Tuesday, February 28, 2012

D Star Photography aka Victoria the Model

I had not gotten a chance to get professional pictures right after Victoria's birth, so when David from D Star Photography offered me a deal to photograph Victoria to commemorate her first birthday, I jumped on the chance.
To say that he is a good photographer who truly grasps each children's mood and expressions is just touching the tip of the iceberg.
David is a caring photographer, who wants to know all of his subjects stories, and how best to make them feel special. He loves his work so very much, it's a pleasure to see him in action. He put up with many nursing breaks while Victoria was getting comfortable with her new surroundings and with me being all over the place trying to make her laugh, encouraging me to act the fool instead of being put off by the crazy mom dances.
I hope many of you will get the chance to work with David, as he is truly a wonderful photographer!

Here are some of the photos from that session, that second one is Victoria through and through and yet I'd never been able to catch that look. Thank you David!


Friday, February 24, 2012

This Moment-Falling Asleep on Mama While Walking the Dog.

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see
{inspired by Amanda Soule of SouleMama}  




Thursday, February 23, 2012

Challenges in Raising a Spirited Child

One of my biggest challenges as a "laissez faire" parent is knowing when to set limits and when to let Victoria explore the world on her own terms.
Laissez faire, is a French expression that basically means "to leave be", to let things go the way they will without trying to change or affect them. This is very much the way I parent. I am always close to my child and I always help her when she needs, but she is allowed and able to explore the world at her leisure. I don't child proof my house,  I instead teach Victoria what is acceptable for her to touch and what isn't, and sometimes she teaches me what is acceptable for her to touch, and what isn't.
For instance, I had been very adamant about her not touching my knitting needle, until I gave her the opportunity one day to hold one (with me watching her like a hawk) and realized that she quickly grasped the concept of the pointy end, and was careful about not hurting herself with it. This obviously doesn't mean that I would leave her unattended with a knitting needle, however, with supervision there is really no risk to her playing with the needle. She mostly just likes the feel of the wood (I'm spoiled and have wooden knitting needles) and the ability to use it like a drum stick on the furniture around her.

However, Victoria is also a very precocious child, and a very physically capable child, which means that I sometimes wonder where exactly to set the limits. These past few days she's learned how to get up on the kitchen counter from the back of the couch, and now the sky is the limit, it seems, with her crawling.
Yesterday, I turned around from putting a few dishes in the sink to this:

Yes, that is indeed my daughter, crawling on the counter with an (empty) packet of hot sauce in her mouth... I couldn't help but laugh... (and take a picture).
But the question is there, how do I set healthy limits, while still letting my child explore the world of her own volition?
And I've found that I dislike the idea of setting those limits unless they are a matter of life and death, which in this case they aren't... she is already learning that she can only get down from the counter on the couch side, and I am always in the room with her, watching her and providing assistance should she need it. So yes, I have to be a bit more careful because I don't baby proof the space we live in, but Victoria is developing at a fast clip because of it. And the pride in her eyes and her happy bounce when she accomplishes what she sets out to do are enough to make me appreciate just how great a learning experience this is for her. 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Birthday preparations and crazyness

Victoria is almost a year old already! March 8th is her birthday, and we are having a birthday party for her on the 10th. I've started making her a few handmade toys. One of them is a Ticky tacky doll inspired by both the book and Journey Into Unschooling, who made one just like the pretty doll in the book.
I am learning so much about making toys lately by just starting up projects, and making my own patterns, it's truly amazing.
I love being able to accomplish these things, especially for Victoria, so that she will have memories later on. Hopefully this doll will be well loved as I used some of her old baby clothes to make it. I know it will be special for me at the very least!
I should be done with her in the next few days, and will post pictures soon.
In the meantime, here is Victoria growing up....

Friday, February 17, 2012

This Moment

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember.
If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see
{inspired by Amanda Soule of SouleMama} 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Train Plushies!

Well here it is... the commission I was asked to make is finished. It was an interesting challenge, making something with a definite timeline with Victoria tugging at my sleeves all the time, but we did it and it went really well.
Here are the results. Two little trains, for two little boys for Valentine's day.
I will be making more now that I've drafted the pattern, I think I would like to see them made out of corduroy, and with the possibility of them becoming puppets as well. So I'll be working on those, however we will be taking our time with those ones.
Right now I'm back on track with making the gifts I had in mind before the commissions arrived in the mail.
I also have to start planning on what to make Victoria for her first birthday. I'm thinking a Waldorf inspired doll might be it. I'm still doing a bit of research.

Here are the trains, they are not as stuffed as I would have liked because they wanted them to feel more like pillows, and I took these pics right before leaving to deliver them at the last minute, so you can still see some fuzz on them that I removed after a trip to the store for a lint roller!


Saturday, February 11, 2012

Shedd Aquarium!

This week has been completely taken over by commissions. However we did have the chance to go to the Shedd Aquarium with my friend Marius, who is a great photographer.
So I will share with you some of the great pictures he took while we were there.
The turtles were a hit

Waiting for the dolphins to swim by, while eating a shoe... it's what we do!

The adorable sea lion that Victoria barked with for a minute

The Jelly Fish were a hit!

Aren't they just dreamy?


Monday, February 6, 2012

Phew....

I have been away! First, I was guest posting at my friend Ruth's blog, and then I had to work to make a new pattern for a commission that I was just asked to complete for Valentine's day!

Of course Victoria had to decide that this was her week to have a growth spurt and suffer through lots of teething, which meant that something had to take a back burner, and this poor blog was it. I will be back soon hopefully with pictures of the finished commission and of a few random little projects I have in the makings.
Until then I will leave you with my daughter, who can now make her way everywhere very well. Still not walking, but it's not far off!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Quick and Easy Headbands!

Victoria has had a healthy head of hair ever since birth. Any other little girl would be wearing hair bows and clips since the beginning, but my little girl of course has decided that she hates absolutely anything touching her head.
Because of that I have not decorated many hair accessories, however the other day I put Victoria in an adorable little dress and decided that maybe I should try to make something for her to wear in her hair.
So I grabbed a headband I had laying around and a few buttons, sewed them up real quick and voila! I had a cute headband to go with her outfit.
Of course I was thwarted by Victoria when I tried to put it on her, so the only picture I managed to get was when she fell asleep in the car! She was wearing it around her neck though throughout the day, and it looked quite adorable as a necklace too.
Here are the pictures from it.