Archive for the ‘pregnancy’ Category

All Because Two People Fell In Love . . . No, Really.

Monday, March 10th, 2014

 

This one. This is the one that I get to be with each day. This one became my best friend over 14 years ago. He is my true companion. He loves me, imperfections and all. He has held my hand and shared his love and strength through the deliveries of our five babies and any day now he will once again be my main supporter as we welcome our baby girl into this world. He is one of the most incredibly supportive and encouraging people I know. He loves our children. He loves me. I love this one. I love us.  studiocharm
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Our romantic walk down by the river was actually an action packed, roller-blading, scootering, kid chasing, potentially labor inducing (didn’t quite do the trick) Sunday afternoon family outing. Photos courtesy our oldest child who had great timing and the use of the camera tripod! Wow, I love these little ones too!
2014_03-studiocharm-mat01Baby update: I had originally hoped the baby would be born yesterday, but then our sweet two year old came down with a fever Friday night and I spent a day snuggling her, caring for her and praying our baby would wait until the “health coast” was clear before she was born. I’m glad she waited, and now I’ve given baby the green light. I admit feeling really sentimental about this pregnancy and loving carrying this precious baby inseparably next to my heart. She is one of our most active in utero, and keeps me amused throughout the day and night with her antics. I have had some amazing experiences during this pregnancy that have given me a tiny glimpse as to how incredible she is. I can hardly wait to see her beautiful face.

Olympic Feet

Friday, March 7th, 2014

During the 2014 Winter Olympic games, the hubby and I enjoyed a nightly ritual of sitting down and watching the highlights of the day. I especially enjoyed the ice skating, snowboarding and ski jumping events. It was so nice to finally get off my tired feet and to indulge in a little handiwork. I’ve had a felt baby booty pattern printed and ready to be put to use for nearly 5 years now. The time finally came to put it to use. I loved imagining our baby’s tiny toes snuggled warmly inside the wool felt booties, and enjoyed personalizing them with some hand embroidery! My lovely friend Melissa gave me the felt- I’ve always used the cheap polyester stuff, but now with a sense of how great the wool and bamboo felt is there’s no going back!

studiocharm baby booties

studiocharm bitty booties* Here’s a link to the lovely free bitty booty pattern by the talented Heather Bailey.

It feels great getting around to making stuff that I had hoped to do for the last couple of years includes trying out this free and simple circle skirt pattern by Dana.
Here are the results:

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Baby Gear Filled Nest

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

I’ve been sewing/ crafting/ organizing up a storm in the process of getting ready for our baby!! Each day it is a balance between “have to” “oughtta do” and “wanna do” . . . some days I manage to squeeze in all three categories. Gotta love nesting energy and motivation!!

I night I made a zippered boppy (nursing pillow) cover . . . this was a big deal, because I have avoided sewing a zipper since the first day I ever sewed something which was when I was 8 years old! I just couldn’t seem to gather up the courage to conquer my fear of zippers, but decided that another “slip cover” would not be suitable for this and it was time to face up to my sewing nemesis . . .

studiocharm boppy pillow cover zipperI’m no “pro” but I am thrilled at how this first attempt opened up the doorways to many sewing projects in the future that normally I would have avoided!! Wa hoo!

For instance, I made a diaper bag (this type of construction definitely a first for me!):studiocharm messenger diaper bag

studiocharm diaper bagPerfect use for a fat quarter of some fun Amy Butler fabric- the inside flap!

studiocharm messenger diaper bagMeet zipper number TWO!! I’m on a roll, and of course yellow was perfect color to complement the purple and gray!

I have to give a big shout out to this blogger who provided the awesome and detailed diaper bag tutorial here!  Thank you!

And a then for a matching baby wipes container and diaper & wipes envelope. (Click links for more great tutorials by other bloggers) pictured here with my baby’s new quilt!

studiocharm diaper bag

I also made this quick Co-sleeper sheet with a cozy pre-washed flannel. I’m hoping to make a couple more before baby girl’s here.

And a coral pink flannel crib sheet quickly came together with this simple tutorial.

Nesting is FOR REAL!!