meet liberty

its finished! my liberty of london quilt. and i love it so. it is 100% girl. it should be noted that i did not like the color pink until i was well into my thirties. it is currently living on the bed in our guest room. this bed belonged to my great grandparents. my mom had it refinished and gave it to me, there is also a matching dresser. my great grandmother was quite the seamstress, so i think she would be quite proud of me. ( she was a wallace, the same wallace's that chace was named after).

i actually assembled and attached the binding on this quilt. it was not nearly as difficult as i thought it would be and it only took me two days to do. doing this step myself saves me lots of money, which means i can make more quilts. christina did a fabulous job with the quilting. she is so fast with her turn around. i hope to meet her someday.

speaking of new quilts, i received fabric yesterday for a new project. i think it is going to be a good one. i will give you a hint, it involves breathing new life into something 37 years old.

moments

there are lots of "moments" that come with being a parent. there are good and bad moments. moments when you feel rested and moments when you are so dang tired you didn't know you could be so tired. moments when you feel out of control and moments when you have it together. moments when things are chaotic and unorganized and moments when there is relative calm. moments when you accomplish nothing but brushing your teeth and moments when you move through your to-do list with relative ease. moments when you miss your life before children and moments when you wouldn't trade motherhood for a the world.

yesterday,  i had a priceless moment with the bean. one of those moments that made me fall in love with being a mom and love the heck out of my baby. it was all thanks to a tissue paper pom-pom that finally fell off the ceiling. ( side note, they had been there for over a year. i bought them for alli's baby shower last may. i liked them, so i kept them up). this above mentioned pom pom kept the bean entertained for most of the afternoon. thanks to my trusty iphone i was able to capture the moment. and it turned out pretty cool. it should be said that i did not alter this photo in any way, shape or form. bean was lying on our couch, which happens to be dark brown and leather, so it looks like he is floating on air.

love it.

from the frontline

my newest lesson from the frontline of motherhood is... if you have a routine that works, for goodness sake do not change it!

bean has always been a good sleeper at night. the days of walking around like a zombie and feeling like you need tooth picks to prop your eyes open are in the distant past, that is until recently. the last two nights have been awful. bean has woken up numerous times and wont go back to sleep. ph and i have been on the bean merry go round trying to get him back to sleep. just when we thought we had won the sleep battle, he would wake up. it has been a long couple of nights.

the culprit of his sudden unwillingness to sleep is oatmeal cereal. everyone tells you that once babies have cereal they sleep through the night. well i am here to say that is not the case with my baby. turns out oatmeal cereal gives bean gas preventing him from eating full bottles and sleeping. we were fighting hunger because he was eating about 10 ounces less than normal and we were fighting gas bubbles. people, this is a losing battle.  sorry bean, its only formula for you for the time being.


again, the moral of the story. if you have a good thing going, do not change it up.

tuesday tidbits

** i am eating peach yogurt as i type.

** it is tasty. dannon light and fit.

** if you must know.

** thankfully, the humidity was let up.

** it was awful, i tell you. just awful.

** i learned how to hand stitch binding on a quilt this morning at my local quilt shop.

** i think this will be a perfect task for watching football.

** bean had a rough night last night.

** i think that you take steps forward in the sleep department and then GIGANTIC steps back.

** last night was one of those nights.

** i will not discuss sleeping during the day.

** i do not want to jinx it.

** we had a great visit with my dad over the weekend.

** he thinks chace is the best thing since sliced bread.

** how can you think otherwise?

** anything chace wants, is what he says.....

** ummm... how about a college education?

**liberty of london quilt is back from the quilter.

** will post when i finish the binding.

** sent in my application for this show.

** i will be shocked if i get in, but figured i mights as well try.

** i think thats it for today.

** have a happy tuesday.

weekend snapshots

well hello..... eyebrows

a quilt for riley

bean has a friend named riley.
they are 3 months apart.
riley's momma paints pet portraits.
we have two of them in our house.
but we don't have one of sabre.

she asked me if we could do a swap.
a quilt for a painting.
perfect!
she picked out the fabric.
and i did the rest.

since riley is a good southern baby,
it has a cowboy theme.
i sure hope he likes it.

thank you bean for letting me get this
finished last week.
feel free to return to your napping schedule
so i can work some more.


it is off to the quilter tomorrow.

tuesday tidbits

** i do not understand how the bean can nap 3 hours one day and fight me tooth and nail the next.

** today, ferber sleep training is not working.

** but i am trying.

** we met jen, the cardiac social worker at strong, this morning for coffee.

** we also took her another batch of cooper birds.

** i am currently obsessed with eating green grapes.

** last week i cut my hair. short. well long enough to pull back.

** but it is a very wee pony tail.

** yesterday i sang the itsy bitsy spider for an entire 20 minute car ride.

** over and over and over.

** the bean likes that song.

** my dad is coming to visit on thursday.

** currently reading The Informers.

** 6 weeks until we leave for our trip to greece.

** must buy new car seat soon so we know how to use it.

** it is expensive.

** our little robin babies left the nest on sunday.

** glad i photographed them on saturday.

weekend snapshots

mini

i like the nabisco 100 calorie "mini" snack packs. i feel like i can have something sweet without sacrificing all the hard work i put in to lose the baby weight. ph is not so found of the mini sweets, but that is another story.

i have also discovered that i have a fondness for mini quilts. they allow me to experiment with quilts design without making such a huge commitment. they look great on the wall, or on a table. you can do what you want with it and change your mind. they make great gifts, for babies and adults like.

a perfect bite size quilt!

quirky

 yesterday as i was sewing away it dawned on me that not only do i sew standing up, but i sew with a straight pin in my mouth. odd huh? so i then began thinking about all the other quirky little things that i do, that make me who i am, that are part of my charm.

**my fingernail polish and toenail polish must always match. always! no exceptions.

** i do not like unpolished toe nails.

** i drink a diet coke as soon as i wake up in the morning. always have. its the first thing i do.

** i tend to be a little dramatic about my health, although not as bad as my brother, i do always think that i have some bad disease. thankfully, my father, the oncologist, reassures me that i am just fine.

** i do not deviate from my grocery list.

** i do not like kmart or walmart, but love love love target.

** i believe that you can never have too many pairs of jeans, cowboy boots or diamonds.

** i love xmas and am fanatical about keeping traditions the same.

**i do not clean the house, but will happily cook, do laundry and the dishes.

and i think i am going to stop there......

what about you? got quirks?

dear chace

dear sweet chace,

happy 5 months! i can not believe you are 5 months old. here are some things that i have learned/ noticed about you over the last month.

** you are intense and focused when there is something you want.

** like your mother, you do not like loud voices or people in your personal space.

** thanks to both of your parents, you have a serious set of eyebrows. i am concerned we may have to wax them before you head off to montessori school.

** you know how to use said eyebrows correctly. this frightens me a little. you are only 5 months old.

** there is no better feeling in the world to see your eyes light up when you see me or when you smile at me with your one dimple.

** your laugh is infectious. but getting you to laugh is a somewhat difficult task.

** you like to wake up early, like your pappa.

** when you do nap, which is getting more regular, you like long naps like your momma.

** you are constant motion.

** you like books, music and rides in your fancy stroller.

** you continue to bring us such joy.

** i love watching you discover the world around you.

** i love being your momma more than anything in this world.

happy 5 months bean!

until next month.....

xo
mom

tuesday tidbits

** yesterday bean and i went to stories for wee ones at our local library.

** i think he enjoyed it.

** all the other moms knew the nursery rhymes and accompanying hand motions.

** i did not.

** i felt like a bad momma.

**we are on day two of the ferber method of sleep training during nap time.

** bean sleeps GREAT at night.

** i think this sleep training is harder on the momma than the bean.

**but it seems to be working.

** he is asleep now.

** lets not talk about it, we might jinx it.

** i had a bad customer service experience last week at apple.

** they made it right and gave me a new laptop.

** thanks dan!

** i bought a new purse yesterday at anthro.

** it was on sale.

** i am going to scott miller this afternoon for a haircut and highlight.

** yahoo!

sunday moments

beating the heat

its hot here.
texas hot.
heat i do not miss.
and its humid.
i don't do humid.
i like dry heat.

on top of the heat.
we lost power yesterday.
so it was really hot.

so what we did
what any normal family does.
we sat in the baby pool.

separation

dear dave,

you played an amazing show last night.
you were charming and witty.
you were modest and humble.
you put together an awesome set list.
and the chemistry between you and tim was
well amazing.

but despite all that...
i think you and i need to separate.
i will still listen to your music.
i will still think you sing to me.
and i will still be a fan.
but i do not think i will be going to any more live shows.

why? you ask.

well frankly i am too old.

i do not have patience for the people
who use your show as an excuse to
get beyond drunk.

i have no tolerance for the
rude youth that were barely in diapers
when you started playing.

i am still  traumatized
by the public display of
skin showing in the women's bathroom.

and angered by the invasion
of my personal space.
because people were too cheap to buy good seats
but felt it acceptable to encroach on mine.

i simply wanted an evening out with my
precious husband.
i wanted to listen to you sing.
i wanted to hear my favorite songs.
and witness tim's genius on the guitar.

i got all that i  asked for
and the realization
that i am getting old.

i hope you understand.
if you play a small venue
ever again.
i will certainly attend.

xoxo
luc

tuesday tidbits

** it is hot! really hot here.

** i don't like really hot.

** if i did, i would move back to texas.

** i am pretty sure that the bean is teething.

** this is not fun!

** we are going to see dave matthews and tim reynolds tonight.

** mock me is you want.

** i happen to be pretty excited about the show.

** but not about how hot it is going to be.

** there is a funny yellow line on my computer screen.

** this is disturbing.

** starting a mini quilt today.

** and starting a quilt for riley later this week.

** riley's mama and i are doing a trade.

** i am making a quilt, in return she is painting a portrait of sabre.

** ok, going to get some work done while the bean naps.

liberty of london quilt

in honor of our country's independence from great britain, i think it is only appropriate that i share with you my liberty of london quilt top. i recently developed an obsession with fabric from the famed liberty of london fabric maker. and then they came out with a line for target and well....i was in deep by then.

i am really happy with the result of this quilt. from a technical standpoint, it may be my best yet. all my squares line up. this small detail makes me very happy. i think that the colors work well together and using the white for the sashing and borders makes the fabric stand out and pop. after all this quilt was designed to showcase the fabric.

so now i have to make the back and then send it off to christina to have it quilted. this time around i am going to assemble and attach the binding. should be an adventure. stay tuned.

oh and i hope you are having a lovely independence day!

starting early