my sew easy week

Britton comes home tomorrow, and I'm so ready to see her!  Memaw and Britton called the other night to check in, and Britton just sounded so excited.  She loved staying in the new RV (she has her own bunk, she told me proudly) and swam in the pool every day, and even snuck in a visit to Disney World.  Memaw and PawPaw always have such a great time with their grandkids, and they are so good with both of them that I never worried the entire time Britton was gone.  Instead, I focused my time and attention on two things:  Barrett and sewing!

This boy was a bundle of energy this weekend!  And with some new molars coming in, he refused a couple of naps too, which made for a grumpy and whiny mess.  Luckily, he can be easily distracted with the water table and throwing the ball back and forth.  And since he's in bed every night between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm, I had a lot of extra time to give to other endeavors.  First and foremost - "to-do"s that needed to get to-done, and the fact that Britton's birthday is only a month away hit me like a ton of bricks on Friday.  I got Britton's birthday bash reserved at the local ball pit/carney ride hot spot, possibly copyright-infringed Etsy "Frozen" invitations ordered and printed, and her birthday cake ordered!  

And I made a second I-Spy ABC quilt, this one for the PIA auction (more on that here) next year.  It's not completed (I just got the top finished) so I'll finish it up when the auction gets closer.  It was a much easier quilt the second time around!  I did five or six letters per night, and I don't think the hubs minded having the television all to himself while I was in the basement sewing.  

I'm also making a tailgating tote bag for the auction, and snagged this bandana WVU fabric off of Etsy.  I love love love collegiate bandana fabric, so I couldn't pass this up.

Before Britton left, she asked me if she could please get a 4th of July dress.  So, while she was gone, I went out looking for one.  Ugh, what a smack down!  First, I had trouble even finding 4th of July clothing for girls.  Babies, sure - there were tons of options.  But for girls, not so much, and the one dress I did find at Target wasn't in her size.  I went online, but that just turned into a beating.  So, what do I do when I can't find a dress?  I make one!  Or, in this case, a skirt, because I couldn't pass up this sequined red-white-and-blue star shirt.  The fabric was on sale at JoAnn, and has metallic threads to make the stars.  Because the metallic thread was a little scratchy on the back, I lined the skirt with thin muslin.  I made the skirt really full, so it'll twirl, because a girl needs to twirl!  This is an easy skirt pattern (did the same one for Caroline's skirt) so it took me less than an hour to get the skirt completed.  

Let me share this quick story - tonight I couldn't find Sadie.  So I went searching for her, since it's odd for her to not be trying to get into my lap or snuggling on the couch with the hubs.  I checked my room, the guest room (really, anywhere with pillows is a good guess), and on my way downstairs in a full-on panic, I glanced into Britton's room.  And saw this....

Sadie doesn't usually go into Britton's room.  I mean, other than to revenge pee or when I'm reading to Britton and a thunderstorm is putting Sadie into nervous convulsions.  I don't know the last time she ever got into Britton's bed.  And yet, there she was, sleeping (until I interrupted her with my bright flash), and I suspect, missing her Britton.  

"only child" week

Memaw and PawPaw decided to go to Florida for a week, and asked if Britton wanted to go with them.  Of course she did, so the hubs and I get the not-so-common experience of turning our second-born into our only child, at least for a week!  While we miss Britton and the house has been considerably quieter, we get to give Barrett 100% of our undivided attention.  And boy, does he love that!

And then we just got silly, tickling and playing and putting on headbands!

Check out those curls!  I can't bring myself to cut his hair.

I remember when we had just Britton, and how the hubs and I thought a child was so much work.  Ha!  Wasn't the joke on us!  And really, two children isn't overwhelming, so having just one has been a vacation.  With Barrett's 6:30 pm bedtime, the hubs and I have hours of free time every night.  We're catching up on television shows in the queue, I finished Britton's birthday quilt, and I have fabric ready for a fancy 4th of July skirt for Britton too.   But in between, there will be tons of snuggling with this little boy, who is loving being the center of attention!

you better work!

Oh, how often do you get to reference RuPaul and his sassy finger-snapping yodel?  I know that one day RuPaul will be a never-read page in the history of life, and for that I am grateful.  Anywho, for those whose attention I haven't obliterated yet....meet our child bride!  Really, this dress came about with a wish - Britton wanted a Rapunzel dress.  But not just any Rapunzel dress.  She wanted the Rapunzel wedding dress.  "And I will marry Daddy!" Oh, the sweet things a child bride says.  

We recently got Britton the Elsa and Anna dresses (Frozen), and she spends every other day in one or the other.  Ok, it's usually Elsa!  But the new dresses weren't even two weeks old when she said she wanted the Rapunzel dress too.  And since I'm not inclined to just give Britton dresses every other week, I said no.  She is old enough to earn it.

"What's earn?"  That was the question I got when tucking her in.  I think I stumbled through the definition, trying not to use "earn" in my description.  I must have said that "earning" is working hard for something, like how we have to go to work to earn a paycheck and you have to be honest to earn trust.  If she wanted that dress, she would have to earn it.  And I added just enough chores to the list to make it hard.  And I required Britton to do the extra chores for two weeks, just to take away the instantaneous satisfaction of getting something immediately after expressing a desire for it.

And Britton earned her dress!  She put away laundry, made her bed, cleared the table, put away toys, and some other chores too.  I specifically came up with chores that were daily chores (other than putting away laundry and sweeping grass after mowing) and were work-specific, as opposed to attitude-centric ("get the mail every day" as opposed to "get out of the bath when asked the first time," for example).  Her regular responsibility chart has some attitude-related responsibilities, and I knew that would suffice.  

Yes, this will be in the wedding slideshow, 25 years from now

The Disney Store conveniently discontinued their Rapunzel wedding dress the day before I went to order it.  Ugh.  But I found one online, and also got the wedding accessory kit, which had another veil (covered in glitter), a bouquet, and an engagement ring.

As Britton gets older and more aware of the world, we think it's important that she sees that hard work is rewarded.  It doesn't always have to be a dress.  Anyone will tell you that a sincere "thank you" is always appreciated too!  But we're perfectly happy to indulge in costumes and dresses, as I know that all too soon Britton will think she's too old for such nonsense.  Especially since she's learning that earning can feel really good!

Barrett didn't know it was a black tie wedding...

father's day 2014

I suppose every man learns to be a father by watching his own father.  Much like mothers, you look at your own and decide what you'll do the same and what you'd do completely different.  And then it surprises you one day when those words you thought you'd never say come out of your own mouth.  We can't ever get away from the influence of our parents.  As children our parents are our world.  Funny how we spend years fighting for independence from them, and then become them.

As an only child, the hubs had next-to-no experience with babies before having his own.  Children were a huge learning curve for both of us.  And while perhaps we didn't do everything right, I know we've always tried our best.  Back before the hubs and I got married, we were talking about if we would have kids.  I was on the fence.  And he never was.  The hubs always knew he'd be a dad.  And he turned out to be a great one.  

It surprises me to get to my [advanced] age, and to never have noticed that I didn't think about fatherhood much until the hubs became a father (and I became a mother, since it happened at the same time).  I didn't put much thought into my dad while growing up, in that I didn't evaluate his role as my "father" and I didn't know what a father was "supposed" to do.  All I knew was that my dad was my dad, and that's all I needed to know.  It sounds trite, and I don't mean it to.  I just mean that growing up, there wasn't a bevy of movies showcasing the "perfect dad," the way men these days always get held up to the dashing romantic comedy lead, wherein every boyfriend is bound to fall short.  But in my case, growing up I had no movie-version father to compare my father to, and I was perfectly content with that.  I wish my dad could have seen me as a parent, known the hubs as a dad, to his grandkids.  Because that's when it really comes full circle.

Happy Father's Day, Josh - giver of endless shoulder rides and swing pushes, kisser of boo boos, provider of Teddy Graham and juice and goodnight kisses, dancer extraordinaire who twirls Britton to endless loops of "Beauty and the Beast," the best dad our kids could ask for.  

barrett: 13 months old

Lucky 13!  And man, we have lucked out with this little guy this month.  He's just so happy, and such a lovable boy.  He's been a little clingy to me, which I fully expected since his stranger awareness is coming on.  Whereas I used to fear every one of Britton's development leaps (well, I mostly feared her reactions - clingy, whiny, refusal to sleep, etc.), the benefit of Barrett being my second child means I can handle anything.  Really, every phase will be over soon.  So his clinginess is fine with me - it means I get to hug him a little tighter without him trying to get away!

Barrett isn't walking yet, but he's standing on his own and so badly wants to make that leap.  He uses his musical walker and any piece of furniture he can grab, and waddles just long enough before sitting down with a smile.  His new favorite activity is to climb the stairs, remove the nightlight from the hall outlet (it's since been moved to the bathroom and the outlet has safety covers), then creep into Britton's room and go through all her stuff.  He'll put on her bracelets and rings, throw her jewelry holder down (I've glued it back together twice now), check out her books, and try to climb into her bed.

Barrett can say "bye-bye," "ball," "hi," "mama," and "dada" and signs at daycare.  He can use a cup, bur we still give him his sippy cup because I don't want to mop up big puddles of spilled water!  His appetite and palate are growing, and he now loves yogurt, teddy grahams, Chinese food (especially P.F. Chang's pork fried rice), apples, peaches, strawberries, waffles, sausage, broccoli, and many more foods.  And he's getting more teeth now to help him eat that food.  I noticed he has two molars coming in, giving him 10 teeth.

Barrett is now sleeping through the night, though I'm hoping that I didn't jinx it by writing that!  His doctor had suggested, at his one year wellness check, that he didn't need the bottle he wanted in the middle of the night and to stop giving it to him.  But I didn't want to make him cry it out, seeing as he's my last kid and I'm not worried about having to go through all this again, and he just worked it out of his system.  He usually takes two naps a day, unless he takes a 3 hour first nap - then he's not willing to go back to bed so soon!

Barrett has graduated from his ducky bathtub (see below), and is now in the regular bathtub.  Sometimes Britton decides she wants to take a bath with him, so the hubs throws both of them into our big jacuzzi tub.  

Likes:  going on walks in the stroller, climbing the stairs, throwing Sadie's stuffed hedgehog for her, being held, stacking blocks

Dislikes:  walking on grass barefoot, being tired, having his diaper changed, getting dressed

Barrett's first birthday quilt

I saw this quilt on one of the quilting blogs I read (TipToeTango's I Spy ABCs Quilt), and my first thought was that I had to make it for Barrett.  I love everything about this quilt - bright colors, fun fabrics, almost all scraps, and a sweet design without being too "baby."  

I had to buy a couple of yards of the background fabric (Kona Pewter) and some of the colors, but mostly this quilt came out of my scrap bin.  So not only was it fun to make, it used up some of my cute fabrics!  

The alphabet dictates the color as well as the "I Spy" fussy-cut block within the letter.  Here's what I did:

A = aqua + apple

B = blue + boat

C = coral + crab

D = dandelion + dog

E = eggplant + elephants

F = fuchsia + fire

G = gold + gummy bears

H = hunter green + hat

I = ivory + inch (the ruler fabric was all I could find!)

J = jade + jack o'lantern

K = kiwi + kite

L = lavender + ladybugs

M = mustard + Mickey Mouse

N = navy + nuts (most adorable squirrel ever)

O = orange + owl

P = pink + pinwheel

Q = quail grey + quail (ok, it's a cardinal but Q was hard!)

R = red + rabbit

S = strawberry + snowmen

T = turquoise + tractor

U = ultramarine + umbrella

V = violet + vines

W = white + whale (Seinfeld fans, anyone?)

X = xanthic + xtra-terrestrial (I admit, this is a stretch)

Y = yellow + yarn

Z = zucchini + zebra

Then I used some more fussy-cut squares to make the borders.  I used everything I could find, and even used the last of my yellow elephants, ladybugs, and orange crabs.

The backing is a red with aqua polka dot I picked up at JoAnns on sale for $2.49 a yard!  The binding is Kona Caribbean.  Since this is a first birthday quilt, and I'm a sucker for all things nostalgia, the hubs and I managed to get Barrett's handprint in fabric paint on a scrap of white fabric.  This was no small feat as he really didn't want to do it, and also the fabric paint is permanent, so we had to stop him from grabbing us!  Luckily, we got the handprint after two tries.  I put it in the middle of the quilt, within a band of the Kona Caribbean.

I stitched it with the walking foot and light grey thread, following the alphabet blocks up, down, and through each side diagonally.   It created these great intersections on the back, and since there isn't too much quilting, the quilt is ridiculously soft and snuggly.

Funny side story - when I washed this quilt, I put it in the washer with a color catcher, in case the red backing bled.  If you don't know, color catchers look like dryer sheets, but catch all the dyes in the wash.  Well, in our house here, the washing machine drains into the laundry sink next to the washer (it's common here, but nowhere else I've lived!) and somehow that color catcher ended up in the sink.  You guessed it - it clogged the drain and the washing machine water overflowed the tub sink!  Water everywhere!  Luckily, the hubs was home and caught it before a full-on flood, and luckily it's only the basement workshop below.  But man, this quilt is the only quilt that was as much work after finishing it as it was before!

58 months old

Britton's newest thing is picking up her brother.  Yes, all 27 pounds, 11 ounces of him!  At first I was iffy, since she's well, four years old, and has no idea what picking up almost 28 pounds entails.  Especially since that almost 28 pounds is a living breathing baby who is easily breakable.  But this girl is strong, and if Barrett is all for it, we let her.  Within reason. And, as four-year-olds will do, she gets distracted by something else and moves on.

Britton is doing really well with her reading!  I'm amazed by the progress she has made, and she recognizes words like "me," "the," "not," and "go" without having to sound them out.  She used to get frustrated easily, but I explained to her that reading takes practice, and the more she tries the more she'll learn.  

And, as has happened to every house across America with children, she is in love with Anna and Elsa from "Frozen."  Britton has outgrown almost all of her princess dress-up dresses, and we said we'd get her the Elsa dress.  Well, apparently, so did every other parent.  It's been sold out for months.  So we finally tracked down a (reasonably-priced, considering) dress on eBay and got it.  Then, as luck would have it, Target got the dresses back in stock.  So I grabbed an Anna dress before anyone else noticed them!

Now Britton wants a Rapunzel dress too, but she doesn't want to wait until her birthday.  So I put together a "Rapunzel Responsibility Chart" for the fridge.  For the next two weeks, Britton must do some chores every day (feed Sadie, get the mail, put our dirty dinner dishes in the sink, make her bed, clean up all her toys before bed, etc.) and some chores as they come up (help the hubs sweep up grass after mowing, put away her laundry, etc.).  When she gets all her responsibilities complete, she gets the dress.  And last night she asked me why she has to earn the dress, and what is "earning"?  I told her that you have to earn things in life - a paycheck, respect, trust, and that earning means putting in the work to get the reward.  Ahh, a teaching moment!