Sweetheart Dress-My version!

I saw a post from luvinthemommyhood quite a while ago showing how she made an absolutely adorable dress with a heart cut out in the back. I was inspired to make my own and here it is, finally!
I made the dress a bit differently with pleats in the front and back instead of being ruffled, and with a big ruffle at the bottom that is asymmetrical on one side.
Of course my model was not exactly cooperating, so here are a few pictures to give you an idea!

The shoes are the only ones she will wear! Straight from the runway of course.

A good view of the back and the back pleats

She got happy because a dog was walking by.

A better view of the back and the bottom asymmetrical ruffle

Trying for the pretty in the garden shot, but she was not having it so this is the only one we could take before she left. Models!

I'm already working on version 2.0 and I'm really excited about the dress. That heart back is just the cutest thing to me and Victoria likes the dress, she even wore it while bouncing and it wasn't in her way and stood up great to rough play!

This Moment-Cuddled Close Before Sleep

{this moment} - A Friday ritual started by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.

Water "Bubble" Fun!

I saw a post a while ago about a mom who had made what basically amounted to a water mattress for her kids to play with outside. I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw it at this moment, but if I find the link I will post it asap. (In turn, if you know who I am talking about, please share).

We have had a heat wave here with temperatures in the 80s so I decided it would be a good time to try this out!
And so... we set out with these tools... believe me the "who are we burying in the backyard" jokes were pretty relentless.

After folding the huge plastic sheet in half, I did a fancy "double fold" and duct taped each of the sides one after the other, leaving a small opening for the water hose of course. Taping that corner was a bit more difficult, but we just added a lot more duct tape to that corner and managed to keep it from leaking.

It was a success! Victoria loves stepping on the water bubble, and playing on it. And it's lasted the past 4 days! I thought for sure it would pop within the first hour of play, but this has been out in the backyard for a while, even the dogs stepped on it, and it is still standing. 

Testing the bounce!

I was making waves by lifting a corner up and Victoria loved it

Serious business this water bubble...

Victoria signing "More", she was asking for more waves.

Happy little hands.

Can't resist those little hands and feet.

Whew!

I have been at my little girl's beck and call the past four days as she is fighting a cold, but I will have some new posts for you starting tomorrow!
Until then, Victoria and her first "buns"

Baby's First Bath

I just read an article on Baby's First Bath from Bellies and Babies here. It reminded me how thankful I am of the fact that I was able to have a home birth.
The first bath was one of the things that I was worried about as an expectant mom. From all the literature I had read, talk that I had heard, my baby was going to be taken away from me and washed minutes after the birth. I came hesitantly to my midwives asking them what they were going to do about cleaning my baby after the birth, it was so ingrained in me by our culture that a bath was normal, that if I remember correctly my question was "So after the birth how soon do you have to give the baby a bath?".
The question reflected very well my position. I wanted my baby on me and nursing, not away in another room being washed. I wanted to smell her and love her and did not want the interruption. However I did not know if that was possible.
Luckily I had the very best midwives, and they raised an eyebrow at me exclaiming "We don't wash a newborn!". What a relief! They then went on to explain how beneficial the vernix is to babies and why we wouldn't want to wash her right away. It all made sense to me in a medical sense, but there was a deeper feeling to it, really... I didn't want my baby's first experience out of the womb to be a brutal uncomfortable bath to "clean" her of me... of us.

After the birth, she was on me warming up and nursing for a while before we even cleaned of the blood that had coated a bit of her hair, and after that there was no need for anything more, truly. The vernix was absorbed into both her and my skin, she smelled great... that new baby smell that I sometimes miss so much now that she's toddling around. She was not dirty... she did not need a bath... There would have been no reason for anyone to take her away from nursing and bonding with me for it.

Our first bath, the next evening I believe (those days are a bit blurry now), was exactly as the one shown at the end of the Bellies and Babies post as what should happen.
We poured a bath for both me and her, and I just held her in the water swaying her slowly in, bringing her head down and covering her ears a bit here and there, softly moving her hair from her scalp to make sure I washed every bit of her. And she enjoyed it so thoroughly. She was so content in that water and I couldn't be happier that I was able to wait for her to truly enjoy that experience.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there...
And an especially happy Mother's Day to my mom who is reading this blog from France. We love you so very much and miss you all the time.
Thank you for having been the most amazing mom from the very beginning, only now that I am raising Victoria do I truly understand everything you have done for me. I love you.

This Moment-Peekaboo

{this moment} - A Friday ritual started by Soulemama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember.