Ivy's Birthday, Round Two: Fort Worth Zoo

I had the idea of taking Ivy to the zoo on her actual birthday several days before the actual day. A nice way to celebrate the day. One problem. The forecast was calling for cold, cloudy, and rainy. So we waited and decided to see what the weather would be like closer to the day. On Wednesday, it was cloudy, cool and certainly not raining. We made a go of it. It sure was windy though. And the sun decided to peek out of the clouds several times. It was the perfect day! This was also her first trip to the zoo. Enjoy some photos!

ONE

We have a one year old.
And she's starting to take steps. She's been standing on her own - sometimes needing assistance up, sometimes not. Given enough temptation, she'll take a step or two and then plop right on down.

Ivy's funny in that she shows you she wants you to pick her up, not stand her up. She'll reach her hands up, out, and back like "Don't touch my hands! Grab my armpits!!" Because you know, I can't always reach her in the crib because I'm short and I coax her into standing by taking her hands.

And she freely give hugs and kisses. And sometimes demands them. All up in yo' face and stuff! She's just starting this funny head bob/shake that's just adorable.

And we've gotten to the point at which you cannot leave the room without her following. We have a small bathroom just off the living room and I'll be darned if she's not one to follow me in there. Funny!

Her first party was nice. Low key-ish. Expected more people to join us, but whatever. She had a smash cake that she didn't really dig. She is apparently one to not get messy. Oh my god, I have a girl. I mean, yeah, duh, she's a girl. But she seems to be a girly girl. Likes shoes and money; Doesn't like to get dirty. Oh help me. I'm so not skilled at being all ... girly. I'll figure it out though.

Anyway. Photos.

 

 

Sharing

I'm in a sharing mood. Lack of time and mental capacity has kept me away from writing here.

I'm tired and stressed from work. Did I mention that I now only teach culinary arts? Well, we have had an overwhelming amount of catering "gigs" for a first year pilot program in it's FIRST semester. It's ridiculous. And my supervisor is making me very angry with his barrage of requests and follow ups. HELLO-W... I'm trying to do my job.

ANYWAY... We are gearing up for Ivy's first birthday party. I'm going to make her cake and try my hand at rolling fondant. Can't be too difficult can it? I'm a fan of Cake Boss. I think it's something I can handle. And my crafty side is coming out (yet again) with her invitations. I hope I'll get those done to mail out on Saturday.

I'm angry with my computer. Apparently it's almost full to capacity with images and music. Well, honestly I don't have that many songs on my computer. It's just a ton of photos. And at this moment, I cannot really access any of them for anything!

I made Ivy's Halloween costume - a bumblebee. I really love sewing. If my back could handle it, I'd sew every day. Let's see if I can get a photo:

Everything only took me about 2 hours to make. No pattern. Top and bottom are elasticized. I mean, it was easy. Easier than the patterns at the store. And CUTER. The stinger is stuffed. The wings were rolled hem. And the whole thing did what we wanted it to, without being stuffed and hot. It's a shame though that Ivy wouldn't leave the headband alone.

I'm very thankful that I grew up learning how to sew from my Mom (Thank you Momma!). She made clothes for me for a while and I watched her all the time. I started off hand sewing. And someone (Mommy??) gave me a sewing machine for Christmas one year (2003 I think??). I prefer to sew quilts because straight lines are (obviously) easier. But I can make clothes. I've made a skirt and so many pajama pants... on top of the quilts I've made. I guess it's in my genes because both of my grandma's were sewers ( if I'm not mistaken). I hope Ivy takes to it and enjoys it too when her time comes. Psht... when I took my class at TWU, I was the only home economics major among fashion majors taking the first fashion designing class and my professor deemed me the best in the class.

What was my point? Oh yeah. Hello! Nice to see ya again!

Anyway, what was my point? Probably nothing.