{homemade}: some sewing projects...

It began with finally finishing this quilt! I LOVE denim quilts because they are so heavy and warm and perfect for picnics so I finally finished this one. I actually started this quilt back in 2004 while I was waiting for Idaho Falls to warm up so I could have a job (I lifeguarded back in those days-oh, how I miss it). My Mom was kind enough to let me have all the old jeans she had been saving so I cut them up, serged them together, found some soft material for the backing, sewed that together and finally tied it! And it only took me 6 years! It's a warm and soft one though-perfect for snuggling!

For Alex's birthday she wanted that cute picture of a girl at a carnival but was having a hard time finding a dress so we decided to make one! It turned out so cute so I think I'm going to make myself a variation of the same one!

This wasn't a sewing project...but I did make it. It's just part of the following sewing projects...

This was minimal sewing too...I hated that the mail holder below was just a standard black and the bulletin board just a silver so I finally painted them and added fabric (with a stitched hem (sewing)) over the cork board part and made the "what's for dinner" magnet.

I love my Gartenzwerg but he was originally the wrong colors so I re-painted him to match and made the tablecloth to go with everything else-so much fun. The fabric for the tablecloth was my inspiration to redo the entire kitchen in bright but muted colors with a vintage inspiration... (Note: I stole this idea from my aunt but if you like fabric tablecloths but don't want them to get smeared with food you can buy clear vinyl by the yard at walmart to protect them-and your table too!) I made this little sleeves to go over my glass jars with individual phrases from the tablecloth material zig-zagged on...

I wanted to post about this right away (I finished the kitchen 2-3 weeks ago) but I just hadn't.And I also made these scrub tops for my friend Heather! We did pillow covers for her couch at home and while we were at it made some scrubs! She LOVES polka dots and was super excited to finally have a polka-dot top! The pillow covers turned out super cute-we did zippers in them so that she can pull them off her existing pillows and wash them when she wants! Just thought I would share-I miss sewing and it's been fun to have some projects. The pics are a bit yellow...I found a fun polaroid setting on my cell phone and sometimes it does that... :( Call if you want to play!

{tmi}: oh, the pain

This post has been label "tmi" for a reason. So turn around if you don't want to know! It's not like anyone reads my blog lately anyway, so I don't really care!
My boobs are killing me! I officially ended weaning Paisley on Saturday after a 5 week weaning process of cutting out and switching one feeding a day to milk. Because I planned so diligently and took the process so slowly I believed it was a sure-fire way to prevent severe engorgement. I was so, so very wrong. So for the last 4 days I have been in excruciating pain. I feel like I have 2 giant (and for me they are giant!) swollen bruises on my chest. On top of it, I am one of the blessed few that also gets flu-like symptoms from suffering this severe engorgement. Awesome. Paisley has been taking the whole thing very well and doesn't seem to mind not nursing too much. She still likes to come up and run into my very sore chest and punch me and it hurts so very badly. The other thing that makes this extra hard is trying to explain to people that yes, I'm sick, but no...this is definitely not contagious. Why? Well it has to do with my boobs...that's why. I think I've been on a bit of a hormone trip as well...or it could just be the pain, but I'm super grumpy. I just needed to complain a bit. The bright side of all of this: I can take allergy medicine again!!! Yay! And I bought a Halloween craft magazine to keep me distracted so hopefully today I won't be quite as grumpy...we'll see.

{party}: miss mae

Saturday we had Paisley's First Birthday!

With LOTS of fun cupcakes!

This is not the best picture of her cake, but I was a little distracted...

She got lots of books, toys and clothes!

She was not sure what do do with her cake...

So Dad helped her out...

Which didn't go over so well...

But worked out in the end...

Thank you so much to everyone that was there! We really appreciate all the love and the gifts! And it was so fun to see all of you! Happy Birthday baby girl!

{birthdays}: paisley mae

I cannot believe that one year ago today I was in labor with Paisley! Right around this time last year I was getting an epidural-very, very ready to be done being pregnant! This pic is of her around 1:15-ish she was only a couple of minutes old! Oh, and she was such a sweet little baby! I do miss snuggling her when she was so tiny! Today she is a curious 1 year old! Some of her quirks include:

• She loves to swim and has loved swimming all summer. I think she will be a water baby like her mom. Every time I go to work out and I drop her off at the nursery we walk past the pool doors and she gets all excited because she thinks we're going to go.
• She has only 2 teeth on the bottom and I wonder when she'll be getting more!?
• She can crawl like crazy and stand on her own...she's thinking about walking and I think it will happen soon...?
• She is petite for her age and is just beginning to grow out of her 9M clothes (which actually works out because then I can wait to buy her 12M until the season changes).
• She loves baths! She likes to splash and stand up and play with her ducky.
• She will only eat food she can feed herself-she got over baby food 3 months ago and has been eating table food ever since!
• She loves to giggle, smile and is a generally happy baby.
• She LOVES her daddy! And it's not fair. She light up the minute he walks in the door and even yells DA-daaa sometimes!
• If she likes something she also calls it Da or Da-da. If shes hungry or upset she says Ma-ma-MA! its great.
• She loves to have conversations. She especially loves it if you parrot back to her what she just said or blow raspberries back at her.
• She is almost done nursing! (yay!) I'm going to miss it, but I'm also excited for my independence. She loves her milk and has been doing really well with it!

We just love her. It has been such and incredible blessing having such a sweet baby girl and I just can't wait for her to grow. At the same time, I don't want her to grow! It's terrible being caught in such a catch-22! She brings us so much happiness and has been so much fun! We love you Miss Paisley Mae!

{birthday}: come play!

We are eating cupcakes and opening presents at our house at 2:00 on Saturday the 21st of August! Let me know if you can come!

{activities}: demolition

So with the Washington County Fair going on we figured we should ditch our kids and watch a whole bunch of cars run into each other...good times!

Oddly enough both Chad and Steve managed to avoid having their picture taken... :(

The cars were crazy!

And I don't know if you can see, but it is so hot coming off the cars (and really, just outside in general) that the squiggle blur is coming off the hot cars!

Also, if you get the chance check out my preview of some other carnival pictures here with the awesome Will and Alex . More to follow with them over at Ein Foto!

{loves}: zumba

So I cried at Zumba today. Actually I bawled. It was a little embarassing. I went up to tell our instructor April thank you for the class and to tell her how much I love Zumba and instead I started crying. And she hugged me. And just let me cry for a minute. I'm crying right now thinking about it...wow this is embarassing. Anyway, I've been a sad and broken ballerina for a long time now and I think I finally found a home. It's been hard because as a dancer, I want to dance. I crave it. I need it. It completes me. I feel whole again when my body is worked through-warmed to the bones and sweating with movement. And I had that with ballet. I loved it. I stepped out of my chaotic life and focused solely on my movement and muscles. I miss it like a drug...like home. And I've found that home with zumba. It is a far cry from ballet and I'm still learning the movements...oh but I love it. so much. I've tried running...pilates (which I do love)...aerobics classes...treadmills...elipticals...I've even tried going back to ballet but it's not my place anymore. I'm not the starved dancer that had no problem jumping into a leotard that I once was. I've been searching and searching and I think I finally found what I needed...if you haven't tried it-you need to! Come with me! I love it...