It was rainy outside

So, Mommy sewed while Phin slept!

FINISHED!

Creative Problem Solving?

Phin has a bad habit - of scratching the all get out of his head. I know he has some dry skin and I am sure it itches, but that is no reason for him to be drawing blood on himself. Most of the time I have him wear a hat (and yes, I also oil his head often) but lately, he has found that he's able to take that hat off himself.
So, my first idea was to construct for him mittens that He is unable to take off. However, I was unsure of how to make said mitten without a pattern.
SO, what is the next best thing?
I thought back to my honorary degree in Occupational Therapy.
The answer?
"Mommy, why did I have SOCKS on my hands in this picture?"
For good reason son!
LeaAnn would be SO PROUD!

Look what I am making!

I'll give more details later...

...and my baby sleeps

This is new, bigger magic blanket. It's all fleece, so it holds a static electricity charge pretty bad.. but it's still fun and colorful and gives him warmth and something of interests when he wakes up. It's not quite finished, but with just five minutes of stitching, it'll be perfect! (just like him)

Mother Allen Helps!

We were going to fix a dress for a little baby girl and then make a diaper bag. However, it just didn't work out that way. I was uninspired by the diaper bag and the dress is for an older child, and so, I started cutting and getting ready to make "Grocery Dog" for Phin.
I could not have done it without Grandmother Allen.
As a matter of fact, I will probably never try such a project again. It was quite advanced.

Into the evening, Dan popped up some popcorn (THANK YOU Grandpa and Gma Routier) and he was nice enough to share with everyone (except Phin!!!)

Dan stayed out of the way while we pinned and stitched.

Doesn't it look like Grandmother Allen is sneezing popcorn! What a HOOT!

And this is grocery dog - not quite finished. WE have an appointment set to finish it up. Then, Phin can sit in the cart at the grocery store and I won't have to stress out over the germs as we shop!

Phin Burrito

This is a swaddle on steroids!

MOTHER ALLEN HELP!!!!

Here is what I have.
I am stuck on #3.
Call me!

Ethan needed some work!

So, I needed to paint the "ETHAN" - as I got them primed only.
I took apart the sign and painted the letters and then started looking at all of the ribbons I have to make it look a little more snazzy.

This is the final product! The letters are painted and the ribbons are set. I am pretty happy with how it turned out this time. The cool thing is that when I get tired of it, it will be easy to change it up again!

Grandmother Allen and David

Phin got a couple visitors today! Phin got held and bounced and had blues songs "The Baby Blues" sang to him.
Grandmother Allen also helped me construct the ETHAN sign on the wall.

I still have some holes in the picture frame to fill...

and I need to paint ETHAN as it's currently just primed.

Christmas Day!!!!

So, this is Phin's new "thing." He's been doing it for a week or two - to me... but I see his sharing the love with all family members now. Phin loves to put his fingers into the mouth of the person holding him. That's fine - except for times like, when he's in the gym daycare. We may have to put a quick end to fingers in the mouth - or we'll have to break out the soap!


Cousin Given got some really great presents. I didn't try to photograph each of them - but his first present was a Car's step stool that he can use to be able to reach the sink in the bathroom for things like washing hands and brushing teeth. He was very excited to use it!

Cousin Given also got a Thomas the Train fleece blanket - from Phin. I hope it keeps Given warm on the cold nights in Dallas!

Christmas EVE

Today, Phin is wearing his "flight suit" on cords, striped shirt and top gun jacket. It's super cold out today (in the 20's) so it's a great outfit to keep him warm as we brave the elements!
(note, this outfit is a 12 month outfit - and Phin is just FOUR MONTHS!!!)

I also got Grandma Susie, Auntie MaryAnn and Auntie Nicki to model their aprons I made for them (though, not a Christmas gift!) EVERYONE looks STUNNING! :)

This style was a booger!

Thank you Grandmother Allen for the phone call help with the pattern.
Between the pattern and the material... I think I am done with this style!!!
But, I thought you may want to see how it turned out.
:)

The Pink Apron is a little wrinkled - as I didn't iron it before the picture.
:)

This isn't what I planned.

Phin is four months old as of yesterday. Yet, he's wearing 9 month old clothing. Why do they do that? What don't they call it four month old clothing at the 9 month old size - 'cause that's what I PLANNED for.
Well, I have learned that you can't plan too far ahead - 'cause it doesn't work out the way we plan.

So here we are as of yesterday. On Phin's four month "birthday" we were on our way to an outlet mall for 50-70% baby clothing savings.
Everything you see here is 50-70% off and a retail of $220.00
We paid 75.00 for all of this stuff. Some of it is what he's able to wear *literally* today and some of it is for when he's 18 or 24 months (as that probably equals like, 7 months for Phin.)
Today, he wore the overalls,
tomorrow he's going to wear the blue pants and jacket.
Either way, he's a happy boy who loves his family - and really, isn't that the most important thing?



In the mean time, I am working hard to learn how to SEW Phin clothes.
I have made him pants and a bunting sleep sack and some blankets. I have also been very successful with an apron (just haven't had time to photograph it.) Next, we are going to start working with "re-purposing" some of Daddy's shirts to Phin clothes as I was able to get patterns for 99cents. WHO KNEW that being a Mommy could be so much fun!

I made it.

We made the boy.
I made the sleep sack (bunting bag).
AND I made the softee magic blanket.

I guess, I enjoy making things.

Slippery as... satin!

They say that practice makes perfect. I keep that in mind as I work the same material over and over to try to make sweet gifts for my baby boy. Over the holiday Grandma Susie and I sewed a piece of blanket no fewer than ten times trying to get a satin edge on the blanket. This is no small feat!
And so, I took some time today (quite a lot of time really) to try try try again. The stitching is in no way perfect, but all of the pieces are held together with stitching of thread. And so, I will continue to buy remnants of fleece and flannel and satin edging until my blankets look as good as those you can get at the store that were made in China!

The picture is the first finished "magic blanket" that I will make for Phin. You see, when you put soft, warm fabric up to him as he's in our arms, he magically falls asleep quickly chasing sweet dreams. A mommy can never have too many magic blankets!

Sew away!

Again, while baby sleeps...

Mama works!

I have decided not to make a hat with this one because by the time he's wearing these sleep sacks, the hats will be too small - as they fit him RIGHT NOW.

The next sleep sack will be blue background with yellow stars. :)

He doesn't hate the hat

He was crying because he had been awakened from sleep and a hat was thrown on his head and he was sitting in the chair - alone and a big flash kept going off in his eyes...

While baby sleeps, mama works!

See, when I was a little girl my Aunt Virginia made us clothes. (you can see an example below in the baby pictures I posted - the blue outfits that my brother and sister are wearing were made by Virginia.) We kinda hated the clothes she made because the material was hot and itchy and stiff and it seemed like she was measuring us every day and holding material up to us etc.
Well, while I hated it as a child, as an adult I think it's awesome that she was able and willing to sew for us. Then, when I was in middle school, my mom made my sister and me dresses that we wore to school and church. All of this to say that as my family before me showed - as a mother, I should be able to rock the sewing machine. So, while I am no Martha Stewart (yet), I am SUPER PROUD of what I made my baby! (Thanks for the lesson Grandmother Allen!)

I look forward to making more sleep sacks (grow bags per G-MA Susie) for baby Phin for when he grows out of the ones Grandma Susie got for him. Who knows what else I may be able to learn to make the boy!

(note the mittens where his hands can be enclosed or I can pull them out!

NEXT, stitching the MATCHING HAT!