My Mollie Doll

A Brand New Blog

2011-08-22T16:00:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to rename my blog (since I no longer have just Mollie), and decided to go ahead and change the url too. I wanted a new name that was similar, simple, and having to do with my two girls so I decided on "My Little Women". I call them lots of things besides their names, and "little woman" is one of them.

So, from now on I won't be posting on www.molliedoll.blogspot.com, but here on www.littleweaverwomen.blogspot.com.

The cool thing is, I was able to import all of my posts from My Mollie Doll to the new address. I hope this doesn't confuse anybody! If you have my blog listed on your blog list to see when I have new posts, you'll have to update it to the new address to keep getting updates, but I'll still be posting all of my posts on Facebook too. I hope you come check it out!

2 Months Old

2011-08-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Delia is two months old today. She is smiling now and is awake much more. She is still happy and laid-back during most of her awake time, and is content to lay on the floor for a while. She has rolled over back onto her back during tummy time a couple times, but I think it will be a while until she is interested in rolling onto her belly! She is still loving being carried in the sling, and likes to be held sitting upright. I think when she can sit up on her own, she will spend a lot of time just sitting and watching us. The novelty of having a new baby sister isn't wearing off yet for Mollie, she still loves to watch Delia and be affectionate with her. I'm looking forward to watching Delia start to interact back in the next few months!

Art With Mollie

2011-08-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my "crafty to-do list" that I wanted to do more arts/crafts with Mollie. Last week I went to Joanns and bought all of these craft supplies. I got: washable paint, a paintbrush, scissors, glue, construction paper, foam shapes with sticky backs, googly eyes, and a wooden princess mask and flower thing for her to color.

On Saturday she painted for the first time.

Here is her creation, with some owls she had me paint.

While she paint, I cut out the body, nose, and legs of this owl. I got the idea here from a blog called Meet the Dubiens. This mom has tons of arts/craft ideas to do with your kids, and a series called "fun food fridays" where she makes themed lunches, like this. Anyways, after I cut the pieces out, I let Mollie put glue on them and told her where to glue them, then painted her hands and made the "wings".

Here is another handprint craft from Meet the Dubiens that I want to make soon, and put on the wall in Mollie's room:

Do you do crafts with your kids? If so, where do you get ideas?

Hatcher Pass

2011-08-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

Mollie loved exploring at Hatcher Pass today. She's finally to the age where we can "let her free" and she will stay close to us.

I Love My Big Baby

2011-08-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Mollie was a very skinny baby. She spit up what seemed like non-stop during the first few months, and because we used a "nipple shield" for a while to help with her latch, I don't think she was getting as much milk as she could have without it. When we would go out, people would assume she was a newborn, and some even asked if she had been a preemie! After a few months we were able to stop using the nipple shield and she stopped spitting up, and she plumped right up. I hated those comments because it made me feel like I was doing something wrong. Watching Delia grow so quickly has made be so happy, and I'm enjoying having a big baby this time around!

I Caught A Smile

2011-08-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Like most babies, Delia has been smiling in her sleep from the beginning, but in the last week she's started smiling at us! It's so nice to affirm that she actually likes us.

She's smiling up at me in this one. I had to hold the camera off to the side and hope I got her in the picture. She's got the funniest little smile, I have no idea who she gets it from.

I absolutely love the blanket she's laying on. A lady from church made it, and all of the little "popcorn" stitches on it make it so soft. It's the perfect padding for our wood floor.

Tummy Time

2011-08-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Mollie is enthusiastic about joining in on "tummy time" with Delia..

She usually ends up like this after few minutes!

Mollie's such a good big sister.

Crafty To-Do List

2011-08-02T17:13:00.000-07:00

I have so many crafty things running around in my head that I want to do in the next few months that I thought I'd make a list:

Make more skirts & blouses. I was excited to start making dresses again now that I'm not pregnant but then I remembered recently how hard it is to wear dresses when breastfeeding!
Participate in this Sew-a-long. A sew-a-long is where a group of people decide to sew something from the same pattern at the same time (the Rooibos dress from Colette Patterns in this case). They are led by the author of a blog who gives step-by-step instructions beyond what is in the actual pattern. I've never joined one before because they usually use patterns that you can't just buy at Walmart or Joann's, but I happen to already have this pattern so I decided to give it a try.
Learn to crochet this chunky wrap/scarf, this ruffle scarf, and this neck cuff
Learn to make hairbows for Mollie
Make some jewelry for myself, like this, this, this, or this
Do more arts/craft projects with Mollie
Make a few more tutus for Mollie (she has one and wants to wear it all the time!). I love these, this, and this one.
Buy some cabachons to make some earrings and hair accessories for myself
Organize a crafty get-together for the ladies at church
Work on Delia's 1st year scrapbook. I did one for Mollie and still have a few more pages to do. But I'm going to keep it super simple with Delia's scrapbook by using the same layout for each month, and using one set of patterned paper for the whole thing. The hardest part will be choosing my favorite 4 pictures from each month!
Organize/decorate Mollie's room. Mollie sleeps in a toddler bed in our room (I just feel more comfortable having her close, especially when Stu's gone), so we don't spend a ton of time in her actual room. But I want to turn it into more of a "play room" for her and Delia so we can start spending more time in there. I joined pinterest, a website where you can browse millions of pictures by category, and have gotten lots of ideas. Unfortunately I can't do some things I'd like to since we are renting and can't put holes into the walls, but there are a lot of things I can do. I'll try to share my progress on organizing the room though.

Mollie getting crafty at VBS. I hope she loves to do crafts as much as I do when she's older!

Something New

2011-08-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

I've never done one of these "animated images" before, but I was inspired to try after getting a bunch of sequential pictures of Mollie dancing:

Here's another of her and a friend swinging at VBS..I might get addicted to these!

6 Weeks

2011-07-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Here's Delia this afternoon. She's 6 weeks old today and is really getting big. Mollie and her are such different babies, it is really interesting to compare them! Looking back at Mollie at 6 weeks. I can see that Mollie was more alert, had more head control, and had started smiling. Delia is more laid back, sleeping most of the time, and hardly crying. She loves to be held, while Mollie was often uncomfortable when being held, squirming and changing positions all the time. Also, Delia doesn't seem to enjoy the "tricks" that Stu used to do with Mollie, who loved being swung, balanced, and tossed. It'll be interesting to see if she if she'll become a calm, quiet little girl.

Something about this one reminds me of Stu...

Mollie Being Silly

2011-07-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

2011-07-27T18:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to start venturing outside with both kids this week..

Luckily Delia loves her sling and falls asleep everytime she's in it!

Playing With Lightroom

2011-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

I thought most professional photographers used Photoshop to edit their pictures, but after reading some photography blogs and talking to the photographer who has done some of our pictures, I learned that most actually use a program called Lightroom. It's made by Adobe, the same company who developed Photoshop, but it was made especially for photographers. I decided to download the trial version for free on the Adobe website and played around with it this afternoon. I love it! One of the cool things you can do is edit a group of pictures all at once. I edited the photo below first, and "copy and pasted" the settings to the rest of these pictures..

Oops

2011-07-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

Last week when I was playing around with the "white balance" on my camera for this post, I had set a custom white balance, and forgot to take it off. Since a custom white balance only works for taking pictures in the area you set it, if you try to take pictures somewhere else, the colors end up being really off, like this:

I reset the white balance and took some more pictures, but the one above ended up being my favorite so I decided to try and edit it in Picnik. Since the colors were so wierd, I couldn't make it look "normal", but I actually like the effect that I got, kindof vintage-y or something :

Mom & Baby

2011-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

Since I am the one who takes all of the pictures, I end up never being in the pictures with my kids! I think a lot of moms have this problem. I love to take pictures of Stu with our kids but I've learned that if I want to be in a picture, I have to ask, so I have started asking!

I had my mom take this one this morning:

Watching the 4th of July parade:

If any husbands are reading, take more pictures of your wife with your kid(s). Even if they act like they don't want their picture taken, it will probably become a cherished picture!

More Pictures of One Month Old Delia

2011-07-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

Each time Mollie turned another month old, I would take a picture of her with a huge stuffed bear (here, here, and here are a few). I decided to do something different each month with Delia, and take a variety of pictures of her laying on this quilt that my mom made her. Mollie ofcourse wanted to jump into the pictures so I will probably do some of the two of them each month to show how much they grow (especially Delia).

Before Delia was born Mollie only used a pacifier at nap and bedtime but now Delia's pacifiers are all over the house tempting Mollie.

Every month I'll do a full body shot like this to show how she's grown:

One Month Old

2011-07-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

Delia is one month old today! It's hard to believe. She has been such a great newborn and has made the transition from one child to two so much easier than it could have been!

Doing "tummy time" with Mollie.

12 Weeks To Better Photos: Week 4

2011-07-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

This week's lesson was about using the flash. It's good to avoid using a flash inside since it can cause the photo to look too harsh and unnatural, and it can totally wash out your subject. However, sometimes there just isn't enough light and the flash is your only option. The lesson gave some good tips on how to work with your flash. (1) Have your subject stand as far away from a wall as possible since the flash will cast a strong shadow against the wall (if you click the link to the lesson above you can see examples of this). (2) Make sure you aren't standing too close to your subject. This is what will make them totally washed out. A good distance is 5-6 away, and you can use your zoom if you need to.

The lesson also talked about how you can use your flash outdoors to enhance your photos, particularly on bright sunny days when you wouldn't think to use it! When the sun is shining, it can cast dark shadows on your subject's face. However, shooting wish the flash will take away the dark shadows. Here's a pretty extreme example that I took of Mollie several months ago:

The first part of this week's homework was to take a picture of your subject outside on a sunny day without the flash. Here is my example of Mollie. This isn't a great example as there's not tons of shadows, but it's all I could get today.

Then we were to take another picture using the flash. I totally forgot that you're supposed to stand further back when using the flash, so this picture is EXTREMELY overexposed, but you can see the shadows are gone! If I had been standing a few feet back, I think this technique would have worked perfectly.

Flash can also be used outside on bright sunny days when trying to shoot a subject that is backlit (the sun is behind them), or in the shadows. Here is a backlit picture of Mollie taken without the flash:

Here's another, taken with the flash. You can't really tell that she's sitting the shadows, but the flash isn't obvious.

I Haven't Forgotten

2011-07-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

I know I've been taking and sharing a lot of pictures of Delia lately. But I haven't forgotten about Mollie. The fact is, it's way easier to get a good picture of Delia because she can't look away from the camera or ignore me when I try to get her attention! I try to take pictures of Mollie but it's difficult to get one where she's looking at the camera or smiling. Somehow I managed to get this picture of her doing both! And it's not even a fake smile! This is my new favorite picture..

Baby Shower

2011-07-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the ladies at church threw a joint baby shower for a friend from church and I, and our new baby girls (born 6 days apart)! Because we both have two year old daughters already, neither of us really needed anything, so we had a fun, laid-back celebration of our girls.

Here are Andrea's mom, mother-in-law, older daughter Clara, and new baby Lydia. My mom wasn't able to make it because she was in Juneau visiting her sister who just had her second baby, but after Andrea's mom said a few words about Andrea, she pulled out and read a card my mom had written to me!

Andrea's mom made our beautiful cake..

There was a "money tree" for each of us for anyone who wanted to donate money or gift cards for us to buy whatever necessities we need..

This was also the first time we got all "the babies" together. Andrea, Jenny, and I all announced our pregnancies within two weeks, and it turned out we were all due within the same two weeks! I'm so happy it worked out that way and that our children will be playmates!

Delia, Nathan, and Lydia

12 Weeks To Better Photos: Week 3

2011-07-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

This week's lesson was about "the color of light", or how different lightsources can effect the overall color of a photo. Depending on the time of day, pictures taken outside will have a different color cast. In the morning, pictures will have a soft yellow tint, taken at midday will have a cool bluish tint, and taken in the evening will have a warmer orange tint. Shooting indoors using artificial light is where most problems with color come in. Most homes have incandescent lighting which gives off an ugly yellow/orange tint in pictures. Here is a picture where that is really obvious. It was taken in our bathroom, which has no windows.

I usually take care of this problem using a photo editing program (like I did below), however this week's lesson taught me how to change the "white balance" on my camera to compensate for the artificial lighting.

The homework was to take a picture of something in "auto white balance" mode. In this mode, the camera will decide what kind of lighting you're in, and adjust itself.

Then "tell" your camera what kind of lighting you're in to help it adjust. Since I was indoors, I chose the "incandescent white balance" mode, and this is what I got. You can see there's less of a yellow tint.

Then take another using the "custom white balance" mode. To do this, you take a picture of something white, like a sheet of white paper, and set it as the white balance. Below is my picture of a white sheet of paper. You can see how the light has affected it, it's pretty much gray. By setting this as the white balance, you're basically telling your camera that this is supposed to be white, so it knows how to adjust.

Here is the picture I took using the "custom white balance". It looks pretty similar to the previous one, but I think it looks a little more natural. I think the difference would have been more obvious I'd taken it at night with no natural light coming through the window.

From now on when I'm shooting inside, I will definately use the white balance features instead of editing after the fact.

12 Weeks To Better Photos: Week 2

2011-07-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

This week's lesson talked about ISO and shutter speed. The ISO number you choose depends on how much light is available where you're shooting. In low light conditions (such as indoors or outside in the evening), you'd choose a high number (800 or 1600), but in bright sunlight you'd choose a low number (100 or 200). When outside on an overcast day or inside with lots of light you'd choose a medium number like 400. The shutter speed is just how fast the picture is taken (how fast the shutter opens and closes). If you're shooting something in action, you'd choose a fast shutter speed. If you're shooting a stationary object you can use a slow shutter speed. A slow shutter speed can also be used to shoot something in action if you want your photo to show movement.

The homework for this week was called the "kitchen sink test". We took three pictures of water coming out of the faucet and hitting an object underneath.

In the first picture we used a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second. This isn't super slow or super fast.

The next picture was taken with a faster shutter speed, 1/800th of a second. You can see that it freezes the motion of the water a little bit more.

The last picture was taken with a pretty slow shutter speed of 1 second. You can see that the flow of the water is really smooth.

3 Week Delia

2011-07-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

I realized today when our sheets were in the wash that the mattress pad on our bed is a great place to take pictures. For one thing, it's white so there's nothing to distract from Delia, but it's also super soft and comfortable for her to lay on.

The older she gets, the more she doesn't look anything like Mollie did! I really don't know where she got her looks. Something about her looks really familiar but I can't tell who she looks like. Do any of you family members have any idea?

More Sister Pics

2011-07-09T20:27:00.000-07:00

I've taken a lot of pictures of Mollie and Delia this week. These are my favorites...

In their matching hooded towels from Kristina and Wendy..

She laid like this on Mollie for a long time..

I love that she fell asleep..

12 Weeks To Better Photos: Week 1

2011-07-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

I have been loving my DSLR I got a few months ago. I've been using it on the "auto" setting so far but have been wanting to learn to use the manual settings. I've read quite a few blog posts and series about learning to shoot in manual but have not put them into action. However, today I found a series called "12 Weeks To Better Photos". It's set up like an online course with a "lesson" and "homework assignment" each week. I read the first week's lesson today and it was really easy to understand, so I think I'll do the full 12 weeks.

Here is the link to the first week's lesson. The lessons are short, easy to understand, and have good visuals and examples. Here is a link to a discussion board where people discuss the lesson, post the pictures they took for their "homework assignments", and get answers to questions.

The first lesson was about aperture, and how you can use it to determine how much of your photo is in focus. Aperture is measured in numbers called "f-stops". The smaller the number, the less of your photo is in focus, and the blurrier the background.

The homework assignment was to take a picture of a stationary object using a small f-stop, a middle one, and a large one. Instead of having the camera in full manual mode, we used the Av mode, so that we could choose the aperture, and the camera would choose the shutter speed.

This one had an f-stop of 4.5. Since that is a small number, the background is very blurry.

This was an f-stop of 9, background is less blurry.

This was an f-stop of 22, background is much less blurry.

Learning to shoot in manual seemed really daunting to me, but I love the way this series is set up, and I'm excited to do more of the assignments and see an improvement in my pictures! I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to improve their photography.

Fourth of July: Part 2

2011-07-05T00:46:00.000-07:00

After relaxing at home for the afternoon, we spent the evening with my dad.

My dad grilled an awesome dinner of poblano peppers stuffed with black and pinto beans, cheese, garlic, and onions..

..barbecue country style ribs..

..grilled corn..

..and coleslaw..

We had grilled peaches and icecream for dessert, but I forgot to get a picture.

Fourth of July Parade

2011-07-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I blogged about Colony Days. Well, the 4th of July parade in Wasilla is another annual event that I have never been to! Stu was busy finishing something up in his shop and my mom is in Juneau waiting for her sister's baby to be born, so my dad and I took "the girls" (it feels wierd to say that but I'll have to get used to it) to the parade.

She's saying to Pappy in this one, "We saw Elmo!!"

After a while of just watching, she got into waving at the floats going by..

Here are some of the things she saw..

Besides Elmo, her favorite thing was the fire trucks..

Delia slept through the whole thing.

Adjusting To Two

2011-07-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Before Delia was born, I worried about how I was going to take care of a toddler and newborn by myself while Stu is on the slope. How would I shower? What would Delia do while I was bathing Mollie? How would I put two kids to bed? Would I ever have time to get anything done?

This week Stu has been busy moving out of one of his shops, and into his new shop. Since he's been gone most of each day, I've gotten a taste of what it will be like when he's back at work and I'm feeling much more confident!

Delia is two weeks old now, and we have a good routine down for showering, naptime, and bedtime. I've been waking up whenever either Mollie or Delia decides to wake up, which has been around 9 or 10. We go upstairs and I feed Delia while Mollie and I eat breakfast. Delia falls back to sleep during this time, so I lay her on our bed downstairs while I take a shower, and Mollie watches a tv show upstairs. Then we just play it by ear until naptime. After lunch we go downstairs and both girls lay in Mollie's bed while I read them a few books. Then I put Delia on our bed, and both girls take a nap. Amazingly, they've both been sleeping 2-3 hours, and I get just as much time to myself as I had when it was just Mollie!

I haven't had to do bathtime by myself yet, but I will probably either: (1) Put Delia to sleep first, then bathe and put Mollie to sleep, or (2) Have Delia in a bouncer in the bathroom with us as I bathe Mollie, and then repeat the naptime routine.

I don't know how I got so lucky, but I have been getting a full night's sleep every night! Delia starts out sleeping in her cosleeper next to our bed. She usually wakes up twice during the night to eat, at which point I bring her in bed, and we go back to sleep.
All in all, I'm very relieved and thankful that the transition from one to two has gone so smoothly!

Here is the sling I made in action. This is the first time I tried it, and she stayed in it for probably 15 minutes before she started fussing and I took her out. I'm not sure if she was fussing because she was uncomfortable, or if she was just in a fussy mood anyway. For those of you who "baby-wear", does it look like I'm wearing it right? I'll have to try it again. If she doesn't like it, I have a few other slings, wraps, and baby carriers that I will try. I just hope she likes one of them!

Quilt From Grammy

2011-06-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

Remember when I asked for opinions on fabric for the new baby's quilt (right here)? Well here is the finished product! She used this tutorial, and said it was pretty simple. I love it! I plan to use it for the background of Delia's monthly pictures so Mollie is testing it out..

Sisters

2011-06-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Mollie is doing an amazing job adjusting to being a big sister. Her love for Delia is obvious, and she hasn't shown any signs of jealousy or neediness! I let Mollie be as involved as possible in taking care of "baby sister", and try not to get onto her about being too loud or too "rough" unless she could really hurt her. I'm so happy to have had another girl so that Mollie can have a sister.

I love watching them looking into eachothers eyes and forming a bond..

I love that Delia is so comfortable in Mollie's arms. Next to me, I think she's heard Mollie's voice the most while in the womb, and is comforted by the sound of me and Mollie's daily interactions.

Mollie is really interested in what Delia does, and loves to talk about her. Here we are talking about how Delia is stretching.

Mollie seems to be naturally gentle and affectionate with Delia most of the time, like the way she has her hand gently on her head...

... and how she is holding her feet

I'm so excited to watch them grow up together!

Faces

2011-06-25T18:47:00.001-07:00

Getting Out

2011-06-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Perfect Sleeper

2011-06-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

Unlike newborn Mollie, Delia has been sleeping NON-STOP! I think she's only been awake for an hour out of the day. She falls asleep immediately after being fed and is fine being held in any position, laid down, or passed around.

A Resemblance?

2011-06-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of my dad holding Delia today, and realized that it was really similar to a picture I took of him holding Mollie as a newborn:

Delia at 2 days Mollie at 2 weeks

Colony Days

2011-06-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Every June, Palmer hosts a weekend-long celebration called "Colony Days". There's a big outdoor market, food vendors, music, free kids activities, contests, a car show, a parade, etc. Even though I grew up in Wasilla (right next to Palmer), I hadn't even heard of "Colony Days" until I was in highschool, and had never been until last year! It was held last weeked, and Mollie and I went on Friday.

Riding on "Cookie" was the highlight of the day. It was so cute to see her up there, riding around by herself!

We also visited the free petting zoo. I thought Mollie would love it, and I think she did, but she wouldn't touch any of the animals! She was fascinated by them, and was laughing and having a good time, but she just wouldn't pet them!

One of the churches in Palmer had a booth with free face painting and balloon animals for kids, so we got Mollie this little balloon mouse. She really loved it, and since it was naptime when we got home, we had to give it it's own pillow and blanket (a baby wipe) on the bed next to Mollie!

Thunderbird Falls

2011-06-13T01:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Thunderbird Falls today to do some walking to encourage this baby to come, and to enjoy the weather.

Stu took these pictures of this inchworm. On this handrail there was probably an inchworm every 4 or 5 feet!

My School-Girl

2011-06-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

I think Mollie looks like a little school-girl with her polo shirt and pig tails!

Waiting

2011-06-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

We are eager for "baby sister" to come, but enjoying our time together too.

I loved the last week or so before Mollie was born too, just hanging out and relaxing, waiting for her to come.

I love that Stu has a job where he can spend so much "laid-back" time with us, without being tired from working all day, being stressed out, or having to go to bed early to get up the next morning.

When Dada's Home..

2011-06-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Mollie gets to do lots of fun stuff, like hang out at his shop...

and go to the race track..

Last Minute Sewing For Baby

2011-06-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

I made this reversible sling today from this tutorial. It's super simple and you just need two yards of fabric.

You can see the inside fabric a little better here..

Yesterday I made this flannel swaddler from "Simple Sewing for Baby" by Lotta Jansdotter. I was going to make another scalloped baby blanket from these fabrics but the baby really doesn't need any more blankets (or burp cloths or any of the typical baby stuff you'd make out of flannel). I was torn about whether a flannel swaddler would be too hot, but I decided to go for it, since most baby blankets are flannel anyway, and it'll start getting cool again in a few months.

Puzzle Time

2011-06-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

Admiring her outfit..

I wanted to get some pictures of Mollie but it's so hard to get her to stay in one place while I take pictures, so I gave her this puzzle to do. She's really good at puzzles! It's cute to see her studying each piece before she puts it in it's place.

Distracted by the TV..

Mollie and Pappy

2011-05-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Summertime

2011-05-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

The past week has really felt like summer, so we've been spending our afternoons outside! Even though she has a whole yard to play in, Mollie seems to like hanging out on the porch a lot of the time.

Our landlady gave Mollie this little chair..

I thought this picture was funny. She crawled under the chair but couldn't get out..

She has a little rock in her mouth..

Getting ready to spit it out..

36 Weeks

2011-05-28T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 36 weeks pregnant, 4 more to go (if I make it to my due date). Stu comes home tomorrow and the new baby's insurance should kick in on June 1, so after that, we're ready! I do have one little thing I need to do: wash all of Mollie's old baby clothes! She went through a phase in the beginning where she spit up A LOT. Now most of her 0-3 month size clothes are dingy around the neck. Anyone know what I could use to get them looking new again?!!

I've Accepted That..

2011-05-26T18:34:00.000-07:00

..Mollie will NOT look at me when we're outside!!

She likes to take this ball to my parents' backyard to play with Max. She mostly just teases him with it though since she's too afraid to get too close to him (she's had a couple of traumatic dog experiences already in her short life, she's never gotten hurt by one though). If he gets too close she says "Oh! Oh! and blinks really fast! She loves to talk to him though , like he is just one of her friends. My mom says she's called him "little boy" before!

She loves my parents' cat, Oliver too. Sometimes she doesn't like when he comes close to her toys, but she is starting to "share" with him, giving him toys and saying "play with me!". One of the cutest things she does is bringing him his food. She'll say "come on Oliver", set it down, and say "eat your food".

Sunday

2011-05-24T13:49:00.000-07:00

I love getting Mollie dressed up for church, it really is like dressing a doll!

Friday

2011-05-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

We went to the 2nd "Friday Fling" of the year with a friend. It was a beautiful day, but so windy that hardly any of the vendors showed up!

Sometimes Mollie insists that her pants are rolled up!

Kissing "baby sister"..

Birthday Marshmallows

2011-05-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

I made these "smore pops" for a friend's baby shower this weekend, but according to Mollie they are "birthday marshmallows"!

She woke up from her nap right as I was finishing making them so I let her have one.

Begging for more! I love how she has a perfectly symmetrical mustache and goatee.

Mollie Mouse

2011-05-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Mollie LOVES Mickey and Minnie Mouse. It started with a series of Disney books we have. Then, at Christmastime she was drawn to a Mickey ornament. She was so excited when I let her watch "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Now she has lots of Mickey/Minnie stuff; crocs, figurines, coloring books, and dress-up clothes. Looks like we might need to plan a trip to Disney Land in the next few years!

Eating Breakfast

2011-05-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Loving My New Camera

2011-05-19T01:16:00.000-07:00

I got my new camera in the mail today! I have never been so excited about getting something in the mail and have been tracking it online constantly! I had jury duty today and my dad was watching Mollie, so when I was finally able to try out my camera, I had no subject, so I just took some pictures of some random things.

Then I took some pictures of my diaper bag.

I got to test the camera out on Mollie at dinnertime. I was using the camera on "auto" setting, and it kept using the flash. Still, these indoor pictures are a million times better than the ones I've been able to get with my cell phone and digital camera!

The outdoor pictures are much better too!

New Summer Toys

2011-05-16T18:18:00.000-07:00

Last week we got Mollie some new "summer" toys to have at Stu's shop. He spends a lot of time at the shop when he's home, so now that it's getting warm, we are going to try to hang out there more.

Ready to go shopping!

We got a spill-proof bottle of bubbles. It really is spill-proof! It's nice that Mollie

can play with it all by herself.

We also got Mollie a tricycle after seeing how much she liked the junky little bike at Stu's shop.

Once she saw that Stu was putting it together, she wanted to help! She was

really trying to figure out where everything went and was doing a good job

at it. She really is a lot like Stu!

The tricycle has these removable steering bars, so that a parent can push
and steer the bike if the toddler can't quite do it yet, it's really neat.

We also got sidewalk chalk.

Anyone have any ideas of other toys that would keep her occupied?!

Graduation Day

2011-05-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

My Diaper Bag!

2011-05-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I finished my diaper bag last night! I'm still trying to decide if I want to add bows on the side, I think I like it just how it is. I'll post a few close-ups and some pictures of the inside of the bag in a few days. I wasn't able to get any very clear pictures of the inside. Our digital camera is so frusterating to me! Luckily, I just ordered this new camera. I can't wait to get it so that I can take better quality pictures of Mollie, the new baby, and my sewing projects!

Mother's Day Weekend

2011-05-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we rode our bikes and bike trailer to the park in Palmer. It's so nice living and having Stu's shop so close to town! It only took 10 minutes or so to ride downtown.

We played for a while and ate lunch there..

During the night Saturday night Mollie threw up several times so we were up for a few hours cleaning her and the bed up and doing laundry. We didn't know how she'd feel in the morning, but luckily she seemed normal. We missed church since we let her sleep in but I still dressed her in the outfit I'd planned for her.

Stu asked what I wanted to do for Mother's Day, so we went to Joann's so that I could get some fabric for my diaper bag! After that, we had dinner with my parents at Red Robin. Stu and Mollie were worn out..

..so I started working on my bag!

A Few Things

2011-05-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few things I've made in the past month or so that I haven't posted yet.
I made this skirt to wear to the Easter Breakfast at MOPS. I followed this pattern, but I used white elastic and dyed it grey to match the grey in the skirt. The great thing about the elastic waist is that I can wear it after I'm pregnant too!

These next two things I made for my Mom for her birthday last month.

A checkbook cover using this tutorial.

And a glasses case using this tutorial.

Random Pictures of Mollie

2011-05-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of miscellaneous pictures of Mollie from the last few weeks that didn't really fit with any of my other posts:

She likes to dress her dolls in her clothes..

She put this pair of my pajama shorts on somehow and made a little "baby sling" for her Minnie and Mickey figurines.

Here are some cute pictures of Mollie with her Aunt Jazmin.

I don't know if you can really tell from this picture, but Mollie got into our flour! That was the first time she's ever gotten into something like that..

Eating at her favorite restaurant, IHOP..

Outside of Target..

One of the things we got Mollie for her birthday was a doll stroller and she loves it! In these two pictures she was running around the apartment with it and thought it was so funny if I popped out from around the corner! I almost forgot to mention, she did that to her shirt, not me!

These two I just thought were funny..

"Sweet Cotton Onesie"

2011-05-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

I made this onesie for the new baby using the leftover fabric from Mollie's Easter dress, using this "sweet cotton onesie" tutorial from Prudent Baby. It's perfect for a Summer baby!

A New Diaper Bag?

2011-05-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

When I had Mollie, a friend from church made me an amazing handmade diaper bag! It has been the perfect diaper bag, with tons of pockets and little compartments. I know how much time had to have gone into making that, especially now that I know how to sew! Well after carrying it everywhere I've gone for the last two years, it's getting a little worn out, so I've been thinking about making a new one and have started looking at patterns online.

I love these first two, unfortunately they aren't patterns, just two diapers bags that a lady made. I think I mostly love the bows, the quilting on some sections of it, and the bias tape, so maybe I'll just add some of those things to the pattern I choose.

Here is a pattern that I could order online. You can use the pattern to make two different sized bags: the size shown on the front, and a tote-bag sized version of it. I really like it, but it's not technically a "diaper bag" so I'm not sure that it would have any inside pockets. Also, I'd have to wait for the pattern to come in the mail.

This one I could also order online, but it is a diaper bag and has lots of pockets inside. It also includes a pattern to make a changing pad.

Here is another pattern I could order online from Etsy, but it's an E-Pattern, so the pattern would immediately be sent to my email as a pdf file! Plus this bag has inside pockets and elasticized pockets on the sides which have been really handy on the bag I have now.

Simplicity has a ton of cute bag patterns, but the diaper bag patterns they have are not cute at all! I love the bag on the upper left on this Simplicity pattern, you can see it better here. All of the bags in this pattern are "apron inspired".

I really like the bigger bag on the left here too.

What do you think?

Dada's Shop

2011-05-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

I love how bright the walls of Stu's shop are! Perfect backdrop for a picture..

Mollie loves this bike that we got at a garage sale last summer. Stu bought it just to use the wheels for a different project, but Mollie saw it in his shop and thinks it's her bike!

The real reason we were at Stu's shop was to try out our new bike trailer! We've wanted one for a long time and Mollie loved it!

Momma's bike..

Mollie's bike..

Looking up at the rain clouds that were coming..

Dancing..

Scalloped Blanket

2011-05-05T13:21:00.000-07:00

Here is my first scalloped blanket. This one's for Mollie but I bought fabric to make one for the new baby too. They have so many cute flannels at Joann's! I wasn't planning on making Mollie a blanket, since she already has a ton, but I knew she'd love this fabric. The pink and white striped fabric is the back of the blanket. I didn't finish it until after she'd gone to bed last night, so I put it on her during the night to surprise her when she woke up!

The Bonnet

2011-05-03T15:44:00.000-07:00

Mollie finally let me put this bonnet on her! She was dressing up in all kinds of things and actually asked to wear it. I'd originally made it for her to wear with this dress at Chili Willi Day. I hope someday I can convince her to wear the dress and bonnet together!

I Think It's Spring

2011-04-28T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's not really warm outside, but warm enough! We spent some time walking around outside the Palmer library and downtown the other day. I think I've mentioned it before, but I love this area outside the libary with a big grassy lawn with little hills to run up and down, picnic tables, the Palmer settlers exhibit, and the historic buildings.

It's almost impossible to get Mollie to look at me when we're outside, too many things to see.

This is a little statue of Balto.

She's telling me to sit down too.

We had to run a bunch of errands after the library and Mollie hated getting in and out of the car without being able to walk around, so we stayed outside for a while when we got home.

Walking around with her "cell phone", just like me.

I took this picture 1 second too late. She had laid her head down on this rock pretending to sleep.

Looking at the horses under the fence..

Running away from me down the street.

I think she would have kept going right now this cliff if I hadn't told her to stop!

That night we went to some friends' house to eat and Mollie found this outside..

It was probably a mistake to put her on because she did NOT want to get off.

Another Fun Day

2011-04-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

We are really enjoying spending a lot of time with my family while Ben and Jazmin are here. Today we took a trip into Anchorage with them to do a little shopping. I thought Mollie looked super cute in her new headband, a shirt that Stu bought her, and pink jean jacket!

Can you tell she'd been eating pink candy?

Our first stop was Value Village, where I found this "Little People" dollhouse for just $5! It didn't have any of the people in it, but that didn't stop Mollie.

I also found her these adorable baby Gap shoes for $1.99...

Back home after a long day.. I love how she's sitting..

Our Easter

2011-04-25T02:47:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun picking things for Mollie's easter basket and getting it all set up.

The bunny I made. She was with me when I cut out all the pieces and embroidered the face, and liked arranging all of the pieces. But after I sewed it all together while she was napping, she wanted nothing to do with it! Luckily she likes it now that it's stuffed, and fell asleep tonight with it tucked in next to her.

I got Mollie really excited about wearing this dress and her new "easter" shoes..

Inspecting her basket..

Wearing a new headband.. She loves to kindof "dress up", so I got her some headbands, barrettes, a bracelet, and Winnie the Pooh socks, and she loved them all!

Showing me her new book..

A few pictures at church..

She took a nice long nap (3 hours!) after church. As you can see she didn't want to take off her dress. I ended up having to wake her up so we could go eat dinner at my parents' house!

Being silly with Uncle Ben..

We had a delicious ham dinner and this cake my mom made!

She's So Pretty..

2011-04-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

..when she sleeps!

She's only sucked her thumb a handful of times in her life, so I had to get a picture!

Mollie Can...

2011-04-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

...eat her cereal out of her own bowl now!

I bought Mollie the cutest plate and bowl from Joann's! I can't find a picture of the exact one, but they're from the same collection as this plate:

Preparing for Easter

2011-04-08T13:38:00.000-07:00

I feel so much more excited for Easter this year than I did last year, I guess because Mollie is a year older and will be able to enjoy getting an easter basket, and hunting for eggs! I picked her out a bunch of stuff for her easter basket from the $1 aisle of Target. I can definately see how some parents can spoil their kids, it's easy to want to buy everything because there are so many things you know your kid would love! Luckily it was the $1 aisle so I spent less than $10. I started on Mollie's easter dress yesterday and I loooooove it! The fabric is "swiss dot", which is a pretty soft and thin, summery fabric, with little raised polka dots all over it. The fabric just seemed perfect for spring. I used the same pattern I did for this dress, but using a different sleeve from the pattern. I also used white piping on the sleeves, yoke, and I'll put it on the hem of the dress too. Can't wait to see her in it!

In case you didn't see the link I posted on facebook, I'm going to make one of these bunnies for Mollie. Here is the tutorial for it, they have a pattern for an even simpler one too!

Lastly, here is the dress I want to make for me for Easter. I looked at all the fabric at Joann's yesterday but couldn't decide on anything! Anyone have any advice? Should I do a print or solid? What color(s) would look good?

Baggy to Skinny Maternity Jeans: Before and After

2011-04-05T17:29:00.000-07:00

A few months ago at MOPS (the mom's program I go to) I took a few pairs of maternity jeans from the "freebie" table. I have never bought maternity pants before, because even the small sizes never fit right, they're baggy in some places, and not in others! This pair was the same way, but I loved the dark denim, the fact that they're kindof stretchy, and that the top/waistband area didn't necessarily look like maternity jeans, they just go up really high on your belly and have elastic in the back of the waist. Anyways, my goal was to make them fit! I had been putting it off for a while, but one day last week, Grosgrain posted a video blog where she tailored a pair of huge jeans from the thrift store to fit her. Watching that got me motivated! There are a couple ways you could do this. You can put your jeans on inside-out, and pin close to your leg, or however you want your jeans to fit. This is the way Kathleen from Grosgrain showed in her video, and I started doing it this way too, but everytime I bent down to put a pin in the fabric shifted and it was just getting too complicated and frustrating! Instead, I laid the jeans out flat on the floor, laid a pair of jeans that fit me on top of them, and pinned around the outline of the jeans on top. Then I just sewed where along where I had pinned and voila!

"Itty Bitty Dress" Number 2

2011-04-04T09:30:00.000-07:00

Here is my second version of Made By Rae's "Itty Bitty Dress" for the new baby. I blogged about my first one here. I changed a few things for this one. I made the bodice shorter, and the skirt longer.. I only made the straps on the bodice back so that they could come over the shoulders and button in the front.

I added these pockets with elastic along the top..

And I finished the hem with grosgrain ribbon. It's such an easy and pretty way to hem a dress or skirt. You just sew it onto the wrong side of the hem, close to the edge, then you turn it to the right side and sew along the top of the ribbon.

In Mollie's Room

2011-04-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

I don't take a lot of pictures in Mollie's room, but here are a bunch I took this afternoon..

Mollie's wearing a dress I made her for her first birthday. It's almost too short but still fits good.

Trying to get a picture of her standing in the dress.. This is a dollhouse I got for christmas when I was in kindergarten. Mollie loves to play with it even though all of the furniture and people are at my parents house.

She loves to be covered up in her baby blankets..

When our closet/hall flooded a few months ago we had to take a bunch of Mollie's old baby stuff out of the closet, and she loves sitting in her bouncer..

I told her to show me her "pearly whites", or "pearly eyes" as she thought I said..

Two New Baby Things

2011-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

I appliqued a scrap piece of crocheted doily onto this onesie that I dyed. Inspired by this onesie, I appliqued these gingham triangles to look like a penant garland.

Mollie This Week

2011-04-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

Mollie has never been one to just sit back and relax, but lately she is starting to..

Playing with play-doh, this was her idea..

She's started liking to sleep with this quilt that my mom made her. I had to get a picture of the way she tucked her monkey in next to her..

Eating doughnuts!

Doesn't her tongue look wierd here?

She's also starting to really get into coloring and will spend a long time engrossed in it, that's always nice for me!

From My Phone

2011-03-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures from my phone from the last week or so.. My most recent belly picture. I made the shirt I'm wearing from the Sencha pattern from Colette Patterns. I slightly modified it for my pregnant belly by stitching a line of "shirring" (sewing with elastic thread) around the waist and leaving out the darts that would normally be on the stomach of the shirt. I'll have to get a better picture to post! A face Mollie likes to make..

This was the craft we made at MOPS last week, a magnetic message board for the kitchen!

Mollie played with play-doh for the first time. It occupied her and Marie for at least an hour!

I took Mollie outside to walk in the snow. She hasn't really gotten to play outside this winter because I hate being out in the cold, but it's finally starting to warm up..

She did NOT want to come inside, but I had to take something out of the oven! The only thing that would make her stop crying was to play in the sink. But she didn't want to take off her mittens or coat..

Sometimes I let her look through my make-up bag. I don't know how she was able to get my mascara open. I didn't really mind her playing with my light pink eyeshadow, but I had to take it away because she was digging into it with her fingernails

Mollie's hair after being combed and "fluffed". I hope it stays wavy/curly as it gets long!

Mollie and Marie

2011-03-24T12:22:00.000-07:00

Marie wanted to wear the bonnet I made Mollie. I'm glad to have a picture of someone wearing it since Mollie HATES it!

Playing peekaboo...

Mollie's Dress

2011-03-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures I took of Mollie in her new dress before and after she had her pictures taken with Katie Cannon Photography..

Mollie found our leftover soda bread from St. Patrick's Day the night before....

Quilted Taggie Blanket

2011-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

Every so often, I am able to work on a craft project while Mollie is awake! Today was one of those times. I made my first "taggie" blanket last year for a new baby at church, I blogged about it HERE. I knew I wanted to make one for our new baby and have been daydreaming about the fabrics I wanted to use for a while. I knew I had a lot of pretty girly fabric and ribbon in my "stash", and was able to make this whole project with things I had on hand, I love when that happens! The gingham and floral fabrics on the front are flannel...

..and the back is this really soft, furry fabric, I'm not sure what it's called.

When I was almost done, I decided to sew these diagonal lines through the squares to keep the two sides together better. This is the closest thing to quilting that I've ever done, but I see more in my future!

I've seen lots of taggie blankets in blogland, but never a quilted one. I was sure someone had made something similar, so when I was done, I searched google images for "quilted taggie blanket" and sure enough there were a lot of blanket similar to this one! There are also a lot of "taggie blankets" for sale on Etsy, which I think is funny, but kindof wrong, because there is an actual company called Taggie that has a trademark for this type of blanket.

This is a really easy project and I'm sure you could figure it out, but if you're looking for a tutorial, just search "taggie blanket tutorial".

More Mollie

2011-03-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't think we'd be going anywhere for most of the day so I dressed Mollie in this cute romper from her aunt Laura that was a little too big for her last summer. It was so sunny today that it seemed appropriate!

Watching "Ni Hao Kailan". I love the way she's sitting! It's fun to watch her interact with this show and try to say the chinese phrases.

Drinking "coffee" with me..

She loooooves to play in the sink! I love that this can entertain her for a long time and I can get things done in the kitchen or nearby..

Missing Mollie?

2011-03-18T15:17:00.000-07:00

I realize that I haven't put up any new pictures of Mollie lately, I've just been blogging about craft projects, and some of you probably just want to see Mollie! I have taken some cute pictures of her in the last few weeks though:

I came upstairs from taking a shower one morning and Mollie was sucking her thumb! I'd never seen her do that before, and she hasn't done it since..

Linda, does this remind you of Stu?

These next two were taken after bible class..

A Few More Things For Baby

2011-03-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

You may have seen this dress that I posted on Facebook earlier this week. I used THIS pattern/tutorial.

This one I made using one of my old tank tops. It was really easy since I didn't have to sew the side seams or bottom hem. I just cut the tank top a few inches below the straps and made it the width of the onesie using two pleats on the front..

...and gathering in the back.

I made this "sleep sack" using THIS tutorial. It came together really fast and easy. The bodice and mitten cuff are made out of a t-shirt I got at the thrift store. The arms and gown pieces are flannel, and the binding around the neck and wrists is some of my new lacy foldover elastic. I decided to cinch the bottom with ribbon instead of elastic, like the tutorial used.

I pinned the front to keep the front sections together. I think I'll put a few snaps along the binding to keep them together.

Wow!

2011-03-11T13:15:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, a lady from church who is moving to the lower 48 gave me an unexpected, and extremely useful gift! Sewing supplies that she was getting rid of!

Storage containers! This will be awesome because my HUGE fabric stash is all in one big storage container so I have to really dig through it to find things.

Another storage container full of fabric: flannel, some solid cotton and cotton in baby prints, gingham, and fleece.

Fold-over elastic, lingerie elastic, and elastic lace. All of this is used in making underwear but I've also seen it used to make baby headbands! I think you can use it kindof like bias tape too.

Yards and yards of eyelet lace, I love this stuff, there are so many ways you can use it to embellish things!

Lots of colors of regular lace. The lady that gave me this stuff didn't even know that I've been using lace to embellish onesies!

Blanket binding, bias tape, and piping..

..and TONS of buttons!!!! I don't think I'll ever have to make a trip to Joann's just for buttons again!

I am SO thankful that she chose me to give all of this stuff to!

Fabric for New Baby's Quilt

2011-03-06T17:06:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Mollie, my mom made her a quilt, and she'd like to do the same with this baby. Instead of picking fabric from Joann's, I think I'll pick one of these two "charm packs" for her to use. They are precut 5" by 5" squares. Which one is your favorite?

New Clothes For New Baby

2011-03-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

I'm on a roll embellishing onesies for our new baby! It is so easy, fast, cheap, and rewarding to make these!
This is one of Mollie's old plain pink onesies with crocheted lace trim...

I bought a 5-pack of plain white onesies and some trims at Joann's today and made these next four...
Mini pom-pom trim and lace...

Scrap fabric, eyelet lace, and pearl trim that I hand-stitched on in between every few pearls...

I dyed this one with RIT fabric dye..

I dyed this one too using this tutorial..

Swinging

2011-03-04T00:14:00.000-08:00

Mollie enjoys hanging out at Stu's friend Perry's shop. Especially this time because she got to swing from the overhead crane. She was NOT happy when it was time to get out!

Stu wants everyone who's reading this to know that it's safe! Right before these were taken, they had used the crane to move a 1950 Ford truck cab.

Ultrasound Video Clip

2011-02-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

At our ultrasound we got a cd with some pictures and a few short video clips of the baby. And by short, I mean really short! Here is the one that showed the most movement:

New Baby Girl

2011-02-26T13:02:00.001-08:00

Here are some ultrasound photos of our new baby! At our 20 week anatomy scan at the doctor's office, we weren't able to tell for sure whether it was a boy or girl. The doctor was 80% sure it was a girl, but we felt like we couldn't really prepare for the baby until we knew for sure. That was the last ultrasound I was scheduled to have for the rest of the pregnancy, so I spent a few weeks of looking around for an inexpensive ultrasound place. A friend from church who's also pregant told me about Alaska Open Imaging Center, who does a 30 minute 3d ultrasound package for only $100. That is a great deal!

The baby was literally bent in half at the waist the whole time! I had eaten and drank a soda right before the appointment to get the baby moving, but I think she actually fell asleep. She definately doesn't move as much as Mollie did in the womb, so I'm hoping that will carry over into her personality. I would love a calm baby!

The sonographer was able to tell pretty quickly that it was definately a girl!

This is a view of the bottom of a foot.

This picture is one of the wierdestthings I've ever seen! The baby opened her mouth REALLY wide. Ofcourse it looks wider than it really is because you can't see the skin around her mouth. She did it a few times during the ultrasound.

A leg and foot..

The umbilical cord was partly in front of her face the whole time, so we didn't get super clear pictures of the face. Luckily we mainly just wanted confirmation of the sex.

Profile shot and hand under the chin..

I think she'll look like Mollie. We think she has her nose.

We got a cd with some short video clips, so I will try to upload those too.

Sewing Plans

2011-02-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Even though I'm taking the same number of classes this semester, I have so much more free time to sew! I've made a dress, blouse, and Mollie's bonnet in the last month, and have so many more things I want to do. Last night I went to Joann's to buy some new Simplicity patterns since they were all on sale for $1.

This is the first on my to-do list. I wish you could see it better, but I'm going to be doing the version on the left (the one in the yellow printed fabric).

Doesn't this look like a maternity dress? It's not supposed to be, but I think it'll make a perfect spring/summer maternity dress. I like the sleeveless, floral printed version on the model.

Stu was on the slope for Valentine's day, and suprised me with 4 Colette patterns in the mail! I already made one version of this blouse last week, and hope to make many more because it was so easy/fast and comfortable. I did the version on bottom, with the key-hole and tie. I left out the pleats on the front, and sewed a row of shirring at the waist so that it would be fitted, but have room for my growing belly.

A month or so ago, I was suprised with 2 Colette patterns from my sister-in-law. A dress pattern, which I've already made and will hopefully post soon once I get a good picture, and this pattern for Stu! It is really similar to a plaid shirt he has that looks really good so I'd love to make him some more.

Lastly, are these two baby dress patterns. I'm a little relieved that we are *probably* having a girl, because if we were having a boy, I had a lot of projects I wanted to make. Now I can relax since we already have all the girl things we could possibly need, and concentrate on making a few special things. I can't wait to make some matching dresses for Mollie and the new baby with this pattern! I won't do them completely matching, but make them each one with two fabrics from the same collection. I love old-fashioned style dresses like these in sortof modern looking fabrics.

I also got this one for the new baby, it's a reprint of a vintage pattern.

Pretty Mollie

2011-02-20T14:34:00.000-08:00

I meant to add this picture in my Chili Willi day post but I forgot. I made this bonnet for Mollie out of the same material as the dress she was wearing, using this tutorial. It was SO easy! It's adjustable in the back and fits sizes 6M-3 years. I was really excited to try it on her when she woke up from her nap but she would not let me put it on her! It was probably a mistake to try to put it on her right after she woke up, since she wasn't in a very good mood yet. Everytime after that that I tried to put it on her she got really upset, so I gave up and decided pigtails would be cute enough!

Chili Willi Day

2011-02-16T14:35:00.001-08:00

Here are some pictures of Mollie from Chili Willi day this year. This was the 3rd annual Chili Willi day at our church, where everyone dresses up like cowboys/girls, there is a chili cookoff and pie contest, and the auditorium is set up like an old Western town with games, a bank, jail, general store, etc.

Hugging her horse..

and kissing it...

Vintage Valentines

2011-02-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Last year, Meemaw (my grandma on my mom's side) sent Mollie a valentine with vintage valentine image on it. It was so cute, so I decided to do a few this year. I used pattern paper, crochet lace and ribbon left over from sewing projects, and some images I printed out from a Google search for "vintage valentine".