Our Fave Apps

Every so often, someone in one of my mommy groups will bring up iPad/iPhone apps and a bunch of us will throw out suggestions of which ones our little monsters are currently enjoying. So I figured I'd do a post on what Keira is currently using with a couple of mine thrown in for good measure.

One thing I will tell you about all of the apps we have is that they're free. If I can find an app that does what I need it to and it doesn't cost me anything, I'm a happy camper. I'm pretty reluctant to purchase apps for because #1, I don't know if I'm/she's going to like it to start with, #2, how long we'll like it, #3, those $1 & $2 apps add up fast, especially after you've gone through two dozen and your kid only liked 3. For 5 minutes.

My Apps

 

As you can see, I do have them pretty similar. Facebook, Pinterest, Blogger, YouTube, Gmail & messages are used just about daily. I love BlogLovin' for keeping (relatively) up to date on blogs that I follow. (Hint: if you are a Candy Crush player, switch devices, they each refresh lives at their own rate.) And yes, I'm a geek that has a Dictionary app.

Since Keira has the iPad pretty well figured out, I decided to "hide" MY apps in a separate folder. Yeah, she knows to get into it, but luckily, she isn't interested enough to care. Her apps are far more entertaining to her. To be honest, I use my iPhone more than the iPad nowadays. Mainly because it's smaller and it's easier when I need to change positions on the couch (this belly is getting to be fairly uncomfortable).

Keira's Apps

Keira loves to watch the shows on PBS Kids, Disney Junior, Sprout & FP Puppy Dog. She is also a Netflix addict. Luckily, Netflix has a Just for Kids feature that saves me from worrying about her viewing. She just opens it up and chooses from Blue's Clues, Dora the Explorer or any of the huge variety they have available. (Disclaimer: while the Netflix app itself is free, you do need a streaming subscription to watch.)

Her current favorites are Candy Count (where she moves different colored beans into their matching containers and then counts the beans in each) & Animal Seek and Find (where she picks out giraffes, elephants, baboons, etc from where they are hiding behind trees, bushes, and such). We also spend time with Elmo's ABC's (I'm trying to work with her in tracing the letters, but so far, she just points them out).

She goes through spurts where she will want to look at cars or animals, depending on her mood. The Fisher Price apps are fading away as she moves on to move advanced apps, but every now and again, she will
choose still Shapes & Colors or Animals. The rest are still kind of 'hit or miss' on keeping her interest, especially with the nice weather and her insistence on "play on outside".

Friends, Old & New

We've been moving a bunch of baby stuff from Keira's room into the room that will belong to the boys. Her infant carrier was one of the first. She didn't quite fit the way she remembered.

Since that didn't work, she decided she'd play with the buckles instead.

Among the rest was a box or two of baby toys that Keira outgrew. Well, you can just imagine what happened when she saw them. It was like a reunion.She had a good old time playing with the blocks and dancing to the music from the activity table. She even gave the walker a few pushes around the kitchen.

Her little eyes managed to spot a salad spinner I had left on the kitchen table and she brought it out to join in the fun.

A little tip for any moms planning to try this: don't use balls. The blocks worked great because when Keira lifted the lid while it was spinning, she got to see them going around. When she threw in a few of the small balls and lifted the lid, they went flying out. With some force, I might add. Those could sting a bit.

Upcycled Maternity Clothes

I was backing up my photos and realized I never did a blog post for one of my recent sewing endeavors. So of course, I had to rectify that.

One of my favorite items of clothing is a dark brown skirt with a fold-over waist. It's super comfy. I've had it so long that I have no idea where it came from. But I've also never found another one like it that wasn't more than I was willing to spend. So I decided to make another one myself. I found a few tutorials on how to make a fold-over waist (mostly yoga pants) and used the brown skirt as a pattern. I used a light grey jersey sheet that wasn't being used (jersey sheet, king-size bed? no. just no.)

The waistband

The skirt

I pretty much just used my serger for all the seams. Here's a little tip, though. Pay attention to which direction is really "out". I ended up serging the two pieces together on the wrong side. Since it doesn't show when it's folded over, I just left it. Yeah, I'm that lazy.

(This is what I accomplish when I'm supposed to be putting away all that laundry in the background.)

I also had a very light blue jersey sheet that I used for a sew along with another friend. We chose this tutorial to try out.

First, wait until the toddler is in bed. It makes things a lot easier.

I decided to add a little ruffle to the bottom.

Um...no. Definitely not. Way too much like an old fashioned nightgown for me. I tried a few things to it, but it just wasn't going to work. My friend's looked really good on her (she made hers in a bright red fabric). Maybe it's because I'm so short, who knows. (I guess my sewing coincides with laundry more than I realized.)

I ended up cutting off the top and making another fold-over waist. I also decided to go with a dark green dye. I love dyeing stuff. It's so easy and gives your items a whole new look. We have a front load washer so my method of choice is a big metal bowl in the kitchen sink.

After the first dye bath & washing, I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but I wasn't expecting this.

After a second dye bath & washing, the color was much better. More of a gradient/flowy coloring. I'm much happier with how it turned out after the second round. The pic of me wearing it is much truer to color. I'm not sure why the other photo is so light. Our comforter is actually navy blue.

Since they are not only soft and comfy, but light, I can definitely see them getting a lot of use this summer.In fact, I brought both on our recent vacation and I'm seriously in love. Another great thing is that I'll be able to continue using them after I've had these babies. Win-win in my book.

Wipes or Blankies?

Recently I was reminded by a friend about one of the toys she had made for her son over a year ago here (I know, I have no idea why I waited so long to do this). Be sure to check out more of Nicole's Tot School posts. Seriously, there are loads of great ideas.

Originally, I was going to use some scraps of fabric that I have lying around my sewing space, but then I got lazy. I cheated and used a couple handfuls of the cloth wipes we already had. Keira could not have cared less and dug right in. She enjoyed pulling them out the top for a minute or two, but then decided it was taking too long and just popped the whole lid open.

She laid the wipes over her puppy dog, her farm house....

and her baby doll. Even after we got dressed and did a couple errands, she went right back to playing with them. Since we'll need those wipes back in rotation, especially when the boys make their appearance, I'll have to get around to making a set of 'wipes' specifically for play. At least I know they'll get plenty of use.

Virginia Vacation Part 2

On the last day of our vacation, I decided to brave "The Stairs".

 At 6 months pregnant, going down for a boat ride, knowing I had to climb back up, was not on my list of ideal things to be doing. But I did it and I'm glad. First things first, Keira had to have a life jacket.

Now we wait while the guys get us going.

Before long, we were on our way. It was such a beautiful day and the water was nice and smooth.

Perhaps a little too smooth. Ok, granted, it was just about naptime when we headed out. She was asleep in less than 5 minutes. (Can you believe this girl's lashes?)

The lake was so peaceful and beautiful, I couldn't help but take a ton of photos. All from my seat with Keira snoozing away on my lap.

For lunch, we went to a place right on the lake. It has a dock just so you can boat up to them instead of driving if you want to.

Keira woke just as we tied up.

Since it was such a gorgeous day, we opted to sit on the deck to eat.

After eating, we headed back, this time with Keira awake for the ride. She loved it.

Virginia Vacation, Part 1

A few weeks ago, Doug and I decided to take a much needed break. We (ok, I) figured this would be our last getaway for some time and we should take advantage of it while we can. I have very little, make that NO desire to travel with 3 littles that need diapers, bottles, sippy cups, etc. That's a whole suitcase right there. Minimum. So with the ok from my Dr, we got on the road shortly after bedtime and headed south. Keira slept almost the whole 10 hour drive, waking only once when we stopped for gas. I love taking pictures of her when she's asleep. She's just so peaceful.

My aunt & uncle built their retirement home a few years ago, right on a lake, and we had yet to visit them. Seeing family and getting to relax with this view? Count me in.

The weather in New England just before we left was in the 30's & 40's. The weather when we got to Virginia was in the 70's and 80's. We were more than happy with that.

We spent the next 9 days relaxing and doing fun stuff. Doug and my uncle spent time doing 'guy' stuff while my aunt took me & Keira into the city. I got to visit a Hobby Lobby for the first time. While it was awesome, our bank account is very happy there isn't one nearby. We also took in the Children's Museum of Richmond in Short Pump. It's geared more towards the toddler age so it was perfect for Keira. She loved it!

One of the really great things about it was the size and openess. It was big enough for the kids to run yet small enough that the parents didn't have to get up and move every two minutes because you could see almost everything at once.

Rock climbing wall? Mastered in two tries with a little help from Daddy.

She is obsessed with slides. Last year she had no trouble sitting up while sliding but this year, she seems to keep laying back. No sooner was she down, then she was going back up.

I'm not sure if it was Keira or Doug that had more fun with the big foam blocks, but I love her face.

There was an indoor train that we got to ride as well. I thought it was a little jerky on the corners, but none of the kids seemed to mind it.

There was an art room with all sorts of craft supplies, from markers to egg crates to paints.

The "sand" pit was actually tiny pieces of rubber. Very ingenious.

What day would be complete without a dinner time mess? Keira doesn't normally get dressing with her salad. This helps to reaffirm me of why.

And to end the night...cookies!

Since it was the first of the warm weather, it was also time to get the deck ready. Keira had a blast helping. That girl loves water.

On the weekend, my cousins came in the their homes to visit with us as well. Keira had a ton of fun playing with her cousins.

A plane flew overhead so there was a pause in the playing to scope it out.

I can't imagine this kid could get any more relaxed, can you?

Part 2, coming soon.