A Little Hello

I have been quite noticeably absent for the past many, many months.  I see I mentioned our move from Florida to Ohio in the last few posts here, and that our sweet Asa finally started sleeping through the night at 14 months making me less of a zombie and  more able to craft.  What happened the very next  month threw me right back into the land of the overtired. ;)  We found out we were expecting again!  Enter exhaustion, nausea, another move (same town, different house), and I fell off the crafting wagon.  Or at the very least, blogging about it.

I'll be you can tell just from these pictures below whether we welcomed a baby boy or baby girl to our family!

Anna Reaghan had a happy belated arrival (following in her big bro's footsteps) on July 14th.  She is such a sweet baby girl, blowing her brother's sleep habits completely out of the water, and a delight to us all.  She IS sleeping amazingly well, but I still feel a bit of that newborn fog especially with chasing Asa around even if/when she is napping.  I am planning some holiday outfits for them, so I thought I might try to pick back up with this blog.  And Pinterest has given me all sorts of inspiration for crafting of all types!

Another minor change I made is getting this blog set up to post from the google account I use the most.  Originally I had it tied to a different email address I don't use as much, and it was a hassle to sign in and out of accounts in order to post.  With that remedied, this is much more of a simple "point, click, type" process.  Yea!

Here's to more crafting!

Asa's Lamb

Asa's lamb did not turn out exactly the way I had it pictured in my head.  There is a smidge of a puppy look about it (partly from the nose, but the minky I used on the face was super fluffy and embroidery was just lost in all the fluff--a lesson for next time), but unless I finish all the other projects on my list of dream projects (which seems like a laughable idea with a 15 month old who is in love with his newest trick--walking--as of the past month) and make a version I love TONS better, I'm willing to let its imperfections go.  Which is big for me.  Really big.

I had to modify a couple of the pattern pieces I drafted.  They just did NOT look right overall.  And I learned a valuable lesson when I went to turn the lamb in order to stuff it and sew it closed.  Stuffed arms and legs do NOT fit well through little lambie necks!  Next time, I will leave my opening in the torso instead of the head!  Whew! I was afraid I would pull it to pieces as I tugged and tugged and the seams strained and strained.

I love the verse God gave me for the lamb as well.  I searched and searched wanting just the right thing to speak of salvation and God's goodness and comfort.  I considered parts of hymns.  And then God led me to this:

I am excited to try a scripture animal again.  I don't know if my next one will be a lamb or something else, but I just love these scripture dolls--whatever form they materialize in. :)

I love the tail!

You can also check out the scripture dolls I made for my niece and nephew last Christmas! :)

Hope

Will you join me in the REALLY FUN give-away and help this family bring their little girl home from Ethiopia? You can see the full details and purchase your 10.00 entry here:

www.embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com

Here is the run down...

See all these shirts and the beautiful pendant?

Well...they can be yours. ALL OF THEM !!

So this is how this puppy works...
You enter into the give away and you choose how many times 1, 2 or 3. It's easy!

One entry is only 10.00 and if you are quicker than me you have already done the math and figured that is less than a dollar a shirt. Yeah, really.

To sweeten this a bit more, you can have two entries for 15.00.

Really, really want this ensemble of shirts? (Me, too!) Receive a third entry by blogging, tweeting or facebooking about it. They will even send you the wording so you can just repost. Not on their facebook? You can fb friend them by clicking on the fb badge on the left side bar of the blog.

So just head on over to http://www.embracingtheleastofthese.blogspot.com and give it a shot. You will be helping in bringing home a PRECIOUS one...and what is better than that? And if you already have one of the shirts in the set, imagine the blessing you will be to gift it to another person who God may be calling to love the orphan.

Seriously, lets blow the socks off this family and bless them. We are ALL in this together...and helping one another

More Monograms

I recently embroidered a few items for a friend at church. She wanted a personalized burp cloth to give as a gift and her daughter's initial monogrammed on a dress.

There's not too much to it, but I wanted to post them here as I often forget to post pictures of things others request.

p.s. The dress is from Walmart! What a find!

Craft Favorites Friday

It's time for the last February installment of Craft Favorites Friday! :) I hope you find something you'd like to try (I know I have!).

1. Watercolor Resist Trees

This project stood out to me because my niece LOVES Scotch tape. I hear about it because it's not one of those things parents are going to let you use for no reason, but when she's at my parents' house my mom (her G-Ma) will let her tape and create to her heart's content. So naturally I thought C might enjoy this craft. :) I love The Crafty Crow for creative and unusual ideas like this.

2. Paper Bag Books

This project makes me wish I was still teaching in the classroom. Oh how my students would have LOVED this. Awesome book report project or science chapter wrap up... even for math vocabulary or story publishing. Seriously. I will definitely be filing this away for when Asa gets a bit older. In the meantime, maybe Asa can "help" me use Rosy~Posy's tutorial to create a little special something for his grandparents or cuzzies. :)

3. Owl Softie

M.U.S.T. M.A.K.E. In case you don't know, Asa's nursery is decorated in a woodland forest animal theme... with lots of birds... and he sleeps with a little owl. The Rubber Punkin's tutorial looks very easy to follow. Now to choose the fabric for Asa's little hoot. :)

4. Bit of Whimsy Doll patterns

My brain about explodes from going into overdrive when I see these patterns. If only there were more hours in a day. :) Be sure to check out Bit of Whimsy's Boo Bear Pay it Forward deal also (free pattern in exchange for making 2 bears)!

5. Something Yummy

I have less than a month until I try dairy again (I've been dairy free for Asa's benefit.... and ours because we get more sleep and have a much happier baby without it). I tried at 3 months and 6 months, and I'm trying one last time at 9 months. If Asa is still too sensitive, then I'm staying dairy free until he's weaned. All that to say, Matt and I joke at times about an imaginary list of things I have not had that I am really looking forward to indulging in when I can have dairy again. I've never eaten these before, but I sure think I will give them a try! They look delicious! Making the World Cuter's cupcakey-oreo-caramel-brownie-goodness, I hope I can eat you soon!

Personalized and Holiday Onesie

When Valentine's Day was approaching I wanted to make a special Valentine's outfit for Asa. His G-Pa and G-Ma sent us an outfit for the actual day, but I wanted something for Saturday as well. And I hadn't made him any clothes in awhile.

I decided to make him an "A" shirt that would work for Valentine's Day and still be wearable at other times. I had the idea to cut an A out of red fabric and cut a heart out of the top for the "hole."

I sorted through several red fabrics and settled on red with white polka dots. I ironed steam a seam to my little swatch of fabric, drew my A on the back (hooray for mirror-image letters!), and cut it out. Finishing the onesie was as simple as placing the A on my onesie and ironing it in place. I plan to go back and sew the edges of the applique to help it last as long as possible, but it's just fine without any sewing as well.

I wanted to share because this is such a simple, easy way to make something special, themed, or personalized, and you do not even have to sew to do it! I had not used steam a seam until recently, and now I am finding SO many uses for it! I am a fan!

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

The past couple weeks have been a time with many questions and wondering and plenty of opportunities for worrying and anxiety. God has been so faithful though, and we are rejoicing that we have hopefully closed in on the answers.

Asa had his 6 month check up (a month late due to the holidays) about 2 weeks ago. He's always been on his own little growth curve, but there are plenty of boys he is related to who are tall and skinny. Since he has reached all his milestones on time (and most of them early!) and he was growing consistently, our pediatrician decided to just watch and see what happened. At his latest appointment he showed a decrease in the rate of his weight gain for the 2nd visit in a row (and pretty significantly) and his height increase was tapering also. Without her coming right out yet and labeling it as such, I knew we were entering "failure to thrive" territory (which sounds ridiculous--the boy is the picture of happy, engaging, thriving except for this growth factor) and we began the process of bloodwork to see if it was a fluke or his growth stemmed from an underlying problem.

We went to our our insurance-covered lab several times, and that was frustrating several times. He's a sweet little baby with tiny baby veins. They had a lot of difficulty getting a line in. They had employees who were not always particularly professional. But even in the midst of that, God showed me He was near. The least professional of them all actually said out of the BLUE [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS], "My baby boy was always so little. Complete strangers would act like I must starve him for him to be that size. Now he could eat me out of house and home!" It blessed me so much because I have been there--I have received dirty looks from complete strangers when they've asked how old Asa is. Yes, I know he's skinny. He nurses whenever he's hungry. He has tall, skinny uncles. All the while I'm thinking, "Why am I defending myself to you??" They eventually got blood for some tests, but they collected it in such a way (pricked his finger and squeezed out a few drops) that it nullified the results. But those results had come back with abnormalities and now we didn't know if the abnormalities were real or because of the collection method. So we went back to try again for an actual line into his vein. We went twice. They suggested "hydrating" him. We tried water--the instant he realized it was not mommy's milk he pitched a fit. :) We worked with a wonderful employee [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS] who was determined NOT to stick Asa again unless she was sure she had found a good line. She did not feel confident about any of his veins and sent us back home. She was wonderful--shout out to Erma! :) I also KNEW we were being prayed for. When Erma tried earlier that morning, Asa became completely still and calm right as they got the needle in (but the blood stopped flowing into the vial). It was GOD'S FAITHFULNESS.

At that point it felt like we were stuck and would not get any answers. How were we going to draw his blood? We were sending out emails to friends, Bible study, etc. to pray--that we could get a good blood draw and for good results. Our pediatrician stepped in and gave us a couple options. We went to a lab at one of the hospitals in town where they have a bit more experience with babies and children. They loved on Asa so sweetly. They got a line the first try [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS]. The most troubling abnormality came back normal [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS], but there were still a few results that were off. On to the next round of testing and follow up appointments. All the while, we have been praying praying praying for Asa's health--it is his liver? Kidneys? Intake? Thyroid?

Yesterday I took Asa for a follow up with our ped (I am thankful all over again we changed pediatricians when Asa was first born. She has been WONDERFUL. She is thorough, responsive, but not alarmist. Just what this mommy needs!)[GOD'S FAITHFULNESS] and to meet with a lactation consultant. There were several blessings that came out of this appointment.

• the LC guessed by name--without me saying it--who it was at our old ped's office who was so discouraging and unsupportive of nursing and a major reason we left that practice. I felt so validated to know I was not the only one (+ Matt + my mom) who thought she had terrible bedside manner!
• Before she even watched Asa eat, she checked his mouth and immediately noticed that he had a posterior tongue tie. He can stick his tongue out far enough, but the frenulum was too tight to let him get the middle of his tongue up to the roof of his mouth. That was making it so he was working his little heart out to nurse but tiring out before he got enough. It explains everything!
• Before correcting the tongue tie, she watched Asa eat. She marveled over how well he was doing--latch, positioning, etc. She said to me, "You never could have known there was a problem. He looks perfect from the outside when he's eating." Balm to my mommy heart!!
• As soon as they clipped the frenulum, I scooped Asa up and he stopped crying. He nursed right away without problems.
  
• The solids we have ramped up, per our ped's orders, have brought Asa back to his previous weight gain pattern.
• Everyone agrees nursing is #1 priority. I feel very supported.
• Asa has been eating less at some feedings if he recently had solids (twice/day), so I added in some extra times I'm offering him a chance to nurse even though he shows no cues. :) When they did a pre/post feeding weigh it showed he's still getting plenty from me. My supply had not dwindled too much from this change in feeding habits.

And now, after less than 24 hours I can already tell Asa is nursing more effectively [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS]. I can already tell I am making more milk (adding extra feedings, pumpings, and soon herbs to ramp up my production now that he'll be able to eat more efficiently and effectively) when I've been doing my "extra" routines less than 24 hours [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS] and haven't even started the herbs yet (which worked for me very quickly when I was worrying about my supply needlessly with a newborn). I am so encouraged!! [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS] Our doctor thinks THIS is the factor that caused his funky bloodwork and that it will address and answer all the issues. In other words: no liver problem. No kidney problem. No supply issue on my part. In other words: GOD'S FAITHFULNESS. As we ran down the possible scenarios, I didn't think of any that left room for Asa to be healthy (i.e. no liver disease, etc.) AND me to be healthy (i.e. plentiful supply). I was just amazed when this discovery came forth that is the easy problem and simple solution we prayed for. [GOD'S FAITHFULNESS]

I wanted to record this summary of our past few weeks to remind MYSELF now and later of GOD'S FAITHFULNESS to us. He would be JUST as faithful if something were wrong with Asa's liver or if I just couldn't produce enough milk. But we are rejoicing in His mercy in allowing us such a simple issue to address. I have been amazed at the friends with medical background who have stepped in to encourage and assure us of signs of great health in Asa. Of friends who've dealt with tongue tie to encourage us that it should make a tremendous difference to have corrected it. Of people to remind us that God has a plan for Asa. HE is the author and giver of Asa's life, and we stand in awe of the blessing of being a part of it. We pray that the three of us continue to be molded and shaped by His FAITHFULNESS. I hope GOD'S FAITHFULNESS is an encouragement to you as well.

Craft Favorites Friday

I am back with 3 more sweet and simple ideas that are perfect for the little ones in your life. :)

1. Felt Brown Bag Lunch

I am huge fan of crafting with felt (as I've mentioned a few times). ;) It is just such a fun medium to create with and so versatile. Can you believe how amazing that lunch looks? You really need to visit Skip to My Lou to see for yourself how the sandwich pieces--complete with "plastic" sandwich baggie, brown bag, chips, and dessert all come together (super easy)! HOW FUN!

2. Counting Book

Personalized activities set in your child's own environment and context--what a way to make connections! Here is a quick way to connect numbers and counting to things your child sees (and loves!) every day! I love the different things Lu Bird Baby thought to photograph. :)

3. Texture Book

In the same vein, here is a texture book made with easy-to-find materials. Asa is at an age where he loves to touch everything... from the carpet to the curtains by his changing table to toys, stuffed animals, and even his clothes (when I change him out of his pjs every morning, one of the first things he does is feel the texture of the clothes I have put on him for the day)! This book from Bloesem Kids and New House Project is another great idea. :)

With a Moo Moo Here...

Before I get to the cows, I thought I would post a little update about us. We had a wonderful Christmas with both of our families. It was so sweet to share our traditions with Asa and start some new ones, too. I can only imagine when he "gets" it more! Since we returned home, Asa has really been working on some locomotion--he started out with a snowplow kind of move, then a sidewinder slither, and now he's getting very close to an army man crawl. He is getting into EVERYthing. Since that is a new development, I'm still at the "Wow! I can't believe you can do that!" stage. I'm sure it will get a little old at some point. ;) Let the babyproofing begin! He is also playing around with his voice a lot. He likes to try out different volumes, though we do not have a screamer as-of-yet. :) And just this weekend he burst forth with lalalas, nanananas, and best of all, he called me Mama! :) If that doesn't melt a mother's heart, I don't know what does! We have his 6 month check up this week (even though he was 7 months old on Saturday), and I imagine we will introduce some solids after the doctor's green light. He is pretty much showing every sign he is ready, willing, and able to try some food. You can be sure we will document this new venture with all sorts of film. :)

Alright, onto the farm. While browsing the crafting blogosphere, I came across this adorable crafty barn... it was too cute to wait until Friday to post about it. :)

It's made from a paper-mache treasure chest/trunk. I just think it's so clever, and I hope Asa loves playing "farm" some day so I can make him one! :) Go visit This and That and her barnyard post to learn more! I think this would be a great gift for a little farmer friend, too. :)

Christmas Presents

I only made one set of crafty presents this year, but I am BEYOND thrilled with how they turned out!

I had seen some scripture dolls online, and I thought they were something I could make--and would enjoy doing so.

First I tried drawing my own pattern. I posted about that attempt. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't exactly pretty either. ;)

I ended up using The Black Apple doll pattern, and it worked beautifully! Without further ado, here are the dolls I made for my niece and nephew--the scriptures were chosen by their mom. :)

I can't wait to make more! I already have the materials to make one for Asa, so stay tuned! :)

Lighting the Advent Candle

On Friday Matt informed me that our pastor asked us to light the Advent candle this week. What a sweet thing to get to do as a family during Asa's first Advent season!

On a very unspiritual level, I wanted something special for Asa to wear. We have an outfit for Christmas all picked out and ready to go. But I didn't want him to wear his Christmas sleeper for church today. I have been wanting to try to make him a jon jon/shortall. He has some cute ones, and I think they are oh-so-sweet on little baby boys. Whenever I have looked for a pattern for that type of outfit I have only seen patterns for bigger boys (toddlers), never for infants. After making a decent enough pair of pants by tracing a well-fitting pair he has, I thought I could probably piece a jon jon together by tracing the one he has that I like.

And so I set off to make a Christmas jon jon sans pattern! Ha! I was afraid I might have bit off more than I could chew (as I started sewing Saturday morning). BUT, I spent many feedings thinking through each step and picturing it all in my head. I found some sweet, rich, jewel-y green thin wale corduroy to go with some Christmas tree cotton I had (for a little insert, like if it were smocked across the chest). And miracle of miracles, Asa napped well enough on Saturday for me to trace his short summery jon jon and turn it into a pattern for a long, Christmasy jon jon.

I only had one major mistake where I initially sewed the legs together instead of stopping at the inseam. Other than that, it went really well! I even got the rise correct, which is what I usually have trouble with if I'm not using a "real" pattern!

There are a few things I would change, of course, like I accidentally cut the top piece of corduroy with the weave horizontal, but it is vertical for all the other pieces (didn't realize I made that mistake until it was all done). But it doesn't look bad. I would make the straps thinner also. But I tend to overestimate seam allowances and such when sketching my own patterns. I was SO excited to go look for cute buttons, too. I was hoping for Christmas tree buttons, but the only even wintery thing I could find was some snowmen. The colors kind of clash, but I can always switch out the buttons if I find some great trees.

Without further ado, here is my creation!

I think Asa will wear this again for our Christmas Eve service. :)

Craft Favorites Friday, late edition :)

So I knew it was bound to happen. I did not get a Craft Favorites Friday post up last week. I think there was too much anticipation in our house over the arrival of G-Pa and G-Ma later that day. :) Or maybe it was that my little birdie has been waking after shorter stretches at night, calling for his momma bird to come feed him. Our 4-5 hour stretches have slipped to 3-4 hours, and that little slip is making a big difference as it continues to drag on for over a week. He's just so busy learning new things, like sitting all by himself (he doesn't even need to tripod anymore!), exploring spatial relationships, and disliking that Mommy can step away from him.... even for just a second. ;) I digress, today I got to try a project I've been wanting to try for a long time. It could not have been easier, so I hope you'll be encouraged to give it a whirl, too. :)

Homemade Baby Legs



There are LOTS of different tutorials for making your own baby legs on the internet. Just google it if you don't believe me! But I happened upon this one from Little Birdie Secrets, as it's a blog I follow anyway. Even though I have a baby boy, I am a fan of baby legs. I think they are utterly ADORABLE on girls under little dresses and skirts, but my little man can use an extra layer on his legs now that it's chilly. I imagine they might be nice when he starts crawling as well, as used alone there would not be any pants to get dragged down over his little bottom as he scoots around. We live in Florida, so it doesn't get too terribly cold. The joke is that winter is February 12. ;) Okay, so it's a little longer, but not long enough to warrant the purchase of realllly wintery clothes. We just layer it up when the cold week or two arrives. :) We're not to "real" cold yet, but it IS chilly enough that Asa's little legs get cool at night, even with warm jammies. His pant legs also ride up when he's in my mei tai carrier, but baby legs keep his legs covered even when the pants get hiked up. It's GREAT! My husband calls Asa "flashdance" when he wears them, but he is excited about the new patterns (argyle in particular) of baby legs our baby boy will be sporting for CHEAP thanks to this tutorial.

In fact, here's a picture of him modeling a $2 pair of knee-socks-turned-baby-legs that I picked up at Walmart. See??... cute!!

Machine Applique

Asa had a friend's (actually, 2 friends, they are twins) birthday party to go to for the first time 2 weeks ago. Not even 4 months old and already partying. :) I wanted something special for him to wear. The party theme was Sesame Street (Elmo in particular), so thought about an Elmo shirt. Then I thought about something birthday inspired. I really liked that idea, but there are no more parties on the horizon before I figured he'd be moving up to the next size of clothes. Lastly, I thought of something Fall related. Aha! If I made a fall-themed onesie, he could wear that several more times before it's too short. :)

So off I set to decide what kind of fall item to feature on the onesie. I consulted Matt :), and we were choosing mostly between a tree with fall leaves or an acorn. We both liked the acorn better (and it reminds me of my niece), so an acorn it was!

I went through my scraps (many of which are actually Joy's scraps that she passed along to me) and found some adorable blue flannel with squirrels and acorns and little trees on them. That, I decided, MUST be the nut part of the acorn. Then I found some sweet white on brown polka dot scraps. They were screaming, "Acorn hat!" :)

I had never done machine applique, and there are several things I would/will do differently next time (I can't wait to try it again!). But without further ado, here is Asa's acorn shirt (and party hat courtesy of Taylor & Wesley). :)

Diaper Changing Wallet

I have to admit, I really do like my SkipHop diaper "wallet." Everything you need at your fingertips. If I'm running a quick errand, I could always just grab it (as opposed to the whole diaper bag) and go!

Then I came across a crafty version and decided to try it myself. It seemed simple and straight-forward enough. And most importantly, Asa is now sleeping enough for me to even remotely consider pulling out my sewing machine and starting a project. :)

Without further ado, here is my changing wallet... actually it's not "mine" it's going out to someone special very soon!

(yes, I made the velcro match perpendicularly on purpose, so it would still match up and close no matter how full you make the wallet)

(minky for the actual "changing pad" part, and it has quilted batting between the layers of fabric to make it a little extra cushy)

(it has a pocket for diapers and a pocket for a travel wipes case)

Baptismal Gown

Just a few pictures of our little guy actually IN the gown I sewed (with Mom's help!) for his Baptism. He was baptized about 2 weeks ago on September 20. We are so thankful for the blessing of this covenant baby :) and PRAY that God will draw him to Himself, that he will walk with God all his days and be faithful to Him. Since Asa is such a long and lean baby, I added ribbons to each side seam so I could tie back the excess fabric. We think he looked awfully sweet! :)

(Asa woke up right as I passed him to Rob... and he wasn't too thrilled about that) :)

Absence...

Sorry for the absence from the blog again. Asa hit another developmental "growth spurt" and has been a bit needy in the areas of attention, cuddling, playing, singing, snuggling, etc. :) I think we're on the downhill slope, so hopefully I'll have 2 hands free soon. :)

While I have a second though, I thought I'd tell you about the onesies I have made for his monthly "birthdays."

I started by designing a logo in Photoshop:

Then I altered it so I have a logo for each month and a special one for 1 year. :)

Next I bought some inkjet printer iron-on paper. You flip your image to a "mirror image" and print (so everything is reversed left-to-right). Then you just iron it onto your article of clothing! I've made two so far.

And my husband made a tshirt themed for our alma mater when his company had a day for everyone to wear a shirt for their favorite team. It turned out really well.

I had seen logos like this on boutique onesies, but I had 2 factors I considered: #1 I'm sure I can make that cheaper. #2 How do I know for sure what size Asa will wear for each month? This way I can make the logo exactly how I want, when I want, what size onesie I want, etc. It's been really fun. :)