Halloween Costume making weekend

I spent my Saturday at my sisters house finishing up sweet pea's Halloween costume. I had decided to make her a Foofa costume, from the show, Yo Gabba Gabba, since she loves that show!

My sister had done some of the sewing ahead of time, but also helped cut out and sew together the lining.



Check out her awesome tattoo!

I sewed the costume together, then finished putting on the face. This involved some sewing, and unfortunately some hot glue gun usage. I don't really like to use the hot glue gun when sewing because its a bandage really, but I had a major time crunch!




Sewing on the flower, which was part fleece, and part cotton.


My sister and sister in law just got a super cute new puppy, so I brought Mason along with for a play date.




Introducing, Brooklyn playing with Mason.




Proud big brother of Brooklyn and Mason chatting.




Mason got tired, time for a nap.



He always has to be close by when I'm sewing.






- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wordless Wednesday: Go Giants!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Here "Mom"

This has been a very long week with a sick baby girl. She had a very high fever most of the week with some sniffles. Whenever she is sick she gets very clingy, which makes it super hard to sew! It's also super stressful when the little one is sick, there isn't much I can do for her.
I haven't made any progress on her Halloween costume but my amazing, incredible, best twin sister in the world has been sewing her costume instead, and its awesome! Will post some pictures soon.

Yesterday I had a small window where Madison was content watching Sesame Street and I able to sew a new set of burp clothes!














I love this beautiful fabric, mainly because of the animals. I am a sucker for animal prints!

While I was quickly taking pictures of these new cloths, Madison was doing one of her new favorite things. She will pick up an item, really anything, then hold it up and say "Mom", and wait for me to grab it.






In some ways this is super handy, like when she is done eating or drinking her milk, saves me from a mess. Other times its just funny, cause I will have a whole pile of stuff in my lap. I am sure I will miss this phase! Oh my funny girl!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wordless Wednesday

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Cutting out costume

I have been cutting out Madison's Halloween costume at night, after she goes to bed. Mason absolutely loves that I cut out fabric on the floor, where I have the most space, because he loves to help.








Sorry for the dark pictures, used my iPad with low lights in the living room, so not ideal, but Mason is cute anyway!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween costume making time!

This weekend I was super excited about going to Joann's fabric store! They had an amazing sale going on for Columbus Day, with really good coupons. All Simplicity patterns were on sale again for 99 cents! Woohoo!

I had the shopping all planned out, because I knew the pattern I wanted would go quickly, #2788, Toddler Costumes. I hatched a plan with my sister, where she would go to her Joann's Thursday night and hide the pattern, these went the next day to retrieve it and get it for 99 cents! Worked perfectly! Devious, yes, but when I went to my Joann's and the one by my in-laws the pattern was sold out, which I assumed was going to happen.

I went Saturday to Joann's and bought the fabric and thread I would need for her costume.













Madison decided to help me lay everything out for taking photos.







Madison making sure I picked the right pins.



Mason always wants his picture taken too.


I can't wait to get everything cut out and to start sewing!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Making time.

Well, it seems harder to make time to create than I wanted. My original goal was to draw and sew for an hour each every day. Luckily today I got about a half hour worth of drawing in. I put Sesame Street on and let baby girl play with some of my drawing pencils, which distracted her just enough.

I promised to reveal my plans for the Denyse Schmidt fabric! I am going to make some baby gift sets, a baby quilt and matching burp cloths. I think it will be really cute and with the little time I do have, can go together easily.

I went to Joann's fabric store to scope out a pattern for baby girls Halloween costume. She is going to be Foofa, from Yo Gabba Gabbba, her favorite show. There is a perfect Simplicity pattern I can use and since all Simplicity patterns will be 99 cents this weekend, you can't go wrong!

Baby girl woke up every two hours last night asking for milk, so it was a rough night. Haven't had a night like that in a very long time! I have a hard time getting her to eat enough real food during the day, even though I have changed up my strategy, after doing some research on picky eaters. Limit snacking, put her on a schedule for eating meals, in her chair, I eat when she does and I let her try whatever I am eating.
She definitely isn't going hungry, she's just relying on her milk to fill her up, which I am trying to change. I won't force her to eat something and I won't deny her milk. I think it just will be a slow process. At least I have found things she will eat, so those are things I always give her.

Oh toddlers, or kids of any age, it's always something new to figure out!




Baby girl sitting in her chair.




She got herself stuck in her toy box!

Thanks for stopping by!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Made a list, got some stuff done.

As promised a picture of my to do list.






Today my plan was to take pictures of my Denyse Schmidt fabric collection. Joann's fabric store has had these awesome fabrics available within the last year or so. I have been collecting bits of it as new fabrics came out. Now is the time to make something from this awesome fabric.





















Tomorrow I will reveal my plans!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

A new day of swimming and life.

I some times get jealous of other people's success. I get caught up in the day to day stuff of cleaning, toddler raising and feeding everyone. When I can find the time to step away from things for a moment I see that I too can create a path to my own success.

Beginning today I am committing to creating my own plan to sewing/crafting success. I define success as making, dare I say it, a LIVING from my sewing. There, I said it! I've probably said it before, but I tell you I get going on that path and so easily get sidetracked!

Last night I grabbed a piece of paper from the printer and made an action plan for this week. Since I want to show my process, even the nitty gritty, I will show you my notes tomorrow.

One of my goals is to not only sew but to draw again. I used to draw all of the time, and just like sewing or writing, we all have a creative voice and I am not sure what that looks like when it comes to my drawing anymore. So today and went and bought a sketch pad! Next I gotta dig through my craft closet and pull out my paints.

I am really excited for my renewed commitment to my creative path!

Oh yeah! So part of this whole thing is I am going to doing something, anything creative every day for one year! 365 days straight everyone! Let's see what happens!

On a side note it was super hot here today, close to 100 degrees, so I blew up the kiddie pool and let the little cutie swim!





Yes, that's me taking pictures of her in the background. My lovely man took this picture of us both.




Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

When my mind gets in my way.

I have a very minor surgery coming up that has to do with my CHD. The date for the surgery was set up last week for early November, sooner than I thought it would be.
It's not a new experience for me, this upcoming surgery, but wow does it mess with my mind! Most of the time I don't think that much about my health.
I take my medicine, try to eat right and get some exercise. When I have surgery though it just weighs on me, even more now that I have a young daughter. I can't get the impending surgery out of my mind. I find myself wanting to just watch t.v. all day, to just zone out.

It's also times like this when I feel sooo different from other mom's my age. I went to a very lovely play group the other day, both baby girl and I had a great time. I left feeling emotionally overwhelmed though. I crave mom friends, yet struggle to connect with other mom's. I haven't found my people yet. This surgery makes me feel like its even harder to find other mom's I can connect with.

The thing is I don't know what other people are going through. Who knows if the other moms are struggling with something major and my feel like they have to hide it too.

I am working on getting out of the house for play groups, going to the park and story time so that little miss can be around other kids, but also so I can find my people, because they sure aren't in my living room! I want to do things differently and not let my surgery get in my way, to not let it control my mind or emotions. One day at a time, one moment at a time and letting go of judging myself no matter what I am feeling.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
cherryheartdesigns.etsy.com

Picture day and new stuff!

I am so excited to get my shop up and running! I know I keep talking about it, but it really seemed like there were so many obstacles, but mainly they were in my mind!

I decided to re-take pictures of my first set of burp rags, since the original ones are too dark!











These are much brighter and clearer!
I also made a super cute flower headband. My daughter is the very reluctant model!




I am going to attempt to take better pictures with the help of my sister to distract my baby girl!



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad, while my daughter is sleeping on my lap, thus a short post!

Toddler discipline continued.

I promised a review of the two books I am using to hatch my discipline plan for my toddler.

I downloaded both, "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Harvey Karp M.D. and "1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children ages 2-12" by Thomas w. Phelan PhD. Onto my iPad.

Whew, what a sentence! Sorry it wasn't really properly written out, but I am no longer in grad school, so that's all the effort I will put into making the information pretty.

I have both of the books on my iPad which really is super convenient and stops my baby girl from eating my books. I have been reading them during her nap times and even though I am not finished I will tell you it's a relief to have some clear ideas.

First "the Happiest Toddler on the Block" or as another mom put it, THTOTB. Like NKOTBSB but for toddler discipline! What I like about this book so far is at explains a toddlers brain/thinking in a very approachable way. Dr. Karp reminds us that toddlers are not mini adults but little beings that have "cave man" like mentalities and as a result need us as parents to relate to them on their level. This means using what he calls "toddler-ese", a way of speaking with toddlers using their language.

Dr. Karp writes that most of us probably speak to our toddler this way. An example was if a child does something they are proud of, such as go down the slide by themselves, then looks to their parent for a reaction. Our reaction probably won't be stiff, like *"That was the perfect way to get yourself from the top of the slide to the bottom". Instead we will most likely say "Wow, good job!" with an enthusiastic voice and gestures. These short statements and more animated reaction is toddler-ese.

Toddler-ese will come in handy when your lovely child is having a tantrum or being emotional in some way. I am still working on this idea for myself. I still feel silly and not sure it's working, but I am not done with the book yet. There are many more techniques and ideas that will help me to have a clear plan in place.

As for 1-2-3 Magic I just read the first chapter so far, which is an overview of the book. I love the writing style of this book so far, will write about it again once I am further along!

Thanks for sticking with my explanation, haven't done a book report in a long time!

*my quote of Dr. Karp's example, totally butchered his idea, but hope it makes some sense!

Posted with Blogsy

Working on discipline.

Now that my beautiful little girl is a toddler I have entered a whole new phase of parenting. This kind of snuck up on me, I was so not prepared. I remember when I was going to the mommy class, which is through the local hospital, they talked about it one week. Baby girl was probably 10 months at the time and still army crawling and not really into anything. I half listened thinking my precious little angel won't do stuff I don't want her to do!

Really, I just couldn't imagine her walking and talking and getting into things, it seemed so far in the future! Thinking this way helped me hold on to what little babyhood that was left!

Well as soon as she started walking and her arms got long enough she discovered the cable box. You see, we have the cable box in the t.v. stand. We need access to it so we can change the channel. At first I just kept shoving it back further and further so she couldn't get it. We are the point now where we can't move it back any further and so discipline begins.

A fuzzy picture of baby girl in the act! I realize this is such a minor thing, but it's super annoying! She will push the buttons to change the channel, pause/rewind, etc. whatever we are watching or even when she is watching her own show!

I decided I needed to figure out what I wanted to do for discipline. I knew how I didn't want to discipline: no spanking, no yelling. I wanted to find a way for "positive discipline" that goes along with my belief in attachment parenting.

Some awesome moms I know recommended so books, which I promptly bought! Check back tomorrow for the titles and my reviews!

 

Posted with Blogsy

New items for etsy shop, finally!

I have been working on getting items sewn and photographed for my etsy shop this past weekend. I was able to take some really good pictures of my most recent burp cloths at my in-laws house. I decided to try taking pictures there because the lighting is better, plus baby girl's crib is at their house, which was the perfect backdrop!

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Quick peek.

Here is a quick peek of what I am working on. I am so excited because I absolutely love this fabric plus, it's super quick to make and fun! Check back soon to see the end result!

 

Posted with Blogsy

New sewing projects

I am excited to announce my etsy shop is up and running again after a very long hiatus. When I got pregnant I stopped making things. I was super excited to have a baby, but it was such a stressful and unsure time in my life I just couldn't think of creating. Now that my baby is a toddler I feel in the swing of things and am back to sewing.
Mainly I am doing small projects that are quick since my little toddler has a very small window of allowing me to do my own thing!
I am making burp cloths, which I love how pretty they have turned out! When I was using burp cloths I just had the plain ones. I think it would be so nice to have pretty cloths to keep your baby clean!

New lovely necklace!

I am so excited about the new necklace coming my way! I really cannot have too many necklaces with my daughters name on them!




This beautiful handmade necklace was made by Michelle over at Designs by MRS. Run, hurry now and check out her other designs by going to her her etsy shop.
Be sure to also stop by her awesome blog!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Yo Gabba Gabba birthday dress.

Thankfully I finished the birthday girl's dress in time for her big first birthday. Thought I would share some pictures of miss M in her dress.










Turned out pretty cute and fit her perfectly!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Doing the mommy thing with CHD.

I have been thinking a lot lately about what it means to me being a mom with a Congenital Heart Defect or CHD for short. Something happened in Target today that prompted me to finally write about being a mom with CHD.

I was in the baby food aisle looking for munchies for little M because it feels like a constant struggle to feed her lately (which is a whole other post in itself!).
Baby girl was totally DONE, even though we had been in the store for only about 10 minutes! Here comes the meltdown.
I couldn't calm her down so I started to push the shopping cart back and forth, with her in it of course, hoping that would help. Nope! Maybe she wants to hold
something.Oh no, so not having that!
So I grabbed a few things, threw them in the cart and began making our way to the cold food section. I didn't realize she had turned herself sideways and that's when she banged her head on the back part of the cart seat. OH NO! Here comes my first experience of the total baby meltdown in Target! It's gotta happen sometime, right?
She starts doing that cry where she doesn't breath forever, and then the super loud wail.
I take her out of the cart to hold her and hopefully calm her down. I of course am wearing my shirt that is loose at the top and when I am holding my squirmy kid, my huge scars show.
Not a big deal to me but this mom who was shopping in the same aisle, saw the meltdown coming, and was now talking to me about her daughter who is a few months older. I love talking to other moms, but the moment she sees my scar is when things become awkward. She begins to look away, look down, slowly backs away. I wrap up the conversation and run to get some milk so we can get out of there.
I don't blame the other mom for her reaction, my scars are very noticeable and not something people like to see. I consciously choose to cover them up, but sometimes I get tired of hiding them. Partly because it's very hard to find cute shirts with high necklines and also because I have nice boobs, why can't I show those off?!
Seriously though I have worked really hard to hide my heart condition, and part of hiding it is not showing my scars. I don't want to hide my CHD because I am ashamed of it, but because for so long it dominated my life. It's all I thought about, all I dealt with, I couldn't get away from my heart condition.
When little things like this happen, someone sees my scars and reacts, it reminds me of my CHD.
As a mom this is so heart wrenching for me. I try to keep the thoughts from my mind of how long do I have to live, will I make it long enough to see baby live her life. I pray everyday with all of my might that I make it to see baby girl grow up, get married, have kids. I am so acutely aware how lucky I am to have her, to have each day with her. I treasure every day, I really do because I know deep down to my core that anything can happen and I may not always be here.
I try to do my best, enjoy it all, even the meltdowns and tantrums! Having CHD gives me a different perspective on life and for that I am truly grateful.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad