Friday Things
Looks like a selfie, but he’s not there yet ;-)
1. Joseph is currently on the path of transitioning from two naps to one nap and, oh boy, daytime sleep and some bedtimes have been a crazy disaster around here. Some days he’ll stay take two good naps, sometimes one good nap, sometimes one good and one bad, sometimes two crappy naps, sometimes one crappy nap. I read that it can take months for the full transition, so I guess we’ll just dig in and get ready ;-)
2. My aunt surprised us on Sunday with a gift – she took the picture we used for our Christmas cards this past year, had a cross-stitch pattern made from it, and spent the last 4+ months creating the cross-stitch and getting it framed. What an amazing surprise! We were in awe and it’s absolutely something we’re going to cherish forever…
And the card she taped to the back totally makes me tear up every time I read it… “hoping all your Christmas seasons fill your heart with wonder and awe as it did on this very first one!”
3. Some of my favorite food folks! (ahem, INA) >> The 30 Most Influential People in Food.
4. A few months ago, I shared a story about the last surviving 9/11 rescue dog, Bretagne, getting a whirlwind trip to NYC that included lots of her favorite things. Unfortunately, she passed away this week, at nearly 17 years old. What an amazing life! I couldn’t watch the video of her being saluted… it started to autoplay in my Facebook feed and I got teary-eyed before I had time to scroll past it :(
5. LOVE all of this information on vertical gardening… if you’re short on space but still want a garden, definitely check it out!
6. I recently came across The Home Edit, a home organization company, and oh my gosh, their Instagram feed – it’s an organization freak’s dream come true! I’m in love with every single picture.
7. Why Classic Rock Isn’t What it Used To Be – When I was in high school, classic rock consisted of music like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Kansas, etc… Apparently I’m getting old, wahhhh.
8. Do you have a summer vacation planned? Tell me where you’re going!
9. My husband and I were lucky enough to go to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night, but it definitely didn’t go as we had hoped :(  The atmosphere at the game was insane though, so crazy! Hoping we can make it happen Sunday night!
10. TGIF! This is how Einstein does Sunday…
Just checking back in to see if you found out from your aunt, the company she used to have your picture made into a cross stitch pattern? We had family pictures taken last weekend as a gift to my parents & I’d love to make a cross stitch picture for them from one of the pictures of all 7 of their grandkids! Thanks!!
Hi Kimberli, Yes, I just checked with her! She said it’s Stitch-A-Photo – http://www.busybcrafts.com
the picture from your aunt is beautiful!
Hang in there with the sleep and cherish the good days. We are just getting into the groove with one nap a day. It took about 3 weeks to transition.
First, YAY PENGUINS! Congrats on the Stanley Cup win! (And yes, I firmly believe fans deserve congrats, too!)
Second, any idea why your emails don’t always make it to inboxes? Every once in a while (like the last two Fridays) your “Friday Things” emails never come through. Just wondering if you know of an issue?
Hi Claire, Unfortunately I haven’t nailed down this issue yet, but I am working on fixing it!
Here’s how to go from two short naps to one long nap (you will love this 2 1/2-3 hour break!!): Do everything in your power to keep him awake all morning. Even if it means have lunch a little on the early side. Then, take him for a nice long walk–Joseph doing the walking, too. Make it into a game along the way. Then, come home and put him down. I did this routinely with all three of mine for about a week and then they were good to go for those long afternoon naps. Getting a lot of energy out in the late morning or just after lunch zaps them! Good luck!
I too am not receiving Friday Things. Last one I received was 27/5. I’m also not getting some of the daily posts. I don’t like to miss out but luckily The Weekend Dish has links to everything. I love the cross stitch your aunt made for you.
Also….again….did not receive the Friday Things email.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the cross stitch…what an amazing gift!
Hi Michelle,
I am not receiving your Friday Things posts either. I have to wait until Saturday and look it up :-( I LOVE the cross stitch! And that note, OMG….made me tear up. I couldn’t watch the video with Bertagne either, made me cry! I too would love to know the website your aunt used to convert the picture to a cross stitch pattern. Have a great weekend! Hope you are feeling great!
The cross stitch gift from your aunt made ME teary eyed. Family and special memories are indeed blessings.
What a treasure your aunt must be. The cross stitch is beautiful and will serve to remind you of your first Christmas with Joseph. I am no longer receiving your Friday post. I am reminded of it when I get the weekend update.
I am glad I am not the only one I thought it was personal but I am also not receiving the Friday Things email. Also the Cross Stitch is beautiful to those wondering you can get a computer program to convert your picture to a cross stitch pattern, in Canada we can send a picture to Mary Maxim and they convert the picture for us for a small fee, it is really worth it.
Michelle, for some reason I have stopped (several weeks now) receiving your Friday Things post in my email. I still get The Weekend Dish though. Has your list changed? Thanks.
Hi Susie, I’m so sorry, others have mentioned the same thing. I’m working on figuring out what the issue is and getting it fixed! The list has not changed.
Wish I had some naptime advice for you except to tell Joseph: Enjoy those naps now because you’ll wish for them when you’re an adult!
I too think your Aunt’s gift is amazing and generous and would like to know how she did it. There’s oodles of sites that advertise converting your photos into a pattern but part of the problem I’d run into is figuring out which color yarns match the colors in the photos. If you get that wrong, the piece could become an awful mess!
How are you feeling??? Hope the nap transition and Cup race aren’t taking too much of a toll on you. While I’m a Rangers’ fan, I have to cheer for the Penguins simply because you’re on the East Coast.
By the way, thanks for posting the tweaked Dump Cake recipe this week. I too had seen the recipe in the Times pop up several times in the past month and was thinking about incorporating some of the suggestions from the comments but hadn’t done so yet. I was also thinking about adding some coffee into the recipe to ramp up the chocolate flavor too. First I’ll make yours and then try that.
Stay well!!
The cross stitch is beautiful and your aunt is amazing. I would love to know how she did it.
Love the beautiful cross stitch! For some reason, the “Friday Things” stopped dropping in my email. I used read to my guys before a nap — and they would often fall asleep while we were reading. They each had their own special nap time book. But I think the advice to wear Joseph out in the morning, give him lunch and then a nap is right on! Thanks for the puppy pic, too!
Wow, that gift from your Aunt is amazing! Something to cherish, just so thoughtful. Love it.
Love the cross stitch! How did she get the photo converted?
What an amazing cross stitch! What an amazing aunt she must be!!! That is sure a treasure! I remember reading about the rescue dog when you first shared about her and I teared up then, so there was no way I could watch the video either. Especially since we had to say goodbye to our beloved golden on Tues. of this week. I’m on the verge of tears all the time now. But going on vacation to the beach (Oxnard, CA) next week, so hopefully that will help.
Oh Linda, I’m so, so sorry to hear about your Golden. A million hugs to you.
Thank you! As you know, goldens are the best!
Wish I had nap advice! I think my little guy is maybe 6 months older than Joseph. I was lucky (?) to have daycare “rip the bandaid off” and move us to 1 afternoon nap. My (unsolicited) advice is to SUPER tire Joseph out in the mornings – be outside doing things, go to the zoo, a museum, a park – and then get him home well before nap time to wind down. That SEEMS to have worked in our house (fingers crossed, hoping I didn’t just jinx myself). Good luck and best wishes on your new little boy!
I have 20 month old twins, and the transition to one nap a day was tough! We all finally figured it out after about a month, but it was a month of tired babies and sometimes early bed times (when naps just didn’t work out well.) The one nap is SO much better though. They go down at 12:30 and sleep 2.5-3 hours. Hang in there!
Hi Lizzy, Any tips on making the transition?? I can’t seem to make the same thing work two days in a row, and most nights he’s going to bed overtired, which is a disaster.
My only real tip is to push the morning nap time back as late as you can. Each day wasn’t the same, but I held them off as long as I could (by trying to keep them busy.) I kept moving it back a little later until we got to where we are now, which is between 12:30 and 1:00. During this time, my son would sometimes take a 30 min nap around 4:00 or 4:30, which helped with a better evening. Also, don’t be afraid to start bedtime weirdly early. Sometimes my kids were in bed by 6:30. It seemed strange, but they needed it and still slept until 6:30 or 7:00 the next morning. Eventually we worked back to a normal 7:00-7:30 bedtime.
What a lovely keepsake. Can you find out which site your aunt used. Many thanks
For some reason am missing some of your posts. Love your aunts gift. Not into hockey but love basketball and watching the Texas Rangers.
Joseph’s selfie is too cute! Yeah the nap transitions can be rough but you’ll make it. Hopefully you get to nap when he does so that you are not too tired with his brother…lol…
The counted cross stitch is amazing and such a wonderful gift. I’ve tried counted cross-stitch and it’s not easy!
Go Pens!
Always love your Friday updates but GO SHARKS! :)
Grrrrrrrr….
That gift is so beautiful and so heartfelt. I’ve never seen anything like that and I love it. You have a very special (extraordinary!) aunt.
I’ve recently returned from a two year stay in Japan that didn’t go very well. We didn’t have an oven or much kitchen equipment at all over there (it’s weird–no one in Japan does), so I’ve been working my way through your website and it’s been SO much fun for me. That stay made me very depressed, so we very rarely traveled. Now that we are back in the US, we have very active and fulfilling lives. I’m happy to say we are traveling to Victoria, BC for our anniversary this July! We will be there for a week and I’m really looking forward to it. :)
Hi Lisa, I’m sorry to hear your stay didn’t go well, but I’m glad you’re enjoying the site! Enjoy your trip – I’ve never been, but hear that BC is gorgeous!
BC is amazing, I grew up in Vancouver and lived in BC til I was 24. I’ve lived in Australia for the past 30 years and am soon going “home” for the Canadian summer. Can’t wait.
That cross stitch is so lovely! What a nice and thoughtful gift!
That is the most beautiful cross stitch! What an awesome gift! Our vacation this year is a week in Pittsburgh! I grew up there but live in Atlanta now. We’re going ‘home’ to see family and friends and hopefully eat lots of Pittsburgh food!
I hope you have a blast in town! Always great going home :)
The gift from your aunt is beautiful. What an awesome idea.
I love the x stitch!!! How generous of her.
Oh, Michelle…the gift from your aunt is simply beautiful… so inventive and thoughtful. I used to do counted cross stitch so I understand the amount of work, time, and love dedicated to making this gift for your family. The message on the back made me tear up. You are so fortunate to have such a loving and generous extended family surrounding your little family.
Finally, I thought of you when I read the story of Bretagne’s passing. She had a wonderful life of service, bringing comfort and peace to so many. I know her dog soul is now at peace as well. Hugs to all the furry buddies out there that bring us joy everyday.
My mom turned to ‘quiet time’ when we started nap transition. We were told we could have a book or toy with us and had to stay on our bed until she came and got us & could nap or not. She said the rest calmed us and often we napped whether we intended to or not. Actually in the long hot summers she made us have at least an hour of quiet time every day until we got to HS. She said our high activity level and the heat wore us out. I remember many lazy afternoons happily reading in front of the fan or in the shade for some quiet time. Good luck.
I know some of my friends do this with their older preschoolers who have stopped napping and it works great. Joseph definitely still needs daytime sleep, just struggling to figure out when he needs to get it, and he’s not old enough yet to understand “quiet time”.