And this is why God gave me a girl. . .

So that I can teach myself to crochet for the mere purpose of creating this adorable little number.

I loosely followed these instructions.  I say loosely because I couldn't understand half of it and sort of did my own thing (right or wrong, I have no idea).  

It's not perfect, but it's a good start.

I thought the flower turned out nicely.

Poor thing- she has no idea what's in store for her!

College girl

I went to an all girls' college and loved every single minute of it.  I kind of hope my girl will go there one day too!  Peace College hopes so too.  They send these cute bibs to all babies born to alum with a little welcome to the family letter.  Of course, we have a few years to decide, but in the meantime . . .

Her daddy may want her to go to NC State though . . .

Baby Leggies

I love baby leggings. I think they are so adorable (and functional). I made a few for Coraline using women's knee socks from Target. There are so many tutorials out there, but I used this one.

Aren't they cute?!

Garden Stuff

We have had great success with our garden this year. It's been super exciting to have fresh vegetables to use every night. Of course, now I'm running out of ideas on how to prepare zucchini.

A walk down memory lane if you will--

You might remember our garden looking like this:

It now looks like this (who knew cantaloupes were fence climbers?):

Our fresh produce looks like this:

Grant cutting up our first cucumber looks like this:

Photo shoot

She's just starting to smile- so cute!

I love my Moby Wrap

The moby wrap is awesome. Whenever Coraline needs to be held (but I've got things to do) I put her in it. She instantly quiets down and eventually falls asleep. I can then finish dinner or vacuum or finish whatever else needs to be done.


I was so intimidated by it when I was doing research on slings (it is one long piece of fabric), but the manager at the boutique walked me through it and it really couldn't be easier. There are detailed instructions that come with the wrap, so I won't go into detail here.

Too sweet

Isn't this quilt adorable! I think it will be my next project for Coraline. Detailed instructions can be found at the Moda Bake shop.

Cloth Diapers

(Coraline in an AIO cloth diaper)

I love being able to cloth diaper Coraline. We save lots of money and we are helping the environment! To start our stash off, I bought a lot of different covers, pocket diapers and all in ones, since I didn't know what would work for us. But through trial and error, I have finally found the system that works for us.

Grant and I both love the BumGenius All in Ones (AIO). Essentially AIO are treated just like disposable diapers except you put them in the washing machine instead of the trash. They fit her well, they are easy to put on and they contain blow outs well! So, I like to have 10 AIO and I also will continue to have two Thirsties diaper covers and prefold cloth diapers on hand. With this stash, I do diaper laundry every other day.

I'm thrilled that we are able to cloth diaper her at night with no leakage. The AIO allow for inserts to be put into the diaper, so you get more protection at night.

(diaper laundry)

(another cute cloth diaper and baby legs shot)

Fourth of July Skirt

In an attempt to be festive (and since it is Coraline's first holiday) I wanted to make a Fourth of July skirt for her to wear to our family barbecue.

Without spending any money I wanted to use things I had in the house. Unbelievably I did not have any red or blue fabric that would work from my quilt scraps, so I went to the pile of clothes that are slated to go to the church's yard sale and found the perfect material- one of Grant's old work shirts. It was red, white and blue! Perfect. I added a little red ribbon to the bottom, so she would stand out in a crowd. If I had more time I would have freezer stenciled something on to her white onesie. Oh well, next holiday!

(Grant's old work shirt)

(her festive skirt)


(she was thrilled- can't you tell?)

Father's Day

We finally got our new computer in, so I need to play catch up big time!

Grant had a fun first Father's Day this year.




We started the day with french toast (with fresh bread from Panera), bacon and mangoes. Yummy!

Miss C got her daddy some real Kona Coffee. You know, for all those early mornings he spends with her! He appreciated it very much.

He had to go to work that day, but when he got home we were able to go to his parent's house for a fun dinner.

Miss C sure does love her daddy!



Happy first Father's Day Grant!