Let's get to know Rory....

Black is me. Blue is Rory. Pink is Sadie.

Jess: What is your full name?
Rory: Rory Thomas Christian (said in a "duh" sort of tone)
Jess: and how long have we been married?
Rory: pfft good luck getting that outta me...uh almost six years?
Jess: Good job. What's your dream car?
Rory: DREam dream car? Probably a '69 Camaro.
Jess: What color?
Rory: I don't have a color.
Jess: How about orange?
Rory shakes his head, looking disgusted at the thought.
Jess: what's your claim to fame?
Rory: I have the cutest baby in the world. huh huh.
Jess: What do you like to do?
(just then Sadie turns around on his lap and gives him a big ol snuggle.)
Rory: hug my baby!
Jess: awww. What else.
Rory: Play video games (that's true.) Make out with my wife.
Jess: what's your biggest fear?
Rory: umm. I don't know. (talking to Sadie) What's my biggest fear?
Sadie: da. da. la.
Rory: Eating fish? Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.
Sadie: dada. da. da. ta.
Jess: What animal describes you?
Rory: A liger.
Jess: what's a liger.
Rory: (looking indignant) A cross between a lion and a tiger! Remember!?
Jess: oh, from Napoleon Dynamite.
Rory: hur hur hur.
Jess: If you could live in any era which one would it be?
Rory: Uh, right now.
Jess: huh. Why?
Rory: Cause I love video games. They don't have video games in any other era.
Jess: What's a goal that you have for 2009? Or, the rest of 2009.
Rory: Survive.
Jess: What your guiltiest pleasure?
Rory: Umm. Video games?
Jess: (laughing) Video games? That's been your answer for like, three questions.
Rory: I guess junk food, when I have it. I don't get it much.
Jess: What do you love about me?
Rory: Do I have to answer that?
Jess: yes. You must.
Rory: You just want one answer? 50? 100? a bazillion?
Jess: as many as you want to give.
Rory: um. You're hot.
Jess: thanks.
Rory: There's more but that's all you need to put on there. (laughing)
Jess: (also laughing.) ok. bye bye.

and the winner is....

Thanks to the four of you who entered the giveaway drawing! Made for good chances... :) Thanks to my lovely assistant Rory, who took time out of his busy schedule of watching the TV to help.

Drum roll please...


And the winner is...

yay for Courtenay!!

Courtenay said "okay I sort of want to wait to 'enter' for the contest, because who ever gets picked when they are the first entry?! Oh man, but I really want that adorable banner s'bad! I need it even more bad!"

Well, there you go, sometimes it's not so bad to be first! Send me your address please, Court! I think I don't have it anymore!

****And for those of you who didn't win or didn't enter...I think I'll do these every so often, so more chances coming up! It's fun to make stuff, and even more fun to give that stuff to awesome people like you!

sewing withdrawals

Ahhhhh. My sewing withdrawal is gone. How was I able to sew without a machine, you ask? My BFF Cassy graciously let me borrow hers! (Thank you Thank you!) I was able to finish up a few projects that had been on hold, and do some work for the shop. First off, my mens shirt into a dress...success! Although I have no idea if it fits her...she's napping. We'll see! A quick present for someone I won't say because obviously I haven't given it to them yet. And...a headband to match Sadie's other new dress. I was so desperately bored the other night I made this yo-yo and cut out a few headbands. Wow, I'm sad huh. Can't go a few days without sewing at all. It won't be fixed for another week probably, we haven't had a chance to take it in yet. We'll see how I survive.

Don't forget, I'm drawing a winner for my giveaway tonight! You still have time to enter! See you later!

P.S. On a totally unrelated note here is my cutie at the park in her new shorts. I have enough of the fabric that I think I'll make her a pair in every size til she doesn't like them or I run out...whichever comes first! Also, I think I like the cross process feature on Picnik the best.

Giveaway!

So...I made this paper and ribbon bunting/banner the other day, before ye ol' sewing machine broke, and decided to make an extra to give away to somebody!

Could be you! Do you feel lucky? PunK!

haha. just kidding.

So, just leave me a comment on this posting for a chance to win this (oh so cute) banner proclaiming the season! (that is ALMOST here) And while you're at it, tell me your favorite thing about summer. I will pick a winner (randomly) Saturday night!

Funeral march

Sad day...last night while I was trying to finish up a cute men's shirt into dress transformation, my sewing machine died. I was distraught, and tried all the tricks to fix it. Alas, it needs a tune up. (so, a temporary death) And a trip to San Jose...since there are no sewing machine repair shops down here in Gilroy. Are you kidding me? Does no one else sew in this town? I know that's not true, but we few don't warrant a store...anyways, over it.

So, I will be without my machine for a few days...luckily my mom is a few minutes away! And has a sewing machine! Hiya mom, I'll be over a lot in the next few days...jk. But not really.


In better news, the dress fits!! It's so cute on her too, although hampers her crawling a bit. It's very flowy and long and summery.

I finally got around to watching Australia since there was nothing to sew on during nap time. Pretty good! I enjoyed it, although parts were cheesy. I will finally get that back to Netflix. I think I've had it for over a month. yikes! Time for a new movie!

Better go, Sadie is chewing me out from her crib. Come and get me Mom!

early in the morning...

Sadie has been getting a bit...stuck lately. You saw the secretary desk incident. She's had run-ins recently with her car seat, doors, walls, fireplaces, toys, you name it. She's working on the forward-motion crawling, and is getting better, but she still reverts back to her backward mode of transportation, the belly scoot. She's quite good at that...but she tends to back herself into things, and then try to sit up. And then gets frustrated. It's kind of cute, actually.

Today it was the crib. She was so confused when she finally got herself all the way underneath. Then I crawled under with my camera as well, and she was like, "What is this new magical place under where I sleep?" (I totally understand baby)

Then we played with her newly allowed to play with doll and new dolly quilt. I forced Sadie to crawl to her...she wasn't too happy but managed it.


Can you see Minnie back there all stewing in jealousy? Don't worry, she gets her play time in too!

I think the hair is a pretty good match with the Sadesters!

picnik and dada

I heart this picnik site. Too much fun! Today Sadie kept herself busy while Mom cleaned up around the house by emptying her toy basket. What a funny little girl! She thinks she is, she is always laughing to herself, it's so cute.

I had crafting ADD today.

During her morning nap I started making curtains for her room, then switched to making curtains for the kitchen, then gave that up and worked on my shop onesies, then switched to towels, and then started picking out fabric for a dress, then a shirt. Started actually making the shirt during afternoon naps, but we'll see if I can concentrate long enough to finish it. Ever.

We spent the time between dinner and Rory leaving for Mutual on the front porch, please excuse the dusty footprints, we've been working on the yard as you know. The breeze felt so good outside, and we saw lots of people walking by that Sadie of course had to wave to. She waved at the cars too, but I doubt they noticed. Their loss.

Our grass is coming in slowly but surely! We can't wait til we can spread out a blanket and laze around on our beautiful, lush, grassy lawn. hah! We'd get muddy if we tried that now. We also got our plants in, although Rory's still working on the drip system and we haven't put the tan bark down yet. It will look so great with that finishing touch...hide all of the flaws and cement.

While we were outside...Sadie said her first distinct word! (and then, over and over and over again til she got sick of it) Of course, it was in Daddy's favor, but I don't care at all! I am so proud of my little munchkin. :)

(p.s. Sorry about the video, it's hard to film Sadie while she's trying to grab the camera)

Memorial day

Happy Memorial Day! I am wiped. Our day started out at the Gilroy parade, which started late, but lasted a lo-ong time! Who knew that small towns had so many cars? There were a ton of old cars and tractors! Lots and lots of tractors. It was odd, but whatever. At first the day was cloudy and chilly, but warmed up pretty quick.

Rory, you just had to, didn't you?

They had some planes flying low in a formation, and to symbolize fallen soldiers, one of the planes veered off to the left as they flew over us. It was pretty cool!

Again, Rory. What's the matter with a normal smile?

Sadie loved the little flags they handed out, she at one point had one in each hand, and later, three stuck in her diaper. By Jarom I think.


The whole family (almost) trekked out to Salvation Army later for their clothing sale (50% off!) I scored some cute button up shirts that I want to refab into dresses for Sadie, and also got a dress for Sadie for $2. Not too shabby!

After Sadie's nap, we headed over for some badminton, swimming, and BBQ. The badminton was so fun, and we worked up a sweat in our swimsuits, hoping for a tan. (I had some lines by the end of the day!)


Later, some of us got into the pool...which was FREEZING. We lied and said it felt great, and then the guys moved the trampoline over next to the pool, and all of a sudden, EVERYONE wanted to go in the pool, excuse me, jump into the pool. Jarom was getting the craziest, spinning around and almost hitting us still in the pool a few times. Now you see why I'm worn out. Sun and water always does that, doesn't it? Hamburgers, steak, chips, salad, yummy baked beans, cupcakes, and Stephanie's flag cake were on the menu for the BBQ. Yum. Is all I have to say. Then we played a quick game of croquet, in which I kicked everyone's trash! For real. Wooo! Yeah. Somehow I got on the roll of a lifetime and went around half the "course" in one turn. yeah baby!

So, in conclusion...Here's to all of the people who are serving or have served for our country. Thank you.

a dress masquerading as a shirt!

During a quick trip to Goodwill with my sisters yesterday, I found, among an awesome set of framed "season" prints, this cute Target reject shirt for $4. I loved the print, but the shirt wouldn't have really worked for me. I decided to get it and make a skirt or something for Sadie out of it.

Then after studying it for a bit, I thought, hey maybe I could make a dress out of it! why not try? So, I took pictures so you all could see my triumph,....or failure.

Just keeping it real.

So, here's where I made my cut. I do wish I'd made it higher up, but oh well! Hindsight is 20/20, or whatever that saying is. (sorry about the bad pictures, it was at night obviously. 90% of the time that's when I sew, oh and check out the fancy left handed picture taking!)

Freshly chopped up shirt! If anything, it can still be a skirt! That's what I kept telling myself. Nothin' to lose.

I trimmed off the sides (to be the sleeve edges, it worked out like binding for me)

Pinned and sewed them.

Pinned and sewed the back panel so it would have a finished edge.

Then put right sides together, pleated a few places, sewed her up, and whala! (I thought) I was done! But how would her noggin get through that small hole, with no stretch?

OOPS!

I did say I'd show you my failures folks. It ain't always pretty.

So, what else to do, but MacGyver a button panel from the top of the shirt?

Somehow, and I still do not know how, it worked!

Of course, she hasn't tried it on yet, and the armholes might be too small....but it looks like a dress! (ish)

Will let you know if it fits, and/or if it ends up as a skirt after all!

what's with all this posting?

There's just too much fun stuff going on, that's all. Today my mom and the other twin moms in the ward threw a shower for our bishop's wife who's having twins but who's moving to Utah in a few weeks. Phew. That woman is a trooper with a capital T! We're going to miss Marcie so much! I work with her in Primary, and she is such a great friend and example of a great mom for me. Of course I had a blast making her a bunch of baby stuff! There were some bibs, matching onesies, burp clothes, and these ADorABle outfits. The fabric just makes them!

I've gotta say I am in love with those little shorts! They're having a boy and a girl if you couldn't tell from the clothes.

Here's Sadie doing her Sadie thing, trying to grab people's noses or whatever. She was perfectly well behaved the whole shower. Such a good baby. I am definitely being spoiled with her.

Here is super cute Marcie and not so cute me. She looks great for being 27 weeks, huh? When we did the guess how big she is with the yarn game, everyone but one person guessed too big!

Lastly, had to make Sadie some summer shorts out of this great plaid my mom scored for me for $1 yard. It's 60 inch wide fabric too, so I have a ton of it. These shorts probably cost me like 50 cents in materials to make...and maybe 10 minutes of my time. Can't beat that!

Picnik

How have I never heard of this website Picnik? It's awesome! It's free, although of course you can pay to get "special features". I liked the simple and fun stuff you can do. Having no Photoshop skills, or the actual program Photoshop, I've never played around with photos this much...and boy is it fun. (read: addicting) It kept me up an hour past my bedtime last night.

Recognize this picture from my last post? Now it looks all artsy fartsy. I looove it.

Now, a sketch I whipped up of Sadie. haha.

She looks all intense...and so cute!

whoa, cool.

I liked how this one looks kinda Norman Rockwell-ish. Don't you think?

So, if you try it on some of your pics, I want to see it!

twice in one day!

I know, but check these pictures out! My cousin Jenni sent me this Gorgeous hat she made herself, doesn't Sadie look so precious! Couldn't help but share. She has an etsy store too! Go here!

Also, in this one, she's showing off how many push ups she can do. She can do a lot. She is one buff little baby, watch out ya'll!

fresh strawberry bars

I made this yummy Strawberry bar dessert tonight, it was like a peanut butter cookie bar with berries on top. Like a fancy PB&J. Yummmmmmm.....slurp. That was the drool.

Here's the recipe and link:

Fresh Strawberry Bars

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup strawberry jam
• 4 cups small whole strawberries, halved or quartered

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13x9x2-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil beyond the edges. Set aside.

2. In large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter on medium to high for 30 seconds. Beat in sugars, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer. Stir in remaining flour.

3. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

4. Cool completely on rack. Remove from pan by lifting foil. Spread jam and top with berries. Cut into bars. Serve at once or refrigerate up to 6 hours. Makes 24 bars

Make Ahead: Wrap the peanut butter base in foil; store at room temperature up to 24 hours. Before serving, top with jam and berries. Or freeze the peanut butter base in a freezer container up to 3 months.

*We just used some of those frozen strawberries in syrup for the topping.

tada

The top is officially done! I finished it today during her nap, hooray! I love it. It's very big though. Like twin size. It will cover a lot of people on the couch, which is kind of what I had in mind for it, a throw. Maybe it will be Sadie's bedspread when she gets into a real bed. We'll see. Now to pick out the backing fabric and binding and batting.

I had to stand on a chair to get the whole thing.

Not the straightest, but that's what makes it unique! (at least that's what I tell myself.)

This morning while I was doing last night's dishes (which I totally never EVER forget to do, I blame it on Lost), Sadie managed to get herself under our secretary desk....hahaha! She was having a blast playing with the drawer pulls. She cracks me up daily.



On a side note, I got a free sample of those whitening strips, and now I remember why I haven't whitened my teeth for awhile. It makes my teeth hurt! Ouch.

On another side note, I figured out what was wrong with my stupid dress I made, so I ripped the seams out and am planning to fix it. Dress pattern, you're going down!

etc...

So....the season finallys of all the shows are happening. Anyone catch American Idol? It's this little singing show, you may have heard of it. I didn't like Adam too much this season, but I expected he would win. He didn't. Way to go dark horse! (Kris Allen)

Also, LOST, what is up? With everything! EVER! I am just flabbergasted. It's been so confusing with the whole time travel thing. I suppose the whole last season will HOPEFULLY be spent tying up loose ends and explaining everything to us. But yeah right, it's Lost. We will be sticking to the end, because, five seasons is a lot of time to invest in a show, and I wanna know what happens, darn you Lost producers! I am angry about Juliet. Just when she and Sawyer were finally happy. I knew she shouldn't have gotten off the submarine! Plus, Jacob is creepy. Rory has a whole theory. We'll see.

Reading this book. We'll see if it's any good...usually in these Nicolas Sparks romance books, they are happy, or one of them dies, or almost dies. Why do I read them? huh.

I am almost finished with the quilt top, just two more sides of sashing and whala! Then comes the hard part, quilting and binding the durn thing! Wish me luck. My biceps will be bulging when I am done. And just because every post needs a picture,

frustrations

Life is full of frustration. Trying to crawl, for one thing, or trying to reach your shoe collection. What's a girl to do?

It's very rough on Sadie.

Daddy coming home for lunch makes it all better! She likes to grab our hands when we clap, so cute!

Take a look at those chompers! The top ones are currently a work-in-progress, and also very frustrating. (for Sadie and me)

Oh mom, you're embarassing me.

And our frustration...er triumph! SOME grass is coming out! hip hip hooray!

My frustration today was a dress pattern that I've made twice, I tried to make another one today and it was a mess! I need to have my mom look at it. grrr.