Sewing Lessons

We have been at the coast this week with Doug and Vanessa. When we made arrangements for our trip I told Vanessa that I would give her sewing lessons and that we would shop for fabrics for my future niece's bedding. Well, I think I've pushed Vanessa into Project Mode and she is hooked on sewing.




I taught her to make a Drag Around blanket. We had trouble finding any ric rac on the coast that matched the fabric that she had picked so I taught her to make a ruffle. It was time consuming but completely worth it.







We also found fabric for the crib bedding



And quilt.



I will be sewing A LOT this summer and I'm so excited about it.

Lest you think that all we did was sew, we also went to the beach










And the park



And the Children's Museum and Madonna Inn, but since our computer is not back yet I can't show you those pictures. Chef Doug also cooked some great meals for us and played a little guitar. All that to say, we had a great trip and I wish we had a teleporter so we could get together more often.

New blanket for a new cousin

My cousin Katie had her baby, Charlie Aaron, this Monday. He weighed 11 lbs., 6oz. and was 23.5 inches long. He is oh so cute. To celebrate his arrival, I made him a blanket using Moda's Hullabaloo line. I really love this fabric collection and had been waiting for someone to have a baby boy so I could sew
with it. Since Katie and John didn't find out ahead of time, I had to wait (something I'm not fond of or good at). Anyway I was thrilled to sew with these fabrics and am so happy with the end result. I hope Charlie likes it too. I can't wait to hold that little guy again. Check put his pictures on Katie's blog.





(Incidentally our computer is on the fritz and will be out for repair so I will be posting from my phone until the problem is fixed.)

Jack's Nemo Party

Jack is a fan of all things Pixar so when we were trying to pick a theme for his birthday party, we were trying to decide between his three favorites: Cars, Nemo, and Toy Story.  I had already done a Cars party for Ryan so I didn't want to do that again.  Jack seemed really happy whenever I showed him Toy Story or Nemo stuff, but it seemed really fun and fitting to do a fish/ ocean party in the month of June for my water lover.  I made a little invitation and emailed it out.  I also found some darling little cupcake picks on Etsy that had Nemo on them and I bought them.  What I should have done was checked at Party City or Target to see if anyone actually carried Nemo stuff in town.  Had I done that, I may have chosen a different theme because there it NOTHING in town that has to do with Nemo.  The only Nemo thing I found was a cute little candle from Vons and it was in the gift wrap section, not in the birthday cake decoration section.  Regardless of my decorating challenges,  I really like how everything came together.

 A 2 balloon instead of Nemo but we did have real goldfish in a bowl

 My patio

 Table decorations

 My little non-smiler

 Love this look

 Delicious cupcakes with my own version of rainbow chip frosting with Nemo colored chips

 What a look

Big brother Ryan "helping" Jack with every present

We all had a great time and the kids had a blast.  Thanks to everyone who came.  Jack loves all his gifts and Ryan is just waiting for him to loose interest so he can have a turn.  

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Happy Birthday, Jack!  Today you are 2 and the time has gone by so quickly.  I love that you are starting to pretend.  I think it's so funny when you make your cars talk to each other and say, "How you doin', Buddy?"  You have been singing "Happy Birthday to You" all week, along with "Bob the Builder" and the "Mighty Machines"  theme song.  We love that you love to sing so much.  You also love water, which makes having tubes in your ears very difficult.  You have no fear when it comes to the pool, which scares me to death.  You love to tease and have a great sense of humor.  I also love how you play with your brother and mimic the things that he does (except when those are naughty things).  You love to explore and climb and have little adventures outside.  You are an animal lover and are so sweet to Rita and Mario.  We love you so much and are excited to have many more birthdays with you.

Jack's Quilt

I finished Jack's quilt!  I had so much fun making it.  I was really scared of machine quilting and thought I'd make a mess of it, but I really enjoyed doing it.  I just did simple vertical and horizontal lines on the quilt.  Jack has rolled all over it every time he's seen it which makes me really happy.  And it's done just in time for his birthday tomorrow.  I can't believe he's going to be 2! 

From Bumpers to Blanket

When we got the boys' bunk bed a couple of weeks ago, I was really excited about everything in their room, except for the fact that I had to pack away Jack's crib bedding that I had so lovingly sewed for him.  I got a little teary as I washed it and packed it up, not knowing if or when I would ever get to use it again.  After I packed it up, I started thinking about taking apart the crib skirt and the bumper pads to create a big quilt for his new bed.  The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea.  I took the bedding out a few days ago and got out my seam ripper and got to work.  I was working on it during nap time.  While I was picking out each little stitch, I heard a door open and little feet coming down the hallway.  Jack had woken up.  When he saw me with his bedding, he ran over, hugged the bumper pads, rubbed his face all over it while saying, "oh night-night."  Today when I finished the quilt top and brought it in to the living room to show my boys, he ran over again, grabbed it out of my hands and said, "oh blanket."  I think he still has strong feelings about his bedding just like his momma.  I'm so glad I decided to do this.  My goal is to have it finished by his birthday party next Saturday.  I think it's going to be tough, but I'm up for the challenge.  

New Couch

While I was back at work full time, we got a new couch. While I love our couch and how comfortable it is, I've been frustrated because I'd like to see some pops of color in the room.



Our curtains are from West Elm and the color is blue sage. I like the contrast between the blue and the wall color. (Notice the unsightly mom jean jumper colored chair in the corner. Phil named it. It's not really working for me.)




Here are the pillows I picked up at Target. I really like them, but I would also like to see some warmer colors in the room.



I found this rug on West Elm and would really like this to be the color palette but I don't know how to put it in place.



I find myself drawn to the color palette in the photos below but I'm not sure how to translate this into my room. Any ideas? Any fabric that you've seen lately that would work?

Bunk Beds

Ever since I had moved the boys into the same room together, I had wanted bunk beds so they would have more room to play. Jack has also been climbing out of his crib for some time, which has made me nervous. I took the side off, which Jack LOVED but lack of space was still an issue. Sunday morning I checked craigslist and discovered a great set of bunk beds that came with mattresses. I contacted the seller and by the afternoon, we heard back. Arrangements were made and we went and picked up the beds that evening. By that night they were put together and the boys were ready for bed. Ryan was nervous about being so high up and Jack was mad that he didn't get to sleep on the top too. After some convincing and coaxing, they went to sleep. The next day we headed to Target for some proper sheets. The boys were in love with Cars 2 sheets so that is what we got. When I made the beds, Ryan squealed in delight and Jack promptly unmade the bed so he could see Francesco (Tesco), McQueen (Queen), and Mater. The new sheets certainly made going to bed more exciting, but falling asleep more challenging.


This morning, the boys were fast asleep like this. I think they're settling in.