At home

If you didn't know, I quit my day job to spend time with Jo, among other things. You can read a little more about it here. As excited as I am to be able to really focus on my life and my family, I'm also a bit nervous. I've been working outside the home for most of my adult life. What if I get bored? What if I don't have time to do things I need to do for myself? What will Jo and I do all day?

And then I do what I remind Jo to do when she's freaking out. I take a deep breath.

Monday I still had a sitter, so I was able to catch up on a few things that needed to get done, like go to the dentist. No cavities. Yay! Yesterday, Jo was sick with a really high fever and a weird cough, so needless to say the day was spent mostly on the couch or in bed snuggling or sleeping. Today was the first day with nothing planned and Jo was feeling much better, although she still frequently requested to snuggle (her new favorite word).

We got up this morning and ate breakfast and did a little packing since we're moving this weekend and watched a little Yo Gabba Gabba and did some laundry and then even cleaned up the kitchen. I looked at the clock and it was only 9am. Yep. There was so much day left. We managed to fill it with playing and reading and errands and more packing. I was even able to crank out some of my own stuff throughout the day too. It was a good day.

And there was one moment that stands out for me when we were sitting on the couch reading. Jo was in her snuggling position which means she sits on my stomach and leans against my legs. She thought it was hilarious to put her feet on either side of my face, take them away, and put them back again. She laughed and laughed. And I laughed and laughed.

And I realized that I was seeing parts of her that I have never seen. Of course I spent days and days with her at home for the first six months of her life, but since then it has really only been at night and during the weekends. I haven't really had the time or energy to just sit with her and just be there in the moment. It was like we were communicating on a different level. And I was aware of that. And I loved it.

I took these pics the other day when Jo insisted she drink her "coffee" in her diaper. On the radiator.

I was playing around with the manual settings on my camera so she looks quite cherubic.

  

Point and shoot!

I take a lot of pictures of Jo. Partly because she's my first (and only) child. Partly because she's the best model in the world. Partly because she's so darn cute. But I've had a hard time capturing her vibrant personality in the images that I take. I mean, the pictures I take are cute, but I have to think that because I'm Jo's mother, right? 

Then we met Melissa from A Little Photo Studio at Dose last month. Our Lilla Barn table was lucky enough to be right next to her pop-up photo shoot. Not only did we get to see all of the cute kiddos getting their pics taken (and see Melissa in action), we got to take part as well. 

These are just a few of my faves from our mini-shoot with Melissa.

Seriously, I've never seen Jo's personality come out this much in pictures. This is the Jo that I see on a daily basis. And I can't stop smiling every time I look at these shots.

Then we all got in on the action. 

And here's a peek at us during the mini-shoot (taken by Dose staff).

You can see Jo's smile even from behind. I just love it!

Side note: Melissa Salvatore is also an owner of Heritage Littles. Do check them out. They have a balance bike that you can bet I have my eye on for Jo when she gets a bit older. 

Zulily Alert - LC Trends

Zulily is hit or miss for us. Today was actually a big hit with these t-shirts from LC Trends. Bright colors. Geometric patterns. Totally rad. Plus so many of these little shirts are gender-neutral -- which is top-notch in my book. Here are a few of my faves:

#momlove

It was really an honor to be asked to write a guest post for my friend, Jen, over at MakeXDo. Check it out along with the other momlove posts! Learn about new mamas and the cool things they are doing.

Make new friends!

Letting go

Last week I went to pick up a dress at the cleaners. I dropped it off last year. That's a long time for a dress to be at the cleaners. I know. It's been a crazy year.

In any case, the woman at the cleaners said they didn't have my dress, although my ticket was still in the system along with my phone number. This is kind of a big deal considering this was my wedding dress.

Here's a bit of how the conversation went:

Me (as calmly as possible): Why wouldn't you have my dress?
Woman: We get rid of things after a certain amount of time. It might be in the basement. I don't know.
Me: Can you check for me?
Woman: I can't right now.
awkward pause
Me: Ok, where would it be if it's not in the basement?
Woman: We donate. We're not responsible for clothes after two months.
Me: Ok, I'd love it if you could look for it and give me a call.
Woman: What does the dress look like?
Me: Well, it's red and knee-length and beautiful and I love it and it was my wedding dress so you can understand why I'm a little frustrated.
Woman: I can't call you until tomorrow.
Me: Ok, thanks.

Then I went to my car and cried.

Yes, I know that it was my fault for leaving a dress at the cleaners for more than nine months. I was frustrated. I was really angry. I was heavyhearted. I know, it was just a dress, but there was so much attached to it.

Enough whining. It felt silly that I was so worked up over a dress. It's pretty inconsequential in the giant scheme of life.

So I sat in my car and processed. And then I let it go. It was my wedding dress, and yes, I loved it, but if it was indeed donated, my hope was that some woman somewhere was wearing this dress and feeling fabulous!

This is the dress...and me in it. Along with my husband, Nick.

 Photos by Moment Shared Photography

Fly away with a winged collar

So a while back I got a pattern from my mama for a little boy shirt with a winged color. It's vintage, if you can't tell.

Here is what the pattern looks like.

And here are the instructions that I have. That's it.

Close-up, just so you can see. The sewing guide mentioned at the bottom didn't quite make it to me.

So I had to figure it out on my own. I considered it a great challenge. With my powers of deduction (and sewing knowledge), I assumed that the pattern pieces with two larger dots meant to cut two pieces. Three dots near an edge meant to cut on the fold. So here is what it looked like. All ready to cut!

The pattern pieces have no other markings besides the holes and notches.

I started with the back pieces. Obviously, there is a yolk. Great. That's pretty basic.

Then came the really easy parts: sew together the pieces at the shoulders and the side seams.

The under collar (not sure the official name, but that's what I'm calling it) went on next. It's the under side of the collar -- aptly named, right?

Here you see it with the collar popped. Preppy bikes.

Next it's time for the facing and upper collar piece. It's all one piece and it just happens to fit nicely over the under collar and front of the shirt. Funny how that works, eh?

I was pretty proud of myself that the notches all lined up.

Here's what it looked like all put together:

Once that piece was on, all I needed to do was turn the facing piece under and stitch. Then hem the bottom and the sleeves. Oh yeah, and add buttons. Voila!

I think I'll shorten the sleeves to make it a bit more modern, but other than that I love it.

Don't mind the snot in this shot.

I think she was heading in for a hug in this one. Yay!