For Elliana

My friend Stephanie's sweet daughter, Elliana, will turn THREE on Monday!

Elliana is so girly - I just love it! I wanted to make her something fit for a princess for her birthday, and here's what I came up with:


And in case you're wondering, here's how it all went down:

I made the skirt from a pattern that was designed and created by my very talented friend Joy. Isn't her design just adorable?! I love the ruffles! I chose Disney Princess fabric (b/c what could be more girly than that?), and polka dots b/c well....I love polka dots! Hannah has been asking me to make this skirt for her in Fancy Nancy fabric, so I've added that to my list of things to sew!



The shirt started out as a plain white long sleeved shirt. I decided I didn't want long sleeves, so I cut them off and made some puff sleeves instead. I got the idea for the "E" in the middle from a shirt I saw on etsy. I'll be honest...this was my first attempt at this kind of applique, and it definitely has some, shall we say, "personality". So don't look too close! :o)


All in all, I'm really happy with how this outfit turned out, and I can't wait to see it on Princess Elliana!

Giveaway

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Go here and enter this giveaway!

Little Miss Mary Kate

Mary Kate had her one year check up today! A little late, I know, but the dr. was totally booked until now!

Well folks, we still have a teeny tiny princess on our hands! She weighed in at 17lbs 2 oz. For those of you who don't have kids, that's the size of an average 6 month old! We love our little tiny girl :o)

Mary Kate is entering what Lorne and I like to call the "language explosion" phase. She says lots of words, but of course never performs them when I want her to show off her skills to someone! Some of her favorite things to says are: hi, up, daddy, eye, "ah-da" (all done), "beh-yee" (belly), "buh-yee" (bunny), apple, "ight" (light), tree, etc etc and she loves to do animal sounds!

Her favorite song at the moment is The Wheels on the Bus, and she loves to make her arms go round and round when we sing it to her :o) She also likes to play "where is/are your - eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears, belly, teeth, knees, etc".

She still hasn't braved her first steps yet, but she enjoys pushing her walker around the house and cruising on furniture. Here are some pics of our soon-to-be walking girl:

Tag

My lovely friend Allison has tagged me with the Beautiful Blogger Award and the task of listing 7 things about me. I feel so special! :o)

So here are 7 very random things for your reading pleasure:

1.) I'm having so much fun learning how to sew! Feel free to send me a request! I can't promise it will be perfect, but I love making things for my friends! :o)

2.) I have my dream job! When I was little, I remember people asking me what I wanted to be when I grew up, and deep inside I wanted to say "a mommy!" but I felt like I was supposed to pick a real occupation. Eventually I chose being a teacher as my answer because it was the closest thing to being a mommy that I could think of. I get asked often if I ever regret not teaching and the answer is no! I feel like I get to use my degree daily by teaching my own kids, so I think I have the best of both worlds!

3.) I always eat a snack or "second dinner" before bed. This is an almost nightly scenario in our house: The kids are in bed a sleeping. Lorne and I hop in our bed with our respective computers and start checking e-mail, reading blogs, etc. A few minutes later I look over at him and say, "I'm hungry. I need a snaaaaack!" And you know what the response is from my most amazingly amazing husband? "What do you want?" Depending on my answer he either goes to the kitchen or gets in the car and gets my whatever I want! Can you BELIEVE how awesome he is? Sorry girls, he's taken :o)

4.) I don't grocery shop anymore. As you can imagine, going to the grocery store with 2 kids can be pretty stressful. After Mary Kate was born, Lorne offered to do the grocery shopping for me. (Again, he's the BEST!) So every Sunday after church and lunch, Lorne does all the grocery shopping for the week so I don't have to. he actually enjoys it and says it's relaxing for him, so I guess it's good for both of us!

5.) I love having 2 girls! Our house is full of pink and girlyness and sparkles, oh my! (Poor Lorne!) I never had a sister growing up, so it's fun for me to watch a sisterly relationship develop between Hannah and Mary Kate. They are very different, so it will be fun to watch each personality grow!

6.) I HATE being cold. I would rather be dirty for a month than take a cold shower. I like HOT showers, like the kind where your skin is red when you get out :o)

7.) I am wondering if I will ever get a full night of sleep again? As I blogged about before, the girls were both sick twice in a row. That was pretty bad. Well guess what.....Mary Kate is sick AGAIN! That is 3 times in a row with one week in between each time! I don't know how this keeps happening! My pediatrician tried to reassure me that this is normal, and it's better that it happen now than when she goes to kindergarten. I guess I agree, but I feel so sorry for my little sweetie, and boy am I tired!!!!!

If you read this far, consider yourself tagged! :o)

Back From Sicky Land!

Well, there hasn't been a lot of time to blog lately b/c the girls have been sick TWICE in a row! We had one healthy week in between viruses. Poor Mary Kate had her first ear infection! Hannah has never had one, so this was my first ear infection to care for as a parent and let me tell you......ear infections are the WORST! We have had many sleepless nights around here in the past few weeks, and I'm so very thankful that things are finally getting back to normal.

A while back Hannah asked me to make her her very own nursing pillow. I know that sounds a little strange, especially to those of you without children, but let me just explain that little girls want to copy EVERYTHING they see their mommies do, including nursing babies! It's actually quite hilarious....when Hannah "feeds" her babies, she pinches her belly fat and nurses her baby from her belly! haha I guess that's what it looks like I'm doing in her eyes :o) Anyways, below are some pics of the finished product. I made a small Boppy style pillow, but added a strap to it b/c Hannah wanted hers to be just like mine.


Hannah has been LOVING her tap/ballet class! She gets so excited every Friday and just can't wait to get there! As you can see below, she's a pretty adorable little dancer!


And finally, some random pics of my little cuties:

More Sewing!

Here are some pics of my latest sewing project! Mary Kate loves her new reversible pinafore and ruffle bloomers! :o) Please excuse the runny nose you may see in these pictures - poor little baby is sick!

Comments

I love to read blogs....whether they're written by one of my best friends or a total stranger, I just think blogs are great. Real people, real thoughts....saying things that pop into their heads...things that they may not say out loud to someone in person.

I was thinking today about how much I enjoy reading blogs, but rarely ever leave a comment on them. Why is that? It's like when you think someones shirt is really cute, but you just think it in your head instead of telling them, "I love your shirt!" Leaving someone a comment takes like 2 seconds and it makes people feel good...so I'm gonna make an effort to leave more comments.

So if you notice that I'm suddenly commenting on your blog out of nowhere - now you know why :o)

Sweet dress...or shirt!

Here is my latest sewing project!

It was intended to be a dress for Mary Kate:

But it works as a shirt for Hannah too:

I really loved making this, and I got to learn a few new sewing skills in the process! I love the way it fits both girls - and they both seem so comfy in it! Because of the elastic and style of this dress/shirt, I think they'll be able to wear it for years before it gets too small!

Sew Fun!

I've been wanting to learn to sew for a while now. Thanks to my wonderful parents and in-laws, I got a sewing machine for Christmas and my wish is coming true! Below are some pics of my first creation! Hannah picked out the fabric, and I had so much fun making it! I love that it is reversible and can be worn all year long - by itself when it's warm and over a shirt when it's cold!

FRONT

BACK

REVERSIBLE