Weekend Update

I know you are all on the edge of your seats wondering about Gilbert the groundhog (for those of you scratching your heads and wondering what I'm talking about, I talked all about him here).  The last Gilbert sighting was about a week ago when I saw him, once again, chilling out in the long jump sand pit at the high school.  When he ran off, it was in the direction opposite my house.  I obsessively check all of his entrances every day and haven't seen so much as a single moth ball out of place.  Side note: there is at least one moth ball missing, and I know exactly where it went:  Howard's belly.  And, subsequently, my living room floor.  Lovely, and I think it's safe to say he learned his lesson.  I'm still applying the rodent repellent stuff every few days, and will probably continue to do so for the rest of my life or until I am convinced that Gilbert is gone for good.  I'm done with moth balls though--the smell is just too much.

Not all my time this week has been spent on Gilbert control, thankfully.  I've made more progress on the landscaping and now have 75% of my garden beds ready for mulch.  I still need to buy the mulch (details, details...) and plan to do so next week.  It's nice to finally notice some progress, albeit very little.  It gets discouraging to work for hours and have sore muscles but have very little to show for it besides a million tissues and an empty box of Claritin.  Is it just me, or is the pollen out of control this year??

I haven't taken any more landscaping progress pics (don't plan to until the mulch is in), but this little tree just started flowering and I thought it was so pretty:

Not sure what it is, and I don't remember it being there last year (at least not with those beautiful flowers on it).  Chad brought home this little beauty a few days ago.  I send that boy to Trader Joe's for sandwiches and he always comes home with something extra.  I'm not complaining :)

So far I've been able to keep it alive with very little effort so I'm quite proud.  I'm hoping to plant it in a outdoor pot in a few weeks, but that might be pushing it.  If I can keep from accidentally murdering it, I will be very happy (and so, I imagine, will the flower).

The cherry quilt is 100% finished and packed up to be taken to the Avant-Garde show on Sunday.  I can't believe it's here already!  If you can make it, please come: Wagner's Country Inn at 30855 Center Ridge Rd. in Westlake, 44145 from 10-5 on Sunday, 4/29.  Admission is free :)  I hope to see you there!  My table is in the South Ballroom.

Have a wonderful weekend!

~Stacy

Just for Today

Time flies.  Enjoy every second.  It goes by so fast.  Blink and you missed it.  Before you know it...

We've all heard and said all of the above.  I've heard some variation almost every day since getting pregnant up until now.  I have complicated feelings about these statements, and have noticed that oftentimes when I hear them I get a little annoyed.  And lately I've noticed that I'm getting a lot annoyed and needed to figure out why.

I've been thinking a lot about time lately.  My baby girl is turning one in less than two months and in the same week that she does, I'll be marking the 10th anniversary of graduating high school.  Chad and I have been together for 11 years and married almost 7 (we married young!).  I've been finished with college for 6 years and have lived in this house for almost as long.  How is this possible?  I feel like just yesterday I was standing in the lobby of Berea High School in my navy blue cap and gown, lining up to make the walk across the street to the college rec center to graduate.  I can still remember a conversation I was having with a boy in my class.  He had joked about whether we'd see each other again after that day and said "well I'll at least see you at our 10th reunion."  At the time, I quickly did the math in my head and realized we'd be 28 years old.  It sounded both exciting and ancient.  When you're 18, anyone over the age of 21 seems much older than you. 

It feels like I blinked, and now here I am at that magical, mythical age of 28, just a stone's throw from my 10th reunion.  Some of you may be reading this and laughing to yourselves, thinking that I'm still so young.  Others may be reading and shuddering at the thought of being almost 30.  It's not about feeling young or old, it's the realization that time really does march on, and quickly, and that no one is immune.  Each passing year seems like it goes faster than the last and gone are the days where 5 (or even 10) years feels like an eternity.  When you're a kid, you want time to speed up so you can go to high school, drive, go to college, move out, whatever.  Then all of a sudden that shifts and you want time to slow down a little, you want to linger at your current age or life stage a bit longer.  We all hear this when we're teenagers, but we don't believe it until it happens to us. 

Just yesterday I was swinging my little cousin by the feet and swishing his head across the floor after he begged to "play mop!"  Now that sweet little boy with the cherub cheeks and adorable ears is a few weeks away from finishing boot camp and starting college.  Wasn't it just last week I went to listen to my high school boyfriend play his guitar in a coffee shop?  He wrote a song for me and it was so sweet; it made me blush.  Now that boy is upstairs, playing that same song for our little girl.  He's still just as cute, and he still makes me blush.

I'm much more aware of how quickly time passes now that I have a child.  I get it--time truly does fly.  She changes, sometimes literally, overnight.  I look at pictures that were taken just 10 short months ago and I see a tiny newborn that barely resembles the bouncing baby I have now.  When I was pregnant, well wishers would tell me to enjoy that time because it goes by so quickly and before you know it the baby's there and life gets hard.  Just recently a friend announced her pregnancy on Facebook.  There were dozens of congratulatory messages but I kept noticing a bunch that were to the tune of "Enjoy every second, before you know it they'll be going to college! Oh, congrats!!".  These rubbed me the wrong way when people said them to me but at the time I just brushed it off.  I have strangers routinely say things like "before you know it she'll be running around!" to "Pretty soon you'll be sending her off to kindergarten!" and even "start saving now for her wedding!".  I've finally figured out why comments like these irk me so much:  by telling me how fast time goes, it makes it harder to actually appreciate the moment.

Everyone means well, and we have most likely all said things like this at some point or another.  People are trying to make conversation and remind me to stop and enjoy the little things.  I get that.  But to frame a childhood in terms of events that tick by at the speed of light makes it a challenge to live for those little moments that fill in all the gaps in between those milestones.  I know that in 5 years I will be sending Charlotte off to kindergarten and I will cry.  In 13 years she will start high school and in 17 she will graduate.  Months later I will probably drop her off at college.  And I will cry.  But right now, she's not quite a year old.  I know that in just a year's time she will be running around, talking up a storm, and doing a million more new things.  One year isn't a long time, nor is 5, 10, or 15 for that matter.  I know this.  I want to enjoy today, and maybe think about next week. 

I am guilty of spending too much time thinking and living in the future.  "Live for the moment" is much easier said than done.  I am trying really, really hard to do it as much as I can though.  There was a period of time, not so long ago, where I had started to believe I couldn't have a child.  Anyone who has ever dealt with infertility and/or miscarriage (in my case, I've tasted both) understands that feeling of desperation and watching a vision of your life that you thought you'd have start to fade away.  My situation was difficult, certainly not as difficult as many, seeing as my story has a happy ending.  My health was fine (unexplained infertility, possibly the most frustrating "diagnosis" ever.  Also one everyone around you will happily diagnose as "just stress!" when you finally do get pregnant).  My point in revealing all this is that when you believe that having the family you dreamed about is not going to happen, it's like walking around alive and being expected to function as though you're fine when a very significant part of you is dying inside.  Except no one can see it, and no one talks about it.  In my situation, since my dream finally came true, I want to savor it because sometimes I still don't believe it.  It's not that I'm in denial about time marching on and Charlotte growing up--I'm not.  I get that, and it is exciting to think about.  It's that I want to enjoy this stage, right now, along with all the ones that follow, because it's amazing.  To do this reminds me that it actually happened, I actually do have a child of my own, and every moment counts.

There will be a day, in the not so distant future, when my little girl is wearing a brand new backpack and running away from me with her lunchbox in hand.  I promise you I will be nothing short of a hot mess when this day comes.  As for right now, I will enjoy the time I get to spend with her while she lays in my arms drinking her bottle while she twirls my hair in her fingers.  I will enjoy saying "good girl!" enthusiastically when she drinks from a sippy cup by herself or stands alone for a few seconds.  I will ask her 100 times a day to pat her belly, hug her baby, and "what does the doggy say?" just to hear her little baby voice reply "ooof oof!".  I will enjoy the fact that I can strap her in a stroller and we can walk for hours, just looking at stuff, because the world as it is is just so fascinating.  I will also enjoy that she will stay put in said stroller, and will not try to run off because, for right now, she can't :)

I hope you all are able to stop, take a breath, and enjoy, even if just for a moment.  It really does fly.

~Stacy

*I recently learned that this week is National Infertility Awareness Week.  While I wanted to write this post anyway, I decided to share the more personal aspects of my story in honor of NIAW.

What's Old(ish) is New

This post has been a long time in the making, literally.  For my second Christmas, my grandparents gave me a child's sized wooden rocking chair.  While I don't remember getting it, I do remember using it years later in my room.  I loaded it up with my dolls and stuffed animals and can remember rocking them in it.  When I outgrew it, my dad put it in the attic along with a few other special toys and items from my and brother's childhood.  I had forgotten it was up there, until just about a year ago at my baby shower when it appeared, spiffed up and re-covered to match Charlotte's bedroom.  My mom had gotten it down and recovered it with fabric that we had used for the crib bumpers (which were on the crib for about a month, until the baby was born and I learned crib bumpers are kind of a no-no...oh well, they were cute while they lasted).  The chair sits in the corner of Charlotte's room and last month we brought it out and let her sit in it for the first time.  She thought she was pretty cool sitting in such a sweet chair, rocking it back and forth all by herself.  It's still a little big for her, but I think it's so special to have something that was once mine now become hers. 

Here is the chair's debut on Christmas of 1985.  This is me and my grandpa, who passed away in 2001.  I wish he were here to see the little lady sitting in that chair now.

Christmas 1985, Stacy & Grandpa

Christmas 1985

 It is worth noting that there is not just one, but actually three different dolls in these pictures (not to mention the cradle, bike, and other various items).  At the time there were four grandchildren and I was both the youngest (by 4 years) and the only girl.  My grandpa took note of this and gifted accordingly, haha.  He loved to surprise us and one of his favorite things was Christmas and shopping for toys.  I think he enjoyed picking things out as much as we enjoyed opening them up. 

Here's the chair last April:

And now:

 I think it looks even better now than it did 26 years ago, and not just because of the cute little jelly bean sitting in it :)

~Stacy

Busy Week

This week has been busy with a little bit of everything.  I know I said I was done making things for the Avant-Garde show, but I changed my mind.  I had all the materials to make more fabric bead necklaces so I went a little crazy and made a bunch yesterday:

Some are duplicates so I'm listing those ones in my Etsy shop; they should be available sometime later this evening. 

When I wasn't obsessively sewing necklaces during Charlotte's naps, I was working as much as I could on the landscaping project.  So far I've succeeded in getting about half of the weeding done.  It's not much, but it's a good start.

The majority of my time spent outside should have been to make more progress on the landscaping/gardening but instead it was devoted to Gilbert control.  Let me back up a bit.  We have a groundhog living under our front porch who has dug an extensive tunnel and generally made a mess of things.  Chad named him Gilbert, despite my urging not to name him because then he'll get attached and feel badly if something bad happens to it.  Gilbert is actually really cute, but he's also enormous in both size and in how much of a nuisance he is.  I'm not kidding when I say he's bigger than Howard (I was worried "he" was pregnant but it's been months and months and no babies, and Gilbert's the same size: huge).  I got advice on how to get groundhogs to vacate and tried that--soaking rags in ammonia and laying them near his entrances and placing moth balls around the areas he frequents.  I falsely believed he was gone when I hadn't seen him for a few days and noticed him running under someone else's porch several doors down.  Then, earlier in the week, I was pulling into the driveway and he came bolting across and dashed underneath the porch.  That groundhog can really move, considering the weight he has to haul.  On Tuesday I had another Gilbert sighting at his second favorite spot--the high school track & football field.  I've caught him out there in the past, sunning himself on the high jump mat.  On Tuesday he was hanging out in the long-jump sand pit, leaning over the side and snacking on grass.  I tried to get his picture, but as soon as he heard me he ran off.  Howard, who typically hates just about everything, has zero interest in Gilbert.  He's seen him, but he turns the other way, as if he and Gilbert have some sort of agreement not to get into the others business. 

I contacted Orkin--they said they would take care of him, but that means setting a trap and then euthanizing.  Our city no longer has an Animal Control department, so no help there.  I'd like him to just move away peacefully, so I'm giving him one more chance to do so before getting Orkin involved.  I could buy my own trap and catch him, but I have no idea what to do with a freaked out rodent the size of a small cow thrashing around in a cage.  I went to the store and picked up these rodent repellent pellets and an economy size box of moth bolls.  I applied the entire contents of both to every possible place he could get into, and then I stuffed bricks down the tunnel opening.  In the match between me and Gilbert, I will win.  Gilbert, you've been warned.

One thing I didn't consider when placing approximately 4,000 moth balls around the foundation of my house: the smell.  That evening the heat came on and we almost fell over from the scent of moth balls.  If you walked in my house you'd expect to find residents who were at least 103 years old with  50 year old shag carpeting at at least two dozen cats.  It's bad.  It's faded a lot by now, but I'm still worried that I'm just used to it and it actually still smells just as awful.  On the plus side, no sign of Gilbert anywhere since Tuesday evening.  I am cautiously optimistic.

I have to include this video...granted, it's a beaver and not a groundhog, but I found it fitting.  This video made me laugh until I cried the first time I saw it (ok, the first dozen times).  

Ok, enough about my unwelcome houseguest.  While I was gardening I found these flowers along the side of my house.  We've lived here 6 years and this is the first I've seen them:

Any idea what these are?  They kind of look like hydrangeas, but it seems too early for those and the shape is a little different.  There's a big bunch of them and they are so pretty.  I hope they keep coming back!

Aside from sewing and yardwork, I've started to plan and get things together for Charlotte's 1st birthday party.  I found these invitations:

I thought they were cute, and I love the banner and cupcakes on the front (both of which I'm planning on making for her party).  I can't believe she's turning one in 6 weeks...

See that little doll next to her?  That's Stella, her new favorite toy.  If you tell her to give her baby a kiss, she stuffs the doll's closest body part into her mouth and then wraps her chubby little arms around and squeezes it as tight as she can.  It's incredibly cute, but we'll need to tweak her system a little before she practices on real humans :)  Also new this week is the "where's your belly?" game, where you ask and she'll drop whatever she's doing to enthusiastically pat her belly with both hands.  She's also taken an intense interest in a collage frame we have in the hallway upstairs.  Every time we pass it we have to smile, wave, and she asks who everyone is by pointing and saying "oos ssat?".  Every time.  At night, even if she's exhausted and crabby, she will pause long enough to lean over to the picture and wave goodbye as we pass.  Love her.

If you're interested in bead necklaces, check the Etsy shop later tonight or tomorrow!  Also, if you can please come to the Avant-Garde Art & Craft show next Sunday, 4/29, at Wagner's in Westlake from 10-5.  Admission is free, and you'll get to see my lovely face along with 135 other vendors.  It'll be a good time.

Have a great weekend,
Stacy

Cherry Quilt

I can't believe the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show is less than two weeks away!!  For those of you who don't know, the show is at Wagner's Country Inn at 30855 Center Ridge Rd., Westlake, OH 44145 from 10A-5P on Sunday, April 29th.  There will be over 100 vendors, hand-picked by Becki Cooper (who has been receiving a TON of press coverage for her efforts with this show!).  My mom and I have a table in the South Ballroom and would love to see you there.

Now that I have everything made for the show, all the sewing I've been doing for the past several days has been for fun.  I had a half (okay, not quite half) finished quilt in my "unfinished projects" bin that has been nagging at me for awhile.  The quilt is very big, about 60"X70", and is the first major project that I took on solo after I learned to sew.  I took my mom to Amish Country for Mother's Day in 2010 and we went to this amazing quilt shop in a little village called Charm (seriously, a town named Charm?  It has to be cute, which it is) called Miller's Dry Goods.  This shop holds more fabric and patterns than most big box stores, all packed into a old house-turned-quilt shop.  The pattern is called "Simply Sweet" by Me & My Sister Designs and the fabric line is theirs as well, called "Oh Cherry Oh" for Moda.  This is an older line that is very hard to find, but you can still hunt down a few odds and ends on Etsy.  I love this fabric; it's bright and cheerful and would work for a baby or a younger girl. 

I started the quilt not long after I bought the pattern.  I made all of the blocks in a few days, then pieced together the quilt top shortly after.  I abandoned it for awhile, then worked on the border.  Then I abandoned it again.  For almost 2 years.  As of last night, the quilt is finally, finally almost done--all it needs is the binding (which I finish by hand, so it's kind of a lengthy process) and the centers of each block to be tied with embroidery floss.  Shoot.  I was just at the fabric store and forgot to buy embroidery floss.

Anyhow, here's how the quilt started out way back when:

And here's how it looked last night; Howard "helped" by laying on it to hold it in place.  He's so thoughtful.

When finished, it will have bright yellow binding.

It's big.  I ended up using masking tape to secure the backing to the floor to keep everything straight and as wrinkle-free as possible.  I don't know why I've never thought of using that method before!  I usually just use my bed, but then I end up pinning the quilt back to the bedspread and getting frustrated.

My poor sewing machine table was dwarfed by this quilt:

I really love it.  It's been a labor of love in more ways than one.  I've thought about keeping it for Charlotte, or, if we have another girl down the road, for her.  But I don't know.  Charlotte has so many quilts and blankets already and I'd hate to pack it up for another number of years just in case I'd want to use it someday.  I'd rather someone get use out of it now, so I'm going to take it to the Avant-Garde show.  I hope it finds its forever home :)  If not, Charlotte will have the best beach blanket I've ever seen!

There's someone else in my house who would love to make his own:

Oh Howard.  You already have staked claim on the couches, the chair, our bed, and the patio table.  Can you part with the quilt?

I hope you're having a nice start to your week.

~Stacy

Curb Appeal

Gardening.  It is not a hobby of mine, and I don't think it ever will be.  I want to like it, I really do, but it's kind of like running:  every time I decide it's a good idea and start, I get bored/cranky/tired very quickly and am reminded of why I don't like it.  The problem is that I really want pretty landscaping, weed free flower beds, and colorful plants surrounding my house.  Every year I buy ferns and hang from the front porch.  I like how they look, but more importantly I can't kill them.  I am the person flowers come to to die.  I cannot be trusted to keep them alive longer than a couple days, so please do us both a favor and never ask me to look after your houseplants if you go on vacation.  All I have to do with the ferns is remember to water them once or twice a week, and even when I forget that (which I have) they spring back to life almost immediately after a good shower.  That's my kind of plant.

This year we decided we want to do something more with our landscaping even if we hate the process (which we will, I promise).  Our flower beds are looking really sad--they are in desperate need of weeding and new mulch and could use more color.  Since I'm such an untrustworthy gardener, I am looking to gain color by planting low-maintenance flowers in large pots and placing them about and planting a few low- or no-maintenance bushes (other than annual pruning, which I can handle).

I got really motivated to do this after I read this post over at Young House Love.  They were brave enough to show the "before" pictures of their yard, and I thought it seemed like a great motivator.  I took my "befores" a couple days ago and plan to start the project next week (weather permitting).  My goal is to have everything completed before Memorial Day.  The following weekend is Charlotte's first birthday, and we're planning a cookout here-- I want it to look pretty!  

Yikes.

See that giant stick on the left side?  It grows like crazy, no matter what I do.  Time to dig.

There is also the issue of the ugly weed party happening next to the garage.  We were told these are actually mini-maple trees that have sprouted, but no matter what you call it it's a mess and needs to go.  It runs almost the entire length of the garage and is about 2 feet wide.  We plan to chop all that up, scrape it out, and plant a few bushes (maybe even hydrangeas?).  I originally wanted to put in a small vegetable garden, but we have a lot of critters that find their way into our yard and I don't want to end up just growing them a delicious buffet.  Also, baby steps.  If I can't manage keeping an indoor cactus alive (seriously) then I shouldn't be giving myself the responsibility of actual food just yet. 

Ugly weed garden

 If we're feeling really ambitious, we want to clear out some of the overgrowth at the back of our yard where we have a few trees and a hammock.  This part backs up to the high school football field, so some growth by the fence is nice for privacy reasons.  Things have gotten a little out of hand over there though and it could use some neatening up.

I know.  It looks like a forest.

Even though the process won't be fun, I am very much looking forward to the "after" pictures!  I hope I have some to show soon.

Have a great weekend!

~Stacy

Sewing Stash Projects

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!  Charlotte's first Easter was a nice, laid back day at home.  We had family over and ate ham and probably one of the most delicious cakes I've ever tasted (Thanks Sondra!).  Charlotte played with her Easter basket goodies and modeled her dress:

In sewing news, I finally have enough ready for the Avant-Garde show in a couple weeks.  I decided to go thru my huge fabric stash and find a few things to make from it, just for fun.  Thankfully my helper was available:

That bin is one of two that I have full of fabric...yikes.  Here's what I've made so far out of leftover fabric:

This sun hat is a McCall's pattern (#6309)

and:

That last picture is a a case with a fold-up changing pad inside.  It's just big enough to hold the pad and a couple of diapers, making it nice and light to toss in my purse if we run to the store.  I used the "Stella" pattern from this book.  Both projects used less than a yard of fabric and were finished in under an hour.

My next project?  A pillowcase dress for Charlotte out of this fabric:

This is leftover from Charlotte's room--my mom and I used it to make curtains, crib bumpers, a banner, and a seat cushion.  I have enough left to make at least one dress--I love it!  It's Flower Sugar II by Lecien.

Today's a great day to sew--cold and rainy, everything else done (for once).  It's just been me and sewing machine with Will & Grace on in the background and Howard curled up in a ball on the couch.  Good day :)

~Stacy

A Good Team

They make a good team, Charlotte and Howard.  She's discovered that dropping food on the floor means Howard comes running and it's funny to watch him eat.  Now he circles her high chair like a shark, waiting and knowing that morsels of peas, Cheerios, carrots, cheese, or some variety of fruit will be sprinkled over the side of the chair at any moment.

"What Daddy?  I didn't feed the dog anything, I promise!"

"Mommy did it!"

"Look at this sweet face.  Do I look like I could ever cause trouble?"

"Haha, GOTCHA!"

For Howard, participating in dinnertime isn't enough--he needs a part in playtime, too.  He discovered a plastic ball underneath the chair and this is how that story ends:

He got stuck.

We all laughed.

The end.

I wish you all a very Happy Easter!!

~Stacy