Me Sew Crazy

So I mentioned that I'd taking up sewing as a hobby, didn't I? I started out wanting to make some furnishings for Tullys room ( which I posted about here : http://www.amywellsblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/a-crafty-promise.html ). Then when I was finished her room my darling Flynn asked if I would make him something, so I made him a bunting to go above his bed aswell, with his name on it in nice, bright, boy-flavoured fabric. But what to do with the left overs?

I thought - hell a little baby skirt couldn't be too hard, could it? So I thought on it a while, cruised the net for some tutorials and then gave it a go.... and this is what I came up with:

That's my adorable little pumpkin modelling the very first skirt I made her! ( I hand sewed the headband too ). The fit was a little snug but only because I didn't have quite the width of fabric that would have been suitable but I was stoked with how cute it looked, and how easy it was to make. So I made another one, in a different fabric with a bit more room for those bunched up baby legs.... and I think Tully liked it:

Woo hoo, cutie petutie! It was a much better fit and got her a few compliments the day she wore it, which has given me the confidence to try a bit more. So far I've tried a " pillowcase" dress - the first one was a bit snug so I redrew my pattern a bit bigger and made another one ( photos to come on a day that's warm enough to wear it ) and have bought fabric to try a simple pinafore style dress and some PJs for Flynn.

Maybe sewing/dressmaking is a bit old fashioned - its certainly not as hipster trendy as knitting! - but for right now its fulfilling a "creative " side of me I had forgot existed....

Second Time Around

I dont want to sound boastful or anything but I'm finding this mothering gig a whole lot easier this second time around. Sure it still has its trials and a whole different set of issues that go along with having a toddler and a baby at home together.... but for the most part I'm much less stressed, more ' go with the flow ' than I was with Flynn.

Mummy's cheeky girl!

I was never one of those expectant mums who read every.single.baby manual on the shelves - in fact, I didn't read any at all. I trusted that my maternal instinct and advice from family, friends and health professionals would get me through. Long time readers of this blog would know I had major sleep issues with Flynn, but other than ( pretty damn big and important ) part he was a pretty cruisy baby. He was a big eater though, feeding pretty much every two hours all day til solids were introduced, so one thing we never really had was a routine or any type of predictable schedule.

That's where things are different this go round I think - Miss Tully and I have settled into a great little routine and I think that's what making me so much more relaxed. And what's even better is it hasn't been forced... Tully has just kind of developed her own little thing and I've just gone with it. And it works for us. Cluster feed fr a couple of hours in the morning, little nap; lunchtime feed, big nap; cluster feed in the evening and then 8 or 9 hours sleep through the night, big feed and then back to sleep until breakfast!

 Sure, sometimes she has a funny day and everything goes out of whack, but most days Tully is predictable enough that I fid I have  time....one-on-one time with Flynn, time for ( almost ) keeping my house clean, time in the evening for being with my husband. But, most importantly, I can sneak in a bit if time for myself. I've even started sewing as a hobby ( more on that later ) and find I can enjoy a quiet drink with a good book in the time between the kids bedtime and mine!

I know things are bound to change but, for new, I think this thing we have going on is pretty close to bliss....

A ( Baby ) Weight-y Issue

I think one thing all new mums struggle with is " Oh.My.God - how am i going to lose all this bloody baby weight?! ". I know, with Flynn, i was really laidback about it, i wasnt overly fussed about dropping all those excess kilos ( truth be told i didnt put on much weight really )... until i saw photos of myself when he was almost 1 year old.  I know they say that breastfeeding is supposed to make you shed all that baby weight you put on but its not entirely true - Flynn breastfeed sooooo much that i was hungry all the time, and i had actually put on more weight after his birth than i did when pregnant with him!

So this time around, i was careful with what i ate. I wasnt on a diet or anything, but i tried to moderate what i ate, instead of eating whole loaves of garlic bread for dinner. ( Yes. That really happened. My craving for garlic bread when pregnant with Flynn was so strong i would eat whole loaves for dinner. Or lunch. I must have been the worlds smelliest pregnant lady ). Anyhoo, so i tried to watch what i ate whilst pregnant and i'm trying to do the same now that Miss Tully has arrived and is breastfeeding like a champ. I am muchly proud to say that i have lost all the weight i had put on with her, and then some - however, though the numbers may be back to what they were, the body shape is not!

However, i digress - my point is, like anything to do with conceiving/being pregnant/new motherhood, its nice to have a bit of help. A few pointers on where to start. Which is what i discovered over at Karimums. I found a great little community, created by the same foundation who run Karitane clinics, which offers pregnancy and parenting advice for everybody - breastfeeding mums, formula feeding mums, mums of babies or toddlers, mums who had natural vaginal births and those who had caesars. Hell, i'm pretty sure, even though its called Kari-mums, they give advice to Kari-dads too! And what i found when exploring this great little online resource was a little infographic on pre-pregnancy nutrition. And who doesnt love an infographic, right?

[Source: Karimums. Real mums. Real expertise. Real support.]

Sure, its aimed at women trying to conceive but i think the principles are pretty sound for every woman, no matter what stage of the parenting game she's up to. I know that i've tried to take heed of its advice since i've read it and it seems to be working. Its keeping my body healthy and the community feel of the Karimum forums may just be keeping me sane and mentally healthy too!
( * Disclaimer - this post was prompted by an email from a media company. I have visited the aformentioned site/trialled aforementioned products. Any views/opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own )

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By God - I Think He's Got It!

So, after having tried on and off since his 2nd birthday back in December, i think my son may finally have got the hang of this whole " potty training " thing.

Waiting for a steam train ride with Daddy and Pop, back on Fathers Day

I'm not gonna lie - he had me soooooooooo damn frusturated. He was able to tell us when he had set or dirtied his nappy, and was always wanting to come to the bathroom with us so he could " watch " - both signs of being ready to toilet train - but he would scream bloody murder if we even tried putting him near the potty. I started out last summer putting him in undies and taking him to the potty every hour or so, but he'd just cry and scream and then wee on the floor. We gave it a month or two, let him continue in his nappies and tried again.... same thing. Cry, scream, wee in his pants. Winter set in and that was the end of potty training, i wasnt even going to bother trying in the cold weather.

Then, along came Miss Tully and with her the idea that i now had 2 kidlets in nappies. Umm.... no. No, i just wasnt going to go along with that. So, a few weeks ago, i took Flynn aside and explained to him that Tully was the baby of the house wearing nappies, and he was the big boy.... and as we all know, big boys wear underpants. Could he try wearing his underpants for me that day? He said yes he could and, the rest my friends, is toilet training heaven. He's been in undies all day, everyday, for the past 3 weeks with only half a dozen accidents. At first we took him and got him to " try " and when he did a successful wee in the potty I gave him a sticker for his chart. Within 3 days he was going into the bathroom and going on his own, telling me when he was finished, and asking for his sticker! We also let him put his pull up nappies on at 5pm as i knew he wasnt too keen on using the potty for his #2's yet. However, that has also changed in the past week - we've had successfully #2's on the potty everyday for 6 days... which means Flynn is now only wearing a pull up exclusively for night time sleep.

I couldnt be prouder - or more amazed at how he just, one day, " got it ". Everyone told me he'd come to it in his own time, that one day it would just click, but i didnt expect to literally be one. single.day. One day he was in nappies, refusing to even look at his potty, the next he was agreeing to underpants and going like a boss! Guess it just means my baby boy is growing up into a little man - sweet big brother, pedalling a tricycle instead of using his feet, on the list for preschool and finally using the potty. I swear its only a tomorrow away and he'll be in kindergarten!

Organization Tips- Special Guest Writer

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may know my special guest as "Nature Girl".  Melissa has FINALLY accepted my invitation to be a guest writer on my blog.  We are all busy and most of us (me included!) need some organizational tips.  Take it away, Nature Girl!

How to Organize (Practically) Anything    

This simple plan will work on anything from a wallet to your basement, but I suggest starting with a small, well defined area and then moving on to more ambitious projects. Grab some boxes and dig in!

Step 1 – Sort

Remove all items from an area and sort them into four categories:

§  Throw Away

§  Keep Here

§  Keep Elsewhere

§  Give Away/Donate

Hint: Before you sort, set some criteria as to what will stay and what will go.  (Do you love it and/or use it? Is it current? Is this really the best place for it?)

Touch each item only once and move through the items fairly quickly.

Step 2 – Group

Evaluate your Keep Here pile and look for categories of similar items. Group the items by size, date, color, where, when or how used, or any other way that makes sense. Sequence or alphabetize the items if appropriate.

            Hint: If there is something in the space that does not seem to have a group, it may be a sign that it doesn’t belong in that area after all.

Step 3 – Put Away

Wash the space if necessary, then put your Keep Here items back into the space in their groups. Try several arrangements until one feels and looks comfortable. Determine now if you need new storage containers or dividers, and decide what size/type would work best. Add labels if needed.

Hint:  Put the items that are most often used in the most accessible locations. When selecting a labeling method, choose something non-permanent so you can make changes as needed.

Finally, move the Throw Away, Keep Elsewhere, and Give Away piles to their new homes. Do this right away.

Enjoy your organized space!

Melissa Berndt 2012

Thank you for sharing, Melissa!  If you have some additional tips or just want to send some bloggy love in her direction, please leave a comment below.

Our Pretty Pumpkin

Did i mention previously that Flynn calls Tully his " pumpkin " ? Just like Daddy does? My boys are so in love with her its not funny! And why wouldnt you be? Turns out our girl, even though everyone mentions how much she looks like her brother, is quite the gorgeous girl, or at least i think so. My good friend Ann Maree from Speaking One Thousand Words Photography ( find her on Facebook! ) took some photos of Tully for us and i have to say our pumpkin does ok in the " photogenic " category....

Isnt she the cutest cross-eyed thing you've ever seen?

Loving her chubba bubba baby rolls...

This is my absolute favourite!

A pretty little flower child

Sleeping soundly - which you can tell she didnt do much of, seeing as the rest of the photos she has her eyes wide open!

A Crafty Promise

So another 3 weeks have passed since my last post. I have had inspiration to write but i wont lie - i just havent had the time. Or had the time at the right time of day, as it were - that is, when Tully is asleep during the day i've been trying to really devote some quality time to playing with Flynn, or reading with him, or even just snuggling up to watch a movie ( you know, like " The Lorax ", which we've watched 7 times in the last week ). Come night time when she's settled in the last thing i'm thinking about is my blog - its more like getting our paperwork for the evening done, a child-free chat with my husband, possibly an icecream or a chocolate biscuit and then snoozeville. But today i'm making a blog post a priority ... i dont want my little space to die, or my few regualr readers to drift away. So here i am! And here is this:

Remember a few months ago, when i still pregnant and i mentioned i was busy sewing some decorations for Tullys room? And i promised i'd show you the finished product when she was born, because it had her name on it and the name was still a super secret? No? Well, here you go anyway!

This is the bunting that is, as you can see, hanging above her cot. I wanted something to be a bit of a feature along the wall, aswell as something bright that she could look at when i need to lie her in there while i go to the bathroom/make lunch/attend to Flynn/whatever. I have to say i'm pretty pleased with it and Flynn just this week told me it looks " amazing " ( which happens to be his new favourite word ). I was pretty chuffed....

And this is the matching quilt cover. The cotton material was suitable for a blanket or even really for summer sheets so i bought a cot quilt insert from Target and knocked the cover up to fit over it. It only took me a few hours one afternoon - i mean, lets face it, its pretty much a few rectangles sewed together with a length of ribbon sewn on to cover the joins and make it look pretty. Still, it looks pretty neat to have it match the bunting ( poor old Flynn never had anything matching ... )!

I also made some " wall art " by sewing together two squares of each material in a checkerboard pattern, stitching a white love heart over very middle, and then stretching it over a canvas and frame ( picked up from Spotlight ). For some reason i musnt have taken a photo of it when i mounted it on the wall and i'm not going in to disturb Tullys nap to take one now, so you'll just have to take my word for how well it turned out and imagine it for yourself :)

And there you be: a post that i promised to make as soon as my daughter was born, and only 7 weeks late!

October Currently....

September completely passed me by.... between work and family, I was a busy girl!  Here is what I'm up to Currently:

Link up with Farley at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade to see what every one is up to this month:

Click HERE
As you can see... the weather has officially changed!  The tree colors are FA.BU.LOUS.  I'm thinking that some fall photos of my littles at school tomorrow may just be in order :)

Stay snuggle-y!

Words Their Way Q & A

As a district representative, I get a lot of questions.  This is our first year of EVERYONE implementing the Words Their Way program.  Here are a few common questions that I've gotten over the last few weeks and since I posted last week:

I inventoried my students and analyzed the data, now what?

Organize your students’ results on a class composite in order to create groups (no more than three groups- recommended number, not required). 

Lower Elementary Example:

In September, a 1st grade teacher grouped her students into three groups: Early/Mid Letter Name, Mid/Late letter Name, and Early Within Word Patterns.

• For her Early/ Mid LS group, she is starting them with the Letter Name Unit 2: Short Vowels in Word Families.
• For her Mid/Late LS group, she is starting them with the Letter Name Unit 3: Digraphs.
• For her Early WWP group, she is starting them with Within Word Patterns Unit 3: Blends.

For students that are…

·    Higher functioning outliers (such as Common Long Vowels group), she is pulling them as an enrichment group for teaching.  She technically has 4 groups, but this group moves slower through the complex patterns.  This is not her first year teaching the program.

·    Lower functioning outliers (none in this class currently), can be blended in with another first grade class group (original plan before students were actually assessed).  You are encouraged to work together as a team in order to best meet your students’ needs.

*This teacher does not give spelling tests, but rather the WTW assessments to ensure proper growth and development.

Do all of my groups need to be on the same schedule?  How do I fit in the closed sort teaching time?

There are a number of ways that you can schedule your time.  There is no perfect fit for everyone.  Some teachers will pull groups during a “literacy station/ center” time or in place of guided reading one day (over the two-week sort cycle).  We have also read where teachers do a staggered start.  It may look like this:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Day 1 Open sort	Day 2 Instruction & closed sort	Day 3 Closed sort with a buddy or individual speed sort	Day 4 Closed sort, speed sort with a buddy, write sentences	Day 5 Word Hunt	Day 6 Game Day	Day 7 Assessment
Day 7 Assessment	Day 1 Open sort	Day 2 Instruction & closed sort	Day 3 Closed sort with a buddy or individual speed sort	Day 4 Closed sort, speed sort with a buddy, write sentences	Day 5 Word Hunt	Day 6 Game Day
Day 6 Game Day	Day 7 Assessment	Day 1 Open sort	Day 2 Instruction & closed sort	Day 3 Closed sort with a buddy or individual speed sort	Day 4 Closed sort, speed sort with a buddy, write sentences	Day 5 Word Hunt

The best advice is to play around with it and see what works for you and your students.

What should we expect parents to do at home?

This may vary by building and/or grade.  Some schools routinely give a certain amount of homework, while others expect reading or work not completed at school to be done at home. This is a teacher/ building decision.  Sorts and supplemental activities can be done at home for extra practice.  The initial open sort and the closed sort teaching must be done in the classroom.  The teacher will be supporting the students through these initial activities.  This is a time where misconceptions/ misdirection can be addressed.  Informal assessments (you may notice a struggling student) are done during this time.  Often, we will do this without noting it because it is part of what we routinely do with other activities (like noticing a hole in a child’s math skills).  The same goes for finding patterns in words.