More on the costume

So the cape is finished. But I want to wait until we get the fastener before I take pictures of her in it. Trust me, it's cute. Bella laughts when she wears it. No little red riding hood could be without this little hooded caplett.

It's starting to come together

I found this little guy and it's perfect for Bella's costume. Instead of using ties for her cape, this fastener will do the trick. I can't wait until it comes in!

Grosgrain: Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY!!!!

I have to say what a wonderful side GrosGrain Fabulous is. Every week she makes a new outfit and gives it away. It's completely amazing and oh so generous. I'd love to have this little cowgirl outfit for Bella (though obviously it's a little big right now). If I don't get it this week, I may just have to wing it!

Grosgrain: Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Book Fair

So Bella's day care was doing a book fair and I couldn't help but pick up a few for her. I let her pick out her books (with a little help...we didn't want to end up with a dinosaur book in spanish) and save them away for Christmas. Of course when she opens them she'll never remember (it's fun shopping for someone so young) and she'll be excited that I picked out the perfect books for her. Here were the three that caught her eye (aside from that spanish dino book we already talked about):

Another Hat

This is the cutest hat in the world






Pressing buttons. I'm not sure what Bella is going to be when she grows up, but I'm sure it will involve buttons in one way or another. Lots and lots of buttons to press. She's really good at it. She can somehow find every delete, stop, and power button. It's annoying amazing, really.

The Pinafore

It's been a productive weekend already. I originally planned to make Bella full pennifore for her Halloween costume, but then I started to *really* like the embroidery I was doing on the bottom and thought it was a shame she would only wear it once. So I decided to change it to a half apron. She can wear it with her Halloween costume and later, she can use it with her kitchen (notice all the red details...it'll match perfectly) Bella will be the only kid I know that has an apron to match her kitchen.

I also basted a few inches down the top, so later this can be much longer and she can wear it for years to come. It's also REALLY wide (it almost goes all the way around her), so when she goes to collect candy for me trick-or-treating she'll have to twirl so everyone can get the full effect. I especially like the apple tree and the cute little stick figures (makes the wolf not look so intimidating).




Notice the polka-dotted ties.



On a side note, I finished a pair of panties for my old cabbage patch doll Bella's doll as well as a little sleeper. Oh, and the cutest hat in the world for Bella. Pictures will follow.

To Do List

I started thinking about all the projects I have to do in the comming months. By "comming months", I mean, before Halloween and Christmas (my two mile stones). I started thinking about which order I was going to do things and then all the projects started flooding in. To keep things (and my thoughts) a little more organized, I thought I would start To Do List.

1. Bella's Halloween Costume including:
blue gingham dress
red corduroy cape with lining (lining fabric to be determined)
pennifore with hand embroidery
(And this is just number ONE!!)
2. Halloween table runner
3. Christmas table runner
4. Present for a one year old (I'll show you when I'm done)
5. Felt play food (I've already done the fruit, ham, cheese, and pita)
6. Doll clothes for a 12" and 16" cabbage patch doll including
western ware (for the 16") and baby clothes (for the 12")
7. Christmas present for mom (fabric ordered)
8. Katie (fabric ordered)
9. Dad
10. Justin (if he's good)
11. Mark (he's never good...haha)
12. Abel's parents (already planned)
13. Sarah and John (mostly planned)
14. Josh and Amber (kinda planned)
15. Apron for Bella
16. Queen sized quilt for Bella (there's a reason why this was last... *sigh*)--My
saving grace is that Abel probably won't finish her bed until after Christmas so
I have a littl more time. Did I mention I wanted to make several different
quilts?

Projects

Here is some of the fruit I started to make. I realized that 6 pieces of each fruit (apples, kiwi, bananas, limes, lemons, and oranges) really adds up. I'm not even done and look how full this bowl is!



I hope to finish up the rest of the fruit tonight--they just need a little hand-stitching to give them definition. If the fruit really adds up (like it is already) I may open up a little etsy shop to sell some. (Maybe Bella only needs 4 of each piece instead of six.) Otherwise, I think these will make a great Christmas present!

And here is the fabric I have picked out for Bella's new coat. I think it's going to be so cute and "lady-like"...assuming the fabric cooperates.

Speaking of Christmas Presents...

I had originally picked out a different play kitchen (by the same company) for Bella. It was in cute little pastels and lovely.

Then I saw this and it is perfect. Of course it's made of all wood (a prerequisite). It's vintage, red, and cute. Of course, it's $50 more than the other one I picked out, but it's worth it!

Fruit Salad

This is the first of Bella's play food--I'm definitely getting a head start on Christmas this year since I wanted to make a lot of things. So I made 6 of each of the kiwi and banana slices. I'm not completely happy with the banana slices, but you can still tell what they are (I think) so they'll do for now.



I also wanted to share these pictures of Bella in her cute little out from Meme (or is it Mimi? I forgot how we decided to spell it).



Bella likes to squat down when she's interested in something. Here she's watching the baby bunnies (which she calls "puppy").



Her eyes are still a beautiful shade of blue. I wanted to try and capture that (battling with the lighting and a running toddler) in a photo. Here she's looking at an airplane (which she calls "bird") so I tried to get above her to take the photo, but the angle came out wrong. Still, you get the contrast of her red hair, the green grass, and the blue eyes.

More Before and After

Last Night (Notice the brown pillow on the floor to catch little falls)



This afternoon--snack time

Someone didn't sleep much last night...actually, that makes two of us. Bedtime was a 8:00 and I anticipated about an hour or so of difficulties of going to sleep. When I walked into her room, the horrid feeling hit me that I didn't really know how to approach the whole situation--the kind of feeling that hit day 1/panty 1 of potty training. Every few minutes Bella would walk out of her room. Until atleast 11:00 when I decided to put up the baby gate and go to bed.

Admittedly, I tried locking her door from the outside. I was pretty proud of my thinking and went to relax on the couch, but it only took a few seconds before I heard the "click" and knew she was coming out. I tried holding the door knob thinking she would just give up. Once she started knocking, I started laughing (and could hear her laughs from behind the door), I knew that wasn't going to work. An hour into it I decided to take her binky away when she got up. So the next time she opened the door, she handed me her binky. I laid on her floor. Cuddled with her. The whole 9 yards.

I was talking with a girl at work today about last night. I explained how I kind of expected this would happen and am sure it'll be over in a week or so. After that, she'll probably go right to sleep like she did in her crib. She said her kids did this until they were 3. Hmmm. Only 16 months to go.



On a side note, the picture of Bella last night was with all of the lights off and her curtains closed. Our new flash is pretty powerful. I think I need a diffuser or a soft box--I would have liked to still be able to tell it was night! Amazing flash, though, huh?

Our Little Visitor

Before...



(notice the bruise)


...After



So today Abel was taking a nap and was woken up by a little visitor who was also supposed to be napping...in her crib. Since our resident monkey has mastered climbing and not landing (hence the bruise) we had to convert her crib today. I thought the bed converted to a toddler bed with a rail. Um, no. It goes straight to a day bed. Who designed that?!

We'll see how tonight goes, but I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty long night. Filled with escapes. (Did I mention she has diarrhea and takes her diaper off?)

Sequoia Day 3

Our Sequoia felt right at home.




And so did the bears