Montessori take 2

Last week, as I explained here, I figured out it would be nice to include some Montessori activities for Livia in our schedule, a few times a week! She had so much fun with the color sorting activity, I decided to search the web for some inspiration for additional activities.

I came across some memory game made especially for toddlers. I found a few made of wood, but thought it could be neat to make a prototype out of fabric. I used felt & cotton woven printed fabric to create this quick prototype (only 8 pieces) while Livia was napping last Sunday. Turned out to be a hit!

I shared some pictures on my Facebook page & Instagram account and the vibe was pretty good, so yesterday, I decided to create my very 1st Montessori inspired fabric memory game! This 1st model includes 14 pieces made with 7 different fabric. It's pretty neutral so I think both boys & girls will enjoy it!

I'll continue brainstorming some Montessori inspired ideas...and will keep you posted for sure! ;)

Have a lovely day!

PS: I have a brand new Instagram account totally dedicated to CUTIFULbaby! :)
I'll be sharing pictures of new items available for sale, so keep your eyes peeled!

Lately...

The last few months have been very busy & kind of ectic around here...at least, that's how I feel!
I'm already halfway through my pregnancy & things just seem to go faster than ever... Lately, I've had a hard time dealing with the fact that I wasn't able to keep up with my Etsy shops...I felt like I was letting things go, like I wasn't dedicating as much time as usual or as much as I would have wanted to to my little business! When you put so much hard work into something you love & you're proud of, it's kinda hard to accept that sometimes, IT'S ALRIGHT to take a little break, to slow things down a little...

It's alright if there are only a few items left in your shop even though you have hundreds of ideas fighting one another in your head...it's alright to take time for yourself, to relax in a hot bath after work or go to bed early if you feel like you need to instead of doing late night sewing like you were used to!

With our busy schedules ( and I'm sure many of you parents will understand exactly what I'm talking about!) it gets so easy to "spend" less time with our kiddos...I mean, I "spend" time with Livia, but running errands or being next to her in the living room while she plays by herself and I fold laundry is not what I call quality time...I've realized that I was often too busy with everything else that I didn't take as much time as I used to to simply sit down with her and actually play WITH her!

That being said, I decided that I wanted to start trying some Montessori activities with Livia on a weekly basis! Today, we tried out our 1st color sorting activity & it was a big hit!

She did this like a champ! Proud mama's moment!

More color sorting on the couch after dinner!

Montessori fun from Vanessa Giguere on Vimeo.

She had a lot of fun & I had fun too watching her play & learn all at once! In the end, all we needed was a few colored bowls with matching color items : fridge alphabet magnets, building blocks, crayons, plastic utensils...

 Margaux, a blogger friend, also recommended this amazing blog with plenty of ideas for Montessori activities! It's called How we Montessori and I'm pretty sure it will be a great source of inspiration in the upcoming weeks!

Wish you all a great Sunday!
Enjoy!

It's a girl.... NO, wait! ... It's A BOY!!!!

Last Friday, I had my 2nd ultrasound & to our great surprise, we are having a baby boy!

When I say surprise, it was quite a surprise...for about 10 minutes, we thought we were having a girl according to what to technician had told us! I was already brainstorming names in my head when she suddenly yelled "OMG! Wait a minute...I'm so wrong, this is absolutely NOT a girl!"
I laughed so hard, I literally thought my bladder was going to explode (any pregnant woman knows EXACTLY what I'm talking about! Drink 750ml in 15 minutes & wait about 2 hours... ;) )

Anyhow! We are pretty excited about this little boy! And all weekend long, it felt as if I was on my little cloud, thinking about names, browsing Etsy for cute baby boy items, making a list of what we'll have to buy... I even made my very 1st boy purchase...how could I have resisted? Aren't they cute!

I love Little Hip Squeaks, Amy is one of these amazing momtrepreneur who totally rocks & who I totally admire! Her Etsy shop is filled with the most lovely prints you'll ever see!

 Really hope this little boy of mine will give me plenty of inspiration for boy items! :)

Have a good night you guys!
Talk to you soon!

Happy Easter!!!

Today was such a great day, spent with family we don't get to see really often!

I asked my boyfriend to drive so I could do some cross stitch while enjoying my large iced cappuccino! Livia had her 1st egg hunt and it was a real success! She was so excited & expressive, it was a real pleasure to witness! :)

Here are some bits & pieces of our day!

On the road...

Getting ready for her 1st egg hunt

Sooooo many goodies!

She loves bubbles!

 

Our homemade Easter cupcakes!

And here's a little extra...
I just created a Vimeo account & I'm still figuring it out...but I thought it would be fun to share a 1st video with your guys! :)

1st egg hunt from Vanessa Giguere on Vimeo.

 Hope you had a great Easter!

Talk to you soon!

A day off work with my little bird

AM
7:00 - Woke up to see a little birdie standing by my bedroom door with her new stuffed bunny (she's   in the Easter spirit!)
7:15 - Shower time for both of us! Goodbye bed heads!
7:40 - We sat down to have breakfast (although Livia gave almost half of hers to the dog!)
9:00 - We left to run some errands. On our list:

• Stop by a cute chocolate shop to buy some Easter treats for the cousins
• Stop by my favorite eco-conscious shop for some natural teething drops (yes, Livia is teething again! :(  Molars!)
• Find some Spring accessories for Livia as the weather is starting to warm up...this little person is growing up so fast, her Fall accessories are not fitting her anymore...so we need jersey hats, little gloves & a pair of booties....(and I ended up finding some little Spring ankle boots for myself! ;)
• Final little stop at the grocery store because the fridge is pretty empty!

Let me tell you, running errands for  about 3-4 hours on your own with a toddler while being pregnant... it's quite a challenge! I was exhausted! And she was too apparently! ;)

She fell asleep about 5 minutes before we came back home! Typical!

12:30 - We finally came back home and ate lunch

PM
1:00 - My boyfriend comes back from work telling me we might have friends over for dinner...Okay....That wasn't planned....Better get moving & clean up the house a little! :\
2:00 - Nap time for the little one...
3:15 - She's still not sleeping & ripped off 3 pages of her favorite book?!?! What the...?!?!
4:00 - We made chocolate mousse

Sneaky girl...waiting for me to turn around to steal come chocolate!

Simple chocolate mousse, 3 ingredients: Chocolate, eggs & sugar

5:00 - The boys decided to make themselves killer burger...but I on the other hand had another craving...so I decided to make myself ( & Livia) a killer mac n' cheese ! :) (Thanks Jamie Oliver for all your awesome recipes!)
5:30 - The mac n' cheese is now in the oven so I can rest a little while the boys are entertaining the little one (which is really a good thing because she has SOOOOOOO much energy for someone who almost didn't nap!)
6:45 - Dinner was so good!

Jamie Oliver's killer mac n' cheese with a side of bruschetta

7:00 - Time to paint Livia's toes! Light pink...with extra glitter this time! She loves it!
7:30 - My little bird is getting pretty tired...Time to cuddle up in my bed to watch some cartoons while she drinks her milk and then, off to sleep.

It's now 8:00pm, the boys are watching a 3D movie, my baby's fast asleep and I just feel like making myself a latte and go to sleep early! This mama is really tired! Really! Tomorrow I need to dedicate as much time as possible to custom orders...so I better get a good night of sleep!

Hope you all had a great Friday!
What have you been up to?

Is March almost over?!?!...For real?

Ok, this is really bad!
I just can't believe I haven't written a single blog post in over a month! WHAT?!?!
Seems like we were in February, then I blinked and poof! April is already around the corner!
This is simply unbelievable! And it seems that with this 2nd pregnancy, time is passing by even faster!

So today, I thought I could at least take a few minutes to write a little blog post & share a few pictures of our weekend with you guys! So here I am, on the couch with my laptop while Livia is watching Winnie the Pooh!

My weekend started with a girl's night out! Felt so good! Here's my almost 18weeks late night bump...after eating this amazing molten cake which, according to my receipt, was apparently a cake for 2! Haha!

Finished one of my latest custom order! I love making baby keepsake!

Livia is a real clown, always making funny faces to make us laugh!

Adding felt food to my Etsy shop has been on my mind lately...

Livia trying the lovely crayons that our new pen pals sent us! (I'll tell you more about "happy mail" in an upcoming blog post...meanwhile, you can visit Tara's blog and meet her lovely daughter )

 

Since we received our 1st happy mail about a week ago, we started preparing ours...heading to Colorado soon! :)

A Saturday morning trip to the Post Office with a purse full of custom orders!

A few weeks ago, I've added crayon rolls to my shop...this weekend, I wanted to do a little prototype for crayon roll party favors! How do you like them?

Ahhhh...NAPS! I've been quite busy lately, but whenever I can, I try to rest a little while Livia is napping!

I should really get the juicer out more often! Carrots & apples is our favorite...Livia almost drank the whole glass all by herself! Good thing she likes it! I won't complain!

Pregnant lady's lunch! ;) Sooooooo hungry!

That's it, time for me to go...Livia just pushed the laptop of me to sit on my laps to watch the cartoons! How can I say no to that! :)
 Hope you all had a great weekend!
I seriously need to drop by more often...
Talk to you soon! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been with my boyfriend for a bit more than 10 years now and we have never really been the type of person to celebrate Valentine's Day...I guess that now that we are parents, we will unconsciously celebrate it a bit more, making crafts & sweets for friends & loved ones!

This year, Valentine's Day took on an whole new meaning... I had my 1st ultrasound & it was a real blessing to witness this little peanut in action! Tonight, I'll be going to sleep happier than ever! :)

Tiny hands...Precious!

How was your Valentine's Day?

Have a great night you guys!
Keep in touch!