Spring Top Week entry #2

This one was fun. I took two double-layer shirts from Target (my newest mom staple) and cut one to bits to make a new shirt that was much more fun. I wanted something ruffly and asymmetrical, but didn't have a specific idea in mind. I did like the shape of this shirt from Anthropologie (along with about 100 others).

I cut one shirt into squares, folded the squares into quarters, cut the quarters into heart shapes, and unfolded and layered the pieces. Then I sewed four layers together to look like a flower. Repeat X 30.....When I had a bunch, I pinned them on the other shirt, tried it on and made adjustments, and then hand-sewed everything on.

Spring Top Week entry #1

Rae at made-by-rae.com/ is hosting a Spring Top contest, and I thought, "Why not enter?" I haven't made something for myself to wear since I was in 4-H in ninth grade. The deadline was yesterday, and I had to leave my house at 3:30 to chaperon a middle school overnighter (first night away from Caleb, BTW... The boys did great. Caleb even slept through the night, which he hasn't done for me in a week.), and I started this shirt at about 9:30 pm on Wednesday. I pulled through, though, and it worked!

I started by using this shirt as a pattern-it's super easy to wear and pretty flattering.

I finally found a decent fabric at JoAnn in the clearance dept....part of the reason I started so late was a lack of good fabric options! I really wanted something with a large yellow and white floral print. I searched for weeks, and even bought a fabric that I ultimately decided I didn't like enough to wear, but found this on Wed. And, while I don't LOVE it, I'll wear it. I'm happy it is sorta summery.

So, after making my own pattern (WAY harder than I thought!), cutting, sewing, fitting, cutting, and resewing, here is the finished product:

The ties can tie in the front, but I made them longer than the original so they would also tie in the back.

The Coast!

We got to go to the coast this weekend with our friends Kris and Tara recently, and they took some great pictures of Caleb. It was such a relaxing weekend, and the weather was perfect.

 

Caleb found a friend in the mirror.

Hello, blog. It's been a while.

I gave up blogging for lent....not writing blogs, but reading them. It seems the two go hand in hand. :)

I've been on a table runner spree lately. Here they are, in order of creation:

This one was for my friend Emily's 30th Birthday ( I love this one...I have enough fabric to make another one for me-yay!)

This one is my Valentine's Table runner. I asked Jared if he wanted a quilt for Valentine's Day, and he wouldn't respond with more than a look. So, a table runner for me it is! I did make him a stuffed elephant with the scraps. It had a pocket with a Best Buy gift card in it.  I followed this tutorial, but quilted it by sewing straight lines on each side of each seam.

This final one I made for the Mexico Auction Dinner at church. My mom helped me a lot, and we made the entire front from fabric I already had! 

About the only other things I've sewed in the last few months are cowboy things for baby William Wilde:

On the Left: Burp cloth, Bib, Onsie
Below: Banner and Blanket (on the table)

On deck:

A camera case for the camera I got for Christmas
Two(!) shirts for the contest at MadeByRae's blog
New curtains for the office (mom, you might be able to sleep in next time you are here)
Cart cover for Caleb

Today. At my house.

Here are a few snapshots from today:

Miracle Lettuce from my back yard (I was going to call it my garden, but then I decided to be realistic). It's a miracle because there was one lettuce plant planted in my garden in JUNE, but it immediately went to seed. Miraculously, SIX heads of lettuce are now growing about ten feet from where that plant was growing!

Garlic soup from this recipe.

My Valentine's Day table runner, with the quilting finished! It needs to be trimmed and bound now.

Files for 2009 and 2010. I spent more than an hour yesterday filing a huge pile of mail into these files. It feel so good not to have to look at the pile anymore.

Caleb's setup. It gets wider and wider all the time :)

Turkeys . . .

. . . for Peyton, Soren, and Caleb. I started these over a month ago, and with Caleb getting sick and other life events, I just finished them. But I think they turned out cute! Peyton got a skirt to go with hers. I might be addicted to making skirts if I had a baby girl-they are so easy and satisfying. Caleb helped with the measuring.

Free Christmas Music

Check out the sidebar for a great FREE Christmas Album. I paid full price last year, and love it.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We celebrated Caleb's first Halloween by dressing him up as a giraffe, taking him to two neighbors, and taking pictures. We also paraded him around Jared's office where many people gave him candy. (for me to eat now and him to eat later?)

Here he is with his Santa Rosa cousins:

Talan was a California Raisin. He got upset when he would wear his costume and people would laugh, being unaware that he was dressed as fad no one had thought about for 25 years. Peyton was a ladybug who wanted to eat giraffes. Can you see her looking at Caleb like a leopard looks at a zebra? Caleb was said ladybug prey, and Jayden (who did a great job being the oldest cousin who had to hold the youngest cousin) was a Storm Trooper.

See Peyton attack!

Missing from this scene was the newest cousin Soren, who was the most disguised out of all of them in his pumpkin costume:
And here is a bonus adorable picture of my baby boy on a recent walk with Grandma Jacquie, Grandpa Dan and Aunt Chachi just because he is so cute.

3 Months Old Now

The little man is plumping up quite a bit, and becoming much more skilled at difficult tasks like rolling over! At three months, he is now:
- rolling halfway over (from back to tummy)
- starting to laugh, especially when you tickle him under the chin. Sometimes it sounds more like choking than laughing, but it is still super rewarding to see!
- grabbing my hair, which combined with my ridiculous shedding pretty much guarantees he always has hair stuck to him somewhere
- talking a ton, and singing with mommy or daddy
- sitting up alone in his Bumbo


We also had the first BLOOD experience last Saturday. Caleb was laying down, and he poked himself in the eye. He started screaming, so I picked him up and walked him around, trying to get him to calm down, until I noticed his tears were BLOODY. Blood coming from your baby's eye is traumatizing! I started panicking, and Jared took Caleb and told me to call the doctor. We got a hold of the doctor on call, and she told us to wait 15 minutes to see if he calmed down. Thankfully, it didn't take that long for him to calm down. If he hadn't, we would have been off to the ER! He is fine now, we figured out that he cut the little pink part in the corner of his eye.


He also refuses to smile for the camera now. He just stares at it with a look of worried awe, and he won't smile or even look away no matter what I do. It seems like every picture we have he is making this face!

Two Month Old

Caleb is two months old now! Here are some of the tricks he has learned:

- He smiles a lot! Especially in the morning, which is too bad because that is when I am least smiley. A couple weeks ago, when I got him out of bed, he just stared at the space behind me until I started talking. Then he looked over at me, made eye contact, and give me a huge smile! He has been continuing this beloved little act of his most mornings, to me and/or Jared.
- He is starting to hold things in his hand. This is a very new trick. I've been trying to get him to hold a rattle for a couple weeks, and usually he holds it for about a second until he flails his arms and the rattle goes flying. On Monday of this week, however, he managed to maneuver the rattle into his mouth, where he happily licked it.
- He is getting into a pretty predictable nap schedule. It's not the same times every day, but it's the same pattern. He will be up for about an hour and a half and then be ready to go back to bed. I swaddle him, rock him for a couple minutes, lay him down, and he usually goes to sleep without much other help. He takes a long nap in the morning, and shorter naps in the afternoon. I found him sleeping like this one day:
- He is becoming talkative. He talks to himself when he is laying in the crib awake, and has periods of making all kinds of keen observations to whoever is listening.
- He loves the playmat. Our friends Mike and Beth let us borrow their son's playmat, and Caleb loves it, especially the star that lights up and plays music. When I turn it on for him, all four of his limbs are soon swinging wildly.
- He holds his head up for several seconds at a time when he is held in a sitting position. He usually hates tummy time, which is probably because he hasn't figured out how to not be completely face down the whole time.
- He still loves the bath, and being blow-dried afterward, though it makes him more relaxed than playful.
- He still loves his pacifier, and finds his thumb occasionally. If he can't have either of those, he tries to stick his entire fist (sometimes both) into his mouth, and he DROOLS.

Some things that are disappearing:
- His crazy handmotions while sleeping (aka spirit fingers, jazz hands, karate moves)
- The quiver lip he would give us when he cried (I love that his shirt says "yay", but his face not-so-much)

A little relief

For some reason (probably because I am a person who likes to know and follow all rules about anything I care about, namely, Caleb), this post made me laugh until tears were coming down my face. Please enjoy.

P.S. Just because I thought this was hilarious, does not mean I'll be following suit.

One Month Photo Shoot

One month old and our boy is smiling!

Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa DeHart

Last weekend we went to Southern California so Caleb could meet his family and friends who live down there. I didn't take any pictures of the party we had for him (hopefully I can get some from Aunt Chachi or my mom), but we had some good ones of him with Grandma and Grandpa.

Caleb got a Angels Shirt, and Grandpa just happened to have the exact same one on: