A whole 1/2 year

Kasen turned 6 months old last week.  How did she celebrate?  Hmmmm.... nothing too special - although I did make sure to take a picture of her with the Happy Birthday balloon we have at the house.



The balloon is actually left over from my birthday a month ago, but she enjoys playing with it and we encourage the enjoyment of cheap "toys".  No, she is never left alone with it and honestly her "playing" consists of her shaking the body part that has the balloon attached.  I find it fascinating she understands that her movements make the balloon move and that it is only the part of the balloon that has to move.  Clearly a genius ;)

In honor of her 6 month birthday, she did get to visit her favorite place - the house of shots (NOT the kind she is too young for - the kind none of us like).  This time it was 4 shots and 1 liquid vaccine.  She is still perfectly healthy and above the 95 percentile for weight and height.  She weighed 19lbs 10oz and was 28 inches long. 

A True Sounders Fan

Bedtime? Bedtimes are for kids whose parents DON'T have Sounders tickets! Go Sounders!

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Future's so bright...

When a sunny day comes along in Seattle, you head out. Our destination was the zoo. Gotta protect our Seattle eyes - they aren't used to these rays.

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A turning point

As I said earlier this week, Kasen just seems to to be growing leaps and bounds. 

So, without further ado - I present to you (insert drum roll noise here): Kasen rolling back over from her belly.  I know - you have been waiting weeks for this event.  We here at the Picarbockers are sooooo proud (plus we hope this will bring back the days of sleeping through the night).  For your viewing pleasure:

Sooo big!

Everyone says "it goes by so fast", but I never really understood what it meant.  It is not that time truly moves faster (DUH), but that in your busy day to day life - your child grows up.  Now Kasen is only 6 months (ok so she will be 6 months Sunday), but I see what they mean.  I have been caring for her every day, but still I am shocked that she is no longer a newborn.  Look at this kid...


She looks sooo much like my niece did at her age.  Maybe there is some of me showing through?  And no she is not sitting up by herself - the next few frames have her scrunched down (the realities of soft pants against leaher couch).

The other big change is her awareness... especially of Sterling.  She even smiles at pictures of him.  He seems merely tolerant of her, but that is really all we ask.  After all, he seems merely tolerant of all humans.



Did you notice how he worked his head onto her nice floor blanket? Sneaky that one...

Making a High Chair Cover

As promised - Kasen's cover for her new/old high chair.

I first planned to sew a high chair cover from scratch for Kasen's wooden high chair, but decided to re-purpose something instead.  Having a kid has shown me how much STUFF we consume, so I wasn't crazy about buying a bunch of fabric for this project (especially since she will probably trash it).  I decided my wallet (and the earth) would like me reusing something else.

I found a grocery store cart cover at a consignment store (could probably also be used on a restaurant high chair).  It was quilted, large enough and came with a belt.  Totally worth the few dollars.  Here is the kind of cover it was originally. 

I started with some 1" foam for under the cover.

I specifically chose to use two 1" layers, so one can be removed as she grows into the chair.



I didn't want to alter the chair, so the foam is not attached at all. The straps on the back and under the seat will keep it in place.

Next was to work on the cover.  It had been nicely constructed with bias tape edging all over the seams.  I had never done this work before, but it ended up being pretty easy (although reusing the bias tape was challenging).  I used this tutorial as a guide for attaching bias tape (LOVE this blog).

First I had to make it skinny enough to fit the width of the chair.  I decided for ease (and time) to only cut/re-sew one side.  You will see this made the belt openings off center, but it was fine for my end project.



After cutting the width down, I had to re-edge the sides with the bias tape.  It was cost effective and "green" to reuse - but definitely more challenging.


The seat of the cover had to be made out of the piece of fabric that was meant to go up and over the shopping cart handle.  This piece had leg holes in it, so I had to cut them out.  I attached the bottom and covered all exposed edges with the bias tape.  I hope I sewed it well enough to stand up to the many washings it will endure.



Finished product:


Cute huh?

Kasen's "Antiques"?

My mom has saved quite a few things over the years (no.. not like Hoarders TV show type saving - totally normal memory type saving).  From my childhood, she saved a rocking chair, toy chest and high chair.  The toy chest needed some work (pictures of that are coming), but the rocking chair and high chair were in good shape.  I don't know how old something needs to be to be called "antique", so maybe vintage is a more accurate moniker.  I assume these were made for the Bicentenial, so they would only be 34 yrs old.  I would rather NOT think that qualifies ANYTHING as antique.

The rocker is child size and really doesn't need any work.



All of the pieces have this 1776-1976 on them.




Here is the high chair:


All in all the high chair is a really nice piece of furniture.  I like how sturdy and compact it is compared to the plastic ones they make today (which generally sell for over $100).  The biggest problem I saw was it doesn't seem very comfortable nor does it have any type of a harness.  The original harness was leather and broke off long ago.  I love the little details on it...



This past weekend, I was able to address both the comfort and the harness issue.  I'll post pictures tomorrow.  All of this leads up to Kasen eating real food.  This weekend has been declared "Kasen eats real food" weekend.  Well, if mashed, strained peas count as "real food"...