A great holiday!

We had a great time with family here in Lloydminster this Christmas. There were games, laughs and lots of food.

We had a special visit from Santa.... Hailey was quite interested in his beard. I was surprised she didn't freak out!

Our little girl also got a jolly jumper and is having lots of fun learning how to work those muscles.

Here are some pics of our fun on Hailey's first Christmas!

Christmas Stockings

This year was our first Christmas hosting at our home in Lloydminster. We were very excited to have the Laycock's as well as Ian's sister Cora come and join us for the holiday! Since we have not had a Christmas at our own home since being married this was a first for getting a Christmas tree, decorating and needing stockings! I looked around the stores for stockings but decided that they would mean more to our family if I made them myself! I had a friend who was asking how I made them so here is the process. They are by no means perfect... or even very good, but they match and they have sentimental value. Here is how they came together:



I chose 3 different prints of flannelet... plain red, white and a green pattern with sparkly snowflakes (these were much cheaper than the 20$/yd Christmas patterns they had for the holidays). I first cut the red and green into 4 inch wide stripes to be sewn together. Thanks Tasha for letting me use your mat/cutter... they are so handy. Planning to invest in my own soon.



I made my own template on cardboard for the stocking... I'm glad I didn't forget to add the 1/2 inch seam allowance or they would have ended up quite narrow. I then stitched the stripes together in alternating colours.



Remember to sew them front to front so that the seam is on the back!



I then ironed the seams flat on the back and then traced the stocking pattern onto the fabric with a sharpie.





I then cut out the traced patterns... probably would have been faster to double it up to cut less but I was worried about screwing up cutting more than one at a time.



I forgot to take pictures after this... I used the stripe pattern just for the front of the stocking. I cut out 2 more stocking shapes in a solid colour for the back of the front layer and the back of the stocking. I sewed the first piece right onto the stripe pattern with the right side facing out on both. You could leave the inside without a backing but I wanted to cover up the stripe seams. I then cut out the toe/heel in white flannelet and used a zig-zag stitch to sew it on top. Next I flipped the front/back front to front and sewed the edges together (all except the top of course - remember to sew the top of the back layer over to make a nice seam). Last of all I stitched on a ribbon to hang it over the fireplace.

Here are 2 of the 4 stockings I finished... (I have 4 extra stripped fronts ready for 'the future')



I didn't have time to get the names on this year... project for Dec 2010 I guess!



I am not ecstatic about how they turned out but I am satisfied. I will probably make all new ones in 10 years anyways! So there is the process... I am sure there are other short cuts but I have not figured them out yet!

'Tis the Season!

I have been enjoying setting up our house this year for Christmas as it will be our first family Christmas at home! My family (and Ian's sister) are coming out to Lloyd this year to celebrate with us. This is the first time we have put up a tree since we were married as we always left for the holidays. Ian insisted we get a real one... not my favourite as it makes a mess and bothers my allergies... who ever wanted to bring the outdoors, indoors? ;)

My collection of Christmas decor isn't very big yet but over the years it will increase. I am a big fan of the advent calendars too and have another one I didn't get a pic of, plus plans to make at least 1 more this year. I remember as a kid racing around the house to change them all each day.









Hailey is almost 4 months old now! I am definitely more excited for her first Christmas than she is but that is okay. She loves our tree and just stares at the lights, it is so cute. She has just started on rice pablum and I think will be rolling over in the next few weeks. She has started being a little stinker about going to bed and is eating twice as often as she used to. Probably also a sign to get pablum in her to help fill her up. We are having fun and it is so nice to feel sane again. I can now get done almost anything I want to do while she is sleeping or even awake. She just doesn't like leaving the house but that is something we are working on (if it wasn't so cold right now). Tomorrow I am taking her swimming for the first time. I bet she hates it ;)



I joined a baby group in the past month and have been having fun making new friends and getting out of the house. These pics are from a few get togethers. The first is a baking exchange we did. It was a house full of girls with 5 moms and 5 little girls. What fun! Hailey was the noisy one of the group... surprise!



We had 2 boys at this one!


More posts to come of Hailey seeing Santa and swimming!

Lately...

Lately it has been all about Hailey and the craft fair. Busy times here at our house as I cut, routered, painted, weeded and applied vinyl to MANY items. It was a good time but I am glad the craziness is done. I will be continuing to sell my products at the local farmers markets in December and January for sure. I'm working on finishing/starting my website so I can make custom orders for the numerous contacts I made at the fair.

Hailey is becoming such a delight as she plays and coos. She is fussing less but still hates any change to her normal 'stay at home' schedule. I definitely need to get out more! She weighed in the other day at 14 lbs 9 oz and is now over 3 months old. She is the Queen of our roost!

My sisters twins will be here in less than a week with her c-section scheduled for Dec 1st! I am SUPER excited to be an auntie but so sad that I won't be able to travel to Switzerland to see them. Thank heaven for skype!

Here are some recent pics of the goings on!


made these awesome cake pops at Super Saturday and was devastated when I realized that I couldn't eat them (Hailey's milk allergy). I ate 2 anyways and Hailey paid for it later.... I felt SO bad for being selfish!


The booth with my amazing helpers (auntie and grandma). I couldn't have done it without them and Ian this year. They are my superhero's.




The awesome wall unit that Ian made. It is perfect and I am so proud!


The big girl sitting in her bumbo!


"my spatula Mommy"

Having fun....

Thank heaven for this toy! It is probably the only reason I can get things done during the day. I hope she doesn't get bored of it too quickly.

Staying away...

Yes, it is true... today I am skipping church (stake conference) to keep Hailey away from the illnesses that seem to abound these days. I wasn't so worried about this whole H1N1 thing until one of Ian's coworkers reportedly got it! He stayed away from work for a whole week but most people are contagious before they even show symptoms right?!? So now I'm all worried that Ian will bring something home (since I'm obviously not exposed to anything being at home all the time). It doesn't help that last night he was feeling sick but is fine this morning and think it can be credited to too many 'rockets'. Anywho... it made me paranoid. Infants are very high risk for getting any illness, correct? Why is it that they can't be immunized under 6 months of age? I took Hailey in this week for her 2 month shots... those were immunizations. I don't understand it.

I must say though that it is almost a relief being told that she can't have it. Then I am not stuck with the decision of whether I should have her get it. I must say that it broke my heart to hold Hailey down while she was poked in both legs. Why are those needles so LONG?!? Their legs are so tiny. I broke down when my little girl looked up at me (after the first one) with huge tears in her eyes and a moan that would tear anyone apart as if to say "Why Mommy? Why did you let them do this to me?" I almost cry just thinking about that little face. Next time I need Ian to come so that he can hold and comfort me.

So here we are, at home, staying healthy! And this is probably where we will be all winter. I hadn't wanted to be stuck at home with a baby all the time but I will suffer the temporary withdrawl from society to keep her healthy. I just can't bear to have a sick baby... especially when it seems like she has already been sick from the very beginning. It "only" took us 2 months to figure out that she has acid reflux AND is allergic to cows milk. Needless to say it hasn't been a very fun 2 months. Now that I am denied from eating anything I enjoy, Hailey is doing much better (short of the 7 mini eggs I ate yesterday as that is a temptation just to great for me to bare). I don't think nursing will last much longer though as I can't have ANY dairy, soy, citrus, tomatoes or eggs. I stare in the pantry everyday wondering what the HECK I can make without any of those ingredients. It is sad! Pretty much everything I eat now is made of rice... yippee :(

This is our baby at almost 12 weeks old!

Halloween

Yes I know Hailey is only 2 and a half months old and can't eat any candy..... but is candy the only point of Halloween? Only part of it at least.... the most important part is getting dressed up really cute (or really scary as some people like) and parading around the block. So that is what we did. We met up with some friends and went trick or treating down our block (a very long crescent). Hailey was wide awake the whole time just staring at all the strange decorations, people and places. It wasn't until we stopped at the last house where Hailey fell asleep.

Here she is all tuckered out once we got back home.