Wednesday, October 31, 2012

happy halloween!


OK - just a FEW more pictures of Henry in his Halloween costume!  We went to daddy's office for some trick-or-treating.  That's about all this little owl could handle. 



 
 Daddy taught Henry all about TPS reports.

The hat was a last-minute addition - didn't even get a good picture of him wearing it with the costume:
In case you're interested, I got most of the inspiration for this costume from here!

Happy Halloween everyone!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

phoebe bag

My good friend Morann's dear sweet Pheobe was born a few weeks ago, so I made her this little bag.  If you're child #3 in the family, you need make sure your stuff is accounted for, so the fact that her name is right on the bag may prevent her brother or sister from swiping it. :)



The first letter is machine-stiched and the rest of the name is hand embroidered...

 It's reversible!


 I've been wanting to offer these in my shop as mini diaper bags - and finally got it listed!  Thanks Morann and Phil for the opportunity to make a sample!  Go see it in my shop, why don't you?

Monday, October 29, 2012

halloween!

We had a whole lot of Halloween fun this weekend!  First was a party with our PEPS friends.
Treetop Friends!

Some babies had more fun than others.

And now for the unveiling of the project Emily and I have been working on....
...

....

Opal's Butterfly Wings!

It was so much fun to make these that I couldn't resist making Henry an owl costume...
(I was a tree)

Plus we had some hand-me-down costumes, so we thought we'd do a wardrobe change in the middle of our second party...only to find out that our giant almost-5-month-old wasn't going to squeeze into the peel no matter how hard we tried.  Still it made a good photo opp with daddy the monkey.
All this excitement and the real Halloween isn't even here yet! Stay tuned for the main event...

Saturday, October 27, 2012

on my bookshelf : late summer/early fall

For this installment of "On My Bookshelf," I'm including my favorite quote from each book!  These are listed from my least favorite to my most favorite...the bottom 2 might be tied though. :)

Woman rescues kidnapped child, tries to find the kidnappers. This book gets a big "meh" from me.
The thought made me uneasy, which probably meant I should do it, my theory being that almost always the choice that makes you the most uncomfortable is the one you're supposed to do.
Woman disappears--did her husband do it? This book was crazy!  You'd have to read it to find out why.  But "crazy" in a brutal and often crass way.  Not sure I'd recommend it.  But the plot did keep me guessing!
The once plentiful herds of magazine writers would continue to be culled--by the Internet, by the recession, by the American public, who would rather watch TV or play video games or electronically inform friends that, like, rain sucks! But there's no app for a bourbon buzz on a warm day in a cool, dark bar.  The world will always want a drink.


I love a book with a likeable main character (or characters, in this case).  This one was pretty good!
There was a lie at the heart of the camera, it implied the past was tangible when the very opposite was true.


You know this post, from May, where I talked about maybe giving up on this book?  Well, my sissy told me not to give up, and I FINALLY finished it (4 months isn't too long to get through a book, right?)  Anyway.  You know those books where all of the sudden you want to slow down and devour every word because it's that good?   Yeah.  Read this book.
The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny.


So, this book is tied with "Cutting for Stone" for my favorite (curiously, also a book I started a LONG time ago and finally finished), but they are completely different.  "The Happiness Project" is all about one woman's project to make herself happier, by keeping specific resolutions each month for a year.  I'm a pretty happy person but I think this book made me happier!  Two gems were these:
One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make other people happy; one of the best ways to make other people happy is to be happy yourself.
"It is easy to be heavy; hard to be light." -G.K. Chesterton

Definitely read this book, or follow Gretchen Rubin's blog here: www.happiness-project.com
As soon as I come down off my current happiness high, I'm going to get her new book: Happier at Home. 

Friday, October 26, 2012

fabric friday

Time for another installment of Fabric Friday!  In no particular order... (though this first one is SO cute)
 
Gallery in Taupe : : Sarah Watts 

Tile Flourish in Green : : Joel Dewberry

Coastal Flowers in Grey Plank : : Lotta Jansdotter

Pebbles in Warm Grey : : Lotta Jansdotter

 Avant Garden in Blush : : Pat Bravo

Now off to find excuses to buy them all...



Friday, October 12, 2012

wix fix

We got a Grandma and Grandpa Wiecks fix last weekend!  They brought Henry a new hat that really looks stunning on him:
He hadn't worn a hat since around 2 weeks old, so he wasn't sure what that was all about.



 Grandma went through the Sunday paper with H.

They also watched the little guy so Jamie and I could go out to celebrate our THIRD anniversary! We enjoyed what may have been the last few days of gorgeous Seattle weather....looks like we've got a stretch of gray, cloudy and/or rainy days ahead of us.  Good thing there are so many fun indoor activities (baking, sewing, knitting, reading...aahhhhhh)...

Thursday, October 11, 2012

gettin crafty - halloween prep!

 Some quick teaser shots from yesterday's crafternoon with Opal and Emily...  Emily and I started working on a special costume for Miss Opal while Opal got in the crafty action by coloring at my desk.  I told her the theme of the day was "colorful" and she went with it!

What could it be???

Saturday, October 6, 2012

roots of empathy

Henry is now a baby superstar...at least among these first graders.

We found out about the Roots of Empathy program through our PEPS coordinator--and decided to participate since I'm missing the classroom so much!  Quick description, from the Roots of Empathy website:
"Over the school year, a trained Roots of Empathy Instructor guides the children as they observe the relationship between baby and parent, understanding the baby’s intentions and emotions. Through this model of experiential learning, the baby is the “Teacher” and a catalyst, helping children identify and reflect on their own feelings and the feelings of others."

Henry and I will visit once per month throughout the school year.  There is a special teacher (shown here to my left) who facilitates the visits.  The kids were so adorable.  They were enamored with Henry, and anyone who loves my baby is a fan of mine!


They had lots of questions (Can he walk?  Can he feel scared? Can he go to sleep by himself?) I had to restrain myself from morphing into full-on teacher mode.









 
Henry was on his best behavior--he didn't even come close to fussing the whole time!  It was so fun to be in a classroom again, and it made me realize how much I miss it.  However, it was also a lot of fun driving away at 2:45 without a bag full of papers to correct!

Monday, October 1, 2012

4 months!

Little Mister turned 4 months old today!  He weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs 1 oz at his doctor's visit.  These pics were taken AFTER his appointment...can you believe he just got 2 shots?


 Grandma Mary was here for the occasion.

So what's new with Henry?  Hands are almost always in mouth...

More smiles!  Laughter!

Grabbing toys!  And of course pulling them to his mouth :)

Ever improving head control, which is great because the doctor prescribed LOTS of tummy time in the hopes of rounding out the impressive flat spot on the back of his head!