A Homemade Christmas

I made Seth some blocks for Christmas. Guess whose tutorial I used! That's right, Make It and Love It.

 

For a size comparison.

I made it to go with the rings I made when Seth was less than 3 months old.

Original picture -- he was so small!

For Christmas, I gave my niece a blanket I knit. Originally I was going to have it done earlier, but....that's ok. :)

Then I got a Kindle for Christmas. I was looking for a case, and my favorite were home made ones on Etsy. But...I was like....I could make that! So! Fueled by my new confidence given me by Make it and Love It...I went to  work!

I looked at the Etsy shop pictures and used that as my starting point. I used skills I've been picking up lately from both Make It and Love It and the cloth books I sewed Seth for Christmas.

Today she posted about sewing skills and one of the keys to having confidence is just accepting the praise...not pointing out your flaws! Well, my Kindle cover certainly has the bobbin loops & imperfections, but she's right, I am still super stoked that I made it! I took a chance and it worked! Hoorah!

I've made some more things recently...when I get pictures I'll post about those!

Homemade Fall

I've been able to make quite a few things lately, which really lifts me up!

My Grandma Joi had THE best crescent roll recipe ever (she's won first place in the Minnesota state fair before!) now that she's gone, I have the privilege of making them every year (at least once).
So the Monday before Thanksgiving, I set about making the 8 dozen recipe. (2 dozen portion gets turned into cinnamon rolls!!)




Kohls was failing on the cheap Thanksgiving outfit, so I got creative. I found the idea for the hat on pinterest and searched for the pattern on ravelry. Everyone at church loved it!





Then I made up a turkey tail. I figured it out all on my own, but took some of the skills I've been learning from Make it and Love it.


















On Black Friday, we went shopping at Gurnee. Seth really liked watching the fish at Bass Pro Shop.

The next week, i was helping to host our professional church workers meeting. I made muffins. :)

I got a little carried away.

Banana chip, chocolate banana chip, fresh cranberry, and poppyseed.

Such a sweetie!

I can't believe he's 8 months old already.

Someone Worth Dying For

I like to listen to "Contemporary Christian Music" - despite the fact it's often theologically shaky (at best). But I generally am drawn to the style of music it is.


The last few years I have been more critical of what I listen to. Many songs I can just put on my "Lutheran Glasses" and enjoy, but there are some that just irk me! Over the last week I have heard one particular song quite a few times. "Someone Worth Dying For" by Mikeschair.


Songs like this one are full of good sentiments - heck, don't you want to be someone worth dying for??


Here's the chorus:
Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe, I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
That you don't see and you don't know
Yeah I wanna believe, Jesus help me believe that I
Am someone worth dying for


I'm sure many of you, along with me, want to believe you are something beautiful, someone loved by God.


The song even takes a turn and tells us we are these things: something beautiful, noticed & loved by God and worth dying for. (and you gotta believe that!)

Unfortunately, it's a lie.

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."


We were NOT worth dying for. We were born sinful and continued to sin each and every day of our lives. Worth it? I don't think so!

But Christ died for us anyway!

That is the true Gospel. That even though we were not worth dying for, Christ still did. Even though He knew that by dying for us, we would still continue in sin, He still died for us. Not only that, but He washed us clean, put on a robe of righteousness, and presented us before God the Father, who sees us as redeemed. Christ justified you, He "redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins..."


Happy Reformation Day, 2011

The Perfect Age?

Can I keep Seth like this forever?


I am just loving this age!


I love his smiles and giggles.
I love the way he talks at me (usually with something in his mouth).
I love that he can sit up by himself...but not yet cause me to chase him all over the house.
I love that we can cuddle before bedtime.
I love his 2 little teeth that are not quite big yet.
I love the way he loves eating "big people food."
I love that he can still nurse.
I love that I can still carry him around.
I love that he does not throw a stink every time he is in the car seat!
I love how he plays in his bin of toys.
I love that he plays peek-a-boo under his blankie.
I love that we are no longer in the "rock-til-I-drop" stage for sleep, but still not in the "I-don't-want-to-go-to-bed" stage.
I love his fuzzy red hair.
I love how he splashes in the bathtub.


There is so much more, but those are a few reasons why I could stay right where we are for a while!

Homemade Canvas Box

My favorite crafty blogger, Make It and Love It, posted a tutorial to make canvas boxes.

After much hunting in Clinton, and a trip to the Quad Cities, I gathered all my supplies and went to work. I wanted to make a different size than she did, so I made a practice size (no lining or canvas). My box ended being a 6.5" cube...though nowhere near perfect! I was trying to make the most of the canvas I had to buy.

In the end, I decided it was a fun project, and I loved making it my own, but it is not cost effective. Oh well!

Made from fabrics I had lying around.

The inside

What a fun little box!

A cute place to store Seth's bibs & things right in the dining room. :)

Solid Foods Update

How is Baby Led Weaning going?




Let's just say, not as well as I'd hoped.
I'm not giving up yet, but I have taken a step back.

Babies have sensitive gag reflexes that are farther forward on their tongue than adults', and Seth has always had an extra-sensitive one (often gagging on his binky, my finger, his thumb if he yawns). So he's gagged a lot. He's always been able to clear his throat, so he's not choking, but it's not fun to watch!


We got baby food at our shower, so we're starting with that, so he at least gets to learn how to swallow. But I don't care how much he eats, and he's in control a lot.... although I have been holding on to the spoon because i was tired of picking it up from the floor. ;) Sometimes he gets a chunk of something - slightly cooked carrot, for example, to chew on.

 He also uses things like these that i can put food in. So far he's tried a chunk of grapefruit.

Food that he's tasted:

apple
carrot
peas
grapefruit
rice cereal
strawberry banana yogurt (the only thing he didn't make a yucky face at)
raspberry vanilla yogurt
mashed potatoes

Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings are a challenge, and that's putting it lightly. I fully believe Seth should be in church as much as possible. I'm not opposed to the nursery, but it's not going to be my first choice. Actually, it's a last resort.

But while Seth is an infant, and very dependent on his morning naps, Sunday mornings are difficult.

I posted a status a while back asking for advice -- and I appreciated the responses -- but not much has changed. It got a little better for a while, but then Sunday School started back up, which meant Adam and I got busier. For the last month or so, by the time 10:15 church starts, Seth is a wreck.

Background: Most mornings, Seth wakes up between 7 and 7:30 and then about an hour later is ready to go down for his morning nap. So we get up on Sunday mornings about the same time but he is not able to get a nap in until 11:30-noon. The most he goes at other times during the day is 2 hours between naps, so this is him being awake at least twice as long as he's used to. He also will rarely go to sleep being rocked...there is just too much to see!

By the time the sermon rolls around, Seth has been screaming.

Ok, before I start complaining, I'll just stop. :)

But my goal is to figure out something that works, in order for Seth to be in church. Perhaps my dreams are just too lofty, but for now I'm going to cling to them.

The parents on Sunday mornings: Adam teaches the high school class from 9-10. I do the Sunday School opening at 9, then we run around and take attendance. I also listen to kids' memory work throughout the morning. I direct the choir and Adam sings in it, usually at just the 10:15 service, but sometimes also at the 7:45 service. People are more than willing to hold him...it's just the sleep thing!

If anyone has any insight on making this work, feel free to share. Just know that I may or may not take your advice. :)

Half Birthday!

Today Seth turned 6 months old -- happy birthday, Seth!

Guess what that means?
(Other than professional pictures and a doctor's appointment?)

Seth is allowed to start trying solid foods now! He's been 100% on Mama's Milk up til now (except those few droplets Dad has snuck him of...well, I won't tell you what).

I'm a little nervous about sharing our plan with everyone, because it's not normal. But here goes!

During my hours of midnight iPhone google searching (usually about how to help Baby fall asleep better), I somehow came across something called "Baby Led Weaning" or "Baby Led Solids." At first, I thought it sounded interesting, but too innovative, so I probably wouldn't actually do it. But then I came back to the idea. - and bought "the" book on it. Baby Led Weaning, by Gill Rapley

Essentially, now that many babies are starting solids at 6 months, they have much more ability to work on actual solid foods...not just be stuck with mushy, spoon-fed foods. Also, sticking with milk for the main source of nutrients is recommended til about a year of age. So, Seth can eat anything we are eating, as long as it's healthy (for the most part). At first, "eating" will be all about exploring new textures, practicing chewing (gumming), and figuring out new tastes. What fun! Since he already puts everything in his mouth anyway... ;)

Today we started him out with a nice Honey Crisp apple.

Waiting patiently (wondering what is hanging from his neck)

Hmmm...what is this new toy?

Checkin' it out.... Look at that pincer grip!!

Must put it in the mouth!

Lick it

Doing pretty good there :)

Bookshelf Cover

With Seth approaching 6 months very quickly, this means he will be starting solid foods soon!

We have a bookshelf in our dining room that houses our cookbooks and other various items.

I thought it would be a good idea to protect that stuff from flying food. :)






So I decided to make a semi-quilted cover. Attached with velcro to easily remove it and throw it in the wash.



Materials:
Various fabric I was saving for just such a purpose.
Thread (yellow and black for me).
Velcro dots.








I decided to do strip piecing. So I chose my favorite fabrics and cut a 3.5 inch strip of each.

Then I sewed them together two at a time.



I cut the pairs in half, rematched them with a different half (lengthwise) and sewed those together. So I ended up with 3 panels of 4 strips.










Then I cut those into 3.5 inch strips...so each strip had 4 squares.










I laid them all out to decide what went well together and then sewed 3 together. So I had 6 panels comprised of 12 squares.

I cut strips to fit between all these panels of a different fabric 2 inches wide. I sewed those all together. I sewed strips the same width down the sides but sewed 4 inch strips to the top and bottom so it would meet my length requirement.

Then I sewed on my backing (I did it the quicker way, sewing right sides together most of the way around, turning it right side out and finishing the hole.) then I topstitched around the whole edge to reinforce it and for decoration.





I put the Velcro dots on the bookshelf and the matched them up with the quilt so they would be even.









And the finished result:

Yay! A safe place to keep some things!

Keep an eye out for pictures of the actual eating of solids!

Curtains are Hung!

Hooray! The hubby and I worked together to get Baby's curtains up. I made them, and he did the carpentry!

The man in action.

Thanks, Hubby!!

Make It and Love It

So I'm rather obsessed with another blogger, Make It and Love It. Pretty much everything she makes, I want to make. and she makes it seem so doable!

First I made Seth these rings:

Tutorial Here
Easy...Just sew some tubes of fabric, stuff them and stitch them together round each other.

Next I made Adam his Father's Day gift.

I guess the pictures aren't the greatest, but it's a clay pot filled with candy. :)
Tutorial Here
Again, easy! paint a pot, sew a tie using her pattern, glue together & fill with candy!



Then I made some comfy flip flops.

I got some cheap Old Navy flip flops, which I usually can't wear because they rub between my toes and I can't stand them. But her tutorial gave me a nice way to fix that! These ones are a little loose, but I can redo them easily if I want AND I have 2 more pairs to do. Now that it's cool out...haha. 

Finally, I made Seth one of his Christmas presents:

I'm pretty excited to make more of his Christmas. :) Here's the tutorial. She's got so many other projects I can make, too! And in truth, most of them don't take *that* long to do. yay!

It's so nice that he takes naps in his crib now & goes to bed around 7 so I can get some of these things done!

Baby Room Curtains

Well, Seth is already over 5 months old, but I finally finished the curtains for his room today. :) (My excuse is that he came 2 weeks early!!)
I kind of made them up on my own, but I used inspiration from Sallie's kitchen curtain and this random blog -- scroll down to find her curtains. :)







I found 3 colors of fabric that would go well with the "giraffe" themed room - all cottons. I took fabric #1 (the top section, green fabric) and cut 1 strip 16" tall. I used my rotary mat for this. (Tip: fold the fabric in half with selvedge edges matching to cut a shorter piece & then it fit on one mat!)















I hemmed the selvedge edges 1" on each side.

I folded it in half, right sides together, lengthwise and sewed the unfinished edges @ 1/3".












 
I turned the fabric right side out, ironed @ the seam & the fold, so the tube became a panel.

Then I sewed a seam 2" from the folded edge to create a space for the curtain rod.






With fabric #2 (brown/accent color), I cut a strip 4" tall, then folded it in half lengthwise and sewed the seam 1/4" from the edge to make a 1 3/4" wide strip.

I ironed it just as with the first piece. I also found that if i ironed the seam like with a quilt while it was inside out, it was easier to get the seam to lay right.

I sewed up both edges so that the strip was the same width as fabric #1.

 Then I took fabric #3 (yellow, bottom piece) and cut a strip 12.5" tall.I hemmed the selvedge edges so the strip is the same width as strips 1 & 2 - using a 5/8" seam.

I hemmed the bottom edge (folded it over 1/2" and sewed @ 3/8").

I sewed the top edge to the back side of strip #1 @ the seam with a 1/4" seam, then ironed it flat.

Then I made 2 strips just like #2 only cut the fabric in half so the strips were half the length. I sewed them on 8" from the middle of the curtain.

Then I sewed the long brown (#2) strip on top of the curtain. I placed it just above (about 1/8") the seam from before and topstitched it together.
























Now all we have to do is get my hubby to put up the curtain rods, and Seth will finally have his mommy-made curtains up!