Monday Morning Decisions

Too many of them.

I had a hard time sleeping last night - a rarity for me - but that gave all these plans and thoughts a chance to start battling each other in my mind.

It would have been nice to make up my lost sleep this morning, but Mike is out of town, so I had to get the garbage out to the street, bring in the newspaper, and feed Darby and Stella.  After that, I decided to just stay up and decide what I'm going to do with my day.

The house was fairly clean until I started once again re-organizing all our pictures.  That's the actual photographs, not those thousands of digital photos on the computer.

Thank goodness this picture is blurred, or it would be harder to look at.

When I moved here and was lucky enough to have so much storage space, I just unpacked boxes and stuffed everything into the cabinets and closed the doors.  I think this section was vaguely "Pictures, Games, and Baby Books," but other things have sneaked in there.   Through the years, I've done a little organizing but never finished.

These are some of the boxes that are labeled with dividers.  I'm plowing through the stacks and stacks of pictures and only taking a little time out to reminisce and even toss out some of them.  Why is it so difficult to throw away picture of Gray's 3rd birthday party when there are multiple copies of each one?  And all those photographs of beaches, mountains, etc., that I'm sure looked outstanding and photo-worthy at the time.

Okay, that's ongoing and may take a few days, along with my attack on the toys in the attic.  I've been sending Emily picture after picture of the toys that belonged to them and asking if she wants them kept for Graysen.

Like dolls!  I haven't even reached the boxes of Barbies and Fisher-Price My Friend dolls that they loved so much.

 

What I have unpacked are Cabbage Patch dolls, which no one cares about keeping.  I'm not sure what to do with them.  The ones with yarn hair seem to have a little value, so I may try my luck on Ebay.  The little pink doll, which is not sentimental, cleaned up nicely and might sell too, Romper Room Softie.  Stuffed animals will also find new homes somewhere.

 

 I'm shocked Emily didn't want the Annie figures.  There are 3 more somewhere.  They were well played with.  She also doesn't want the Strawberry Shortcake figure with the receding hairline or the Pretty Pony with the missing tail. 

 These little dolls are called Amanda Jane and have very little value.  I think I was more taken with them than Emily because of all the cute clothes and accessories, but they're really too small to dress easily and kind of got put aside.  We're keeping those.

 This was Elise's favorite doll.  I'm not sure of the brand, and she can't remember her name, but she's definitely a keeper.

 Along with this cradle made by their Grandaddy Windham.  It's not going anywhere!  I'll make a little quilt to go in it, and I think it will be a treasure for Graysen.

The much-loved mermaids (no bath was complete without a mermaid entourage), Pretty Ponies, and fairy-type things survived a nice wash in the dishwasher and hair conditioner and are ready for more playing.

 Mermaids made the cut.

 But not the fairies.  Looking for homes for them.

 I found these sweet Madame Alexander miniature dolls that came with Happy Meals at McDonald's.  I tried to collect them all but am missing some.  They're also not suitable for little hands to dress.  I'm not even sure their clothes aren't sewn on. But they're cute, so I'm saving those.

I'm not sure where the larger Gorham dolls came from - just don't remember anything about them.  The smaller ones are from a collection of 12 - one for every month.  I got January and October and some extras.  They usually just came out at Christmas, so they're in good shape.

 

I'm looking forward (and Mike isn't) to bringing more boxes down to dig through.

The Beanie Babies are not going anywhere - well maybe the miniatures I'll part with.

  I started buying those every once in awhile many years ago and just found them.  They have no value either, but every one of them (except maybe the snake, which I don't have) is so cute.

The kittens and puppies are my favorites.

If I can tear myself away from sorting and organizing and tossing, this bin of yarn is taunting me.  I need to make a larger Viking hat for Graysen, some bathcloths for her, maybe another hat, and some dishrags for myself and the ladies at the dentist's office.

 The front door wreath seems to have been overlooked.

And the poinsettias need attention.

 Pinterest needs organizing.

 

 
Mama's door needs clearing of Christmas cards, but she first wanted a picture to show how much more social she is than us.

I can't stop without posting pictures of this sweet baby.  She was going through a phase of not wanting to nap and waking up in the middle of the night when we were there, so they were working on shortening her afternoon nap.

 

When Emily announced out of the blue, "Let's go get her," Elise and I raced her up the stairs.

 

At first she was startled and had a hard time processing what was going on.

But then Mama explained what was happening.

 Did some clapping games.

 And she decided waking up was a nice thing.

 

 

 Such a precious baby.  I can't express how much we adore her.

 

End of December Comeback

I guess it's time to come creeping back to this blog and try to carry on.  So many things have happened in the past few months I'll never be able to remember them. 

I've figured out as long as I use Google Chrome, my pictures are able to be posted without any trouble.  Now I have to remember how to scan and edit photos again.  More reading that I don't have time for.  I want someone to just stand over my shoulder and tell me in 3 or fewer sentences how to do it.

First, today is the birthday of our firstborn Gray.  I can't say I remember the day he was born because "natural" childbirth was ignored, and I pretty much woke up and had a baby.  But he was adored from the first day, and 42 years later, he is just as special.  He and Stephanie spent the day with us Christmas Eve, and we had a great day laughing and reminiscing.

Ever since I saw a picture in October of Graysen with a Halloween snow globe, something has been in my brain that I had seen that picture before.

Today when I was trying to sort through some old pictures, I found it.  I naturally could not scan it to the correct size, so I took a picture with my camera, and that's why the quality is so bad.

Elise 1974

Graysen 2013

I think it's the position of the hands more than anything and the expression, but just looking at these pictures, Graysen and Aunt CC are definitely related.

Just  because trying to catch up is so overwhelming right now, I'll just post a few Christmas pictures and come back later.  And maybe talk about the trip too.

When we got to Seattle on the 12th, Mike and I arrived an hour or 2 before Elise, so we waited at the airport, which I enjoy more than waiting to fly!  Ryan picked us up and then went to get Graysen from her babysitter since we and all our luggage took her spot in the car.

Not unexpectedly, she didn't immediately jump into our arms.  Elise and Mike saw her a few months ago, but I had not seen her since July.  When she did accept us, it was Elise who was allowed to hold her while she looked Mike and me over.  

Here she's all dressed in her bear suit to go to the grocery store.  These girls have a special bond.

No one can make Graysen laugh like Aunt CC.  Or give better cuddles.

The trip to the grocery store was interesting.  Elise took Graysen in her stroller and wandered all over the store while Emily, Ryan, and I tried to coordinate all the things we wanted.

I like visiting grocery stores in other parts of the country to see the little differences, the different brands, the interesting ways of displaying various things.  This was Safeway in North Bend, a nice store with extra friendly people.  The bakery section was huge and yummy, and  Elise is still bitter about the tiramisu she was steered away from.

I used up all my time talking about a trip to the grocery store.  More later.

The weather today is very Northwest-ish.  I like it.  A good excuse to stay in and clean a little, organize a little, drink a few cups of coffee, and waste a lot of time on various things.  It's not wasted if you enjoy it though.

Christmas Pajamas

Now that Halloween is over and Thanksgiving and fall shirts have been received,

it's time to start planning for Graysen's Christmas outfits.

I've had the green pjs for a couple of months trying to decide what to put on the front.  I had my favorite reindeer in mind all the time and decided to go with that - simple and cute too.

 

Photographing in the early-morning sunshine makes them appear mint, but they're a really a pretty Christmas green.  I ordered them in August from ARB Blanks, and the reindeer is from Applique Cafe.  The owner of Applique Cafe has a blog that has been pretty helpful for me learning to embroider,  and I had a chance to go to Beth's Heirlooms in Wetumpka last night where she had a 2-hour demonstration and discussion.  It was pretty fun, although I had learned almost everything she said from the blog.  It was still good to get out and listen to questions and answers and watch them use a 12-needle machine.  I don't think I'll ever graduate to more than a single-needle one!

Mike and I were discussing the bow.  The reindeer is so plain it needs something else, so a bow works for a girl - but what if you have a little boy?  It's supposed to be Rudolph with that red nose, so I guess it's really supposed to be a boy anyway.  It does no good to over-analyze children's embroidery.  Graysen will probably like it just fine.

The aqua and pink dress is packed and ready to mail along with the baprons from yesterday.

Right after she was born, I found some red shoes for "one day" that I found on sale after Valentine's Day.  Emily tried them on her last night, and if she won't grow much before Christmas, I think they'll do just fine for the holidays.

 

 

I thinks she considers them 2 new toys attached to her feet.

 

 I have babysitting at church this morning and then home to recover (probably a nap). 

 

Baprons, videos, and a sew-along. And my Favorite Baby.

I got this little email from Graysen labeled, "If you love me, you'll send more baprons."

 

I made this yellow one before she was born.  It seemed so big then!  She's learned to pull the Velcro bibs off, so these work out well with the ties and because they cover so much of the body.

I originally used the pattern and tutorial from a blog, Craftiness is Not Optional.  Since then, since so many people were copying her pattern and selling them, she decided to sell her pattern.  All I needed to know was the length of the binding, so I searched around and found that information.  If I make any more, I'll buy the pattern since it includes sizes up to age 3.  Oh, bapron is a cross between a bib and an apron.

 This is what I ended up with: 

 

I fought with that bias  binding a LOT and did it really 3 different ways, but I think we've finally come to terms, and I'm okay with the last method.  Sewing it down on the wrong side, folding it toward the front and top stitching or zig-zag stitching.  It will do fine for bibs that will be covered with food.

I entered a sew along through Facebook from Whimsical Fabrics.  The pattern was Children's Corner Lucy, and I used a sweet aqua fine-wale corduroy with an applique of a little Christmas tree in pink. Danielle and Emily posted 4 days of instructions with pictures and ideas and instructions, and it was up to us to be as creative as we wanted to.  I think 6 of us ended up finishing our project.   It was not easy, but it turned out really cute, and if it fits Graysen, it will be a perfect dress for this year.

 

It's lined and so soft.  The covered buttons were easy to make, and the buttonholes even turned out without a problem.

 

This embroidery pattern is called Whimsy Tree Applique from Embroidery Boutique.  It stitched out so well and was so easy.  I'll use that one again.

 

The little pockets in the pattern were cute - if a little tricky to make - but I conquered them.  My dress was a little too small for pockets, so I left them off, but it's nice to know how to do them.

Emily sends me funny and sweet videos of Graysen sometimes, and since I can't save them to my picture file, they kind of scroll off the page in my emails.

I think I've figured out how to transfer the here, so now I'll have them in one place.

The latest ones.  They made me laugh.












Crafty daughter did a fabulous job of making her own costume as well as Graysen's for Halloween.