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Wow!! What a treat to print these lovely cards for Dirty Beauty! I designed the logo a few months back and when Dusty and I acquired the letterpress - we knew we had to create something with it! Love seeing these luscious letters light up double thick cotton stock and pair with red and pink envelopes. I couldn’t leave the studio without creating a small run of notebooks for Samantha’s STEM kits. This project was such a joy to create!
I’ve got some catching up to do. Months 19 + 20 flew by. We’re in the thick of it now. Theo’s speech therapy is going well. He’s adding new sounds and sort-of words. I love hearing his sweet sing song voice. Arty is getting pretty chatty too! We drop Arty off to play with my parents while Theo and I go to speech. Arty has said papa (for my dad, Poppy) and glasses - also with my dad. I remember reading on my favorite blog that once her children started talking, the world cracked open. I feel that. Children are so mysterious and the newborn phase felt like an alien world to me. What are they thinking, feeling!? Do they understand this? I love that, soon, they will be able to tell us.
I don’t know if I say this each month, but it’s been rough. Things are intense at work right now. Lots of design projects in progress and it’s a struggle to keep up with it all. Not a lot of room or mental space for drawing and creating. Graphic design feels very much like organizing for me. A great feeling, to be sure, but after the main assets are created, there’s not a lot of room for free flow.
I have been feeling pent up and have resolved to start getting out for a run in the evenings when Dusty gets home. I feel a new flush of pandemic bitterness - the sting of dashed expectations. But after a couple days in my new afternoon run ritual, I’m already feeling better.
Highlights of these months include:
wagon rides in the sunshine
lots of coloring and drawing outside with chalk
watching the inauguration together (!)
bi weekly ish trips to the library have resumed thanks to Auntie JoJo, she comes along so the boys can roam while I grab some new reading material for us, hats off to our fabulous librarians at the Woodstock Public Library, you always seem happy to see our rather loud and exuberant group approach
playground meet up with my mom friends, so fun, so needed, a bit complicated with two, but we made it work
so much playing outside with our surprisingly wonderful weather
first haircut for Arty (I cried, but also it’s so cute)
xoxo,
Mads
P.S. New stickers in the shop, an awesome recipe shared to me by Tante Willie, and the cutest lil plant pins you ever did see!
Once a month, I try to create a free fun thing to send to my newsletter list! This month I’m tossing it on the blog as well, because, why not?!
This printable calendar PDF has two pages, one calendar is 5x7 (perfect for tucking into a journal), the second is 8x10 (great to have on the fridge, next to your desk, etc). Print, share and enjoy!
18 months feels like a huge milestone, but then no milestone has really felt small. New month, new challenges, new delights. Highlights of this month include:
Doing Christmas crafts and pretty much hating ever minute of it, I loved it though
A family photoshoot with the cousins, (Thanks Auntie JoJo for this lovely photo!)
Celebrating our second Christmas with the babes, new toys, new books, new lewks
They are getting so good at puzzles
Reading a million books (or the same books a million times), we’re working the library back into our routine
Arthur began kinda sleeping through the night, sometimes, I can’t tell you what the added sleep has done for us, it’s incredible
A trip to the botanical gardens with Auntie JoJo, begun fighting the stroller (noooooo!), but very well behaved in the giftshop (yayyy!)
I can see them working out their independence already, and they have such a desire to help us with daily life tasks, Arthur is a PRO as helping me close the fridge and Theo is just about the only one who can help me get that dishwasher closed
As I see their personalities emerge, I fall more and more in love, they are such great kids, we’re so lucky
xoxo,
Mads
I read so. many. books. I mean way more than I thought possible. I read some really great books last year, some kind meh ones too. I am excited to see what my 2021 bookshelf will look like!
*PS: If you click through and purchase any of these books, I may receive a small commission. It doesn’t affect the price you pay at all.
Without further ado, all the books I read last year:
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Enjoy this coloring page inspired by the Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit! Share your coloring pages on Instagram - tag me @madsbeaulieu. In for more chess themed paper fun? Check out this printable stationery set on Etsy!
New challenges this month. Sleep regression and teething again. Tantrums. But walking so fast and far! Theo walks like a kid now, and luckily Arty still has his toddler toddle. Arty is attempting some words: dog, car, Mimi, (ba)nana. His sweet voice… there is nothing like it. Sometime Theo wakes up and it’s like he’s learned something in his sleep. He’ll break out a new expression we’ve never seen or start saying “ah-oh” or “ah-done.”
We play outside as much as possible and we are wearing shoes now! Comfy leather soft shoes have really done the trick, though I’m sure we’ll move to something more sturdy now that the weather is getting colder.
We’re looking at a local school for them to go to a couple mornings a week. It feels both like the best idea ever and also like something I can’t fathom. I have fears about both doing it and also not doing it. We’ll see how it goes.
Hugs,
Mads
This was a tough month for reading. The twins have hit a new stage in growth. (Tantrums, walking, talking.) And Dusty and I are hard at work on our new shared retail space in downtown Woodstock. Made Mercantile is a collaborative makerspace and retail shop. The space is funded by the DDA and set to open in November! (Here’s the website for more info!) We’ve been busy getting product ready and balancing our design work.
So to the books:
2020 BOOK LIST:
Currently reading I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Currently reading Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall
Currently reading The Goldfinch: A Novel by Donna Tartt
Currently reading Friends and Strangers: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: A Novel by Mark Haddon
Unsheltered: A Novel by Barbara KingsolverThe Giver of Stars: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad
This month with twins has been exciting! We’ve had first steps!
Mornings have continued to be slow, though we are trying our best as adults to get to bed and wake up on time. We have cereal and drinkable yogurt in the living room before popping out the door for a walk. The weather has been SO NICE this past month. We’ve been taking advantage of it by spending as much time outside as possible. Often the twins will point to the front door, like “Let’s go ma!”
Lunch is around 11:30. We’ve been doing the same ole same ole, but cutting their food into larger pieces. They can take pretty great bites now!! We’re practicing with spoons and drinking cow’s milk. The days seem to be going by super quickly. Arty and Theo practice their walking all around the living room. Shrieks of joy and excitement abound. They are so proud of their new skill and that makes me feel so proud of them. There has been a good bit of misty-eyed admiration.
Evenings are pretty sweet. We like to play outside, push our walkers around the yard and wave to our neighbors coming home from work. Theo loves cars and is very interested in all the different styles and colors. It seems like Arty is just in it for the waving. Our neighbors across the street have Halloween inflatables going and it’s important to inspect them once per day. (The pumpkin headed one with the grabby arms is kinda scary, but we like the ghosts.) We will watch some TV while dinner is being made. Current favorite is The Octonauts. Arty starts laughing and dancing at the theme song. It’s so cute.
We slept through the night once this past month! Progress. (?!) Baths are fun, but Theo is decidedly not okay with bubble baths. Worth a shot, right? Maybe he will come around. I think he was freaked out because he couldn’t see his legs under the bubbles. He seemed really worried about his brother, too. After getting Theo out of the tub and in jammies he pointed me back to the bathroom. Once he saw Arty was okay, Theo was ready for milk and snuggles. Sweet boys.
I love watching them play together and grow as brothers. They talk to each other more and more. I’ll often find them playing silly games with each other. The laughter is so heartwarming. Makes me smile so big.
xoxo,
Mads
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