Wagon and Chairs

I'm thirty-two now.  The last time I blogged I was only 31.  That means...I've had a birthday!  And, if I'm being perfectly honest, it was not a particularly good birthday at all.  We're coming off a weekend full of sick kids and a super sick husband and doctor/ER visits and lots of medicines and me playing nurse, but as of today, I think we've turned a corner and everyone is feeling better!  I may have to demand a do-over for my birthday next weekend.  :)

For my birthday, God gave me a glorious 70 degree sun-shiney day!  I was stuck indoors for most of it but I did get the kids out for about an hour in the evening so that it wasn't a complete waste.  We ventured over to my parents' house so that their Daddy could keep resting, and Mom and I dusted off the wagon to take them for a ride.  

"Are you ready?"  "I'm ready!"  "Let's go!"

This was Thomas's first wagon ride to sit in by himself!  (He rode a couple times last year in his car seat.)  And actually, he didn't sit for the ride at all; he stood the entire time!  It didn't matter how many times I put him down on his bottom, he popped right back up.  He's supposed to wait until he's older to give me heart attacks!  I'm gonna have to invest in helmets just for wagon rides now.

"Everybody HOLD ON!"  Katie Wynn was obsessed with his pants on the ride (??) until she eventually pulled them all the way off him.

Then she worked on trying to get her pink shoes on his feet.  He wouldn't keep his feet still enough for her.  :)

I think the first ride of the year was a big hit!  Can't wait until we can do it more often.  See how much rain water is still standing in Mom's yard?  And we're supposed to get a lot more of it this week.  Ugh, go away winter and rain!  This brief tease of a day has us ready for spring.

When we got home, Katie Wynn pulled out her pink chair to sit in so I pulled out Thomas's too.  Just like the wagon, this was his first time to be able to sit up in it.  I think he liked it...and all of a sudden Katie Wynn looked enormous to me.  (Two-year-olds don't care about what feet their shoes go on...)

I really don't think of Thomas as looking much like Katie Wynn anymore, but their expressions in this picture are so similar that I can still see the resemblance!  

"I hope she shares that ball with me."

These are the last two I was able to snap before Katie Wynn spotted our neighbor dogs coming for a walk.  We had to rush to get them treats to feed them as they passed by our house.  :)

I hope this is the beginning of the end of winter.  Seeing the kids outside together yesterday just gave me a taste of all the fun we're going to have this summer...especially when Thomas starts walking on his own!

Tiny Talkers

Who is ready for another installment of Tiny Talkers?  I wish I could just keep a recorder on Katie Wynn all the time as she says some of the funniest things!  They aren't always a funny phrase, just funny timing or tone of voice.  She is also quite the parrot; she repeats anything I say, especially when I'm talking to Thomas.  That boy is going to grow up thinking he has two mamas!

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Here are some of the words she mispronounces but that we have figured out what she means.

billow - video

vegables - vegetables

applepine - pineapple

glubs - gloves

amimals - animals

drop eyes - eye drops

blade - braid

wipe - white

gwink - drink

mackinroni - macaroni or mac-n-cheese

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And here are some memorable conversations or one-liners.

After me showing her Poppy's newly tiled shower - 
KW: Oh, how neat for him!

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door (we're working on privacy).  She immediately opened the door and stuck her head in...
KW: You ok in d'ere, Mama?

We have talked about "goopy" eyes several times when she and Thomas have been sick.  Lolli is a maltipoo so she always has watery eyes and tear stain.  
KW: Holly have goofy eyes!  Holly have goofy eyes!  She need drop eyes!

After Charlie (the dog) ate a paci - 
KW: Charlie need spankin'.  He bad boy.

She can often be overheard saying these things to Thomas - 
KW: You ok, Thomas.  You ok.
KW: Don't cwy Thomas.  I wight here.
KW: It ok, Thomas.  Mama be wight back.

After Matt sings one word of a song - 
KW: Don't sing, Daddy.

To Poppy, as he tried to pull her into his lap - 
KW: I can't sit down, I poopy.

In reference to what hangs over each of their cribs (hers here, his here) - 
KW: I have letters, Thomath have goldfish.

When she wants someone to play with - 
KW: Thomas a big boy!
When she doesn't want to share - 
KW: Thomas a baby; he too little.

When Thomas gets picked up by one of us for some reason - 
KW: No!  I want Thomas crawl! 

If Thomas accidentally "hurts" her while playing - 
KW: Thomas need say he sowwy!

Her response to pretty much anything I say ("Let's get dressed!" "Time for a bath!" "Your dinner's ready!") - 
KW: Two more minutes!

Anytime she has my cellphone, she scrolls through the photo album and mutters to herself the name of every person (or thing) in every picture - 
KW: thomas-thomas-thomas-katie wynn and thomas-katie wynn-katie wynn-shirt-shirt-shirt-shirt-shirt-thomas-daddy thomas-daddy thomas-katie wynn-holly-shirt-shirt-thomas-thomas-thomas-katie wynn-katie wynn-thomas-katie wynn and thomas-shirt-shirt-thomas...
And so on!

Mimi: Do you have on shoo-shoo pants?
KW: I tryin'!

Lately, she has wanted to "blade" my hair at night while we read stories.  I really wish I could record the things she says as she brushes it and pulls it back into a ponytail. She obviously hears what I say to her!  I hear things like...
KW: You got tangles.
KW: 'tay 'till.  (Stay still.)
KW: You want Anna blade?
KW: I cuhl (curl) you hair.  Don't touch it, it hot.  Let it cool.
KW: Now you so pitty (pretty), Mama.
One night I let her watch me french braid my hair and she responded with - 
KW: Ooh wee!  Good job, Mama, doo'n it you-self!

Matt: Thomas is my son.
KW: No, Thomath my son, he you bruddah. (brother)

After stealing a toy away from Thomas - 
Me: Did you just take that away from him?
KW: He sharin'.

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She can also somewhat count (often skipping numbers) and recite her nighttime prayer.  She can sing her meal time prayer and also Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, High High, This Little Light of Mine, and sort of her ABCs.  Oh, and the birthday song - we sing that one a lot!

We love hearing all of these new words, even if it does mean she sometimes uses them to be bossy!  Of all the words she uses, we encourage please, thank you, sorry, and I love you the most.  If we can get those in regular rotation, surely she'll turn out ok.  :)

Snow Day!

Thursday we had a for real SNOW day!  Not a fake snow day where it's really just frozen ice everywhere, but a real, fluffy white, powdery snow day!  It was exciting to see for once.  The weathermen predicted a significant amount of snow and, though I was doubtful, they were right!

View of our front porch and front steps.  If you look closely, you can see the snowman from my front door buried down there.

Our back porch - I loved the way the snow settled on our herringbone bricks!

Snowflakes stuck to our window!

Snow built up on our windowsill. 

After thirty minutes of rounding up coats and gloves and boots and hats, we managed to all get outside.  Please don't mistake my excitement over the snow day to mean anyone was excited about playing in the snow.  Thomas obviously was too little to care and Katie Wynn was too terrified to be put down in it.  I was just excited for us all to spend the day together!

The kids were so bundled up I'm not sure that they could actually move.

We stood at the edge of the garage and used our new selfie stick to take pictures with all of us in it.  What would we have done without the selfie stick??  (Please note the bow on T's gloves...he had to borrow some from Sister.)

Lolli was not so sure about all the snow.  She hesitated before following us out into it.

We walked out into the yard but like I said earlier, Katie Wynn had no desire to touch the snow.

More selfie stick photos!

And that was it for this family and the snow!  We rushed inside to get warm.

I had watched this video a while ago and since we were stuck at home with nowhere to go, I decided to give those curls a try!  Here are before, during, and after photos of my 'do.  And I am horrible at selfies.  Overall I suppose it worked...I definitely had curls!  Some pieces did better than others though...maybe it would look better after more practice.

Katie Wynn turned her gloves into socks.

I took these pictures while she was talking to Lala and Poppa on facetime.  I love her little profile!

I made a batch of sugar cookie dough while Katie Wynn napped, so when she woke up it was ready to be rolled out and cut with cookie cutters.  She loved it and was a great little helper!

It is so hard for little people to understand that cookies have to be cooked and then cool before we can decorate them!

When it was finally time, I spread the icing ("glue") and then she did the colored sugar ("glitter").  It was all worth the crunchy, sugary mess I had to clean up!

We made a full batch of colorful hearts, stars, airplanes, and of course, snowmen!

After dinner (and dessert!) we all sat by the fire before bath time.  We tried out the selfie stick one more time!

Little Miss "I Do It!" begged to use the selfie stick herself and it didn't take her long to figure it out.  She's way too young for this, right?

Now that we've had our one real snow day, it's A-ok for spring to come.  I think we're all sick of this cold weather!

February Phone Pics

Time for the roundup of all the pictures I have on my phone from the month of February.  As usual, there are lots of them!

It's funny that these silly photos are the first ones in the lineup because she's wearing this same outfit again today.  :)  She loves her "best."  (vest)

My dad is on the school board for the school in our town, which means he has school pictures made every year for the yearbook.  And every year they send him a whole envelope full of prints that just get thrown into a cabinet.  Why would he want all of those pictures??  Katie Wynn found them recently and walked around carrying "her Poppys."  We had to cut one off for her to take home with us.

February was the month we introduced the kids to the "big bathtub."  We offer it up when a certain two-year-old isn't very excited about bath time; she loves getting to play in the big bathtub!

I'm pretty sure those bathtub pictures are the reason my blog is blocked for "porn" at my office.  I have some really cute naked booty pics of them leaning over the tub waiting to get in, but I guess I'll keep them to myself due to the nudity.  

Thomas is on the move all the time.  I've caught him inside the wet shower a couple times and every day he pushes all of the little chairs across the kitchen floor.

One cold day called for some piano playing, coloring, and napping with gloves on!

Two of Katie Wynn's favorite things to do in the car are taking off her shoes and socks and wearing her sunglasses.  She'll say, "It too bwight on my eyes.  My glasses make me see bedd-uh." 

Valentine's week meant hearty outfits for the whole week!

Here's a fun side-by-side comparison from last year.  Red and white polka dots and hearts for two years in a row!

For her school Valentine's, Katie Wynn and I strung cheerios onto pipe cleaners to make heart-shaped bird feeders.  They had a note that said "Love is for the birds" because when you're two, it kinda is, right?

We visited Poppy at work during Valentine's week and he insisted on carrying both kiddos around his whole office to show them off, even with his broken knee cap!  Thomas makes a pretty cute Chief Credit Officer, don't you think?

Katie Wynn came home from school on Friday the 13th in her backup outfit.  I asked what happened to her heart dress and she said "I made mess. I spill my juice."  She hasn't had her clothes changed at school in months, go figure this happened on party day!  She came home with lots of goodies from her buddies.

Cupid brought a present for everyone on Valentine's Day!  Or they were from Santa Claus, according to K-dub.  Either way, there was a present-opening party in bed bright and early.  And then Daddy and Thomas crashed for an early morning nap.

February was also the month that we discovered Katie Wynn's hair is long enough for braids!  Or, "Anna blades" as Katie Wynn calls them.  :)

Mimi (my mom) plays the piano at church and so Katie Wynn plays the piano at her house.  She turns the pages in her hymnal just like Mimi.

The week after Valentine's Day, Katie Wynn got to visit her Lala and Poppa (Matt's parents)!  Matt just so happened to be traveling there that week for work and since he was going to be staying at their house and she had been wanting to see her, we thought, "Why not let her tag along?"  She had a blast!  They weren't supposed to leave until early Monday morning, but with bad weather moving in, they decided to get on the road right after church on Sunday.  Matt said she was an excellent passenger.  I'm sure it helped that most of the ride was during her normal nap time.  :)  It was late when they arrived and from what I understand, Katie Wynn wasted no time telling her Lala that she wanted TWO pieces of french toast in the morning.

While there, she bundled up and helped Lala hang their heart-shaped bird feeder for the birds.  She also went out to eat with her Daddy and Aunt Jill and cousin Nathan, and slept in a BIG GIRL bed!

She also got to visit with Granddaddy and play at his apartment, which I know was special for both him and her.  When I asked her if she had fun playing with Granddaddy, she smiled and said, "He kissed me on my cheek!"

Lala and Poppa also took Katie Wynn to their local library and she had so much fun that they took her back the next day!

I think my little girl was so sad to leave and come home!  She has already asked to go back multiple times.  Seeing me didn't cheer her up much, but getting to bring Thomas the hat that Lala made for him made her happy!  I know he was so glad she was home!

I took the picture of Thomas at the window right after Matt and KW left for a few days.  Maybe he somehow knew they'd be gone for a while?  While they were gone, we got iced in over at my parents' house.  It was nice to have extra hands to help take care of him.  The downside, though, was that Charlie the dog was a bit of a paci thief!  He would snatch them up the second they hit the floor and immediately rip the plastic tip off.  I had 4 pacis over there with me and we were down to the last one by the time we left!

When Katie Wynn got home, I loaded her up and took her to Tractor Supply to see the baby ducks and chicks!  I was so sad that we couldn't actually pet them.  

We spent one weekend playing with sponge rollers.  She loved them that weekend but I haven't been able to put them back in since.  

The sponge rollers worked because she was definitely Curly Sue the next morning!  I wish I had gotten a picture of her in her Sunday dress because she looked precious.  It was hard for me to get a picture period because she wouldn't stay still.

After her nap, the flattened curls got swept back into a ponytail that was equally as cute.  She helped Mimi make brownies!

I think I have way too many pictures of my kids in my bathroom, but we apparently spend a lot of time in there!  They say "pick your battles" and on this school morning, I was not going to battle over that extra headband.

When Dad's giving baths, someone might end up with a mustache...

When my little blond hair, blue-eyed cutie has on these pale blue pjs, I tell you he can do no wrong!

We let them jump around in Thomas's bed one night and then they both had excellent nights of sleep.  Now we let them jump in the bed any night they want to! 

We ended the month by visiting the baby ducks and chicks one more time, but this time we took Addi Clare with us.  Someone should tell Tractor Supply that 2-year-olds can't read signs.  

Addi Clare joined us for lunch that day too.

My March pictures are already piling up so they should make for another long post next month too!

Mint Tulip

Well, I promised more info on our new business, and here it is!  

Like I said in my last post, Mom has been embroidering things for about ten years now, and I've been pretty hooked on it for the last two.  She tried to get me interested in it for years but the interest just wasn't ever there until after I had Katie Wynn.  Then I wanted to be able to make cute clothes for her all the time!  Mom taught me the basics, I googled tutorials and watched YouTube videos, and I've monogrammed everything since.  :)

We began seriously talking about getting a bigger machine after Thomas was born.  Mom had already upgraded machines once (or twice?) over the years but now we were talking about a real upgrade - moving up from a single needle to a multi-needle, which is a pretty big deal in the embroidery world.  After lots of talking and dreaming about it, we finally pulled the trigger in late October and our new machine arrived on Halloween!  

These machines aren't exactly what I'd call cheap - there's now a monthly payment that needs to be met - so we threw around the idea of starting a business to help offset our expenses.  It was late in the year so our decision was to spend the rest of the year taking orders from friends while learning the machine and then officially open for business in the new year.  And that's where we are now!

We did a lot of brainstorming before settling on our name, Mint Tulip.  Mom was stuck on using "tulip" somehow since they're a favorite flower of both of ours.  Tulip Lane was a runner up name.  I liked Mint Tulip because of the play off Mint Julep and that it was catchy and flowed well.  We wanted a name that was generic and not embroidery specific in case our business ever grows into something bigger (I have big dreams - but that's a post for another day!).  We'll drop the "Custom Embroidery" tagline if those dreams ever come true.  :)

Our logo (above) was designed by Matt Washburn.  He's the best. 

In January, we got busy making things official - finalizing the logo, opening a bank account, registering our business.  We formed a joint partnership...I really hope Mom doesn't try to screw me.  :)

Because the machine weighs 90+ pounds (!!), we've set up shop upstairs in my old bedroom.  We used to just work in Mom's kitchen but this thing needed a permanent home - it's way too heavy to get out and put away every day!  Right now, the bed is still set up in the room but we have plans to move it to the playroom and bring all the toys into our new sewing room...the kids always want to be in the same room with us anyway so it'll work out perfectly.  Most days, if I'm not sewing with a kid in my lap, then I'm having to share my chair with the dog!

I'm happy to say that just a couple months in, we've already had quite a few orders!  Of course, we'd welcome even more business.  I have created an Instagram account to advertise and have just posted picture on my Facebook page.  I haven't created our own Facebook page yet because, to be honest, I'm kinda scared.  I'm so nervous to put myself out there for criticism.  It seems safer when I stick to just local friends and family members!  I'm sure at some point a page will be created, and maybe even a website (I know which designer I'll hit up!), but for now I'll just keep posting pictures on Instagram and hoping for more followers.  (Follow us: @mint__tulip!)

Scroll through the gallery below to see some examples of things we've already done.  We are loving our new machine and how much faster we are able to crank designs out!

I can't decide if my kids now have more or less personalized clothing than before.  On the one hand, I don't have as much time since I'm fulfilling orders for others, but on the other hand, I like to try out new designs on them first to make sure they look ok.  It's probably safe to continue calling Katie Wynn my little "walking monogram" for a little while longer.  She loves modeling the clothes that her Mama and Mimi make for her.  :)

Two-ish months in, I'd say our biggest struggle is actually charging for our services!  We are so used to just doing things for fun for friends that it's hard create invoices.  Of course, we're business-minded enough to know that not charging our customers does not a successful business make, so we'll have to work on this.

Our timing for starting this adventure is not necessarily the best, either.  It's a pretty saturated market...everyone is getting their hands on embroidery machines of their own.  So we're trying to do what we can to set ourselves apart.  Obviously Mom's sewing skills come in handy but she's not necessarily itching to sit behind the sewing machine working for other people every day.  We're scouring the web looking for wholesale vendors we can buy from to offer unique products to our customers.  Like I said, it's all very exciting but nerve-wracking too!  

So that's the new biz.  If you need anything personalized - clothes, towels, bags, handkerchiefs, hats, koozies, swimsuits, shoes, whatever! - please let us know.  We'd be happy to do something for you! :)