Just In!

http://www.enjoylawrence.com/Kids_Calendar.html

Elise's cover photo is up on the Kids Calendar website! I'll have to go looking for the actual publication tomorrow.

A couple more projects

I made the above I-Spy quilt for a mom that recently had her fourth girl. We had a service auction at church where I offered to make an I-Spy quilt for my service. Another mom, April (yours is coming soon! It's done but I know you check my blog so I won't show it until after it has been delivered.), actually won the quilt but this other mom ending saving all of her points for this quilt and then ended up not winning anything that night. So, I told her I would do one for her too. I made those two quilts at the same time - definitely felt faster than doing them separately.
I love the train fabric on the back.
Another project that I recently finished is this flannel rag quilt in the shape of a puppy for Ava. I had originally planned on getting it done before Christmas but that did not happen. She's been talking about her puppy quilt for a long time. She can finally snuggle up to it. This is the first rag quilt I've tried. It was definitely a different process. It's like you quilt and back each piece and THEN sew them together. Chris wasn't so sure about the "raggy-ness" of it until it came out of the wash the 2nd time.
The quilt is nice and big as you can see.
I plan to make the kitty one for Elise one day and the bear for kid #3 if said kids ever happens. Kids #4-7 will just have to share. (kidding, Chris - don't panic).

My Last Birthday

Today's my last birthday (that means I'm 29 and holding). ;) We're already off to a great start ...NOT.

Elise has been sick and was so upset last night that after trying several things and then talking with our doctor - I took her to the ER. We were there from 2am to 7am this morning. Everything there seems to move like molasses. Anyway, Elise is ok but has RSV so we're doing nebulizer/breathing treatments several times a day and keeping an eye on her. I guess RSV is very common but can lead to pneumonia if not watched.

We came home and Elise and I slept for a few hours so I'm happy about that. The ER is definitely an interesting place to be in the middle of the night on the weekend. I think there were at least 3 people admitted for having too much to drink. Then, when it was almost our turn, a man walks in with his pinking finger perpendicular to his hand. ouch. The lady in the room next to us was really sick with pneumonia and other symptoms on both ends.

It was sad too when a girl, probably in her 20s, was trying to use the hospital phone to call a ride. She finally got a cab but at one point said, when asked if she needed to wait until morning so she could get somebody, "I don't have anybody." That was sad. She was irritable and upset, and I think drunk or with hangover. I kind of smiled at her a she was leaving and she came back and was really sweet and asked me if we were okay and if we were waiting on a ride or something. Then she said she hoped we had a better night. That was kind of interesting - it's like her mood completely changed. I guess you just never know. I'll admit I was hesistant to approach her because she seemed volatile.

Anyway, I think we'll be celebrating another day. That's okay with me. Birthdays have never been a huge deal. If my kids are healthy - that's the best present anyway.

Kids Calendar

The above picture of Elise will be used on the February cover of our local kids calendar - a small, free publication available at different merchants and public places like the library and nature center.
I had just read on their website that the lady who does it is always looking for cute photos of kids relevant to the season - so I thought, why not? I sent the above pic of Elise and the one below of Ava 2 weeks ago and she emailed today saying they'd be using Elise's pic next month. I know it's just a small thing - but it's still fun.

Ava is cute too and I'll keep sending her pic in. I'll post a copy of the publication when it comes out.

Burgers

This is gross, but not that gross.

Last night about an hour after we put the kid to bed, we hear, "Daddy....Daddy", coming from Ava's room. I go in, Chris following me, to see what Ava needs.

Ava: Hi Mommy.
Mommy: Hi Ava. What do you need?
Ava: Hi Daddy. Here. I found this. (Ava hands Chris something)
Daddy: (as he's taking it) What is it?
Ava: (after she gave it to Daddy) It's a burger for you.
Daddy: (now he know it's not a burger but a booger). Oh, thanks.
Mommy, Daddy, then Ava: lots of laughing.
Daddy, Mommy: Goodnight Ava.

Ava, who calls boogers - burgers, isn't like some little kids who might do other things with their boogers. Ava likes to give them to Mommy and Daddy to take care of. It doesn't matter where we are - driving in the car, at Walmart or church or just at home. We just have to be careful when we here Ava say, "Here, Mommy or Here, Daddy". She just might be handing us a burger.

Projects

It seems like a I always have a list of projects that I either need to do (or think I need to do) or would like to do. The above quilt I had intended on making before Elise is born. That's okay. At least I finally did it. I had bought this as a kit off ebay. It was great and all but stunk like smoke when I got it. So I threw all of the pieces into the washer. What mess. Some pieces shrunk or unraveled more than others so the quilt isn't perfect. That's okay too. I'm kind of into imperfect these days. ;-)
I'm loving flannel for blankets and quilts now. I also enjoyed doing the tied quilt instead of machine quilting this time. I'm thinking of making a larger sized flannel quilt for myself. I'm still into squares and simplicity and therefore will likely never be part of a quilting guild - I'm such a rule breaker.
Sorry for the sideways picture (I'll explain below). Ava got all of these bottles of paint from her Aunt Liz or Christmas, along with some paper. She had a blast painting using her new paints and her easel. It looks like she's loving art the way I always have.

This is sad but I don't even have enough space on my computer to edit (for example, rotate) and save a pic. Chris is researching parts and things so he can build me a new one with more space, etc --hopefully this will happen very soon!!!