burlap style

I'm all about some crafting. I feel like I never have time between working 3 nights a week, chasing a very active 15 month old energizer bunny around, and having a well needed date night with my main man occasionally. I would not call myself an overly crafty person. I like to try new things and I am terrible at following really in depth directions. My good friends know that I have a very short attention span. I get distracted really easily if I don't understand something and I am really distracted when following directions. I like to skip to the end and just find a shortcut if at all possible. I am more of a watcher, adapter, and then a doer than a direction reader. The same goes with crafting and really complicated German board games. I like to sit down and make things my own when I find time which is a blessing and a curse because sometimes crafts turn out well and sometimes not so much. Oh well, the journey is always fun and my sweet husband always tells me the end result is "really nice", even if it isn't...swoon.

Anyway, I got 3 awesome coffee burlap bags when we went to the mountains with some friends in January for $2 a piece at a fabric store. I felt like I was practically stealing these awesome crafting supplies. I knew that I wanted to make pillows for Cole's playroom but I wanted them to be fun and colorful. I am not that great at sewing and I wanted to put a little spin on burlap pillows so I used yarn to stitch the pillows together. I had some old Ikea pillows that measured 18x18 that I just wrapped a piece of burlap that was 20x40 around and then stitched the edges. The project was fairly simple. I had to be careful that the yarn did not rip the edge of the burlap because it was delicate. I put the pillow inside the burlap while I pulled the edges close together and slowly stitched up all 4 sides. Each pillow from cutting the burlap to the final stitch took me about 2 hours. It was really fun and I still have 1 more burlap bag to use that may turn in to a dog bed for Rio, lucky girl.

The 2 matching pillows were on the front of the burlap bag and the "Cafes Do Brasil" was on the back of one of the bags. I still have one more "Cafes Do Brasil" pillow to make. 

Getting the full effect in the playroom. It looks clean but there are toys and ballpit balls everywhere beyond this picture.

I didn't try and match the yarn with the pillow. I thought it was more playful to just have lots of fun colors. 

The back of the "Cafes Do Brasil" pillow. I should have ironed them (if you can iron burlap). The stitching across the back is part of the original burlap bag which I thought was so neat. 

Little embellishment in the corner of the pillow that I thought added a little flare and it was too surprising to cut of when making the pillow. 

long hair don't care

Cole's hair is becoming increasingly crazy and out of control and I absolutely love it. I love his little whispy side wings and I love parting his hair and then ruffling it up over and over again. The first time someone calls him a girl I'm sure Dale will make me cut that sweet baby hair but until then, long hair don't care.
I couldn't resist some bed head pictures. Cole was less than amused.

destruction monster

Our little monster loves him some destruction. He can hear you stacking blocks from another room and he will hunt you down until no block is left standing.  Dale always builds the best towers for Cole. I have zero patience to build a tower and give it a nice pattern but Dale, he is the best. Here is a little glimpse in to Cole's favorite activity ever. He is all boy through and through...poor Mommy.

Hark, is that block stacking I hear?

 Oh, it sure is. Score!

Note to self: learn how to run

Got distracted

Oh, hey there other less important toys. I'll get to you later

Oh, Mama. Hi!

 Dad, you rock. You are so skilled in tower building. Permission to knock it over?

Nice craftsmanship, good arches. I approve. 

                                          And the hand goes out, and the crowd goes wild...

                                                 I missed but this is still the best day ever!

                                   I have to look at just one more time before sweet victory is all mine

       Oh, look...a surprise hidden archway. Nice touch, Dad. 

   The calm before the storm

 Sweet Victory!

Helping to clean up. What a sweet boy. 

2013

We have spent every New Years eve since 2006 at Red Robin with our friends, Grey and Heather. We added a new, and very cute, member last year with the addition of Cole to our little group. We started the tradition randomly in Raleigh in 2006 with Dale's college friends and ironically we ate at that same Raleigh Red Robin this past year. It is funny how you can never picture which direction your life will turn. If you asked me in 2006 if I ever planned on living in Raleigh I would have said no. We had fun eating with all the early birds at 5:30pm on New Years Eve and let me tell you, that place was packed. We all knew exactly what we wanted to order, no menus needed. Cole even enjoyed some delicious Red Robin fries and I think my husband loved me a little bit more for wearing flannel with him.

Later that night we lost our poor little Golden, Rio. Cole was in bed and we were all sitting around playing a really nerdy new board game when I noticed that the back gate was open and Rio was gone. The search was on in less than 10 minutes. We all walked around the neighborhood, hung up signs, posted on craigslist, and informed facebook that little Rio was missing. Now Rio is not that outdoorsy type and we were so afraid that she was going to just keep running and running until she came across people. She is not the type to run away at all. We don't usually put her on a leash if we are running around the yard and she has never run off. Hence, she did not have a collar on when she actually ran away due to fireworks. Anything loud and with surprise element is Rio's arch nemesis. We hunted for her until around 3:00am and we had to give up even though we were all so sad without little Rio. My sister and brother in law drove from Greensboro as soon as they heard Rio was missing to help look for her and I will be forever grateful for their love. We went to bed with so much sadness and all I could think about was she is gone forever and that someone had snatched her up and was going to keep her. Dale and I slept on the couch in the living room just in case she came home in the middle of the night we could hear her. We left her blanket on the back deck and another on the front porch along with her favorite soccer ball at the back gate to entice her home. Around 4:30am, Dale heard a scratch at the back door and it was Rio! We were overjoyed and mad at her all at the same time for giving us a heart attack. Dale and I hugged Rio so tight and even let her sleep between us on the couch for a couple hours. In the morning Rio woke everyone up by jumping up on the beds and acting like nothing ever happened. Cole was happy to see his doggie the next morning and he never even knew she was missing. We will never forget the New Years where we lost our sweet Rio. She is a important part of our family and we are so glad that she is home. 

This is an old picture of Rio and Cole but I couldn't resist the sweetness and mushiness. Plus, it just goes to show that Rio's ball is never far. 

bittersweet birthday

This post is a little old considering our baby turned 1 almost a month ago. It has taken me awhile to come to terms that our little guy is growing up. I could not even sing the birthday song to Cole before his birthday because I would cry. I have officially turned in to my mother. No one tells you that you are going to be sad on your child's first birthday. We have so much to be thankful for and I am so happy to have a baby who is healthy and growing but there is something about that first year that really gets to you. Dale of course thought I was being too emotional (no surprise) and don't get me wrong, I do not want to rewind but that first birthday is the first part of letting go of your little baby. We are so proud of little Cole and we really can't wait to watch him grow, talk, and boss everyone around...I just want him to grow a little slower.

Carnival craziness should have been his birthday theme because it was definitely chaos. My family and I went a little overboard creating a theme that Cole will not even remember.  Our house was complete with a ball pit, big top tent, circus take, and too many banners to count. Cole loved having so many people he knows in one room and was jumping from person to person just being our little ring leader. Happy 1st Birthday!

staying home

Dale and I have an inner battle constantly fighting itself. We love to be on the go all the time but then we complain that we never get to spend time as our little family of 4 (including Rio). We told ourselves that this past weekend we would stay in Raleigh and have a fun filled family day.

On Friday by wonderful sister said that some random person at work gave her NC State basketball tickets because she "helped him so much." Ana knew that her secret ticket giver was married and worked in IT and that was about it. I was pretty touched that there is still good in this world and random acts of kindness. Pass it on. Cole went to his first NC State basketball game and did not hate it. Cole sometimes is a ticking time bomb and cries at things he used to love just when we think we had him figured out. Cole enjoyed sitting on our laps and his eyes were fixed on the basketball players. Dale and I were so proud of our little man for staying awake for a 7:00pm game.

On Saturday we got stuck driving around for about an hour exploring Raleigh because Cole fell asleep in the car and we do not mess with a sleeping baby. We ended up in Durham because I wanted to check out the new West Elm at Southpoint Mall. I absolutely love Durham. I feel like I am back home in NoDa when I am in Durham because it is a perfect atmosphere mix of hipster and a little shady. I like the fun shops and being able to walk to restaurants People just seem happy in Durham. We walked around the mall for a couple hours and Cole enjoyed people watching. There was a guy playing his guitar at the outdoor part of the mall and Cole strained his neck for as long as possible to see him. Our little guy just loves music; he gets it from his Uncle Jonathan obviously. Saturday night we went over to Cole's cousins' house for a little sleepover. We watched Erin and Anna while Gina and Bob went out on a hot hot date. I was in heaven playing dress up with the girls while Dale corralled Cole away from sharp edges and toys with little pieces.

On Sunday we met some of my family in Greensboro for a little birthday celebration. The weather was AMA-zing and we sat outside and went on a walk. Ana made the best brownies ever with oreos in the middle and I am still savoring the leftovers. Cole was kind of a hot mess while we were in Greensboro because he had only had about a 10 minute snooze in the car from Raleigh to Greensboro. Dale and I had to build a wall with our bodies and let Cole flop around and cry on the bed until he finally fell asleep when he landed on Mommy after one good fall. Cole had his first official nap without any kind of baby protective device; we put him on the dog's old (clean) bed on the floor. Our options were very limited but Cole did great and we all rolled with the punches.