Happy Saturday Friends!

From our very entertaining drama queen!

I hope your day is full of big smiles too! xo, Sam

The results....

You know what they say, "try and try again". Well that's just what I did. I made one of each, took notes -I hate when I don't take notes, because then I can NEVER remember what I did and then I have to do the whole process over again, that's why I love Ravelry- and it worked!

The size up fit Claire's pudgy little feet perfectly! Now I think I'll just go ahead and make the other to match  and work on that baby gift this evening. The new baby won't be here for another month anyhow, right? My Ravelry notes are HERE (and I made those public, so you don't have to be a member to see them).

 

Ahh...there is such a sense of satisfaction when you've found a pattern that works for you after the "try and try again" stage. And the best part about this pattern is that I think I could have it memorized pretty quickly. I'm going to get to work on these now and I'll be back to show you a whole pair soon! xo, Sam

Now I'm on the right track!

THANK YOU! You guys always come to the rescue! I looked at all of the suggestions and read through the patterns a bit and this one made the most sense to me (it has a construction picture:). I changed up the pattern just a smidge, you can see my ravelry notes here, and I LOVE it! I can totally see this being my new go-to pattern. This one turned out perfect for the newborn size because it was a little snug on Claire. Now I can work on my baby gift! And after that's done Claire needs a pair of these, one size up, in this same yellow with a blue dress to go with them.....or maybe a pink dress? Or red! No it has to be blue.....

I'm knitting again and I need some help. :)

(Picture borrowed from Ravelry)

I need help from my knitting friends. I tried these booties yesterday, for a new baby boy that's coming soon, and they were just way too big for a newborn. Do you guys know of a pattern that is similar to this that works better for newborn feet? I would also like something that is seamed because I'm sooo slow with DPNs or majic loop. Got any ideas? Thanks friends! xo, Sam

A new car seat cover for the babe.

Since before my little angel was born I knew that if she was a girl I would want a pretty car seat. I really like pretty infant seats because in those first few months they get used so much.... in stores, restaurants, church....One night a couple of weeks ago, after I got home from my job at the church, I started to work on one. I needed some sewing therapy after those long emotional days after the tornadoes. I just used fabrics that I had because there was no time for shopping then. I had this quilted table runner that my mom gave me a couple of years ago, and scraps of my all time favorite line from Moda by Urban Chiks. I bought a pattern for a seat cover, but I was disappointed to find that I would have to cut apart my old cover and use it as a pattern. I really just wanted a pattern so that I wouldn't have to think about it. I definitely didn't want to cut up my old cover because Miss Claire is a spitter and an extra car seat cover is needed from time to time.

I just bit the bullet and started making a pattern for the cover the same way you would a slipcover for a piece of furniture. I used the techniques that I learned in this book from years back. It took a few nights sewing after work to get it finished up but I really love the way it turned out! It was much easier than I expected it to be. I think that the only reason it seemed like such a big job then was because I was so emotionally overwhelmed.

Would you look at those cheeks?! I also made a "pappy" holder (pacifier) to match! Claire rides next to Maddie in the car, so I try to keep a pappy in her seat so that Maddie can help me out while I'm driving and Claire gets fussy. Having a pap that stays on the seat has been great.

I think my little Claire likes her girly seat. :) Have I told you lately what a blessing this sweet angel is? Her little smiles just melt us all! Can you believe that she's already three months old? *sigh* So fast....

I didn't want to close this post out without saying that we are praying for the people in Joplin, MO who have just been through a terrible tornado. We love you and we are praying....xo, Sam

After the Storm

It feels like it has been years since Easter! So much has happened and we have been so busy, that I feel like I need to get caught up. This week has really been the most "normal" that we have had since the tornadoes came through. This weekend I even did a little sewing -that I will try to show you in the next few days along with Easter dresses!



Today I want to share some of the pictures that we took the day our little angel, Zoe, was born since so many of you have prayed for them and sent gifts. What an emotional day! The day before was so full of fear, worry, and heartache. Daniel, Cristina, little Luke had been through so much and we were just so thankful that they were all okay, that we were all okay. I'm telling you, I've never been so happy for all of us to be together under one roof in my life! You take those things for granted until something like this happens. When I finally laid my head down at 3:00 that next morning to go to sleep, the thought of all of us being there together, safe, was almost more than my fragile emotions could take, and then when we got up the next morning we realised that our sweet Zoe would be joining us by the end of the day....we were just so grateful.

Here they are! Isn't that a sweet family picture? Zoe came into the world safe, loved, and surrounded by close family and friends, it was such a special day.

This is Cristina's father who had just came in from Romania the night before the storm. When it was all over and we were all safe, we had to laugh, poor guy, it's not exactly the "Welcome to America!" that he expected! But Daniel said that he was as calm as anything all through the storm, he even got pictures of the tornado leaving! We now call him "father-outlaw" (instead of father-in-law). :)

And here is our sweet little Trio of girls, Violet, Claire, and Zoe. :) They were all born within four months, don't you know these three are going to be a mess when they get a little bigger!

Here is Zoe with "Gran" (my mother-in-law). Zoe will never want for a playmate in this family! All of her little cousins, aunts and uncles were waiting anxiously to meet her. They get so excited when new babies are born!

This is her Uncle David holding her here. Do you know that this young man took care of me and the kids while I was on bedrest with Maddie? He was such a sweet boy, and now he will be graduating in a few days. Where does the time go? That's Aunt Holly in the black shirt, yeah she's posing. She stops and does that little pose anytime she sees anyone with a camera. The nice young man in the plaid shirt is a close family friend (and honorary Caffee) Michael, we all grew up in the same church.

Here she is with Sid. I don't think I've ever mentioned Sid here on the blog have I? He has been a good friend of ours for as long as I can remember. Another honorary Caffee. :) He married Ben and I and he is a part of everything we do as a family, including family vacation! He was with us the day of the tornado. When the other men left to go get Daniel and Cristina and all of us mamas and kids were crying, just beside ourselves with fear, he was the one we turned to to pray. I don't think I'll ever forget all of us huddled around Sid in the hallway of my mother-in-law's house crying and praying for their safety.



Today I felt like I should introduce you all to the people that you have "adopted"! Thank you so much for all of the prayers and support that you have given them! It has been truly amazing to see how God brings people together in times of need. xo, Sam

Claire says "hey"!!

Last night I was getting a little video of Claire babbling and I said "Hey" and she answered "Hey". The kids were taking baths when it happened but when I showed them the video they thought that it was the hillarious thing they had ever seen! They want to send it in to Funniest Home Videos. So cute! 

It feels good to be posting something happy today! xo, Sam 

All these emotions...

Wow. Today is really the first day since the tornado that I have been home. I've tried to write at night when I got home from the church a few times but I couldn't put any of it into words, I thought it was because I was just so tired emotionally and physically. No, it's just too much. It's heavy. In the past two weeks I've been with hundreds of people who have just lost everything, some have lost family members, I've hugged a mama while she cried about losing all of her kid's pictures, I've loaded supplies into cars with no windows and seats covered in glass, I've hugged and cried with people who have lost loved ones, I've handed formula to a mama who had been out and she cried.....the mamas get me. There are army trucks and National Guard men everywhere, cars on the road that don't even look drivable, it's like a war zone. My heart hurts when I see these areas of mass destruction and the people who have lost so much, then on the other hand my heart swells when I think of our new little Zoe! and all of the people who have come together to help. It felt so good to be a part of the relief effort handing out goods and supplies with other friends from the church and to see our community pull together and get to work! I cried when I read THIS about my new little niece, and when I received over $1000 dollars worth of Walmart gift cards from Terri and Dawn at Fairytale Frocks to give to people in need, or THIS post by my sweet friend Laura, the sewing community pulled together too! There are so many emotions from one extreme to the other that I feel like I'm on the verge of tears all the time...happy and sad. I'm so thankful that God protected my family...it missed mine and my sister's houses by barely a half mile. Daniel, Cristina, Luke and baby Zoe are doing great! We have many friends and family that lost "stuff" but none lost their lives. We are blessed. So very blessed. I'll try to write more soon. ~xo, Sam