Blankets from Grandma Wendling

My mom knitted Cael an adorable and soft blanket. She wanted a picture of him with it so we had a photo shoot. I thought he would crawl off the blanket right away, but we got some good pictures of him. I love the different blues in it. I also love all of Cael's different expressions.

She also knitted Cael a really warm blanket that he can use when he's in the car in his carseat. Thanks Grandma Wendling!!

Sleepsacks

When I was pregnant with Cael, I re-taught myself how to sew (I hadn't sewn anything since home ec in middle school). I made tons of blankets, nursing covers, taggie blankets, etc. Well, the next thing I wanted to make were some sleepsacks for Cael. The machine I have was one my grandma had and gave to my mom, who never used it, so she gave it to me. It is a Singer machine from the 1940's. It's in great condition and works fine, except it only has one stitch (straight stitch) and no zipper foot, which I need to make a sleepsack. I told Joel that I wanted a new sewing machine for our 8 year anniversary, which was January 4th. I found a great price on a machine that has 60 stitches, 5 different sewing feet, and was everything that I was looking for and more. I ordered it and when I got it I looked at the instruction book. It looked slightly confusing, but luckily I had it up and running in less than 10 minutes, and is much easier to use than my old Singer machine. My first project were two sleepsacks for Cael. It was my first time sewing a zipper, and it actually turned out well. Each one probably cost me about $6.00, much cheaper than the $20.00 Halo ones. I can't wait to sew more stuff. Next project: flannel pajama pants for the boys and Joel. :)

Transportation pattern sleepsack.

Fleece sleepsack.

10 Months Old!

Cael turned 10 months old on January 18th. In less than two months we will be celebrating his 1st birthday! It's hard to believe he is almost one, and I have no idea where the last 10 months went. He's still an awesome sleeper and a great napper. He has two bottom teeth now, and is eating chunkier food and we give him a lot of finger foods because he likes to feed himself. I am still nursing him and some days he is interested, and others he will only nurse for a few minutes at a time. Short attention span, I guess! He has started clapping and shaking his head no when we say no or shake our heads no. He is standing on his own more, but hasn't taken his first steps. He is a speed crawler though, and he cruises all over the place so I'm sure he will be walking on his own very soon. He is the happiest baby I know, and rarely gets upset unless you are trying to change his diaper or clothes, or he is hungry. He finds the littlest things entertaining and is always laughing. He loves to place peek-a-boo in the curtains and will try to hide behind them and peek out. He's curious about everything and is much more adventurous than Ayden was when he was a baby. I'm still amazed by the whole birth order thing. He definitely has the personality of the second child. We'll see what the next few months bring. I can't believe I have to start thinking about planning his birthday party soon!

Valentine's Day Shirts

I've been looking up how to sew appliques on shirts because I think there are a lot of cute things I could do, especially for holidays and it is so cheap and cute! I went on etsy.com and found a lady selling applique patterns. I bought a necktie pattern for $1.00 and changed it a little by adding a heart at the top instead to make it more Valentine's Dayish. I traced the pattern onto Steam-a-Seam and then stuck it on the fabric and cut it out. I then stuck the fabric with the Steam-a-Seam attached onto the shirt where I wanted it, and then ironed the shirt (almost ruining my kitchen table in the process, but that's another story). Now, the neck-tie will stay on the shirt, but it's much cuter if you now sew around it so that it looks like it's sewn on. I sewed all around the tie with a zig-zag stitch. I think they turned out really well for my first applique project. Next, I'm going to make the boys shirts with their first initial on it, and a St. Patrick's Day shirt for each of them. So many ideas, so little time!

Cael's shirt.

Ayden's shirt.

Ayden modeling.

Cael's modeling attempt.

Peek-a-boo!

Cael loves playing peek-a-boo and hiding in the curtains. He thinks it's hilarious and just laughs and laughs.

Playing

The boys love playing together, except Ayden does get mad when Cael tries to grab something he is playing with.

Cael loves singing into the microphone and hearing his voice echo.

This ball hopper is Ayden's favorite toy. He hops all over the place with it.

I love that Ayden is taking a picture of Cael on the slide while I take a picture of them.

Fun with Tickle Monster

Santa brought the boys a cute book called Tickle Monster that comes with tickle monster gloves. It is the cutest book! While reading the book the adult wears the tickle gloves to tickle the child. Ayden is obsessed with the book and we have been reading it all the time. Cael loves to be tickled too. Ayden put on the gloves and was tickling Cael.