Sweet Adeline

My mother-in-law was all excited that there was a song with our baby girl’s name in it, “Sweet Adeline.”  Phil and I insisted that she must be mistaken – It’s Sweet Caroline, we told her.  And I do find myself singing that song to her every now and then!  A bit of googling, however, uncovered the fact that there is indeed a barbershop song by that name from the early 1900s.  A number of people have sung the song since then; here’s a version sung by Phish in the 90s.

Anyhoo, today I’m without the big kiddos and decided to set up some props and take some pics of Adeline. Man, those professional portraits make it look so easy!  Babies are so floppy, and while they’re relatively easy to position, mine kept clenching her fists and I couldn’t keep her upright.  I got some cute shots, though.  Here are some favorites:

I can’t believe she’s already one week old! I’m not sure if I’ll write a birth story this time around, but suffice to say that while the labor and delivery went smoothly, I had a bad experience during my hospital stay.

Though Adeline was alert, nursed well and had excellent color, we discovered she had jaundice – just like Josiah did when he was born.  We were led to believe her condition was serious and had some follow-up blood tests after leaving the hospital, but she’s just fine – thank goodness!

Trying to decide how I want to document her first year’s growth.  I have a couple ideas pinned, like using the same pair of pjs or using a laundry basket as a prop.  I’m also thinking of propping her up with the woodland bunny I bought just for her.  Any ideas?

Adeline Faith

My beautiful baby girl finally made her appearance!

Adeline Faith
February 20, 2013
6lbs 11oz 18″

I’m exhausted and happy and emotional and overwhelmed and sad and weepy and a host of other things.

Coming to a store near you…

Well, as long as you live in RI, that is. 

I’m so excited that my handmade items will be in a brick and motar building by the end of the year!  A lovely lady saw my shop on Etsy and contacted me about making some things for a local, handmade boutique that will be opening in Providence this November.  She gave me an idea of what kind of inventory they’d be looking for so I’ve started whipping up things here and there.

Before I made some of the bigger items I wanted to get some sew-in labels.  I finally placed an order on Etsy and am anxiously awaiting for them to arrive in the mail.  I have some lovely fabric picked out for crayon rolls, clothespin aprons and therapy bags and can’t wait to start sewing them up.

For the smaller things - like cup cozies, headbands and sachets – I decided to make some hang tags.  I browsed around to get some ideas before getting supplies and finally settled on the end result, which I love – cardstock, fabric scraps and pear-shaped safety pins.  My sister – who has her own web design company – helped me with the unique, funky logo and I love it.

And though it wasn’t on my official project list, one of the sewing projects I pinned on Pinterest recently was this changing pad with pocket.  It will be great to tuck in my bag when #3 comes along!  The original tutorial is here, but I liked the version with quilting and wrist strap. 

I used up the last of my cotton chenille, gorgeous bold flower fabric and some vintage ribbon on the wrist strap.  Honestly, the quilting was a pain – for some reason I can’t figure the tension out on my machine; sometimes the bobbin thread shows through, but if I adjust it the tiniest bit the opposite happens. *sigh*  I did get to practice mitered corners with the binding, but the biggest pain was binding around the rounded the edges and having enough to cover the back.  After sewing it all up there were a few spots where the binding wasn’t sewn down, so I just went back over it and actually like the effect because it adds more quilting contrast to the front.  I chose a funky plastic button for the closure; I had been saving it for something special! 

Feeling Sick…

You never want to hear from your doctor – “You’re feeling sick?  That’s great!”  But when it’s because you’ve got a little baby growing in your belly, it is a good thing. 

For Father’s Day, I had an extra present for Phil…

We had been praying and praying about whether or not to try for another baby.  Since I contracted rH disease with Gwendolyn, all my pregnancies are high-risk, and suffice to say there’s a lot to worry about.  Both of my babies were perfect, though – apparently a rarity with the disease – and I took it as a positive sign from God to continue growing our family. 

We never put a number on how many children we want; it’s more of a learn-as-you-go thing.  Three kids driving me absolutely insane?  Well, I guess it’s time to stop!  In all seriousness, though, we believe children are a blessing from God, and even though we have some extra concerns, I feel we should welcome as many as He’s willing to give us.  I myself am one of five kids and – even though there were definitely moments when I did not like my siblings - I enjoyed the companionship and comraderie growing up and even more so now that we’re adults.

This time around I started feeling exhausted early on and it was all I could do to stay awake during the day.  I find myself counting down the hours till nap- or bedtime so I can sleep, too!  I’ve also been nibbling to keep the nausea at bay, and that – combined with the fact that I have no desire to exercise lately – means I’m already in the next size up. *sigh*  I envy those women who only get cute little pregnant bellies when they’re, oh, six or seven months along; I seem to get pregnant all over.   

I’m so glad I can sew this time around.  Even though I have a bunch of maternity clothes it’s nice to think I can whip up something myself or alter something I already have.  Of course, I’ve already pinned some maternity inspiration…

Aura Joon has some great ideas for making the most out of your non-maternity clothes for as long as possible.  Granted, she’s skinny and beautiful and could make anything look good.

Especially when pregnant, I love long tops that cover my hips.  I love Craft Snob‘s t-shirt-to-maternity top makeover. 

This one from DIY Maternity is cute, too – it leaves some room for the belly to breathe but doesn’t float around your middle like a misshapen tent.

There are lots of tutorials for turning regular jeans into maternity pants and each one has its own spin.  Maternity clothes are ridiculously expensive, even when they go on sale; the idea of finding a cheap pair of jeans at a consignment store and tweaking them to fit a pregger belly sounds great to me.  Here are some of my fave tutes, courtesy of Crafty Cousins, Natty by Design &  Boz Baby, respectively:

And let’s not forget those flowy skirts! 

A Small Snippet made this skirt from a sheet!

This foldover maxi skirt from Elle Apparel looks super-comfy.

And don’t get me started on all that cute baby stuff!  I’ll leave that for another time.  Check out  my Pregger Style board for some more Pinspiration.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord… Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”
Psalm 127:3-5

Toddler T-Shirt Dress & Ruffled Diaper Cover

After having fun upcycling tops into tanks and t-shirts into undies, I requested a bunch of hand-me-down tees from family members who didn’t want them anymore.  Consequently, I have a stack of t-shirts just waiting to be refashioned. 

Nikki celebrated her daughter’s first birthday recently, and I knew I wanted to make her something.  When I saw made‘s tutorial for The WARHOL Dress, I knew I had to try it.  I picked contrasting t-shirts for each dress and kept it simple, opting not to do any embellishment on the front.  Since the smaller size of the original pattern is for 6-12mos, I simply traced a slightly larger pattern onto paper.  

These were pretty simple to put together, and I love the details – like the gathered neckline and the bow. 

 

 

I could have stopped there, but thought I would try my hand at a matching diaper cover – again, thanks to made’s tutorial for the perfect diaper cover.  I didn’t have enough of the navy material leftover, but I had enough to make a matching cover for the red dress.  While I was at it, I figured I would experiment and turn it into a ruffle-bum diaper cover – because babies with ruffle bums are oh-so-adorable! 

 

Let me tell you - I love how it turned out, but working with t-shirt material for a diaper cover was a pain in the butt (no pun intended)!  The seams wouldn’t stay crisp so it was… uh… interesting sewing up the channels for the elastic.

I have so many things on my sewing project list my head is positively spinning, but I may just have to make one of these for Gwen sometime – before she gets too tall!