sister's quilt

as promised, here is a snapshot of the quilt that i made for my sister for Christmas. thanks family for taking these for me and getting them to me when you did!

front and back

i will get pictures and story up of the quilt i made for kendall's grandmother later this week! happy tuesday everyone!

oh january

Between the shelving books during the days and trying to exercise in the evening, life has been flying by. there are so many Christmas presents that I made for family and friends that i never blogged about [shame on me]. the one problem is that i did not take pictures of most of them [again...shame on me]. probably my favorite quilt that i have made to date is a zigzag one that i made for my sister [sadly...this is one of those presents i do not have a picture of]. i found this fabric online and absolutely fell in loooove with it. the mustard print on top might be my favorite print of all times.

i promise to have a picture asap [if my family up north would help me out with a few snapshots...that would be lovely].

i also completed a quilt the beginning of this month that meant a whole lot to me. i made my first tee shirt quilt for a dear friend. this was not just any tee shirt quilt. without getting into too much detail, one of mine and my husbands closest friends was taken to be with Jesus last september 7, 2010. Heath's death was difficult for family, friends, and out entire community. i felt honored and privileged when Heath' sister asked me if i would make a quilt out of his tee shirts. there are many elements that go together when making a quilt: cutting, piecing, sewing, ironing, more sewing, pinning, etc. i have come to see the importance of each step and the transformation from lifeless, random pieces of fabric, into something which breathes life and warm is the reason i quilt. however, completing this process with something of someone who meant so much, it was quite a different experience. while emotional, it was tender and refreshing knowing that these pieces of fabric that once hung on Heath's shoulders would be comfort and warmth for his dear sister.

I will be honest, i was not completely thrilled with the back. if i had more time and more space, i would like to think that it would have turned out a bit differently. this ended up being almost a queen size quilt thus marking the largest quilt i had ever completed. also, please forgive the pictures; it was a rainy day and we had to snap the quickest pictures ever. i am proud to say that one of my quilts has traveled the world and is now in Australia with Hannah. She is completing a DTS [discipleship training school] with the organization YWAM [youth with a mission]. if you would like to read more about what Hannah is doing, click here.

we have a busy weekend. wedding shower tonight and birthday party tomorrow for my husband's grandmother [i just finished up her present and threw it in the wash...i will post pictures on that present after she gets it!]. our little man turned 10 months old yesterday. i can't believe it. i love him so much, even his mullet and obsessive thumb sucking.

hello 2012

So, I turned all the noise off in the house and the silence is absolutely therapeutic. I forget how much I need the silence. Throughout the hustle and bustle of all the various components of my day, I am pretty consistently surrounded by noise. Being that it is close to the start of a new year [it is still January so it counts]; I am still working on my new years resolutions. Sitting in silence for a bit of time is one of them. Check. Enjoying the little things is one of them as well. So as I sit here in silence, I am enjoying a cup of hot chocolate, which brings me to my next new years resolution: enjoying a three mile run tomorrow due to the enjoyment of hot chocolate this evening =). I am also making it a point to create more over this year. Being an artist at heart, I find that I am most alive while creating. It makes sense, considering God’s beautiful ability to create, that he would grant us those same feelings of joy, contentment, and accomplishment when creating. Being that my awesome parents surprised me with a new sewing machine for Christmas, I really have no excused now. I am striving this year to complain less. Not that I think of myself as an “over-complainer”, its just that complaining breeds negativity and I just don’t have the time or energy for negativity in my life. I want to plant a garden this year. Last year, we had the best of intentions. Then Loudon came, and we quickly realized that a baby requires a lot of attention [who knew?]. Both Kendall and I are striving to live healthier lives [who doesn’t right?], which includes better eating habits [hot chocolate doesn’t count…in case anyone was wondering] and exercise.  We did join a CSA last fall and it was such a great decision. We received produce every Saturday from an organic farm 30 miles north of home and it was ah-mazing. We are planning on joining for the spring/summer session and I am sooooo ready for it. [FYI: if any of you live in the Columbus area and are interested I would be happy to give you more information!]

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Loudon. Being that I was 6 months preggo and we had just bought a house, Christmas last year was a bit off. This year, I was determined to enjoy the season for as long as possible. Thanksgiving night we went out and bought our Christmas tree and decorated the next day. We just took it down last Wednesday [needless to say, it was a pretty brown color and most of the needles were on the floor….however it still smelled wonderful]. I made our stockings, which hung by the chimney with care. And, in true Christmas spirit, I drove myself crazy making presents for people. Of course, I am going to include pictures, however a few projects did not get photos snapped…so give me a bit to get those taken care of.

Loudon is almost 10 months old and my baby is becoming a little boy. He is a crawling machine and loves to babble. He is soo super close to walking and I am sure it is going to happen in the next month or so. His two front bottom teeth are in and one random top-side tooth has come in. In the words of our pediatrician, Loudon has thunder thighs and that is where most of his 20 pounds is located =).  As of Christmas he was still waking up in the middle of the night. The last week of my Christmas break, Kendall and I both felt that it was time to break him of this. We needed our sleep [ 5:30am comes real early] and honestly nursing him was the easiest way [at the time] to get him back to bed [that probably makes me a bad mom]. I just kept thinking, he is going to sleep through the night when he is ready. And he would…for a random night, or for a few nights and then he would start waking up again. At this point, I knew that it was not that he was waking up because of hunger, but because he wanted to hang out with mom or dad [this kid is such a social butterfly]. Finally, it was time, and we all handled the transition relatively smoothly. Everyone has there opinion of which method works the best, and we went back and forth on what would be the best for our family. It took a few nights of Loudon crying for about 15 minutes or so for him to finally just fall back asleep on his own. While we have still had a few random noises at night, we are all sleeping through the night and mom and dad are such happier people =). That being said, I must retire for the evening. One last new years resolution is to get to bed at a reasonable hour [wish me luck with this one =/]

family picture

my two favorite men

homemade stockings

December

the past few weeks have completely flown by. i am finding that my days seem to do that as of late. i am starting to understand what people mean when they talk about blinking their eyes and before they know it years are gone. being that this time of year is my favorite time of year, i find that it is always over before it even begins. i have so many projects to make, foods to bake, and gifts to wrap, i rarely find time to sit and truly appreciate this splendid time of year. i am making a point to do that this year. to soak in the beauty that is Christmas. to wake up each morning with a thankful heart. to praise the Lord for his tiny baby he sent to be born and walk among men in order to save us all.

in the meantime, mine and my husband's best friends welcomed their son into the world two days before Thanksgiving (mom was able to have a natural unmediated labor and i am so flipping proud of her!!) i had been planning on making him a quilt, but wanted it to be really special. while i usually just buy fabric from my local joann's (being that they send me a tremendous amount of coupons), I fell in love with this fabric on etsy and just had to have it. it was so worth every penny i spent on it. we delivered the quilt to the hospital and i think that it was a hit.

fabric stack freshly ripped from the bag

completed quilt

close up

back

back close up

Loudon has been growing like a weed. this past month has been a huge month for us. crawling, pulling up on everything, two bottom teeth, and a whole heck of a lot of personality. he turned 8 months old last week and he is becoming such a little boy.

he loves to lick the sides of the pack in play

funny face

november

the house is quiet. my cup of tea is steaming, and i just devoured a slice of sourdough bread covered in ginger spiced sweet potato butter. i love thanksgiving break. i have found that my capacity to love has grown in the past few weeks. i have slowed down [to the best of my ability] and tried to enjoy the little things. i used to be much better at this, but i am guilty of letting life get me down and out and the beauty of life goes, sadly, unnoticed. perhaps it was my trip to the emergency room a few weeks ago that has been catalyst for this shift in perspective [i had a lovely trip to the emergency room due to an accelerated heart rate.... over 165 which they could not get down...followed with a full blown panic attack.] all is fine, praise the Lord, and as of today my cardiologist said my heart functions beautifully and looks structurally sound. the Lord protected me, my heart and my mind, and i am so thankful for that. since the incident, i do find myself lingering in hugs a little longer and enjoying the sound of giggles more than ever before. prayers of comfort and peace have been filling my prayer journal, both for myself as well as for many dear friends of mine who have said goodbye to precious parents over the past few weeks.

"May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!" Ps. 29:11

"In peace i will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Ps. 4:8

"This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life." Ps. 119:50

"For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song." Is. 51:3

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Matt. 5:4

i love you friends and am praying for such sweet peace and comfort to overwhelm you all. 

we celebrated Loudon's first Halloween a few weeks ago. although we did not go trick or treating, we did have Loudon dress up and help hand out candy [and by help I mean look cute]. 

happy bear

some pictures

picture time.

love this face.

playtime with daddy.

avocado!

all smiles.

love.

life this autumn

i feel as if I always begin each post with an apology; an apology for my lack of communication with you all via blog. i so desire to be a consistant blogger. but desire only gets me so far... apparently it gets me a blog with 0 posts for the mont of October. however, it is autumn, my favorite time of the year, and i am praying it motivates me, blogging speaking (well i am praying it motivates me in cleaning, dishes, crafts, quilting, reading, photography, etc...). so, here i sit, taking it one blogging day at a time and making an effort to share my thoughts on and adventures in life with you all at least once a week, hopefully more.

life has been really sweet lately. the last i posted, we were awaiting our appointment at Emory for Loudon's congenital ptosis. we headed up to Atlanta on that Tuesday night, checked into our hotel (which my in-laws graciously provided for us), and then headed out for dinner in midtown. being that we rarely get up to Atlanta for the night, we decided to celebrate our 4 year anniversary (it was two weeks later) with dinner at the Melting Pot. i am not sure if this was purposeful, but the hostess sat us in a section all to ourselves; therefore Loudon was able to be his usual talkative self without Kendall or i feeling anxious about disturbing others. the meal was delicious, of course, and then we headed back to the hotel for the evening. the following morning we packed up and left the hotel in plently of time to get to Emory, or so I thought. The gps said that we were a mere 6 miles from Emory. Well, a mere 6 miles in Columbus is vastly different than a mere 6 miles in Atlanta. our appointment was at 9:00am and we were supposed to arrive fifteen minutes early for paperwork. we left the hotel at 8:30. 6 miles to go. we would get there in plenty of time. well a mile down the road we spotted a dunkin donuts. i know everyone has an opinion about the best donunts, but lemme just tell me, kendall and i are obbessed with dd (dunkin). how obbessed? well we bought a house that just so happens to be a mile from one and when i was pregnant i would limit how many times a week i could run by on my way to work (maybe that is why i gained 39 pounds). ok sorry for the rabbit trail. anyways, we spotted a dd, figured we still had plenty of time, and i had already started salvating thinking about a pumpkin donut. needless to say, i figured wrong. apparently everyone in decauter was needing to go to the Emory as well. we finally pulled into Emory's campus at 8:59. have you ever been to Emory? thousands of people walking the streets, cars and shuttle buses everywhere, and nearly impossible to read signs among all the construction. after a few wrong turns, asking strangers for help, some yelling within our vehical, and parking at the very top of a very full parking garage, we walked up to the desk (frazzled) to sign in for our appointment. it was 9:15. fifteen minutes after our appointment time and 30 minutes after when we were supposed to arrive. i was worried they would cancel our appointment, being that we were so late, but thankfully they were wonderful and totally understanding. we met with our doctor, Dr. Wojno, and were extremely impressed. he was thorough with explainations and was just an amiable person. basically put, Loudon looks great as far as patients with congenital ptosis. he said that the composations Loudon is making to see, tilting his head back and lifting his eyebrows, is a great thing because Loudon is using both eyes to focus and see things with. their greatest concern is that he will stop trying to use his left eye to see out of, being that it is much droopier than his right, and then develop a lazy eye. in order to monitor this, we will have to meet with the doctors every three to four months. if everything progresses well (he does not develop a lazy eye) he will not have to have surgery until age 3-5. i asked the doctor if he has ever seen any neck or back developmental issues from the constant tilting back and he reassured me that in his 22 years, he has never seen any issues. i asked him how frequently he had seen this condition, he respondly promptly with "one to two cases a day". needless to say, he knows his stuff and that was extremely comforting. we left feeling encouraged and positive. we followed out our trip to Atlanta with lunch at Flip Burger with Kendall's sister. ah-ma-zing...for any of you who have never been. gourmet burgers and a krispy kreme doughnut milkshake, uh, yes please.


Loudon is now 6 and a half months old and is such an incredible little man. i never really imagined how much joy and warmth a child would bring to my heart. we have jumped in to the world of solid food and boy has it been an adventure. while we dabbled in rice cereal for a week, he was really not digging it. a week later we started avocados, and man oh man did he love them. bananas followed, along with apples, peas, carrots, and we are on day 2 of sweet potatoes. i had the best of intentions to make all of his food, then life happened, and by life i mean working 8 plus hours a day and less than 5 hours of sleep a night. while sleep has improved, he still gets a mix of food i mash and organic baby food. two days ago he started wanting the spoon more than the actual food and it has caused a bit of frustration for the both of us (kendall just gave up on it). a large quantity of the food ends up covering his face, his hands, his tray, his bib, his high chair, the spoon is covered, my hands are covered....everywhere. as i am going in with the spoon of food, as quickly as possible, his hands are quicker and intersect the spoon thus the food everything. he then grabs the spoon and puts it in his mouth in order to gnaw on it. when i try to take it from him....tears and screams. oh joy.

i mentioned that sleeping has improved. i am almost scared to type those words; fearing that i will in some way jinx us. oh well- damage done. this week has been wonderful. we have been putting him down between 8 and 8:45 and he has been sleeping until 6 or 6:30. i think i had forgotten what it felt like to sleep for 6 solid hours. i tried to remember the last time i got that many hours....i can't remember (being that i peed every three hours or so every night throughout my pregnancy). i know as soon as teething starts, this joyous time will be over, so i am taking it in and counting every night as a blessing....for they will soon be fading.

well, sorry for the novel. there is so much more. there have been tears shed, there has been lessons learned, there have been verses prayed, there have been dinners with close friends, there have been apples picked, and football games watched. i am blessed.