monthly birthdays

it is amazing how quickly your baby changes and grows during their first year of life. they develop so rapidly that we count their progress first in weeks, then in months. and it isn't until they finally reach their second year that we feel comfortable celebrating that amazing day just once a year.

after a good friend sent me several links to creative ideas for monthly progress photos toward the end of my pregnancy, i decided to make the commitment to take a monthly photo on her birthday (or at least within a week of it) for her first two years.

nicole balch of making it lovely posted this series of her daughter eleanor seated in an eames rocker with an adorable little pin to document the number of months.

image: nicole balch, making it lovely

since ella was born last june, we've been documenting her growth with monthly photos using a white fabric back drop, white onesie, and a large paper mâché number (available at hobby lobby) that i've collaged with various colorful images. the numbers have been a great way to keep her amused and in one place during the photo shoots. i plan to display the numbers in her room when we get settled in our next house.

we just completed her 8-month photo last week. i can't wait to compile all of the photos at the end of each year!

images: amanda fort

spice up your life: part 1

since we moved into our new home here in ann arbor, i've been thinking of ways to best organize the spices in the kitchen. have i mentioned that our kitchen is the size of a postage stamp? with a short supply of cabinet space, i have been contemplating the use of a picture ledge mounted just below the upper cabinets on the wall. it is the perfect depth for a single row of spice jars and you can purchase them very inexpensively at IKEA.

of course, now that the spices will be on display, the task of standardizing jars and creating new labels is underway. here are just a few images that i hope will inspire my new display.

found//lovely Easter bucket

i couldn't resist purchasing this adorable bucket from target for ella's first easter. ok, so it's not a basket but we're going to break a few rules here. the plan is to raise ella with Jewish traditions after all, so comparatively, the having a bucket instead of a basket is fairly minor. now, what to fill the bucket with? check back for some great easter finds.

image: amanda fort

martha does it again

in my latest Parents magazine i spied an add for martha stewart home office products at staples. her ads seem to always hit the nail on the head and inevitably convince me that i need what she's selling. they offer the promise of becoming even better organized than i already am, leading me on a perpetual quest for more things to label and categorize.

today i made a trip to staples and beheld the beauty of martha stewart office products with my own two eyes. without only enough budgeted to buy a few of the small packages of stylishly overpriced items, i chose two items: write, erase and re-use 8-tab plastic dividers for my recipe binder and large brown kraft labels for the storage bins in my basement. it's a good thing.

perfect procrastination

yesterday i completed a small project that i had planned to do shortly after moving into our rental home in ann arbor in august. at the time ella was only two months old, but i couldn't wait for the days when she might play on the floor near me as i worked in the kitchen. well those days have quickly arrived. ella is now 8 months old and is crawling all over the house, finding things that i, well, forgot i had (thank you ella). because most stainless steel appliances do not provide the traditional magnetic surfaces we all used to find on the appliances of our childhoods, i decided to pick up a magnetic board at IKEA and mount it horizontally and low to the ground so that ella could play and explore near me while i was doing any number of kitchen related duties. our kitchen is very small, so i chose to mount it in the adjacent dining room where i can keep an eye on her. this project has been a hit! even when we're hanging out in the living room, ella makes a beeline to the dining room to play with her magnets. next project: making more magnets!