A Couple of Firsts

Not kid firsts this time around.  This post is about some firsts for me for all my fellow crafty readers.  Fun side note: while perusing my craft blogs today I discovered it's National Quilting Day. How appropriate for my post!

About 6 months ago I decided to try my hand at quilting.  I never had much interest in quilts, but after seeing some modern designs and doing some quilt-making research, I thought I'd give it a shot.  It did turn out to be much simpler than I imagined, although it's hard for me to find the time to do a lot of uninterrupted work right now.  I'm hoping to do at least one a year, though.

This quilt looked like a good one for a first-timer.  It's simple and small, yet bold and modern.  I had originally intended it for a baby gift, but didn't get it done in time.  On top of that it came it smaller than the pattern (my seam allowances were bigger than directed).  I decided to send it as a lap quilt for my friend and her little girl during their month long in-patient treatment for a little color in their lives.

In researching binding techniques I found one that called for cutting the backing fabric larger than the top, folding it over and sewing in place.  I definitely recommend this technique!

I had my eye on this quilt for a long time and decided it would make a good gender-neutral gift as we awaited the arrival of our newest niece/nephew.  Instead of placing an online order for the fabrics shown, I went to my local JoAnn Fabric's store and found some lovely black, white and yellow combinations.  The other change I made was in the quilting.  The pattern called for the "horizontal" stitches to start and stop around the blocks.  In an effort to save time and my sanity I opted to continue them from one end to the other.  I really like how it came out.

Since I wanted to do the polka-dot fabric for the binding on this quilt, I used a more traditional technique.  This was by far the hardest part of the quilt!  It's definitely going to take me some time and practice to get this part down.

I learned quite a bit on these two quilts, but know I still have a long way to go.  I'm just excited to have another creative hobby!  :)

More Moshe Madness

This past weekend we traveled up to Wichita for many reasons.  The first of which was to meet our new niece/cousin, Iris.  Did I take any pictures of Iris?  No.  Silly me!  I did, however get a few of the big cousins enjoying time together.  During our drive, Keira asked if she would be able to drive the neighbor girl's toy corvette.  We told her it was a possibility and she was beyond excited when her wish came true (not that you can tell from the picture).

The next morning, Asher and I loaded back up in the car and headed off to Kansas City.  One of my college roommates and her family live in that area and I'd been wanting to visit since finding out their 2 year old daughter was diagnosed with cancer.  Our other roommate also made the trip from even further north with her 11 month old daughter.  We all had a great time catching up and watching the kids play together.

The babies.

Sweet, silly Laney.  If you think of it, please pray for her recovery.

Three sleep-deprived mommas!



It was back in the car to Wichita the next day in time for another Moshe Monster party for Asher.  There was more mask making, monster puppet making, presents and of course, cake.  Keenan's mom opted for red velvet for a monster blood effect.  Asher enjoyed her cupcakes over mine!

Then, you guessed it, back in the car the next day headed for home.  Asher did great in the car the last leg.  I think he was conditioned after the other 3 days in the car - poor thing!  Even though it was a whirl-wind trip, it was a lot of fun and we're so happy and thankful for all the special people we were able to see and spend time with.

Our Little One Year Old

Asher had his well-check this morning.  His ears are all clear after his double infection 2 weeks ago and he's smart, happy and healthy.  His stats came in at 18lb 8.6oz and 28.75in.  I looked back at Ari and Keira's one year posts for fun and he came in just under Keira's stats with both of them being well over Ari.  (Ari's 1 year post & Keira's 1 year post). 

I find it interesting how everything plays out as kids grow up.  Asher was our biggest baby by 1 pound and started out 50th percentile for everything.  At one year he's down to about 15th percentile for height and has slipped below the 5th for weight.  The doctor and I both know a lot of it has to do with him being sick for almost 2 weeks and neither of us are concerned.  He's been eating so well the past week I have a feeling he'll jump back up at his 15 month check-up. 

We got the all clear to start soy milk (as opposed to formula) so I'm really hoping that will jump-start the weaning process.  He's already sampled the vanilla soy milk and likes it which should make things easier.

Our only concern (if you can call it that) at this point is that he only pulls up to his knees and won't bear weight on his feet.  After the exam, the doctor explained he has low muscle tone and it will just take him a little longer to gain control for standing and eventually walking.  We had the exact issue with Keira and she walked just shy of 18 months.  Ari didn't walk much sooner at 16 months, so given our history, none of us are surprised!

Enough words.  Here are a couple of pictures from Asher's birthday portrait session!

Birthday Weekend!

My parents and sister came for a visit this weekend to help us celebrate Asher's first birthday (today)!  It's still so hard to believe he's one now.  In  many ways he still seems so little, but it's also apparent that he's growing up.  Since last month, he's added waving hello/goodbye/night-night to his list of skills.  We go for his check-up tomorrow so I'll post some stats then.

We've had a pretty low-key weekend, just hanging out spending time together.  On Friday we played outside and did some gardening.

Saturday we had a little lunch party for Asher.  The only extra person we invited was our neighbor, Al.  Background story:  Keenan had Moshe (Hebrew for Moses) as one of his name picks for Asher.  The last few months Keenan has started calling him Moshe as a nick-name.  We soon discovered there's a game website for tweens called "Moshi Monsters."  Asher can be quite the little monster - dumping out toys everywhere and getting into things in general.  Hence, the Moshe Monster party theme!

All set up and a sample monster-which

Posing with our monster-whiches

Craft time!  Monster masks.

Present time.

Cake time!

 Asher wasn't too sure of the cake.

He preferred his thumb. 

But gave it a few more tastes.

That evening we went out to dinner to celebrate my sister's upcoming birthday.  Asher got to have his own vegan pizza which he loved.  Today we had his picture taken and did some shopping.  Now everyone's playing outside again.  It's been a gorgeous weekend in more ways than one!

Happy birthday to our blue-eyed baby boy!