New Arrival!

Baby has finally arrived!!! (Actually, she arrived almost a month ago...I'm just really behind at updating this blog. Ha!)

Our sweet baby girl the day after she was born.

Annalise (aka Lissy) was born Sept. 10

For all of the books I ready and "preparing" that I did, it was nothing like I thought it would be, and yet, I wasn't really disappointed. I thought I would have her with no epidural or drugs of any kinds. I was very set on this and had read all kinds of books about coping with the contractions etc. without it. However, my body had other ideas and I found that I have absolutely no pain tolerance! Honestly, for as long as I was in labor, I'm glad I ended up deciding to get an epidural, and I have no regrets in doing so. I think it ended up being the best decision for all of us because not having that time to relax while my labor progressed would have cause problems for all of us!

I found this Batman onsie (in a set of three) along with two little pink Superman sleepers at Kmart before she was born. (I got Batman bibs to match too, but I haven't figured out when/why put a bib on a baby this size...I feel like it would just get in her way?) While it certainly wasn't expensive (I think I paid $5 for each of the two sets) it is one of my favorite outfits, I think because you rarely see superhero stuff for little girls.

We spend a lot of time cuddling during the day. (Though as I type this she is sleeping contently in her swing.) I love that I am able to stay home with her right now. As to whether or not I'll go back to work: that's still up in the air. I would love to be able to stay home with her and not go back to work, and hubby is all for it, but figuring out how this budget works is still a work in progress. We'll see how it goes, but in the meantime I'll take all of the snuggles I can get!

We've decided that she has her daddy's nose and mouth, and my eyes and face shape. Her eyes were a grey blue when she was born, but they seem to get brighter every day! As for her hair, it's still a toss-up as to what color it will be. Sometimes it looks blonde, sometimes it looks more strawberry-colored, but it is for sure getting some curl to it!




Daddy reads her bedtime stories at night. I think she was about 5 days old here (so, our second or their day home). This is her favorite way to sleep, with her head on your chest and her legs and arms all tucked in. Such a sweet little thing!

The first night we were home Daddy took her down to get ready for bed and as I came down the stairs I heard him talking. I walked in the room to find him sitting in the rocking chair reading her Beauty and the Beast. So sweet!

I had planned to cloth diaper her since well before she was born, but we had trouble finding something that fit well, and then when we finally found one that fit she was such a heavy wetter that it didn't last more than 5 minutes. But I'm still set on it and we're still working on it!

And here is some more cuteness, just because I can!

 

 

 

We'll see how getting back into blogging goes! Hopefully we'll see you back here again soon!

DIY "Cookie Cutter" Stuffed Animal (Elephant)

So today I made my second attempt at a stuffed animal. These aren't anything fancy. They're what my mom calls "cookie cutter stuffed animals." While they're not necessarily detailed, I think they're perfect for a baby as they are a simple yet *hopefully* recognizable shape.

My first attempt at these was this past week. I tried to make a dinosaur and, well, let's just say my husband thought it looked more like a platypus. While it didn't turn out quite like I wanted I did learn from it and used what went wrong with the dinosaur to help in the process of making my elephant.

 

A few things I learned from my dinosaur: The legs and tail needed to be thicker, I needed to make sure my curves were big enough, check to make sure you've caught both layers of fabric all of the way around, and double stitch at the openings.

So...here's how to make the elephant. (Or any other animal you choose!) 

Step 1: Make Your Pattern

Draw your pattern out on something sturdy like card stock or cardboard. I used the cardboard from an old mailing envelope. As you draw your pattern think about the shape that you're using. You want it to be a recognizable shape, but you don't want anything to complicated. As I was drawing my pattern and asking for opinions my husband offered to try his hand at it. He drew an absolutely adorable little elephant, but with it's knobby knees and kinky tail it was was just a little more complicated than anything I wanted to attempt. Also, make sure that the pattern is big enough to make the size of stuffed animal you want. Remember that you're going to lose a little bit from your seam, and a little bit can seem like a lot when it comes to things like the trunk and legs. I recommend making them a little fatter than what you think you want because they'll get smaller. If you get through the first couple of steps and decide they're too big you can always make them smaller, but you can't go back to make them bigger.

Step 2: Choose & Cut Your Fabric

I found the polka dot fabric at Joann's on clearance for $3/yard. (I only ended up using a 12x18 rectangle of it for my elephant, but the amount you will need will depend on the size of your animal.) The green for the ears came in a pack of mermaid fabrics from Wal-Mart on clearance for $2.50. The blue and pink ribbons came the ribbon stash I already had. Dylan put the bow in the pink one and said to put it by the ear. I haven't quite figured out how best to attach it yet.

You'll want two of your main body pattern and four of the ears. Something like an owl would also have four for the wings (though you could use different patterns on each side or make one side match the rest of the owls body). I only traced my elephants body once because I put the bottom of the feet on the fold. This left me with one less thing to have to sew shut and gave the feet a more rounded shape once the animal was stuffed.

I laid out the ears to decide where and at what angle I wanted the slits for the ears and the tail so I could see where I wanted it and at what angle. I cut two inch slits to insert the ears.

Step 3: Sew It Togther

The first thing I did was sew the ears together. (I don't have a picture of this.) Super simple: put two ear pieces together with the wrong sides facing outward, sew around them, leaving an opening at the bottom (where the point is) and double stitching at the beginning and end. Turn them right side out.

With the ears right side out you'll stick them through the ear slits from the right side of your body fabric, and fold the body fabric so that the wrong sides are showing. You can see this in the top left picture. Double stitch this all the way across. (I think I quadruple sewed it so that I knew they were secure!) Make sure you check to see that both sides of the body fabric caught in the thread. I missed the under side the first time. You can see in the top left picture what this looks like when you unfold it.

The second thing I did was sew the curve of the belly. I wanted to make sure that I didn't accidentally catch the tail in the stitching there. I double stitched at the bottoms of the feet.

To sew in the tail make sure that it's at the angle and place that you want it and with the wrong side of both body pieces showing, pin it in place between them. I also felt around between the pieces and pinned the tail and ears in the center of the body where I wasn't stitching so that I didn't accidentally get them in the stitching as I went. I found this very helpful!

Sew around the outside of your shape, double stitching over the tail to make sure it doesn't come loose. I used a 1/4 inch seem for all of my stitching. As you can see from the picture, I'm not the best as sewing curves, but I took it slow and did alright. Make sure you leave a space somewhere for turning your animal right-side-out and stuffing it. I chose to leave my space at the top of the back as I felt that would be the easiest place to be able to turn and stuff the legs and trunk. On each side of the space I double stitched in order to make it stronger since I would be putting some pressure on these stitches as I turned the elephant right-side-out.

Step 3: Turn, Stuff, and Stitch

 I used the blunt end of a skewer to help turn the legs and trunk right side out. I also used the skewer to help stuff the legs and trunk. I hand stitched the opening using an invisible stitch. I doubled my thread before I closed my elephant so it was actually four threads thick. I'm hoping this will help it wear better.

A Few Notes: 

• My final elephant turned out 9" long & 8" tall after it was stuffed.
• For my tail I chose to fold my ribbon in half to make a loop. This was completely personal preference and you could certainly just use a single piece of ribbon and fray-check the end.
• I wish I had made the slit for the ears straight up and down instead of at an angle. While the angle looked cute, I realized after sewing it all together that it makes it difficult to keep the ears from falling forward. I may tack them close to the base of the ears to help with this. (I haven't decided for sure yet.) I also haven't added the bow to the ears yet as I'm not sure where or how  best to add it.

Also in the last week I've made a co-sleeper sheet and a pacifier holder.

How adorable is this owl fabric?! 

What kinds of projects do you have going as the summer comes to the end?

36 Weeks Down (Almost)

Baby girl is due to arrive three weeks from Monday! Wait..THREE WEEKS?!? Where did the summer go?! I'm definitely ready for her to get here--ready to hold her and cuddle her and pinch her little cheeks. But, are we really ready? 

We've certainly been trying to get ready for her! I've spent the last couple of weeks cleaning and rearranging...and cleaning and rearranging...and cleaning and rearranging. (You can probably see why my husband keeps telling me that my nesting is driving him crazy.) While I certainly don't expect her to get here any before her due date (in fact, I've already prepared myself for her being late so that I'm not disappointed when the day comes and goes with no baby), I still feel like I want everything ready now so that if she does decide that it's time to arrive we're ready for her! 

The carseat still needs installed. The baby clothes and toys still need washed. I still don't quite have all of my cloth diapering supplies. I'm still debating between cloth or disposable wipes. I still haven't gotten my pump yet. And...let's suffice it to say that I've only given you about...1/3 of my list here (if that).

Guess it's about time I get on it! Ready or not, here she comes! 

Sunshine & Summertime Fun!

 The summer is flying by! I can't believe July is almost over already! Other than working we've been having some little adventures of our own as we get ready for baby to arrive. Mostly these adventures include trips to Des Moines for baby gear and side trips on the days we have our doctor appointments. However, in June, we got to go on a BIG adventure!

The last week of June we flew to North Carolina to spend the week with two of our best friends! You can't imagine how excited we were! (We hadn't seen them since they moved the first week of January.) We spent our time trying out restaurants, site seeing, and spending time on the beach! We actually spent most of the trip on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

Sunrise on the beach!

We saw so many neat animals, climbed a lighthouse, swam in the ocean, and just relaxed! The pictures below are some of my favorites from the trip!

Maisee & I on the dolphin watching tour.

Dylan & I on the dolphin watching tour.

The four of us!

Dylan & Travis enjoying the car ride to Hilton Head.

Pelicans! I loved watching them and the seagulls on the beach!

While we were on our trip we reached our 31 week mark, so of course we couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some belly bump pictures on the beach!

It was sad to leave Maisee & Travis behind, but nesting has set-in full swing since we've returned and we've kept busy getting ready for the newest little member of our family to arrive! Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to there!

I hope to get a couple of posts/tutorials up at some point for all of the sewing and baby projects I've been workings on.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!
Love,
Emily

Sweet Baby Girl

The school year is over and summer is finally here! If only it would stop raining! Ha!

 

Dylan and I (well, maybe mostly me) have been keeping busy getting ready for baby. (Unless you've tried it you can't imagine the amount of reading material on babies and birth on pinterest!) We also had our ultrasound and got to see our little girl. It was an amazing experience to see her moving around in there!

 

Baby Girl is super wiggly now. I love feeling her wiggle, though sometimes I wish her timing were a little better. (Like at night juuust as I'm starting to fall asleep.) She plays with us if we poke or pat my belly, and she wiggles at her daddy when he talks to her or blows raspberries on my belly.

Baby Girl also has a name! After a long time of going back and forth we finally found the name for baby! Annalise Aglae Ora. Many people have asked about her two middle names, so for those wondering... Aglae (ag-lay) was the first name of one of my great grandmas on my mom's side. Ora was the middle name of one of my great grandmas on my dad's side and that great grandma also had an Aunt Ora (and an Aunt Cora). Plus, as we were looking at the meaning of the names Aglae means "beautiful" and Ora is Latin for "prayer" so it just seemed perfect! :) And Annalise already has nicknames. Her Nana and Daddy have been calling her Annie. I like the nickname Lissy.

 

As for the rest of our summer plans: Dylan is busy working,  I'm working two days a week at the pool (when it doesn't rain us out), and, as always, I have a list of books to read and multiple Pinterest boards full of projects to keep me busy!

 

Keep an eye of for projects, tutorials, and book reviews! I'm hoping to get back to blogging and the summer sounds like a perfect time to get some things done!

 

Hope you're enjoying your summer thus far!

 

Love,

Emily

First comes love, then comes marriage...

THEN COMES THE BABY IN THE BABY CARRIAGE!

That's right! If you haven't already heard, we're expecting!

Baby P. is scheduled to arrive September 1st. We're very excited... and nervous... and a little scared. Hubby and I have been so lucky to have the love and support of our family and friends and I'm sure we'll find that it even more so as we move forward in this new adventure!

So, here's to 2014 and all of the exciting new changes that it's sure to bring! Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm Back...At Least For Now!

Okay, you guys. Seriously, I've been meaning to get back to this blog for, like, months. I even have a couple of drafts that I started and never finished. So, here I am, starting yet another one. And if you're reading this, that means I finally made it as far as publishing it! *Yeah!*

I cannot believe that it's almost November already! In just a little over three weeks the first 1/3 of the school year will be over. And two months from this past Friday is Christmas!!! (My students have been counting down the days till Christmas since the 100 day mark, but still, now that we're only 59 days away I can't believe it's almost here! Not only that, but this year is supposed to be our last Thanksmas at Granny and Papa's, and while I always anxiously await the chance to spend an entire day with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, I'm secretly hoping that it won't really be the last one.

So, what have we been up to? Honestly, it's been mostly work, sleep, and driving. Lots and lots of driving. When we first decided to both keep our current jobs and live in the middle it seemed like a great idea. We figured that an extra couple of hours wouldn't be too big of a deal and we'd make up for the time apart with fun-filled weekends. Turns out, the drive wears you down. So much so that ordering pizza has become a once a week occurrence. (And a couple of weeks ago, it happened twice in one week. *Yikes!*) And our weeks have been fun for the most part, but they seem to be constantly packed with plans pre-made or things to do. There isn't really a lot of down time. Don't believe me? You should see my house. (Seriously, I don't think more than one or two rooms have been completely clean since school started.)

In September, we had fun putting together a "Kung Fu Kit" for Katie (my college roommate). Long story short, pain meds can sometimes make things confusing, and sometimes you read things wrong. (Like "First Aid Kit") Do you see where I'm going with this? Okay. So, we couldn't resist. Here's a few snapshots of what we put together.

Anyway, the other things we've been up to lately include reading, sewing, and general crafting.






Dylan has been reading The Dark Tower
series by Stephen King.
(He's on book four of seven.)

I have read several books as well. Currently I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Over the summer and into the fall I slowly worked putting together my first quilt. It wasn't a huge quilt, just a baby quilt. I was so excited when I found the fabric since my cousin and his wife were having a jungle theme in their new baby room. Here's the finished blanket for baby Cooper.













I also had a little fun with Dylan a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't like to be decisive when it comes to things like what movie we're going to watch or what we're going to eat for dinner. "Food" is just not a satisfying answer. I kept trying to think of what gross mix of food would teach him a lesson (while not making me sick at the same time) and all I could think of was the movie Elf. So, here's what he ended up with one night.



We're also getting ready for the month of November, because we've decided that this year we're both going to participate in NaNoWriMo. (Or we're at least both going to start. We'll see where the month takes us.) If you've never heard of this crazy program, you're missing out. (Especially if writing a book is on your bucket list!) Basically, crazy people like ourselves make a pledge to write a novel in the month of November. From November 1st to November 30th writers all over the world set to work trying to write a story at least 50,000 words long. (That comes out to about 200 pages worth of writing.) Granted, it doesn't have to be good writing, you just have to get the words down on paper. The editing comes later. There's also a Young Writers section of the program, which my students are participating in this year for the second year in a row. Last year I wrote along with them (which doesn't mean much except a much smaller word count), but this year I'm joining Dylan for the long haul. We'll see how it goes!

Anyway, that's about all of the news I have time for. Happy (early) Halloween! And hope you're all doing well!