DIY Giant Ruler Growth Chart

Growing up, my step-dad kept track of our heights on the back of the spare-room door. It's still there, and I've made him promise that if they ever move, the door moves with them. Since we are renters, with the potential of bouncing around a couple more times before planting roots, we wanted to create something a little more portable. After a little Pinterest perusing, I found about 40 different DIY projects, some more complicated than others. I took some ideas from a few different examples and ran with it.

While at Home Depot for another project, we picked up a 4x6 whitewood plank and it sat in the garage for a good three weeks. Finally, I sanded it, wiped it down with a clean damp rag to remove the dust, and let it dry out for a bit. OK, so I let it dry out for, like, a week. I probably could have started sooner.

Here are the rest of the steps:

1. While the board is drying out, print out some oversized numbers. I chose different styles, but you can really go with whatever fonts float your boat. Just keep in mind that you will be painting in the stain, so you may want to choose fonts that are a little on the chunkier side, especially if you have not been blessed with a steady hand. If you're using Word, go to format-font, and select outline. This will give you the outline of the number like I have below. Makes it a little easier to trace.

2. Position the numbers on the board using a yardstick/ruler/tape measure for placement, secure with painter's tape. Then trace over the numbers with a ball point pen or wooden pencil. Be careful that you don't poke through the paper. You just want to leave the indentation of the lines in the wood. (It's a little hard to photograph, but if you squint and tilt your head to the left while standing on one foot, you should see the outline of the one.)

3. In a well-ventilated spot, "paint" your stain inside the indentations. (I used something we already had on hand - Varathane Wood Stain in Light Walnut.) I suggest starting in the center of the number and pushing the stain towards the edges. Depending on the direction of the grain, the stain could bleed past the number edges, which would be no bueno. So start with just a little bit of stain on your brush and add more light layers to darken. Let this dry for a while. (An hour or two is probably fine. I, of course, let it dry for about a week.) **If you are a super anal perfectionist, like me, this step could take a while. It's so worth it, though!

4. Now it's time to finish the stain. There's a few ways to do this, but I chose to dilute the Light Walnut with some paint thinner to get a lighter version. I was worried the big numbers wouldn't show up enough, so I played around with it until I found a shade I liked. Using an old paintbrush (one you can just toss after) lightly brush on the stain, let it soak for a few minutes, and wipe off with a clean rag. It's always best to use thin coats. 

I only needed one coat, but you can add more to reach your desired color. I also added one coat of clear satin poly (which we already had), just to richen up the color and toughen up the wood a bit. 

Let it cure according to the directions on the can. I let it sit on the back porch for a few days, until the smell had faded. 

5. Using an oil-based paint pen (Sharpie is my favorite) and a yardstick/ruler/tape measure, mark off the hash marks. I started ours at 6 inches. That way it clears the baseboards when hanging and goes to 6 foot 6 inches, which covers the possible height of any future children (the Hubs is 6'4", so it's possible).

6. With craft paint and a pouncer, use a stencil to add the numbers to the board. (I got so into my paint pouncing, I totally flaked on taking a pic of this step! Ack!)

7. Once the numbers are all dry, add your measurements. I used a medium point pen to draw the hashmarks and an extra fine point to write in the measurements.

8. Hang on the wall and enjoy!

Happy DIYing! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Paddy's Day friends! 

Today, the Hubs and I kept things kind of mellow. He's off on Mondays, so we went for a run together this morning and, other than a trip to Publix, stayed totally unproductive all day. It's been wonderful. Z recently took her first steps, so we spent most of the day on the family room rug playing and watching her practice her new skill. 

I totally flaked this year and completely forgot to get Baby Tuna any kind of holiday outfit. I may have been a bit gun-shy after last year's experience. And somehow Z doesn't have a stitch of green in her wardrobe. How is that possible?! Thankfully, a cute tutu that my MIL got for her last year (and was waaayyy too big) still fit, in spite of being size 3 months! I had all kinds of plans to order a cute clip or headband for the holiday, but Z is fiercely anti-headwear these days. (The barrette in the pic below was removed shortly after the photo was taken.) 

And, in the interest of keeping things holiday-appropriate, we all enjoyed a festive and delicious snack this afternoon. 

Z inhaled her whole plate of fruit, including the blueberries, which she had only had in purees before today. And for the Hubs and I, I mixed some vanilla greek yogurt with a little agave and cinnamon to dip some of the fruit in. So good! 

And for a less healthy, but equally festive treat...

On Friday, I told you guys that we had been snacking on Lucky Charms. Probably my favorite cereal of all time (ok, three-way-tie with Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Honey Nut Cheerios). Since we had them around, Baby Tuna and I made some yummy marshmallow treats using Lucky Charms instead of Rice Krispies. I was so proud of myself, thinking I had come up with a brilliant original idea, only to find a million versions of it on Pinterest. Duh. 

So it turns out I may not be as clever as I originally thought, but these things are so addictive and way better than regular Rice Krispie Treats. Make some...you won't be sorry! You can find the recipe here.

Hope you guys are all enjoying the holiday!

Friday Favorites

1. While the rest of the country has been buried under snowdrifts and polar vortexes (vortices?), SoFlo has been experiencing Spring since, well, November. The Daylight Saving time change made Spring seem more official, so now I can get over the fact that we never got more than maybe 3 days of winter. Now it's open windows, art shows, playing outside, and wishing we had a heated pool to enjoy all the sunshine.

striped dress

Although we've been keeping Z on her regular routine, the extra daylight and warm days before this last cool front gave her a chance to have her first backyard bath. The bubbles didn't last very long, but she had fun with more space to splash.

bath squirts | bath toys | turtlemeter 

polka dot swim pants - Honest Co. 

2. And since we have Spring on the brain around here, I'm dying over these sweet Easter pjs that I can't wait to order for the bambino. I mean seriously cute!!

3. I know that Radiant Orchid is the color of the year, but I can't get enough of this Under the Twilight polish by essie. It's a navy blue that goes so well with all of the springy colors you may be wearing right now. Obsessed!

4. Pigtails!!

5. Any lovers of Naked Juice out there? I was never a big fan, thanks to the gritty texture they always seem to have, but while shopping at Whole Foods with and empty stomach one day, I grabbed this pineapple-mango-coconut water and practically chugged the whole thing in the check-out line. So good and not gritty or coconutty at all. I just wish they sold them at Publix...or by the case.

6. And with St. Patty's day around the corner, Lucky Charms have made an appearance in our house. Even Z had a taste - heading for the marshmallows first before devouring the cereal pieces, too.  To keep things festive, without loading my kid up with refined sugar (we'll save that for when she's a bit older), I'm loving the idea of these rainbow kabobs (minus the stick for the bambino, of course). We eat a ton of fruit around here, so these are perfect!

Have an amazing weekend friends!!

Month Twelve Must-Haves

1. Baby Chuck Taylors: Z is getting ready to start the whole walking thing, so we thought it was time to get some real shoes on her feet. The Hubs and I were both totally against butterfly appliqués and pink sparkles (not a lot of pink happening in our family), which flood the market for toddler girl shoes. So just like Momma, Z now rocks the Converse. She loves wearing her shoes and so far, has done really well with the laces.

2. Sensory Balls: These balls are so much fun! They bounce and roll really well, and are apparently lots of fun to chew on. They also look just like one of Scout's dog balls, which was promptly hijacked by Baby Tuna. It's her's now and Scout seems ok with it. What a great big sister!

3. Boogie Wipes: These are essential! They will get crusted crud off little faces so easily and are the only thing to get peanut butter/hummus/fruit out of baby hair without leaving it stiff and funky. Zoey also likes to clean her tongue with them. That's normal, right?

4. For weeks, Forget-Me-Not Friendship Blossoms was the only book Baby Tuna wanted to read before nap time. The story is sweet, but the illustrations are even sweeter. Z hurries me through the story until Cherry the Giraffe makes her appearance. And who doesn't love Guess How Much I Love You? This book is a special one for the Hubs and I, and was one of the first we bought for the nursery before Z was born. It's a classic and she loves it!

5. Whale Spout Cover: With Z crawling all over the tub at bath time, it's nice having at least one hazard eliminated. Plus, it's way cute.

6. Melissa & Doug Piano: Some friends of ours gave Z this little piano for Christmas and she immediately loved it. She'll crawl over to it and play, then stop for applause, and go back to playing. It might be one of the cutest things ever!! Obviously, she is naturally gifted.

What about you guys? Any favorites for a new one-year-old that you consider must-haves?

Z's First Birthday Celebration

For Z's first birthday celebration, we decided to keep it simple (read: cheap) and invited just family. But since the Hubs' sister and my brother both live out of state, Baby Tuna got to party down with her grandparents for the day.

I, of course had been cruising Pinterest since before Z was even born looking for ideas. But simple was the name of the game, and the focus was on great food (the Hubs made delicious fish tacos) and the most important birthday element: cake!

I love cake. Love it. And I love to bake it, especially for birthdays. I made two cakes, one for Z as her smash cake, and one for the rest of us to enjoy. In true form since having Z a year ago, I half-assed the cakes. I usually bake cakes from scratch, but this time, I doctored up white cake box mix and made scratch buttercream frosting, but only because I already had the ingredients, it's pretty easy, and Publix buttercream ain't free. Plus, as good as Publix buttercream is (y'all know I love it!), mine is actually better. Just sayin'. I also had fun creating the yellow ombre look, and I think it turned out pretty great. 

Z loves balloons, so naturally I had envisioned tons of yellow and aqua balloons. But since I drive a VW Rabbit with a carseat taking up half the backseat, I knew there was a limit to my balloon dreams. Z and I hauled our cookies down to the party store where the girl filled our balloons (including a super awesome giant mylar "1" balloon), I somehow got them into my car on the windiest day of the year while holding a squirmy one-year-old, and wouldn't ya know, more than half of them were deflated 24 hours later. Boo. 

But someone didn't seem to mind. (She's still playing with the balloons a week and a half later!) I ended up tying them to the chandelier, which looked pretty cute. Win! 

The last part of the decor (and my favorite part) was Z's tutu. I found a super easy tutorial and was able to create cuteness during an episode of Teen Mom 2 (oh, you know you watch it, too!). With a t-shirt and leggings we already had and a coupon for Joann for the tulle, her birthday outfit cost less than $20! Not bad, if I do say so myself. I had been eyeing some adorable birthday outfits on Etsy for triple that. 

white tee | white leggings | zany zoo activity center

Cake time!! We weren't quite sure how Z would react to her very first cake. Would she face plant, would she make a huge mess, or would the cake scare the shit out of her, sending her into tears? I knew that no matter which scenario went down, it would make for great pics! 

I just wasn't expecting her to be so...confused.

Even after a little taste...

the Hubs had to help her out. I don't know if I thought it would be instinct (I mean, isn't a great love of cake written on the DNA?), or what, but I just wasn't expecting her to be so mellow about the whole thing. 

Once she got going, she had a ball, and even enjoyed a few fistfuls of deliciousness.

It wasn't the epic mess we had expected, but she had so much fun pulverizing her cake. 

After a quick bath, it was time for presents. Since Christmas wasn't that long ago, we asked the grandparents to please give Baby Tuna books instead of toys. Maybe it's the teacher in me, but you can never have too many books. Z loves loves loves her books and "reads" and chews them constantly, and now she has so many new ones to enjoy.

Although there were a few things that didn't quite materialize, the day was absolutely perfect. I'm still shocked that a whole year has gone by, and i'm already looking for ideas for birthday number two! 

And thank you to all of you for the sweet birthday wishes for Zoey!

**Please do not pin any photos of Zoey. Thank you!**

Monday's Snapshot...On a Tuesday

Whoops! Totally missed the fact that yesterday was Monday. So here's this week's snapshot. 

Since I'm the photog in the family, no one's ever taking pics of me and the kid. They all end up being selfies, which means Z is either looking off camera, eating my hair, or reaching for the camera/iPhone. But this one is a keeper, and the fingerprint smear over the lens makes it even better! 

Twelve Month Update

Yup. Twelve months! We've survived the first year, people! I've only just gotten used to the fact that we even have a baby, and now she's one! I haven't been dealing with it all that well. Lots of tears, thanks mostly to those Olympics commercials for P&G that showed the Olympians as they grow up to be great athletes. They got me every time!!

Weight: 19 pounds 2 ounces (15th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (40th percentile - she's grown 2+ inches in the last two months...finally catching up!)
Sizes: Pretty much the same as last month - Mostly 6-12 month items, a handful of old 3-6 month (mostly leggings that are now capris), and a few new 12-18 month t-shirts that are a wee bit big on her yet.

Sleep: If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know that we are not blessed with an easy sleeper. We've certainly had some issues. Z typically takes two naps a day, both are a fight to get her down for, but last about an hour each (sometimes longer in the morning). She hits the sack for the night around 7:30ish. Sometimes we don't hear from her again till 6:30 or 7:00am, sometimes we are up and down multiple times in the night. There isn't much consistency, and I think she's just such an active kiddo, she doesn't want to miss out on one second of play. She's also on the verge of some pretty major developmental leaps, physical and mental, so that's gotta screw with the sleep patterns. This too shall pass.

Diet: Baby Tuna is 100% self-feeding at this point. She had enough of being spoon-fed a while back, so it's finger food all day for her. Lot's of diced steamed veggies, cut-up grapes, strawberries & apples, grilled cheese with steamed kale in the middle, penne with shredded mozz, peas & carrots are all some of her favorites. I just started giving her baby goldfish and graham crackers, but she'll pick grapes and strawberries over them both any day. We've also given her PB&Js, which seem to be a hit.

Every morning, Z and I both enjoy smoothies with banana, greek yogurt, OJ, almond milk, spinach, and either mango, strawberries or blueberries. This kid LOVES a good smoothie! Pair that with some scrambled cheesy eggs or a NutraGrain waffle with cinnamon and you have breakfast.

Z's still taking three bottles a day, but her pediatrician has asked that the bottles disappear and we begin to move her to milk. After trying straight milk (only to watch it waterfall down her chin), we started mixing it with her formula, hoping that one day soon, we can stop shelling out $25 a pop for formula. The next to go will be the bottles, which is pretty exciting. No more washing 1,000 bottle parts!!

Baby Loves: Cruising all over the house (no walking yet, but she's getting closer), splashing in the tub, putting her toys in a basket and "walking" them around the living room, playing outside, swinging at the park (so wishing we had somewhere to hang a swing, but palm trees don't make great swing sets...boo!), cruising circles around her Zany Zoo all day, hanging on to Momma's legs when she's making lunch/brushing her teeth/blowdrying her hair (super fun for me when she goes for the dead-leg and my kneecaps slam into the cabinet doors), playing in Scout's water bowl.

Baby Dislikes: When we take away the remote or our cell phones when she's hijacked them, getting dressed, getting a diaper change, going down for a nap.

Milestones: Didn't really hit any big milestones this month - still no recognizable words or solo steps, which are the two biggies for this age. Z communicates pretty effectively with grunts, babbles, and squeals, so I'm not sure she's in a big rush to start speaking English. Of course tomorrow, she could say , "Good morning, Momma!" and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised!

And as for the walking, well, in these last few days since her birthday, she's been getting very close. She's walking while holding on to our fingers and getting braver with stepping away from something and kamikazeing herself, which she never did before she turned one. But all that really counts towards her month thirteen update!

Standing Solo: This month, Baby Tuna has started to get the courage to let go and stand on her own. Once she realizes what she's doing, she immediately sits, but it's just one more sign that we're about to have a full-fledged toddler on our hands!

Teeth: 8 and counting. With the amount of drooling (you can see a nice string of it in the photo above) and chewing going on lately, I'd say she's working on a molar or two. Should be superfun!

Blowing Kisses & High Fives: We've been working on blowing kisses for such a long time (along with waving which she seems totally against doing) and this past month she finally got it...sorta. To Z, blowing a kiss is done by putting the back of her hand up to her open mouth and making a "muah" sound as she pulls her hand away. Since I get one of these every nite at bedtime, I'll take it!

High fives are a little newer, and not all the way there yet, but she will put our hand to ours when we say "high five".

It's so funny how fast the twelve months go. In the beginning, you keep wishing the time to pass more quickly because life with a needy fussy screaming tiny newborn is such a nightmare so hard. But now, I'm torn. I'd love to just freeze time right here, but it's so much fun to watch Z figure things out, learn new skills, and reach new milestones.