October 20, 2010

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!

October 09, 2010

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! :}

October 03, 2010

Finished Enough in the Kitchen

Oh my gosh! I forgot to show you what's going on in my kitchen...it's almost done. Certainly done enough for me for a while. yay!

Here's where we started last year around this time.

The left wall was the worst part. The door next to the fridge and the lack of usable cabinets was such a pain. Not to mention the inside of all the cabinets was the original particle board from the 60's. I'll just say "gross" and leave it at that.

At my last update, it looked like this (scroll down a bit).

Here's how it looks now (minus a few things on the counters). The room feels about 10 times larger and there is so much cabinet space that I can't even fill it! *sigh of relief* We've got a small island in the center now that really helps when you take something out of the fridge etc. And later we'll add another section of floor to ceiling cabinetry (just behind where I stood to take this photo) that will serve as larger storage and a pantry. I can totally live without that for now. I'm just so happy to have a new, clean kitchen.


Here's my favorite part! The baby bathtub, haha. No really, I love my new sink and faucet with no mysterious grime. Even better, the cabinet below it doesn't smell like an old folks home.

And we got it all done with time to spare before baby #1 arrives.

October 01, 2010

The Never Ending Diaper Bag

Perhaps I shouldn't say "never ending" or I wouldn't be writing this post. Let's just say it took me a while to get the darn thing made, but here it is:

Of course I made my own diaper bag, I mean, c'mon! haha
It's a version of a design I sell in my shop, altered to suit my (assumed) purpose. I don't make a lot of these because they take for-ever! I mean it. There are so many pieces to this thing. I must have spent the last month making this bag but I'm super happy with the result.


I started with these 2 laminated cottons from Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane collection. I saw them in person and I loved the weight. For laminated fabric, it's really drapey and lightweight. I got about half a yard of each of these and added a yard of the leaf print later when I saw it on sale at a local store. It's a good thing too because I used almost every last inch of fabric.

Doing the math and cutting layout on this bag was really hard and I was so worried I wouldn't like it in the end. I had originally planned for the whole outside to be striped so it wouldn't look too girly (for Nick's sake). Obviously that plan went right out the window because of a lack of yardage.

 I wanted it to have short handles so I could carry it off my shoulder (my back doesn't like uneven distribution of weight, you won't see me with a baby sling), so the shoulder strap can be removed as needed. There's also a magnetic flap to close the top of the bag. When it's empty, the flap seems way too long, but I'm sure it'll be perfect once the bag is packed with gear.


Each end of the bag has a pocket with elastic at the top. I also used some super strong magnetic snaps to tuck the ends together, I just like the way it looks. The d-ring is where the shoulder strap attaches.


 And here's the inside. All of the pockets are lined with PUL, so everything is waterproof and/or wipe-able. I already had the PUL to make some cloth diapers, so it was an easy choice. There's a big slip pocket on the back side too, I hope this is enough pockets! I included a couple of places to hook onto as well. One side has a small ring to clamp to and the other is a clip. Don't want to lose any important toys!


If you were wondering what those extra stripey bits were, they're another set of strong magnetic straps that attach the diaper bag to the lower part of my stroller. It just seemed like a good idea to hang it from that bar that goes across. The straps snap down inside the interior pockets if we're not using them. (It's a Baby Jogger City Select, in case you're wondering. I'll probably tell you more about the stroller once I start using it. We got this one because it easily converts to a double and I hope to have another baby as soon as I can.)

So there you have it, way more information than you ever wanted about my diaper bag. :D The laminated cotton was intimidating, but easy to work with. I did use a leather needle to sew it, those layers can get pretty thick. There's also a layer of fleece behind both the main bag fabric and the lining to give it some stiffness along with a hard, removable base to help keep the shape.
 


Now, bring on the baby! I'm so ready to meet her and my back is just getting worse by the day. I'm hoping to will myself into labor this weekend since my doctor's on call and I'm technically full-term. 37 weeks and 5 days (2cm dilated). I always thought I'd get HUGE when pregnant, but my body has proven me wrong. Thank you, body. Now, please start wiggling your fingers or praying or whatever you do so that I'll go into labor!