Sunday Sewing: A Cute Croc and Sweet Strawberry Appliques

What a crazy/busy weekend we had!

Friday we had a huge storm that blew off the cap for the shingles on the peak of the roof. Thankfully, our neighbors noticed it Saturday morning and alerted us to it. Walter and Papa were able to fix it pretty easily ~ and inexpensively ~ thank goodness.

Saturday the girls and I shopped ALL DAY. We ran some errands around town then Granny met us and we went to the outlets for new spring clothes for me and the girls. Anna Claire and Mallory were pretty much done shopping as soon as we got to the outlets, especially once I finished shopping for them and wanted to hit Talbot's and Loft for myself. Anna Claire and I had a mini-mommy/daughter meltdown in the Talbot's dressing room that almost put an end to the day! The girls are usually really great "shoppers" but Saturday was not their day.

Sunday we went to cousin Finley's birthday party and the evening ended with a small fender bender when we {me, Walter, Grandmom, Anna Claire, and Mallory} got bumped from behind by a huge pick~up truck. A little scary at first, but we are all fine and there's only a small crack in the bumper. What a way to end the day!

Before the party, I actually got to spend some time at my embroidery machine getting a few things stitched out for the girls. Last Saturday I embroidered this cute bubble suit for my friend Melissa's little girl and that got me motivated to get to work on my pile of projects for the girls.

Oh, I miss the days of Anna Claire and Mallory's chunky little legs in bubble suits!

 



The girls have already worn all the pants my mom made them, but I still wanted to applique some coordinating t-shirts. I chose this cute croc to go with the green and white polka~dot pants...very quick stitching.

 nope, pants are not pressed.

 

I've had the pink gingham jumper since the Rosalina sale back in the fall, so I thought I finally needed to get to work on it. Since it's strawberry season and I just bought new strawberry hair bows at the festival, I chose this sweet strawberry applique, and the girls were able to wear the dresses to cousin Finley's birthday party Sunday afternoon.

 

I have a love/hate relationship with my embroidery machine, but she was on her best behavior Sunday, and I actually got both t-shirts and both jumpers appliqued in record time. I couldn't believe it. I still have a pile of fabric to turn in to cute sun dresses and another pile of shirts to applique. I am hoping to make some progress this week in the evenings...we'll see how that goes!

Out and About

We had a busy and productive loooong Labor Day weekend. It's gotten easier and easier to take the girls along on errands and the great thing is, they seem to enjoy themselves and rarely give me problems.

Saturday, the girls got signed up for dance class {!!!}. After that we went around the corner to People, Places, and Quilts to get fabric and thread for a special project {I am ever so grateful for the little corner of toys they have that allows me to browse the bolts of fabric...and so are the girls!}.

After a quick trip to Target, we made a stop at Shoe Carnival for Keds. I got to spin the wheel {wish I had a picture of that!} while we were there because I was the only person in the store with a library card. The girls thought I had lost my mind when I dragged them barefoot to the front of the store waving my library card, but I won a $3 off coupon. Woot!

Later, we met Granny, Aunt Michelle, Connor, and Dylan at Cracker Barrel...

Sunday was grocery day and swimming at the pool. On Monday we found the new Talbot's outlet {60% off red~line} and the girls got ballet & tap shoes and leotards & tights. They are so excited about dance class...pics coming soon!

What We've Been Up To

Being sick for so long sure did take a lot out of us. Between the four of us, we've each had the flu, three sinus infections ~ or one huge sinus infection that wasn't responding to antibiotics {all me}, two cases of bronchitis {Anna Claire and Mallory}, and two ear infections {all Mallory} ~ all in an eight week span. I am so over being sick and happy to report that, although we are covered from head to toe in yellow pollen, we are all finally well!

In between illnesses we were able to have a little fun here and there {our trip to the zoo, for example}. 

A few weeks ago, Grandmom took the girls on a little shopping spree to the outlets and I got to tag along. Anna Claire and Mallory insisted on sunglasses. Can you tell Anna Claire isn't feeling well in this picture? In actuality, it was Mallory who ended up at the pediatrician's office later that afternoon.

The weather has been wonderful, so we have been playing outside a lot.

In the sandbox...

On the swings...

Trying to get rid of all the germs...

Celebrating Owen's 3rd birthday!

Drawing with sidewalk chalk...

Hopscotch...

Modeling their silk pajamas straight from China. Thanks, Uncle Terry!

I certainly hope we are all done with being sick for a while...as long as the pollen doesn't do us in!

Born to Shop

Anna Claire loves to pretend that she is going shopping these days. Typically, she pretends she's going to CVS to buy diapers, wipes, and diaper cream. The essentials she never "leaves home" without: her sippy, a purse with her coupons {she loves playing with my expired coupons}, her baby doll stroller which is usually carrying Pliget [sic], and a hat. Now, she's usually wearing an Easter bonnet my mom bought her, but this day I guess she couldn't find it, so she opted instead for her construction hat from Owen's birthday.

A girl after my own heart...in so many ways! Check out the new floors. Bye, bye icky carpet!

Running Errands

Dry Cleaners, check.
Post Office, check.
Goodwill, check.
Two tuckered out little girls...

Check, check!

Monday = Fun Day

Today was a school holiday (yippee!), so right after breakfast, the girls and I hopped in the car and headed out to meet Michelle, Connor, and Dylan at Target. The girls love riding in the "big girls" shopping cart. They were so good and sat very still. Mallory only tried to jump out once - when we bumped into Aunt Dot, Cecelia, and Will. After leaving Target, we switched to the stroller and hit Ross, TJ Maxx, Shoe Carnival (new Keds), ans Pier One. We all loved these Mardi Gras masks and had fun trying them on and making the kids laugh. Then Michelle spotted the price tag on this one ($65!), and the fun was over. Our last stop was McAllister's for lunch. It was so nice outside today we ate out on the patio.The girls' climber/slide finally made it to our house today, so when we got back from our outing, the girls got to play outside (without a coat, hat, or mittens!) before nap time.

Look at that baby's belly...

Going down backwards is their favorite!

Needless to say, they napped very well!

After the girls woke up, Walter took them to visit with two of their three Great-Grandmothers who reside at the Presbyterian home and I went to Publix. While I never see myself as one of those shoppers who can save more than she spends, I am really getting into this whole coupon craze and had my best totals ever today - spent $215 and saved $91. Woo Hoo!!!!!

Monday = Fun Day!!!

A Day in the Life...

6:37 AM
I wake up to a magnitude 3.2 earthquake. Everyone else in the house sleeps right on through. At first, I thought it was Cody and Tanner banging around out in the hallway, but then I realized that I just didn't hear something - I felt it, too. The last earthquake we actually felt was this past Christmas. Still waiting on the big one!

9:30 AM
We're off to the mall with Granny to buy new shoes for fall. Sadly, they only had one pair in the girls' size, so the second pair is being shipped to us. That's okay since the girls won't be wearing them for a while.

11:00AM
The nice sales lady in Dillard's is convinced that one of the girls is a boy - even though I told her more than once they were both girls. They were both wearing white sandals, smocked bishop dresses, Mallory had a bow in her hair, and I tried girl's sandals on both Anna Claire and Mallory. I never knew whether she thought Anna Claire or Mallory was the boy. As we walked away, I heard her tell the other sales lady, "one is a boy and one is a girl." gaaahhhh!

12:30 PM
The girls make their first trip to my new favorite fabric shop, Sew 'n Sew. I needed some fabric for a new project and didn't know when I would get back out there. Let's just say a fabric shop is not the place to take little ones. They weren't bad, but there was just way too much for them to get into. While we were there though, amidst the rows and rows, shelves and shelves of hundreds of bolts of fabric, do you know it was Anna Claire who spotted the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" fabric. That was like finding a needle in a haystack! They had two prints. One is the children in the back of the book and the other is a white background with all the animals printed all over it. Both girls loved it, but I'm not sure it would make a cute dress.

1:30 PM
Mallory takes a one hour nap and Anna Claire sleeps for two hours. That's right, Anna Claire.

5:30 PM
The girls eat, among other things, roasted sweet potatoes topped with bleu cheese for supper. They love bleu cheese! Can babies eat bleu cheese?

6:00 PM
While I am running the girls' bathwater, Walter is taking off the girls' diapers. He sends Anna Claire down the hall to find me in the bathroom, and she poops on the floor - a first.

7:30 PM
The girls have been sleeping soundly for an hour...

New Shoes

The girls got their first pair of "real" shoes this weekend - prewalkers, they're called. Not that we are anywhere near walking, and I'm not sure I would even classify Anna Claire and Mallory prewalkers, but it was time for them to have some really nice shoes that they'll be able to wear for a while as opposed to the sweet little "baby" shoes that are typically satin or some similar fabric and tie with a bow like they've been wearing. The new shoes are white leather with a Velcro strap and a cute little white leather flower on the top of each.

We went to Stride Rite where they were fitted for a size 2. They were actually each a size 1 1/2, so we went up a size to leave room for growth. They even had their picture taken by the nice sales lady. Okay, so it isn't the greatest picture - you can't even see the shoes (I've taken a picture of the picture below - sorry about the flash), but she did take two, so I'll have one for each of the girls' baby books.
And, how cute do they look in their new overalls?

When Daddy's Away, the Girls Will Play

Inspired by Tracy, I took the girls out shopping all by myself today! Walter is golfing, and my mom is in the mountains, so I thought today was the perfect opportunity.

At first I didn't think things were going to work out. It rained buckets ALL day yesterday and was supposed to rain again this morning, but the weather held off! Then, the girls took forever to drink their 10:30 bottles. By the time I was finished feeding Anna Claire. Mallory was sound asleep. Things weren't looking good for our mother-daughter(s) outing and I was actually really disappointed.

I never wake a sleeping baby, so I decided I would just put Mallory in her car seat without waking her up. I was determined we were getting out the house today. That actually worked pretty well especially since I had packed the car during their morning nap. Once in the car, we were headed to Hamrick's until half way down Old Orangeburg the road was closed! So, we had to turn around and take a detour.

We finally made it to Hamrick's (a little behind schedule) and were able to return an outfit I had bought the girls that they grew out of before being able to wear it. Both Anna Claire and Mallory were perfect angels and everyone in the store "oohed" and "aahed" over them. The only bump in the road was when a nice elderly lady tried to talk to Mallory. She burst into tears!

Next, we were on to BRU to return two fleece sleep sacks I think are just going to be too hot right now. Again, the girls were a dream. They couldn't coo and smile enough for all the people they were flirting with! Once we were finished at BRU, we were in a mad dash to get home by the 1:30 feeding. By the time we were in the house and I had bottles in hand, it was 1:34. I'd say we did pretty well! I am quite proud of the girls, and I must add, I am pretty darn proud of myself, too!