My first quilt....

Here is my quilt top so far from my class. The first picture was my original size that I was going to do. First it was supposed to be 6x8...then I decided to do 5x7 and it finally ended up being 5x5. (I figure I am going to be a small project girl...but that might change over time.) I know..there are tons of errors on it. But I figure for my first one it isn't too bad. I have a big oops in the top row but I figure Abby won't mind and I am definitely learning from my mistakes.

One of these days I will start putting more details into my blog posts. However, my brain is still mush right now. I think of tons of things to say but I am always exhausted when I try to type them.

On another note. We had a snow storm last night and received about a foot of snow. The power went out around 3 pm and we had to figure out what to do so that abby didn't freeze to death. Luckily the power came back on at midnight so we didn't have to worry too much. We just had her wrapped in her flannel blanket that my friend Vicky sent her.

Here is a picture of the snow.

Lim is giving out some blog candy

for her Anniversary.

http://lim-thevoicesinmyheadlimblog.blogspot.com/

Though you should check out her blog anyways as she is extremely creative.

The Ship Figure Head

These pictures speak for themselves. They are so cute.

Learning to Sew...

Hi,

It has been another long time in posting. I have been busy with Abby and learning to sew. I am currently taking a beginner quilting class. It is a lot of fun. However, I am not very good yet at getting my strips cut straight nor an accurate 1/4" seam. So we will see how my quilt comes out. Plus the other day I ended cutting myself with the cutter...ouch!!!

Even though it is off topic....(well to me she is always on topic). I thought I would include our newest picture of Abby. She loves her mobile.


To get in the sewing mood I made a journal cover for a crafting friend who won a contest I held. (I just have to mail it.)
Then I started working on some fabric ATCs. They were fun to make...though they used up a lot of thread. I am not done with them yet, but I have finished 2 so far.

Today I was looking at ways to organize my "sewing" room (no longer cardmaking room) and found a great way to fold the fabric. So I spent some time doing that today. Then this evening I figured I better work on my class project. I had a lot of homework which I didn't finish as I figured that spilling my iced tea meant it was time to stop.

A long time....

Hi,

It has been a long time since I have updated my blog. We have been so busy and I have to admit it....I have been extremely tired. WOW...I don't know how people do it with more than one.

Sheldon and I have been so excited by our new life. Abby is keeping us busy and she is changing every day. She is starting to smile and play for awhile. She hardly ever takes naps which makes life a bit busier.

Here are a few pictures that I took today of her playing with her new music ball.



Other news:
Sheldon has a job interview tomorrow and I am excited.
I am taking up sewing and am going to start a quilting class in a few weeks.
Abby and I are going to visit my mom for a couple of weeks.

My Life Now....

My hands are quite chapped as I get to wash bottles about 6 to 8 times every day. It has been only 6 weeks but I already don't want to see another bottle again for the rest of my life. :)

However, when I look at my baby girl...I figure it is all worth it. She definitely doesn't like sleeping by herself. She takes about an hour to an hour and a half to go to sleep if we have her by herself. If we hold her...it takes about 10 minutes.

Here Abby is getting her belly time. As you can tell she uses it as a chance to catch up on sleep. She will usually last about 5 minutes before she starts crying. She is already beginning to scoot forward...so we won't be able to leave her alone on the couch for long.

Sleep seems to be the theme of the day. Rocky is enjoying Abby's bed. We find that all 3 cats will sleep whereever she sleeps but only when she isn't there. I guess they want to feel special too.

Grandma Susan & Grandpa Chuck will be back this week. I haven't made any progress on the baby dress. So, I decided that I better do something and I have been wanting to make Abby a Christmas baby blanket. First I did a little tag handheld blanket and tomorrow I will make a stroller/carseat blanket. Hopefully, this will make up for my slacking on the dress. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Thanks for reading and hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Creating with My Sister

My sister is in town and we created some cards today. Well, one each....in between watching the baby girl and hanging out. I made one for the lady who sent Abby the colorful hat and Chris made one for her sister in law.
I used the image from weedsgalore...the flower lady. I love her and she fit the look exactly. Tomorrow we are going to breakfast with family and then we might either make cards or jewelry.

More Baby Abby Pics

Abby's First Halloween

Hi, You will have to hit full size to see the pics. Not sure why it isn't working otherwise.

Having Fun Sewing...Kind of...

It has been a lot of work and a lot of restlessness since Grandma and grampa left. WOW...I guess we never had a chance to feel exhausted. All Abigail did today was sleep on Mommy or Daddy.
My mom had previously given me a really cute hat for Abby...and when I bought her a 6 piece outfit set which came with a hat I decided to make my own. I came up with the idea of using velcro so I can make the flowers interchangeable and to make washing easier. The flower I bought for $1.50 on sale at the craftstore. I already had the ribbon. It was very hard to sew on the sewing machine...I won't say how long it took me. YIKES. As I had to rethread the machine about 10 times and the needle still didn't want to move.

Little Baby Abigail

Hi,

I actually started typing an email the other day....but then I was distracted by the nurses and all the vital things they do to you in the hospital and haven't been on since. (So here is the short & condensed version.....I think.)

We went to the doctor's on Thursday night...my bp was 182/102. So after some discussion he decided we were going in right then and there.

We officially checked into the hospital at 7:30 and the doctor started the pitocin. I sent Sheldon home around 2 am when my mom showed up and he came back around 10 am or so. I still hadn’t dialated anymore….I was still 1 cm (the same as my 35 week appointment.)

At 12:30 we broke my water, and at 3 PM they gave me the epideral as my bp was still high. By 8:00 PM I was only up to 3 cm dialated and the doctor gave us a choice….try for another couple of hours or do a c-section. At that point as I was having some problems with the epideral….I decided I just wanted to see her and not wait any longer.

So by 8:40 I was in the operating room….and Abigail was born at 9:27 PM weighing 5 lbs 14 oz. She is 18.9” long….red hair and blue eyed.

We have been pretty busy as she doesn’t quite having the sucking reflex down yet….so we have been breastfeeding and pumping. She has lost ½ and we are trying to keep her from losing anymore. Tomorrow morning is her first doctor’s appointment….so we hope that everything goes well there.

Besides, the eating issues (she is now up to 1 ½ oz per feeding session) she has been the perfect baby….very cuddly, only cries if she needs something….Sheldon and I are terribly blessed to have her in our lives and appreciate all of your prayers.

Blacksmithing Update

Hi,

Sheldon has been bugging me about putting up his blacksmithing photos. Though he won't tell me what to say. So I will make up something.

When Sheldon and I went to the renaissance festival in May I discovered that he wanted to learn how to blacksmith. We knew that he wouldn't be able to do it on his own at our house as there are lots of tools that are involved. Though I am not sure if we knew it at the time or not....his boss at the EPA does blacksmithing. And he invited Sheldon and a postdoc student Carl to come up and try it. Well they have been several times and I am not sure about Carl but Sheldon loves it. His first creation was a BBQ fork. Which he teases me because I call its shape organic. Next he made a throwing knife which turned out very cool. Then he was going to work on some tongs but I asked him to make something for me. And he ended up making me a heart. He isn't quite satisfied with it as he wasn't able to make it as pointy on the ends as he would like....but I love it.So when we move and get settled into our new life when Sheldon graduates....I have a feeling an anvil and a forge will soon be on the way.

TFL

Jennie