Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse Necklace

It looks like I'm still finding time to craft with a new baby in the house. Honestly I just don't feel good if I can't make something with my hands every single day. Of course there are many days I don't get to be creative in that way but I try not to let more than a few days slip by. I'm still working on Shayna's baby quilt (top is completely done, back is about 2/6 done, then there is the basting... and the quilting... and the binding...) and today I spent at least an hour organizing my fabric room which always boosts my creativity.

I have bought a LOT of fabric recently. I think I was "drunk dialing" during my bouts with insomnia during the last few weeks of pregnancy. By "drunk dialing" I mean ordering lots of fabric online in the middle of the night and not remembering it in the morning. I bought entire collections of Hope Valley, Meadowsweet, Chirp, Little Folks, Hunky Dory, Botany and more more more. Some are charm packs or layer cake packs but some are the full fat quarter collections. In the past I have wanted to buy collections only to find out they were sold out or discontinued so I figured: buy now, worry later.

Anyway... I have only really had time for teeny tiny projects these past two weeks. One of them was this necklace for Talia to wear to the Overture Center to see Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse with her Kindergarten class. Normally we really dress up for our trips to the Overture Center. For The Nutcracker Talia wore a fancy ballet dress. For Little House on the Prairie (with Melissa Gilbert as Ma!) Talia wore an "apron dress" that I spent three hours making that morning (and that was just for the apron that she wore over a dress she already owned!) and a sunbonnet. I felt slightly guilty that I wasn't able to volunteer as a chaperone for her class so I channelled that energy into making this little necklace. It has all the important elements-- the purple purse, the sunglasses, the crown and the cowboy boots. I fused fabric to both sides of heavy pellon interfacing, cut out the shapes, top-stitched them and added embellishments (rhinestones and star buttons). I sewed them down on a ribbon and added some stitches to make it lay flat. Luckily, Talia liked it and wore it. I heard from another parent that T's teacher was pretty impressed and actually showed it around to the other teachers. It's always a bonus when others appreciate your work! I don't have too many crafty friends nearby so it's nice to share. That's one of the things I like about this blog... so... enjoy!

Family Photo Shoot

I'm just proud of myself for trying the family photo shoot at all. To my surprise, everyone cooperated- if only for a short time. And I got that one great shot of just Shayna (see previous post). The kids seems to go back and forth between wanting to hold the baby and wanting to watch tv. They definitely don't want to change diapers or be anywhere near her if she's crying. I thought it would be fun for the kids to help with her bath. The first time they were so freaked out by her belly button/ umbilical cord that they ran from the room screaming and talked about it for two days (Alex said, "because she has a yucky belly button"). For the second and third baths they wanted to help but ran from the room because she was crying. So much for my fantasies about family time.

Just a taste

Just a taste to whet your appetite! Here is baby Shayna, 1 week old.

Doing well so far...

We're all getting used to our new family. So far, all is well. Shayna is still a sleepy little thing. Feeding takes a loooooong time and a lot of energy on my part but we're working on it. The kids intermittently dote on her and ignore her. Ron is home for a week and a half-- who knows how we'll manage to keep everyone on track after that!?!

She has arrived!

Shayna is here! She was born on Valentine's Day and is teeny tiny-- 6 lbs. 3 oz., 18.5 inches. Although the labor was quick (5 hours start to finish) it hurt like hell! I got to leave the hospital 12 hours later so I'm thankful for that. Adjusting to three kids is going to be challenging. Bedtime last night was a three ring circus of needs and I had only gotten two hours of sleep since the delivery. Then the baby screamed for 4 hours, starving because breastfeeding isn't going so well. At least the big kids slept through the night. Ron had to work today but is off for a week and a half now and my mother-in-law was able to help today. I'm looking at a few tough days ahead with the sleep deprivation and adjustments but hopefully we'll all make it just fine! At least seeing Talia and Alex with Shayna is its own reward... Wish me luck!

More Birds, No Baby

Still crossing things off my list, I guess. The first bird mobile is for Bloom Bake Shop, a new cupcake shop on Parmenter in Middleton near Villa Dolce. The place is really cute, the cupcakes are delicious and the shop is owned by a great friend so stop by! Annemarie always admires a collection of these birds that I made and attached to a thrifted birdcage so I decided to make her a mobile as a "housewarming" for her new adventure. The second picture is of the mobile I just finished for Talia's room. All the fabric is from my stash and it should coordinate well with her new bedding. Hopefully I can get around to finding a ceiling hook and get it up in her room sometime soon.

Still no baby, but I have 4 more days until my due date. Interestingly enough, I was obsessed with birds right around the time Alex was due too!

Cute kids

Haven't posted any pictures of my kids in forever. I figured I would post some of them before this blog gets taken over by new baby pictures (any day now...) These were both taken over a month ago in California. Talia is almost 6 and Alex is 2 3/4.

Getting Ready

Little signs all over the house that a baby is coming. I made slings for both big kids. Got the co-sleeper out, although I put it in Talia's room and it now has books in it. Cloth diapers are all organized. Today I did the last and most important thing. I got two new car seats and had them professionally installed. Alex's car seat was HUGE so I downsized him to a booster with a 5 point harness and purchased an infant seat. It's a very tight squeeze.

I am in love with the service I received from the Safety Center at the Children's Hospital here in Madison. The car seat guy TESTED out the car seats I wanted and rearranged them into a few different configurations. The seats were cheaper than in the store (and the infant one is really cute). He took the new seats out of the box for me, put the infant seat together (that awning thing had to be completely assembled...), installed them properly into my car and then re-installed the infant seat-- not because it wasn't done properly (the indicator on the seat said it was fine) but because he didn't want the baby's head to flop around. I always say I'm going to write to a company to praise a worker for great service but this time I will really do it! Thank you Jim! There is NO WAY I could have done that myself. I was afraid Talia would be jealous that everyone got a new seat but her and also she says she wants to sit in the middle so she can hold the baby's hand but she seemed ok about it. She said she was happy to be sitting next to Alex again (I had separated them because I couldn't haul Alex into the middle with my growing belly). She did say she was squished and there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY she will be able to buckle herself. I am currently taking bets as to how many days it will be before we purchase a minivan.

Now that I've completed that last and most important task, I'm ready for baby. The only thing I haven't done is finish the baby's quilt. I need about a week of undivided attention for that so... it's a long shot, but possible. We're supposed to get a big snowstorm tonight so either I'll go into labor or make the kids watch tv all day tomorrow (or let them TRASH the entire house) so I can sew...

Spool Bird Wall Hanging

I finally made a wall hanging using the pattern from Spool Sewing. I've made these birds before but I don't think I have ever posted a picture. I've always drooled over the beautiful pieces on the Spool Bird Flickr group and now I can finally add something of my own. I used all the colors of our new living room and attached them to the branches (with a hot glue gun-- last time I tried sewing them to the bird cage I was using and it was difficult to get them where I wanted them).

It was a real challenge to figure out how to hang it. I ended up attaching three lengths of fishing wire and then gathering them and hanging the whole thing from a single hook in the ceiling. It's a little precarious but as long as no one touches it I think we will be alright. Talia is jealous and wants a bird mobile of her own so I'm working on that now and I'm sure Alex will want one too. After I finish that project I just have the baby's quilt left. I've done a lot of work on it already so I just need to sit down and get back into it. I've found a great way to get back into sewing after a stalled project is to just take a break and work on lots of small projects. I've certainly done that! Now I only have two weeks (give or take!) to finish the baby quilt. It's going to be gorgeous!

More sewn pillows

I quilted another pillow and made two more simple ones. I'm surprised at how easily I found fabric to coordinate with what I already bought. We also got the wall hanging we ordered. It's all coming together. I never really decorated a room before (which is why most parts of my house look like my college dorm room-- mess and all) so this has been a good experience so far. I just finished a piece of wall art that I made myself and about which I am very excited. I have to figure out how to hang it and then I'll share.