do this makes me think she's part chipmunk.  Or beaver.  Or something.

 But she's only teething.

 Her teething, however, is starting to damage my furniture.

So I whipped this up for her to use instead.   My emphasis was on its function not form.  And I needed something fast to save my furniture...  If you look closely, you'll see I didn't even bother changing out the thread on my sewing machine.  And I didn't bother hiding any of my stitches.  In fact, what looks like a nose or mouth was some practice stitches using different feet for another project.   Come to think of it, this actually pretty sloppy.  I should be probably be embarassed...but I doubt Faith will be much of a critic...

 Inside I put a little unfinished wooden oval.  I'm thinking it should help with my baby's need to gnaw.

I used all fabric remnants and sewed a quick (real quick) case for the little wooden block.    Then I stuffed the tail with wet wipes wrapper and tiny fabric scraps.  I decided this chew toy needed a crinkle factor like the expensive toys at the store.  So I took an empty wet wipes container and cut it into strips and then stuffed it into the tail before sewing it all up.  Like I said, this was a quick project to save my furniture, not win any sewing awards. 

 She actually seems to like it.  I've dubbed it Faith's "fish biscuit."

When I picked Grace up from school, she wanted to see it.  She bit down on it like Faith and said, "Momma, this fish biscuit is kinda hard."  Um, you're not supposed to really eat it darling.  Then Grace was kind enough to point out that it's missing an eyeball.   Fish have two eyeballs, you know, but I only had one pink button.  Now Grace wants me to make her a fish biscuit like Faith's but she needs two eyeballs on hers... 

My work is never done.  Smile.

Living versus non-living things

Momma, you're a living thing.
Why, yes, I sure am a living thing.  What else is living?  Is Faith a living thing?
Yeah!  Bait's a living thing, too!
What about that car?  Is that car a living thing?
No!  A car is a not living thing!  Silly, Momma!
Well what about that tree?  Is that tree a living thing?
Trees don't have legs or feet. 
That's right.  Trees certainly do not have legs or feet.  But is it living or non-living?
Yeah!  It's living!  Trees are living things.

I never cease to be amazed by Grace.  She's learning so much so fast that I almost can't bear it.  My little girl is growing up... 

Grace wants to be a ballerina, too!

When Grace got home from school today she saw the tutu that Faith had worn in our photoshoot.

 And Grace grabbed and pulled it on over her clothes

 saying "I want to be a ballerina, too!"

 And she spun around and around on her tippy toes.

 Then she looked at me and asked, "Am I a prit-tee ballerina?"  (Am I a pretty ballerina?)

 She may not be the most coordinated ballerina

But she's a very pretty one nonetheless.

Photoshoot 2: Faith wants to be a ballerina, too!

Another favorite photo we had made of Grace at 6 months was her dressed in her tutu.

 So I did the same for, Faith.

 And just like Grace, Faith grabbed those pearls and put them in her mouth.

 Faith is teething right now so everything goes straight to her mouth.

 Faith seemed to enjoy playing dress up with me today.

 And we took some beautiful pictures.

 And I let Faith play with those pearls most of the morning.

 We had the best time together.

Photoshoot 1: Faith in her baptism gown

When Grace was 6 months old, we had her picture made in her baptism gown.

 Now that Faith is 6 months old, I decided to have her picture made in it as well.

 They turned out better than I hoped.

 At first, she wasn't quite so sure about wearing the gown.

 But soon her personality shined through.

 Faith really is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen.

 But she has her serious moments, too.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the results of our shoot.  Oh, and this time I took all the photographs... 

A craft caddy and a craft station

There's a fabulous flea market in my area that I go to just about every week and I almost always walk away with at least one marvelous find.

 This week I found this darling little basket.  For only ONE dollar!

And all of these mason mugs for just a quarter each.  But I'm not using them to can (although I plan to attempt that this summer) or to drink from...  But now that I think about it, I bet Grace would like to use these mugs.  Maybe I should get some "normal" mason jars and let her have these mugs...

In the meantime, I'm using my mugs to hold Grace's craft supplies.  Now we have a practical craft caddy just her size.  It's the perfect way to keep all our pencils, and paint brushes, and scissors in easy reach.  And here's a great spot to keep it.

This was an old cabinet that I pulled out of storage this week just for this.  I gave it a fresh coat of paint and an enamel coating.  It was old and banged up before.  Now it's gorgeous with new purpose - Grace's craft station.

In top drawer I put our paint, paper, foam (I love foam - more about that later), sandpaper, stapler, etc.  And in the bottom drawer I put all of Grace's playdoh, her toy sandbox, and craft mats.  The best part?  It's all within Grace's reach now.  If she wants to work with playdoh, all she has to do is pull it out.  Ready to color and cut?  Same thing.  She can just grab her little craft caddy, get some paper from the top drawer, and head over to the kitchen counter to work.