Sunday, September 16, 2012

skirts and more skirts

So I went a little skirt crazy today. I whipped up four skirts... two for Emma and two as a gift for an adorable, little friend. I had the sewing machine out and still had the itch to sew something. I rummaged through my fabric baskets and pulled out some fabric. Then I searched through my box of trims and found some bias tape that coordinated. I love it when I don't have to make a trip to the store.


These are the two skirts for Emma's friend. The top skirt fabric might look very 
familiar to some people. I originally bought this fabric as table clothes for a friend's 
baby shower and it has been re-purposed into oh so many things. The second 
skirt is a 'Minnie' skirt, because she is a fan of Minnie Mouse.
 

 These are the two skirts I made for Emma. Emma calls the top one her 
Grey Minnie Skirt. The grey fabric was originally bought for her second
 birthday party (pirate themed). The bottom fabric was fabric I bought for a 
table cloth for her first birthday (wonderpets theme).

This is the outfit Emma wanted to wear today. 

The sewing machine is put away for at least a few days while I get stuff together for a baby shower. Next time the sewing machine comes out I am going to make myself a skirt!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

a Nightstand and a Skirt

Emma has a Nightstand
Thanks to Aunt Sarah and her habit of constantly checking out craigslist for deals, we found Emma a nightstand. This antique (not sure how old but looks ooooold) minty spindley cuteness was only fifteen dollars! Right size, right price, right look... couldn't resist!
I thought that the color might even be okay in her room... I was wrong. The green walls and the minty table together weren't pretty. A can of half price spray paint that matches her wall (you can't see in this pic) and her future bedspread solved the problem quickly.
 
before: minty
after: aqua

Emma's Birthday Outfit
This week I sewed Emma an outfit to wear at her birthday party. It is a month away, but it meant a lot to me to do it so I didn't want to wait to the last minute. Emma picked out the fabric at the store. I thought for sure she would pick out pink Minnie, but I was wrong. 

I ended up having to create my own pattern, because I knew what I wanted and couldn't find it. I use the term pattern loosely... I sketched an idea, measured Emma, cut fabric, and then sewed. I just sorta made it up as I went. The little flower buttons on her top were ones I saved from her Minnie canvas that I posted about previously. It is a more tailored type skirt with invisible zipper... I left just enough room that I hope it'll still fit in April when we go to Disney.

Emma looooooved her outfit and couldn't wait for me to take her picture. She kept posing with one arm up and the other on her stomach... I have know idea where she got that from, but it was adorable.
 






I look at her and can't even believe she is still 2. It seems like she long out grew being 2. Where did my little baby go?

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

5 months!

Lilian is 5 months!

Eat:
Lilian still exclusively breastfeeds. She nurses every 2 to 3 hours during the day... it really depends on how long her naps are. At night she still wakes up and some point and eats, but since she sleeps with us I am not sure when or exactly how often. We gave her a sippy cup with water this month, but she hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. We probably will give her something the gnaw on at dinner this month maybe a pear... maybe not, we'll see.

Sleep:
She wakes up around 7:30 and then naps at 9-10 and then from 12:30-2:30 and then from 4-5 and then 7-8 (sometimes is down for the night at that point other times she will wake up for about and hour before bed).

Sizes:
She is wearing 9 month and 6-12 month clothes now. Anything 6 month and bellow is off in storage.

Stats:
17lb 6.2 oz. (91%)
26in (82%)

Likes:
She loooooves her sister. She loves to play on the floor and in her jump-a-poo (named so because it always makes her poo). Lilian loves to be held a kissed and snuggled. She adores sitting and playing on the floor with her toys.

Dislikes:
She does not like not being able to crawl... she will scream and yell when she starts scooting backwards instead of forward.

Firsts:
-sippy cup
-taking baths with big sister
-can sit by herself while playing with toys
-can scoot on belly backwards
-can get up on all fours and rock
-as of yesterday she can go from tummy time to sitting down by herself (she ends up in a splits like position, but it doesn't seem to bother her)

The following videos are of Lilian attempting to crawl. Adam says she will 
be crawling anytime now, but I think he has said that for weeks. Okay well I guess only one video wants to work... I will try the other again tomorrow.

Monday, September 3, 2012

Labor Day Weekend

Oh man, I love a long weekend. Minus the sinus infection, this weekend was wonderful. I got to see Adam for more than a few minutes, since he took his test on Friday and wont start studying for a few more days. I also was able to wrap up a few projects that had been half finished.


First up... A Minnie mouse canvas for Emma. It matched the Mickey one I blogged about earlier. Again, she helped paint the stripes, but lost focus quickly. She loves to hang over my shoulder and talk to me about what I am doing way more than actually helping make it. I can't wait to use these some how for her birthday party (just a little over a month!).
 a close up of the adorable buttons... some are flowers and hearts.
(I didn't go through the buttons yet to pull out the hot glue strings)
 Emma adores them. She looks at them with big eyes and covers her mouth 
with her hands and says "Oh Mommy, you made Mickey and Minnie for ME"


Next up... Emma's birthday invitations. I whipped this up in almost no time at all. Used Photoshop for the design (my simplest card to date), went to the office and printed them on card-stock, made a couple of hole punches, and tied some ribbon.
 I'll have to take a better picture of them later, the coloring came out strange.


Last, but certainly not least. I finished Emma's bed frame! It has been taking up half the garage for some time now.
I found this bed on craigslist. Not sure how old it is, but it appears to be an
 antique, solid maple bed. It was quite a steal at 40 dollars. It was in fair condition. The finish was very weathered (she had kept it in a shed) it had a lot of chipping and scratches.
Sanding was by far the worst part.
Here the bed is as a sandy mess.
 Here it is after one coat of american walnut water based stain.
 Here it is after two coats.
 Not done yet... here it is after three coats.
 Here it is after 4 coats of stain and two coats of satin 
water based finish. I probably should've done more finish coats,
 however it was hot and I didn't want to.
 Here it is all moved into Emma's room. She loves it!
I need to find a little side table or stool to set next to her bed
 so she can put her water on it. Adam thinks I should hang
 her Mickey and Minnie canvases I made above her bed, 
but I am not so sure.

Updates:
-10 lbs to go!
-Went to the dentist... it went. I have to go back several more times to have some work done. They said it could all be done in one visit, but with a nursing baby who doesn't take bottle that just doesn't work for me. My first appointment is tomorrow for what he thinks will be a root canal. :,( I had an old large filling fall out and he thinks when he goes in there to clean it out he might reach the nerve and would have to do one. I will be praying he wont have to.