Magnetic Board Options

After my recent project creating Fabric Alphabet Magnets for my daughter, I of course needed to find a magnetic space for her to use her new magnets.

I saw this great idea on Pinterest to use an inexpensive oil drip pan that can be purchased for a low price at a local Home Depot or Lowe's. Perfect.

Except apparently in Canada they don't believe in these particular style of oil drip pans, so I hit a dead end immediately.

Then I thought, well, I'll just get a board cut to my specifications, and then use a couple various products on the market (specifically Chalk Board Paint and Magnetic Paint) and make my daughter her own customized chalkboard-magnet-board combo space. Genius.

Thankfully I did a little online researching before investing in any of the supplies needed. I found this and this which taught me two things: 1) There is a certain guy posting on every internet thread about his magnetic paint additive that is overall a pretty grouchy guy, and 2) Magnetic paint is a waste of time and energy.

OK so now what? I could buy a kid-specific magnetic board, but I really wanted something BIG and most kid magnetic boards I could find are somewhat teeny.

In the end, I went with a magnetic dry erase board (Michael's, ~$20). I will be no means be giving my 21-month-old dry erase markers anytime soon, but it works great as a clean magnetic space for her new magnets, and down the road she'll have fun with the markers.

Project: Fabric Alphabet Magnets

I just finished a very easy project that I'm already pretty proud of, as it turned out better than I expected- fabric alphabet magnets! Right now Bugga is 21 months old, and we are focusing on her learning her letters. This project was perfect. I found a couple links to blogs via Pinterest for some DIY magnet letters using felt and even to links on Etsy that were selling a similar style. I decided to use regular fabric for mine - see below for the directions!

Fabric Alphabet Magnets

What You Will Need:

• Fabric that you like (I used part of a Hobby Lobby pack of whimsical quilting squares that I picked up a year ago with the primary intention to stuff them into a tissue box for Bugga to pull out over and over again. She still enjoys this; fortunately this project only used about a third of the fabric squares.)
• Coordinating cross-stitch thread
• Needle
• Scissors
• Quilt batting, cut into 1" strips, and then lengths relevant to your letter sizes (by some miracle I had some lying around from my one attempt at making a quilt)
• Computer with a printer/paper
• Magnets (I picked up a pack of 50 from Michael's)
• Elmer's (or any basic) glue
• Pencil

How to Make the Letters:

1. Determine what you want your letters to look like by finding a font in any basic program (Word, Publisher, etc.). Size the letters in your software program so they are big enough for your liking, then print out each letter you would like to create. I did the entire alphabet, but you could also make numbers, extra vowels, etc. Tip: When thinking about what size you want your letters, consider the size of your magnets. Depending on where they are placed inside your fabric, the letters need to be big enough for the fabric to be sewn around them. Print all of the letters/numbers and cut out each one.
2. Trace the letters using a pencil onto the back side of the fabric. You will need two of each letter/number to serve as the front and back. If your fabric is the same on both sides, then this is not as important. Mine was not, so I was careful to just leave pencil marks on what would serve as the inside of the letter. Tip: To save cutting time, and to help with lining everything up when you sew, you can fold the fabric in half and cut the fabric along the folded edge so you don't need to have two separate pieces.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Lay out your fabric letters and divide the magnets up between each one. Because fabric is not as thick as felt, not as much magnetic strength is needed, so I used 1-2 magnets for each letter, depending on the size (I only used 1 magnet for letters like "I", "J" and "Y"). Use the glue to affix the magnets to the fabric letters, being careful to glue the magnets to the inside of the back piece of the fabric. Let the glue dry.
   
4. Start sewing! I used half of each piece of cross-stitch thread (3 of the 6 pieces) to do my sewing. I found that I have zero skill in guestimating how long my thread should be for each letter, but due to how they are sewn, it doesn't matter if you run out and need to start up with new thread. As advised on the blog mentioned above, I also used the Blanket stitch, which worked great, and was very easy for me (and I don't sew all that much). Personally, if a letter had an inner area (like "A", "B", "R", etc.) I would stitch this first, which helped keep the two pieces of fabric aligned. I also stitched all the way around the letters for consistency, even if one of the edges was part of the original fold of the fabric.
   
   
   
   
5. As each part of the letter being stitched is enclosed, use a pencil to stuff the strips of quilt batting inside the letter. Be careful to work around the magnets.
6. That's it! Start the fun! For more info on the process I went through to decide on a magnetic board for these magnets, click here!
   
   
   

   

   Fabric Alphabet Magnets in Action!

Second Kid Stress

So here I am, trucking along into my 25th week of pregnancy with Baby #2. That puts us into viability range, which of course, is a nice relief of a milestone. In only a few short weeks I will be pushed over into the Third Trimester. I am starting to feel the stress of having two children creeping up on me.

I'm sure all toddler and newborn moments
 look like this, right? RIGHT?!?!

I know very well I won't be the first to do it, but I am spending more and more time lately trying to wrap my preggo-brain around the logistics of the first few days/weeks/months of my newborn's life while intermingled with my toddler's day-to-day needs. Looking back on my experiences with my first born, I think about how easy it was from my perspective now (go back and read some old posts and see how much I am rewriting history here) and if I was going to be a first-time mom again (which is impossible), I'd be SO. READY.

But that's not really the case here. As much as I know all to well how it works to have a baby, I know NOTHING about what it is like to have a baby AND A TODDLER. And my freakouts are getting a little bigger by the day.

Of course, we must plan for the hospital stay, and my toddler will not likely enjoy or understand that experience and is best left at home until the baby has arrived. This requires planning, especially since we have no family nearby, are new to our new country and therefore have a limited social network, and well, Bugga has never been away from both her parents at once for longer than an hour in her life. And though I "lucked out" last time by only being in labor during daylight hours, there's always that chance that I will need to call SOMEONE to high tail it over to the house at 2AM to watch my daughter as we go speeding off to Labor & Delivery.

Once we get home, then at least we will have a couple weeks of man-on-man coverage with both kids since my husband will be home (thanking my uterus for birthing babies during end-of-the-year holidays once again). But once I am left to my own parenting when he goes back to the office, I am trying to wrap my brain around how I will juggle two severely different nap schedules, nursing, and toddler entertainment and activities that will likely require getting out of the house. Did I mention I'll be doing this in the wintertime? In Canada? Yeah, think snow - lots and lots of snow. I'm not even going to entertain my husband's jokes about nursing outside.

What tiny advice I have obtained here and there is that baby #2 (and any baby after that, should we be crazy enough to go for more...uh....forget I typed that) will be required to be much more flexible then we ever gave baby #1 credit for. Gone will be the eerily quiet household when the baby is sleeping. Gone will be the peaceful nursing sessions in the dark in the glider. And a myriad of other things too, I'm sure.

I'm trying to collect more information on how to plan for the changes, but I'm still coming up short for my own comfort. I found an e-book (The ABC's of Baby #2) last night and devoured it at the gym today - helpful but brief. If anyone out there in internet land has any tips, or resources, I am ready!!!

Toddler Bedroom Inspiration

Since we have moved to Calgary, I now have a blank slate for both Bugga's room, and the nursery for Baby #2. I plan to document both, but I won't post the nursery details until the baby is here since my friends and family don't know the gender yet!

For Bugga's room, I want to incorporate some trendy patterns, and add in little themes here and there of things that she likes. Also, we are putting a lot of emphasis on learning the alphabet lately, so I wanted to add letter details throughout the design. 

The catches to the room:

1. We are renting. We have permission to paint the rooms, but everything has to be within "reason". Ha.
2. Bugga will be in this room from age 1.5 - 5.5, so the plus here is I don't have to think too far ahead and not make it too "young" since we'll move after that and have a whole new clean slate to work with.

As I'm putting things together, I will post any DIYs or progress. Until then, here are some design inspiration ideas!

Color Pallette:

A lilac/lavender color, with silver/gray and white as the neutral base. I might throw in another miscellaneous pop of something like baby pink or lime green depending on what the decor calls for.

  

Wall design:

 

I am currently obsessed with stripes. And the idea of the gray and white is a nice neutral that will be great with a pop of color on top of it. I also like the concept of a solid wall painted in the color of the darker stripe. Not sure if I have the patience to paint the stripes though, so I might go the decal route.

Wall decor/curtains:

   

 

 

  

 

Some obvious points to note: There will be chevron. This is definite. I need to put an alphabet somewhere around the top of the room, and/or in a frame. I love the chevron canvas idea with color pops on top that tie to the theme. I also love the silhouettes and need to find a way to fit those in - perhaps sticking to something Minnie Mouse or flower related (Bugga's faves). Oh and glitter. If I can incorporate glitter into this effort, this is something I must do.

Furniture/Accessories:

  

  

I will need to transition Bugga to a "big kid bed" before the baby arrives in December to prevent the need for two cribs. This is currently freaking me out because a) she sleeps pretty darn well in her crib so why mess with something that isn't broken, and b) a big kid bed means she is growing up and I'm just not ready for this! I would love to get her a beautiful white canopy bed but I'm not sure her teeny 11'x11' room will allow for this. But I'll try to keep inspired by the concept at least. A trundle bed would be great too, then if we have problems with the twin bed transition, and a toddler rail doesn't work (crossing fingers once we get there), then a lower trundle mattress might prevent too many major crashes. And it would be good for sleepovers down the road.

I found the link above for a DIY rag rug that I think would look beautiful in Bugga's room. In fact, I've already started it with lavender, silver, and white satin fabric. The thing is, I'm pretty sure this project is going to take the rest. of. my. life. No joke.

I would love a reading nook/area in her room if there is space, but not sure it will happen. Oh, and the Minnie Mouse sheet options out in the world are for the most part pretty tacky, but a set of these sheets or something similar (subtle-style) would be a nice surprise under a purple comforter. We'll see if I can track any down as these appear to be previous year's style.

And the design process is ON! Please check back as I post progress!

Toddler Oatmeal Variation with Warning

A short while ago I posted a recipe for Toddler Crockpot Oatmeal. (You can find the recipe here.) Since we are now living in a colder climate, our mornings are chillier than the steamy Houston mornings. So obviously, oatmeal is a nice fixture to my morning. And being pregnant, this kind of breakfast is also an easy way to get a healthy protein with plenty of fruit into my body before the day barely gets started.

Being a crockpot recipe, I take literally 5 minutes to toss everything into my slow cooker right before I go to bed, and the house smells amazing by the time we wake up.

If you try this recipe around your mini-mes, I feel like I have to warn you. If I straight up ask my toddler what she wants for breakfast, everyday, without fail, she shouts, "WAFFLES!!!" (I have been feeding her the natural organic brand - the one with Cookie Monster on the box - from Whole Foods and she devours one each day. Unfortunately, the best I can do is the boring natural wholegrain style, as the organic version with blueberries are nowhere to be found up here (get with it Canada!)...anyway.) On mornings I know we have oatmeal, I offer some to her, and always get an immediate, "No." Fine by me. Now I don't have to share. Or so I think.

Without a doubt, the second I get an oatmeal-laden spoon into my mouth, Bugga is all over me with her "Bite, bite, bite!" chant. And then proceeds to eat at least half my bowl, waffle long forgotten.

It's good for her so I really am not complaining - but sometimes a pregnant mommy wants to eat all her breakfast too!

Don't say I didn't warn you!

My latest version of this recipe, adding a LOT of blueberries and sliced bananas. Yum!

International Food Resources

Now that we are getting settled in Calgary, my mission has been to learn more about our neighborhood and what it has to offer. This includes the best place to buy groceries for my family. Until this point, my goal has been to slowly evolve my kitchen into all organic products, or at least as much as possible.

Food shopping in a new country is always an adventure. I think I have had the assumption that since Canada shares such a major border with the U.S. that just about the same items would be available here as we are accustomed to. Oh, how so wrong I am. (Sad face.)

For starters, due to the location of Canada, fresh produce is harder to come by, and what you can purchase does not last as long as the produce we are used to buying in Texas. Combine that with the already-shortened counter life of organic produce and you pretty much have to eat everything within a couple days. OK, I can handle this.

Then there are the different stores. There is a familiar grocery chain, Safeway, but the selection severely varies in many categories. There are also many, many other smaller specialized chains, similar to a Trader Joe's size, where they can have great finds, but you certainly cannot find everything you need. For example, I tried a chain called Sobey's yesterday, and they don't sell black beans. BLACK BEANS. I thought these were a pretty basic pantry staple, but perhaps I am wrong.

The next choice when shopping the aisles are the brands. I am fine with trying new brands, but I am concerned that the primary U.S. brand I seem to see everywhere is Kraft. As you may or may not know, Kraft is currently infamous for the artificial coloring, hydrogenated oil additives, and GMO ingredients in their products. And a lot of this isn't even on their labels so you are none the wiser. So I am VERY hesitant when it comes to purchasing Kraft products.

The scariest part: the prices! I am not joking: yesterday my husband saw a gallon of organic skim milk for $13.00. THIRTEEN DOLLARS!!! Are you kidding me?!?! The sad thing is, the cheapest I have seen it so far here is $9.00 which is still outrageous. But unless I plan on taking care of our own dairy cow in our teeny backyard, we will be shelling out the nine bucks. Sigh.

At this point, we have been here a couple weeks, and I have tried three different grocery stores. My next adventure will be to an organic market called Market 17, and the Yelp reviews look promising. I am not giving up my healthy plans yet!

Officially an Ex-Pat

Well, we made it to Canada - and so did almost most of our things. I have to say that Bugga was a champ through all the changes, far more so then we expected. We lived in a hotel for a few days in Texas as they packed up our house. Then we had a day of travel that included a 4 hour flight and an hour in Canadian Immigration to get our residency. Then we headed to another hotel until our new home was ready.

A fun little wrench in our plans: a few weeks prior to our arrival into Canada, Calgary was inundated with flooding throughout the downtown areas and many other places along their main rivers. Downtown also happens to be where most of their hotels are, like any other city. Oh, and Stampede (Calgary's annual 2-week rodeo event) was also in full swing once we arrived so the city's population was abnormally inflated. So of course, we pull up to our hotel at 8pm at night (already past my daughter's bedtime in OUR time zone) and it is completely closed. No phone call, no rebooking to another hotel - nothing. Awesome.

Apparently their computers were in their flooded basement and therefore they had no way to know who had reservations to contact for rebooking. So, oh well for us! I'm still not sure how this International Hotel (literally their name) had the only electronic records in their specific building, but hey, what do I know.

So we scrambled, and drove down to the Westin and checked into their only (and smallest) available room for one million dollars a night (well it was a lot). Oh and no bathtub - which is great for a toddler. This was going to be a long 10 days.

Fortunately my husband's relocation contacts felt horrible enough about their mistake (not checking on our reservation before our arrival) that they found us a corner suite at our preferred hotel and we happily moved over there the next day.

And there we lived for 10 days. It was fortunately near a few parks, playgrounds, and even a splash pad (which Canadian kids will still play in during much colder weather than us!) and the little routine we established worked for us. I also brought along several of Bugga's favorite toys, a couple colors of homemade play dough (post coming soon), and even a basic plastic cup and spoon would be treasured at times (especially near water!).

So we have now moved into our new house and are getting used to the Canadian life. The house is still a hot mess, but we'll get there!

*Our dilemma from the floods is absolutely nothing compared to what many Calgarians have gone through, and are still going through. If you would like to donate to the Alberta Flood Fund through the Red Cross, please click here.