JT at 2 Months {Update}

Quick, before June ends! Here's James' 2 month update...

He had a doctor's appointment at 6 weeks, where he weighed 10+ pounds and had jumped 2 percentiles in height. We then started him on reflux meds... he doesn't spit up (maybe 3 times a week) but he is a pretty fussy little boy, and we can see when he does "reflux" but then we watch as he swallows it back down (meaning the acid is hitting his throat twice). E also had some reflux issues, but we only kept her on meds for about a week. We can tell that James has increased the amount of time being content, but he still gets pretty fussy throughout the day. He especially hates his carseat. This makes going out and about difficult on my nerves! It would be one thing to have him screaming in his carseat if I knew that I could easily calm him down just by holding him upon arrival, but no, it takes a lot of bouncing and holding and patting and white noise for him to calm down in my arms. 

 

With that "fun" info out of the way, here is our first family picture! We went to a family wedding about 4 hours away. (You can imagine what that car ride was like since he barely slept).

 I love his faces!! It is easy to coax a smile out of him when he's content and he can see your face and hear your voice. He has even started "coo-ing" and there's a hint of a chuckle, but he hasn't quite laughed yet. 

 He's a strong boy and likes to have help sitting up so he can look around. E still loves her little brother, as long as she gets enough playing time with Mommy or Daddy :) The glasses in the first picture was her idea!

We were blessed with a baby shower from the church ladies. Something that I definitely didn't expect, but was thoroughly appreciated! 

• He's still in 0-3 month clothes, but I'm sure he'll be ready for 3-6 after his next growth spurt. 
• We will soon switch to size 2 diapers as well. 
• We can help him grab toys, but he doesn't realize that he's holding something fun. 
• He calms down with rocking and white noise. 
• I looooove it when his long afternoon nap overlaps with his sister's. 
• I can usually get him to take 1-3 naps by himself in the crib, otherwise he naps on me or Dan. 
• He sleeps in the pack-n-play at the foot of our bed at night, and usually wakes up once to eat during the night. 

Monikered Baby Bag for Kate

So many of my friends have had babies... you may remember all those quilts I made before JT arrived? Well, for those new moms who don't receive a quilt, they get a baby bag instead. (And some very close friends actually receive both!).

We recently had two couples over with their children for a fun Saturday at our house (and at the local beach). We hadn't yet met one of the little ones, so I hurried all week to finish this bag... Thankfully (with Dan's help as he took care of JT several evenings so I could work on it) I was able to finish it in time! I'm also thankful that my mom had already appliquéd the name for me :)

All of the fabric is from my stash and several of them are actually from fat quarters that I've won in giveaways. I didn't have any matching corduroy on hand for the inside, and it was a particularly difficult week with JT (a fussy, reflux baby who absolutely hates his carseat and so never arrives at a destination calm enough to allow me to really focus on shopping) so there was no way I was heading to a local fabric store. Thus, I used some patterned denim I had on hand instead. I think it turned out alright!

And, here is the little lady herself! Cutie pie :)

I think my July goal will be to finish another bag... I'll be seeing another of the new mommies at the end of the month!

Wedding Reminiscing [Cake!]

It's anniversary month! 

Oops, here I thought I was done reminiscing with the previous post about the reception, but here is one last post: it's cake time :)

(Thanks for putting up with all my reminiscing this month... I've had fun revisiting the pictures and remembering all the fun details!)

My mom and dad had a square wedding cake, so I had always dreamed of having a square cake, too. Besides, they are easier to cut, right?

The pictures are of a few greats and grands in their wedding attire. If you remember, you saw a few more pictures on the gift table. Doilies finish the table, along with borrowed cake serving pieces from my cousin. The cake topper is a gold cross that now hangs on the wall in our bedroom.

Close family members cut the cake... 

and even closer family gathered after one of my showers to help make mints - purple roses and green leaves. 

I don't have a picture, but each plate of cake had a swirl of chocolate syrup under the cake and a few mints on the side.

Here we are handing out the cake. The entire wedding party helped hand out the cake to our guests. The second picture is from my brother's wedding - the wedding party handed out the cake then too... and you guessed it... every since then, I knew that my wedding party would also be doing that! It's a great way to mingle with the guests :)

Wedding Reminiscing [Reception Details]

The last post in my Wedding Reminiscing Series...

Here we have... the Reception :)

Remember how I really didn't enjoy bossing my helpers around to decorate for the reception? And even so, the decorations turned out really well! I loved how it all came together...

The Head Table

The Head Table with a few of the circle tables to show all they all coordinated.

My mother's wedding dress, my mother-in-law's dress and my grandmother-in-law's dress. 

(I wish I would have had these labeled).

Old wedding pictures from my family and Dan's family. (I wish these would have been labeled as well).

The punch table and the gift table (the cards were put into a hat box - it's hidden there on the left side).

I loved borrowing glassware and doilies from family members and being able to use them at the reception, along with the old dresses and photos. It was nice connecting to historic family celebrations in that way :) 

All in all, the wedding day was a fun day (that I'm glad that I never have to do again!, Ha!)

Easy Sundress Complete {June Goal Done!}

Finished! 

A quick and simple project, but every finish is a happy accomplishment for me right now :)

My goal was to make a sundress for my 2 year old daughter, who we hope to potty train soon - the sundress could be a helpful tool once I feel ready to let her go diaper-free to start the process!

E has one Little Mermaid pajama top that she has grown fond of, and she has a small mermaid figurine somewhere in this house that she always wants to play with when she wears the pajama pant. So far, she hasn't asked to wear this, but whenever I point out that the dress has Ariel on it, she smiles and runs to find her mermaid toy :)

I think I made the straps just a little long, but otherwise, I'm quite happy with this. 

Goal Post Here

Number 32 in the linky party.

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 easy sundress for E (current post - finished!)
• 1 tiered skirt for E ... preparing for family pictures this fall (fabric chosen and ready to be cut)
• 1 Manhattan tops for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)
• 4 Monikered Baby Bags (fabric chosen and all but one of the names embroidered... need to cut and sew the actual bags now) - this used to be 5 bags, but I finished one recently because they were coming to visit! I'll post about the bag soon.
• A tote bag needing straps

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc
  
  

Wedding Reminiscing [Reception Tables]

It's Anniversary Month!

Now it's time for my least favorite part of preparing for the wedding...

When I am under time crunch and there is a lot to do and a lot of people are looking at me for directions... yikes, I was not a fan. 

And yet, I know we couldn't have done all the decorating by myself and I am so very much appreciative of all my helpers... my mother, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law, brothers

Wedding Reminiscing [Pics at Home]

It's anniversary month! 

Here's a few shots from right after the ceremony...

What wedding wouldn't be complete without some car decorating?? We decided to skip the limo/party bus and just drive our own vehicles from the church to the reception (25miles apart). We also had a stop along the way... at my parents' house!

We decided to do our outside pictures at my parents' house which is in-between the church and the reception, so it worked out really well to do these pictures after the ceremony. Our only worry was that we didn't want to keep our guests waiting too long at the reception, so we tried to make this stop relatively quick. Above you see the outhouse that is now a garden shed and my old playhouse.

The playhouse has special meaning to it, as that is where Dan had proposed 6.5 months before. (My dad built the playhouse when I was still in elementary school... you can read the full proposal story here.)

We took a few pictures out in the long grass... and hoped that ticks stayed away!

And one last shot... from the old swing set :)

Wedding Reminiscing [At the Church]

It's anniversary month! 

Actually, today's the day!

Happy Anniversary, Daniel! Thanks for putting up with me... I appreciate, respect and love you...

Ok, enough mushy stuff. Welcome to the church! This is the church I grew up in (and the church that my dad grew up in!). My mom wanted the outside of the church to be just as inviting as the inside - there may be only one church in the little country town we were married in, but we still wanted everyone to know that they found the right place when they came up the hill. 

These are tiki torches that we spray painted white and added tulle, ribbon and bells to. The flowers were leftover from the bouquets (well, actually the green stuff came from the ditches, but you get the idea!). If I remember right, my dad and uncle were in charge of actually putting the torches in the ground.

As we step inside, you'll find lots of little details to add to my "vintage garden" theme. Old jewelry next to the old suitcase used to contain cards on the gift table... grapevine figure-eight wreaths on the doors into the sanctuary and on the columns in the sanctuary (thanks again to my florist... she made the grapevine figure-eights and she, my mom and I decorated all of them). The programs contained stories of the wedding party in addition the order of the ceremony. I had them printed and my sister-in-law and I put them together while enjoying wine and romantic comedies! 

I had two "guest books"... a large picture and a photo book... guests could chose one or the other to sign as they walked in. This was to make sure no one had to wait in line too long to find a seat. Don't ask me if it worked or not, but I will recommend that you know for certain that the pens you provide actually write well on the guest books! (Thank you to my guest book attendants for finding more pens in their purses... sorry mine didn't work!)

Just a quick shot of the pew bows and the decorated candles in the front...

And a quick shot of the banners that my mother made... she's amazing, right!?

And of course, one picture of the actual ceremony :)

Wedding tradition required the white aisle runner, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a stickler for traditions. Thank you ushers for your help! Along with the traditional runner, I also had a blusher on my veil... you don't see that used as often anymore, but I knew I wanted one, just so my dad could lift it at the end of the aisle (and yet, I had almost forgotten to put the blusher over my face, ha! My dad had to remind me as we were preparing to enter! Thanks for watching out for me, Dad!)

We used two pastors, Dan's grandfather actually did our vows and married us, while Dan's cousin-in-law took care the rest of the ceremony. We loved having family be such a big part of our day.

Ok, one last story... my mother, grandmother and aunt all collect Fostoria (a type of antique/vintage glassware). They each have their patterns that they look for when we all go antiquing. Well, just by knowing that I love "old" things, Dan's grandmother gifted a glass plate to me for Christmas the year before we were married. I, of course, recognized it as soon as I opened it. It was a Fostoria Century cake plate! (My aunt collects that pattern). I was beyond thrilled :) I decided to buy the matching candlesticks and turn it into our unity candle holder. Perfect! And now I have a very special cake plate for all our birthday cakes :)

*Phew, that was a long post... if you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me through it all!

PS: Here's a link to more information about the music we used at our ceremony.

Wedding Reminiscing [That Morning]

It's anniversary month! 

Let's travel back 4 years to the morning of the big day...

When the girl who took these pictures was married, my friends/roomies/teammates started a tradition. We went for a run together on her wedding morning. It was no different on June 11th, four years ago. After a fun night of rehearsals and catching up with family, I woke up early with my girls and we went for a run... a few miles around the town. The fun thing with my wedding is that I grew up 20 miles away from our college town, so we were able to reminisce back to our college running days while running in celebration of my upcoming vows.

Twenty miles away at my parents' house, Dan gathered with his groomsmen, my dad and my uncle (who was staying at my parents' house). They got out targets and guns and had a fun time...

Growing up in the country certainly has its perks! (Lots of space and the neighbors aren't close enough to care about gunshots!)

After my run, I showered and headed over to the hotel where one of my cousins was staying. She works in a salon in the Cities, and I was lucky enough that she agreed do my hair and make-up! (I could really go for a nice cut and color from her right now, but now that we all have kids, the times that we actually get together are too busy for hair care! Guess I need to find someone I trust here in town... Sigh!)

June Goal {ALYOF}

Let's keep this simple, shall we?

My goal for June is to make a sundress for E with this fabric and bias tape...

It should only need one seam plus attaching the straps, and yet such a simple dress will be a welcome addition to her closet. We'll be potty training soon, so she'll be wearing sundresses and skirts quite a bit outside without a diaper. Should be fun ;)

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 easy sundress for E (current post)
• 1 Manhattan top for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)
• 4 Monikered Baby Bags (fabric chosen and names embroidered... need to cut and sew the actual bags now)
• A tote bag needing straps

UFO (unfinished objects) List...

• Twin size quilt top needing a border then quilting and binding
• A quilt top from my grandma needing quilting and binding
• 1 lap quilt needing quilting then binding 
• 6 baby quilt tops needing quilting and binding
• A pile of Christmas half-square triangles that need to be trimmed and then organized into a table runner/table topper/pillow/etc 

Wedding Reminiscing [Intro to June 2015]

It's anniversary month! 

I've always meant to post more about our wedding (wow, it has already been 4 years!?), so I figure I'll just keep the celebration going all month long with the posts I've always been meaning to share :)

We love our adventures... sure, our adventures aren't as outdoorsy as they used to be, but once the kids get older, we look forward to a lot more camping and hiking and good times in the outdoors. That is how I came up with our wedding saying, "May the Lord guide us... an adventure awaits!" 

(Above is the front page of our invite)

(Vintage hankie ring bearer pillow. Very simple to make and personalize with the wedding colors!)