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Category: Emma Grace

the kids’ room – a tour

the kids’ room – a tour

If you’ve been following along with me on Facebook, you might have heard that we have a new office space! Before I show it to you though, I thought you might like to see where we moved from {and what was the “new” office in January :)}. But of course, before I can show what was the office, I have to show what was in the old office before it was the office {so that next I can show the old office, of course}. :)

DSC_0007 Emma Grace and Ian have been sharing a room since Ian was 6 months old, and they love it. They’re 15 months apart in age, and best friends {the 15 months apart bit is crazy, but I love that they’re best friends. I hope it never ends.}. So of course, the room has to be a boy/girl combo. It was a work in progress, always getting tweaked {but isn’t that the way with all the best things?}the girl corner Emma Grace’s bed corner, all girlied upDSC_0009The paintings on her wall are super light weight {I’m a bit skittish about hanging heavy things over beds since I grew up in California (you know, earthquakes and all)}, and were fun thrift store finds.
DSC_0010 the boy corner Ian’s corner, with their shared dresser.DSC_0027The light switch cover with the retro little boy and girl is from my dad’s childhood home. :)DSC_0012The car mat is an old one from my grandma’s house. We all used to play with it at her house, and now Ian is using it every day {I think she found it at World Market about 20 years ago and they of course don’t sell it anymore, but this one is similar}.DSC_0028The prints are from here.DSC_0029The stars are from some of our parties {mostly Ian’s cowboy and car themed parties} and I made a few in light green and polka dots to round out the group. I wanted to have something to add color to the corner, but thought that the poufs I used for Emma Grace’s corner were a bit too girly for his side. :) Ian is crazy about cars, animals, airplanes and cowboys, so I kept his corner a bit neutral on theme and it goes with everything his imagination cooks up.neutral stars and garlandsThe triangle bunting is something I made for Emma Grace’s second birthday party {she was super into Winnie the Pooh :)}, and has held up really well over the years. So many people have loved it through the years that I’ve added a few versions of it to the shop!
DSC_0013The play corner – John installed the shelf at a toddler height {about 2 feet} and it worked well for their little stuffies, baskets of play food, dolls, etc. The middle paper doll art is by me {vintage paper dolls in a shadow box}, and the prints on either side are from here.
DSC_0014 They all love the play kitchen, and spend hours in imaginary play with it. John’s parents gave it to them for Christmas, and it has been fabulous. Really, I can hardly say enough about this little kitchen! The prints are a combination of thrift store find {Winnie the Pooh}, note cards that I framed and a magazine snippet.

DSC_0030DSC_0017 DSC_0018 DSC_0019 DSC_0021 Olivia didn’t sleep in their room, but it might as well have been hers too for the time she spent playing in it.DSC_0022 DSC_0023 DSC_0025 DSC_0026

And that was their room! The photos were taken on the same day that we started to repaint the room and then the next day it was the office {which I’ll be showing you super soon :)}.

Christmas sewing re-cap, part 1

Christmas sewing re-cap, part 1

Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have seen the late night photos of the skirts I was making for the girls. {This being the first Christmas that we had two girls, of course I felt that they needed to have matching outfits :) I’d love sewing Christmas outfits for them to become a tradition!}

sewing Em's Christmas skirt

They were rather last minute, but even so came together just as I had pictured!

I used Oliver+S’s free Lazy Days Skirt pattern which I’ve used so many times that I know it by heart {it makes up so quickly – if you’re not interrupted, that is}. Of course, late at night I can’t quite remember how to do the ribbon hem, so I winged it {I’m pretty good at winging it}.

the Path Less Traveled: laying out and measuring

{please excuse the darkness of these photos – it was really late!}

First, I scrounged through my fabric looking for a length of some nice heavy-weight Black Watch plaid that I knew I had. Didn’t find it {I know it’s in there somewhere, though! Maybe I’ll find it for next Christmas’s outfits …}, but I did find an old dress shirt of my dad’s that would work nicely.

the Path Less Traveled: more measuring

Then I measured – note my super accurate measurement technique of using the last Lazy Days skirt that I made for Emma Grace to check the length – and cut. I cut Em’s from the torso section of the shirt, and Olivia’s from one of the sleeves. Because I used the midsection of the shirt for Em’s, hers has a sweet feature of a button placket down the front which I thought classed it up just a bit. I sewed the placket shut so it’s non-functioning now, but if I make her a Lazy Days skirt from a shirt in the future I might leave it useable … it could be really sweet!

the Path Less Traveled: finished skirts

At this point, Olivia got hungry. It was already after midnight, so I told myself that I’d finish them the next day {hah!}. Well, it was a nice thought. Remember how I mentioned that this pattern works up pretty quickly when you’re not interrupted? Somehow I didn’t quite realize how many interruptions two toddlers and a newborn can give! Wonderful interruptions though they are. :) This set, instead of taking about an hour which they normally would have, took bits and snippets grabbed from 3 days.

the Path Less Traveled: finished skirts

I ended up finishing them at almost midnight Christmas Eve. Yep.

After we got two super excited children to bed and Olivia finally settled for a few hours I was able to get the sewing part done. Totally guessed as to the width of the waist bands, but they worked! They turned out so very darling.

the Path Less Traveled

I {re} dressed up Emma Grace and Olivia the other day to get some more photos of the two of them together – funny how in the busyness of Christmas day I didn’t get one where they were both smiling!

Coming soon, the onesie that I embellished for Olivia to wear with the skirt. :)

I hope you’re enjoying the new format of the blog over here on our site. I’m still learning all the ins and outs of it, and am enjoying the challenge!

 

Have a lovely weekend!

 

<3

 

{this moment}

{this moment}

(meant to post this last week, but life moves on …)

inspired by SouleMama:

“{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”
"Mama, pray."

"Mama, pray."

I’ve been praying with Em as I put her to bed at night, thanking God for giving us this baby girl to raise for Him and asking Him to fill her dreams with joy and peace and instill a deep love for Him in her heart.
When she has nightmares I’ve been comforting her by praying for His peace to surround her and for Him to show her his love.

And tonight, Emma Grace has a fever.

She was murmuring in her sleep and then called for me. I ran in, half expecting her to be throwing up (since we just went through a bought of it). She was tossing around and, when she saw me coming, reached out her hand and said, “Mama, pray.”

Hearing her ask broke my heart and also brought joy – she is so miserable, and there is nothing I can do for her (she’s already had her dose of Tylenol for the night). But she knows – in some toddler way – that God can fix it, God cares, and Mama needed to talk to Him again. She is only just turned three and she knows.

So God, Heavenly Father, You are the Healer and our Comfort. Comfort our baby tonight as You are healing her miserable little body, give her the sweet and deep sleep that she needs tonight. Love and praise.

for remembering: small, sweet and dimpled

for remembering: small, sweet and dimpled

I just clipped 40 tiny nails: 20 fingers and 20 toes, and 2 chubby, dimpled toddlers worth.
As I was clipping I kept thinking “these fingers and toes will never be this small and sweet again, not even tomorrow. Em and Ian are shooting up like weeds and I need to savor them.”

So, once we were finished I sat them next to each other on the couch (even though they were ready to dash off and play) and took a few photos of those fingers and toes.

And then they hopped down and got back to their playing.

<3