Sewing

Sooo.. (ha ha) I did some sewing today. I spent about 5 hours start to finish and made a pair of baby girl cloth shoes. It was my first real project since the T-shirt pants I made. I was still having some problems with the stitching (tension not right) but I constructed them as the pattern said and they even fit a baby (William) and didn't fall apart. I feel a sense of accomplishment and now I'm hooked to this sewing thing. I will probably make a dress next to match the shoes, but I may wait until after my sewing 101 class on Nov. 4th. You know, I didn't think that handmade boys clothes were all that popular. Well, was I wrong? At the pumpkin patch, a bunch of little boys around William's age were wearing little festive overalls. So, I'll be working on those as well. I'm planning to make him some for the Christmas season.

And why baby girl shoes you may be thinking? Well, because my lovely and thoughtful mother gave me a bunch of fabric to practice with, but they were mostly floral prints. Hopefully, I'll have a girl one day who can wear it. If not, some lucky winner may get them if they have a baby girl! I've also put a slide show here of my 2 projects so far. You'll see William wearing the pants I made. They didn't fall apart, but the seam line at the waist was horrible! You may or may not be able to tell. And there are some other angles of the shoes I made today. Ciao for now!

Zoo and Pumpkins!

Last weekend, instead of making it to the pumpkin patch with the McKenzie's due to soccer game scheduling, we decided to go to the zoo instead. It was William's first time and he loved it. Not the part that interrupted his nap, but he loved watching the animals - especially the giraffes.

Also, yesterday we did finally make it to the pumkin patch. It was so much fun! Vance (Grampy) was in town for the day and it was so nice to have him come along with us. We went through corn mazes, nature trails and walked through a pumkin patch to get our own pumkins. Oh, and I can't forget we played with some corn and saw some farm animals as well. William was such a big boy yesterday as all he wanted to do was walk! It was great! We'd stand him up and he would just hold our hands for a second, then take off. Usually at this point he would squat down to crawl, but he just wanted to walk - no stroller, no mommy, just walk. It was such a blast! I definitely think we will be making the Gentry farm part of our fall tradition! Here's a slideshow of the zoo, pumpkins and some miscellaneous photos as well - Enjoy!

What's Up? Just Raising a Remote Genius...

Well it's Friday and boy am I happy to say that! Another weekend to spend with my little family and do whatever the heck we feel like doing. Well, I say that but we have some serious chore catching up to do. Our house has become quite the mess with laundry, dishes, clutter, and everything else in it. We've let it go and we need to do some serious work in the morning. I'm going to start some laundry tonight and who knows if I'll get a second wind and feel like doing more before bed. In other weekend news, Vance (my father in law) is coming into town tomorrow morning. I guess he was in Atlanta and decided to drive up for the night. We're so excited to see him! After our fun morning chores, we'll probably go to the pumpkin patch that we missed out on last weekend. AJ's hitting the Haunted House circuit tomorrow night, but I will not be attending. I don't get the same thrill from being terrified by zombies and chainsaws as he does, so it's not worth it for me.

I'm also going to start a new sewing project this weekend. I already made a pair of pajama pants for William out of a T-shirt. That was fun to make, but I didn't do a very good job. The tension was not right and the stitch kept looping on me. And I didn't allow much extra room for the seam, so they fit him quite snugly. Two months ago they would have been perfect. I will be attempting baby shoes this weekend. Wish me luck. I found a super cute pattern, but I don't really know what I'm doing. I'll take a picture and post my projects. After this I'm going to attempt making a little dress. Not for William of course. There's not many easy patterns for boy clothes, so I'm starting with girl stuff. Hopefully, I'll have a girl one day to wear it ;-)

Now, most importantly, what's William up to? Well he's getting more confident in his steps as he will now leave the couch or chair to come to us, not just person to person anymore. He's cruising around everything now, couch to the push toy, to the wall, to the kitchen cupboards so he's pretty darn close to really taking off walking on his own. He's been super happy and incredibly cute lately. Not that he's not always the cutest baby in the world, but yesterday he didn't fuss or throw a fit at all. He was happy as a clam and just playing so good with his toys and with us. One thing that's been a somewhat tough adjustment for me is that he doesn't want to cuddle anymore... ever! He's just go go go. He'll make the occasional pit stop to me and give me a kiss or hug, but as soon as I try to snuggle he's off to the races. He's formed an opinion about things and is not afraid to share when he does not like something. AND, the most amazing thing of all - William turned on our TV the other day!!! You're thinking, "big deal" right? Well, to turn on our TV with sound, you need 2 separate remotes. And for each, you have to hit the button for the right setting and then the power button. Well like a miniature electronics genius, he grabbed one remote and turned on the TV power. Without missing a beat he grabbed the other remote hit the correct button and then turned on the sound. I laughed so hard because he just looked at me like "Look what I did? Ah, it was nothing!" Yeah, we've had adults come over that can't figure out our remote system.

Well, I wish everyone a very happy weekend! Stay safe!

New Pictures!

Hello, It's been too short of a weekend if you ask me. William and I were very busy visiting friends for a playdate yesterday morning, then a baby shower in the evening. Today, AJ and I took William to the zoo for the first time. He seemed to enjoy it for the most part, but it was during his nap time so he was a bit out of it. Nonetheless, fun for all! As promised I included pictures to my previous posts. I added slideshows from Tina's Wedding, Meeting Braedan, and William's first Birthday.

This week William went to the doctor for his 12 month check-up. He also got some vaccines, which I always hate. I was convinced by the doctor to give him the flu shot, which I did and of course he had a fever for 2 days. Also, he got the chicken pox vaccine and he had a reaction to it. He's had little red marks all over (like a rash, but it doesn't seem to bother him) ever since. It seems to be going away, but it's very unnerving. He's never had a reaction to any vaccines until now. They measured my little man and he's 29 1/2 inches long and 21 lbs. 12 oz. - I guess I should say my big man. Also, now we are able to turn his car seat around to be forward facing. That is so exciting! I really think William enjoys being able to see us drive and look at where we are going. Finally, He's still practicing walking although he's not yet mastered it. He'll really only go from person to person if encouraged, but otherwise he favors crawling.

Next week we are going to have professional pictures done. It's one of AJ's favorite things to do - NOT! Sorry babe, but one day you will thank me when we're looking back at the great pictures :-) It looks like after that we are going with the McKenzie clan to the pumkin patch so that should be fun! Ok, I'm exhausted and my eyes are blurring, but I need to do laundry. Feel free to comment, since I never know if anyone reads this, ha ha! Ciao for now!

Birthday Boy!!! (yesterday)

Wow, yesterday was the big day. Baby William, is now a big 1 year old! I couldn't help myself but reminisce about the morning he was born and the night I went into labor. Sunday night I kept watching the clock thinking "(8:30p)this time last year, I started having contractions... this time last year AJ said 'OK, you're saying ouch like every 5 minutes, it's time to call the doctor...' this time last year the epidural kicked in finally :-)," and at 6:57 yesterday morning I went into William's room and said "this time last year Mommy pushed you out of her tummy and the most beautiful baby boy was born! Happy Birthday!" We celebrated his birthday with an intimate little dinner with AJ, Annette (Ma Mere,) Auntie Debbie, and myself. We had pizza (which William gobbled up so quick) and left over cake. He had a bigger party with friends on Saturday. I have pictures and hopefully some video to post so you can see how much fun it was. William had a blast with his friends and received a lot of great toys. He loves all of them. We've just left his new toys out and he just bounces around from one to another.

Well after the guests cleared and it was just us. Debbie and Annette were playing with William on the floor and got him to take his first steps all by himself!!!! We all screamed with delight and that made William want to do it more! He would walk from one person to another and would get so excited every time he made it. The most he went was about 10 steps that day! We got some video of it that I will try to post on here as well. He did it about the same on Sunday and Monday - only going from person to person. And if we try to get him to walk and he doesn't want to, well... he tells us! He's doing great though. Such a smart little boy with the best personality. He's just so silly and loves to laugh. Tomorrow, we take him to the doctor for his 1 year check-up. We'll find out how big our little man got... I can't wait!

Thanks to Debbie and Annette for all your help and coming to see William on his first birthday. It means a lot to us that you came here this weekend. And geesh - who knows when William would have taken his first steps had it not been for them ;-) (JUST KIDDING!)

Pictures from the party and actual birthday are below. I will also update you guys with his latest stats from the doctor! It's strange because I'm sad that William is no longer a baby, but I'm so excited to see all that he can learn and achieve in his second year of life!

Less than one week...

Oh my goodness! My baby is almost not a baby anymore. It didn't hit me until this morning when AJ, Di, and I were watching him drink his bottle. Not sure why I chose that moment to reminisce, but I had such a momentary sadness that his baby-hood is gone. Almost one year ago I gave birth to the most magical little boy in the world. Go Me! Ha ha!

What else is new? Hmm... well AJ and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary last week. Di stayed late so we could go to dinner so it was nice. AJ bought me a sewing machine. I was so excited. I can't wait to use it. I hope I'm a good sewer... hmmmm, I don't think that's a word. It looks like the word meaning underground pipes where sewage goes :-(. Well anyway, it was the year for leather according to traditional anniversary gifts, so in addition to that AJ bought me a leather toiletry case and I got him a leather wallet with his name engraved on it. And as an anniversary tradition that we started on year 1, we watched the video of our wedding. What a great day it was! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and it was the starting point our story of a new family.



Last weekend we went back to Auburn for Tina's Wedding. It was a beautiful day and wedding. I was remembering our wedding day then since it was the same time of year. We had done our pictures at the same location, Hoope's Park, used the same florist, and DJ. We had a great time. Also, It was so great to meet my little nephew and soon to be godson, Braedan. Those pictures don't do him justice - he's so cute! I've finally posted pictures of the wedding and Braedan. See below. Ciao!

What's Up!

Hello! Well we had such a nice Labor Day weekend. It was pretty low key for the most part. Saturday, I went out with Whitney (Addyson's Mom) for her bachelorette party, while the boys stayed home. It's been a long time since I went out with a big group of girls like that and it was a weird realization when midnight rolled around and I decided that the most responsible thing to do at that time was to go home - so I did. I guess those crazy party days are gone - at least for a while ;-) Sunday, I planted some mums and a rose bush - not the smartest time of the year I know, but I had the itch. And Saturday, we had Samantha, Heath and little Cailin and Hudson over for Chef AJ's grilled Mahi Mahi burgers with pineapple for our Labor Day festivities. It was the first time that William and Cailin have really interacted and played together - it was so cute. You'll see in the slideshow that Thomas the Train was a big hit with them.

And in other William news... he is now finding an interest in walking. He holds onto our hands and toddles along. He used to just squat and want to crawl when we'd hold his hands. On Saturday, he even started walking around with his little push car, toy thing all on his own! I guess he'll be walking before we know it.

Also, today I made and ordered William's first birthday invitations. I just can't believe he is almost a year old! It can't be possible!

Here's a couple of slide shows for your enjoyment. Have a nice week!