Thankful Thursday: Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Two years ago, the cutest, most precious baby entered out lives.

The first few months were filled with heartache and uncertainty.  Even after having three kids, we were in unknown territory.  Two days after she was born, we found out she would need open heart surgery.  It was confirmed that she has Down syndrome.  

But, it doesn't matter.  She is ours and we love her unconditionally.

Yesterday we celebrated.

Two years of giggles, smiles, stubbornness and squishy hugs.  While we're still waiting for her to decide to stand and walk, she has found her own way of getting around (Please turn off the sound, there was a political discussion going on in the background ;) ).

When trying to figure out what kind of cake to make for her, I came across this idea: 

Ice Cream Cone Cakes

The instructions looked easy enough.  But...

Oops.

But to be fair, they didn't all turn out like that =)  And the kids had fun decorating the *fails.*

See.  I just had to make sure I didn't fill them too full and there were no cracks in the cones =)

Today I'm thankful for squishy baby hugs and the chance to be Sweet Pea's mama.  

What are you thankful for today?

Yellow and black, yellow and black...

Black and yellow!  Let's mix it up.

I made this diaper bag for a friend as a thank you gift...  And as a congratulations gift.  Sh'es expecting again, and would be in need of a new diaper bag =)

Completely lined with a laminated cotton for easy clean up.  Lots and lots of pockets to stash everything that a baby and mama needs.

I had a lot of fun making this.  Even came up with a few design improvements for the next one =)

Up- cycled Blanket

Here is the blanket to go with the wedding dress up- cycle.  It's the perfect size to go in the car seat or in a bassinet. 

The flower petals and the butterfly wings are not stitched down, so Baby D will be able to play with them...  That is if her mama lets her have the blanket =)

Up- cycled, Down- sized Wedding Dress

A couple months ago, a friend asked me if I would be willing to take her wedding dress and make a dedication gown for her new baby daughter.  And I said "Of course!"

The before picture.  A strapless dress with a colored sash and a bolero jacket.  The veil had tiny pearls and rhinestones on it.

And the start of the after pictures.  Sweet Pea decided to cooperate this time =)  A simple bodice dress with cap sleeves and a (very) gathered skirt.  The dress is completely lined- no tulle to make it poofier though.

Girly- girl was standing behind me making faces and singing silly songs.  I guess she didn't like the song as much.

I took the sash and down- sized it.  It looks bigger than it really is because of how Sweet Pea is sitting.

I took the veil and turned it into an apron for the dress- just added a pink ribbon at the top.

She really liked the feel of the veil.

I also made a completely reversible jacket.  This is the white side.

And this is the brown side.

Here is the dress and jacket with out the adorable model.  The shape of the jacket is easier to see hanging up.

I still have some of the dress left and will be working on a blanket with it.  I haven't done any quilting, so that should be an interesting challenge =)

Purple Passion

 We had our family pictures scheduled in November, and I spent some time trying to figure out what everyone was going to wear.  I wanted us to match, but not be "matchy- matchy."

So, I found a beautiful purple heather sweater knit and made myself this wrap style dress.

Close up of the top part.  One of the best things about a wrap style dress is that it's nursing friendly =)

And then I found an adorable pattern for a little girl's kimono style jacket.  It's still a bit big on Sweet Pea, but she'll grow into it =)

Then I decided I liked the style so much that I wanted one for Girly- girl as well.  But, the pattern wasn't sized for her.  My first attempt at sizing up/ drafting a pattern.  I think it turned out pretty good =)

I wanted it to be slightly different, so I added some flower trim around the edges.  (And it's hanging crooked on the hanger.  The one side really doesn't hang that much lower).

Girly- girl seems happy with it =)

And here we are.  See, we all match, but aren't "matchy- matchy."

Sweet Pea's All Wrapped Up

Sweet Pea's wrap has been done for a few weeks, but it's taken me this long to get pictures of her in it =)

Pink sock monkeys

Stripes

She was taking a nap in it for her pictures, otherwise, she would have had her head out looking around =)

Another Flower

In my last post about flowers, I said I had been looking for patterns for those obnoxiously cute (ie big) bows for little girls.  After looking through several different patterns, I came up with this one.

Yes, I know she's adorably cute...

The head band is pretty simple.  Chain how every many you need to fit around the head, dc in third chain from hook and in each chain across.  Slip stitch the last stitch and weave the ends together to form a band.  I added the button where the band comes together.

The flower was made with this:

Ch 6, join to make ring with sl st.
Round 1: ch3 (count as dc), 15 dc in ring,sl st to third ch of beg.  (16 dc)
Round 2: ch3 (count as dc), dc in same space as joining, *2dc in next dc*. Repeat from * around, sl st to third ch of beg. ch3. (32 dc)
Round 3: *ch4, skip next 2 dc, sc in next dc*. Repeat from * around ending with sl st to previous joining st.
Round 4: *7 dc in next ch4 space, sc in next sc*. Repeat from * around, ending with sl st to previous joining st.

Because the flower had a hole in the center, I used that to attach it the button.  If I ever want to make other flowers in different colors, I can easily change them out and not have to make a new band every time =)

All this only took a couple hours to put together.  Probably would have been quicker if I hadn't had "help."

Double Take

Sometimes I love a challenging project and other times, well...  Not so much.  This is one of those projects.  When I pictured it in my head, it came out perfect (of course!) but when I actually tried to put it into practice.  Well, needless to say there was lots of seam ripping, broken needles and hair pulling.

While I'm not 100% happy with the design, I'm happy enough that I will continue to tweak it until it is perfect.  If I wasn't happy with it, the whole project would have ended up in the "I will fix this later" pile.

The idea behind this wrap is to give the wearer more options.  The panel in the center is interchangeable.  And that's where the design flaws come in =)  I have to figure out a better "framing" system for the panel and a better way to attach the panels.  Once it's perfect, the wrap will offer a lot more color options for the wearer.

The main panel that cannot be removed.

The optional panel.

After working on this one for awhile, I came up with a design that offers only two different panels (instead of unlimited like the original design).  So, for now this is the design that is available.  

The first side.

The second side.

You'll notice that it's "missing" the black border around the panel.  

If you're interested in the second design, please let me know what colors you would prefer- for the wrap part and for the panels.  Depending on the fabric, prices start at $40.

Wrap Me Up

One of my favorite baby accessories has been my wraps.  And I'm always so happy when I can show other mom's how to wear their babies.

One of my good friend's at church is pregnant with twins and wanted a wrap for herself and her daughter.  This is A's wrap, with one of Girly- girl's babies wrapped up in it.

Looks like she has it all figured out =)