Sewing

At long last I have discovered a hobby- something that I love!  I initially wanted my new hobby to be photography, but I'm terrible at taking pictures.  So on to the next thing....

This past November (2011) I decided to take up sewing.  It all started with a hunt for the perfect Christmas stockings.  I couldn't find anything I liked so I decided, "Well, I guess I'll just make some."  I bought this cute little sewing machine on Amazon, watched LOTS of youtube videos and got to work on my stockings.

 The "Lil' Sew & Sew"

I was really pleased with the final product-- after all, I didn't know the first thing about sewing and this was my very first project.

Christmas Stockings

Rumor got around that I had been sewing and Weston's parents gave me a sewing machine for Christmas.   I'll have to admit that the big fancy machine was REALLY intimidating compared to the Lil' Sew & Sew.  But I got used to it and have been sewing and monogramming like a mad woman ever since.

To date I have:
Sewn the curtains in our living room out of painter's drop cloth
Helped a friend sew almost 40 burlap pillows for her wedding
Made several pocket squares for Weston
Helped the ladies at the church sew little pillows and positioning tubes for babies in the NICU
Created pillows for my office
Monogrammed dinner napkins for a wedding gift
And have started making dresses for Aubrey (and a few of her cousins)

Teeny Tiny Valentines Day Pillow for the NICU Babies 

Today the Lil' Sew & Sew will go to a new home and I hope the new owner (my college roommate) will  discover a love for sewing as I have.  I still have much to learn- and I look forward to it!

Lindsay

18 Months!

Happy 18 months to my sweet girl!

Aubrey's favorite words:

Hey

Bye

Poo Poo

Thank You

Wuh-zee (I have no idea what this means but she says it ALL THE TIME!)

DaDa

Mama

Mmmmmmm (when her food is so yummy)

Bless (for when you sneeze)

Moo

Shoe

Bite

Although she can't communicate much with her own words, she definitely understands what we're saying.  She responds appropriately to things like:  "Let's go to Aubrey's room," "It's time to brush your teeth," "Time for a bath,"  "Let's get in your high chair,"  and  "Do you want a snack?" just to name a few.  

She loves to sing songs like Ba Ba Black Sheep, Bye Baby Bunting, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and ABCs. 

It's amazing how much she's grown.  We couldn't feel more blessed.  With another one on the way, I just want to soak up this time with Aubrey while I can!  

Finished Origami Mobile

Earlier I posted about making an origami mobile for Aubrey's room and I finally finished it! Aubrey was really pleased with how it turned out. :)

Total Cost:

About $5-$10

She loves it!

Steps:

1. Fold your paper cranes. I used origami paper and scrapbook paper. The scrapbook paper was harder to work with because its thickness.

2. Gather your supplies (needle, thread/floss, 1 pack of small beads, 2 dowel rods, paint, hook)

3. Cut your dowel rods to the desired size and paint them whatever color you want. I painted mine white. *I wish I had used flat dowel rods instead of rounded ones. You can also use wire.

4. Thread the floss through the paper crane and secure both sides of the crane with a metal bead (picture below).

5. Secure the dowel rods in a T-shape and hang the paper cranes from the rods.

6. Balance the mobile by moving your paper cranes farther in or out on the rod.

7. Cut excess string and hang from a hook on the ceiling.

Here are the instructions I found online and followed.

Supplies

Crane with the floss threaded through

Finished product

Origami Mobile

This awesome paper crane mobile on Etsy has inspired me to make an Origami mobile for A's room.

Photo: Julie Dye Craft, Etsy.com

I also found the best video instruction on how to make the paper crane on YouTube.

Here is my first attempt at the infamous Paper Crane. Not too bad!

Photo: Me

I can't wait to post a pic of the completed project!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all of you dads out there!

First-- Happy Father's Day to my Dad! He leads by example, provides, loves, gives sound advice, and is a great movie buddy. I love you dad!

And to Weston- amazing husband and father:

You are the provider and spiritual leader for our family. You cook, fix things, change messy diapers, sing funny songs, and pick out pink hairbows and headbands. You lay out tiny pajamas and diapers every night and Aubrey lights up when you walk in the room. She is so lucky to have you for a father and I couldn't ask for a better partner. We're the two luckiest girls in the world!

Happy Father's Day! We Love you!

Cooking for Baby

I'm not much of a hippie when it comes to baby things. I stopped breast feeding at 6 weeks, we use disposable diapers, and I push Aubrey in a stroller instead of wearing her in a sling. But one granola thing I have enjoyed is making baby food! I'm thankful to my sister in law for encouraging me to give it a try.

Most everything we have tried so far comes from this cookbook. The recipes are simple and easy to make and Aburey loves her dinner every night!

What I have learned is that you can steam (or boil) almost any fruit or vegetable and puree it in the food processor. Then, toss it into these cubes to freeze into 1-2 ounce portions. You can also use ice cube trays-- but I've found that they are more prone to freezer burn.

After it has frozen, just put the cubes into a freezer bag and label with the name of the food and the date. You can keep it into the freezer for up to 3 months.

I normally spend about an hour making baby food every 2-3 weeks and that gives us enough food for several weeks. It's so easy!

Some of our favorite things have been- Apple and pear puree with cinnamon, summer squash and zucchini puree, sweet potato, creamy carrot puree and peas. Our next adventure will be asparagus risotto, green beans with mint, and whipped cauliflower.

Bon Apetit!

The Big Move

Hello world, I'm finally back! After a few weeks without internet and a crazy busy work schedule I've finally found the time to update the blog.

We had a LOT going on leading up to the move. The week before we left for Louisiana I had to travel to the UK for 4 days for work. I was worried we'd never get everything packed and ready in time!

We hired a moving company to come pack up our house for us and it was the BEST THING EVER! Seriously, next time you move have someone come pack you up. It eliminates about 90% of the stress of moving. They packed absolutely everything in a matter of 3 hours and they packed it really well. I came home from work to find our whole house in boxes. Then two days later we left for Louisiana!

Our house in boxes / Making the big move

Welcome to Louisiana!

Living in Shreveport has been a welcomed change for us for a few reasons:

1. It only takes about 15 minutes to get ANYWHERE!
2. We actually live close to people we know and they stop by and visit. So different from life in Dallas where we lived a good 30 minutes from all of our friends and family.
3. Southern hospitality and generosity. Neighbors and colleagues greeted us with "Welcome to the Neighborhood" cookies and a friend came and mowed our yard for us our first week in the house.

Cookies from our neighbors.

Jordan Smith mowing our yard. Now that's a good friend!

I love our new house and we're slowly but surely getting unpacked and settled in. My favorite thing about the house is our back yard, and the Spring weather has been wonderful for enjoying time outside with Aubrey and the pups. The dogs don't know what to do with all the open space! They chase each other around the yard and then take a break to sun themselves on the grass.

Enjoying time with Aubrey outside / Beautiful flower in our back yard

All in all life in Shreveport in Shreveport has been wonderful! We feel so blessed that this is where God brought us and we're excited for all the new experiences we'll get to have in this place.