February Post

Maybe if I set myself a nice attainable goal I can achieve it? One post a month? Well, it's busy, busy, busy around here.

 Amelia is 4 months old now, wow! She's getting more and more fun every day, rolling over, laughing, playing with toys ~ good stuff. We have a very active social calendar, which really helps me get through the days. I'm meeting lots of mommies near me and that's been really great too.

We've finally started adding doors to the upper cabinets in the kitchen. They even have knobs now (I took this picture at Christmas time). Only 4 more to go and we can think about adding a pantry. Whoopee!!

I've baked a few things recently....the Star Wars cookies were yummy.

 

 

 

 I've finished one of my pre-baby sewing projects. She's probably just about ready to wear this little dress.

 

 

 

 I'm still buying bits of fabric here and there, I can't help myself. I don't know yet what these will become, but I think Amelia will have something to do with it.

 

 

 

 And of course, spending my days playing with this little peanut is what I do most of the time. Our pediatrician told us to start suicide-proofing the house today, yikes, I'm not ready for that!

I hope you're getting more done than I am.

Back in the Swing

Hey there! How are you? I feel really bad that I'm blogging so infrequently, but you know how it is with a new baby in the house. I just thought I'd drop in and give you an update on how things are going around here.

Amelia is now 3 months old, if you can believe that! At my baby group they're always saying how hard the first 3 months are...if you can just get through the first 3 months, things will be easier.

 

 I guess that's pretty true. Not so much that it's hard, but the fact that you get those big smiles every time you look at her makes things a lot more fun. I can't complain, other than occasional wake-ups, she sleeps about 8 hours a night...she's growing, smiling, putting her hand in her mouth and wiggling all the time. Still not much hair to speak of (except eyelashes!), but it's coming along slowly, haha.

Now that Amelia's so grown up, she's giving me lots more time to get things done around the house...and to sew!

I've started to slowly restock my Etsy shop (not so much restocking of the monkey shop, however) and I've got about a million knitting projects in the works. Occasionally I get a babysitter for the afternoon so I have a few hours to focus on things. This week Trisha and I are going to spend the day working on a year-long project that I'll tell you about later. I'm so looking forward to it too.

 

Today I even got around to listing a little messenger bag I've had sitting here since about August

Better late than never, right?

The Joy of Mail

 The mailman has been paying us lots of visits lately.

 

 

Look what arrived for Amelia yesterday! My good friend Julie told me she was making a stocking, but I had no idea what it would be like. I LOVE it!!! Look at the kitties...and the snowman! Amelia will be able to keep this forever, I'm so excited. Thank you Auntie Julie. :)

 

 

 

 My knitting group is doing a knit along in January and is making the February Lady Sweater. I've never made a sweater for myself so I'm pretty excited (we'll see if I can actually get it done!). My mom got me a KnitPicks gift certificate for Christmas (and permission to use it before Christmas) so here's one of the things I got. I'm going to use this "Wool of the Andes" to knit my sweater. I've already started, but I've only knit about 5 rows...ha, we'll see if that sweater ever gets done.

And in the same order, I got some gorgeous sock yarn and this book.

 

Trisha and I got together last week and we went through the patterns in the book and decided on a scarf for this yarn. I haven't started it yet and might not get to it until next winter. I think it'll be a gorgeous scarf anyway. By the way, Trisha and her family babysat for me so Nick and I could go see the new Harry Potter film...thanks Trisha and co.!!

And for those of you who are interested in baby pictures, here's the latest.

 

Yep, I made the jumper and she does have a great big glob of slobber on her chin. Who wants a picture with a bib? This is Amelia at 11 weeks. I hear all the time in my baby group that things get all magical at 12 weeks, 5 days to go. haha

November Update

Whoops! I forgot I had a blog, I guess it's time for an update, haha.

Well, things are pretty good around here. Amelia will be 7 weeks old tomorrow! Wow, time flies.

She's about 9 pounds now & learning new things every day. Tomorrow she'll meet her Auntie Veronica and 3 of her cousins for the first time, we can't wait.

I haven't had much time to sew or knit, but I did start an afghan a few weeks ago (thanks to Trisha). Here's how it's looking...

I'm actually a bit farther along than this, but I don't have a new picture. It's practically dark here right now so there's no point trying now. (There's snow on the ground too!) The free pattern for the afghan is here. I decided to go crazy and try a different color scheme, I think I like it so far. And here's Trisha's version, so pretty. I try to knit a row every night or so. At this rate I could finish by the time Amelia starts school.

Though I haven't been sewing much, I did make it out to a quilt show this weekend (thanks to a very proud daddy who pushed the stroller and chatted with all the nice ladies at the show who wanted to know all about the baby). I picked up a few treasures.

These toasters will make a great coupon organizer some day.

And what about these retro prints? I bought them with coupon organizers in mind, but I may have to keep a little for myself. :)

Miss Amelia will enjoy this alphabet panel & matching print. The panel is narrow so I can either make it a wall hanging as is, or add to the sides and make a quilt. Maybe I'll decide by the time I get to this project.

And here's a little something for me. You can't tell from the pattern but these fabrics will make an adorable snowman wall hanging. They had a sample made up at the show and I was hooked by the red & aqua. It'll be great in my dining room some day.

I guess that's my update. Hopefully as Amelia grows, I'll find more time to blog and sew. Have a great Thanksgiving in the mean time!

Thanking Misses Kwitty and some baby pictures

Look what arrived in the mail the other day!

Not the shelf, the adorable banner with Amelia's name on it!! I've been waiting for the sun to shine in her room to take a picture, but it just isn't happening. Misses Kwitty made the birdy banner and I absolutely love it, Amelia does too.

Thank you Misses Kwitty!! (sorry, the picture doesn't do it justice)

Oay, so now I'll bore you with lots of baby talk. Amelia is doing well. She's been to her first doctor's appointment and has surpassed her birth weight. We're very proud. :)

She's so small that she nearly never gets a chance to wear something girly, none of her clothes fit yet. She's spending most days in side snap shirts & pants. She got all dolled up for the doctor though. 

Here you can see miss Amelia hanging out in her fancy rocking chair. She digs it! Once we got her home I quickly whipped up about 6 flannel receiving blankets with my stash and serger. We get a ton of use out of them, especially at night when she's wrapped up like a burrito.

She looks so funny, but this swaddling business really works!

Two Weeks Early

Hey! Guess what? I have a great excuse for not posting lately...I had the baby and she was two weeks early (just like I'd hoped she'd be).

Say hello to miss Amelia Jane

Here she is about 10 minutes ago, keeping me company while I look at my emails. She arrived on Tuesday morning in a flash! My water broke at 12:30am & she arrived at 7:00am. I think that's pretty quick (and lucky).

We're all doing great so far. Amelia's only 4 days old so I'm sure her easy-going nature is just a tease for now. Ask me how I feel in another week, haha. But really, she's great! :}

A Week Without the Internet

I'm still here, we just couldn't get online all of last week and this weekend. That makes blogging a challenge! haha I did get lots of little things done so I have some more things to show you. 

I already have itty-bitty toys, remember Santa? Well, I used one of my weekly coupons from Borders and picked up itty-bitty hats. My baby will be drowning in hats! This one's called the "pastel marley" hat, I mostly finished it last night but it still needs the wiggly bits on top. It's pretty big because I used monkey yarn to make it, not quite the right scale but I figure she'll grow into it and if she has a brother one day, he can wear it too.

The baby's room is a work in progress too! The curtains are made & hung, along with the new blinds. You can just see a glimpse of the wood panels on the left wall. It's all installed and primed now, I hope to get it painted in the next couple days (I think a crib may arrive at my door this weekend). What do you think so far?

Here's a little update on the granny square blanket. I'm happy. I just have about 24 more squares to make. 

I've completed the most fiddly and tedious part of the baby shower invitations. I need to get to the part where they say something and go into an envelope next. 

This is one of my next projects for the baby's room. I'm not telling exactly what it will be, but you'll see.

This goes with the Honey Bun & wreath above. (I got this book at JoAnn with a 50% off coupon! I love my coupons.) I want to make everything in this book! When the baby is big enough to dig her way out from under all the hats, she'll have to climb a mountain of knitted, sewn & crocheted toys. Poor little lamb.

So that's a taste of what I've been doing around here. I got the fabric to finish the baby quilt and I also made something for her room with these. I'll keep you posted. Now, I really must get to work on some custom coupon organizers for my shop.

One more thing! Trisha mentioned that I didn't blog about my cats much. You know, my "current" children? Here's a little taste of what a day in the life of Maple & Jody is like....

Yeah, she even goes for peanut butter cookies. I like to call her "The Bottomless Pit" (all 20+ pounds of her) or "Fluffy Princess".

Always interested in what's going on in the kitchen. So helpful.

Jody's more relaxed and mellow. Though he can be quite a pest when he needs a lap to sit on, he's a little relentless sometimes.

Can you tell which one's the toddler and which one's the teenager? Kids!

Don't worry, they both find time to rest.

It's a Baby!

Our 20 week ultrasound went well yesterday, everything seems to be progressing fine and I am gaining just the right amount of weight (which is amazing considering my appetite!).

Here's one of the piccies they gave us. We got a whole cd of baby pictures to take home, haha. Can you see the baby's little face?

I guess you're wondering what the sex is, huh? I'll give you a hint....

I bought this adorable knitting pattern on Etsy last night from BEKAHknits. She sent it really fast too, I love that! Check this one out, omg!

So, yeah, it's a GIRL!!!

Of course, I already had fabric lines picked out either way. We'll be going with Dolly Dresses from Lakehouse. This is just a few of them. 

There are also polka dots, gingham, elephants and more colors too (periwinkle blue and grass green *sigh*). I think it'd be fun to paint the room grass green...that way it'll work for anyone once we get around to a second baby (I know, I'm a planner, I can't help it). Girly but not too frilly. You like?

Now, I gotta go shopping......

Little Things

What do you get when you take this...

and add it to this...?

That's right...

 a baby!
And it's mine!! I'm so excited I can't even tell you.

It was a struggle to get here, but we made it. Let the baby sewing begin! 

Up Late Again

I finally finished that awful Star Trek costume today, it's in the hands of FedEx now, phew. I'm glad that's out of the way. Now I've got an order for 11 Gadget Monkeys & another for 8 bibs to deal with. No worries though.
I got some more new fabric this week that I'm very anxious to get into the sewing machine. It's been really hard having to work on something when there's a stack of new fabric staring me down. I got really lucky with these fabrics, the three on top are from the new Mackenzie collection from Anna Griffin. They remind me of a blanket I had as a wee one. They just happen to match the 3 on the bottom from the new Look & Learn collection by American Jane. Maybe I'll think of a clever way to use them together....hmmmm? Tonight I got to finish the Check Quilt I'd started from my Look & Learn Fat Quarter Bundle. I'll be hanging it in my booth at the market tomorrow. Perhaps I can get some good pictures to show you.

This week wasn't a total wash, I did manage to get a few new things online and add some new yarn colors to the Custom Gadget Monkey choices. Just in time for that big order. I'll have busy little hands at the market tomorrow.
Okay, that's enough craft talk. I know you want to know how the baby's doing. I want to say thanks to everyone for the heartfelt comments, my cousin & his wife really appreciate all the good feelings being sent their way. Little Mark is currently breathing on his own and is opening his eyes a little. He had a rough time the last night or so, but he seems to be slowly turning the corner. They've reduced the number of medications and are slowly removing equipment and tubes from him. Poor little guy. I think he's on the mend now so that's great news! I'm off to bed now. Have a great Sunday, enjoy this lovely time of year.

Mojo Please

Remember this little guy? My cousin's baby Mark? I told you about him a few weeks ago. He had his heart repair surgery yesterday and is in critical condition at the moment. I just wanted to solicit some bloggy love for him. His right ventricle is not adjusting to the surgery as the doctors had hoped, so he needs your hugs today. (I know you can't resist that face). I'll keep you posted.

Babies, Buttons & Stuff

Nick & I went down to Orange County this weekend for a quick visit. The first time I've been home since moving back to the good ol' USA. First off, I had to see my cousin's adorable new baby boy. His name is Mark (after his grandpa) and I think he's a real cutie. He's got some issues with his heart that will hopefully be taken care of with surgery in November. Wish him luck. For now, he's at home with mommy & daddy and sleeping a ton.
I'll tell you more about our trip later, I don't want to bore you. But right now, I want to show you my latest shipment of 1" buttons. I always attach them to my business card when I ship an order or sell something at the Farmer's Market. Anyway, I've gotten a couple sets from one Etsy seller and thought I'd give someone else a shot. Kyle at Button Arcade was great to work with. Check out the packaging too! Each style of button came in its own little bag & I got a cool I heart sock monkeys button and a mirror with one of my images. Wow! I'm impressed. Aren't they great? So, if you need custom buttons, or even just some cool ones to stick on your denim jacket, check out Button Arcade. She's got great magnets and coasters too.

Since I'm showing you my cool buttons I thought I'd give you a glimpse of my sewing room. I finally got Nick to hang some pictures in there recently and I have to show off his work.

I got these Shag prints when I worked at Disneyland. They were done especially for the 50th Anniversary, and since I worked on it...a lot, I had to get them. I have a really great map of Disneyland to match, but it's in the next room. And here's my cool button jar.
I have a great shelf hanging in my sewing room, also just recently hung, and on the shelf is my glass jar where I keep those custom buttons. I love these jars so much I may use them for the centerpieces at my wedding. I think they look vintage, and I love that. They'd be great with a pretty hand bouquet and maybe some twigs in the base.