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!)

Air Force Pillow {May ALYOF Goal Complete}

It's rather simple, but I love how this turned out. I hope my friends enjoy it (once I finally get around to mailing it to them! Their two year anniversary is coming up, so I hope to send it before then!)

I quilted the top to a piece of muslin... black thread and just traced around two of the circles and once around the outer square. I had the backing fabric on hand. For future projects I need to remember to err on the side of too much overlap for this type of enclosure... I barely had enough overlap for this pillow! 

Goal Post: Here

Number 72 in the Linky Party

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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 pillow cover using the Air Force Panel (current post - finished!)
• 1 Manhattan top for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)

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 

One Month {JT Update}

Let's see if I can keep on top of these monthly update posts... I did pretty well with E's first year, so hopefully I can do the same for JT.

We chose tractors for his growth comparison pictures. The frame takes the place of the rope used for E, and the chalkboard tray is the same (although I did have to give it another coat of paint!).

One month old! He gained a pound in a week from his 5 day appointment to his 2 week appointment, but I have no guesses as to how much he weighs now. He definitely goes through plenty of diapers, so it is nice not having to worry about if he's gaining weight or not! He is out of his newborn sleepers and into the 0-3 month clothes; he's also out of newborn sized diapers and into size 1 already. 

His little eyes stay open longer now, although he still sleeps quite a bit. When he is awake, he's pretty fussy - nothing we aren't used to though, as E was a pretty fussy newborn as well. We just have to survive the first several months and I'm sure he'll be a happy baby then! He usually takes a decent nap in the afternoon, right around the time  E takes hers as well. Mommy likes the downtime this gives her! Nighttimes are still a bit of a struggle, but that too will pass eventually...

E still does very well with the new addition, although she does get tired of how often we have to change and feed him! We both look forward to when Daddy gets off work so she can burn off some energy! I also look forward to when the mornings are warmer, so we can spend even more time outside!

I also suspect as JT gets older and doesn't need me so much, things will get easier. E has shown more interest in touching, hugging and holding her brother this past week; as JT becomes more interactive, I'm sure her interest will also increase (or perhaps she'll be bored of him by then, ha!)

A little comparison picture. Dan is the pro at the colic hold! JT in the top picture and E in the bottom picture... calm as can be with some pressure on their tummies!

Last but not least, we've been busy in the garden and in the front flower beds, and we're hoping that our little plants are tough - the thermometer hit 32 degrees last night! If they don't survive, at least it's still early in the season so we can replant if needed. (JT lasted maybe 5 minutes in his rock-in-play outside. I'll just stick to wearing him in a carrier while outside for a few more weeks...)

WIP: An Air Force Pillow {May ALYOF Goal}

I know, I know... I just had a baby a few weeks ago... why in the world am I making a sewing goal for this month??? 

Well, this one shouldn't take me too long, and it will be good to have a goal to try to get me to do something just for me this month!

I received this panel from a good blogger friend's giveaway last year sometime. It's time to finally make it into the pillow that I always planned on... it's for another good friend whose husband is in the Air Force. I don't plan on doing anything too fancy. There are actually two panels, but I'll just use one and then send the other along so she can make something with that one :)

Wish me luck!


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WIP (works in progress) List

• 1 pillow cover using the Air Force Panel (current post)
• 1 Manhattan top for E (I cut out the pieces before JT arrived)

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 

James' Baby Quilt

I couldn't just make quilts for friends, right? James needed one of his own :)

Fabric: Sasparilla by October Afternoon for Riley Blake Fabrics (I used a different line from October Afternoon for one of Ev's quilt, so this just felt right!).

I think the backing is an Alexander Henry print... another Instagram purchase from last year. I haven't checked out #thegreatfabricdestash in awhile... I should take a glimpse again soon, just to see if there's anything good ;)

 I love this size quilt (6x8 5" squares with a 4" border), as it fits perfectly over the infant carseat. We'll get a lot of use out of it... it seems that the second child gets lugged around a lot more than the first. E loves going on outings, so James gets to come, too!