Amy Beth

February 6, 2015

These Days // 7

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These days we are:

listening: to Cool Family Radio on iTunes radio. It’s a station that plays a good mix of oldies and more contemporary music with generally upbeat tempos and no foul language or overly explicit sexual references. So basically, music for grown ups that’s safe for kids. We find it’s a good thing to turn on when a toddler needs to dance a little energy out and a mama needs to bounce a baby. And the title makes me feel cool. Like I could hang out with some college students and mention some music I had been listening to lately and not feel like a total dweeb. So that’s a plus. (Wait, did I just forfeit my cool status by using the word dweeb?)

eating: from a bottle! Not me, my baby. We tried out a bottle on Penelope for the first time this week and she took to it like a pro. This means Mama can get out of the house without a baby every once in a while. I used my first moments of freedom to go grocery shopping, which isn’t really an exciting way to spend the first moments of freedom in six weeks. Oh well.

writing: a newsletter. Not me, my husband. Chris is starting out a new creative pursuit in which he will share snipits of life and interesting bits of the internet in a weekly email newsletter. It’s a good read! You can become a subscriber here.

celebrating: Valentine’s day early with the purchase of assorted chocolate boxes. Chris and I don’t give each other gifts for Valentine’s day. It’s mutual agreement we came to several years ago in the interest of saving us both from the stress of being really thoughtful and on top of it. Instead, we usually just plan on having a nice dinner together sometime around the holiday. Since we aren’t sure when we’ll be getting out for a date night this year what with the new baby and all, we’ve been celebrating by splurging on fancy chocolates. I’m not complaining.

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My new coworkers

trading: my working mom title to that of “stay at home mom.” We’ve been blessed with the opportunity for me to stay at home with my kiddos, so this past week I officially put in my notice and said goodbye to the job I’ve had for the past 5 years. It’s a bittersweet sort of thing. I’m thrilled to be able to stay at home and focus my energy on my kids. It’s the arrangement we’ve been hoping for since Charlie was born. But at the same time I can’t help but acknowledge that I had a pretty great job. I’m going to miss the daily interaction with some of the best coworkers ever and the time I got each day to sit in the quiet and do what was usually pretty creative work. We’re now in a period of adjustment as we try to establish a new routine and set realistic expectations for the days. I’m excited about what the next few months will bring as we settle into our new normal. Crafts? Play dates? More blog posts? Who knows!

Coffee with Caitlin

Once again I’m linking up at Coffee with Caitlin for another High Five for Friday post. Check out some other bloggers over there!.

September 11, 2014

These Days // 3

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These days we are:
discovering: that mixing two or more colors creates new colors! Usually an interesting shade of brown.

painting

painting

learning: how to write a response to a “Request for Proposal.”

listening: to “Happy.” It gets a little old for Chris and me, but Charlie LOVES it. We find it’s a great song to put on during clean up time.

watching: the mower guy. It’s fascinating for Charlie and stressful for Mabelle.

watching

preparing: to host a small group potluck. Can it still be called small when you make 30+ chicken crescent pockets?

looking: forward to a vacation to Nashville for some pre-baby relaxation and a visit with my sister.

inventing: strange concoctions for dinner. Mainly out of desperation. This beef/veggie/cous cous mixture turned out to be pretty appetising, despite it’s apprearance.

dinner

Have a happy weekend!

paint

August 7, 2014

Doll Hair

In order to help prepare Charlie for the impending arrival of baby #2, I decided he needed a baby doll. Being a boy, he doesn’t really have a lot of those, and therefore has no chance to practice being quiet, gentle and nurturing to his toys. A plethora of cars, trucks, and trains don’t exactly encourage that kind of play. 

So in my search for the perfect baby doll to be Charlie’s very own, I came upon Waldorf dolls. This is a particular style of doll that is used in Waldorf early childhood education. They are stuffed dolls, making them more cuddly than the average plastic-limbed doll. They typically have simple neutral expressions on their faces, meant to suit a variety of imaginary play situations. Waldorf dolls are usually handmade from high quality (and often organic) materials. All of these things are good. But the thing I love most about these dolls is the HAIR. 

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The doll makers I’ve looked at get incredibly creative with the hair on these dolls. It makes me want to get dreads and dye my hair in a multitude of colors. Could I pull that off?

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All the dolls I’m sharing in this post come from a doll shop called Bambolleta Dolls. They release a limited number of new dolls each week and they seem to sell out quickly. I didn’t end up getting Charlie’s doll from here because they are pretty pricey and don’t make many boy dolls, but I LOVE to look at them.

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I was so inspired by the hair that I wanted to try to make my own head of doll hair. So one evening I sewed together a quick sock doll and followed this tutorial on making a doll wig. I used a variety of yarn that I just had around the house and was able to complete the head of hair in just a couple evenings. 

Doll hair

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I know. Seeing my little attempt at a doll next to the professional ones is almost cringe-worthy. But it was fun to try a new craft. And you’ve got to start somewhere, right?