Wall Art DIY

Let me start by saying I love Pinterest!! I do not consider myself a creative person so much as an easily inspired one...when i see something i like I just cannot contain myself. This idea is one of those. I had seen it on Pinterest and was just waiting for the perfect picture to make it work. For this, I need to add here a special word of thanks to Paula Perestrelo for the amazing job she did. I think the best part about this project is that, it not only looked amazing, to me at least, but that it cost less than $10 to make!!! We wil definitely be doing this again...maybe change the picture every few months. the possibilities are endless.

Here are the step-by step instructions of how we put it together.

1. pick a picture you love
2. download a free software called PosteRazor from http://posterazor.sourceforge.net/index.php?page=about&lang=english for free!!!! This is the secret of it all...this program will take your picture and print it to a pdf file with multiple pages...you can choose how big you want it
3. print the picture...we had it printed at Office Max on regular 8.5 X 11 paper for 10c/sheet...thinking back on it, we could probably have printed on their thickest cardstock paper for a little bit more money and skipped the next step (next time...)
4. buy foam sheets and cut them to size (they usually come in 9X11).. these were on sale at Michaels for $4...a package of 40 and we used the paper cutter at Office max for free to cut them to the size we wanted. I wish we could have found a package of them all in the same color..maybe black or white...all we could find was the assorted colors bag...maybe if I searched online.

5. modge podge paper to foam...make sure to cover the entire surface of the foam with the modge podge or you WILL get bubbles...I learned the hard way. I also tried modge podge on top of the picture but i did not like the glossy look so I only did a few of the side panels (which I will be replacing soon). The personally liked the non-shiny look better for this picture (it also made my life so much easier).

6. Assemble your picture on the floor or a table...so you can put it up right
7. we used pre-cut foam mounting tape from michaels on the 4 courners of the back of the foam
8.pick a wall and put it up!! We used a piece of yarn and tape to start, then we used a book to make sure the spacing was consistent.

9. we left a few panels out on purpose...be creative!
10. enjoy!!!

Month 5, where do I begin...// 5o mes, por onde comecar...

This is by far the longest I have taken to post here. I am more than half month late for the 5-month post but here we go...

Nossa, acho que dessa vez eu bati o recorde de demora para postar aqui no blog, eu estou mais de meio mes atrasada paro o post de 5 meses...mas aqui vamos nos...

So much has happened in the past few days I am having a hard time remembering where I left off from last time. lets see...A few days after Zuri turned 4-months we went to see the pediatrician for his well-baby appointment. He was at the time measuring 26 in and weighing 17 lbs. He got his 4-month shots, with minimum crying, and had his first fever that night. The fever never got really high and I didn't have to give him anything for it...it was gone by the end of the next day. At the appointment we also discussed Zuri's eating pattern, which was getting to be pretty much every hour at the time, and the doc recommended we start solids. I confess I was a little bit shocked by the suggestion since the "official" position on this is "just breastmilk until 6-months". I had all the intentions of continuing to breastfeed exclusively until 6-months but then I stopped to think critically about the situation and realized Zuri was ready. He had no problem holding his head, his appetite had increased greatly (he was feeding almost twice as often as a couple months ago), and he was very interested in the food on our plates. So, we decided to go for it. And ready he was!!!

Tanta coisa aconteceu nos últimos dias eu estou tendo dificuldade de lembrar onde eu parei da última vez. Vamos ver ... Poucos dias depois que o Zuri completou quatro meses fomos ver o pediatra para a consulta de rotina. Ele estava medindo 66 cm e pesando quase 8 kilos . Ele tambem tomou as vacinas, com o mínimo de choro , e teve sua primeira febre naquela noite. A febre nunca ficou muito alta e eu não tive que dar nada para ele ... no final do dia seguinte, ja tinha ido embora. Na consulta, discutimos o padrão alimentar do Zuri, que estava chegando a ser de hora em hora, entao o medico recomendou começarmos os alimentos sólidos. Confesso que fiquei um pouco chocada com a sugestão já que a posição "oficial" sobre este assunto é "apenas o leite materno até seis meses". Eu tinha todas as intenções de continuar a amamentar exclusivamente até os 6 meses, mas depois parei para pensar criticamente sobre a situação e percebi que o Zuri estava pronto. Ele não tinha nenhum problema segurando sua cabeça, seu apetite aumentou muito (ele estava se alimentando quase duas vezes mais que alguns meses atrás), e ele estava muito interessado na comida em nossos pratos. Então, decidimos ir em frente. E como ele estava pronto!

He made a few funny faces at first (a few spoons full) but has never rejected anything we have given him. We are sticking to fruits and veggies and adding a new one about every four days. So far he has had sweet potatoes, yellow squash, butternut squash, pear, peach, papaya, peas, green beans and bananas. Next on the list we have apples, avocado, and mango...He usually eats as much as we have to feed him, i.e. a whole pear, whole peach, whole yellow squash, etc. I am making everything at home and the fact that he likes it all so much is so encouraging to me.

Ele fez algumas caras engraçadas np comeco (nas primeiras colheradas), mas nunca rejeitou qualquer coisa que tenhamos dado a ele. Estamos comecando com frutas e vegetais e adicionando uma nova a cada quatro dias. Até agora ele teve batata-doce, abóbora amarela, abóbora, pêra, pêssego, mamão, ervilhas, vagem e banana. Em seguida na lista temos maçãs, abacate e manga ... Ele geralmente come tudo que colocamos no pratinho pra ele, ou seja, uma pêra toda, pêssego todo, abóbora amarela inteira, etc Eu estou fazendo tudo em casa e o fato de que ele esta gostando muito de tudo me encoraja muito.

This month we also got our first tooth! it came out really slowly. In fact, it has been about four weeks now and I don't think it is completely out yet. I know its neighbor should be popping out shortly, although it is not yet showing any signs.

Este mês nós também tivemos o aparecimento do nosso primeiro dente! Ele veio bem lentamente. Na verdade, tem sido de cerca de quatro semanas agora e eu não acho que está completamente fora ainda. Eu sei que o vizinho do lado deve estar aparecendo em breve, embora ainda não está dando nenhum sinal ainda.

But, the biggest event by far this month was our family vacation to visit our family in Massachusetts. We kind of decided on the date last minute but I think the timing couldn't be better. The beauty of the New England fall is unmatched! We started off by driving to Dallas area since Marlon was participating in the adventurer family camp and Camp Lake Whitney. The drive was definitely the worst part of the trip....it took as 12 hours to get to Dallas...Although we made several stops along the way, that is just too long for anyone to sit in a car...especially a 5-month old. while Marlon was at camp, Zuri and I stayed with Marlon 's cousin and his wife Paula. Paula loves to take pictures and Zuri and I were her models for the weekend. She did an amazing job, and by the end of our stay, we had almost 5 GB of pictures to take home.

Mas definitivamente, o maior evento deste mês foi a nossa viajem de férias para visitar a família em Massachusetts. Mesmo que a data foi decida meio que de última hora, eu acho que o momento não poderia ter sido melhor. A beleza do outono da Nova Inglaterra é incomparável! Começamos dirigindo para a área Dallas Ja que o Marlon estava participando do Acampamento de familias dos Aventureiros no Camp Lake Whitney. A viagem de carro foi definitivamente a pior parte da viagem .... levamos 12 horas para chegar a Dallas. Apesar de várias paradas ao longo do caminho,  ainda assim é muito tempo para qualquer pessoa ficar sentado em um carro ... especialmente um bebe de 5 meses. Enquanto Marlon estava no acampamento, Zuri e eu ficamos cna casa do primo do Marlon, Otavio, e sua esposa, Paula. Paula adora tirar fotos e Zuri e eu fomos seus modelos para o fim de semana. Ela fez um trabalho incrível, e até o final de nossa estadia, tivemos quase 5 GB de imagens para levar para casa.

We left very early on Monday morning as we began our journey towards Massachusetts. Compared to the car ride to Dallas, the flight was a breeze. Zuri basically ate and slept all the way there. Once we arrives, my parents were eagerly waiting to meet us. This was the first time Zuri and my parents met...it was quite a party. The grandmas made sure we had all we needed for our stay...My mom actually had more things for Zuri than I do at home! Marlon's parents also came to see us when we arrived and the party continued...

Saímos bem cedo na manhã de segunda-feira e começamos nossa jornada para Massachusetts. Comparado com a viagem de carro para Dallas, o vôo foi uma brisa. Zuri, basicamente, comeu e dormiu todo o caminho. Assim que chegamos, os meus pais estavam esperando ansiosamente para nos encontrar. Esta foi a primeira vez que o Zuri e meus pais se encontraram ... foi uma festa e tanto. As vovos se certificaram de que tinhamos tudo o que era necessário para a nossa estadia e mais... Minha mae ela realmente tinha mais coisas para o Zuri do que eu mesma tenho em casa! Os pais do Marlon também vieram para nos ver quando chegamos e a festa continuou ...

For the two weeks we spent there we divided the time between the two sets of grandparents and we had a blast. I especially enjoyed longer naps and showers...ohh the simple pleasures of life. Zuri also had a great time. After spending barely one day at the grandparent's house he said his first word "vovo" which is Portuguese for grandma. Five months repeating mamma and dadda were overpowered by one day with the grandmas...and I thought "m" sounds were easier to make than "v" sounds...Anyways, he spent the two weeks repeating the word over and over, to his grandmas delight.

Durante as duas semanas que passamos lá, dividimos o tempo entre os dois pares de avós e aproveitamos bastante. Eu gostei principalmente da possibilidade de tirar cochilos mais longos e banhos mais demorados... ohh os prazeres simples da vida. Zuri também taproveitou bastante. Depois de passar nem um dia inteiro na casa da avo, ele disse que sua primeira palavra "vovó". Cinco meses repetindo mama e dadda foram dominados por um dia com os avós ... e eu pensei que os sons de "m"  eram mais fáceis de fazer do que os de "v" ... De qualquer forma, ele passou as duas semanas repetindo vovó, para o deleite das vovós.

While we were there, hurricane/monster storm Sandy hit the east coast. Thankfully, Massachusetts was spared and all we had was lots of rain and wind. For us, this rainy day was an added blessing since both of my parents got to stay home from work and enjoy one extra day with us. Zuri was definitely spoiled by all the attention he got...Now that we are back home he is having to re-learn the art of entertaining himself.

Enquanto estávamos lá, o furacão Sandy atingiu a costa leste. Felizmente, Massachusetts foi poupado e tudo o que tivemos foi muita chuva e vento. Para nós, este dia de chuva foi uma bênção adicional uma vez que ambos os meus pais puderam ficar em casa do trabalho e desfrutar de um dia a mais com a gente. Zuri foi definitivamente mimado de tanta atenção que ele recebeu ... Agora que estamos de volta em casa, ele está tendo que reaprender a arte de entreter-se sozinho.

Now we have been back home for a week and are trying to reestablish a routine. Zuri is eating solids three times a day and breastfeeding the rest of the time. He has been consistently taking his naps in the morning and afternoon, and sleeping in his crib. He has grown so much this last month...when we arrived I noticed he was already way past the weight limit on his bassinet so i took it down...with tears in my eyes. my oh my...he is already outgrowing things. I sat him down on the bathroom scale a few days ago and he was weighing 20 lbs!!!! (I don't know how acurate that is but it is the best I have at home). We just had to upgrade to size 4 diapers and are only 2 lbs away from having to get him a new carseat...

Agora estamos de volta em casa por uma semana, estamos tentando restabelecer uma rotina. Zuri está comendo sólidos três vezes ao dia e amamentando o resto do tempo. Ele tem sido consistentemente tirado seus cochilos da manhã e da tarde, e dormido no berço. Ele cresceu muito neste último mês ... quando chegou eu notei que ele já estava muito além do limite de peso no moises, então eu desmontei ... com lágrimas nos meus olhos. ... ele já está perdendo tantas coisas por causa do tamanho. Sentei-o na balanca de banheiro há alguns dias atras e ele estava pesando 9 kilos!! (Eu não sei quao certo esta essa balanca mas é o melhor que tenho em casa). Nós apenas tivemos que mudar para tamanho 4 das fraldas mas faltam apenas 1 kg para ele ter que usar uma caideirinha do carro nova ...

Over the last month, Zuri has gotten a lot better at balancing himself in the seating position, he rarely falls over now. He is an expert grabber, especially of my hair. He is still more excited about playing with people than toys but he has developed a special liking to a little toy car he got from tio Otavio and tia Paula (Marlon's cousin and his wife). He spends a long time looking at it, tasting it, turning it...after a while he lets it go and then picks it up again like he has never seen it before =) The babbling has also increased. He has expanded his consonant sounds to include Ts and Gs. He also tries to sing with us sometimes too (I will post a video of that sometime).

Durante o mês passado, Zuri melhorou muito na questao do equilibrio na posição de sentar, ele raramente cai agora. Ele tambem é um especialista em agarrar as coisas, especialmente meu cabelo. Ele ainda gosta mais de brincar com as pessoas do que com brinquedos, mas ele desenvolveu um gosto especial por um carrinho de brinquedo que ele ganhou de tio Otávio e tia Paula  (primo Marlon e sua esposa). Ele passa um tempao olhando para ele, experimentando, mundando de posicao ... depois de um tempo ele deixa cair e depois pega de novo, como se ele nunca tivesse visto antes =) O balbucio também aumentou. Ele amumentou o seu vocabulario de consoantes para incluir Ts e Gs. Ele também tenta cantar com a gente quando cantamos pra ele (um dia desses eu posto o video).

I think I will stop here for now...sorry for the lengthy post...see you next time!
Acho que eu vou parar por aqui...me desculpem o post gigantesco que eu escrevi...ate a proxima!

A Perfect Smile

Ten tiny fingers,

Ten tiny toes.

A perfect smile,

And a button nose.

Skin so soft,

Eyes so blue.

Who could I mean?

It has to be you!

From Poems for Babies by Lynne Gibbs and Rachael O'Neill