Warning - All Crafting!

Okay, I warned you! : )

Talk about a great mail day! My fabulous mother-in-law and sister-in-law bought me so many goodies (straight from Korea). A huge thanks to them! I couldn't even contain myself. I was absolutely giddy when I found my box sitting on the doorstep. I got tons of ribbon, 13 yards of fabric, lots flowers, and a bunch of other goodies. They did send Matt a t-shirt that had "Beat Box Champ" printed on it. I really like it. So I think it just might shrink in the wash and be too small for him to wear! Oops. : ) Sydney got some barrettes that she rather carry around the house then wear in her hair. I do have pictures of that - next post, I promise. I already made a pair of lounge pants with some of the fabric - that will be coming soon too.

Here's a birthday present for a friend. I thought the packaging turned out nice so I took a picture.

I also did some decorations a cake for a good friend's baby shower. Here's a diaper cake I made. It's 3 tiers of wrapped diapers.

And the Chocolate Italian Cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. I give it 5 out of 5 stars! Yum-O! As Rachael Ray would say.

I've also been up to some other things - embroidery, scrapbooking, and sewing some toys for Sydney. Now, I've off to make Jenn's twin boy announcements.

Matt, Sydney...Who?...Oh yeah, I better get back to them too! : )

Grandma & Grandpa's Visit

Here's a few pictures of from the visit with my parents. Again, we took Syd out on the boat. This was the first time with her new life jacket. She had a great time and did so well.

Who needs all those toys when you've got dad's flip flop to play with! : )

Bobby Slam

Sydney loves to be tossed onto the couch. It's known, in our house, as a "bobby slam." It's "bobby" rather than "body" because that's what is sounds like when Syd says it. It's pretty cute when she walks around saying "bobby, bobby!" Here's some pictures of her high flying antics!

What you can't see is the smiles and giggles when it's all over!

Sewing Right Along

Okay, here's another project for the sewing challenge that I am participating in. I made this skirt using Amy Butler fabric and the book Sew What Skirts. It's really great book. I even put in the invisible zipper. Watch out sewing world! : )

Swim lessons

Matt has the day off today so he was able to attend Syd's swim lessons. That means I was able to take a couple pictures. These were taken at the end of the class in the baby part of the pool. She loves getting tossed in the air - no matter where we are. She enjoys the lessons. I have a feeling she's going to become a little fish.

Lauren & I in Tampa

So here's a picture of us in Tampa on the beach. It was nice weather. Good people watching also! Lauren's 16 weeks pregnant. She looks good, huh?! : )

Whew! We have been busy. Sorry I've neglected you faithful readers. A couple weekends ago my best friend came in town and we went to Tampa for the weekend. It was super fun girls' weekend with shopping and relaxing on the beach. This past weekend, my parents came in town. It was a lot of fun too. We finally went on the boat again. She did so well and a lot easier with extra hands (like my dad helping with boat stuff and Jean helping with Syd). It was a great boating excursion. All the pictures of the past weekends are not on my camera! I know, I know. So I'll have to share those pics with you later. We also went on a double date with my parents to a nice restaurant and then to Die Hard IV! It has lots of unrealistic action scenes and comedic lines. I really liked the movie and would definitely recommend it.

Today was Sydney's first day of swim lessons. She loved it and did great. It's just me & Syd and a friend & her daughter in the class - it's like private lessons! Can't beat that.

Anyway, here's a picture of Sydney from today. She's got a Gymbo stamp on her hand from our Gymboree class today.

She's talking a lot more these days. Well, I guess she's always talked a lot but now she's starting to make sense! : ) The picture below is of her favorite toy these days. She can say Noah, rhino, and lion. She can play with this set for hours! She puts them in and out, in and out...

And in crafting news, here's a wrislet I made for my friend's birthday. I can't believe I can do zippers now! I conquered my fear! : )

It's official!

She's walking!

Here's something funny! One of her fits. And yes, she sprawls out every time.

No worries, it only lasts 30 seconds.

Just for Karalyn!

Happy Father's Day

Here's a shirt I made for Syd to wear today.

note: This picture was taken right after she had eaten some cantaloupe & watermelon. Hence, the stains!

She is pointing to and saying "bird."

Sydney's new dress

My 2nd sewing challenge was to make some sort of apparel. So I made a dress for Sydney. If you want to see more pictures, click here.

Waterskiing!

Here's Matt in waterskiing action.

Playing Around

I signed Sydney up at Gymboree for the summer. It's like a big padded play gym. She loves it. She especially loves to climb up the slide and then ride it on down! It's hard to keep her on task here because she just wants to climb around.

Sydney got this princess car for her birthday from her good friend Emily. She is really good at walking & pushing it around the house. I think I'm going to have to add some bumper pads in the front because the furniture is starting to take a beating!

The Beach

My new favorite picture of the 2 of us!

The Birthday Party

Thankfully the party went well. Here's the details. We had 25 people and 8 babies (including Syd)! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures with hosting AND keeping track of Syd - so you get what you pay for! : ) Anyway, we had lots of food. The spread included: sandwiches, shrimp cocktail (you know, what every child has at their 1st bday party!), veggies & dip, spinach dip in a bread bowl, strawberry topiary (my fav - picture below), and bacon-wrapped dates (yummy!), and old-fashioned fresh squeezed pink lemonade. For dessert I made a lemon cake and a cheesecake.

Sydney got SO many presents. All I have to say is "Holy smokes!"

We had some baby pools and a ring that shot water up like a sprinkler. I think the babies enjoyed it. Syd wasn't too happy in the beginning. I think so many people in the house scared her a bit. After we fed her, she perked up.

Anyway, here are the highlights and my favorite craft/cooking projects of the party. And without disappointing anyone, pictures of Sydney eating her cake!

The invite (edited).

I made these after seeing Martha Stewart's Living June issue. They hung above our counter between the kitchen & the living room.

Here's the strawberry topiary.

Here's the goody bags for the kids. The adults got snickerdoodles wrapped in pink ribbon. Jen knows I've got pink ribbon!!

The birthday cake along with Syd's personal cake with the 1 candle!

Here she is (still in her bathing suit) about to devour the cake.

"Look Mom, no hands!"

The aftermath! : )

And no, I didn't let her eat the whole cake! Talk about a sugar rush.

Happy Birthday Sydney!

"Yea! It's my 1st birthday!"

"Dad, forget the card and let's get to the good stuff."

"Hmmm, what's inside?"

"I like my ABC bug! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma Jean."

"Happy Birthday to me!"

Yep, she's 1 now. Her birthday bash is this weekend. She is getting better at the walking thing. She took 8 steps (in a row) yesterday. Matt was home at that point and was able to see her walk. I think that made his day.

Sydney the monkey

I bet your wondering why Sydney is so happy and proud of herself in this picture...

It's because she's climbed up the chair and is about to give her mom a heart attack!

She is definitely turned into a little climber like her cousin Karalyn. I had to get the two shots of her on the edge of the couch because I wasn't going to leave her alone and back up a few feet to get her in one full length shot. She's still working the whole balance thing. This morning she climbed onto the dishwasher door and held onto the top rack while I was putting the dishes away. She's turned into a fast little bugger. I know...she's only going to get faster. Chasing her will help me burn more calories, right!? : )

Dixie's new collar

I joined a new online sewing challenge - Sew Much Fun.

The first challenge was make something with patchwork. So, what did I come up with - a dog collar! Kinda weird I know. You can see more pictures of the collar on the Sew Much Fun blog. Here's Dixie with her new collar. I know she just loves it! : )

On a side note: I love the internet. There are some extraordinary crafters out there and now with blogs & websites you can see their creations all the time. They have tutorials on how to make all kinds of stuff. I have so many things I just can't wait to try. Fabulous I tell ya, fabulous!

Syd's first steps.

So here I've been talking all about Seaworld and forgetting to tell everyone that Syd has started taking some steps. She picked up on it so fast. I know she'll be walking soon. Lately, all she wants to do is walk. She'll take my hand and we will walk around the house all (and I mean all) afternoon. I'll get some pics soon.

A reprieve.

Okay, so I was a little harsh on Shamu. I was thinking later last night that I do like Shamu shows. I like them because I actually was IN a Shamu show. Yep, that's right. I got to pet Shamu. Really, how many people can say they touched a killer whale?! I was in college at the San Antanio Seaworld sitting in the stands waiting for the show to begin and this employee came up to me and asked if I wanted to be in the show. "Heck yes, I'll be in the show." Anyway, I got to pet Shamu and gave him some command. The best part of the show...I was bending over to pet Shamu and there was my butt plastered on the Jumbotron! That'll do a lot for your self-confidence! : )

Here's my proof (and I'll spare everyone from the butt picture!):

Here's me on the jumbotron.