Greta at 15 months

Her vocabulary hasn't really expanded that much. I think she concentrating most of her efforts on mobility so talking takes a back seat. That's not to say she doesn't make noise. She makes lots of that. Most of it, however, is unintelligible gibberish. She did say "ducky" today for the first time. I've also been told she says Momma when I am not around. She doesn't really say it if I am available.

She caught on to us praying before meals and started putting her hands together (unprompted) when we prayed. Now when we say "Let's Pray", she'll generally put her hands in a praying position.

She is a coffee fiend. Not that we really let her drink it but when we have it she wants it badly. She will eat coffee beans and coffee grounds. She'll even go digging in the trash can for grounds. (Yick!)

Greta doesn't like the word No. She has started throwing a few temper tantrums.

She likes to dance and bebop (shaking her head up and down).

Absolutely loves to go outside. It is probably her most requested activity. ('Go" accompanied by "Door")

Favorite toys are her little people house, shopping cart, stroller, choo choo train, and chair.

She has started spontaneously giving us hugs. Generally she'll run up to our legs and hug us there.

She's started to outgrow some 12-18 month items in the length. Most are still too big on the waist except if she's wearing a cloth diaper.

She's not the best eater in the world. Meat is still a battle but she's quite fond of most vegetables and fruits. Cream cheese is her heart's desire.

Greta is generally a momma's girl and has fear of strangers. She's still more fond of men than women. Tonight she was very cozy with our favorite waiter at the local Mexican restaurant. (We've been there 3 times.) She held her hands up for him to hold her and he obliged. She stayed with him for a few minutes and probably would have stayed longer had he had the time.

Climbing is her new favorite activity. She learned how to climb up on Grandmomma's couch this weekend. Unfortunately for her our couch is higher so she can't get up on ours without assistance.

Uncle Jack taught her to say "Uh oh" in the correct context.

She had her first cold this week. Graham fell ill first and then I caught it from him. I knew it was only a matter of time for Greta to get it. She spiked a 102 fever on Christmas Eve and had a fever off and on until Friday. The only other symptom she had was a runny nose. Thankfully she was spared the congestion and cough that Graham and I suffered from. Friday, she was a bear and could not be pleased. I realized later in the day she was getting another molar and the tylenol we had been giving her for her fever was also relieving her pain. After tylenol and teething tablets she was better. Saturday was another rough day. She had not slept well at my Grandmother's and the lack of sleep combined with unfamiliar surroundings turned her into a grump. Today has been much better and although her tooth continues to break through, our happy girl has returned.

I'm sure there is more but that is all I can think of.Stroller surfing?

Sandbox Fun. She's no longer scared of the sand.

Playing in her tent.

Relaxing in her chair.

Color me

I don't know that I necessarily agree with #2. I do love the ocean and it's my ideal place to be but in decorating I prefer greens to blues. #1 is right on.

The Last Month In Pictures

Birthday Girl


Trying out a potential Halloween Costume.
She was less than enthused with having something on her head.


Annual Trip to SC/NC Mountains & Sky Top Orchard


We've had a few chilly days so I broke out Greta's winter coat. This coat is 30 years old and was originally made by Greta's Mimi for Aunt Julie. Since then it's been passed around the family to be worn by all the little girls.




Little Red Riding Hood


Uncle Jack is probably Greta's favorite person. He had just left and she was looking out the door longingly.


Play Time


Poor little girl was so tired last night. She didn't fight at all when getting washed. I think given a few more minutes she would have fallen asleep in the tub.

Greta at 13 months

Has 8 teeth and may be working on some more. We think she may be getting some on the bottom but aren't sure. She has 6 on the top - skipped her cuspids and is getting in both bicuspids. Still only has the 2 in the middle on the bottom.

Her hair is slowly but surely growing. It's stick straight and a light brown color with some blonde and red highlights.

She wears a size 12-18m, 4 shoe, and 3 diaper.

She enjoys wrapping scarves, boas, and dog leashes around her neck. She likes to put on socks and shoes and will put her foot up for me to do so but always puts the left foot up, even when I am attempting to put it on her right foot and her left foot already has a sock and shoe on. She also is trying to put shoes and socks on by herself. It's quite comical to watch as putting socks on involves laying them over her foot and putting shoes on is just stepping on top of the shoe.

Absolutely loves to go outside. One of her favorite activities is taking the dogs out. She knows that when daddy comes home he takes the dogs out and will run to get the leashes for him.

She received a sandbox for her birthday but does not like playing in it. I think she expected it to feel like water and was surprised when it did not. I'm sure she'll enjoy it more as she gets older.

She's starting to enjoy being read to. Today we made it through almost an entire book before she got wiggly.

She likes to eat CA Baby diaper rash ointment, dog food, cardboard, coffee grounds, etc. (I HIGHLY discourage all of these.)

Unfortunately she has started to stomp her feet when she is reprimanded or does not get her way. She also has learned a pout that would rival Aunt Julie's famed lip.

She likes to dance to music, particularly her fridge farm.

She sleeps well - taking 1 nap generally from 1:30 to 3:30 and goes to bed around 8 and gets up around 8. Occasionally she does take a short AM nap (like today) but these are getting further and further apart.

She loves breakfast, particularly cinnamon rolls and apple or pumpkin butter toast with cream cheese. Other meals she is less enthused about so it can be a chore to get her to eat. She'll always eat cheese or apple sauce. Meat is occasionally consumed but more often than not it's picked at. She drinks whole milk at meals and has watered down juice with snacks. She transitioned easily to milk and hasn't had any problems with it.

She nurses around 2x a day. Always upon waking in the AM and then some time either during the day or before going to bed. I've found that if we are to be separated during the day and she is not with family she does better if she nurses in the morning. She seems to adjust better to being away from me if she's had the connection earlier. Strange yes, but it works. I plan to continue nursing as long as she likes and will wean around 2 if she has not self weaned before. So far she's yet to be sick at all...not even a fever and I credit that to nursing.

She loves to sleep with her silky pillow and baby. She also loves the babies in the church nursery and almost always has two in her hands when I go to pick her up.

Nursery has been 2 steps forward, 1 step back of late. For a few weeks I was buzzed each time she was there but the last few weeks it's been better. She's actually enjoyed playing and has been happy when I pick her up. We're considering moving her up to the next nursery as she is highly mobile for her age and is more interested in older toys.

Speaking of mobility, she's starting to run. Look out puppies!

She says lots of words but only people who are around her often understand them: Momma, Daddy, Doggy, Dolly, Annie, Thank You, You're Welcome, Greta, Milk, Juice, Jack, Julie, Door, Down, Out, Go, No.

To wrap this up, a cute conversation we had:

I was in the kitchen preparing dinner while Greta played on the floor. I heard her getting into a cabinet she is not allowed in so I asked her "Greta, should you be in there?" She replied "Nooooooo." I then told her "Okay, well shut the cabinet door." She did as requested so I praised her. (Two minutes later she repeated the behavior so we had the exchange again.)

Now and Then

I've been wanting to post this for a while but we had difficulty locating the picture from 28 years ago.

Easter 1981

Greta wearing the same dress in July of 2008.

Window Dressing

Greta's window treatment. Roman shade with ribbon and a simple valance.

Napping Transitions

I'm looking for info from you moms out there who have had your babies transition from two naps to one. Greta is kind of in that awkward in between state. Sometimes she will take a super long nap in the late am/early pm and sometimes she takes two short naps - one late am the other late pm. I'm not sure whether to keep her up longer in the morning to get her adjusted or just let her figure it out. I'd love it if she would transition out of her morning nap as this would open up some activities around town for us. The library and local chick-fil-a have tons of fun activities but all take place during her morning nap.

Documenting

So I don't forget cute things Greta does or says.

Words
-Daddy
-Doggy
-Good Girl
-All Done
-Thank You

Activities
-Loves to place things in her buckets and carry it around.
-Has started to play dress up. Yesterday she walked around for a good while with pants on her head and would put them back on if they fell. In the evening she found the dog leash and wore it as a scarf. Today she used my ear buds to wear as a scarf and also found another pair of pants for her head. I think once she discovers true dress up clothes and jewelry there will be no going back.
-Really likes going outside. She has learned how to open the screen door on the back of our house.
-Has started to notice the TV. Prior to this if the TV was on she pretty much ignored it. Now she will stop and watch for a few seconds before continuing on with her activities. We're trying to limit her TV viewing since most research suggests its not beneficial at this age so generally the TV is not on if she is up.

Right On

I am an Analyzer

Barefoot Beauty

Greta is modeling another KRMC original. I just finished the blouse.

I added rick-rack around the sleeves, collar, and hemline. Unfortunately the blouse is too fitted and short to wear except under the jumper. I'm guessing the pattern manufacturer did that to keep the bulk down. I'll have to find another blouse pattern for her to wear with her funky new pants.

My Thoughts

First off, I appreciate all you guys responding to my post. Politics is not something we normally talk about in our little blog circle so it was interesting to see what your thoughts were. Here's where I stand.

• Not voting is NOT an option. I consider my right to vote a very precious gift that as a responsible citizen, I must exercise. Even if it means writing in a candidate, I will vote. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain.
  
• McCain is not much better than Obama. I don't see the rationale behind voting for McCain just so Obama won't win. In the end the differences between the two will be very small.
  
• I had several people tell me our country would turn into the old USSR if Obama won. I have no doubt Obama would like to turn us into a communistic country but I doubt he would get too horribly far. He might get a few radical things through but there are checks and balances in the system and just because a congressman has (D) beside his name doesn't guarantee he'll support Obama lock, stock, and barrell. I'm not gonna flip out and vote McCain so that the US doesn't become the USSR for that reason as well as point 1.
• The only part of electing Obama that does scare me is the Supreme Court nominees he would have. There again, though, I feel McCain probably would nominate people who were very similar so there's not that big of a difference. Also, even if a nominee seemed conservative at the time there's no guarantee they would stay that way. The supreme court just scares me period, no matter who is on it. They have run rampant with legislating from the bench. This is not what the founding fathers intended.
• I will be voting for the Constitutional candidate Chuck Baldwin. When I look at his party platform I agree with so many things on it and those that I don't are minor. I can vote for him with a clean conscience that he would represent my beliefs.

Lastly, I don't understand all the excitement over McCain's VP. Sure she is a woman and she seems to be pretty conservative. But, she's still just a VP and VP's don't really do that much unless the President dies or there is a lock in the Senate. At the end of the day, you need to judge McCain by his record and what he believes, not by who his running mate is.

Stirring it up

I created quite the debate with my status on face book yesterday so I'm going to post the same thing here and see what comes of it. I'd really like to know your thoughts, even if they don't coincide with mine.

"Kelley will not be voting for McCain no matter who his running mate is."

Okay, let me have it!

Transferring a Pattern to Tracing Paper

Supplies: Pattern, Tracing Paper, Markers (I use a Roll-A-Pattern & Sharpie), Pattern weights (or anything to hold the tracing paper down to the pattern while tracing), Wax Paper, Zip-Lock Bag

Lay Pattern down on cutting board and then lay tracing paper over it. Use weights to secure. My tracing paper is almost like a light-weight interfacing but tissue paper works well too. The interfacing type paper is just a bit more durable and can actually be sewn should you want to make a muslin.

Trace around pattern. This is where I use my "Roll-A-Pattern". I trace anything that is a line. If you use a sharpie type marker for this phase be careful as it bleeds through. The wheel on the roll-a-pattern keeps the marker from getting too much ink on the paper and bleeding.

Use Sharpie or some other type maker to write any directions on pattern. I also use this time to mark any notches. This is where the wax paper comes in handy. I place it underneath the tracing paper so that I can still see the pattern but don't have to worry about bleeding. I don't use wax paper earlier because it does make the interfacing slip when rolling.

Finished product: a duplicated pattern.


Teaser

And finally, my sewing corner. Since I don't have a sewing room anymore I try to neatly store my supplies in the corner of our dining room. Should we have company I would of course move it but if it's just us, I leave it there. It's too much hassle to constantly put it up when I'm not sewing especially since most of the stuff goes in the attic.

Little Miss Ladybug

Dress Front

Detail on Front

Back of Dress

My latest sewing project. This one challenged me a bit as it required techniques I had never done before. The trim was a bit of a booger to put on because I didn't have the fabric glue stick to glue baste it. I ripped out the sewing on the trim several times. The other challenge was putting bias binding around the armholes. Not as hard as I expected and such a nice look. French seams were also new to me but oh so easy and give such a nice professional look. There are a few boo-boos but I don't know that anyone will notice except me so I won't say what they are. :-P My hand sewing on the lining of the yoke is much better than my last project so we'll call the ugliness on the jumper a fluke.

As I'm sure some will ask, the fabric is from Fabric Finders and I bought it at my local Bernina store. The trim and buttons came from Farmhouse Fabrics and the satin ribbon is from Hobby Lobby. The pattern is from Sewing With Whimsy. It features 3 different patterns with 3 to 4 variations. (See this picture for the exact dress I made, lower right hand corner, first dress in picture.) The dresses in this book are absolutely gorgeous and I plan to make all of them although my sewing skills will have to improve as some of the techniques look difficult. Please don't let the dress on the cover throw you. It's the only one in the book I wouldn't make in the fabric shown. To me it is just too busy but the idea is cute. All other dress are absolutely adorable and boutique quality. The kind of dresses you would pay way too much for.

Corduroy jumper

My latest project was a corduroy jumper for Greta. I used the Kitty pattern from Children's Corner. This was one of the easiest patterns I have used and I was very pleased with the results. The instructions were excellent, especially as compared to the frustration I have encountered when using some of the major pattern makers (McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick).

The ruffle fabric was the inspiration for this jumper. The jumper is made from chocolate baby weight cord and is lined with reddish/orange batiste that picks up the color of the ruffle.

The unique part of this dress is the back yoke. The straps are one piece of fabric that continues around the back and forms the yoke.

I plan to add to this outfit by making the Peter Pan blouse from the same pattern in white with red piping and also making pants in the same fabric as the ruffle.

I did have two frustrations with this pattern - first, I am not a good hand sewer and since this jumper is lined once I turned the jumper right side out I had to hand sew the seam left open for turning. Thankfully that is on the inside so unless someone decides to check out the inside :-D, no one will ever know. Secondly, sewing the back yoke on on to the jumper was a little tricky as the two curves are opposite with right sides together. With careful pinning and slow sewing I was able to get the two sewed together with no problems.

My tip to all you seamstresses out there is to buy pattern weights. I despise the pinning/cutting out phase of sewing. If I could skip that, I would. Using pattern weights made laying out my pattern so much faster and easier. From start to finish this pattern took me about 2 hours and the time was significantly reduced by using pattern weights. It also saves your patterns wear and tear since you are not pinning through them. I did transfer my original pattern on to tracing paper which makes my pattern more durable and ensures my original doesn't get messed up and is usable for years to come. Transferring is also helpful for multi-size patterns

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Answer to Liz's question:

If you don't have tracing paper to transfer the pattern to you can always use a different kind of "tracing paper" and a tracing wheel to transfer the pattern lines to your fabric. Once they are transferred you cut around the pattern where the sizes follow the same lines and then lift back the pattern to follow the line on the fabric where they aren't. I don't like this method because it can be very hard to see the pattern lines if you have a printed fabric no matter the color of tracing paper you use and the tracing wheel has little points used to transfer the markings which can quite effectively cut your pattern after it has been traced a time or two and that totally defeats the purpose.

I took my pattern, laid it on my cutting board, laid the tracing paper over it and used the little marker wheel (which was well worth the money, so easy!) to transfer the basic pattern outline for the size I was making. I also transferred any markings such as button holes, notches, etc. Once done I labeled the pattern just like the original (i.e. Kitty, Size 1 front, cut 1 lining, cut 1 fabric). I only traced out what I needed. Other sizes and pieces I left for next time. I also used my pattern weights when transferring the pattern to keep the tracing paper from moving around. Next I laid out my fabric as directed in the guide sheet, laid the pieces down, and then used the weights. I don't have enough weights to do all pieces at once so I laid each piece in the general area it was to go to ensure I had them laid out correctly and then used my weights and cut each piece, one at a time.

The batiste is hobby lobby - 2.99 a wonderful deal! The fashion print came from our local bernina store that has a wonderful selection of 100% cotton prints and solids. I love their fabrics just not the prices. You definitely pay a premium for good fabric but the quality = the price. The feel of this cotton is so soft and smooth. Kind of the difference between 200 thread count sheets and 400. The cord came from Farmhouse Fabrics and is such a nice corduroy. This online store is a well known supplier of great materials in the smocking/children's wear community. My mom gets a magazine that I love to look through called Creative Needle. They have such wonderful ideas in there and always reference patterns and suppliers. Many times the supplier for the fabrics is Farmhouse Fabrics. I was privileged to be able to go and shop in the warehouse. (The lady who owns it lives in the same unincorporated town as my Grandmother and is just a mile down the road. She's also a friend of my grandmother and I remember swimming in her pool as a child.) It was a huge building with floor to ceiling fabrics, trims, patterns, etc. Overwhelming but so much fun. I have to say the highlight though was seeing all the samples that appeared in the magazine. In fact, one of the samples was how I decided on the Kitty pattern.

And she still looks more like me!

If I'd had a Senior Picture . . .

Please swallow any drinks before continuing.


...Pomp and Circumstance playing in the background...

Presenting the graduates of the:

Class of 1960

Class of 1962

Class of 1966

Class of 1968
Class of 1972

Class of 1974

Class of 1976

Class of 1978

Class of 1980

Class of 1984

Class of 1988

Class of 1990

Class of 1992

Class of 1994

Class of 1996

Class of 1998

Class of 2000

And the most hilarious one of Graham: