3.20.2011

Sad news

Well this has been a really crappy week for multiple reasons. You know how sometimes it just feels like things pile up unexpectedly? That has been my week, ending with getting up at 5am with a congested baby who is crying because she can't breathe through her nose. Right now she is sleeping on my lap as I type this from our rocking chair. Poor Alma.

The climax of my week, though, was having to rehome my dogs. After we had the baby home for a few weeks we just realized that two boxers, a one bedroom apartment with no yard and a new baby don't mix very well. Nevermind the fact that our littler dog, Wanda, has separation anxiety and housetraining issues. After a lot of discussions with the husband, and a lot of crying (on both of our parts), we realized that we needed to find new homes for Lincoln and Wanda. Fortunately, our good friend Matt and his brother were able to adopt Lincoln and give her tons of attention and a fenced backyard. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find a home for Wanda. We tried Craigslist, mass emails, announcing at church, word of mouth and Petfinder and no one seemed able to take her. Finally on Thursday Alex and I brought her to the humane society and it was just about the hardest thing I have ever done. I cried a lot. I really love those pups.


3.05.2011

Crafty things that I have done lately... don't get your hopes up too high

Long ago I posted links to castle peeps fabric and the pattern for a mei tai carrier. Lo and behold, I have finally made said carrier and I love it. I managed to get it done before Alma was born (she's actually snoozing in it as I type!) and I think that so far it has been my favorite and most useful baby item that I have made. She rides in it when we run errands, walk the dogs, while I do the dishes, run laundry down to the laundry room. And the total bonus: it puts her right to sleep!
Sorry for the mirror picture. I'm at home alone so I couldn't cajole Alex into taking pictures of me.

The first sewing project that I've undertaken since Alma has been born was this awesome changing pad. When we embarked on our first outting I realized that I didn't have a changing pad for her but my mom found this great tutorial on HomemadebyJill (posted for last year's Celebrate the Boy... which I am kind of obsessed with despite the fact that I have a girl. Isn't it the coolest idea, though?). I had a fair amount of the Castle Peeps fabric left and since Alma's first real adventure was to the fabric store, I bought some awesome laminated cotton fabric to use as the waterproof inside. The pattern was really easy but I kind of botched up the corners with the bias tape (which, by the way, was made courtesy of my little sister and given to me in my Christmas stocking!) - don't look too closely in the pictures. I think that this changing pad would make an awesome baby gift for someone.



But my most recent (and most favorite) project has been these awesome buttons! My local crafting team went together to buy a shared button maker (hallelujah!) and last week I took my first go at it. Instead of a baby shower for Alma, we had an open house for her at a new local coffee shop - the District Coffee House - and Alex had the genius idea to make "it's a girl!" buttons with little cigars on them. My mom and I made about fifty of them and we passed them out at Alma's party. Along with those pins, I made a bunch of bellefourche pins, plus fun vintage map pins. I'm trying to borrow the button maker again this week so I can go crazy and make a bunch more!
As seen on Alma's diaper bag - she loves sporting the bellefourche pride.

My pile of buttons that I'm not sure of what to do with now. I just like admiring them!