One Month Old!

Margaret turned one month old yesterday. It's hard to believe that four weeks has passed so quickly. It seems like just yesterday she was born. BUT... She is getting bigger. Clothes that had to have sleeves rolled or she was swimming in them now fit her. Her skinny legs are starting to get a little bit of that baby fat on them. She is actually starting to sleep for 4-6 hour stretches at night (sometimes). The following two photos where taken yesterday of her.




Addie is doing great. She is adjusting to being a sister really well. Addie can be the cutest little mom. She is always trying to make her sister happy and help out in any way she can. So far the hardest part for her has been not eating when she wants too. If I'm feeding Margaret she has to wait until I finish before I can make her lunch or get her a snack.

I just had to share these two photos of my sleeping beauties. I might not always be able to sleep when Margaret does but at least Addie does. They both fell a sleep at the same time in the living room. It was 5:30pm when they feel a sleep so I had to make dinner instead of joining them.


Cloth diapering has been going great. I really do enjoy using cloth and washing them is super easy. Michael and I both agree that it was the best choice. He doesn't even mind them either! I found a few minutes the other day to make this new diaper cover for Margaret out of left over fleece from another project. She was so cute in it I had to share a butt shot!

New Blog

I started a new blog just for my sewing stuff. I really want to keep our family blog about our family and not about my sewing so I've decided to have a second blog with just my crafty stuff on it. I've included the link below if you would like to check it out. It will have both the stuff I sell on Etsy and my just for fun sewing projects as well. From time to time I might post some of my sewing stuff on here but for the most part I'll try to keep them separated.

http://auntieemshouse.blogspot.com/

Pre-Christmas Fun

On Friday Addie had her Christmas party at school. I had volunteered to be help with the party. My mom happened to have the day off of work so she decided to join us as well. The three of us had a great time. I brought a large gingerbread house that Michael made out of cardboard for the kids to decorate. The other two tables had cookie decorating and ornament craft project. After the activities I read the Gingerbread Baby book to the kids and then they placed a gingerbread "baby" cookie into the house they decorated. All the kids had a great time. Addie really enjoyed herself and liked having mom and I at the party.

After the party the three of us went downtown for lunch and enjoyed a nice walk ducking into shops every now and then. In downtown they always have "street art". This winter they had snowmen. This is a photo of one of them. Addie loved checking out all the different snowmen and their costumes.

After all that fun Addie's day was not done. Mom took her to see the new Alvin and the Chimpmunk's movie. Addie LOVED it. According to mom she laughed and giggled louder then she had ever heard her. People in front of them even turned around to see who was laughing so loud! Mom and Addie spent several hours out on the town having fun while I was able to get a few projects down around the house like wrap gifts and make some dog chamoises people had ordered. Here are the custom chamoises I made.


Once Michael got home from work the two of us where able to go out to a really nice dinner for our anniversary. We enjoyed a two hour meal that helped both of us unwind from a busy week. It has been a wonderful 5 years of marriage and I look forward to many more! Thank you to everyone who sent us anniversary cards. It's always nice to know people remember you on such a special day.

Saturday Addie sadly said good-bye to grammy. By about 2pm she was complaining about missing her grammy. However she quit complaining when she found out that she was going to get to go ice skating with her friend and her family. She had a wonderful evening of skating. The report was that she did a great job and was really fast. Addie of course loved every minute of it. When she got home I had hot chocolate and cookies ready for our drive. We went for a drive around town to look at Christmas lights. The park at the bluff had a light display and the downtown St. Joseph stores where all decorated and lit up. We also went through a few neighborhoods as well. It was fun and helped to remind us that it is the holiday season not just the baby Margaret season! Addie, not surprisingly, fell asleep before we got back home that evening. It was a wonderful two days for everyone.

Emily's New Store

I've taken the plunge and have opened an online store. Since becoming a stay-at-home mom I've been busy in my sewing room making lots of creations to give as gifts and also to sell/trade online. I keep getting more and more requests for items and positive feedback about them. I love creating and feel like I finally have the time to actually make my hobby a little more then a hobby. So far I have just a few items on the site but there will be more to come over the next month or so. The inventory will change so check back often to see what's new. I will also carry some fun vintage items like linens and sewing supplies. If you have any special requests from some of my past projects please let me know and I can look into adding it to the store or doing a custom order.

Please feel free to share the web address of my shop with anyone you know who might be interested in my items. If you would like some business cards to hand out let me know and I will gladly mail them to you!

http://auntieemshouse.etsy.com

Thanks for your support and encouragement!
Emily

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Christmas Gifts for Sale

From Auntie Em’s Sewing Room

Below is the 2007 Christmas collection. Our camera is currently in the repair shop so we had to use our video camera to take still photos. The quality and coloring of the photos is not perfect but it is the best we can do at this time. We should have our camera back by the 28^th of November and we can send anyone who would like better quality photos the photos after that date. If you have questions or would like to place an order please contact me at thelahs@sbcglobal.net. Thanks for looking and have a Merry Christmas!

Custom Stocking w/ Embroidered Name: $25 (including shipping)

These beautiful stockings add the perfect finishing touch to your Christmas décor. The stockings are made from good quality home décor fabrics. Stockings can either be quilted (shown below) or one solid piece with a coordinating cuff. For details on the fabric combinations and more please see the “Stocking Details” page.

Broaches: $10 (including shipping)

These fabric broaches are a lot of fun! They look great on anything from suit jackets, jean jackets, purses, tote bags, purses, to hats. I have even worn them on dresses and other items. You are only limited by your imagination. All the broaches are one of a kind. They are made from a variety of fabrics to create unique combinations of colors and textures. They also have button on the middle of them. Some are antique wooden buttons, some are vintage buttons. It just depended on the style I was going for. To see an up close photo of a specific broach please email me. Limited quantity available (6).

Groomer’s Chamois: $15 (including shipping)

This chamois rapidly draws water away from your pet’s coat and minimizes chills after bath time. This specific chamois absorbs 15 times its weight in water. Can be machine washed for years of use. Measures 20”x27”. Limited quantity available (3).

5 Hand Puppets w/ Bag: $45 (including shipping)

These one of a kind puppets are made from fleece and come with a flannel storage bag. The details on the puppets are hand embroidered for your little one’s safety. No buttons or removable parts are include so even the youngest child may play. Each set is custom made. You may request puppets to be gender neutral, more girly or boyish. If the child has a favorite animal or color of animal let me know and I can include it in the set. The bag may be the maroon farm animal print in the photo or another coordinating animal print.

Fleece Blanket w/ Name: $20 (includes shipping)

What child would not love a blanket with their own name on it? Just let me know what colors and/or themes the child likes along with the name (first or first and last names) you would like on the blanket. Also, if you would like a specific size let me know at that time. Otherwise I’ll make it in my “toddler/preschooler” size. I’ll let you know what combination I’ve found before sewing it for you. Each blanket is unique, just like every child.

Fleece Blanket w/ Name & Ribbon Tabs: $30 (includes shipping)

I’ve received many raving reviews from this super soft fleece baby blanket with silky ribbon tabs. Just let me know the gender of the child along with the name (first or first and last names) you would like on the blanket. I’ll let you know what combination I’ve found before sewing it for you. The blanket will be made in my “Baby” size unless you request otherwise. Each blanket is unique, just like every child.

Baby Legs/ Arm Warmers: $8 each or $5 if you provide Knee-Hi Socks (shipping included)

All’s I can say about the baby legs is that I wish I would have discovered them 4 years ago! I have been busy making them not just for Addie and Margaret but also for my neighbor. Both of our 4 yr olds love to wear them on their arms so that they can wear their favorite t-shirts in the winter. And they keep her baby’s legs warm and clean as she crawls all around their house. The great thing about them is that when your baby’s pant legs or dress creeps up during the day the baby legs don’t move! They can be made for either boys or girls. Just let me know what colors and styles of clothes you are trying to match and I’ll send you a photo to check to see if they match your needs.

Rice Packs: $5 (extra $2 for shipping due to weight of rice)

If you have never used a rice pack you don’t know what you are missing! They are great either warmed in the microwave or kept in the freezer to use as an ice pack. Mine have been priceless when it comes to helping my back pains. The rice packs can be made either in rectangles or long sleeves. The long sleeves are great for rapping around the back of your neck or to run up your spine. The rectangles are great for the lower back and calves. Let me know what style/colors you like and I’ll made one to suit your taste.

Rice Packs w/ Embroidery pattern, Name or Saying: $9 (extra $2 for shipping due to weight of rice)

You can add your favorite phrase, name or design to the pack. If it’s a gift for Breast Cancer patient I can add some pink ribbons. If you love chickens I can add a chicken. The sky is the limit!

Other Custom Projects: Price subject to project

The Details:

Depending on the customization their might be an extra charge. I have lots of fabrics and embroidery designs to choose from currently. If I don’t have what you want in my stock pile I can always look for it

Most items will be sent Parcel or Priority. According to the USPS website items must be sent by Dec. 20^th to be received in time for Christmas. If you would like your item to arrive in time for Christmas Day please have your order to me by Dec. 14^th.

If you would like an item to be gift wrapped and sent to someone else I can also do that for a $1 fee. If you chose that option I will email you a photo of the completed item so that you can see what was sent.

Most items will have a 48 hour turn around time as long as I have the fabrics in stock. Fabrics that have to be purchased might take longer.

Latest Sewing Projects

Our camera is still in the shop but we broke out the video camera to try to take some still photos. It's not the best and the coloring is off but it's better then nothing! I've been a busy bee in my sewing room lately. Here are a few of my latest creations. There are a ton of photos so it might take a couple minutes to load them all!

The baby collection:

30 flannel wipes


20 diaper inserts

6 fitted diapers (2 prefitted diapers not in photo)



1 Reversible Mei Tai

Addie's Christmas Gifts (completed so far):
Bitty babys' PJs



Twirly Dress


Flaired Fleece Hoodie

Christmas Gifts for "Other" Kids:
Hand Puppet Set

Fleece Blanket

I'm currently working on fleece diaper covers, diaper pail liners, wet bag for diapers (diaper bag use), more Christmas presents for Addie, and Christmas stockings.

Update

I can't believe that a week has almost went by since I last posted! Time is flying... As you know we did not get any Halloween photos, but my parents did! So here are three photos my mom took of Addie at the airport all dressed up for trick or treating.
A lot has happened in the last week. Addie had her first music class last Thursday. She loved it and keeps asking when she gets to go again. The class is made up of mostly home schooled families and they meet at my neighbor's house. The lady who is teaching the class also does kindermusik and music therapy. Along with the "normal" age appropriate learning she also is teaching them how to read music. I was very surprised how fast Addie picked it up. In fact, Sunday at Mass she was busy reading the music notes!

Saturday we spent the day outside working in the garden and yard. We did everything from cut back the blackberry bushes, take down the deer fence, dig up potatoes, put stuff for the winter to racking leaves. Addie and one of her friends spend the day playing outside while we worked. They had a blast playing in the leaves and helping Michael spot the potatoes. You would have thought that they where digging for lost treasure. They also kept busy "saving worms" by covering them up with dirt when ever one got unearthed in the garden. Unfortunately after a great day of work my back was back out of place again. The chiropractor worked on it Monday but it's still not right. Hopefully tomorrow morning he will get it fixed.

I've been busy sewing up a storm. I'll try to post photos soon but for now I'll just give you the list of things. I've made 10 fleece scarves with a fallish embroidery pattern on them, a Mei Tai baby carrier, a fleece pullover for me, 2 sets of 5 hand puppets, and a huge stack of diapers! My back might be out but the one thing I can still do is sew. I have several other sewing projects for this week. Mainly Addie's Christmas presents. She is going to be gone visiting grandparents so it will be my one chance to sew without her helping me.

Trying to keep warm

Well, it's the end of October and we finally decided to breakdown and start the boiler. Wednesday night after Addie went to bed (thank goodness!) Michael turned the gas on to the boiler and light it. No problems... then I went upstairs and cranked the thermostats up to get the boiler to running and the house a little warmer. As soon as I turned the thermostat in our living room own I heard an explosion sound in the basement and all the electricity browned out. As you can imagine it scared the you know what out of me and went running to the basement screaming for Michael to make sure he was not hurt.

Thank God he was alright. One of the water pumps on the boiler had the motor burn up and there was a bit of smoke in the basement. We turned off the gas and electric to the boiler and called it a night. We all just slept with lots of blankets and toughed out the cold house in the morning. I was able to get a heating guy over here yesterday afternoon to replace the motor. I had the same guy come out who the previous family used. He's a great guy who has been doing this for 30+ years. He was saying that our boiler is the oldest one that he as serviced and that he thinks that it will probably be the only one that he will see make it to 50+ yrs in age. The boiler runs great and has no problems so he thought that we still have a few more years left. That's good to hear!

As most of you know I've been making baby legs. My test pair for my neighbor was a hit. I just made her 7 more pairs yesterday so that she will always have a clean pair for her daughter to wear. She loves them that much. There is another thing you can do with baby legs that is kind of fun and that is to use them on your arms for the older kids. Addie has some t-shirts she just can not give up (like her Girl's Fly one) but with no heat in the house it was to cold to where them by themselves. My solution was to have her wear a pair of Margaret's baby legs on her arms. She loved it! Here are a couple photos Michael took of her with them on.

I need to make a few more for us to use but I have also decided that it would great to make some extra pairs for others. I would like to give the extra pairs to the Sisters that run the Readiness Center and Social Services Programs for Benton Harbor through our Church. It might be helpful for a family on a tight budget to be able to extend the use of their kids clothes during our cold months. If anyone has any gently used ladies knee hi socks, that are not being used, please feel free to send them my way. I'll make them into baby legs/ arm warmers.

Baby Blanket Project

Last night I was able to start and finish the baby blanket for friend's new born baby. I actually thought that it would take a little longer since I had to get all the ribbons just right. The blanket is 35 inches square with 7 ribbons on each side. The middle one is silver the rest of the ribbons are white. I also embroidered the baby's name on the corner of the blanket. The blanket is made from a very soft fleece. We are hoping to deliver the blanket this weekend if mommy and baby are feeling up to it. The baby is a week old today.

Special Bag Project

I was not going to post this project at first but I decided to go ahead and do it since I know the person receiving the bag will not be viewing our family blog. I had found a really neat embroidery pattern using pink ribbons that made me think of a young lady who is battling breast cancer. So I decided to get the pattern and make her something useful with the ribbons on it. I came up with this tote bag that has lots of great pockets on both the inside and outside. The photos don't do it justice. I was very excited with the way the bag turned out. I could not have done a better job if I had tried. Anyways, I just wanted to show it off a little before it leaves my hands.

Today I start a new project. I'm going to be making a fleece baby blanket for a friends new born baby. I'm sure I'll be posting photos of it soon.

27 Weeks

Today I officially start my third trimester. A couple weeks ago I could not believe that I was as far a long as I was. Now I feel like I'm farther then I am! It's just the little things like heart burn and backaches. Nothing to big (other then my belly).

I had seen these things called baby legs online and they seemed really cool. They keep the baby's legs warm and go all the way from the top of the thighs to the ankles. It should keep a baby's legs warm when their pants ride up when they are in the sling or carrier. The only thing was that they were $12 a pair plus shipping! So I did some searching online and found a pattern for taking ladies knee hi socks and sewing them into baby legs! It only takes about 10 minutes total time to do the sewing. Below is a photo of the pair I just made. I gave them to my neighbor who has a little baby girl. She is going to let me know if they work. If so I'll be making some for Margaret Anne.

The other big baby prep thing we did was last night Michael removed the old standard rod and shelf out of Addie's closet and replaced it with a new closetmaid system with shelves in the middle. It should make a big difference in her closet which we really need since she will be sharing it soon!

Week 26

It's hard to believe that I'm already 26 weeks along in my pregnancy. Just three more months to go and Margaret Anne Lah will be joining us. I'm sure the next few months will go super fast with the holidays. Today I started sewing cloth diapers for when she does arrive. So far I have four of the prefolds embellished. I have another three to finish embellishing tomorrow. Then I'll move on to the harder diapers (prefitteds and fitted diapers). I have everything already cut out they just need to be sewn. I'm sure I'll have photos posted soon of my diaper sewing adventures!
Addie had a great day today. She was able to have a play date with one of her classmates. The girls had a great time. Addie was sad when it was time to leave. She never seems to have enough playtime with her friends. At least according to her...