+ two, not + one...

so i know that mark hasn't made much of an appearance on here, so i thought i'd show what he is usually up to in his spare time (not that he has much of that). i mean building the vehicle, not posting on the internet. :)

other than that work keeps him pretty busy. they have had a lot of work for most of the year, so usually they are putting in 11 hr days. it sounds like they are looking at hiring a fourth programmer, but in the meantime they've got a lot on their plate.

calen is still doing well. he spends three days a week with his grandma, which he seems to enjoy. the first few days when i got him home he acted kind of irritated. almost like he's too young to know what's going on, but he knew his days were different than "normal". i think he's adjusted now.

i tried the smaller of the longies on him the other day. other than being a bit long for him i was pleased with the fit. the rise seemed sufficient and they weren't having to stretch terribly to cover the diaper. his new diapers are really absorbent, but a bit bulky on him right now - they're just a bit big for him.

the longies....

i did my project day yesterday - yippee! :) this is a shot of of my pattern and fabric pieces before
any stitching. the leg pieces are folded in half though, obviously. overall the pattern wasn't difficult, though my first pair (this one) ended up a lot bigger than i was intending. i figured he could always grow into one if they were too big, but i wasn't too interested in making a pair that was too small for him.





overall i ended up making four pairs. i'm fairly pleased with them, especially for my first time, though i did just notice a mistake that i have to fix. with the pair in the last picture i sewed the ribbing from the bottom of the sweater on to the legs to make a cuffed bottom. apparently on one side i managed to flip the ribbing upside down so i stitched the finished edge to the pants leg instead of the unfinished edge. oops....

now all i have to do is let them "cure". the grey pairs have already been lanolized twice. they just have to finish drying for the second time. the two patterned pairs are a much heavier weight wool, so they haven't finished drying from the first lanolizing.

being productive....or not

since my little project-fest before calen's birth (quilt, curtains, and bed skirt for his room), i haven't really done anything. after i spent hours looking at diapers and related paraphenalia i was inspired to make some longies for calen out of thrift store sweaters. while we weren't able to find any 99 cent deals, i was able to find several sweaters, some with cool patterns, and most all 100% wool. of course by the time i had spent all that time looking i was no longer feeling like spending a bunch of time making them, but i did manage to get a possible pattern made (it's hard to tell now without them being sewn at all) and a pair cut out. instead of just cutting the sleeves off and stitching them together as shown here, i chose a slightly more involved pattern.

it seems to be turning out ok so far, but like i said, i haven't started sewing it yet! i will try to post pictures of my process and end result when i can...

how gorgeous!!!

blog-hopping is one of my favorite things to do; you find all sorts of cool things that way...

one very generous gal is giving away a beautiful quilt - check it out!

i have to say, my first quilting attempt isn't quite up to her ability! :) (it's in the picture w/calen and his mini pumpkin)

my world champion sleeper...

i've heard some moms talk about their babies, and how they slept through the night from the moment they came into the world (ok, maybe that's a slight exageration).

i never had that problem with calen. he liked getting up 3-4, and, on a couple occasions, 6-7, times in a night.

but this last week- my goodness!! he went from getting up every two to two-and-a-half hours to sleeping 8-9 hours straight in about two weeks!

last night was his sixth time sleeping through the night, and his fifth night in a row. it was also his longest night, a whopping 11 hour sleep-fest.

mark and i had our small group meeting at seven, and we dropped calen off at grandma and papa's about a quarter 'til. they laid him down about 7:45, but we didn't pick him up until nearly ten o'clock. he barely stirred as he was buckled in to his carseat, and once we got home i put him right to bed (my better sense won out in my debate over trying to give him a quick feeding at that time). he didn't make a sound.

next thing i knew, mark was gtting ready for work and heading out the door, and i had yet to hear calen ("usually" his 8-9 hours winds up around 4 am - so that wasn't "normal"). he didn't awaken until nearly seven o'clock! and even then he wasn't really upset, just making noise and sucking his thumb.

every night when i lay him down i don't assume he's going to do it again; but i sure plan on enjoying it while it lasts!

a little pumpkin for a little man...

Here is my attempt to be artsy - not super successful i know, but he's still cute. the blanket behind is the one i made him.

i've been pretty lame over the last year with not really decorating much, so our house still feels like - a house. not really a home, and it only looks lived in because it's messy, not because there are "personal touches".

so i'm trying to do a little bit to make it feel more personal, and "fall-like".

hence the mini pumpkins and indian corn (which you can barely see off to the left).

oh, and the "fall" candy i bought in case we end up w/visitors on halloween - you know nothing says autumn's here like a fun-size milky way! :)

"no, mom, i can't hold still...."

here's a chance for you all to see how big he's getting, and how much he likes to wiggle....

the thumb...

a big help in calen sleeping better has been his discovery of how much fun sucking his thumb/fist is. it's pretty cute, we think. this video clip is a little long considering all he's doing is sucking his thumb, but i couldn't shorten it. for one thing i don't know how, for another i think the end is funny where he's practically eating his wrist. :)

firsts....

as any mommy knows, baby "firsts" can be a big deal.

last night calen had one of the big ones - first time sleeping through the night!!!!! definitely worth a few exclamation points. :D

we had our small group meeting last night and didn't get home until about 8:15. recently his bedtime has been between 7-8, so he was getting cranky. i got him fed and changed as quickly as i could and put him down in his crib (he moved out of the co-sleeper in our room last sunday). he fell asleep pretty quickly if the lack of noise was any indication. my first clue that he was sleeping longer than he typically does came when i woke up feeling more than slightly uncomfortable! when i got up to take care of the problem (yay for pumps!) it was already after 4am. he ended up sleeping from 8:45 to 4:45! :D

after i fed him in the morning though he didn't really want to go back to bed, but i convinced him it wasn't really morning yet and he fell asleep in our bed.

i'd forgotten how nice 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep feels like!

mommy tools!!!

i have a new addition to my kitchen - thank you my dh! :D we ordered it before i left for wa, and it was here when i returned.

some features i'm enjoying:
- the center post on the bowl has a quick release which is super when washing/drying. this should eliminate the problem of moisture seeping down into the drive on the base and corroding the metal.
- the redesign also makes it easier to lock the bowl on the base - no more turning it around and around (maybe that was just my problem! :D)
- i know it says you're not suposed to run the mixer without the full cover in place, but i love it that i can just use the splash guard and easily add ingredients (no weird hand contortions or measuring cup fancy work) while mixing without food flying everywhere.
- i haven't made a heavy load of bread dough yet, but when i do i'm sure i will enjoy those 800 watts and the new deep lip on the bowl.