Easy Sweater Alteration

I've had 3 people this week ask me what some good starter sewing projects are. So this is for y'all. It's so funny to hear this, because I'm still a starter myself. But, what has helped me learn and gain confidence in my skills is my thrift. Shopping at Goodwill or yard sales is a great way to try stuff out. Since I've never taken any sewing lessons, most of my learning has been trial and LOTS of error. But who gives if it's only a $3 investment? Go hog wild, friends. Threading your machine is the hardest part.

I found this sweater at Goodwill a while back. I loved the scalloped sleeves and whatever the name is for the bumpy appearance. But, it swallowed me whole and was obviously an old, frumpy Grandmotherly cardigan in it's past life. But that's kind of what drew me to it. I remember my Grandmother wearing one very similar to this. Since it was just a few dollars, I could afford to try my hand at a quick, 10 minute alteration. For anyone who reads this blog is a good/professional/semi-professional, or educated seamstress, turn yorn eyes. If you're just starting out, have a new machine, have cheap clothes you want to adjust to new curves post-baby, etc, you can dig it.




I used a fitted long sleeve t-shirt as my template. I wanted it to be a fitted cardi.


Using a marker, I traced about 1/2 inch around the lines of the t-shirt, extending the length to the bottom, and sleeves to the end of the arms. Cut and sew. I used a zig-zag stitch since it was knit. That's it, folks.

Just another birthday

I'm heading to Boone today to celebrate my great grandfather's 102 birthday. I've written about him plenty 'a times. Every year, we all make the trip, naturally assuming each party might be his last.

That way of thinking has been going on for the past 10 years or so.

What do you give to a 102 year old?

Great-great grand children is what.

DIY Heart Shirts

For Valentine's Day when Adelaide was a baby, I made her a doily onsey from an idea I'd seen on some blog way back then. I thought we could do it again this year for both girls' Valentine's shirts, and try to make it a craft project with A. As you'll see, listening is not quite her strength (but what 3 1/2 year old is actually good at it)? I'm not a fan of little girls wearing earrings, but if I was, THIS is what she'd get for her first pair.

Moving on. All I did was use the foily- type doilies (foily doilies!) - these were found at Walmart. I got solid t-shirts at Old Navy. I have been looking for cheap long sleeve t shirts everywhere, but I guess after the mild winter we've had, until a few days ago, stores are chompin' at the bit to roll out summer. So these shirts will go over long sleevers.

I slid a plastic clip board up the shirt, but anything like cardboard or thick paper would work too - just to keep the paint from bleeding through to the back side. Putting the doily where you want it to go, dab craft/fabric paint around the doily, and over all of the cut out design. Since A is a 3 1/2 year old and on an independent streak, she wanted to paint wherever the heck she wanted. The fruits of the spirit are patience and self control. I had to tell myself (through somewhat clenched teeth) that frustrating moments like my child wanting to use her own creative energy in this project and the encouragement I offer during such times must outweigh exercises in listening and obedience. But good grief, Child. God gave you two ears.

Slowly peal the doily off.

An additional detail I wanted to use was to cut out an 'A' and a 'C' in the middle (solid) area of the doily. Pretty glad I didn't now, since it would have taken more work and time. The patience and self control probably wouldn't have been as easy to muster up that there is a bleeding heart on the bigger t shirt.

Total time: < 5 min

Total cost: $5 shirt, $1.88 for 40 doilies, $.60 paint = <$6 per shirt

Overheard

WARNING: 'Mature' content below.

(however, as I wrote this post, it felt like very immature content)

This post contains the 'v' word. Many times. And a single use of the 'p' word. It is innocent in context, but it's still my disclaimer since this is the 'interweb' and all, Lys. We've tried to use formal anatomical names with our girls. It's how I was raised, and I suppose it's best to be consistent at home and at work in a hospital - the so called professional image I try to maintain. Plus, I guess it's just too confusing having a bunch of different names for our privates when raising kids. I'm trying to get on with this story, but I can't be anywhere near the topic of names for privates without quickly mentioning the time my brother, at the age of 2 or 3, called Beanie Weanies "beanie penises," at the table. It's now part of the Moretz lexicon, and I'm sure he won't ever live it down.

Before you judge that Adelaide didn't have a bath tonight, we were super-late in getting the girls to bed, they (and we) were exhausted and fussy, so we skipped a bath, rushed to do PJs, teeth, potty, etc. The following is the conversation between the 3 of us as I went in to give Adelaide a kiss while Ben was getting her into bed for prayers.

A: My bottom hurts.

Ben: What's wrong?

A: I think there's sand in it

Emily: Why do you have sand in your bottom

A: I think it's in my vagina too.

Emily: OK. Well why is there sand in your bottom and vagina?

A: Rebecca threw sand on my clothes today and it got in my bottom and vagina

Emily: (lifting the sheets, which by the way, seem to always contain mounds of playground contents that have been dumped from her shoes onto her bed, carpet, stuffed animals, books, everywhere during room time, and indeed finding a PILE of sand in her bed):

Adelaide!! There's sand everywhere! Honey, get up - this is a mess. We have got to clean it up. Ben, can you grab the Dustbuster?

A: Mommy it hurts.

Emily: I know Sweetie. I bet it hurts to have sand down there.

A: No Mommy - it HURTS! The Dustbuster would HURT and make my vagina so COLD! Can you just get me a wipe instead?

Ben & Emily: {uncontrollable laughter}

Ben: Adelaide, don't worry. Your mom is not going to vacuum your vagina.

Emily: We should have given her a bath

Christmas

We had another whirlwind Christmas, which beforehand made me want to pull my hair out, but in the moment, made me so very thankful. We have family all over the country now, so getting everyone in the same place at the right times feels like herding sheep. Which means herding multiple in-laws or almost in-laws. We first drove to Boone and were there for a few days leading up to and immediately after Christmas. Derek was down from Vermont, Scott was back from Utah, so Adelaide and Clara had a blast with the Moretz crew. Some highlights:

It was the year of the book. And of 12 month sized clothes.

And ballerinas, cupcakes, and fairies. And also of the stocking. I tackled sewing our own this year. They aren't perfect, but for the most part, I love the way they turned out. Ben's brain doesn't like the stripes, because it bothers him that the stripes don't follow a contour of a foot. If you know Ben, you know his brain is weird, so his stocking his my favorite because there is already a story that goes with it. The tops are pretty wonky, so I'll have some tweaking for next year, but once I can perfect them, I might just make a personalized stocking business.

Ben and I were really uncertain of how to handle Santa this year (you see, he was the first guy to break my heart, and we don't want our goal of making Christmas a celebration of Christ's birth just talk). After lots of going back and forth, discussion, prayer, and research, (see inspiration) we finally concluded that we were comfortable about having him in a St. Nick kind of way that involved hands-on examples of teaching and practicing generosity (which I hope will be things we can continue to embrace throughout the year). Anyway, Adelaide didn't want to touch Santa with a 10' pole- didn't want to see him for pictures, didn't want him to come to our house with presents, nothing. We needed a picture of Clara with him for her first Christmas, but I think it's hogwash to pay $25 for a picture of a baby with an old man. The Boone Mall, however, had a cheap deal where you could take your kids and your camera. And she was perfectly precious. Adelaide was about 100 ft away pretending she was a cat.

This is A with my Uncle Frank, who was diagnosed with bladder cancer earlier this year. Actually, he just came out of a pretty involved surgery just yesterday. We'd love any prayers or happy thoughts - he's a pretty swell guy - he is friends with everyone he meets and is kind, funny, and has been like a second father to me and my brothers. He has a long road ahead in his recovery, but we're so thankful he made it through the surgery with good news regarding the cancer.

Moving on.. we came back to Charlotte after Christmas to repack and hit the road again. This time to Texas. The flights were just too expensive, so we left around dinner time and took turns driving through the night to Texas. About 19 hours total. !! The girls were troopers. We had a great time - so much to celebrate with the Wells'!

Congrats to Ben's brother Matt and his new FIANCEE Deirdre. We've loved her from years ago, but now that it is official, I'm super excited :) They are so good together. I feel blessed to be gaining another sister in her.

Another reason to celebrate in TX: Jon and Sarah are expecting their 2nd son in April. Taylor, who is almost 2, was really sick while we were there, so the only drawback to our fun, was not getting hardly any time with him, or with Jon or Sarah. Adelaide and Taylor are finally at the age where they enjoy each other, so keeping them quarantined was torture.

First cousins plus better halves (gap left to photoshop Sarah into the picture) :(

These are all of the 2nd cousins. Well, minus Taylor (Jon & Sarah), and Laurel and Brady (kids of Ben's cousin Justin and wife Eileen). Until Sidney (who is holding Clara), this branch of the family tree was pretty much a XY Tree. Ben, Jon, Matthew. Jeff, Jason, Justin. Jeff has 3 boys and a girl. Jason has 2 boys. Jon has a boy with another on the way. Justin has one of each. Before Adelaide was born, there was a pretty serious expectation that I would have boys. So when these folks get their hands on our 2 girls, it is pretty special. Adelaide had so much fun with the big kids. She also got to take a spin on this:

Putting her foot on the gas seemed to transform her into something even wilder. I'm afraid.

Last, but certainly not least on the Christmas tour, was time with Grammie. We had great weather, so we got to spend some time at a great park near her house, as well as visit Ben's Grandpa. He has had some decline in health this year, but has overcome a lot and looked really good. He was excited to see Adelaide and to meet Clara

As always, I wish I'd taken more pictures, or worn at least enough make-up to like the pictures that we have. I guess the older you get, the more thankful you become. I've been especially thankful this year. Our families have fought sickness, especially in the older members of the family, and I know we can't take any day for granted. Lots of people seemed to hate 2011. I'm not sure why. There is a lot to look forward to in 2012. New babies. New marriages. But in observing just how thankful I am, it also makes me anxious that it can all disappear.

Buckle seatbelts, loved ones. And wear helmets. Eat plenty of vegetables. Exercise. Drink more water, Mom. And stir-fry, Dad. Derek - don't get stung by any funky Costa Rican fish, and Scott - please don't chop your arm off in your timber-frame-cutting-computer. Matt - are you updated on all your African vaccines? Please be careful. Aunt Joyce and Sarah - rest. Jon - don't get too close to the lightning . Deirdre -enjoy and savor your engagement. Uncle Frank - maybe switch to turkey bacon.

Christmas was time with people I am incredibly thankful for. My goal for 2012 is for each of them to know just how blessed I feel to have each of them.

Nutcracker

I took A to see The Nutcracker last week, and since then, we've had a full steam ballerina obsession on our hands. In fact, Adelaide wants to see the Sugar Plum Fairy rather than Santa. After dinner or while we wait on Ben to get home, this is what we've been up to- taking turns between Adelaide performing in either the Chinese Tea Dance (does that need to be in caps?) or as the SPF. My Clara is not understudying for Clara from the ballet, but for a much more fitting character. Make sure you can hear the music in the background.

Clara Catch-Up

My baby has turned 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, and will be 7 months next week. And where have I been? Not blogging. Oh dear Clara. You are precious PRECIOUS but I have just not been able to stay on top of blogging about you. We play. A lot. Blogging just simply isn't as fun as playing with you. And since your sister doesn't nap, blogging doesn't happen. But I am so crazy about you, and I will try my best to make this blog post do you justice. Oh how my heart melts for you!

You have changed, Clara. You change daily. We used to think of you as fixture - an quiet observer. Over the past few months there is a fire about you. Gusto. Passion. You grunt like you are trying to take on something mighty. When we hold you it's like you want to be taller and more powerful, and so you contort and clench your body as if you're trying to make it grow. Your sneeze could move mountains, and in fact, if moves you (to fall down) when you are sitting. You have this strength and power and urgency, but at the same time, you can also be so delicate. You hold your hands in a dainty, girly manner. You can sit and watch your sister or Beatrice for a long time. You are content and patient. Your facial expressions are the sweetest in the world. You often smile with your mouth closed, which makes your already puffy cheeks make your face wider than it is long. Your eyes sparkle. Your eyelashes aren't long, but they grow straight up. And the color is so cool. I'm sure they aren't finished changing, but I wish they would stay like they are now forever. A perfect mix of your parents. Poets and writers talk about eyes being like the ocean, and I usually think of the Pacific for those silly descriptions, but yours are like the Atlantic. They are almost navy-green-grey except for a small starburst of brown in the middle.

You still love to eat. You mostly nurse about very 4 hours, and have 3 meals each day. You love sweet potatoes, sweet peas, squash, and pears. You're also starting to feed yourself puffs. You have your bottom left tooth and the right one isn't far behind. You look like you could pass as a 1 year old - your hair and your size are mature for your age. Still in the 97th percentile for all of your measurements. You're wearing 9-12 month clothes. You got a haircut last weekend. Please slow this all down. I'm feeling cheated out of your babyhood.

You are expressive and have babbled for some time now. All three of us are competing for your first word ("Mama", "Dada", and "Ada"), but you aren't in a rush to meet milestones. And we're ok with that. Because you are usually so content, and because you are usually so well waited upon by your sister, you haven't shown much intention of moving towards things. Please make yourself comfortable - I don't need you to crawl anytime soon.

You are in love with your sister. From your carseats, Adelaide makes you laugh. Which makes her laugh. You two can take turns laughing, which escalates into cackles. You also have become a lot more interested in Bea. You reach for her and stroke her fur. Thankfully, you haven't yet pulled her ears the way Adelaide did. You squeak while inhaling when you see her - a sound that seems to be reserved just for her. It makes me cough to hear you making this sound, but it is so pleasant and happy - I love seeing you react to her.

During our bedtime routine, you've started liking books more, but would rather chew on them than soak up any stories. You seem to like books with babies and faces, and textures. You love peek-a-boo. You lean towards people you want to hold you. You've recently developed just a tad of stranger anxiety - not enough to keep me anchored, but enough to make my heart swell as I rescue you. Right before bedtime, you touch my face or mouth and smile for minutes. It is such sweet time.

I cannot imaging our lives without you, Clara-bel. Don't grow anymore please.