Piper is 3 Months Old!

My sweet little baby just keeps getting bigger and bigger! How is it that 3 months have already flown by? Where did the time go?

Sweet Piper loves to snuggle. We spent many mornings while Emily was at preschool just watching each other. She started making “social noises” over a month ago but in the last few weeks, she’s started talking up a storm. And the smile when she does! She could be more pleased with herself!

But what this child loves best is eating! She’s perfectly content as long as she has a full belly 🙂 Which is why she’s such a chunky monkey!

Tied for her favorite is big sister Emily. Piper just lights up when she sees Emi. They’re constantly talking to each other and making each other smile. These two girls are such blessings in our lives!

My Two Girls

Okay, I’m sure you’ll eventually get tired of seeing my girls… but a little quiz for you. Which girls is which?

 

 

 

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Piper is the top and Emily the bottom. Both pictures were taken when the girls were about 3 weeks old. Pretty similar, aren’t they?

One Month Old

Dear Piper,

One month ago you finally decided to make your debut. To say that you’re loved, sweet girl, is an understatement. In four short weeks, you’ve brought so much joy and so many snuggles to our lives. Obviously, Daddy and I love you so very much. But your biggest fan is probably Emily… She loves to hug and kiss you. And whenever you start crying, she brings you a paci and starts singing the ABCs to you. Little besties already!

You love to eat… you gained two pounds in two weeks! But just as much as you love to eat, you love to sleep at night (not so much during the day). The last few nights I’ve had to wake you up to eat in the middle of the night. But yay, that the pediatrician said today you could sleep as long as you wanted! We’ve gotten into a pretty good routine in the last week. You want to eat at about the same time and start a nap around the same time each day. Too bad you’ll probably change that now!

 Your favorite thing (besides eating) is snuggling. If you could spend the whole day in my arms you would! I get so little done, because I just sit and stare at your precious little face (of course, that’s changing now that Emily is home with us–she doesn’t let us just sit and stare at each other very often!). Or hold your little hands. Or your little feet.

Thanks for all the joy you’ve already added to our lives. You and Emily are such blessings to our lives. Much love little girl!

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Still Not Here

Dear Piper,

You were due yesterday. And you’re still not here. Now I know that a due date is just a guess, but sweetie, I really want to meet you. And snuggle you. And count your fingers and toes. And smell your lovely baby smell. Plus Daddy and Emily want to meet you. So please, come soon (like tomorrow).

Love, Momma

8 Days Till Due Date

Single digits. Craziness.

For so long, this pregnancy felt like it was taking absolutely forever. And now, my due date is just around the corner. I’m so excited to meet Piper Grace! Counting her fingers and toes, watching her sleep, snuggling, smelling the baby smell. And seeing Emily with her baby Piper.

Is there anything better than a sleeping baby?

And yet, as excited as I am, I’m scared to death. Which I suppose is normal. But I do have some guilt about how many things are going to change for Emily. I’ll be the first to admit, that little girl is a little bit spoiled and definitely a princess! How could she not be–have you seen that smile! Emily is, in theory, excited about Piper coming–she loves babies and is as gentle as a toddler can be with them. It’s just going to be hard when Momma is holding the baby and Emily wants me…

 

We’ve been trying to prepare Emily for her little sister…
*Talking about her all the time
*Kisses, hugs, pats, talking to her
*Naming one of her favorite babies Piper
*Letting Emily play with Piper’s toys and crib
*Buying a present for Piper
*Getting a present for Emily from Piper
*Creating a “you are special” book for Emily while we’re gone

Any other suggestions that you’ve tried when new babies join the family? Suggestions for when Piper comes? Ideas for quality time with Emily?

Emily’s Doll

You know how there are some projects that you just love? That was this doll!

I used the tutorial at Make It and Love It. Way easier than I was expecting–two days later, I was done… Okay, I stayed up WAY too late one night, but it was so worth it!

Usually I’m all about personalizing a project and not following the picture exactly. But the doll on the left uses the same material as Emily’s birthday skirt, so that’s what I kept picturing. I couldn’t find any pink chevron for her tights, but the top is the same. Just with some sleeves.

Honestly, the only difficult part was attaching the front and back pieces, because there were arms, legs, and hair to keep tucked in. LOTS of pins, sore fingers, a few retries later, and she was done!

Why yes, Emily does match with her doll…

I just love her! And Emily likes to carry her around by her braids! Or tickle her nose with the end of the braids.

 Plus some skirts for her to wear. Since the skirt pieces only measured 5×21″,  my scrap box had plenty of options. Okay, I did go back to the store to get her birthday skirt fabric (the skirt on the bottom) so Emily and her dolly can match.

Right now Emily mostly just holds her or pushes her in the little stroller. But there’s just something about seeing her hugging and carrying around the doll I made for her!

Bib Backpack Tutorial

I saw an idea on Pinterest about hanging bibs on the back of a high chair using a Command hook. Genius, I thought. Until I watched my child reach up and pull things off a table higher than I thought she could reach. Yeah, those bibs would be everywhere! But I really wanted the drawer space back! So I decided on a “backpack” that would hang on the back of her chair.

Now, I have to be honest. I know how to make one type of pouch. And I just used the same format over and over. Remember, this tutorial for the bag for Fabric Memory? Pretty much the same thing with just a few modifications (yeah, I’m using some of the same pictures…) I did only use one panel for the outer fabric and lining this time though.

Fabric Memory bag

What you’ll need:
*Outer fabric panel 14×24″
*Lining fabric panel 14×24″
*velcro
*coordinating ribbons

1.  Fold the bottom of your panel up so there’s about a 4″ flap at the top. Sew up both sides. Do this with the lining too.

2.  Creating a flat bottom:  Push your corners out so they create a triangle.

3.  Measure down 1″ from the corner.  Sew a seam following the line your pin created, intersecting your side seam. Repeat with both corners of the outer fabric and both corners of the lining.

Finished bottom

4.  Turn your lining right side out and slide into your main fabric (which is still inside out). Line up the upper edges and pin.

5.  Sew around all the edges, leaving about an inch gap. Clip your corners.

6.  Turn it right side out. Top stitch around the whole opening, which will close the gap.

7.  Attach the velcro to the flap and line it up on the front of the bag.

8.  Find the center of your ribbon. Zig zag it to attach to the back of your bag. The position of these ribbons depends on your chair. Make sure they easily attach to the back.

Then you’re ready to attach to your chair and fill with bibs. Nice and out of the way!

Enjoy that you just freed up a drawer in your kitchen!

Party Outfit

I spent hours deciding what Emily would wear for her party (and now I’m a little embarrassed to admit that!). Make or buy? Skirt or dress? Style? Fabric? The only thing I knew was that it would be pink. And somehow go with butterflies.

The decision:

For all that agonizing, the outfit ended up being pretty easy to make.

Onesie:

I took a onesie we already had and added some ribbon and a butterfly. JoAnns had this pleated-type ribbon that I pinned into a  butterfly path (I’ve done this with regular ribbon and it looks great). The butterfly was so easy, but I think it’s really fun! I cut a butterfly out of felt and zig zagged the center to the onesie. Then I folded it over and sewed a straight seam to create the 3-d effect.

Skirt:

I used this idea from Designed by Dawn Nicole–I just left it as a skirt. Super easy to do, but it did take more fabric than I thought.

Lessons Learned:  Keep it simple. Pick and choose what you like from outfits. I’m finding that with Emily’s clothes, I do a lot of tutorial mash-ups instead of creating my own patterns. Best way to go!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Dear Emily,

1 year

Today you turned ONE! One! I can’t believe that we’ve had you in our lives for 365 days.

Week 2

I fell in love with you the moment I found out I was pregnant. But when you were born, I thought I would burst with the love I felt for you! Who would have thought a year later that love could grow even more!

2 months

You have the best little personality. That you love people–laughing and talking to anyone you meet (this makes grocery shopping so much more fun). The way you cock your head to the side and give a huge smile. The way you’re fearless, as Daddy does back flips with you or you go exploring. That you give hugs and kisses to all the little kids at church. Our “conversations” in the car. How you wrinkle your nose when you’re really happy. Even your mischievous smile when you know you’re reaching for something you shouldn’t.

3 Months

Some of your favorite things right now:
*Carrying Bacon around with you everywhere (her stuffed pig)
*Bouncing up and down when you’re really happy
*Reading books
*Pulling everything out of your drawer in the kitchen…and any of the cabinets you can get into before I stop you
*Crawling
*Bathes
*Bananas, graham crackers, and oranges
*Playing peek-a-boo behind your blanket in the car
*Pulling up on anything that will give you even a little support
*Chewing on everything
*Taking your toys out of tubs and putting them back in
*Counting 1,2,3 and throwing open the curtains
*Taking off your socks (and then pressing them on your feet to “put them back on”

7 months

I’ve learned a lot in the last year because of you. I’m figuring out how to keep you and Daddy as my top two priorities with my time. I’ve learned how to just sit and enjoy you instead of feeling like I should be getting something done. And I’ve learned that you have a stubborn streak just as much as I do, which is very humbling. I’ve always known that I’m a worrier, but now I worry about you–are we leading you okay in the Word, did you eat enough, are you sleeping enough, am I teaching you enough words…

9 months

I’ve also learned a lot about my beliefs as a Christian. Every night we read your little Bible, and there’s something about hearing those stories phrased for a child that makes some of the truths just that much more apparent. But even more than that, as a mommy, I’ve started to realize just what a sacrifice God gave us in our salvation. To give up His only Son. For sinners, people who didn’t deserve such a gift. It makes me tear up thinking of losing you for any reason, but especially for people who would turn their backs on you. Every night when we say our prayers, we thank God for His gift.

11 months

Little Bug, your heart is filled with joy. Your smiles, laughs, kisses are such clear examples of that. And that joy radiates out and fills our whole home. You are such a blessing to your daddy and me. We love you with a great big love sweet girl.

All my love, Mommy

1 year

Creative Collections: New Life Out of Onesies

After finally writing the post about updating Emily’s onesies last week, I realized that I had pinned a few ideas on how to upcycle some of her outfits. But not wanting leave the boys out, I searched for them too!

Bubble Dress by Make It and Love It

Necklace Onesie by A Couple of Craft Addicts

Onesie to Dress by Smile and Wave

Faux Vest by B is for Boy Creations

Tie Onesie by The Thrifty Craft Junkie

Bow Tie and Suspenders Onesie by Go Ahead and Make a Bid on That

And don’t forget about appliquéing something cute on the front… superhero logos, flowers, animals, team logos. Just search Google Images and be creative!