Up, up and away

See this? Little guy is pulling up his own a bit. Oh yes.



Oh. And he's crawling some, too.

And he's not even seven months until tomorrow. He's an over-achiever if you ask. I wouldn't mind if he just slowed down a bit and stayed my little baby a while longer.

We first saw him do those thing on Saturday night, when we drove about an hour away to go to a balloon festival. I need these sorts of diversions in my life -- little adventures like that, where you hop in the car and go somewhere and see something you normally wouldn't. 

It was a beautiful Michigan summer evening. There aren't too many left. I am trying to soak up as much of them as I can.

We ate dinner on a blanket in the grass. Luke played on a playground and ran to catch marshmellows thrown from a fire truck.

It was serene.

And soon, the balloons started to fill the sky.

A lot of photos, I know. Aren't they pretty, though?

It was a really lovely night in what has been a really lovely summer and an even lovelier year. I know this is filled to the brim with cheese, this post. But I want to be thankful and notice these days. They're amazing.

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Three Little Birds Mobile

I've been dreaming about making JJ a bird mobile for his "Three Little Birds" nursery for almost a year now. And yay! It's finally crossed off my bucket list.



It's just a striped cloud with three birds.  I also made a tree, a small sun and a heart, but decided not to string them up. I'm liking the simplicity of just the birds and the cloud.

Here's the crib with the cute new mobile, sans baby.

And here it is, even cuter still, with the cute baby thrown in.

It's too bad that I waited so long to make a mobile that said cute baby refuses -- just refuses -- to lay on his back and coo at it.

He'd rather sit.

And smile at me through his crib.

And just stare lovingly at me. I get a lot of lovingly stares these days. And let me tell you -- it feels GOOD.

So maybe he won't enjoy it as much as he would have had I done it months ago. Oh well! It still makes me really happy to see these happy birds above his crib. Oh maybe that's just the endorphins from all the loving stares.


PS. The bird pattern came from the bird mobile in the book One Yard Wonders. It was perfect! Although one of my birds looks slightly coo-coo, and not in a bird way. Like a crazy way. Maybe you can spot him! Anyway, that was my mistake, not the pattern's.

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100 followers, and the Detroit Zoo!

First off, I hit 100 followers this week. I realize that this is a very small milestone in the grand scheme of the blogging world. But I'm kinda floored. Thank you guys! I am going to round up something for a giveaway over the weekend. Probably something handmade by me.

Secondly, a small diversion from sewing. My friend Michelle and I hit the Detroit Zoo this week. The weather here has been fan-flipping-tastic this week. And the Zoo is like five minutes away from my house, and we have a membership. So it was really a must-do this week. It's a truly fabulous zoo. These photos are just a small portion of it.

 Isn't she pretty? (Or he? I don't know.)

 This wild horse was using the tree to scratch his back. Clever, eh?

 One of my favorite parts of the zoo is the prairie dog exhibit. These guys are so cute, the way they pop up and stand so tall. And there is a cool feature where you can go below the exhibit and stand in a glass bubble, so your head is right at ground level with the dogs.

There's also a kangaroo exhibit you walk through. The kangaroos weren't jumping around when we walked through. They were mostly chilling like this one above.

 Aren't zebras beautiful? I took many, many photos of the zebras.

Especially this little baby zebra. Awwww!

The peacock had a brood of baby's, too. It was so sweet how they all walked right under her. And smart -- there were actually hawks circling above!

Luke, wearing his Oliver and S bucket hat, with a couple of zebra friends.

And lastly.... rhino booty. Is there anything prettier?

Wherein I try to catch things up

I swore I'd keep my posting schedule going even with work. And I swore I'd never be the blogger who whined about how she was too busy to post, and WHOA no post in a week, what the hell happened?

So. Moving on.

Work is going well! My schedule is really perfect for me, as is the working-at-home-almost-all-the-time-bit. So I'm really happy, like pinch-myself-can-this-really-last happy. We'll see. I've also been occupied keeping up with both our Dads in the hospital (they're fine) and my new workout regime (four classes a week). Busy girl, this one.

Oh! And I have done some sewing. But oh no! No photos yet. So I can only tease you. I hope to take some photos soonish and start some sharing. One project is complete, and one is melting my heart but only about half done. I've also been continuing to get my sewing space spruced up and organized, and I've also been pondering the price of all this. Like the literal cold hard cash price of it all. And there is another installment of The Sewing Circle interviews coming this month, soon, like as soon as I send her the questions already.

Oh oh! And I am thisclose to 100 followers. When I get there, I'm going to do a giveaway. Because that's the way things work right? And also because I really want to make something for you, because I can't believe 100 people follow me. How did that happen?! (And really, thank you.)

So that's what is coming.

And to not leave you totally without something pretty to look at, I offer this.

OK, not that pretty.

Kinda scary though, huh?

A few sweet things

My super talented and sweet friend Jen gave me a belated birthday present this week -- this adorable pin cushion! Ain't it dandy? It's the perfect small size, and such cute colors. They remind me of her. And I love how you can prop it upright since it's made out of a frame.

She said she found a tutorial for making these somewhere but can't remember where. Thank you to whoever that genius is! If you'd like to make your own, it's simply a matter of painting a cute frame a sweet color, wrapping a piece of sweet fabric around a piece of cardboard, filling it with batting and then smooshing it through the frame, with the glass acting as the holder-inner. (That's a word, right?) Make sense?

She also made Luke these...

 

 ... fabric letters! So sweet. I will soon be making a similar one for Jack. The question is whether to spell out "Jack" or "J.J"  I don't even know what I call my own kid! 

Thanks for all the sweetness, Jen!

And one more thanks. A very, very sweet one indeed. 

The quiet, sweet moments before I handed Luke over for his open-heart surgery, three years ago.

 Thanks to all the doctors, nurses, cardiologists and countless others, and most of all to our fabulous surgeon, Dr. Ohye, who three years ago this Sunday ensured my baby would live. On July 24, 2008, Luke had a  open-heart surgery to fix three heart defects -- . coarctation of the aorta, ventricular septal defect and an atrial septal defect. Modern medicine is amazing. A few decades ago, he would have surely died from those heart issues, likely in infancy. It i s so hard to fathom. Thanks to advancements in pediatric cardiac surgery, he now has as good a chance at a long, healthy life as anyone. That day was the toughest day of my life, and also a day I'm so very grateful for. I'll be thinking about it tomorrow. And about the kids who aren't as lucky as Luke, those who have congenital heart defects that require multiple surgeries or lifelong health struggles. For the parents who weren't as lucky as me, and who have lost their babies. CHDs kill more kids each year than all childhood cancers combined. Isn't that astonishing? And sad? I think so. 

So, tomorrow will be a sweet day, remembering how lucky we are. We really truly are so so lucky.