Elmo Pumpkin

Last year we started the tradition of taking Maddox to the pumpkin patch and eating at a local Mexican restaurant with our family.  (I guess I can start calling it a tradition since we have done it two years in a row!)

Here is this year's pumpkin...

(Before)

(After!)

We decided to go with the Elmo pumpkin since Maddox has taken a liking to Sesame Street.  "Melmo" was actually one of his first ten words.  He seems to be on a Super Grover kick right now (or "Bober" as he calls him), but we decided to go with Elmo since it is easier to recognize.

I started the process with an easy Pinterest search which led me to Pin this website: Zombie Pumpkin.

I printed out the Elmo template, but I wasn't sure how I was going to use it until I actually started working.  The first thing we did was cut off the top.  I remembered seeing this Pin about a better way to cut the lid off a pumpkin.  You can see from this picture that instead of cutting a perfect circle we also cut an additional flap in the back.

This made it easier to empty the pumpkin.  (And it eventually made it easier to place and light the candle.)

I enlisted help from Maddox to clean out our pumpkin, but you can see from these next few pictures that he was absolutely disgusted and his total participation lasted about 20 seconds.

Once it was cleaned out and Maddox was happily playing (far away from the icky pumpkin) with Grandma I figured out how I was going to use the template.  I taped it on and then used a pair of scissors to mark the outline of the template.

I did not cut all of the way through the pumpkin.  I was just marking the template.  You can vaguely see the outline of the face in this next picture.

After the template was marked I went in with my sharpest knife and cut out the pieces.

Konrad got a picture of us all working on the pumpkins.  My brother and his girlfriend did a pumpkin with an owl on a branch.  You can tell from the picture that Maddox has recently taken up climbing.

Here I am making my final cuts.  That last eye was tricky since the area between the eyes and nose got very thin.

I think it turned out pretty good!  In fact, this morning when  I put Maddox in his high chair to eat his breakfast he spotted the pumpkin, pointed to it, and shouted out "Melmo!"

Documenting Baby: Part 2

Sorry for the delay on this Part 2!  Our camera got fogged up on a recent trip to Florida and still isn't working.  The good news is we now have a new Nikon D5100 :)  So, I can now take much better pictures for the blog and I can "document baby" even better!

My last post highlighted the photo books that I have made for Maddox.  If you read that post and were wondering I did make a decision about what to do for photo books in the future.  I plan to make a family yearbook starting each year on Maddox's birthday.  That means we are already four months into this "year" so I better hurry and start our 2012-2013 book!

Post #2 is pretty simple stuff that most people already do in some way, shape, or form.  I would consider myself the opposite of a hoarder and I like to keep a minimum amount of unnecessary stuff.  If you are like me this post will hopefully give you some ideas of how to cherish memories without excessive clutter!

In June we had a wonderful birthday party for Maddox.  So many people showed up and he got a ton of wonderful gifts.  With those gifts came a ton of adorable cards.  I didn't want to throw them away, but I thought if I just threw them into his baby box it would be a mess.  Then I remembered a Pin that I saw about how to store Christmas Cards.  I did not actually pin that Pin and can't find it today, but it was just a simple idea about punching a whole through each of the cards and then hanging them on an index card ring.

I added a few other things that I thought would make for a good birthday keepsake.  You will see that the top card is actually the invitation from his birthday and I added a little curling ribbon from his party supplies.

 

I also printed some of the pictures from his first birthday shoot and the actual party.

 

Then a TON of birthday cards from loving friends and family!!

Now I can't really credit this second idea to Pinterest.  I actually have to credit it to one of the Guided reading books in the leveled library at my old school.  I remember reading it with a group of kids the year I was pregnant with Maddox.  I don't remember the title, but it was basically a book about a kid going through a keepsake box from his childhood.  I know that keeping things in a box is not a new idea, but I am trying my best to carefully select what I put in this box so that I can keep as much as possible without overdoing it.

Here's a look into Maddox's closet.  The bottom box is for clothes and shoes he outgrows (this is the third box! the other two are in another closet).  The top box is the keepsake box and the book on top of it is his baby book that I mentioned in Part 1.  I used to keep the baby book inside of the keepsake box, but at the rate his teeth are popping in I just needed it out for easy access :)

Here is a look inside the keepsake box. 

The box is getting really full thanks to the newspapers that Uncle Michael picked up the day Maddox was born and on his first birthday.  Eventually I will have to only save the front pages of each paper, but for now they all fit so I will keep them all!

The above picture is the outfit that Maddox wore on his way home from the hospital.  The below picture is the shirt that Konrad was wearing on the day that Maddox was born.  We put it on Maddox and took some pictures on his first birthday and plan to do the same thing every year as he gets older.  

I have only kept a few articles of clothing.  His first sunglasses from Grandma Laura, his first 4th onesie from Grandma Donna, and his adorable old man sandals that he wore his first summer.

I also saved his first Texans jersey.  (I bought it the day before they announced Matt Schaub wouldn't play for the rest of the season.  This year he has his own personalized jersey!)

Konrad's company also gave us a really cute Baker Hughes onesie when Maddox was born.

There is also a stack of documents that I think are worth hanging onto.  (Not pictured: Baby Dedication certificate from church.)

I also bundled up his hospital blanket, shirt, and hat.  I'm not really sure if we were supposed to take them, but how could I resist taking the first things he ever wore!  I also kept all of the hospital bracelets that we all wore.  Konrad was really sad when he had to take his off :(

So those are the basic things that I have done to "document baby".   Hopefully this will help someone who has a little one!  If you have any good ideas for the future let me know!

Documenting Baby: Part 1

Have you ever come across a Pin of something that you have already tried or that you have been doing for years?  It's a great feeling to know that you had some sort of creative bone in your body even before discovering the great world of Pinterest.  That happened to me just after Maddox was born.  

I didn't stumble upon Pinterest until after he was born and I had already began the process of "Documenting Baby".  If anyone knows me well they know that I do not like to hang onto things for no reason.  (In my house AND my classroom.)  I try not to attach too much sentimental value to things because things don't always last forever.  I do however like the idea of preserving memories. 

So, before Maddox was born I purchased a small under-bed storage container that I intended to use as his baby keepsake box.  I realize now that I will eventually have to get a bigger box, but for now just the one will do.  More about the baby box in Documenting Baby: Part 2.  The point the box is small and I do not plan to fill it with enormous baby books or scrapbooks.  

My mother-in-law did buy Maddox a thin baby book from Carter's that I have been filling out as he gets older.

Carters.com

It is the perfect size and has a place to list all of the big achievements as the first few years go by.  But, there are only so many pictures that you can put in here.  Luckily, I started my own baby documentation before Maddox even arrived. 

The day we found out Maddox was on his way (4 weeks pregnant) I asked Konrad to take a picture of my profile.  Of course I didn't look pregnant that early, but I wanted to have a picture (in the same outfit, against the same wall) every week until he was born.  

4 weeks

I kept doing this up until his due date which came and went.  He was born at 41 weeks, but there was no time for pictures that day!

40 weeks

So, that was step one of "Documenting Baby".  Now remember this was Pre-Pinterest so I came up with this next idea all on my own!  (Even though I have seen similar ideas since then.)  

We had really enjoyed the trip to Aruba we took in Spring of 2010.  In fact it was (and still is) our favorite trip of all time.  We plan to go back in 2016 for our 10 year anniversary!  We loved it so much that I went to Walgreens.com and made us this adorable picture book.  It was really easy and not that expensive.

Sorry about the picture quality here.  I am not the best photographer to begin with, but taking pictures of pictures is definitely not my specialty!

Step 2 of "Documenting Baby" was to use the pictures that we took each week to tell a story which I titled "Waiting for Maddox".  This was a work in progress that I started after we found out he was a boy (at about week 20) and didn't complete until right after he was born.

The photo section on Walgreens.com is pretty self explanatory, but here are some pictures of the completed project to inspire you to make your own!

 The front cover has a cut out so that you can see the picture on the title page.  These are really sturdy hard cover books!

 "Waiting for Maddox"

 Of course it starts out with the story of our family pre-baby.  (And of course I didn't leave off my first baby, Olive!)

I wrote it to read like a story and it includes all of the important dates (when we found out, sonograms, gender reveal, etc.) and I also included pictures of friends and family who were also patiently "Waiting for Maddox".  

 Here are the belly pics.  The continue throughout the whole book.  I tried to correlate the weeks of each picture to what was happening at that part of the story.  

 I included all of the sonogram pictures including this first one at 9 weeks.  

 I also took pictures of the nursery as it was being completed.  

 These 3D pictures were amazing.  He still makes some of those same expressions!

 I added pictures from both of my showers and even both of the yummy cakes!

 You can tell by my belly here we are getting close to the end.

 At the very end I added this picture of Maddox at birth with all of his stats.  The final page (not pictured) is a picture of Maddox, Konrad, and I in the hospital and it reads, "...they all lived happily ever after."

So, that is our little fairytale about waiting for our little prince.

I was really proud of my little book and then I saw this on Pinterest...

On The Day I Was Born

This Pin along with the following was my inspiration for Maddox's baby book that I made to document his first year.

 Baby Book Inspiration

So, I kept Maddox's pictures in monthly folders on our computer and I kept a word document about what happened during each month.  Then I started "Maddox's First Year".

I used a picture of him from his one year photo shoot that we did at the park for the title page.  It's my favorite because it looks like he is telling everyone that he is in fact ONE!

I started with hospital pictures and a photo from his newborn session.  The text on the right page documents his stats and the details of his birth.  (Nothing gross... don't worry!)

Throughout the book I kept a very similar format.  The left page is 4 photos of things that happened during the month.  The right page is an enlarged picture from his monthly anniversary shoot.  My friend Amy had given me these awesome onesie stickers that I used for each of those pictures.  I managed to remember (thanks to a reminder on my phone) and get a picture on the 16th of each month!  I also wrote about the things that he learned or that we did during the month.  I tried to include all of the big "firsts" as the book went on.

Month 5

 Month 10- Toward the end it was harder and harder to pin him down for these monthly photo shoots. 

Near the end I added a page of random pictures from each month that were not included in the book and made a "Watch Me Grow" page.  It is neat to see the transformation all on one page.  The right page is pictures from his birthday party.

The back cover is some of the best pictures from his one year photo shoot.

I know that everyone's idea of what they want to remember is different.  These books are perfect for me because there are no loose parts, they were easy, and they are slim!  

I haven't quite decided what I will do as Maddox gets older.  I may do a family yearbook or I may continue to make each child his/her own book for each year.  But, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  For now, I LOVE these books and I am happy with what I have so far.  I hope this serves as some inspiration for you whether you are expecting a baby or have folders of pictures on your computer that you were wondering what to do with. 

Come back soon for Documenting Baby: Part 2 where I talk more about that big baby box and what to do with all of those cards!