The Handmade Dress

Ben gave me the go ahead to show off the shop ! It should be much easier to navigate now that it has been redone, and Mac users should be able to shop now too! The last website was a mess, thanks to me. :) Ben took this project over a few weeks ago and I think he has done a really good job. I love the way it turned out! So to bribe some of you to try it out and be our guinea pigs we are offering 20% off for the next 5 days. All you have to do is use the coupon code "blog friends" at checkout. If you encounter any hiccups just email Ben at ben@thehandmadedress.com . Now for the really exciting part! Ben added a forum to the new site! I'm so excited about this! I can't wait for you guys to join, we can have our little virtual sewing circle and share sewing projects now. I'll get to hear about all of your projects for a change! I'm still learning how it works, but the only real way to get the kinks ironed out is to dive in! So head on over ...

It's that time of year again, when we start doing a little early planting.....and you know what that means... As soon as Ben cranks the tractor to till up the first bit of ground, the kids are right behind him barefoot, hose pipe in hand, ready for that first bit of soft mud! Somehow this year the wait was extra hard, maybe it was that they were stuck inside more (with me on bed rest), but they asked (nagged!) almost everyday about when the garden needed to be tilled up. It's tradition! They look forward to that "good mud" all year long. They did-it-up right! They made up for that long winter stuck inside! This was a little over a week ago, now they have started nagging  asking about the first dip in the creek. That swimming hole is just calling for them! They got to play in the water a little last week at camp, but it wasn't their swimming hole. I guess we will have to put little Claire in her sling and take a walk down to the creek s...

It seems like years since I have posted any sewing here on the blog! Being at my sewing machine again has been  heavenly! My first project came out of necessity. My sister Rae has been sporting this super cool sling from Mamma's Milk and I really wanted one too, the only problem was that I wanted a cute one. After some searching I found that they sell their pattern ! YAY!!!! I whipped one up within half an hour of finding the pattern -so much better than waiting on shipping and having to pay full price! I used my Hunky Dory fabric that I have been saving for one side, and for the other I used more of that pea green sheet that I got from my Granny. I LOVE IT! And Claire LOVES IT! It's reversible, it fits perfectly (they have an automated fitting chart that you can go by), and I felt good knowing that it was their tried and true pattern. Before Rae and I went to the camp on Monday morning I made her a pretty sling too. And then that night, after us...

I'm still here! We have had a busy week! It was Spring Break which means that my kids went camping with my Mom and Dad all week and that means that Claire and I had to visit the camp several times, Claire had her second doctor visit, I did some sewing (YAY!), and Ben and I (mostly Ben) have been working on a new website. Besides that, I have just been soaking in all of these sweet little faces that she has been making lately!   First up, spring break. The weather here has been amazing! We've been enjoying temperatures in the 70's and 80's for a few weeks now. The kids had such a good time camping and I really enjoyed visiting and being outside again. Claire and I didn't do much except sit outside the camper and soak up the fresh air, but that was good enough for me. Claire got a clean bill of health at the doctor's office! Her heart sounds much better and should be perfect within another couple of weeks, her jaundice is almost completely gone...

Tonight I was looking through all of the pictures on my phone and though they aren't perfectly in focus, and the lighting isn't always right, they make me so happy! Each and every one is just the way I want to remember our babymoon. So tonight uploaded a few to share with you. This first one is when Claire was just hours old, she was hanging out with her best girl Violet. They have decided that even though they are cousins, they want to play twins with Lily and Iris's old clothes! I can't wait!!! Here she is getting rid of some of that jaundice in the sun. On this day we sat here in front of the window in my big chair, with her stripped down to her diaper, and nursed all day long....Seriously, is there anything better than nursing a little bare baby? This one was taken after a pretty long night. Molly had stayed up late with me the night before and when I got up early the next morning she held Claire (and fell back asleep) while I got the coffee ...

(picture taken this morning) That's where I've been for the last six days. Oh my goodness! I can't even begin to describe the last six days of my life! I had such a wonderful and peaceful labor and delivery experience. Ben was great, God blessed us with a sweet nurse that didn't mind working with an unmedicated mama, and my doctor was on call and excited about working with us...oh it was so perfect! I plan to write down my whole labor and delivery story soon, but I'm still not sure if I will share it here or not as I don't plan to leave out details. Maybe I can share a revised version here if any of you like to read birth stories (I do). Labor and delivery seemed like a wonderful dream, but it still didn't feel real to me, then that night when it was just Ben and I alone with her it started to sink in. I told my doctor the next morning that it felt like I found out I was pregnant, having a girl, and I got my baby all in one day! If I'm be...