DIY Toddler Busy Bags

After getting together with some friends, here are the busy bags we made. I am not going to give tutorials for making each one because there are already so many tutorials you can find online. I will just post pictures and briefly explain. These are for a variety of skill levels, so Cambry may not be able to do some of these for a while.

1. Felt Clothes Line - They hang the cut out felt clothes on the clothesline. You could tie the line between 2 chairs if you wanted to hang it up.

2. Pom Pom Push - They push little pom poms through holes in a container. Cambry loves this one.

3. Picture Matching - They match the two halves of the animal picture

4. Velcro Craft Sticks - They can make letters, shapes, designs, etc 

5. Ice Cream Match - They match the colored ice cream scoop with the cone and the color name

6. Object Matching - They place the matching object on the index card

7. Magnetic Pom Poms - They put the activity sheet on a cookie sheet and place the magnetic pom poms on the circles. (Note: This one wasn't working...maybe need to buy stronger magnets?)

8. Spoon Match - They match the upper and lower case letters together. It is hard to tell from the picture but all the capital letters are written on white spoons and all the lower case letters are written on clear spoons. When they stack the matching letters they can see both.

9. Bean Count - They place the correct number of beans on the foam cards

10. Color Sort - They sort the objects by color into the 4 cups

11. Build-a-Shape - They make the same shape as the one in the top portion of the card using the loose shapes

12. Paint Sample Match - They clip the matching clothespin to the correct color

13. Build-a-Letter - They build the letters of the alphabet by placing the pre-cut pieces in the outlined areas. (The rest of the alphabet is also printed on card stock, just not shown)

14. Craft Stick Puzzle - They arrange the craft sticks to reveal the picture

15. Go Fish - They use the fishing pole with the magnetic bait to catch the fish (Note: I haven't glued the magnets to the fish yet. I may double stack the fish so the magnets are hidden)

For my other 2 activities, please see previous post here.

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 24 Weeks

This week someone asked if I was due soon I said no, October, to which they were soooo shocked and just couldn't believe that I wasn't due very soon. Also, one of the google search terms that brought someone to my blog this week according to blogger stats was "enormous huge baby bump". Haha, thanks guys :)

How Far Along:  24 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Ear of Corn

Maternity Clothes: Yes mostly. I may need to buy another pair of maternity shorts soon.

Movement: Getting stronger and more frequent. So fun to feel! She seems wiggly just like Cambry was.

Sleep: Great. At least one bathroom trip a night though. It also seems like I have so many dreams each night.

Symptoms: Just low energy usually. This may be due to having very low blood pressure though - which I had at my last doctors visit. Also, sometimes by the end of the night my feet start to swell a little. Oh boy. I had completely forgotten about that lovely pregnancy symptom until I started seeing it happen a few weeks ago. Also - restless leg syndrome. I have had this for a while but keep forgetting about it. It really only happens when I lay down in bed at night. Lucky Greg! I just get this irresistable urge to flail my legs all about.

Food Aversions/Cravings: Nothing really this week. I have been loving ice cream lately but that is pretty normal. Although I have been specifically wanting Blue Bell. Not in the mood to put up with Kroger brand right now. Blue bell is just sooo much better. 

Best Moment this Week: The crib we ordered arrived this week! I can't wait to put it together. It seems so unreal that a baby will be in there this fall. I mean, yes we have gone through this before. But somehow it is just impossible to fully grasp the reality of a baby until it actually gets here.

What I miss: Having energy, being able to maneuver easily.

What I am Looking Forward to: Being able to start on the nursery. I say this every week and usually nothing happens. But we actually made some progress last night. We moved out the matress and the desk! Next we need to disasemble the bed frame and try to put it in the attic. Hopefully by next week the room will be cleared out and the crib set up. Maybe...

Goals: Busy bags are done! I have 17 bags for Cambry. I did a busy bag swap with some friends where we all ended up with 15 bags (+ the 2 I already posted about a couple weeks ago). I will post pictures of the 15 bags in one post soon. This week's goal is to buy or order all the fabric needed for the bedding and get it mailed off to be made. Also to finish clearing out the room.

Recipe Review: Chicken Avocado Soup

I pinned this Chicken Avocado Soup recipe a while back and finally made it tonight. I love soup. I thought this was really good. I forgot that Greg had a church meeting tonight where he would get Mission Burrito, so he didn't get to eat it but he did try a bite before he left. He said he really liked it.

I thought it was a bit similar to this soup I made a couple months ago, but I think I like this one better. It was very quick to make. I did the shredded chicken in the crockpot as usual. That takes some planning a few hours ahead, but requires hardly any effort to throw chicken breasts in there and let them cook. The actual making the soup part was very quick and easy. I didn't really do the layering thing the recipe mentioned though. I didn't have extra green onion besides the amount I sautéed in the soup, and I just added my shredded chicken to the soup while it simmered. I did chop up the avocado and add it to the bowl once I served it. I would definitely make this again! It is not a super filling soup, so it may be good to have something else to go with it (salad, bread, etc), but was yummy.

Who Does Cambry Look Like?

Ever since Cambry was born, we have always wondered who she looks like. Both Greg and I have a hard time seeing ourselves in her. When she was a baby everyone told us she looked like Greg. Hardly anyone said she looked like me. As she has gotten older, a few more people have started to say she looks like me, but I think it may only be because we both have blonde hair (although mine is due to highlighting!). Greg's mom thinks he favors his baby pictures and my mom thinks she looks like me as a baby. I found these pictures of me at my parents house this week. At the time I thought I could see Cambry in them. But then I started looking through her pictures looking for similar poses/angles that I could post side by side to mine and all of a sudden I didn't think we looked alike anymore. I feel like she just looks like her own person. I should have taken some pictures of Greg's baby pictures to put on here as well but I will have to do that next time we are in Waco.

I am so curious if this next little girl will look like Greg, me, Cambry, or entirely different. I can't wait to meet her and find out!

By the way, don't you just love my high bangs?? Haha. I give my mom such a hard time about those. I think this may be the reason why I don't want Cambry to have bangs - I am haunted by the high bangs!

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 23 Weeks

One benefit of looking like you are in your third trimester already is being able to freely park in the expectant mother spot at the grocery store :) I think I waitied forever to park there with Cambry. But this time around I am pulling right in.

How Far Along:  23 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Large Mango (I thought we had passed mango...)

Maternity Clothes: Yes mostly, and some regular mixed in too. Lately I have been wearing dresses. I feel a little over dressed when I am just going to the grocery store, library, etc, but dresses are just so much more comfortable than having something tight around the belly.

Movement: Getting stronger and sometimes I can even see it from the outside.

Sleep: Great. At least one bathroom trip a night though. It also seems like I have so many dreams each night.

Symptoms: The usual - a bit tired and sluggish and at times a little nauseous. Also sometimes I feel like I might be having the beginnig of Braxton Hicks. They aren't the full on super tight/hard belly kind I got with Cambry, these are a little more crampy feeling. But I think as I get further along they will turn into the full on Braxton Hicks.

Food Aversions/Cravings: Nothing really this week.

Best Moment this Week: Seeing family in Waco for Fathers Day and Birthdays.

What I miss: Having energy, being able to maneuver easily.

What I am Looking Forward to: Being able to start on the nursery. We still need to clear out the room. Also I need to get the bedding ordered.

Goals: Well I haven't touched Cambry's baby book. So much for last week's goal! That goal is now on hold. This week's goal is to work on busy bag stuff. Also to order a crib. (Actually I typed this out yesterday and last night I ordered a crib, yay!)

Cambry 18 Months

Well this is a couple days late because we have been busy! A year and a half - wow! I feel like 18 months is such a milestone. Do I even count her age in months anymore? My baby is growing up. She is such a sweet adorable toddler.

At her 18 month check up her stats were: Height 33.5 inches (92%), Weight 25.8 lbs (70%), Head 18.75 inches (78%)

Skills: I feel like her vocabulary expanded a lot this month. New words: stuck, bus, bowl, mouse, ride, duck, outside, tv (dt), bird, star, banana (nana), truck, shoes, eye, nose, mouth, and cheese. She now points to my belly and says baby. But then she will also lift up her shirt and say baby. People often ask me if she understands that I am having a baby. No, she has no idea that the baby in my belly is going to come out and live with us permanently. October will be a shock for her!

Likes: Well her newest thing is Wheels on the Bus - the song and the show. She is getting really good at doing the hand motions to the song. I got 2 books about busses from the library today along with a CD of kid songs including Wheels on the Bus! She also has really started asking for tv recently. She starts pointing to the tv and saying dee-tee. She also knows that I always move her small arm chair in front of the tv, so she will start tugging on it and trying to move it herself when she wants to watch a show. I let her watch one show in the afternoon if we are home not doing anything. But sometimes first thing in the morning she starts out asking. She gets frustrated and stomps her feet when I don't let her. She still loves her babies of course, books, and carrying things around the house (hence holding a tube of cortizone cream in all the pictures). She always asks to go on rides. She likes us to push her around in her little car or take her on walks. I haven't been going on many walks recently though because it is just so hot and I already feel so pregnant.

Struggles: Vegetables. I think this may be a struggle for quite some time. We have made some teeny tiny baby steps of improvement (tonight she ate some cucumber...dipped in ranch), but overall she still will not really eat plain veggies. Sharing is also a struggle as I'm sure it is for all kids at this age. Maybe her new sister will help with this...or maybe just make it worse, ha!

Schedule: She usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00. She takes 1 nap a day usually around 1pm. It ranges from 1-2 hours. She will take a little nap in the car if we go anywhere in the morning (which we usually do). She drinks milk when she wakes up, after her nap, and before bed. She eats her 3 meals plus snacks. Bed time is 7:30pm.

She is the sweetest little girl. She can be quiet and shy around new people but at home she just talks non stop. She loves her grandparents and gets so silly when she sees them. We couldn't be more in love.

Toddler Activities

Here are my first 2 busy activities I have made for Cambry. I haven't let her play with these yet because I am saving them until the baby gets here. I found both of these ideas online. The first one just invovles cutting up a pool noodle, numbering the pieces, and letting them string it on a rope. The second is just pieces of felt cut out to make a sea life scene that they can play with and rearrange. Hopefully I will have more to post in the next few weeks.

Speaking of toddler things, Cambry is suddenly obsessed with the Wheels on the Bus. Bus is now her new favorite word. I think she learned it from this flash card app we have. Although she refers to all cars and trucks as busses. She says it constantly when we are driving - bus bus bus. It is pretty cute. So then the other day I found a netflix show called Wheels on the Bus. She LOVED it. And she is very picky about tv shows. Well now she wants us to sing Wheels on the Bus all the time. If we even start singing and then stop after a few verses she will stomp her feet and fuss and sign more. When we sing she will even try to dance and do some hand motions. She tries to sing along by picking up on some key words or sounds. So funny.

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 22 Weeks

How Far Along:  22 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Spaghetti Squash

Maternity Clothes: Yes mostly, and some regular mixed in too.

Movement: Getting stronger and sometimes I can even see it from the outside.

Sleep: Great. At least one bathroom trip a night though. It also seems like I have so many dreams each night.

Symptoms: The usual - a bit tired and sluggish and at times a little nauseous.

Food Aversions/Cravings: Watermelon has been sounding really good lately.

Best Moment this Week: Going to the Metro Moms event with friends. Also, Greg getting home from being out of town a week! Our date night didn't happen though :( There was a mix up on babysitting days so we will have to reschedule sometime soon.

What I miss: Having energy. I think it is a little bit better. There were several days this week and last that I did not nap. I am still taking my workout class 2x a week but the cardio portion is really hard on me.

What I am Looking Forward to: Just getting stuff done and getting ready for baby.

I am going to add a new category - goals. Maybe if I blog about them they will get done!

Goals: Work on Cambry's baby book. I want to have this pretty much done before baby #2 comes. Also, my SIL Jill made me this beautiful scrapbook for Cambry where all I have to do is put a picture in it for each month. I finally printed all her pictures out this week and put them in. I love it! So glad this is done. These are terrible quality pictures but it gives you an idea how cute the book is.

Weekend Review

We had a pretty laid back weekend. Greg had been out of town all week for work and got back late on Friday evening. I got to go to a Metro Moms night out event on Friday. I had been looking forward to this all week! Being pregnant and taking care of a toddler with your hubby gone all week can be pretty tiring so a girls night sounded soooo good. Our neighbor was so sweet to babysit Cambry for the night. I came home with some fun toys from the event. Then afterward Audrey, Liz, and I headed over to Starbucks to hang out and talk. As a SAHM I do get to see my friends quite often, but it is very different to be able to talk and laugh without kiddos around. Although we did talk about our kids a lot - cause that's just what mommas do. We stayed there until about 10:45 - whoa we are wild and crazy ;) Unfortunately I didn't get a pic of the 3 of us, but here is one of Liz and I.

Saturday we didn't do much of anything at all. We got snow cones and went to the park in the afternoon. It was a complete ghost town - no one else in sight. It was pretty overcast (which actually made it feel cool for June!) and then it started sprinkling so we headed home.

That evening we went to dinner at Candelari's with some friends and their little girl who is exactly 1 month older than Cambry. Candelari's is so great because it is very kid friendly. There are always so many families and young kids there.

We didn't do too much on Sunday - just church and relaxing around the house. That evening Greg and I watched a movie and I made homemade starbucks drinks...sort of. Mixed 1 part strong (decaf) coffee with 1 part milk, some chocolate syrup, a little sugar and truvia, then chilled it and poured over ice. I thought it was pretty yummy!

Baby #2 Bumpdate: 21 Weeks

How Far Along:  21 Weeks

Baby's Size:  Carrot. Yes I realize it looks like it should be the size of a watermelon. But apparently only a carrot is in there. Too bad I can't claim twins.

Maternity Clothes: Yep! The belly band (although a great invention) can get annoying so I most often wear my maternity shorts, my stretchy black maxi skirt, or my new stretchy linen pants. On work out days I sometimes stay in my workout clothes the rest of the day. I have never been able to find maternity jeans that I like. But then again it is a bizillion degrees outside (and its only the beginning of June) so I probably wouldn't wear jeans too much anyway.

Movement: A good amount of movement. Nothing you can see from the outside yet, but lots of little wiggles.

Sleep: Great. At least one bathroom trip a night though. It also seems like I have so many dreams each night.

Symptoms: The usual - a bit tired and sluggish. A little nauseous still at times. Feeling bigger by the day for sure! My belly button is pretty much completely flat, maybe even out a little. But then again it never really went back the same way after having Cambry.

Food Aversions/Cravings: Nothing specific lately. I did buy a watermelon this week that was so delicious, but it's not really a craving.

Best Moment this Week: Just spending time with Cambry. I simply adore her and have really been cherishing my days with her. I am so thankful to be a SAHM even though there can be some tough parts. She is just the sweetest thing.

What I miss: Having energy. I still need a nap almost every day.

What I am Looking Forward to: Moms night out on Friday and date night on Saturday! WOO HOO! When is the last time either of those things has happened? FOREVER AGO.

Pool Time

We had fun playing in the backyard today. Cambry splashed around in her little pool. I just love babies in swimsuits. Is there anything cuter?

Her cute little profile with the hair flipping up in the back.

A few other random things about Cambry lately...

Her new favorite word is "stuck". I think she picked up on this because she drinks smoothies a lot in the morning and if there are any chunks that clog the straw she looks at me for help and I say "Is it stuck?". Well now she loves the word and uses it all the time. Things get stuck quite often. If she can't grab a toy or she has trouble getting somthing out or she gets in a tight place she will say stuck! stuck! It cracks me up.

She also really enjoys her Bible stories now! Her Jesus Storybook Bible is pretty wordy (for her age) and we used to have to speed read just to get a paragraph in while she drank her milk at night otherwise she would never sit still for any of it. Now when we put it away she signs more. She also says Bible (although it sounds more like bubble), and will point to ours and say it. It is so much fun to see her learn new things.

On another note, I want to start making some little activites for Cambry (like you see for Busy Bag Swaps) for when the baby comes. I think if I can make 1 every other week or so I will have a good amount by time the baby gets here. I will post those as I get them made/gathered.

Princess Leia

This weekend we went to a friend's Star Wars themed birthday party. The kids could come dressed as their favorite character. I am not a Star Wars fan but had fun dressing up Cambry. I didn't have any costume supplies so Cambry wore a pillowcase with a rope tied around her waist as Princess Leia. And I did sock buns from back in the drill team days. Look it up on Pinterest if you don't know how - makes the perfect bun. Although here hair is pretty thin so you could definitely see the socks. Oh well. So cute.

Later that night we went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Canyon Cafe. Cambry was loving the enchiladas. Then we walked next door and browsed Old Navy. I found some cute white linen pants there. They were not maternity but they had a fold over stretchy waist. Woo hoo! Everyone loves stretchy waist pants. Especially after enchiladas.

Giving Daddy kisses!