12 Days of Christmas Quilt

Here it is, finished and washed. 12 Days of Christmas Quilt for my little sister.

I've used the Figgy Pudding Quilt Tutorial from Moda as originally made by Crazy Mom Quilts. The fabric is 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics. Kind of wish I had my own Christmas quilt right now...

new fall hat

With the cool weather, our park playdates are going to definitely require a hat, for Charlotte and for mom. The cute argyle hat I made Charlotte last winter is sadly too small. It was time to re-purpose another sweater and make her another hat.

If you haven't visited Make it and Love It - then you definitely need to. Ashley's blog is full of fun things to make and it's easy stuff. Here's her tutorial on how to make a cute hat from an old sweater.

P.S. I fell a hundred times better today. What an icky bug.

morning sickness, five months too late

I'll tell you what a horrible combination is, being pregnant and sick! Yes, I have a new found sympathy for those who have gone through morning sickness the first three months of their pregnancy's.

I went to bed not feeling the best. Low and behold, I had to make two trips to the bathroom and slept horrible last night. Tossing and turning - my belly AND the baby. I'm sure baby wasn't too pleased at my stomach either. S/he was probably thinking, "Gee Mom, what are you trying to do to me?"

Right now I'm at my mom's house, the best place on Earth to be when sick. Charlotte is totally out of my hands, but I know I'll have to face reality and drive home today. I called Kevin, who is up North, and told him he needs to head home earlier today and grocery shop on the way.

I don't think I have the flu and already feel better, whatever that means. But still feel like scum. Hopefully this is a small bug that's well on its way out the door. Cross your fingers for me...

baby birdies in the window quilt

I was asked to donate a baby quilt to Columbia Center so that it can be presented to Blankets of Love at the Lamaze International/International Childbirth Education Association 50th Anniversary Joint Mega Conference at the Frontier Airlines Center in Milwaukee, Wis. on Sept. 30, 2010 - Oct. 3, 2010. Here's what I came up with on about 10 days notice.

It's made of purple and lavender scraps from my fabric stash. It measures about 40x50 which is a good sized baby quilt. I love the back fabric...little pink and purple birdies. Hopefully some little baby will be happy. Charlotte already seems to enjoy it...

sneak peek

All 35 of my sawtooth star quilt blocks are finished and pressed. Now I get to start assembling the quilt top, baste, quilt and bind! I feel so relieved that all my Christmas quilts will be done by the end of October. Maybe with all this early Christmas talk, I'll be all "Christmased out" at Christmas time and won't feel the need to shop so much!

Here's your sneak peek and only look until after December 25th (otherwise I'll ruin the surprise)!

I am really please with how these turned out. I can't wait to see the finish project. This star was really hard getting all the edges to line up and a few stars are slightly imperfect, but I think it's going to look really nice. If you need the tutorial again, you can download it from Sew Mama Sew.

P.S. Baby is kicking away and moving around lots!!

the big girl bed

This weekend we finally set up Charlotte's big girl bed in her room. It looks so cute in there and has opened up a lot more room for kids and toys.

I knew she would like the bed from the start as we've had her jumping on beds and reading books in bed for quite awhile now. I didn't, however, think she would sleep in it, unaided, the first night! Charlotte woke up at 11:45 p.m. and refused to lay back down (I was not happy). In this situation I rock her but now with my belly and back, it gets to a point where I can't rock 25 pounds any longer. So, I sat on the bed with Charlotte and she crawled out of my arms and crawled under the covers of her new bed. "Ok," I thought. This can work. I laid down next to her and pretended to sleep. It took about 20 minutes, but she fell asleep and I snuck outta there. Charlotte slept the rest of the night in her big bed!

Maybe the transition I was hoping to make will go smoothly. Today I ordered a mesh rail for the side of the bed just in case she falls out. It's a short fall, so at least she wouldn't get hurt. (There's no frame for the bed.) I'm not sure if this will be a nightly thing, but it's a good start!

now can i count down?

baby #2 @ 20 weeks
Originally uploaded by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck]

Half way! 20 weeks! Can I count down now, or is it still too soon?

Today was the big ultrasound. Kevin and Charlotte both came to the appointment. Dr. Lipinski had a lot going on with more labors, but spent a good 25 minutes with us to look at Baby LaPean on-the-way. Charlotte was even good for us considering it was exactly during nap time.

All of Baby's body parts look good; straight spine, four chambers in the heart, proportionate skull, no clef lip, two arms/hands, two legs/feet....the only thing she wasn't really able to see well was the umbilical cord. She'll check that out on one of my next visits. Baby weighs 13 oz. already. I was hoping it was more than that because I think I gained a few extra pounds and I really needed somebody to blame it on. Darn.

Here's a photo of Baby's face. We didn't get great screen shots, but you can see a little person there.

101 words

This morning, Charlotte hit another (verbal) milestone! She officially says 101 words. Her 101st word is BEE, complete with a sound that is supposed to be buzzzzz. We are enrolled in a program called Parents As Teachers through the Ozaukee County Family Services. Our parent-educator gave me a blank list to start writing down words (and signs) that Charlotte makes. What a great idea! Why didn't I think of that. It's so fun to add another word and look at the list. I'm sure there are a few words that we haven't quite caught yet. We only list a word when she can recognize something on her own and say the word (ie: no help from Mom or Dad and no prompting).

What fun!

20 week update

Half-way? You've got to be kidding me! I hope (maybe) the next half goes just as fast! Here's my first official prego photo. Only took 20 weeks to get one. I'm in maternity pants, as I've shared before. Still feel awesome and have plenty of energy (if Charlotte hasn't drained it all). 

My big ultrasound is this Friday. Kevin and Charlotte will both be there. We aren't finding out the sex of the baby, so those of you dying to know, you'll have to wait another 20 weeks. Friday we'll get another photo of the little peanut inside me. Exciting!!

On a side note, we went apple picking at Barthel's Fruit Farm on Monday morning. The weather has been fantastic!! I went with some other moms from my MOMS Club and the kiddos had a great time. Most of them stood around and ate apples in the orchard while the moms picked the fruit. Here's a photo a fellow mom, Laetitia, took. (And here's her photography website: http://www.tresjoliephoto.com)

i'm all about feel-good food

Yes, with pregnancy seems to come the appetite for feel-good food, a.k.a. comfort foods. Here's another one of my favorite recipes that we tend to make on a regular basis. I've gotten it out of a grilling magazine, although I've never made this over the grill. The combination sounds strange at first, but it's the best!! (And a good alternative to filling up without meat.)

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadilla

• Baked sweet potatoes (mashed)
• Black beans, cooked
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Minced jalapeno pepper (optional)
• Cumin
• Minced onion (optinonal)

Directions
Lay tortillas on a flat work surface and fill with your fillings. Put another tortilla on top like a sandwich. Lightly coat a cast-iron skillet or grill pan with olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Place quesadillas in skillet or on grill, working in batches if necessary, and cook, turning once, until cheese is melted and tortillas are golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. (Sometimes I put a heavy pan on top of the tortilla to squish it down a bit.)

Transfer quesadillas to a baking sheet and place in oven to keep warm. Repeat process with remaining ingredients, adding more oil to the grill or skillet as needed. Cut quesadillas into wedges and serve warm with desired garnishes. Fresh salsa, lettuce and sour cream make great additions!

do you crave carrot cake? i do!

Nothing, in my opinion, is better than a good (and healthy!!) carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. It's just the perfect combination of everything. Here's my favorite recipe for it. With the applesauce, carrots and raisins, this definitely has to count as a health dessert. Make, and enjoy!

Ingredients
2 3/4 C flour

1 tsp salt

3 tsp baking soda

1 C sugar

3 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

4 eggs

3/4 C veg oil

15 oz. applesauce

3 C shredded carrots (approx 1 sm. bag)

1 C raisins

Frosting

2 C powder sugar (sift to get out clumps)

1 tsp vanilla

2 packs cream cheese

1/2 C butter/margarine

Mix all dry ingredients. Beat eggs and add oil, sugar and vanilla. Add applesauce and carrots. Mix with dry ingredients. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 45 min. I can smell it now....

flying geese

I've started working on a sawtooth star quilt designed by Sew Mama Sew! Here are some flying geese, one of the block basics for the larger quilt block. Each block will finish at 12 inches. Most of the prints are part of the Hoffman Holiday Renaissance and Holiday Cheer line. It is beautiful fabric up close. To the left is a stack of 1/2 flying geese blocks, pressed, and ready to have the other side added on and pressed again. Have I ever mentioned how much I really hate ironing...

I saw this quilt by interchangeableparts and had to make a sawtooth star quilt!

18 mo. doctor appointment

Holy cow! Charlotte sure is growing (despite being a picky eater too). She is 34 inches tall (97%) and 24 lbs. 13 oz. (60%). I was really happy she went from 40th percentile to 60th for the weight because that means she is definitely getting the right nutrients she needs to grow. I'm still having a hard time getting her to eat meat and a variety of veggies, but fruit and eggs still manage to be at the top of the list.

For this appointment, I brought along a little friend I was watching for the morning. Eli is 2-years-old and behaved like an angel for me at the appointment. Yes! I survived an appointment with TWO toddlers! Makes me feel pretty good.

Charlotte's next check-up is at 2-years. It's really strange to think I'll be taking TWO kids to that appointment too. Baby will surely be born by then. I'll have to see if I can arrange to have their check-ups at the same time so I don't have to go twice to the office.

All-in-all, Charlotte is healthy and growing big. Perhaps basketball and high jump really are in her future, sitting at 97th percentile for height! You go girl! No wonder her feet are so big...size 6.5 shoe at 18 months!

don't take toddlers to weddings, ever!

This weekend was a road trip to Kalamazoo, Mich. to visit some friends of Kevin's from college. They also have a toddler, Carmen, who's 14 months. The two girls have had a blast playing together. Running all over the house and the yard. What a handful!

Today we attended a beautiful outdoor wedding at a Bed & Breakfast. Despite it being a little cool and windy, it was wonderful. However, there was one downfall, I have a toddler...yep, that means nothing is easy. Especially attending somebody else's wedding. Within a few minutes of being there, Charlotte was already tearing up the place. Luckily there was LOTS of room to run around outside. During the ceremony, Kevin and Charlotte went MIA because even with the magical gummy worms, she was not going to sit still for the 20-minute ceremony.

We thought the dinner portion might go better, but I really knew it was only going to get worse. It did! About 90 minutes later we all started to get ready for dinner. (Keep in mind we are still outside, in tents, and it's 60, cloudy and very windy.) I really tried to make the sitting down to dinner work for us, but I know Charlotte and it was not going to happen. I've accepted it, my kid doesn't sit still for nice dinner events. This is why we do NOT go out for dinner. So, we do what we always do, we left. That's right, frozen pizza for us and a crabby kid for dessert.

I guess I can't complain too much. What can I expect from a toddler? I'm learning it's hard to expect anything out of them. After all, she was an angel during the five-hour car ride over here. I think that's about all I can ask for in one weekend.

But, she's still the cutest thing ever...

(and sporting her brat-tails, that should have given me cause for concern from the beginning)

12 Days of Christmas Fun

Did you think I didn't have another project going? Christmas is around the corner and my sister is dying to have a quilt. I've used the Figgy Pudding Quilt Tutorial from Moda as originally made by Crazy Mom Quilts (she's from Wisconsin too!!). The fabric is 12 Days of Christmas by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics. It was such FUN fabric to play with. I have a little left over...perhaps a gift for myself...or my table...

The back has a pattern too, but you'll have to wait until I'm done quilting. This is a photo laid out so I could baste the whole thing. The coloring is a little off in the photo, but just wait until you see it finished! Some of these other things I'm working on, you'll have to wait until January to see.