The Little Engine that almost did me in

It's done!!! It's hard to believe it but it's FINALLY done!!!

After five straight days and countless drafts and makeshift patterning and crocheting until my fingers hurt and ripping out row after row after seam and starting over again and again... I give you (my interpretation of) Thomas the Tank Engine...


I made this for Baby A's little friend from daycare. When we found out that Friday was his last day, we were all so sad and wanted to give him something because he's just the sweetest little boy ever. Since we money is tight, the best I could come up with was to make him something (on behalf of Baby A, of course). I found out that Thomas the Tank Engine is one of his most favorite things and I scoured the net for a pattern to crochet from. Would you believe that I couldn't find any place that had a pattern that I could even adapt to make a Thomas??? Crazy! I really couldn't believe it. But I was not willing to give up so easily.

I looked at as many versions of Thomas as I could find via trusty Google image search and drew up about five different drafts before finally being able to break the whole idea down into manageable pieces. This was my last draft that I went from and was the closest thing to a pattern as I was able to come up with:

I am so anal that I went as far as to even map out a timeline of when I needed each separate piece done by. Despite my best efforts and meticulous planning, I didn't make it by this past Friday (my deadline).

For those that know me well, I am notorious for making things without patterns - costumes, kid-sized play teepees, watermelon bassinets for baby showers - so my eventual success was inevitable. It was just a matter of time until I was able to actually finish it to my own satisfaction. It's a little bit lumpier than I would have liked it but I am my own worst critic and most all of the details have been attended to so carefully that I bet even the most knowledgable of the Thomas line would agree that I did a pretty swell job and creating Thomas. And since I am such a fan of personalizing things, I went ahead and made it so that nobody could say that this little Thomas is his other than the little boy who he rightfully belongs to.

Not sure what my next project will be but I definitely need to get cracking on less complicated things for stuffies to donate to our upcoming fundraiser at church.

Doing the Squinchy face

Wow! It's been almost a full week since I've posted anything!!! It's actually not been for lack of things to post. Really it's been because I've been too busy driving myself out of my skull trying to tackle my latest crochet project - making a Thomas the Tank Engine stuffy WITHOUT A PATTERN! (yes - you read that right *big sigh*) for Baby A's best buddy at daycare who's last day is tomorrow. Sadly, I think it's defeating me. This is not to say it's not working out but more that it's not going to be done by my deadline of tomorrow.

I've been up until at least midnight every night for the past week crocheting until my fingers are sore and very tender. I might be almost 3/4 of the way there but tonight I think I'm going to stop killing myself, throw in the proverbial towel, and just mail it snail mail when it's done. Many parts of my life have literally been put on hold because of this ridiculous endeavor that I've embarked on. I am my own worst enemy. (But I promise to post pictures of it ASAP when I do finish it. Because I WILL finish it because it's basically become a vendetta of sorts.)

Anyway, I needed a pick-me-up to lighten my defeated mood and just backed up my camera phone files. Thought you all might enjoy checking out my two recent favorites of Baby A. They are of her watching one of her favorite youtube videos of the opening of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Playhouse video. She LOVES the music and all of the little characters dancing around!! She would watch it 20 times over and again if we let her. And how do I know she lovesm it so much? Well... she does this thing that I call the "squinchy face" when she gets really excited about something. It used to be that she started clapping (well, she still does that I guess) but now she's added this thing where she squinches her face all up, squints her eyes real small and opens and closes her mouth repeatedly. It sounds crazy but I think it's the cutest thing in the world. Check it out...

She does it once at the end in this one.



She does it repeatedly in this one.

Isn't that great??? I love that face!!!! And she doesn't do it all the time, just when she gets super excited.

Pinky

A couple of months ago I rediscovered crocheting by way of the art of Amigurumi. I've actually tried to learn to crochet at least two times before but it just never worked out. I think it's because I can't handle the long-term projects like big afghans or things that can be worn. Little hand held stuffies though? They are just enough fun to hold my attention and keep me coming back for more!

Late last evening I finally finished my first Amigurumi ever!!! I have collected tons of patterns and pattern books since my interest in making them was peaked but this one was actually made from a free pattern off of the LionBrand.com site. It was super easy and much faster than most of the patterns that I have been trying to work my way through. I would have done it in a more traditional style/color but the only yarn I had on hand was pink! It could have turned out obnoxiously funky but I'm pretty pleased with it...






I'm going to try and stitch up a whole menagerie of all different types of little creatures! Our church is having a fundraiser on Easter Sunday to help the teens finance a mission trip and all of the ladies at Sewing Circle (where I go every other Saturday) are telling me that some Amigurumi would go like hot cakes and really bring in some money!!! I'm excited to make as many more as I can and help the church out as well! My next finished one is probably going to be a red and black ladybug and I'll post pictures of it when it's finished.

The many faces of Baby A

A couple of weeks back, Shutterfly was running a promotion for a FREE 8x8 bound book. It was completely serendipitous because I had just had a conversation with Baby A's daycare about how her new thing was books of pictures of baby!!!

I took advantage of the promotion and compiled 20 pages of Baby A's most memorable faces. As most of you would agree, she's a VERY expressive little gal so I had lots of pictures to choose from...

Click here to view this photo book.

I just received a postal slip yesterday that UPS tried to deliver our finished book so it will be in my hot little hands soonSoonSOON!!! We were supposed to have gotten it weeks ago but it got lost in the mail. Since Shutterfly is so very wonderful, they printed another book up and dropped it into the mail for next-day delivery at no additional cost to me! Shutterfly is THE BEST!!!!

Fear not, Baby A!

Who is afraid of the big bad vacuum cleaner? Today we discovered that Baby A is!!! Poor little peanut...




This was quite a surprise for us. At one point she was so scared that she was actually shaking!!! D tried to show her that it's nothing to be afraid of and eventually she was able to calm down and feel okay around it...


Did she overcome her fear? We feel like she did at least a little bit! Perhaps next time she won't get scared but instead will try to climb on top of it and ride it.

Accidental portraiture

Too often Baby A's sweetest moments happen when I least expect them. Luckily, I had my camera in hand for this one...


In case you are wondering, she's wearing a customized onesie printed with the phrase "Is butter a carb?" The saying is a quote from a movie and a running inside joke with one of my best friends. I've got a nice wardrobe of customized clothing printed with personal jokes like this one and my good friend thought that a personalized onesie would be the perfect way to introduce Baby A to wonder of personalization.

Meemie

My Meemie passed away last week. This picture was taken of us almost five years ago.


She was in her mid-80s and was quite the little pistol of a lady. She always had the best and most entertaining stories and she rarely to never used her oven and would keep pots and pans or boxes of cereal in it instead.

When I was little and would go out to eat with her, she never fussed at me for wanting to eat only side dishes for my meal - green beans, mashed potatoes (NO gravy!), and applesauce. She also got me the nicest dolls every year for Christmas that always ended up being my favorites and then when I was older, she got me purses that I always loved and would give me matching wallets with a dollar already in them for "luck."

Once I was old enough to be out of the house and off on my own, I would visit her and spend afternoons with her chit-chatting about life and memories and we would always end up in her guest bedroom turned storage room where she would try to load me down with polyester jacket and pants suits that I "could wear to work." One time she gave me a pack of underwear that she happened to have extra and that she swore up and down would be the most comfortable underwear I would ever own.

She always appreciated getting new slippers for Christmas - favoring the Dearfoam or Isotoner brands most - and once I got her this sculptured flower out of the most delicate ceramic that I have ever seen and when she opened up she said, "Id'nt that PUR-tay!" the way she always did when she really liked something a lot!

She was a really great lady. I took as many of my friends to meet her as I could and always tried to stop by to see her if I were in town or make as many special trips just to see her as I could. There is no disputing how popular she was with people who made her acquaintance proving how much of a character she was!

Meemie was such a neat lady. She absolutely was. There really was absolutely no one like her.

Nine is so very fine

Today is Baby A's nine month milestone. I can hardly believe it!!! Last evening I would not keep quiet about the fact that she's basically been born for as long as I was pregnant with her. D humored me enough with conversation but perhaps if he had carried her for nine months it would be a little more a big deal to him. Check out this progression of pictures. It takes you from when she was in utero, to when she was first born, to when she was just a couple of hours old, and then through to every month up until now...
Isn't it amazing how much she has changed??? This assortment of pictures is a screenshot from the first page of a book that I am writing for Baby A. See the three empty spaces toward the end? That's where her 10 month, 11 month, and year pictures will go. That means I've got only three more months and the book (and the progression of pictures!) will be DONE!!! So hard to believe! Time has just flown by.

Anyway, Baby as is obviously getting SO big. In actuality she is still a little small for her age as everyone seems to be passing her by but she is officially in 9 month size clothing and it's just about impossible to even squeeze her into anything smaller. Her legs have definitely gotten longer and she is definitely putting beefing up with her very healthy appetite. She still enjoys guacamole but she's also discovered yogurt - YoBaby and Greek, cottage cheese, and fig spread! Pretty much any time I sit down by her and eat something, she makes it VERY clear that she wants to sample it as well! As yet, there isn't one thing that she won't eat.

The other thing that has changed of her is her hair is getting so long!!! The other night in the bathtub I slicked it up into a cute little mohawk. But even with such a "punk" look, she still looked as sweet as ever.Don't you just love her chubbiness? She rarely escapes getting smothered with kisses on those chunky cheeks of hers.

Showered and babied

[I am so long overdue with this post! But it has been on my list of things that needed to be attended to ASAP so here it finally is!!! Sorry for the delay everyone!]

Two weekends ago we ventured up to Pittsburgh for a lovely weekend of all kinds of fun! Too often we find ourselves rushing through the weekend with not enough time to spend with everyone up there so D and I both took time off from work so that we could really kick back and enjoy ourselves.

The biggest thing of the weekend was D's sister (Aunt H to Baby A) baby shower!!!! She is expecting a little baby boy at the beginning of April and everyone is all excited to make his acquaintance. The shower was not a surprise and everyone had a wonderful (and delicious!) time at the AYCE Mongolian buffet.





Grammy and Grandpap outdid themselves AGAIN by creating the most adorable theme of all things fish related...


Can you believe the attention to detail??? It was all a big hit with the guests and I continue to believe that Grammy and Grandpap could go into business for themselves doing some kind of specialty party planning!

Anyway, if there was anything that could top all of the aforementioned, it was the great time that we had watching Aunt H make her way through the fun, adorable, and clever gifts that she got...


Aunt H was seriously excited to get the gift from her best friend K. She actually already knew what it was and the story of how it ended up being like that was quite entertaining! If that's not the NICEST diaper bag you have ever seen than I don't know what is!


And there were tons and TONS of baby clothes but one of Aunt H's friend was so clever and pinned them all onto a clothes with real clothese pins! So adorable!!! I might just have to steal this idea for the next shower that I go to!


The grand finale gifts were from Grammy and Grandpap. Aunt H could barely contain herself when she opened it and saw what it was.

Can you guess what it is??? Take a guess and then scroll down for the big reveal...

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IT's a BABY-sized water safety vest!!! And BOY was it snazzy!!! Baby D is going to look sharp out there in the boat come time for fly fishing season!


Aunt H and Uncle J do a lot of outdoorsy stuff so Grammy and Grandpap found the PERFECT sized tent for Baby D. It even had it's own blow up mattress!!! Talk about five star wilderness accomodations!

And then it was finally time to cut into the cake which was so bittersweet because of how beautiful it looked but it tasted SO delicious! I can see why Aunt H enjoyed getting it cut and served up! One of her in-laws made it for her and Aunt H KNEW that we were all in for something yummy because she had already experienced a sampling of the confections at her weddings a couple of years back!

I love this photo of Aunt H and Grammy. You can SO tell that they are mother and daughter. Just look at how they are standing! I absolutely did NOT pose them like this!


Everyone had such a terrific time. Toward the end, the men showed up and got in on some of the pictures. Who says ladies are the only ones who can enjoy a baby shower? Grandpap was all about stealing Baby A away from all of the ladies.