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! :)  

Life Lately

Please accept my apology for my infrequent posting lately.  For as awesome as I did in January, I really lost the momentum in February!  Maybe I can get it back for March.

Life lately seems like it has been so tiring!  Twice this past week I was sound asleep in bed well before 9 o'clock.  And even now as I'm typing this at 8:20, I keep looking over at my bed and wanting to ditch the laptop for sleep!  Maybe it's the cold weather and the short grey days that have me wanting to hibernate, or maybe it's the early bird 9-month old that winds up in my bed well before my alarm clock each morning that's making me tired.  Either way, blogging has just seemed too exhausting at the end of the day.  Allow me to try to catch you up on the everything that's happened in the past month...


The biggest thing is that Mom and I have officially gone into business.  A full post on this with much more details is coming, but for now let me just say that this has consumed my mind over the last thirty days!  Mom has embroidered things for 10+ years and I picked up the craft about two years ago.  We have always just done it for our family and occasionally for friends, but after much consideration, we decided to start offering our services to the public.  I hate putting myself out there for criticism so it has made me a nervous wreck at times!  But, I also love it and have so many ideas and get so excited thinking about it!  Much more to come on it, but it's one of the main things that's been taking all of my brain power lately.


Both kids suffered from cold-like symptoms for about a week straight.  After several sleepless nights for all of us, I finally took them to the doctor.  Three out of four ears were infected!  Obviously I felt horrible for taking so long to get them some real medicine but they both felt much better within 24 hours of taking the antibiotic.  Katie Wynn's eyes gooped up again tonight so there's a good chance we'll be headed back to the doctor again tomorrow.  I'm hoping it was just an allergy but we'll see how her eyes look in the morning.


Just when we've almost taught Katie Wynn to stop emptying all of the cabinets, Thomas starts doing it!  It was only a matter of time.  One morning while I was in the shower, they were both sitting in the floor of my bathroom playing.  The next thing I know, Katie Wynn had opened the cabinet doors for Thomas and pulled out a bottle of lotion.  She had squirted lotion all over his pajama-clad legs, all over the bath mat, and had so much of it gobbed on her hands that it was dripping off while she rubbed her hands together.  He had gotten his hands on a tube of hair gel and somehow got the top off while chewing on it.  So much for a relaxing shower for Mom!  It only got worse as the three of us slid all over the wet, lotion-covered floor.  I'm just glad we survived it with no injuries.  (Pictures below taken AFTER I'd gotten everything cleaned up and they were happily playing together with a train!)


Matt had plans to travel to Indiana this month for work.  Since he was going to be staying at his parents' house, he decided to take Katie Wynn with him so she could visit with them (and she'd been asking to see them).  She loved it!!  Thomas and I stayed back so that I could go to work...and thanks to some icy weather, I didn't even end up working while they were gone!  I wish we had just hopped in the car and gone with them.  Of course, now Katie Wynn thinks she can just go to Lala and Poppa's house whenever she asks.  She doesn't understand that it was just a fluke that he happened to be going anyway.  


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Last week, Lolli had an injury which caused her to not feel well...which caused her to not eat...which caused her to act lethargic...which caused me to take her to the vet and find that her glucose levels had bottomed out...which caused her to be hooked up to an IV for a full day.  Not really what I had planned for the week!  After last year's ordeal, I'm pretty quick to take her to the vet when she's not acting like herself.  I had no idea just how bad it was (and how big our bill would be, ha!) and that she'd have to spend the whole day with the vet.  So we've been nursing her back to health again.  For a week she's been wearing a cone (her "hat" per Katie Wynn) to keep from licking her sore spots and we've been feeding her medicine + cheese treats twice a day.  Only two more days til she's done with her meds!  Then it would be nice to go a while without having to administer them to anyone for a while.  Fingers crossed about KW's eyes in the morning!


Instead of a full year's resolution, Matt and I have decided to do monthly resolutions for 2015.  It seems easier to stick to something for thirty-ish days than for a full year, right?  In January, we drank hot honey lemon water every morning.  I had read an article about the positive effects fresh lemons can have and I knew that a spoonful of local honey was good for you too, so we put it to the test for thirty days.  We are not coffee drinkers so it was an adjustment for us to get used to preparing and drinking a warm drink each morning.  We made it the whole month without skipping a day, even at the farm!  I don't know if 30 days was enough time to tell a big difference in how we felt, but we did both escape the flu that Katie Wynn had so maybe it helped?  We actually continued on with it a couple weeks into February before giving up.  We aren't doing it daily anymore but I think it will most definitely become a go-to remedy when we feel a cold coming on.  I

In February, our resolution was no phones in bed.  I'm sure you've read about how reading from backlit screens and being on things like social media before bed are horrible for your sleep.  Also, it's gonna cause us to get cancer and die (isn't everything?).  At any rate, it seemed like a good challenge and it was!  It forced us to read books in bed instead which was quite nice for a change.  I'm on my third book for the month which is awesome considering I only read four total in all of 2014!  I hope this is a resolution that sticks around for a while.  

Matt picked our resolution for March: 31 sit-ups and 31 push-ups every day.  Until my birthday on the 15th and then it becomes 32 a day.  (He's doing his age as well).  Y'all, I might die.  I don't even think I can do that for one day much less thirty-one days!  That's part of the reason I'm still sitting here typing...to delay having to do them before bed!  I better be super buff at the end of this month...


Ok, it's already 9:30...way past my bedtime!  I can't delay these exercises any longer, unfortunately.  I'll try hard to be back soon and to do better this month!

January Phone Pics

Eek!  I thought this posted 10 days ago!  Not sure why it got hung up in my drafts folder...

I'm thinking I might do one big "Phone Pics" post for each month in 2015.  And since we're already a week into February, I better get on the January one!

2015 started off with goopy, crusty eyes for my baby girl.

It was a Saturday morning and I quickly called our doctor's office and got her an appointment at 9am.  Matt took her while I stayed home with Thomas and waited for his phone call...ear infections or pink eye?  Those were my thoughts.  I was not expecting FLU!  Yes, she got a flu shot.  This was the strand not included in the shot and she had a full-blown case of it.  They came home with Tamiflu and we settled in for the weekend.  She ran a pretty high fever for about 48 hours straight - this was the sickest she's ever been!

Putting on a brave face to go to the doctor.  And wearing her "tie" shoes - the only ones she has with laces!

Putting on a brave face to go to the doctor.  And wearing her "tie" shoes - the only ones she has with laces!

This is when I knew she really didn't feel well - she never lays still on the couch!

This is when I knew she really didn't feel well - she never lays still on the couch!

Back home from the doctor and already feeling worn out.  She spent most of the day on the couch.

Back home from the doctor and already feeling worn out.  She spent most of the day on the couch.

Good thing for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep her occupied.

Good thing for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep her occupied.

We tried hard to keep Thomas away from Katie Wynn so he wouldn't get it too.  Matt took him to church Sunday morning so they could get out of the house and get some fresh air.  While they were away, Katie Wynn managed to get up and play in my bathroom/closet for a little bit while I got cleaned up.  She was taking care of Elmo and Bitty Baby who apparently had a case of the flu too!

Thankfully, she only had to miss one day of school before she was back in her normal routine.  And that day was more of a precaution than anything.  She loved getting to play at her Mimi's house though!

Though the first weekend of 2015 was a little rocky, the rest of it was pretty good!  Thomas had his first restaurant high chair experience and actually behaved really well.

He also started really crawling and sometimes, after crawling for a few minutes, would just need to splay out and rest a little.

I told Katie Wynn that night that she could pick A book to read to Thomas.  She picked out a STACK of books.  That girl...she can't pick just one of anything!

More resting periods for Thomas...

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Now that Thomas can sit up and move around, I keep catching the two of them playing together.  I think Katie Wynn likes having him around.  :)

Almost every toy they're playing with in the photos above technically belongs to Thomas.  Katie Wynn likes to claim them as her own.  Like this caterpillar tunnel below - she calls it HER "patter-pillar" even though it was his Christmas present.  Anytime she fusses about him touching the toy she's playing with and I remind her that it's actually his toy, she replies with "Thomas sharing."  She's all about sharing when it's him sharing with her...

With Thomas sitting up really well, we've also been able to have some fun kitchen sink baths.  

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Thomas has discovered Lolli's food and water bowls.  It was only a matter of time.  Now we have to keep picking them up and poor Lolli has to remind us to put them back down!

One Saturday morning after prying Thomas's hands open to empty out all the dog food and dropping them everywhere, Katie Wynn told me that she would "keen it up."  I went back a few minutes later to check on her and found that she had completely emptied the bowl of food so that she could pick up every single piece and put it back in.  Sigh...

Speaking of Lolli, she got to ride home in Katie Wynn's lap one night.  All I heard from the back seat was, "Thit 'till Holly!" "I hold you Holly!" "Holly heavy!"  [Somewhat related: she can say Lollipop the correct way but still calls Lolli "Holly."]

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After bath one night, I found the kids like this.  I asked Katie Wynn what she was doing on the boxes and she said she was on her potty (her diaper is still on).  I'm glad she likes to pretend to do that because she doesn't seem to have interest in doing it in real life...

Katie Wynn has become obsessed with having a "big ponytail."

One night I gave her one and she gave me one (with help) and then she squealed in excitement, "Now we bofe have big ponytails!"

Toy switcheroo!  Him on hers and her in his.

Here are a few more random pics...

Taking a bath in Mama's big bathtub!

Taking a bath in Mama's big bathtub!

Wearing Mama's hideous blue tennis shoes!

Wearing Mama's hideous blue tennis shoes!

She always climbs up on a stool so she can help Mimi cook.

She always climbs up on a stool so she can help Mimi cook.

I don't know what I was thinking with this loud outfit!

I don't know what I was thinking with this loud outfit!

I tried to catch Thomas in crawling action one night but Lolli kept photobombing him.

My dad has the only family birthday in january and instead of cake, we pigged out on chocolate fondue!  That's always pretty eventful with 13+ sets of hands trying to dip their fruit/cookie/cake in!

We had Anna and Wyatt the next weekend and had fondue with them too.  It might be my favorite dessert...I think I could eat it every night.  And the fruit makes it healthy, right?

Sadly, that's where my January phone pics end!  I have to save the next ones for February's recap post.  :)

Thomas: Eight Months Old

Am I the only one in disbelief that Thomas is already eight months old?  When did that happen?!  It's amazing how fast time seems to be flying and how quickly he's growing into a busy little boy.  A VERY busy little boy.  This past month was his biggest one by far in terms of milestones.  He was already sitting up but he's no longer wobbly and now he's crawling across the floor at lightening speed.  He pulls up on anything he can get his hands on - tables, chairs, my legs, his daddy's legs, he even uses Lolli to give him a little boost up!  This past week, he has also started walking behind objects as he pushes them across the floor.  I have a feeling he will be walking even earlier than his big sister did!

Wanna see his comparison photos from the last four months?  (His first four months' worth of photos can be found here.)  I haven't edited any of these yet but will touch them up a little bit before putting them on display at his first birthday.  The first set are the traditional monthly pictures in the same chair with a chalkboard sign indicating how many months old he is.  I have to take these fast before he wipes off all the chalk writing!

Next set are of Thomas and Katie Wynn both in one of our living room chairs.  Are these easy to get?  Absolutely not.  That girl does not like to sit still for pictures!  If you click on the photo for month seven (the one where they both have on striped polo outfits) and make it bigger, you can see a big fat tear rolling down Thomas's cheek.  I can't remember why he was crying but I'm sure it was from something his big sister did.  The last photo - eight months - was fun.  Their daddy had them both giggling for my camera.  I love how Thomas is so laid back. :)

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The third and final set of monthly photos are themed for each month.  For month five - November - we played football!  I love those sweet blue eyes shining in the light.  

I always have the hardest time narrowing these down from the handful of photos I quickly take.  That's why you're getting some bonus pics with these.  :)

Nothing says December like Christmas lights, right?  Katie Wynn loved helping me wrap these around Thomas and he loved playing with them.  

Speaking of Katie Wynn, here's one of her wrapped up in Christmas lights too!  She was only three months old when I took hers (Thomas is 6.5 months above) so she looks a lot younger than him. 

I really struggled with an idea for January.  I had every intention of getting a New Year's hat for him to wear, but it just didn't happen.  I nearly let the month pass us up before snapping a photo.  Since we don't actually get snow around here very often, I just bundled him up so we could pretend.  (It might've been a little cold to sit topless in the snow anyway...)  I think my favorite picture is the one where he's biting his lower lip.  

February is the month of love and love means kisses.  With ruby red lipstick!  I put my lips all over my sweet pea for these photos.  And if you look closely in the first picture you can see another one of his milestones from this past month - two new teeth!

Katie Wynn got kisses too during her first year.  It's funny to me how she definitely looks like a girl and he looks like a boy.

Here are some quick stats on Thomas at eight months old.

  • He weighs 18.12 pounds and wears 6-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers.
  • His eyes are still blue and his hair still looks strawberry blond-ish.  
  • Our boy loves to eat!  He eats solid baby food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and still drinks around 24 ounces of formula each day.  The only food we've found that he just really dislikes is green peas (can you blame him??).  We've given him puffs to try to eat but they mostly get thrown down to Lolli.  He loves playing with them though.
  • While he is still not the awesome sleeper that Katie Wynn was/is, he's getting much better.  On good nights, he sleeps from around 7:30pm to 5:30am with 2-3 naps during the day.  We have experienced every sleep regression I read about but didn't have with Katie Wynn.  
  • He does not have an inside voice.  When he jabbers, he wants everyone to hear him!
  • Little Brother ADORES his Big Sister.  He loves to watch her no matter what she's doing.  She makes him laugh so much.  I hope they are always best buddies!