updates

I really miss having my sewing machine set up. My blog-life looks rather empty with only family updates to blog about. Luckily my kids are so darn adorable that things can probably stay afloat without any new quilts for awhile.

A girlfriend asked me last week if Gretchen was getting any teeth. I said, "No...at least, I don't think so. Actually, I haven't put a finger in her mouth yet!" Just tonight I thought I'd stick a finger in to feel her gums and to my disbelief, it appears as though she is getting a wee tooth on the bottom! So, I put Gretchen under the light and peeked in past her tiny tongue and sure enough, a wee tooth is trying to poke through her gums. Now, it will be awhile yet before the tooth actually breaks through all the way, but it's a start. Holy cow!

Today we looked at two houses. The first had a really cool floor plan and HUGE bedrooms but it needed WAY TOO much TLC and extra cash. If we had gone with that house I probably would have found myself staring in a sequel to Tom Hank's all-too-familiar Money Pit. The second house, well, just might be the house. We really loved it and the more I think about somebody else looking at it and loving it the more I want to just put in an offer! We are sleeping on it and looking again tomorrow (Sunday).  Here's this for fun...the basement is finished off and looks great. However, to make everybody happy, we would probably rip out the carpet and let Kevin have it as a work-space. (I would surely make sure I had room for some crafting then too.) With a living room, family room and beautiful 3-season room, I think we can do without a finished basement.

So, stay tuned!!

Lastly, my Grandma turns 85 this week and we are all going to brunch on Sunday. Hopefully I won't get in trouble for listing her real age (sorry G'ma!). We love you very much...

three months old

Here's my Gretchen, just about 13 weeks; three months old on this rainy day. I know I say this over and over but she is really a joy in our lives. She fits right into our chaotic little family and has brought a calmness when needed. I love being a SAHM and she is making things easy for me. Never did I imagine that by this point I'd also be sleeping through the nights, at least, most of the time. She pulls 6-8 hours stretches at night, so depending on when she goes down, I don't have to get up at all at night.

When she's awake she loves attention from anybody and always has a smile for whoever is lending their attention her way. Sometimes I can get her to laugh at my silly faces too. She has also started blowing raspberries and continues to suck on her fingers all the time. We love imitating her noises and giving her Eskimo kisses. Charlotte even seems to love her and tries to play with her, however, she's still too little. Charlotte gives Gretchen a rattle (or a dinosaur) and lets me know when Gretchen is crying, smiling or getting her diaper changed.

Happy three-month birthday Baby "Scretchen"!

little girls, little girls

26 months & 3 months

Happy Easter!

Easter has come and gone. Really, every Sunday I'm amazed by how fast the week has gone and how fast the months go by. Gretchen is just about three months old...

We had a wonderful weekend! The kids are just a blast to be around. Saturday we all went to a friend's house where Charlotte was able to go on her first Easter egg hunt. She loved it and knew what to do right away. It took awhile because she wanted to open each egg after she picked it up. 

After coloring Easter eggs and hunting for them in the yard, Charlotte was totally into this holiday! She was super excited when we told her if she was good (going to bed, with no crying/screaming) the Easter Bunny would bring her a basket filled with candy. She took the bait and went to bed pretty good. Saturday night she colored eggs again and didn't want to stop after her dozen eggs were colored. We couldn't wait for her to wake up this morning either. I got to hide the eggs!! She loved looking for the eggs in the living room...it was so much fun to watch her. Of course this led to a jelly bean breakfast. "Mommy, I love candy! I love jelly beans." Charlotte tells me. "Yes, yes, I know you love candy Charlotte," says Mommy.

Gretchen. My sweet Gretchen. She's still the perfect baby. Had her belated 2 month appointment. She is 14 lbs. 3.8 ounces (95%) and 90% for height. She smiles all the time, falls asleep on her own, sleeps in chaos, eats well, had her first two bottles this week, and is starting to giggle. We love her to pieces...

decorating Easter eggs

Tonight I decided to get out the Easter egg coloring kit. My mom senses quickly picked up on this as a bribing tool to get my toddler to eat ALL of her dinner. She wanted to have the eggs and chick on the front of the PAAS box so badly, she was willing to do anything to get it-- that meant eating all of her turkey hot dog, pineapple and swiss cheese. (That sounds like a bad pizza combo or something.)

I had less than a dozen eggs to color so I only took out two colors thinking we can color eggs again this weekend. We love hard boiled eggs so no problem eating them up. Most of you don't know this but two Easter's ago (before Charlotte), Kevin and I decorated eggs at the table. I didn't bother to purchase the PAAS coloring kit for $1.99 because I thought it was a waste of money. I set things up the old-fashioned way with vinegar and food coloring. Wow. BAD idea. Especially if you opt to not use a spoon and use your fingers instead. My fingers were stained bright blue for a week!! For sake of embarrassing myself again (on my kid's fingers) I picked up the friendly coloring kit for $1.99. Well worth it! Our fingers are squeaky clean.

Charlotte & Mommy

Charlotte enjoyed coloring the eggs. She did much better than I thought. (Mental picture: coloring dye all over the floor and walls...) But, that didn't happen!! We had to remind her to be gentle because she was dropping the egg with force from one color to another. Then they crack and I'm sure we'll be eating colored egg whites...

Friday we are seeing the Easter Bunny. I'll let you know how THAT turns out...

Ava's baby quilt

It's done, I've met both deadlines. My brother is having a baby girl in August, her name will be Ava, and this is her quilt. it's backed in a patterned, soft pink cuddle fleece. Measures 50x60, a very good sized quilt for a baby. Will most likely be more of a toddler quilt.

Made up of half square triangles, finished square size is 5 inches. My first time at continuous bias binding and it worked out great! You must check out this tutorial, it also has fabric measurements. I quilted it in straight lines following the diamond shape. Hope she loves it...mommy too!

close up of quilting

Heres's a list of fabrics used:

Art Gallery by Patricia Bravo
Total Kaleidoscope by Michael Miller
Sunkissed by Sweetwater (binding too)
Pink Mirco Dot by Holly Holderman
Hollywood and California Dreaming by Jenean Morrison
Central Park by Kate Spain

modern meadow quilt

With the wedding the first weekend in June, I had to scramble to finish this for my friends who are getting married. We have to be out of our house by May 12th. With packing, it was crunch time, but as you can see, done with plenty of time to spare. This is Amy Ellis' 1,2,3 quilt pattern from her book, Modern Basics. The fabric is Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow line with a few fillers thrown in, It's bound in Kona Navy. Finished size 60.5 x 72.5 and stippled in an all over meandering. I absolutely love this fresh fabric and hope the bride does too. Her favorite color is green. 

modern meadow quilt front, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

we're getting closer!

We're getting closer to finding the next house of our realistic dreams! On Tuesday we looked at two houses and they were both over-priced and (1) outdated and (1) cheap. I was very sad, especially since one had pool and I had been having dreams at night about the pool parties I would have with all my girlfriends and their kids. Ah, c'est la vie.


Tonight we toured two more homes and they were much better than the first two. We like the first one a lot but the basement was a little short, Kevin's head came within a few centimeters in the workspace and he had to duck in the finished portion. Not cool. The rest of the house was nice and we wouldn't need to do many updates. However, it's full blown suburban America and Griffin would not have very much space at all.


The second house we looked at is on the edge of town (a little far...) but just might be the winner! It's on one acre and the inside is mostly updated with new bathrooms and a nice kitchen. The basement needs a little work, but it's nothing new carpet and a little paint can't fix. Our realtor, Bruce Nemovitz, is going to see how low the lady is willing to go. It's a bit out of our price range so I hope it works out. I think we can envision ourselves living there for the rest of our lives. (Man, that's a scary thought!)


Tomorrow is the house inspection. We'll have more details after that as to whether or not there is something major we need to fix. I'll get to meet the buyer too. After that, everything will be fairly final for the sale of our house! Boxes are starting to fill my living room...

happy 4-year anniversary

Four years ago I was getting my hair and make up done in preparation for my wedding day. I put on the dress of my dreams and walked down the aisle to meet the love of my life. I married my man on Friday the 13th of April and nothing bad happened...

I loved my dress! I loved the hundreds of tulips that filled the reception hall. I loved the cello music in the church. I love the man I married. When looking back it's hard to believe how much has happened in four years. Only four years!

We bought a house. We roofed it ourselves. We remodeled the kitchen and installed most of it ourselves. We bought a dog. We went to Florida. We had a little girl. We went to Alaska. We went to Mexico. We put in a patio. We had another little girl. We sold our house. I'm fairly certain that's only a brief list.

It's hard to imagine what will happen in the next four years. That, of course, seems so far away but it's not, especially if the last four flew by! We'll be in a new house, hopefully have another dog and hopefully have another kid (or two). Life will be so different, just as life is so different now compared to four years ago. Four years ago we were cooking gourmet meals every night, going out for drinks, seeing friends and staying up late. I'm not sure we do any of the things I just mentioned anymore. We are still happy, just a different kind of lived-in happy. Our girls (and Griffin) are the joy of our lives and I'm so happy to have Kevin, he gave me the greatest gift ever when our girls were born.

Love you babe!

At Lumen Christi Parish

Photos by Jessica Quist Photography

accepted offer

Life is moving pretty fast over here. If you haven't already heard, we've accepted an offer and are pending an inspection. Looks like we'll be out by May 12th if everything goes according to plan. I think we'll be moving in with my parents until we find a house (working on that).

The girls are doing great and growing big. Gretchen get's an updated at the doctor next week. We were all able to enjoy the beautiful 77 degree weather today. Charlotte tramped through the woods with three of my little cousins. She is quite the "kid." I don't think toddler can describe her anymore.

Stay tuned for more details...

decorating Easter cookies

smiling fool

accepted offer

Life is moving pretty fast over here. If you aren't already heard, we've accepted an offer and are pending an inspection. Looks like we'll be out by May 12th if everything goes according to plan. I think we'll be moving in with my parents until we find a house (working on that).

The girls are doing great and growing big. Gretchen get's an updated at the doctor next week. We were all able to enjoy the beautiful 77 degree weather today. Charlotte tramped through the woods with three of my little cousins. She is quite the "kid." I don't think toddler can describe her anymore.

Stay tuned for more details...

decorating Easter cookies

smiling fool

updates

What day of the week is it? I've been so out of it for the last week! Honestly, I haven't been this frazzled in a long time. Side note, wow, it's nice to type with two hands like a normal person. So much faster and time efficient! Where do I start?

Funeral services for my cousin, Matthew Ryskoski will be on Saturday. Please visit Krause Funeral Home for specific details. There will be dinner at Grandma Burton's house following the service. The family has been frazzled about his death all week. All mom said to me was, "drive safe out there, don't you dare make me do what my Aunt has had to do, burry her son." Don't get me wrong, I drive safe. I've also thought about how awful and miserable I'd feel if I lost one of my girls-- and they haven't even been around that long! Please keep my Aunt, Uncle and cousin Rich in your prayers. I can't imagine, I just can't fathom how it would feel. 

On a positive note, the house has been on the market for almost one week and we've had a showing every day this week. That's great if you ask me. The only bummer part is most of the showings have been over the lunch hour which greatly eats into Charlotte's nap schedule. On top of her being a total beast these days, missing naps is not ideal. I hate messing with her schedule but I can't say no to a house showing. I really hope this thing sells fast, I can't have her missing naps every day of the week.

My house is VERY clean and I'm managing to keep it clean. Not sure how...maybe it's because I've been house crashing so we are out of the house when it shows. That means Griffin too. He got lucky today-- he got to run with two other dogs all day, but earlier in the week, he spent a few hours in the back of my car. Poor guy.

God is really testing my patience these days. Charlotte has been a handful and somedays I just can't hardly stand it. She is relentless when she wants something and no amount of screaming or time-outs fixes anything. Bedtime fights have sucked. She will not go to bed without a fight. She doesn't even cry, she SCREAMS. How can she be that strong? I wasn't this horrible until I was as teenager-- she's only TWO! I'm just tired at the end of the day. But, I do love her, a lot...

Gretchen....my little Gretchen. What a wonderful baby. She sleeps, smiles, eats and sleeps. She goes to bed at night for me and hangs out when carted all over the city during the day. She even hangs out at work like an angel. Last night she slept 7 hours for me!! I'll take that once in awhile. Most often it's a 4-hour shift, but I could really get used to 7-hour shifts. She's 10 weeks old, time is really ticking.

My sewing machine needs to go back in. It's jammed or something again. I know it also needs to be cleaned. I did manage to get a wedding quilt top finished for June. I still have to finish Ava's baby quilt for my brother and Nicole. They are due in August!!
Update: It just needed a good oil and cleaning, must be working overtime...

So, I leave you with those updates. I've just had no time to even think this last week or so and that is not like me! At least, my house is clean and neat...

sad news

It's been a long weekend filled with tears (Charlotte & terrible two's). Today was long (went to work with BOTH girls) and it's going to be a long week (more tears). Today I lost one of my cousins. His death was not expected and he will be missed by his family and friends. Matthew now rests in the arms of God.

Mike, Mark, Bill Matt & Ritchie

This will be our fourth funeral in a matter of one month, fifth death of somebody we know. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older or if it's something else, but loosing all these wonderful people is not something I want to see continuing to happen. This loss is already hurting the family. I work with my Aunt and can't imagine what pain she is going through at the loss of her son. I think about being a mother now and can't fathom what it would feel like to lose one of my children. She and all the family desperately need your prayers. Please keep them in mind as we all say goodbye to Matthew.

Charlotte's 2-year photos

great smile!