Studio Spotlight

Jennifer over at Ellison Lane Quilts is having a "Studio Spotlight" series and has encouraged us to all share our "studios"...

Well, let's just say that ever since Peanut arrived and initially took over our 2nd bedroom (which used to be my sewing space), my sewing machine has been hopping around the apartment. For awhile, I was on the kitchen table, but then the kitchen table was sent back to SD with Grizz's parents. 

Have I mentioned that we're moving soon? ... maybe just a few times, right? :)

So, my sewing machine moved again onto this rolling TV tray/magazine holder.
BUT... I sold that on Craigslist, remember?

Thankfully, I've had quite a bit of handwork to do (I'm attaching the binding to my handsewn quilt!), so my sewing studio has been on this rocking chair :)

If I get to really sew again before we move (we're moving in about a month), I'll probably have to move the machine onto our kitchen counter or something, ha! Until then, my faithful machine is sitting in the 2nd bedroom, surrounded by my other sewing things, packed boxes, partially packed boxes and packing materials :)

Make do or do without, right?! I prefer making do!

Linking up here!


And guess what tomorrow is... DAY 1 of the Hexie Blog Hop!! Yippee!

4 Months - 4 Months - 4 Months

 Time Flies! Our little Peanut is 4 months old :) She may not be growing as quickly, but her brain has definitely been ticking with how much she has learned this past month!

 We have our doctors appointment later this morning, which will include her second round of shots. I'm a little nervous just because on top of the shots, she's teething! I suspect we'll have one sleepy and cranky girl this afternoon...

But here's the scoop:

• She can tolerate the swing, but it definitely doesn't rock her to sleep.
• She enjoys helping Mommy put away clothes (OK, really, it's more like I can happily tote her around and she'll just lay where she's put while I put things away or pick up the apartment)
• She loves to smile - and will even laugh sometimes! She's still a chatterbox, and has learned to do some high-pitched "screams" - she likes it when Mom and Dad squeal right back at her.
• In stores, she prefers to be swung in her carseat rather than being placed in the cart... or better yet, we should hold her or put her in the Baby Bjorn (the carrier works well if she's about to fall asleep).
• Teeth. Yes, we have an early teether on our hands - her two front, lower teeth are poking through! She does not know what to think of them, but she is definitely not enjoying the teething process. The early teething definitely comes from Grizz's side - his older sister got her first teeth when she was about 3 months!
• She still likes baths, and even if she doesn't, she will quiet right down when it's time to brush her hair - she's like her Daddy who likes his head scratched :)
• Rolling over! She would roll from her tummy to her back every once in awhile starting way back at her 2 week appointment... well, now she is rolling from her back to her tummy! It just goes to show how much she dislikes being on her back - anytime we put her on her back, she rolls right to her tummy! Anytime we put her down on her tummy, she stays put.
• She will spin in circles while on her tummy but she hasn't scooted forward or backwards yet - even though she's trying to! She usually has her feet kicking, but she just hasn't quite figured out how to scoot.
• She loves standing with assistance - she prefers that to sitting on our laps.
• Naps are a little hard to come by (she'll fight them!), but she still sleeps really well at night... waking only once (or not at all) to eat and then fall right back asleep.
• She loves putting things in her mouth, but she hasn't quite figured out how to keep things there to chew or suck on. This fact hasn't helped the teething process.
• Nursing is still going well!
• Cloth diapers are also going well - I have to wash every day or every other day, but I don't mind... we were in Missoula for a few days earlier this week, and I just kept her in disposables for the entire trip... I couldn't wait to get her back into cloth once we got home!
• She's almost grown completely out of her 0-3 month onesies, but she can still fit into a few. She's comfortable in her 3-6month onesies.
• We haven't even tried a bottle in several weeks - she just doesn't like them! She doesn't take a paci every once in awhile... even if it's just to chew on it :)

Ok, that's all the updates I can think of... sorry for such a long post, but it's mostly to help me remember her likes and dislikes once she grows older!

Hand-Pieced Block Pillow

Once upon a time...

 ...I participated in a hand-pieced quilt-along hosted by Erin @ Why Not Sew? (quilt-along info here)...

...and I had an "oopsie" block that came out too big...

... and so it has become a pillow :) 

It matches the quilt with a little bit of a black border with the larger black-spotted space (some of the blocks in my quilt needed a black border just to make them the 6 1/2" they were supposed to be! My hand-stitching wasn't always the most accurate!).

I quilted it with gold thread to match my left-over binding from another project. It has an easy envelope backing. Next time, I'll make the pillow covering a tad bit bigger as this one came out quite plump once I added the pillow form!

I'm still working on finishing this thing. It needs to be basted, quilted and bound... but then it will be ready to hang in my sewing room!

If you're bored and interested in seeing my progress on the quilt-along click here!

(Just a quick glance at my planning for this pillow... I love Grizz's engineering paper!)

------------------------------------------

Someone is 3 Months Old Today!

Someone is getting bigger! Peanut is 3 months old today. It's hard to believe it has been three months since this little one has joined us, but then I remember back to the countless hours of walking with her and bouncing her and feeding her and then I think... maybe time hasn't gone all that fast :)

 Comparing to her 1 week, 1 month and 2 month pictures. 

Grizz thinks she grew more between 1 and 2 months; all I know is that pretty soon she won't fit inside the coiled rope!

• I have integrated all of her 3-6month clothes with her 0-3month ones; soon, I'll have to take out all of the smaller ones, but for now, she can wear both sizes.
• The swing is still her least favorite activity. She has started to like her bouncer chair more - it lets her kick, kick, kick in the seat - and the jumperoo is definitely her favorite! She has started to be able to calmly lie on her back more than what she used to... we watched her bat her hand at the hanging monkey as she was lying on her activity gym today!
• She still is fussy when she doesn't get long enough naps during the day, but she continues to sleep through the night most of the time. Last night was the first time I had to wake up around midnight for a feeding in a long time (before that, I can only remember a 3:00 and a 4:00 feeding throughout the last few weeks!). I used to be acclimated to waking up in the middle of the night for her to nurse, but now that she sleeps through most nights, I'm not used to it anymore! 
• Prefolds/covers are still working great as cloth diapers. However, the pocket diapers are still giving us leaking issues. More research and experiments needed!
• She's a little chatterbox when she's happy and content! My favorite is a "ohgh" sound she makes :) She still loves playing airplane with both Grizz and I!
• No bottle yet.
• Still "gurgle-butt"-ing once a day or two. We appreciate knowing when she goes!
• We took out the infant insert out of her carseat today after reading the instruction manual again. Supposedly, we were supposed to do it a month ago once we found out she weighed more than 11lb. We're guessing she's around 13lb now.
• Coming up this month: I'm in a wedding up in Glacier in two weeks, and my mom is coming out around the same time that my sister-in-law has a conference in a nearby town, so we will have fun exploring/window-shopping/antiquing together. Other than that, we continue to plan our move back to SD!! 

Happy Three Months, Peanut!

10 Weeks

 Yes, our little Peanut is growing up. She was 10 weeks old yesterday. She has survived a long road trip and a trip via airplane. She even survived her first hike in the mountains for Father's Day! 

At her 2 month appointment, she weighed 11lb 4oz and measured 23in. We were quite happy with those measurements! 

•  She still doesn't tolerate her swing, and the bouncy seat only lasts a little while (I think it makes her lay back too far; she doesn't like being on her back for very long!). However, Grizz put together her jumperoo on Saturday and she loves it! She looks around and slobbers on the seat; I cannot wait until she is ready to actually play with the toys on it! 
• She's still in her 0-3 month clothes, although, Gerber runs small so she is wearing a few 3-6 month onesies. 
• She sleeps on her tummy, and tolerates naps alone much better now - which explains why I haven't blogged in awhile... I can actually clean while she sleeps in the pack-n-play instead of just holding/rocking her! 
• She can sleep between 5-8 hours at a time at night and will usually fall back asleep after a changing/feeding. Naps during the day are usually between 30min-2hours. I am really trying to focus on not letting her stay awake too long, as I can tell this adds to her fussiness.
• Yesterday (Father's Day), we took her to church, the mountains and to a friend's BBQ. She had screaming fits multiple times in the carseat, and she didn't have one normal nap - she only had a few catnaps - one each in the carseat, in the Baby Bjorn, during the sermon and with one of our friends at the BBQ. Thus, it was her first 8hr sleeping session last night. 
• Because of her fussiness, the Dr. prescribed Zantac to see if that helps with some Silent Reflux. When I'm feeling lucky, I don't give it to her just to see how she does without it. Today, she has done well, but then again, she has slept for most of the day :)
• She smiles... oh, her smiles make me so happy! She likes to "talk" when she's awake and content (these time periods do seem to get longer as she gets older).
• She has started pooping less often, but when she does, she does! Sometimes we call her "Gurgle Butt" due to the noises that let us know that she finally pooped :)
• She hasn't taken a bottle yet (we've only tried about 4 times) and she has only truly taken the pacifier twice (in San Diego while she was screaming in the car!).
• She rolled from her tummy to her back at each of her Dr. appointments, but she finally did it for me a few times at home. She doesn't do it every tummy time, but she can do it!
• I have started venturing out with her more often. She went to two craigslist pick-ups last week, plus on Friday she went to Walmart in the morning and to the mall in the afternoon (Grizz needed a dark blue shirt for the Patriotic Cantata he was in that night).
• We are loving the cloth diapers, even though we've had a few leaking problems with the pocket diapers. I figured out today that these leaks were due to the diapers and the inserts repelling moisture. Really, I squirted water on them and the water just beaded up and fell off. I researched and think it is due to using Tide powder as a laundry detergent. The prefolds have been fine since they are a natural fiber, but the pocket diapers/inserts are microfiber and the detergent has just been building up. Thus, I need to strip them and start using a different detergent. I ordered Soap Nuts and hope they arrive soon! Until then, we'll use the prefolds and disposables (we're up to size 2 now!).

I don't usually let Grizz take pictures of me with Peanut... I'm usually in sweats with my hair in a messy ponytail during the day. I was very happy that she was smiley after church one day, so I could finally get a good picture with her! I think Grizz took at least 15 pictures of me with her and they are all so cute! We are very blessed to have each other and to have Peanut. Smiles all around :)

More Low-Quaility Phone Pics

The Many Faces of Peanut... we have yet to get a picture of her smiling (gassy or otherwise) and I refuse to take pictures of her crying (so far... I'm sure that will change eventually!). This refusal leaves us very few opportunities to take pictures other than of her sleeping, but at least we have a few of her awake and alert. The bottom left picture shows Peanut contemplating about wether or not she likes the swing yet. She has improved  - as long as we put her down when she's content, she'll stay content swinging for about 5 minutes :)

She is still a cuddlebug! I still can/t get over how much she likes to have her head in a crack while sleeping - in my armpit, neck, between my legs, between my arm, body and/or the chair/bed, etc. She'll just wiggle herself around until she finds the perfect placement for her face!

We've been having her practice sleeping in her pack-in-play in front of our porch door during the day. Then we'll wheel it back into the bedroom at night. If there's one thing I've learned about being a mom, it's "you do what you gotta do." She's mostly been sleeping with us - either on my chest or on her side next to me. I have figured out, though, that she'll sleep well on her own on her tummy. I know, I know. But it works. She even slept by herself for two sessions last night and with me for only one session. Improvement!

There's Peanut with her cake at the math teachers' shower. So cute! The bottom picture shows a blanket she received from one of Grizz's coworkers. It's John Deere cotton on one side and minky on the other. It's perfect for this future farm girl :)

Last up for today is the quilt from Grizz's mom. (I'm still waiting to take a picture of the quilt my mom made... I'm hoping to hang it up as soon as we find a dowel long enough to hang it up with). Back to this beauty, tho :) She machine appliqued with verrigated thread and added hand-embroidered details to the cute bugs. She even hand-embroidered Peanut's name and date of birth. Peanut is lucky to have precious quilts from both grandmas! I know I still treasure the quits I have from both of my grandmas! This quilt has a special place on top of our ottoman to brighten up the room and it's perfect for supervised tummy play time!

*Her fussy times are still sticking around. We tried gas drops to see if they would help, but they actually seemed to make her crying/screaming worse, so we stopped those. I'm still concerned about what seems like "silent reflux," but for the most part, I've resisigned myself to having a colic-y baby.
*I think her hair is growing a little bit. Her Alfalfa rooster-tail only shows itself every once in awhile, instead of all the time!
*She's starting to enjoy bath time a little more; well, at least she isn't screaming while in the water! She still dislikes the drying off part and the lotion part.
*Cloth diapering is actually going really well. We have only done it during the day and at home - but because it has gone so well, I may even try it at night or while we're out in public soon!

Ok, Happy Tuesday! I'm a single parent for the 2nd time in my life tonight; Grizz has to stay overnight somewhere up North for a night. This also happened a few weeks ago. Wish me luck - hopefully she has a better evening than usual :)

One Month

 So, by now, little Peanut is over 5 weeks old, but humor me when I call this the 1 month post :) The top picture shows one of her favorite positions when she's fussy... Grizz will just carry her around in a football hold and she'll calm down (for a little bit at least!). Her other favorite position is of course sleeping on my chest (she's there right now as I type this!). The bottom picture shows here there... we were getting ready to walk in to the funeral last week and she stuck this pose. It's like she knew that she could bring some joy to the family during a very sad time. Everybody oohed and ahed as she held that position for a good couple of minutes :)

 And bring joy she did. The aunt who passed away loved children, and it's hard to think that she never got to meet little Peanut... but little Peanut was able to put a smile on a lot of faces amongst the sadness, and for that, I am grateful. It was also fun to see her with her 2nd and 3rd cousins who are about 6 and 2 months older that her (when we move back, they'll all be in the same grade!). Here she is with her great-grandparents (Grizz's mom's parents), her grandparents (Grizz's parents), and with one of Grizz's sisters. The short night and morning we were able to be with my parents went by in a blurr, so no new pictures with my family.

And finally, the comparison picture. 1 week to 1 month. And even as I hold her now, I promise she's still growing! (Maybe we should call her a Little Dandelion instead of Peanut for how fast she's growing!).

A few highlights of our little girl:

• She's starting to like baths a little more, and she likes diaper changes maybe 50% of the time (sometimes she'll be so calm and stare at the basket holding cloth wipes, and sometimes she'll scream and show off her lungs). 
• She does not like really warm days (she barely slept at all yesterday because she was so warm and fussy - don't worry, she's making up for the lack of sleep today! Yay!). 
• She does tend to be a bit colic-y in the evenings, and she has been fussy during the day as well. We're still working on reducing the amount of air she takes in while feeding; plus, she's a hard baby to get burps up... this all leads to a very uncomfortable, gassy baby. But when she cuddles her little head under my chin, it makes up for any amount of fussiness! She is such a cuddle bug! 
• She loves to bounce, so we'll hold her and sit on the exercise ball to calm her down sometimes. 
• She is slowly starting to enjoy her swing a little more, but it definitely doesn't work to calm her down. 
• She struggles sleeping on her back (remember the gassiness!), so she'll sleep on my chest or in her bouncy chair. 
• We've started using the cloth diapers a little bit every now and then, but she has a pretty bad diaper rash and we're using a cream that is not cloth diaper friendly. When it clears up, it's back to the prefolds and covers!

Ok, I'll stop boring you :) Plus, I think it's time for another episode of Grey's Anatomy on Netflix... Have a great day!

She's our Peanut

 She's napping, all bundled up on my chest, right now. She loves to cuddle :)

Later this week, the church ladies are throwing a shower for Peanut. The next day, we're going to get in our vehicle for a 14 hour drive to our home state. This trip is happening sooner than we had expected, so I'm slightly nervous! OK, I'm really nervous. The last few times in the carseat didn't go overly well, and now we're going to expect the little one to sit in it for 14 hours, expect for the nursing and diaper changing breaks we'll take about every 2 hours. I think we're crazy, so prayers for a smooth trip will be greatly appreciated!

Two Week Update

 Well, two and a half week update :) We had her doctor's appointment, and everything looked good - she was already 1 pound over her birth weight! She also surprised us and rolled over from her tummy to her back while the doctor was showing us how to do tummy-time. She has yet to do it at home, but at least we know that she can do it!

 Grizz actually wasn't sleeping... I crocheted two hats for little Peanut while I was still substitute teaching. They barely fit! I'll take a better picture of it when I post about all the projects I created while waiting for her to arrive.

 First walk! This happened last week. It was actually sunny for once, albeit a little windy. Don't tell the Grandmas, but it actually sprinkled on us a little bit when we were almost back. Thank goodness for the quilt I made her! It was so nice to get out and about. Once Grizz comes home from work today, we'll go out for walk #2!

 Blue and yellow forever! She went to church for the first time last Sunday (this wasn't her outfit - she wore a long-sleeved, white onesie with pink, ruffle-butt pants). Everyone oohed and ahhed over her!

 Look at those chubby cheeks! This is her favorite sleeping position: laying on me! Peanut is definitely a cuddle bug. She will sleep in her bouncer chair (see below) once I transfer her sleeping body from my chest, plus we're slowly figuring out where else she will happily sleep. We plan on trying the bassinet portion of the pack 'n' play again soon (she hated it when we first tried it!).

 She can look so peaceful sometimes :) and we love her to bits... but don't be fooled (my parents were fooled when they visited the first week - she, of course, was a perfect doll then!). Now, she can be quite fussy, especially when she is gassy. We're working on it, though. I'm slowly taking dairy out of my diet, plus we're doing extra burping and having her nurse while she's angled upward to try to decrease the amount of air in her tummy.

This was from this afternoon: trying out a new sleeping position! She slept in the Moby Wrap this morning. I ordered a Baby K'tan Breeze today. We're borrowing the moby from a friend, but I think it will be too hot for the summer; the breeze looks like it will be better in warmer temperatures.

Ok, that's all for now - I just wanted to record a few things, so I don't forget! Most of the baby announcements went out today, although I still have several to prepare and send. I also need to get to work on the baby book and calendar!

An Explanation and An Update

Howdy, howdy! Wow, it has been awhile! And, although I know I don't owe an apology for my lack of blogging (it's not like my little corner of the bloggy-world is a rare commodity or anything), but I am excited to share an explanation :)

A little one will be joining Grizz and I in April! I will be 18 weeks tomorrow... almost halfway, ha! Thus, my blog had been put on hold while my body adjusted to growing a human being - tired and sick can pretty much explain my life since I was around 6 weeks pregnant! I've also been subbing almost everyday, which cuts down on my energy (we won't even talk about how unused my sewing machine has been!).

I'm slowly searching the thrift stores, second-hand stores and Craigslist for baby items. Above you can see the all-terrain stroller we bought for $20! The front wheel locks in place, so it will be a perfect jogging stroller, too :) We also have purchased a crib and a changing table.

While my sewing machine hasn't been used since August, I have done a few crafty things here and there. I've made some scrabble Christmas ornaments, crocheted Scooter's Christmas stocking, and decorated a few wooden blocks for the baby room. Pictures coming soon (or at least eventually)!

 Here's a little snippet of the project that finally got me motivated enough to take out the sewing machine today... it helped that Grizz is off on a hunting trip and I didn't get called in to sub today :)

 So, I'll be quilting that project while watching my college basketball team play their first home game of the season. The picture above is of the point guard... it was fun to see the short story on him in the November issue of Sports Illustrated! (Our college isn't used to that kind of attention!)

Finally, we received 15 inches of snow last weekend. I'm pretty sure it will be melted by the time this weekend comes around. I'd rather the snow stuck around a bit more, but hopefully there's more snow in our future this winter! I can't wait to snowshoe in the mountains... I will stay off the ski slopes, though, don't worry... Scooter will be safe :)

WIPs: The Last Week or Sew :)

So, here you go folks. I'm just loving all my free time during this summer. As you'll see, I'm in the middle of quite a few projects, but thankfully, I've had a few finishes along the way! We leave to visit family in a week and a half, so I need to keep chugging along on my "to-sew-list" since I won't be bringing any sewing projects with (except for maybe some hexies for the car ride!).

I finished binding this quilt last Saturday - I couldn't wait to finally finish it, so it even came along on two short camping trips with us :) You can see a full view of this top here, but I'm waiting to get a fun quilt-in-nature picture to show you the whole entire completed thing!

This basket of joy is done and ready for a certain baby to arrive. You'll get to see all of it once the gift is given!

I finished two skirts for Simple Simon & Co's Skirting the Issue Project (more info here!)...

... but I've pulled enough fabric for three more! They are so quick and easy to sew up and  I just love the finished product!

 I've also pulled fabric for Hopeful Thread's July Project - Little Boys Shorts Sewing - I've promised her 3 - 3T shorts, so obviously I won't use all of these fabrics... which ones do you think I should use? (The top one has airplanes on it, and the 2nd-to-the-top is actually a blue plaid, but all you can see is the wrong side - oops!)

I'm over half way done with the binding on my Giant Vintage Star quilt - soon and very soon, I'll have another quilt finish!

I told you that I had cut these vintage sheet remnants into squares... well, here is the quilt top! Baby patchwork quilts are such a quick finish!! That blue stuff on the left is what I'm planning for the backing. Now, I just need to quilt and bind!

 I've had these Christmas squares cut for awhile, and it was time to sew them up. I can't tell you anything more! (Secrets secrets!)

Same thing here!

 And finally, for some non-sewing news... I had fun on Sunday playing with some vintage sheet music, mod podge and canvas. This is only one example of the five that I worked on. There's still a few more steps I want to take before I have some fun, Christmas wall hangings for myself or to use as gifts... once they're all prettied up, I'll show you the final product! Sometimes it's fun to get all crafty on something that doesn't involve the sewing machine :)

But now, I must go clean (and sew!). Grizz has some relatives coming tomorrow!

Linking up here: