Sewing Projects

I’ve got the sewing bug. I’ve finished 5 projects in the last couple of months. Some with help and some on my own. I’m loving sewing. I get a sense of accomplishment when the project is done. I’m able to focus only on one thing. I crave a large sewing room one day.

This is the first piece of clothing that I’ve ever made. It was easy for me because there was no pattern. It was more like a plan, and some instructions I can follow. I found it free off a blog.  It was great and took me an evening from start to finish. That’s awesome for a beginner like me.

This is a pattern I found that I was so excited to make for Hailey. It looks cute. The pattern said,”Very Easy.” It LIED. Talk about false advertising. I started it by myself but got stumped pretty fast. I called my M-I-L and she came over to give me a few pointers. 5 hours later we were mostly finished. It’s gorgeous but easy it was not. I’m also glad I made a smaller size because it’s huge on her.

Since summer is here, we plan to spend a great deal of it at the sprinkler park and pool. Hailey looks ridiculous in disposable swimmer diapers. They hang down to her knees. I really wanted some cloth ones but had trouble with spending 15-20$ each. Realistically she needs 3 pairs. A blog I was reading posted a tutorial on making them. They looked easy enough. I bought the material and set out on my merry way. I needed a little help putting the elastic on but after I made the first one I made 3 more. To find out that they were a little big. I had enough to make 4 more smaller ones for this summer. Fewf. All in all I made 8 swimmer diapers for 30$. The other day we went to the sprinkler park and Hailey load tested them in 15 minutes and they work great. I’m very sorry Hailey’s not in these to see. You’ll have to wait for that.

See that bathing suit top. It’s sweet and good for the long hours in the sun. I also bought a pair of board shorts to match in the same size but they’re huge on her and won’t stay on. Old Navy doesn’t sell lycra bottoms so I thought I’d make some. I used an old pair of Vanessa’s underwear and cut them up to make a pattern. I was warned that bathing suit material was very difficult to sew so I figured I’d have to make a few pairs to get it right. I got really lucky and this was my first attempt. I’m glowing with pride and Vanessa loves them.

The last thing I made was very practical. We go through 3-6 face clothes at the dinner table a day and they never really make it downstairs to the laundry room. I made a mesh laundry bag to tie to the back of the high chair for dirty ones. It’s not pretty but it works.

I hope you enjoyed my little tour. Thank you for listening to me gloat. I think my next project is swim hats for the girls.

Hi Ho. Hi ho. It’s off to work I go!

Well not really. And that’s the best part. I was hired for a job that I’m already doing at home. I’m finding cool things for kids to do and updating a website with accurate information for everyone to enjoy. This can all be done while the kids are either sleeping, entertaining themselves or in school.

I haven’t started yet. This week I’ll get some training and I’ll be up and running. I’m super excited to have something of my own to do and bring in some money.

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes…

Eczema

I’d like to share my story here. Hailey has mild eczema. I haven’t really notice if there are any triggers or not. I had assumed that it wasn’t bothering her. She wasn’t itching or touching the affected areas. Early last week I took her to the doctor because she was waking up nights screaming. I had assumed it was another of her many ear infections but thankfully the doctor said she was all clear.

I noticed that her face was also getting red and rough. I thought that we needed to get her eczema under control. I did some googleing and found lots of conflicting information. Most people and websites said, “Only bath every couple of days.” Have you ever tried to keep a toddler clean for days? The open sores caused by the eczema were getting infected. One website said,”Bathe several times a day and apply lots of moisturiser.  So I went for a happy medium and bathed her daily and greased her up with Aveno Baby Eczema therapy every time we changed her diaper.

That was a week ago and we’ve seen big changes. Her skin is baby soft again and looks a lot less angry than before. It’s not completely clear but she’s happier. She was screaming at bed time and nap time and now she’s much calmer. I didn’t realise they were connected but I’m very glad she’s happier.

“I’d rather be sleeping” bumper sticker.

Well. not too many coherent thoughts going on in my brain but I thought since I was up…

Vanessa’s day camp is going very well. She has a blast in the 2:15 minutes she’s there. Today they went to the indoor pool. What great timing since it was really hot out today. The teachers were smart and put life jackets on all the kids to maximize safety and fun. The kids have more fun when they’re confident in the lifejacket. When I got there Vanessa was all dressed in the right dry clothing and had washed her hair with her teacher’s shampoo. She’s getting so independent when I’m not there. I need to encourage that more often.

We’ve got a new number system around here. Vanessa knows when I start counting she better stop what she’s doing. These days I only get to 2 because at 3 there are consequences. This works pretty well for us but it doesn’t motivate her to DO something. So the other week, I said run upstairs I said run upstairs before I get to 10 and off she went like a bolt of lightning. WOW Eric and I looked at each other and said,”We’ll be using that more often.” It used to work on me when I was a kid so I thought I’d try it. Vanessa now gets all panicky when I start and often tell me. “WAIT! don’t start now. I’m not ready.” while she gets a head start. Awesome. Works like a charm.

Mostly things go smoothly with her and I. I have noticed a huge increase in the magnitude of her temper tantrums. It’s always when she’s being put in time out for something. She figures she can fight her way out of punishment. Ha! That’s not going to work but it sure makes me feel rotten.

Today she was hilarious. I went upstairs to find there were sprinkles stuck to her face. I knew we had a few cupcakes in the fridge and deduced that she went into the pantry got the sprinkles and put them on a cupcake and ate it. She totally denied it. At dinner we trapped her. We were wondering how many she ate and said it could have been two or three and she said,”No! I only ate one!”. Heheheh she didn’t even know what hit her and still didn’t understand how we figured she owned up to it. I put that in the small stuff category and still gave her half a small cupcake for desert anyway and she polished off a large banana after. I made the right choice she really was hungry.

The other day I found Vanessa had run out to the backyard to play in her sandbox. I love it! I’m glad she enjoys playing in it. I am concerned that next year we’ll have to get a bigger one because Vanessa and Hailey will both be bigger and won’t fit. We’ll have to see how it goes.

Vanessa’s got a new bike. Although she loves her shiny pink bike she got for her birthday, I made a mistake and suggest a bike way to big for her. It’s been put away for next year. Vanessa loves the ease of this bike and is not interested in  taking the training wheels off. It’s still early in the season and she’s happy to ride with the assistance.

In the picture above we took her on the track in around the football field. I told her it was a “Lightning McQueen track” which made it extra special. She thought it was fantastic. We’ll have to go back so she can gain more confidence.

I can see the light.

Over the last couple of years we’ve let out front yard go wild a little the cedar and the lilac grew and grew. It was getting to the point that it was dark in our front room with the large window because of the greenery. Eric finally set out to do something about it. He went out without a plan and just started cutting. I was ok with that since we could loose it all for all I cared. I hate lilac bushes and the cedar was badly placed.

Before

After

There is now sunlight streaming in the front room! You can see the house and we can look out to see if friends have arrived in the driveway. The bottom of the cedar is gone giving us room to get buy and, in the winter, put snow.

Vanessa in the now

Vanessa is also growing really fast. I told someone the other day that I think her vocabulary is at par with her Daddy’s. Slight exaggeration but she comes out with all sorts of things. While eating oatmeal she said, “this is sweet and a little bit tender.” Too bad she thinks that tender food is a bad thing. She’s very sweet with her little sister and is happy to play with Hailey. She’s always looking out for her and quick to share her food.

This summer Vanessa’s involved with two different summer camps. One which is an extension of school and the other is run by a non-profit that Hailey and I will also be attending in July. She’s having a great time… I think. She always comes home hot, dirty and exhausted. These are all good things right? She tells me that it’s boooorrrring but tonight when I asked her what she wanted to dream about she said,” Camp” among other things. 

Here are pictures of her first day at Day Camp. The whole way there she said,”Why do I have to go to camp?” “why do I have to have fun?” but when we got in the parking lot. “Hurry up Mommy. I don’t want to be late!” There’s only one of her classmates there but she’s happy to make new friends.