First morning in her new big girl bed

IMG_3113, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

Lily last night got a big girl bed (toddler bed), and spent her first night in it. It went very well. She got new bedding too to match. We moved her HUGE purple body pillow in with her, which she likes to cuddle with. Here she is waking up after a pleasant night in her new bed with only one incident at about 4 a.m., where she either fell out of bed or woke up disoriented. We got her back in, and she slept until nearly 9 a.m.!

Poor Lily with a boo-boo

Poor Lily with a boo-boo, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

Lily was cruising around the office on Tuesday, tripped and fell. Unfortunately, there was a hard metal object between her head and the floor and she hit it. She had a deep gash in her eyebrow. After calling her pediatrician, it was determined she likely needed stitches. I called Rich, and he took her to Children's Hospital ER while I stayed with Zach and Noah at home. My poor baby did need stitches. They sewed her up and put the strips on there. Thank goodness, they are disolvable and the paper strips will fall off on their own. I can't imagine her having to go to the doc to have them snipped out in a few weeks from now. She, remarkably, has left the whole area alone the last couple days and hasn't been pulling at the strips or her stitches. Hopefully she will heal up quickly. Poor little thing.

New summer dress

New summer dress, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

Yes indeed, it is from the scrap bin fabric. Lily has herself a new summer dress. It was a super simple pattern, a freebie pattern from the SewingMamas website/forum, called the Jayme dress. It fits her nicely and is perfect for summertime. I can't believe how little fabric she still takes, even for a dress. :)

Ottobre 3/05 sleeper

Otto 3/05 sleeper, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I'm sewing again. Lily grew inches in the last month or so and her sleepers are too short, especially those with feet in them. So, I'm sewing away. If nothing else, I'm going to get really good at zippers. Here she is modeling her new one tonight. The pattern is from Ottobre Magazine, the Autumn 2005 issue (3/2005). This came out really nice, I think. It has the crotch gusset like the Kwik Sew one I was using. That gives great fit for cloth diapers. I added the little snap tab at the top to the pattern because she is starting to unzip herself. I plan to make more of this style.

Lily in her new jacket

Modeled shot, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I finally finished Lily's jacket I started two weeks ago. I ran out of binding and had to order the brown binding from Canada. Yes, Canada. Talk about hard to find a match. I should have measured better before I started so I would not have run out. In any case, I finally finished it with the last 8 inches of binding I needed.

She liked it and didn't want to take it off. That is a miracle given she had stomach flu hit in the predawn hours this morning through mid morning. She napped and got her new jacket when she woke up. She perked up as she likes new things. :)

Kwik Sew 1037

KS 1037, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I finally made Lily some sleepers that I am really happy with. This is from Kwik Sew 1037, made in a really really stretchy aqua Malden Mills fleece.

I made a second pair then in a very thick fleece with little stretch, and those also came out quite well. I love being able to replicate our favorite PJs from stores.

In other news, note our model is standing so nicely. Lily began walking last month (at age 15 mos) and now is a walking pro, gaining speed by the day ... all the better to catch up with her brothers!

Small climber ...

Hmmm, what now ... , originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

Yes, she managed to climb up there all by herself while mommy was in the garage a couple minutes putting the laundry in the washer. She is quite agile to say the least, following right along in her older brothers' footsteps for getting into mischief.

Ottobre 1/09 #6

The newest Ottobre children's edition had the cutest little tunic for babies/toddlers. It was a little fussier to make than my usual super duper simple tees and leggings, but it was worth it! I did it in a very lightweight pink paisley jersey knit for summertime, and used some aqua polka dot ribknit that had been in my stash for about 6 years for the neckline binding, cuffs and leggings. I really like how it came out. It covers her arms and legs for crawling and exploring but is very lightweight for spring and summer evenings. I used my snap press for the little snaps on the front. I WISH I had some to match the aqua but just didn't have a similar enough color in my assortment so the dark pink was the best I could do.

I'm eager to make this one again in different fabrics, but I'm going to do a few other projects first. So many patterns so little time .... :)

Lily

IMG_3383, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

We haven't had a family photo in a little while on the blog, so here is Lily modeling her new mama-made pants. She is still so small that 1/2 yard gets a pair of pants for her and a little extra for the scrap bin as well.

If you read my past posts, you know most of Lily's clothing comes from a cousin and a friend of a friend. As she gets bigger of course, we get a little less because kids get harder and harder on their clothing! So consequently there is less to hand down. We see this ourselves in passing clothing from our oldest son to our middle. Anything left from that then goes to a cousin, but by then it gets pretty sparse.

In any case, because we have a donated wardrobe we have some pieces that just don't have anything that reasonably matches them. So what I'm doing is pulling out clothing for this season and the next size up and matching up outfits. Then anything hanging around left over I'm looking at my stash fabric and seeing if I have a good match there. Then I sew up a coordinating piece. This cute striped top had nothing to go with it, so I did the brown pants for her.

This past week, she got 3 new pair of pants to go with existing tops. We also have trouble with pants given to us because she wears cloth diapers and typical clothing for toddler girls barely has room for a diaper at all let alone a cloth diaper. Besides, she likes her pants roomy for all that climbing, crawling, cruising and preparing to walk!

Happy birthday baby girl

IMG_3211, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I can't believe she is a year old already. I had to document it with a picture this week. This past year has just flown by.

Ottobre romper

Ottobre romper, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I'm always at least one issue of Ottobre magazine behind. Just this week the new issue (fall things) arrived, and I sewed this up from the 3/08 edition. I did a 68 cm. The fit is good in width but just fits in length now with her cloth diapers so she will grow out of it quickly. That's okay though; we will enjoy it while it fits. No modeled shot this time as she is a little grumpy this morning and not into wearing it other than a quick fitting for snap placement prior to me completing the snaps.

New Outfit for Lily

New Outfit for Lily, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I have been sewing a lot for my Etsy shop and not so much for the kids and husband so this week have been doing some more for them. This set is from Ottobre 2/2004 magazine, a simple little top and pants.

We have loads and loads of clothing for her, but honestly it is mostly pink. She looks great in more vivid colors. I feel bad sewing though when we have so much already for her given to us. It is pretty disappointing honestly. I looked forward to a baby girl for so many years and don't really get to sew for her. This is my compromise of sewing a tiny bit for her and using what was given to us. I'm too frugal to just donate what was given, but she may be my last baby and I will always regret not making things for her if I don't. So here she is in her mama made outfit today, my own little miss sunshine there.

Lily modeling a receiving blanket

Bubbles receiving blanket plus an cute baby, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

I made the receiving blanket for my shop, which I like, but I LOVE how the photo of Lily came out so I'm showing off Lily. Sorry folks, she isn't for sale at any price!

Lily in her new dress

Lily in her new dress, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

This photo was mainly taken to show her new dress, for which I was a pattern tester. I really liked how the photo came out though so thought I would post it on the blog. She is getting so big!

Roooolllll call

Yes, we have a roll call - Lily performed a perfect rollover yesterday afternoon from belly to back, witnessed by me, Noah and Noah's speech therapist (Stephanie). Woohoo, way to go Lily!!! I'm sure there are many more instances to come.

Simplicity 3765

Simplicity 3765, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

I got some weekend sewing in, and made Simplicity 3765 for Lillian. I made her the 3-6 month size and for once it pretty much ran true to sizing, just a little bit large. The aqua was a teeny scrap from the Wal-Mart scrap bin I paid less than 50 cents for. The red is a red stretch denim I have had in my stash for a long time, at least since Zach was tiny. I had planned it for the boys but it always seemed a little too girly, and now it is for our girl. :)

Modified Otto pants, purchased top

Modified Otto pants, purchased top, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

Today's sewing started out bad in that the T-shirt I was making for Zach out of the very last of the outerspace ribknit he loves became a wadder, now residing in the trashcan. It was on its way to being perfect (meaning I pretested the pattern on another shirt and the fit was perfect). I then broke out the very very last of his current favorite fabric, an outer space knit with rockets and so forth. I trimmed it with a red collar and sleeve bands, a favorite hue of his. I don't know what happened, if the needle became dull or what, but somehow on the bottom hem the fabric got shoved down through the footplate by the needle and got ripped in the process. Arrggghhh! A wadder.

In better news one of my favorite Yahoo group fabric co-ops (Fabricand Notions run by Ressy) posted a BUNCH of cute knits today, including several bigger boy prints. I ordered some of those, and hopefully one of those will be the next favorite fabric and we'll do that shirt again.

I then moved on to Lilly's pants in the photo that I cut earlier in the week. They are Ottobre 3/07 #3 in a size 68 cm. I left off the front and back pockets because what 6-month-old do you know uses pockets?! I also didn't line them and left off the bottom frill. I wanted them very very light for summer. They came out okay but the crotch depth is a little short for her cloth diapers so they ride below her belly button. They look comfy for her though. I matched it up with a RTW onesie someone gave us and put an applique with rickrick on the onesie to match the bottoms. I like her in the bubblegum pink rather than the pastel type pinks. Her skin tone doesn't look as good in the pastels.

I had to finish the seams with my regular machine though on this as my serger is in the shop. Boy do I miss it. What did I ever do before I had a serger? ...

Simplicity 4434

IMG_0925, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

More sewing today, this time a warm cuddly blanket for Lily. I used Simplicity 4434 and modified the construction some. The outer is fleece from Jo-Anns and the inner is green cotton sherpa from Wazoodle.com. I will be doing a review on Pattern Review detailing all the changes I made for anyone interested.

Misc. news

Lily's 2 month appointment was on Monday and she weighed in at 11 lb 4 oz, nearly a 3 lb gain since December! That puts her now solidly at the 75th percentile for weight. She definitely was a slow starter and then too off. Her height was 23 inches.

Today, Noah had his speech and language evaluation, the results of which are as we expected with him being normal or slightly above in comprehension (receptive language skills) and below average for his age group in expressive language skills. Hence, he is going to qualify for speech therapy services, to be arranged soon. Hopefully this will continue to encourage him (as we do already) in his words, and lessen his frustration at not being able to tell us what he wants.

Lastly, Zach now is enrolled in a local public homeschool charter school. We spoke to our EF (educational facilitor) via telephone today, and set up our initial meeting. My hope is that he is able to attend some classes on site and slowly build up a group of similar-age peer friends. He continues to do exceptionally well educationally speaking, but I would like to see him work on some friendships. A side benefit of this being a public school is that we will get some tuition assistance towards classes for him. We are usually unable to afford very many classes for him, so this will be nice. The down side of course is that we are accountable with recordkeeping and regulations of a public school. At this time, it is an acceptable tradeoff for us. We will continue to reevaluate this each year, continuing with the charter as long as the benefits outweigh the drawbacks for us personally.

Sewing wise, I have been trying to sew a little each day. Early in the week I finished up the binding of a UFO (unfinished object) that has been lingering since early 2007 in my sewing room. It is a quilting wallhanging, and I'll post a picture of that later on. This week I also completed some simple serged fleece baby blankets for charity, adding a little embroidery to one corner of each using my reader/writer card (VERY exciting, was my Christmas gift from DH). Today's project was a pair of jeans for Zach made from an old pair of papa's jeans. I got the project idea from the files at www.sewingmamas.com, and they came out quite well. You lay the pattern on the jean legs, using the two side seams and hem and then just have to sew the crotch seam and add elastic in the waist. I actually for mine cut off the casing allowance at the waist and added a separate knit waistband with elastic inside the knit. These are certainly not high fashion, but Zach reports they are very comfortable play clothing, and they took less than 15 minutes to create! :-)

Lillian 2 months!

Lillian 2 months!, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

I can't believe Lily is already 2 months ago. Here is a photo taken 1/1/08 of our youngest cutie.