Nerd Christmas Gifts - Logo Etched Beer Steins

My husband and his friends are geeks. Comic books and Doctor Who are their favorites. So for Christmas, I'm making them some personalized beer steins with their favorite symbol of geekdom.

I'll be posting a pictorial (picture tutorial) of how I made the Batman one for my husband, since the guys sometimes see my blog and I don't want to reveal theirs.

Materials needed:

• Beer Stein ($1 at the Dollar Store!! Made in US even!)
• Clear packaging tape
• Paper stencil (printed on normal paper)
• Armour Etch paste
• Xacto knife
• Qtips

Obesity - the 70s and 80s were the perfect storm

I recently started the ketogenic diet (also known as the caveman diet), so a lot of my mental energy is being used researching fat loss and low carb options.

*If you don't know - keto is a diet plan (lifestyle change) that involves only ~25g carbs per day. 70% of your daily calories should come from fat, and 25% from protein. So no grains, corn, potatoes, and very little fruit. As much meat and butter and leafy greens as you can eat! It forces your body to switch from using the easy-burn glucose (sugar from carbs) as energy to instead use your stored lipids (fats) - a process called ketosis.

Also, my mother in law is a diabetes educator at a prominent kids' hospital in the area, so we chat about diet and sugar often.  I've come to the conclusion that the obesity epidemic is the result of a few different things, all stemming from the 70s and 80s:

1. The food pyramid

2. The 'low-fat' movement

3. Invention of video games and readily accessible TV

3a. Social media

See the differences in the waistlines of the general populace?

Sugar is mostly the culprit, but it's been shoved into our timeline in pretty sneaky ways...

Halloween! We Scare Because We Care.

We're Monsters, Incorporated!

Our costumes - 
Sully - Husband
Celia - me (wife)
Boo - 2 1/2 yr old Maya
Mike Wazowski - 8mo old Amelia

The Sully costume and Celia's purple bodysuit ordered from Amazon
I sewed the girls' costumes and my (Celia) green dress.  I also cut and velcro'ed the Mike Wazowski costume to fit around the baby carrier!

Cinderella dress!

I made my 2-year-old a Cinderella skirt. I'm going to attach a light blue tank top to it so it's a dress. She won't take it off and has set up a picture frame as a mirror in the living room, in front of which she's twirling so much she's getting dizzy.

Here it is so far!

Loose Tank Top for Big Boobs - Tent into Fit!

I have large boobies. I have a comparatively small waist. Those flowy racerback tank tops are super cute on the A-cup size 0 mannequin but when put on my busty bosoms the tank looks more like a tent. I have a sewing machine. I'm not great at it,  but

I'll share with you what I did to turn this: 

Baggy, oddly-shaped hips, rides up in the front

Into this: 

Fitted but comfy, flattering, professional-looking!

And you can obviously make it looser/tighter according to your preference. So here goes...

The Suckling Parasite Who Loved Me

I'm a huge advocate for breastfeeding. I understand sometimes it doesn't work out and I promise I won't judge. But my own experience is that while wonderful and astronomically beneficial, breastfeeding has its ups and downs. Literally.

This is my data for my 2nd child (the graph ends there because that's how old she is right now). I used a nursing app at the beginning, then I kept leaving my phone everywhere that I wasn't, so I just wrote it down when I remembered. That's also why some weeks don't have 7 days recorded. Baby brain. Speaking of... where the heck is my phone...

Save-the-Date I made for my little sister's upcoming comic-book themed wedding!

cartoon wedding invitation, comic book wedding, 1940s themed comic book style, hand drawn caricatures

Pretty picture of a silly Dalek

DOCTORAAAAATE!! 

I drew this with my bamboo tablet in Photoshop. Silly Dalek wishes he could be like the Doctor.

 

30 Things My Spouse and Kids Should Know About Me

I got this list from another mom blog, and thought the questions were wonderful! To do your own, scroll past my answers and copy the questions from below.

My Answers:

1. List 10 random facts about yourself.

Second Time Mom: How It's Different This Time

The pregnancy flew by.

I didn't sit on the computer reading and researching every scrap of information about babies and pregnancy.

I did wear a lot more ponytails.
The birth was 100x more painful.
I was afraid I couldn't possibly love another child as much as my first...

...And I didn't.

I successfully birthed a second human!

Pictures!

Hubs' mom took my older daughter Maya for the night while I was in labor, so this was her reaction upon coming home the next morning! She was very happy and seemed to understand pretty well where Mama's tummy baby went.

Baby Sidecar Co-Sleeper Bed

I finished this project in 2 days. First day was five hours, next day was two.  

We registered on Amazon for a bassinet or a co-sleeper bed that could be pulled up next to ours, instead of having the new baby (still not out yet by the way) sleep in bed with us. Doing our part to reduce the risk of SIDS. 

Here's my little tutorial for the co-sleeper sidecar bed I made in two days! I got the idea from this blogger, his was the only one I found online, so I pretty much just copied it outright.

Block Party! Baby's 1st Birthday Party

Maya and her cousin are a month apart, so for their first birthday, my sister and I threw a joint party! It was alphabet-block themed, so we called it a block party! It was back in May 2012, but I just found the pictures I took! They were hiding on my videocamera.

Block-shaped foods and cakes

Mini Kitchen from re-purposed entertainment center

Fabulous Mini Kitchen: Part I

I am going to make this:

I found a mini-kitchen someone else did, and colored it in Photoshop to match my vision.

And I will post pictures as I go! I'm going to start it very soon (within the next month) so it's done by the time baby gets here.

The Five Stages of Mommy Hygiene

It's no secret that parents run short on time when kids are involved. Well, I was taking a shower this evening (after three days without one), and I came up with a list I think other moms (or dads) could relate to.

You know you're a parent when. . .

Look at the love there. You can practically touch it.

There are sooooo many perks to being a parent. The love and connection you feel when you hug or kiss your child is the most pleasant, warmey, gooey feeling in the world. The pride you feel when your child accomplishes something you taught them is irreplaceable. And the honorable sense of duty you feel when you realize this moldable mind is in your care, makes other jobs feel negligible.

But there are definitely some moments where you look at your life and go, "Oh lord... This is ridiculous."