Elmo and V-day Crafts

I took the next week off plus the last three days to be home since JD has finals. I have been trying to make crafts with things I already have or with inexpensive things since we are poor college students. This project I made from scraps of fabric I already had. I just made a heart out of a hanger then tied a bunch of scraps of fabric and ribbon on it. I like how it turned out.

This was a project I saw on Pinterest and had a frame I could use and just got a little fabric that altogether only cost me $1.69. I also liked how this one turned out. So now I pretty much have my Valentines crafts done and it isn't even February... I think I just get a little excited for holidays!

Cami has a thing for Elmo. She loves watching Elmo and brings her Elmo in the car pretty much everywhere we go now. She was finishing Elmo's world and went and dug her Elmo pj's out of her laundry basket since she has already worn them twice this week and keeps trying to wear them again. She frequently digs in her laundry basket looking for "mo'mo". Her hair is getting longer, but she mostly refuses to let me do it and pulls out headbands and flowers, so some days I will admit I just don't try beyond brushing it out.

This week was altogether a little hectic. I worked two week days which I don't normally do because I don't get a lot of sleep, but JD came home early one day and stayed later another so it wasn't bad. The rest of the week we went to story time, the museum, playgroup, shopping, and the zoo so we were busy. Plus I have been trying to deep clean our apartment and do some crafting. JD took his first final of this quarter this morning and has had to study all day for his final on Monday and is pretty burned out, poor guy! This next week I will be great, but JD could sure use some prayers for his finals. He has three and they are all brutal. 

Parks, Crafting, and Twirling

Check out this crazy snake we saw at the zoo the other day!

Cami and I had some fun at the park this past week. Since we were by ourselves because it was a tad cold out, I snapped a few pictures. Cami loves the park and is pretty good about going down even big slides by herself as long as there isn't a lip at the top.

I love this one. Cami is such a happy smiley baby. I am pretty sure her favorite activity is being tickled and rough housing.

I saw an idea on pinterest for a DIY carmera bag so I found this scrapbooker bag at Hobby Lobby for half off and bought some foam and used some fabric scraps to make...

This!

I like it because it is easier to tote then my previous bulky camera bag and it has room to put an extra lens (when I have one someday) and flash (also when I have one someday :) and it has pockets for my keys and phone and wallet!

We have enjoyed wonderful spurts of warm weather that we took advantage of by going to the zoo. I am loving having days we can play outside in January. As much as I miss our family I DO NOT miss the cold winters.

Checking out the alligator.

Cami loves listening to music and she was excited to wear her tutu and do some twirling to Pandora- Disney music on my ipod!

Lettuce!

I had a post earlier about failed gardening, I checked out some books from the library and I think I diagnosed my problem and am prepared to do better. Against all odds however, over Christmas break, one of the lettuce plants I had planted and then since it hadn't come up, consequently ignored, sprouted. Since it was doing so well on it's own, I left it to grow by it's self and here is a picture of it. JD is busy with school, but we found time this past weekend to go on a little bike ride by Hewitt park. We have had some beautiful weather off and on, the only thing that is tricky is how unpredictable the weather is, one day it is 72 and one day it is in the 40's. I try to take advantage of the warmer days and hit up the zoo or the park since Cami is such a little ball of energy. She is learning new words all the time and yesterday said "bye bye dadda" clear as a bell. It was so funny and caught JD and I both off guard.

18 Months!

Cami is now 18 months which means nursery!!!! It was wonderful on Sunday to take her to nursery and get to pay attention again to church. I am so grateful for the wonderful nursery leaders in our ward. Cami seemed like she liked it so I am very happy! Cami is now 21 lbs 9 oz and is 31 in long! She is always so full of energy and it seems like she is learning new words everyday and is "talking" so much. I can't understand a good portion of what she says but she seems to and it has more purpose then her previous babble. She is getting better about waving and saying bye bye and she is still into whatever she can get into. She really loves Elmo at present and claps and jumps and says "mo" which is her word for Elmo, when we let her watch Sesame Street. It is a fun stage because she is learning things so quickly and is so interested in everything around her. At the same time it is also frustrating at times when she throws fits, but lately she has been a little better and quite frankly I think it is partly because I changed my attitude and decided to ignore her when she throws fits instead of giving her positive feedback. Besides that JD is getting ready for finals in a couple weeks and I just work and hang out with the little pea.

Cami let me paint her toes and I love it! She was so fascinated by the color!

JD and I made Cami this chair. We got the plans here.

These are Cami's 18 month pictures I took. I think they turned out well considering she did not take a nap that day.

I just love her sweet smile!

I do get her to wear her tutu occasionally. She loves to twirl and twirl. It is so cute!

Yay for bubbles...it was too windy to actually get pictures of the bubbles and I was a tad disappointed, I will have to figure it out someday.

This was after the peek-a-boo game. She loves this game and frequently brings blankets to me to play with her.

Christmas with the Egberts

We decided to have a cake decorating activity and these are the final results... I know we are pros, but keep in mind that this is the first time we worked with fondant and it is homemade!

Nicole's

Mine

Nana Egbert's

Jackson helping in the kitchen.

Cami on "Christmas" with the Egberts! Santa came early for us this year!

Katie with her sock.

Jenna and Jackson and Bailey is the dog.

Cami with her sock.

JD with his favorite present, I am sure. I have never seen anyone go through as much chapstick as he does...not that I am to blame at all with that...

Katie trying her hand at unwrapping.

Cami loved unwrapping so much she wanted to help everyone else.

I think the Elmo from Nana and Grandpa was her very favorite!

JD got a book and it was a bit of a struggle to pull him away.

I know this is blurry, but I loved it anyway! This is the Christmas Eve party with the Shively family. We had some snacks and played volleyball and just caught up with family!

Christmas with the Redd's

Christmas morning and Cami got to sleep in!

I love JD's face in this one.

After church Cami got to see her presents and look in her sock. She loves pulling stuff out of her sock.

I made some of the presents we gave this year and it was lots of work, but helped me get in the Spirit of Christmas and save some money too.

We had a nice dinner with the Burtons on Christmas.

Anna got some balloons for Christmas and Cami loved the flowers she made.