And "Baby" E Turns 3

E's birthday is actually tomorrow, but we celebrated all weekend with her favorites: 1.) Chuck E. Cheese and 2.) the beach.

My favorite little girl in the world

The beach was COLD, but she still had a blast:

The sandcastle before she leveled it Godzilla-style

Back to regularly scheduled DIYs soon!  Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Homemade Halloween Pt. 2: Costumes for the Family

Continued from this post, I did wind up finishing character heads for the adults.  To make it faster, I glued the face pieces onto the fleece and then left the edges raw.  If I make costumes again next year, I think I'll glue the embellishments on and sew the foundational pieces.

A family of Yo Gabba Gabba-inspired characters

(Husband's photo is deliberately omitted here since I'm pretty sure he'd kill me for posting it publicly)

Foofa and Muno

Poor E's Foofa hood kept sliding until it slid completely off.  Awfully comical though :)

For all who celebrate, I hope you had a fantastic Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Just a short, fun post for throwback Thursday and Halloween :)

Cow riding his cow, being like Dad, a monkey and a lil love bug :)

SPG early years

Interested in winning a $100 gift card?  Check out my giveaway via Tide Pods and Blogher here - all you need to do is comment!

Homemade Halloween - Children's Costumes Part 1

People who know I sew in real life always ask if I sew Halloween costumes for our children.  In the past, I always shamefully replied, "no" and felt like a horrible mom consumed with sewing only for herself.  This year, I decided to be less horrible (:P) and attempt making their costumes.  I asked the kids what kinds of costumes they wanted and they promptly responded, "Yo Gabba Gabba!"

Materials:

• 1/4 yard black and white felt (character faces and embellishments)
• 1.5 yards of pink and red fleece
• Velcro, elastic, and thin layer of foam

Pattern: Simplicity 2070, lopped off the top of the hood and added the character heads

Difficulty: Easy, but time consuming

Time: 2 weeks for a total of probably 6-8 hours.  I should note that the sewing part went very quickly, but pondering the head construction and cutting the felt pieces for these characters plus the 2 my husband and I are supposed to be seemed to take an eternity.

Yo Gabba Gabba: Foofa and Muno DIY Costumes

I swear the costumes are cuter with children in them :)

What the Muno hat looks like on our son

The hats are stuffed with a thin layer of foam I had lying around from another project to help them stand up.

I still haven't made the hats for me or my husband, but I'm hoping I finish by Halloween!  Hope to be sharing photos of us in full garb in the next post :)

"Baby" E Turns 2!!

E turns 2 today and I can't believe how much time has passed already!  We got her a bunch of balloons today - 2 giant 36" ones and then some normal 12" versions.  She became bored of them quite quickly, but I did snap a couple favorites before she moved on to her birthday presents :)

Photo idea from Pinterest

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

I just finished reading Cee's and Elle's year in review posts and I felt inspired to write one of my own going over my favorite DIYs, purchases, and events of the year.

Favorite DIY Projects:

• Peplum Mania

1. Nautical Peplum Top / 2. Map of the World Peplum / 3. Handkerchief Peplum

• Going Nautical

1. Nautical Jewelry DIYs / 2. Sailboat Dress / 3. Sailboat Skirt

• Dresses, Dresses, and More Dresses

1. Structured Sleeves  / 2. Graphic Green / 3. Draped Neck

Favorite Purchases:

• Red pants from  NY&Co!  Though they needed some general slimming, I've worn these $10 pants to death

• Red Blazers from H&M and J. Crew

• Monogram Necklace (from Etsy) and F21 Pearl Necklace - I wear these necklaces all the time and always get compliments. 

Favorite Events:

• Spending 8.5 months at home on an extended maternity leave and soaking up as much baby / toddler goodness as I could with my son and daughter.
• Moving to San Francisco and opening us up to try so many different, delicious foods!  
• Playing skirt designer selling my wares on Etsy thanks to Jean.
• Getting to know some of my favorite bloggers better!  Cee, Elle, and P - thanks for filling in with your guest posts during my move!

What were some of your favorite events / things in 2012?

Happy New Year to everyone!  Here's to a wonderful 2013 :)

DIY Animal Capelet & Toddler-isms

I don't really know how to word this part of the post.  I feel like I have a lot to say without having an eloquent way to convey it.  My heart goes out to everyone in Newtown and Henan.  Our children are our everything - I live, breathe, and look forward to each day because of them.

-----------------------------------------

I spied a leopard Baby Gap capelet last year that I had on my list to purchase for E before she was even born.  When I decided to pull the trigger, it was sold out.  Super thoughtful Cee even sent an early birthday present to E in the form of a gift card for it (thanks again!).  Fast forward one year and I finally put one together.  Though this one is a giraffe print :)

DIY Animal Capelet

Simplicity Pattern 4434 (cut larger because I have a tall bean sprout)

Though I didn't intend to, it also fits me, BUT I am not the type that can pull this off ;)

Trying it on E

I bought her some black leggings for when she actually wears this in public

I'm going to end this post with some toddler-isms from my 3-year old son :)

(Driving to preschool and passing a traffic light)
V: Mom, red is "stop" and green is "go".
Me: What is yellow?
V: Yellow is "keep going."
Me: Yellow is "slow down."
V: No (with a little bit of attitude), yellow is "keep going."
Sigh.  This must be my husband's doing.

(At home)
V: Mom, I want to watch Disney Junior
I mindlessly turn on the TV and flip through until it lands on Disney 
V: That's not Disney Junior, that's Disney XD
The perils of a toddler who can semi-read

(Playing.  V sticks a candy cane in his sleeve)
V: Look Mom, I'm Captain Hook!

These kiddos make me laugh every single day. <3

Happy 1st Birthday to Baby E!

Baby E turned 1 yesterday and I can't believe she has graduated to the "toddler" category.  Despite whatever my kids are supposed to be called, they will always be my "babies."  (Sorry twitter friends for the reiteration!)

What she's doing these days:

• loves "dancing" and "singing" to Yo Gabba Gabba.  "Dancing" = some tushie wiggling and "singing" = some tuneless vocalizations :D
• loves playing with her big brother
• started walking a few weeks ago and it's adorable bc she has a duck-like waddle
• is fascinated with iPhones and iPads.  I think we have a future Apple lover on our hands.
• is sporting quite the little baby mullet, but I'm afraid if I cut it, her slight wavy curls will never come back.
• Her favorite foods are tomatoes, lemons, and cucumbers.  I think I lucked out with a healthy eater this time!  Big brother gets spoiled by Grandma and is constantly asking for doughnuts, pizza, and chicken nuggets.

Anyhoo, Happy Birthday to my dear little girl!  We all love you so much and are ecstatic that you blessed our lives with your arrival.

Baby E @ 2 days

Baby E @ 1 month

Baby E @ 5 months

Baby E @ 11 months getting inspired by Cee and sporting the half tuck :)

Baby E today w/ big brother V

The Matchy-Matchy Family Pic

Guys in gingham + ties and gals in chevron + navy tops

(BTW, we do not have ONE photo that everyone is looking at the camera and smiling.  It's kind of comical.)

If you have kids, how do you like to celebrate their birthdays?  If you don't, what were your favorite birthday celebrations?

Mother-Daughter Chevron Pleated Skirts DIY

Aside from the normal preparations of going back to work, I also knew I wanted new family portraits done for my desk.  I can't tell you how many stressful moments have been alleviated by staring at baby pictures of my son.  Puts everything into perspective rather quickly.  :)

Family portraits are kind of tricky to me.  I wanted to wear something relatively classic looking so the pictures wouldn't look too dated when we looked back at them years from now.  I also wanted the whole family to look cohesive (yes, I've been watching too much Project Runway) so decided that everyone should wear blue.  I took it to the next step and decided to play matchy-matchy with Baby E again by making us both pleated chevron skirts.

DIY Mother-Daughter Chevron Pleated Skirts (buy here)

I know you can't see our faces in this pic, but this is one of my favorite candid shots from the session :)

And see that "glow" on my arms?  It was a HOT day for photos.

 I think it was Jean who mentioned that she trusts the camera much more than the mirror.  So I pondered between 2 classic button-downs via photos.  I'm glad I did!  I preferred the light blue in the mirror, but the dark navy looked so much better in the photo due to the contrast.  The pictures also told me to nix the necklace for being too busy. 

(And if you're wondering, I have not yet fixed my ball of hair here since these were taken the same day as the black sheath post, but appreciate all your helpful tips!)

If interested, you can order these at my Etsy store.

Skirts are custom made to your waist measurement and length preference.

Baby / Toddler version also available by special request :)

Sooo, mother-daughter outfits - take advantage while she's too young to be embarrassed or stop it already?  :D

P.S.  Now that I'm back to work, blog posting may be a little erratic as well as general interaction.  If you have a question or need anything, I'm usually the best at responding via Twitter (I know that's weird, but the limited characters works well for me) followed by email.

Graphic Green Dress DIY (& 1 for Baby)

Whilst perusing the local fabric store, I noticed a "Country Club Collection" that I had never seen before.  I, of course, had to investigate.  The collection consisted of heavy-ish cottons in cute, graphic prints.  I'm going through a green phase so when I spotted a graphic green fabric, I fell in love.

I decided to go for a fit and flare type of silhouette to hopefully be more figure-flattering to my rectangular / pear-shape.  My go-to pattern for a bodice has been McCall's M5972.  It features darts at the bust and waist for a more precise fit.  I then added a waistband and full skirt (easy to self-draft) with plenty of pleating (hides the tummy).

DIY Graphic Green Dress 

DIY Pearl Necklace

DIY Pearl Bracelet & J. Crew Bracelet

Amrita Singh Ring

Michael Kors Tortoiseshell Watch

Talbots Wedge Sandals

I'm glad I went with the waistband because it really carves out a waist on me.  The print reminds me of golf.

And of course, a mini version for Baby E <3

Speaking of Baby E, anyone have any advice on how to stop a 10-month old from scaling the furniture?  Even though I'm always within a few feet of her, I worry about the day that I'm not fast enough to catch her (she is speedy!).  

Matchy-Matchy: Mommy and Me DIYs

Happy Mother's Day!!  Hope all you mothers out there have a wonderful day!  The morning of Mother's Day 2009, I received the best present ever - our baby boy was born (3 weeks early) so that I could officially be a Mommy.  This Mother's Day, I get to celebrate with 2 children and I feel so very blessed :)

My kiddos <3

E in a Mommy-made navy gingham dress to match my Crewcuts gingham shirt

Both of us in our skirts.  I LOVE her little Popeye forearms :)

Matching polka dot skirts

Pleating

Baby dress and Mommy skirt

 Rick-rack to add a little something to her dress

Matching striped belts

Many more to come!

And I'll leave you with my favorite Baby moments:

• When she cups my face with both little hands and stares deep into my eyes, I feel like she's saying, "I love you, Mommy"  (I'll note here that hubby rolled his eyes when I told him this)
• Kissing those chubby cheeks and seeing her smile as I do so
• Her laugh out loud occasions
• Seeing her get a kick out of blowing raspberries and getting spit everywhere
• When she follows her big brother around with pure love in her eyes and a giant grin on her face
• When big brother pats her on the arm and says, "It's ok, mui mui (little sis in Cantonese)" to comfort her during cranky moments
• Or when he insists on holding his baby sister because he loves her

How are you celebrating Mother's Day?

The Story of Baby Girl

Playing the waiting game towards the end of my pregnancy seemed like it dragged on forever but now that it's over - it seems like it all happened so fast!  The fastest part was actually my labor.  Late in the afternoon on 9/15, I felt a hard kick similar to what happened right before my water broke with my son.  I called my husband to come home just in case and he took me to the hospital.  Baby Girl must have known that we had arrived because before we could even get to labor and delivery, she was born right in the hospital elevator!  I'm glad my instincts kicked in to tell me to "catch" my own baby because it took another 5-10 minutes afterwards to get medical assistance.  All of this happened during the course of 1 hour!!  For reference, labor with my son was 8 hours so I was thinking Baby Girl would take 4-5 hours (typically half the time of your first pregnancy).

Aside from a little jaundice and being a bit cold, my little peanut was nice and healthy - weighing in at 6 lbs, 15 oz and measuring 19.5" long.  She is now a little over 2 weeks old and I got to break confinement briefly yesterday to get some newborn portraits taken.  Here are 2 of my favorites:

Thanks again to everyone for all the kind comments!  I've been trying to sneak in some blog loving time here and there so I'm still sporadic but I love seeing everyone's posts :)

Baby Girl is Here!

As you've probably figured out, the lack of posts has been because Baby Girl arrived on Thursday!  Details to follow (like how I delivered my own baby - but not graphic details!) but we're back home from the hospital and everyone is doing well.  I have a couple of posts that I never had a chance to schedule that will get published.  Meanwhile, as I get settled in with our new arrival, please bear with me as I go on maternity hiatus :)

Much love to everyone and will return soon!

Guest Post on Gigi's Gone Shopping

While Gigi is taking care of more important things (i.e. Baby G!), I guest-posted the 5 things I'm most looking forward to this fall in her Fall Fab 5 feature.  Go check it out here!

Are you looking forward to fall?  Any fall items in particular that have caught your eye?

As for me, no baby yet.  I'm still mostly resting and taking it easy, but the car is now packed up with baby essentials and my hospital bag  :)  Once Baby Girl arrives and is settled, I want to make her a leopard cape (sold out already at Baby Gap) and matching little purse - I am super excited on all the future Baby Girl projects!!

Baby Gap Leopard Satchel Bag (buy here)

Baby Gap Leopard Print Cape (sold out in US, but still available in Canada)

Have a wonderful weekend everybody!