Six Month Discoveries

In just a few days, our little Andrew and Wesley will be 6 months old.  I can hardly believe that much time has passed and that I will be heading back to work full time in another week.  It'll be so hard to leave my little men behind.  I've pretty much spent every waking hour with them for the past 6 months, but the bills aren't going to pay themselves.  I've been easing myself back into the swing of things these  past two weeks... trickling in and out of the office.  More to come on the balance between work and home...

With each day that passes, we are discovering new things about the boys.  The boys both just discovered their toes and are constantly grabbing them.  Wesley even figured out that toes are just one more thing to put in your mouth...both your own toes, and your twin brother's!

With Wesley, we recently discovered two teeth coming in!  Wesley has discovered them too, and constantly makes funny faces as he runs his tongue over his new pearly whites. He still has more difficulty (or more fun, depending how you look at it!) eating than his toothless brother, though!  We just LOVE his toothy smile ;)

{Wesley showing off his two front teeth}

When Andrew first came home, he was definitely the fussier of the the two boys.  Nothing we couldn't deal with, but noticeable, if you were to compare the two.  He's gone through waves of this fussiness and just last week, it was back.  We have finally discovered the fact that the boy just LOVES being naked.  No matter how cool it is, he'd much rather eat, play and sleep in only a diaper.  Silly Andrew!  Although I'm glad  Dan figured this out, I'm hoping Andrew grows out of this "phase" before it's not so cute or socially acceptable anymore ;)

{Just wearing a diaper, and sleeping like...well...a baby}

Wall of Memories

{Andrew and Wesley's newborn hats and booties.  Seems like just yesterday they fit into these.}

Prognosis:

I have a problem.  A really, really bad sickness.
I. Am. a Packrat.

There,  I said it.  Admitting it is the first step, right?

I'm getting much better, but in the past, I've saved anything that had a memory attached to it.  A bottle cap here, a pebble there, a matchbook here, a ticket stub there.  For some reason, I cannot let go of memorabilia.  My photography problem only adds to this clutter. I usually have a hundred digital or old-school photographs to go along with each of these saved things.   Thank goodness for the digital age and external hard-drives!

Now that we are parents, I have an entire new collection of keepsakes.  What to do, what to do...

Self -Prescribed Therapy:

I saw this great idea in Martha Stewart a few months ago, and although my attempt at the project will be on a much smaller scale, I LOVED the idea.  Tangible memories were collected in white shadow boxes (lots of shadow boxes)  and displayed on shelves in a room.  I knew immediately that I wanted to try this with some of my "things".  I also hoped that I'd be able to let some of my other "things" go through this process.

I plan on displaying this memory collage in our bedroom, which we haven't touched since we moved into our new home a year and a half ago.  It'll be a long term work in progress.  With me going back to work in a week, I'll have to take my time with making curtains, painting, finding an old door to refurbish into a headboard completing these frames and ripping out the teal carpet (blech!) 

Dan and I went to IKEA up in Hamilton, Ontario yesterday and I began purchasing my shadowbox collection.  When the handful of shadowboxes/frames are full, I'll get more.  Here are some of the things that I've put together so far.  I absolutely LOVE them displayed this way, and it's so much better than having them stored away where I don't see them too often.  I have a feeling there will be A LOT of things of Andrew and Wesley's that will be lovingly put into these frames ;)

{Hydrangeas from our Wedding Day.  Dan filled our bedroom with them so I could enjoy 

them as I got ready with my girls.}

{My Banana Republic wedding purse. A gift from Missy, my Matron of Honor.}

Finishing a Project

I've finally finished my friend Kate's baby quilt (to be shared by her twins) and shipped it on its way to CT.  No matter how simple or complicated a craft, I always feel great when I finish and then start pondering my next creative venture.  I definitely want to sew a few things for Andrew and Wesley (sock monkeys and quilts) and begin planning their first birthday party (invites, decorations, etc), but before that, I have an order for bibs and burp cloths for one of my best friends, and I also have 2 more gift quilts on 'backorder'.  My sister-in-law Janet and I have also been discussing possible handmade products to sell on Etsy.com.  She loves to sew and create things just as much, if not more than me!  It would be our dream job to get paid for creating, instead of working a 9-5 office job.  We've brainstormed a ton, and although we cannot come up with anything completely original, we can definitely put our creative twist on things that are already out there.  More to come on that, hopefully!
This quilt took me quite some time to finish, but I'm pretty pleased with the results.  Although I'm not happy with the 3 stripes down the middle (I only outlined-quilted the stripes instead of doing the swirly quilting pattern that I used on the rest of the quilt).
I always learn something new on each quilt I make.  This one has the best binding I've ever sewn.  I haphazardly followed this tutorial on one of my favorite blogs, created Heather Bailey who is coincidentally my favorite fabric designer. I don't think I followed her directions perfectly, but the binding is smooth and the corners are perfect, which is a first for a Marge quilt!

Fun with Moustaches

{the flying trapeze brothers on Grandma's lap}

If these photos don't make you laugh, then you may have a broken funny bone.   I just couldn't resist these tiny adhesive beauties when I saw them in a 50 cent machine in the front of the grocery store yesterday.  I was hoping to get a baby goatee or a baby soul-patch, but the moustaches worked, just fine ;)

{Wesley, just minutes after performing his rendition of Figaro, Figaro}

{Andrew, about to make a pizza pie}

Sorry boys, but you'll thank me later for these photos (or at least your wives will!!)

President's Day Field Trip

The boys and I "malled" it early this morning with my girl friend Melisa, her 3 girls (Big Sister Lucy and twins; Zoey and Stella) and about two hundred power-walking senior citizens :)

{Here's our surprisingly well behaved motley crew}

{Adorable Zoey sharing her goldfish with me.  I graciously accepted the tiny bites of golden deliciousness!}

{Someone had a little too much fun on the carousel with Lucy!}

My One True Love

I've never really been excited about Valentine's Day.  In fact, up until I met Dan, I was the one who wore black in defiance of the Hallmark holiday, however, now I *might* get a little mushy when the day rolls around.  To celebrate, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite photos from the best day ever - our wedding day.  October 1, 2005 was when I married my one true love.   Enjoy the pics!

Valentine's Day Baking

Chocolate Spice Cupcakes topped with dark chocolate ganache!  Mmmmm!

Candy Heart Cutout Cookies (Mom's recipe - My Favorite!)

No quilting for me today during the boys' nap time.  I was busy busy busy baking Valentine's Day treats for my hubby to take to work.   I just may have to keep a few cookies and cupcakes for myself!

 Happy Valentine's Day!

A Work in Progress

Here's a sneak peek at something I've been working on for...wait for it... over a year now (yes, you read correctly).  I have my reasons/excuses, whatever you'd prefer to call them.

A good friend of mine had beautiful twin girls last March.  Me and my friend Danni (the talented gal that taught me to quilt) thought it'd be a great idea to pick a pattern and each make a quilt for one of the twins.  Same pattern, but fabrics of our choice.  Easier than making 2, right? Danni picked the pattern.  As an experienced quilter, she picked something she thought was simple enough for a novice (me) to follow, but advanced enough to keep her interest.  It was a bit tedious cutting up so many small pieces, but I followed the pattern, no problem.

So I started the quilt in the fall of 2008 and ended up giving a half made quilt at the baby shower in January '09.  I was not alone.  Danni did the same thing!   We are totally both pro"craft"inators ;)  Shortly after the shower, I found out I was pregnant and then the morning sickness started.  That's pretty much when the quilting came to a halt.  By the time I was past my morning sickness (which, by the way, is a misleading name for a feeling you feel ALL DAY LONG!), my belly was just way too big to get in front of my sewing machine.  Once the boys arrived, I had very little time to do anything other than be a mom.

Now that we are all finally in some sort of a routine, I finally have some time to myself each day.   During this time, I either clean, fold mountains of laundry, read through my list of favorite blogs, bake, edit the hundreds of photos I take or sew.  I've managed to get a big chunk of the quilt done and think it'll be completed in a matter of days.  Then I can finally ship it out and start on another quilt (oh yes, there are several more on backorder!) It's coming Kate, I promise :)

Monkeys for my Monkeys

 Last weekend, my brother's family visited our house along with Jenn, a friend that I met through Julie (my S-I-L) when I lived in Rochester.  Jenn is a Labor & Delivery nurse who began travel nursing several years back. She ended up finding true love in Seattle during one of her nursing stints, got married (in a PICTURE PERFECT beach wedding in FL that we were fortunate enough to be at) and has lived in Seattle ever since. (By the way, Seattle is an AMAZING city... If you haven't been, check it out sometime!)  Anyway, Aunt Jenn, as we will affectionately call her from now on, brought gifts for the Andrew and Wesley.   ...Adorable monkey PJs and {handmade} crocheted monkeys to go along with them.  Love them!   Thanks Aunt Jenn!  Hope to visit again soon!

 

I Watch for the Commercials!

Happy Superbowl Sunday!  This just might be my favorite day of the year.  Not because of the game, or the plethora of delicious food, but because after today, I will finally have my husband back on Sundays (and Mondays and Thursdays)... well, at least until football starts up again in the fall!

Love it or hate it, I'd never pass up an opportunity to make (and devour) cupcakes!  I designed these MYSELF!!!   I could have perfected them a bit better, but I don't think the guys'll mind! I also attempted to decorate some cutout cookies (freehand, no template... oops!)  Enjoy whatever party you are attending (or throwing) today!

Handmade Valentine's Day Cards

I love to make things with paper when I have the time.  I used to make about 75 Christmas cards each year using original drawings, photos and/or rubber stamps.  I also handmade all of our wedding invitations (...all 160 of them).  These things take many tedious hours to complete.

When I'm in a rush, the humorous side of me tends to come out and I make simple, funny cards such as birthday cards with the person-of-honor's head on the body of a super hero.  You catch my drift...  Well, the Valentine's Day cards from the boys this year made the 'funny card' category.   I only sent out a handful, but the front consisted of a blue sky with two cupids (complete with Andrew and Wesley's heads, of course) shooting glittery bow and arrows.  Inside, as seen above, were the boys handprints, which wasn't too easy to do without getting covered in paint, myself.   The recipients are sure to all get a good laugh out of them!    ...and many thanks and hugs to cousin Shawna for helping us out with them during her stay last week :)