gnomies 4 life

Here is Jack and Gary, lil homies with their lil gnomies.

These two are so much fun and together they are a barrel of laughs…at least for their moms.

I made these gnomes back in December just before Christmas. For Garrison’s first Christmas I wanted to make something handmade that would be special and memorable. I knew he would receive lots of toys and clothes from friends and family that he would one day outgrow and pack away. Not to mention a future of “Mom can you buy me this….” . It wasn’t about the cost. Rather I just wanted to MAKE something from the heart. Who knows…maybe he’ll keep it and pass it on to his kids in the future?

The gnome was inspired by a baby outfit given to Garrison when he was first born that said “hangin’ with my gnomies” (thanks Pat!).  I loved it so much and was really sad when he outgrew it.

(Garrison at one month. He outgrew the outfit at about 4 months)

I didn’t have a pattern for the stuffie but I winged it like a lot of my projects. This method to my madness doesn’t always turn out as I envision but in this case it did! In fact, it turned out so well that I made another one for Gary’s side kick, Jack.

This first Christmas was very special for both these babies. I’m so happy to hear that Jack’s gnomie sleeps in his crib, keeping him safe and sound in a dreamland of gnomie greatness.

Jack and Gary are great baby buddies and I hope these two will remain friends as they grow up, staying gnomies for life.

charming chap bow tie onesie

Garrison and I are starting to get the hang of things and so I’ve finally been able to sneak a little time here and there for myself and craft. To get Gary suited up for the wedding we attended a couple weekends ago, I made him a special little outfit.

This easy project took about 45 minutes from start to finish. As a new mom, I can never seem to complete what I start, whether its folding laundry or making dinner. Therefore completing this little sewing project was a huge feat and I felt like my old self again.

I’m hoping for more opportunities like this as Gary begins to nap better! Wish me luck!

Here we are at Daryl and Vanessa’s wedding. Isn’t he a charming chap?

strawberry banana pup-sicles

Its smokin’ hot today and our dear furbaby Bruce just refuses to drink much water. I lay awake at night worrying about his hydration and think about ways to keep him cool and hydrated.

One of the fail-proof ways to get some hydration in him are my homemade ‘pup-sicles’ – essentially frozen blended fruit or veggies. I have made them before with plain yogurt, frozen berries, blended banana and peanut butter and even chicken broth.

We were recently given a Baby Bullet as a baby gift for Garrison (Thanks Jen and Kelvin!) but its already proven to be super handy even though Garrison is still only on breastmilk. This morning, I used it to whip up these strawberry banana smoothie type popsicles for Bruce.

Its great for the pup and humans! Here’s how to make them:

Ingredients

2 ripe small bananas

1 cup of fresh strawberries

1/2 cup of water

Instructions: 

Blend all ingredients together in a blender, pour into silicon muffin trays or ice cube trays and then pop it into the freezer for about 2-3 hours.

Pop them out when your pup is ready for a cool treat on a hot day!

my greatest achievement, my son.

At 7:12am on May 21, 2012, I accomplished my greatest achievement – I gave birth (naturally!) to my beautiful baby boy. Weighing 9lbs 5oz, Garrison Lee filled our hearts with so much love and became the newest member of our family.

I always knew I’d loved my own but when our baby finally arrived into our arms, there were no words to describe the feeling and how much love we had for our little guy.

Garrison has changed our lives…for the better! And I look forward to the adventure, ups & downs, ahead of all of us.

Here are some of photos of my greatest achievement, my son, my Garrison.

 

 

(photo credit to The Husband)

lemon muffins

I’m home on my second week of mat leave. But no baby yet. To take my mind off the discomforts of the last part of pregnancy, I have been baking and freezing up goods for quick breakfasts and snacks when we’re too busy and tired after the baby arrives.

So far, I’ve baked banana bread, rhubarb apple muffins but the best so far are these lemon muffins!

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I was inspired by a friend who tested this recipe on her blog, Pat’s Plates. They looked adorable and so I set my mind to make some too.

They were super easy to make and taste great. They make a great afternoon snack with tea or coffee. The Husband loves all things lemon so I don’t think these will last long enough to bother with freezing

Check out the recipe on Pat’s Plates!

 

bears in the woods

“Do bears shit in the woods?” This is one of the Husband’s favourite rhetorical questions and I thought of that when I found this fabric.

But of course that’s not what I’ll tell our kid. I’ll just tell him that bears LIVE in the woods.

I found this super cute fabric on our “babymoon” in Oregon. When you’re seven months pregnant its hard to get excited about tax free shopping because you can’t fit any normal clothes and shoes anyway. So I bought fabric instead.

It was hard to resist this not-your-regular-bears themed fabric. It went perfectly with the wood-grained flannel I found at another store.

It was a simple project that involved sandwiching single yards of fabric and batting. I love it and I hope the baby does too!

baby’s first quilt

I don’t have a crib yet. Or a car seat. Or a bassinet….or much of anything really. BUT, I have finished a quilt for the baby!

I have been pecking away at this project for quite some time and now it is finally done. It took a while to finish, not because it was difficult, I just didn’t have much energy so I worked on it here and there. It’s really satisfying to finally complete it.

  Here are photos of the front of the quilt.

Some of my favourite finishing touches are the Prairie Points a coworker taught me to do. Thank you Dinah! These cute little triangles around the corners of the quilt help frame this whimsical blanket all together.

Here is what the back looks like.

This time I completed the binding by hand. It looks much nicer than some of the machine stitched bindings I’ve done in the past.