Christmas with our Family

Well, not the whole family. James is convinced that there are 5 people in our family....4 humans and one cat (Millie). Mille had to stay at home on Christmas Day, but the rest of us headed to my parents place for a lovely Christmas lunch.

I just thought I would share a family photo from that day (in fact the first photo we have had taken as a family), and a photo of Layla looking like an angel.....

Introducing Miss Layla Jade

Layla Jade was born on Sunday the 7th of December 2008 at 3.29am weighing 3.3kg and 51cm long.

She is very easy so far, just sleeping and feeding. No dramas.

I just thought I should share some pictures of her, her nursery, and some lovely gifts that we have received for her.

The Peter Rabbit cot quilt that my Mum made for Layla...many months in the making.

The nursery



An outfit made by my online sewing friend Joy as part of a secret santa swap. Her baby is due any day now too.

A playmat, kimono jacket and 'taggie' made by my friend Lisa

Handmade Market this weekend

Come down to say hello and do some Christmas shopping.....

The Long Awaited Update

Hmmm, 2 months since my last post....quite terrible really.

Anyway, I have a couple of pictures to share of things made, etc etc.

1. The little patchwork quilt that I completed earlier this year is now in place in the Moses Basket, ready for our baby girl to be born. Only 6 weeks to go now. Although with the crazy weather we have been having, I doubt she will need anything other than a sheet to cover her at night.


2. Next a little dress that I made for above baby girl using the Oliver + S Swingset Tunic Pattern. I added an extra band at the bottom to make it 'dress length'. This is still awaiting a button or two at the back, it has just been so long since I did a button hole that I have lost confidence!


3. Next, the Amy Butler Birdie Sling Bag.
I love the fabric, but don't love the way the handle attaches to the bag.....maybe I just didn't follow the instructions correctly. Anyone else had any problems with it?


4. James all ready for the Kindy Farm visit at daycare....he actually fed the animals this year. He really is growing up. Although, the way he freaked out at the noise of the water going down the drain after his bath tonight, it makes me wonder sometimes, haha...



I had better leave it at that for now. Next post will include a picture of James' Halloween outfit for daycare. I don't 'get' Halloween at daycare, but I can't let him miss out.

Bledisloe Cup

Let's forget the most recent game held in NZ.....

I will just say that we had a great night at the Sydney game LAST week. It was James' first time to see the Wallabies play. Leading up to the game James asked "Who is playing?" and I told him "The Wallabies and the All Blacks".
He told me he hadn't see the All Blacks before, and I pointed out that he actullay hasn't see the Wallabies either. To which he replied, "Yes I have". When I asked where, he told me he had seen them at the zoo!!! Silly Mummy!!

Anyway, he had a good time and lasted until the end of the game.

A Day Out with Dad

Alex took the day off from work today and we made it down to Cronulla for some lunch and a little walk.

Today we ventured onto the sand looking for shells. It was simple, but lovely.

Another Year....

I recently celebrated my birthday, argh, another year gone.

Last year Alex went all out and bought me a new sewing machine. I wasn't very happy with him as he spent way too much money on a very particular purchase (I am sounding soooo ungrateful now....)

I have always tried to make him realise that I don't need a lot of money spent on gifts...they just need to be the 'right' gifts, haha.

Well this year he did REALLY well. He stopped off at Newtown on his way home from work one night and bought me a great little felted pouch,

a softies kit,

some fabulous seats to an upcoming Whitlams concert

and a brilliant card (that I can't stop talking about).

I was so excited my these presents. He made my day! Thanks Alex!!

James the Builder???

James was dressed as Bob the Builder for a recent character day at daycare. Thank you EB Sewing Girls for your suggestions!!!

I went with Bob, as I realised it required the least amount of effort from me, haha.I made a 'tool belt'. James was very happy with it indeed.

Play Rug for Baby

Well, I bought the charm squares for this quilt a while back from www.fatquartershop.com. I was going to make a little dolls quilt for my niece. But when I saw it made up I couldn't part with the quilt. It has been moved to the drawer containing little girl baby clothes in anticipation of my next ultrasound (a week away) to find out what the sex of the baby is. If it is another little boy, I will have a few little presents to pass on to any girls that are born in the near future....

I'm Back

Not too much to say really, but I thought I should post to keep the blog 'active'.

Lately I have been busy with being pregnant (15 weeks), James' 3rd birthday, settling into the new house, and so on....

I have finished a baby play rug which I will blog later. Otherwise I had better get sewing, or my machine will get stiff from not enough use.

Now for a photo, to bulk up the post....
Taken when James was saying, "Now take a photo of me in the car..." Notice the hand on the face...little poser.

Better Late Than Never....

Hi,
It has been a while, but I am back. We have renovated and moved into a new (for us) house. We are on one level (previously 2) and I am loving it. One less thing I have to worry about with my accident prone son.

I think I will just update with Easter for this post....

James had an Easter Hat Parade at daycare so we/I made a hat for him. As with his daycare Christmas party last year, the temperature was ridiculously hot that day, so the hat didn't stay on for long...



We also made our way to the Easter Show again this year. We spent the morning on our own and then met up with family for a few hours....it was a long day.

The farmyard nursery this year was fantastic. James chose a Hi-5 showbag, and his Uncle gave him a hat from the Coke bag....he looked pretty cool!

Valentines Swap

OK, last post for today.

Just thought I should post a picture of the bag that I included in my Valentines Day Swap to Kylie.


Pattern was off the Burda Style website.

Sewing Again.....

We had a wedding to go to today, and James and I had nothing to wear..... I say that every time I have a wedding to go to. I also have a cupboard full of suitable 'wedding' clothes.

But I really did need a new dress as I have put on a bit of weight lately. I don't want to dwell on that, I just want to show you the dress that I made. No pattern. Fabric from Tessuti's. Overall effect was OK.


I also made some pants for James to wear. The pattern was from Ottobre (the latest edition I think). Fabric from Tessuti's. Overall effect: he looked gorgeous!

And a picture of James playing with Lucas....the gorgeous son of the Bride and Groom.

Another Clip

OK, just one more clip...for now.
Alex (and I) are huge Sony fans. We love Sony products and we love their marketing campaigns of the last few years.
This particular clip has beautiful music and has such a calming effect on all of us. It has been used a few times to get James to calm down before bed....
It is also now downloaded onto Alex's iPod Touch. James loves the iPod Touch as it keeps him quiet for a few minutes watching clips. His favourite is Pink singing Stupid Girls, but whenever it has been on lately he has been asking me, "Is that Spice Girls Mummy?", to which I reply, "No James, it is Pink". "Oh, Pink" he says, "I wuv Pink Mummy".


On a side note, I was trying a dress on the other night and came out to show Alex. James saw me and said, "Oh Mummy, you a Princess!". After a hard day with a 2 and a half year old, it is so nice to hear that :)

Baby Bunting

This is some bunting that I made for my friend Renae for her new baby (who will be here in 1 week at the latest). For anyone wanting to attempt it, just do it. It is so easy. As for the amount of fabric required, Renae gave me 3 pillowcases that she had bought to match the linen in the baby room, and it was enough to make over 5m of bunting.....

OK, here are the photos....

A Cute Clip

Projects

I thought I had better get some of the things I had been working on before Christmas blogged, otherwise people wouldn't believe that I sew.

Firstly, I wanted to show a picture of the Christmas present that I bought for my sister Mel. She is studying to be a naturopath, so when I saw this pendent I thought it would be perfect for her.

So once I had the pendent, I was looking through my mountains of fabric and found the perfect fabric to make a bag to go with it!!!


And a bag for my Mum. She can't stop raving about it.....but then she does like to talk a lot normally, so maybe it doesn't mean much...


OK, I had better run....I have to pick James up from daycare.

New Year, New Haircut

Happy New Year to everyone. Not much happened around here last night.....although we could hear fireworks in the distance. Does that count?

Most of our friends have little kids now, so I am guessing that they were all at home like we were. Or were they all out, and we just weren't invited??

Anyway, Christmas was just like it always is...busy. I have mixed feelings about Christmas. I enjoy all the food and I love giving presents. But I hate the stress of the cooking and the stress that some people put themselves through to buy a perfect present. Most of all I hate being asked, "What do you want me to buy you for Christmas?" I also don't like being told, "If you haven't bought anything for me yet, you can get me....." Anyway, that is my little vent over for the year....well on the blog anyway.

Alex bought me a new little camera that I can keep in my bag. Our other camera takes great pictures, but is a little big to carry around all the time.
So let me present some pictures......

Firstly, my sister took a family picture of us.


The Chocolate Cream Berry Pavlova.....too, too good!!


And James with his new haircut. Despite sitting there while the hair was being cut, it was still quite a shock to see him with hair so short. He looks SO grown up now. All day yesterday and today, Alex and I have been looking over at him and just shaking our heads in disbelief....is that the same boy?