Woah, Lily!

Would have posted sooner... but I didn't. HA! Seemed to me a better way to start this post off than lying and telling you all I didn't have time. :o) 

It has been an awesomely busy few weeks! Somehow I have managed to be super crafty, keep my children fed and giggling, AND take a trip to see the g-parents with both littles all by my lonesome! 

Adventures, people. We are living in the days of adventures! So! The littles first because they are amazing. 

This little lightning bug loves sweet potatoes. On the other hand, green beans make her cry. I am talking full out tears and wailing. It is sad to watch. We are just avoiding green beans. She is going to be seven months old in a week and still doesn't have a single tooth in that gummy grin of hers. She is starting to sit up by herself and is just dying to crawl. It is crazy how much she has grown and learned in the last month. 

My biggest little has decided that napping is for the birds and that it is clearly better to just be miserable and whiny all afternoon unless constantly entertained. She sure does wake up happy though! She is counting to 12 and is putting so many sentences together now. We have a lot of fun!

We have been lucky enough to get to play with the little peach Miss Suvi a lot lately! Lily loves her and has a great time showing her toys. They play very well together for being a year and a half apart. Suvi has no idea how little she is! Alice thinks the two of them are pretty much the best thing since sweet potatoes. She watches them and giggles. She will be chasing them in no time! 

We had a perfect little blast "hiking" with Miss Suvi and her parents this weekend. I use quotations because Lily walked. A hike with Lily is a really pleasant stroll through the outdoors. :o) The kiddos were perfect little dream boats! 

The hubbs is doing his best not to let med school get to him... He studies all the time. Legit. Sometimes he even does it with his eyes closed! 

In my last post I mentioned that the hubbs birthday had come and as usual we celebrated in style! This is the picture I said I would not post on Facebook. Note: This blog does not equal Facebook.

This is the picture I said I would post on Facebook! (I'm sure I will.... One day...)

This man loves his birthday cake. It is the same cake every year... This year I made the icing pink. I couldn't help myself. It was so pretty!

This box weighed about 90 lbs and came a couple of days after the birthday festivities from my poet laureate B-I-L.  

The attached car. It was a set of Netter's Anatomy Flashcards. I just love that man. 

Last thing you should know about the hubbs... His days are numbered. He let THIS happen to the cat. I'm pretty sure she's purchased a gun. She is at the very least planning to pee on his pillow. 

I made the girls matching shirts... Then I tried to take their picture together... about that...

 We will just leave that at a big fat, "NOT SO MUCH, MOM!"

 I'm digging brown and blue right now... I made Lily a cute little brown plaid skirt for church a couple of weeks ago and then made this fancy new ironing board cover. (Had you seen the old one you wouldn't wonder why I took the time to find a dark print.)

The littles really had a good time in Arkansas visiting Gan, Pop, Nea, and the rest of the family! We hung out, colored, played with the doggy, and did all the other amazing things you get to do when you go stay with Gan and Pop. I count it a very successful trip!

This picture is my teaser for my next blog posting. It will be much less catch up heavy and much more "here's what's on my mind right now". 

I need to write one of those. Big time. 

This is our friend. He is my bit of random so you will remember you really are at the right blog. He has a friend. His friend's colors are inverted... It is crazy. I loves it. 

K. I'm going to bed. Sorry for the picture heavy post, but I love you all dearly and am now off to Nod. 

Sweet dreams!

Wear your seat belts!

-Katie Jo

Geronimo!

Ok! It has officially begun! The Hubbs had his first class on Friday, and suddenly things are feeling a little more real!
Orientation was interesting... Orientation, right? Totally expected that. Did not expect to be oriented personally. There is a separate orientation for spouses/significant others of students. Crazy, but very helpful. I learned a lot of things that are going to be a great help, and I met some great people. I won't lie... I still had a bit of a meltdown afterwards because I am still 535 miles away from my nearest friend and 2,400 miles from my best friend.
It is a daunting thing to move to a place that is so far away. It is completely overwhelming when you realized you have moved away from everyone you know and now you are the sole source of entertainment and care for your whole little family. I didn't melt down long. Well... certainly not VERY long...

After being oriented I spent Wednesday hanging out with the girls and picking the house up. Thursday I made six little skirts for Lily. No, it isn't a typo. Six. She is outgrowing clothes so fast that I am barely keeping her in anything. The beauty of skirts? Lasting power. Make them long-ish and with an elastic waist and they will last you through two or three sizes. :o)

I found some striped shirting at Jo-Anne's a week or two ago that happened to be on sale... You know the rest. I bought some of every color they had.

LOVE THEM. I made two more the next day out of some really cute cotton prints I found at a local shop, but I haven't been able to get Lily to stand still for me to get a picture of them yet. She's busy. I can't fault that.

Right now I have two more shirts cut out and two dresses almost done. Sewing has been productive.

Friday I pulled out The Beast and started working on it the other night while the girls were in bed. I have been working on this silly blanket for *cough* 10 *cough* years now... It was the first thing I started when I learned to crochet. It's been a decade. I aim to finish it before the end of this year. I'll post a pic of it soon so you can see why it is worth the effort. It really will be a pretty blanket... Not award-winning, but pretty!





That is all of my crafty news. In family land there is quite a little bit of news though! Little Alice decided she would make friends with the cat...  Oddly, the cat was very pleased with this development. Nikki just sat and loved while Alice poked her in the eye and pulled her fur. She wasn't all bad. She did a fair share of grinning and petting and giggling. There were lots of giggles when Nikki's tail would swish by to catch Alice's cheeks.

Speaking of Alice's cheeks... She's getting to be quite the little chubber. She was so small for so long and now she is fluffing right up. :o) She's perfect. It's true. I won't deny it.







Little Lily Bear has been such a sweetheart since we got here. She is laying down for naps AND laying down at night without anyone in the room. I was worried when we left Arkansas that we weren't ever going to get back to a normal bedtime routine, but we have! She has been rocking the nightshirts I made her, and I can't help but think those old tee's are enjoying some fresh blood in them!

She has been loving the church we are going to now. She's been a very good girl... busy, but good! There are several kiddos that we have met around her age. That's nice. She's such a little social creature.


What else? The hubbs had a birthday yesterday! For the better part of four months we will be the same age, and then I will be back to being older and wiser. LOL Riiiiight.

I think that's all I've got for the moment... Not a super exciting post, but a much quicker turn-around time for sure!

I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Wear your seat belts!
xoxo
Katie Jo

Here Comes the Sun

Da um da da. Here comes the sun and I say, it's all right.

It's a Beatles kind of day. My darling man woke up sick this morning and Lily woke up wild. Every day is an adventure around here. I have been fairly busy the last few days and it has been nice. I made a couple of pairs of pants for Lily and then whipped up some shirts to go with them. The shirts are now in the mail on the way to my friend Ashley to be monogrammed!

Yesterday I hung out and put together a quilt top for Lily or whoever comes next. Ok, well I finished all the blocks... Haven't sewn them all together yet, but I'm hoping to get that done today.

I'm so ready to move. I miss my family. Grrr... At least it is only about a month away.

The Hubbs just realized that he only has three weeks left of class. I hear this and I think, "Awesome!" Apparently this is a faulty assumption. He proceeded to inform me that three weeks of class left actually meant that he only had three weeks to finish teaching everything he needed to, grade a veritable mountain of essays, tests, and papers, and after that is completed put all those grades into the computer.

yeah yeah yeah

No. I'm kidding. It is a lot of work but I still think it is awesome that he is almost done. I have to pack our whole house, plan a birthday party, and play with an amazing kid. I totally have the better end of this deal. Don't get me wrong... I reserve the right to complain about the fact that packing never seems to end, but I know it's not so bad and it is completely worth it in the end.

On to the more bizarre, MobWives? Really? Really America? I seriously almost went into a coma and peed on my couch when I was innocently sitting here watching TV and saw a preview for a new reality show entitled MobWives. Rationally I know it would not be produced if people wouldn't watch it... that doesn't instill a lot of faith in America for me. It is apparently about women with "mob connected" husbands who are in jail. The tag line seems to be "The men do the crime. They do the time."

I think that's my only super qualm of the day.

I'm tempted to ignore packing and housework for the day in favor of buying lots of duct tape because I am having dress form envy. Thanks Rae.

Life, Death, & Little Dresses

I absolutely adore my life. I love that I get to stay at home with my baby and watch her grow. I love that I am married to someone I don't just love, but also respect and genuinely like. I love that I don't have to like him all the time. I love having an awesome best friend who will tell me when I am being irrational or generally an ass. I love that I am close to my mom and dad. I love that my cats are weird and neurotic and love to cuddle.

I also love that my jaw aches from having my teeth cut out. I love that my husband hates his job. I love that my baby would NOT lay down for a nap today. I love that someone died and that made people dear to me sad. I love that my mom had a crap day at work. I love that I am fighting the battle of the fruit-fly in my kitchen as we speak. I love that my house is in major need of cleaning and that Lily's bed is in the living room because we can't put her in her room.

No... I'm not twisted... hear me out. It is awesome that my jaw hurts because that means I finally had dental insurance to go to the dentist. It is superfly that the hubbs hates his job because right now he HAS a job to hate, and we don't have to stay. I think everything my baby does is amazing because I am still amazed to have her. I am glad that my husband and brother-in-law had someone so wonderful in their lives when they were growing up that even though she is in an obviously better place they will miss her. Mom's crap day at work is another day that she's alive and on the phone and talking to me. I don't mind fruit-flies because I would rather have fruit-flies than not have any food. I love that my house is filthy because we have a house to live in, and it may irk me to have a crib in the living room, but we have a crib.

I forget sometimes that I am generally a happier person when I remember to keep things in the right perspective. Remembering that for every sucking thing there are at least 5 really awesome things helps.

Speaking of total awesomeness (which I was...?)

Monday the hubbs took Lily to work with him. Crazy right? Apparently she was a very good girl and Mommy took that opportunity to make her lots of fun things!

It seemed that as long as I could keep busy I didn't think about how bad my mouth hurt. I kept busy. Way busy.

Then Tuesday rolled right on around and I finally faced my fear of the ruffle. That's right. I am 27 years old and had never sewn a ruffle. Well, it didn't suck. I now wish to ruffle everything. I think I will.

Anywho... I tell you that to tell you this: I have made a deal with myself. I will only buy a new pattern once I have made 3 of the previously purchased pattern. I've been sewing a lot! Without further ado...

How's that for a ruffle? I was proud.

Soooo... today I made nothing except for a trip to Wal*Mart. Woot Wahoo... I did buy new pinking shears and a ton of tulle and ribbon and fabric and other things I "needed".

I must sleep. I only just realized it is ten of two and the hubbs is leaving at seven in the morning. Suck.

Good night! Sweet dreams!
Remember... It could suck worse... You could not have a sewing machine.

Without Wisdom Teeth

Interestingly enough I have been doing a whole lot of nothing today because my mouth is still not quite cooperating! On the up most of up notes, the hubbs went to pick up Lily from her grandparents' house and it is nice to have her home. I know they have only been keeping her for three days, but I would swear that she is bigger and more coordinated than she was on Thursday night!

The only bummer about having her home is not being able to play. She's a little to rough and tumble for Mom's face right now! She is learning to pull up and keep her wobbly little legs under her and that is too much fun to watch. Daddy time seems to be pretty awesome as far as she is concerned at the moment, if that is any consolation.

I feel like I have been on the couch for a month. I miss my sewing machine. I may not be the world's most awesome seamstress, but I have a lot of fun with it! I am a little obsessed with a pattern that I got at You Can Make This a week or so ago. It is too easy and I have enough fabric to last a while... Why not, right?
It seems to me that when your baby is a "baby" everyone wants to buy clothes... then they hit about 10 months old and it is out with the clothes and in with the toys. That's fine. We have toys to our eyeballs... and a naked baby!

I've been making 12 and 18 month dresses and shirts because I have absolutely no clothes in that size and it irks me to buy something I can make.

I am loving this little pattern. It is so simple and takes next to no time to whip up. It helps that I adore things that are reversible. Sewing linings seems like wasted time to me because no one sees it. *irrational... i know*  Now that I have made a few of them I am ready to start playing around with applique and some trimmings and contrast panels, but I have to admit that absolutely nothing about this plain jane little dress bothers me. It's too cute just the way it is.

Well... I'm going to take my throbbing jaw to bed!

Have a fabulous night!