Thanks mom!

I needed a kick in the pants to get back to blogging. I had such good intentions - honest! In fact, I had so many pictures that I spent a whole night uploading only to somehow have all my hard work disappear into cyberspace! Ugh. I just haven't had the heart to take another long night to redo my work. My mother oh-so-subtley (is "subtley" a word?) informed/reminded/TOLD me that I didn't have to get all the pictures up in one sitting. So. I just finished cleaning out my truck (except for vacuuming - I couldn't find an extension cord) and loading up the dishwasher and Mallory's still napping. I thought I'd grab a Diet Coke and appease the masses...or at least my mom and sister! ;)

This is the new addition to our yard. As if I didn't have enough obstacles to mow around.... Anyway, Mallory needed (yes, needed) a swingset. The silly plastic ones at Walmart are about $300 and look as if a slight breeze would blow them to South Dakota. So I was really hoping to talk Matt into investing in a wooden model that may last through a summer or two. However, before I really had a chance to make my pitch, Jo (Mallory's daycare provider) asked if we wanted one. Her friend from St. Cloud (about 2-3 hrs away) had one they didn't want anymore and so did the friend's neighbor. They were planning on chopping them up for a bonfire! Egads!! One of the other daycare families was planning on heading up to get the one and were so kind as to bring the second one back as well. FREE! Okay, twenty bucks. That's all they would take for gas money! Hooray!

This is how it arrived at our house. It was in four pieces. Fortunately, Matt was around to put it together right away - poor Mallory was about jumping out of her pants yelling "whee, whee" (her word for slide and swing).
However, because the pieces were so big, we had to leave Daddy alone to put it together. This is the face I got when we had to go away. She continued screaming about halfway to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

But, she was all smiles when we came home to find that the "whee" was fully functional. Now, she never forgets to remind me that "Daddy whee". (translation: Daddy was such a nice guy that he put together my swingset the very same day it arrived. I love Daddy and my swingset!)
Never fear....I still have lots more pictures to come!

This one's for you, Jill

I can't believe I'm posting this picture. But since Jill asked, here goes....

Jay's tag

All right, so I've been tagged by Jay. I suppose I should get this out of the way....actually, it's kind of funny. A friend and I used to make Top 10 Lists all the time in high school - what a throwback!

Ten reasons I stink:

10. I tend to make snap judgements about people. Not very nice, I know.
9. I spend way too much time on the internet.
8. I'm terrible at housekeeping...just ask my sister. :)
7. I take things personally - one of the top reasons that Matt and I don't work well together. I call it "yelling", he calls it "speaking loudly so he can be sure I hear him".
6. I have a bad e-bay habit. I'm doing my best to break it, but somehow money spends so easily on the internet!
5. I have a short attention span - I get really excited about something, collect everything I can related to it, then lose interest. For example, I have about 20 cross-stitch kits/patterns in my stash, but I've only finished about 3 projects.
4. I'm a snacker.
3. I'm very uncomfortable in group settings or meeting new people.
2. I procrastinate.
1. I'm terrible about keeping in touch with old friends. (I didn't even get Christmas cards out this year *gasp*)

Ten reasons I rock:

10. I am fairly crafty, when I get around to finishing a project.
9. I am generous - I especially like making things for people.
8. I switched from regular Coke to Diet Coke. Ask anyone if that isn't a major accomplishment! (Although, I am now hopelessly addicted to said Diet Coke.)
7. I finished 7 years of college and became a doctor (of veterinary medicine).
6. I have a supremely beautiful little girl (okay, so I can only take partial credit, but still....)
5. I can fold my tongue to look like a three-leaf clover.
4. In a little over a month, I will put on a bathing suit and get into a pool in front of other people, just so that aforementioned little girl can take swimming lessons.
3. In general, I'm not a complainer. Especially about the fact that Matt works about 23 hours a day and maybe sees Mallory for 5 hours a week. Not that I'm complaining....
2. I have been very good at getting Mallory's picture taken for all the major milestones (3, 6, 9, 12, 18 months).
1. I managed to finish this list! This was a lot harder than it probably should have been. Wow.

Sew and Share

Sorry guys....kinda left you hanging again, didn't I? Not sure if you care, but I do have a fairly decent excuse or two! I'm going to separate all the excitement of the last week or so into a couple different posts, just so not to overwhelm anyone. :)


Okey dokey, here goes.... I got inspired to "whip up" some fun, easy summer clothes for Mallory.

Look ma, I can shir (shirr?) ! I've actually never shirred before, but it needed to be done. I followed this tutorial and increased the size as I thought I would need to for Mallory's measurements. However, this shirt is apparently has a quite roomy fit, so in order for her to wear it before she's FOUR, I shirred a few rows around the chest to make it fit a little snugger. It worked pretty well, if I do say so myself. (Although if you look at the shirring, it probably isn't blue ribbon quality.)


And this is the gorgeous model, posing oh so cooperatively. Snort.

This second shirt I actually bought a pattern for, so I can't send you to free instructions, sorry. I think it's super cute and the size turned out a little more true. That is a very good thing, as this one would be a bit more difficult to rescue, I think. Without further ado...Mallory's "moo" shirt!

And finally, here's the little baby quilt I made for my friend Jessica. Her little girl is now 2 months old, so I figured she needed a 2 month birthday present! Okay, I actually ran across the kit while shopping for other fabric and it was just perfect as she has a green and brown car seat, too. I had a little snafu with my fabric shrinking too much when I pre-washed it, but I found some nice soft and fuzzy material that made it even better.

There. Hopefully in the next day or two, I can post the ton of pictures I have of our new addition. Nothing like a little suspense to keep you checking in, eh? ;)

Oh, and Jay, I didn't forget about your tag...honest!

Some sewing progress

I thought I'd show you my projects in a separate post. I wouldn't want to take away from Mallory's post.

This cute little sundress was made from a men's buttondown shirt. This is where I got the idea / instructions if anyone is interested. It was actually pretty easy. I got the shirt at the local Goodwill (along with several others that I plan to reconstruct later) for $3.50, so that's pretty good. I think for the other shirts I will end up putting a little ruffle or something on the bottom and along the top of the bodice...it makes it look a little girlier. (Is that a word?) I'm even more impressed, since the only measurement I knew of Mallory's (she was in bed when I sewed this) was her chest circumference - the rest I winged. Yay me.

And of course, one silly picture. This is supposed to be her dolls' pack-n-play, but apparently she thinks she fits okay, too. Goofball.

My second project to share comes from here. This one was a little trickier. In fact, I needed Matt to help me figure out how to fold the credit card slots - he needs to feel useful once in a while, no? But, overall, it's not as hard as it looks like it might be. My worst part was getting the snaps in the right way. I actually ended up having to cut the first couple top strips off and start over at one point. My stupid snap pliers doesn't work the way it's supposed to work.

I was planning on keeping this for myself to use in my new (clearance!) purse, but I totally forgot to use the brown piece of fabric that I bought, so it ended up very 70's orange and green. As I was looking at it, I first thought of my sister Tessa. So, the mail fairy made a trip to Fargo with my first fabric wallet. I hope she likes it. :)

Finally, as a grand finale to this post. I managed to get Mallory to make her fish lips. Actually, she was pretty cooperative - it's really even cuter in person.

Continued....

Okey dokey. Let's see if I can get some more pictures uploaded for you all to see. Our internet went wonky for a few hours this afternoon...I wonder if the 8+ inches of rain and snow had anything to do with that. Hmmmm....

I guess I had one more cute one from Great-grandma Lorraine's house. This is Mallory and Nick playing either peek-a-boo or chase around the rocking chair. I was there and I'm still not sure exactly what they were doing.

Fast forward one week....Kasey, Joshua and Miriam came up to visit last Saturday. It was such a nice day. Mallory and I were outside for a while in the morning before our company came. Then, her and Joshua played inside until lunchtime. The ducky game that I found at a rummage sale is a hit - at least with the kids. Somehow, I don't think Kasey would be real impressed if I packaged it up and sent it her way. The silly thing quacks incessanty!

After lunchtime, it was back outside to try to wear everybody out for naptime. Mallory found the makeshift flag that we used to mark her sandbox under the snow and proceeded to lead Joshua on an exploration.

Hey kids....come back! It's time to swing!

I had to include this picture to prove that Matt does know how to play with little kids. Look how high he has her in that swing! And she loved it...she laughed and giggled the whole time. But, she was kind enough to let Joshua have a turn. Although, after about two minutes that did lead back to her and that darn milestone again. You know, the one that involves screaming.

That concluded most of our fun that day. We headed into the house and everybody napped. Well, Mallory, Joshua and I did. I'm not sure what Kasey and Miriam did.

A little bit of everything

Finally I think I'll be able to get some pictures posted. I've been trying for a couple days - honest! Hopefully tonight's the night - although, I might get distracted, as I'm watching The Biggest Loser while I'm posting this.

Let's see...where to start? I think I have some pictures left over from Easter. These were from Easter dinner at Great-grandma Lorraine's house (Matt's grandma).

This is arriving at Great-grandma's - Mallory in her new spring dress (although not her Easter dress, since that one came off at naptime) that was perfect for playing along with dolly and her blanky. I had made that blanket last summer, but this is the only time that she has ever played with it.

Renewing some friendships and playing games. The two boys are Matt's cousins, Nick and Ben. They were super nice to Mallory and played all sorts of fun games and helped her find her Easter basket. Nice kids.

She also made some new friends. This is Matt's cousin Danna's little boy, Joey. He's about a year younger than Mallory, but she had fun playing with him. Too bad he was still recovering from an ear infection...he was a bit clingy and cranky. That's not a fun way to spend Easter.

Then we tried to get a nice family picture. Some turned out better than others.....by the way, I have no idea what happened to my font. I can't find my "Arial" right now. ???

Okay, that's it for Easter pictures. I'm going to post this before something crazy happens and I lose all my hard work (and time spent waiting for pictures to upload!). More to come....maybe tonight, maybe not. :)