Teaching myself how to sew!

So, even though I kind of knew how to sew before this year, it was mainly only hemming my pants of taking shirt straps up... This year I became a bit more adventurous :)

I decided that I didn't want to spend $40+ on a nursing cover when it look SOOO easy to make! So I did a bit of research, found a free pattern (tweaked it of course, because I just can't leave anything as it... gotta put my own stamp of creativity on it, or something) and 'whipped' this puppy out in about 2 weeks...

I know, two weeks doesn't sound fast, but when your baby boy is crawling and attempting to ingest pins, needles, fabric straps and chew on scissors... the sewing time is limited to nap times and after bed time (which half of the times I either needed to do household chores, or wanted to veg out).

So long story short, this probably only took me a total of 3-5 hours TOPS... and that is mainly because I am super slow with everything creative and would stop mid process to research a better hem, or a better way to turn a corner... here is what I did :)

Fabric is cut, strap is sewn and ready to be attached to the main swatch of fabric, pins EVERYWHERE!

Detail of the pockets (not on all nursing covers, thought it might be handy, kind of is sometimes). I also added a bit of burp rag to the corners, cause Chase always seemed to detach himself more when we were in public and a burp rag would have been useful at those times.

close up of the neck strap

After sewing! YAY it actually worked! Sometimes I really do surprise myself! :)

Detail of the finished pocket and improved finished corner

Detail of the Over-all clasp, I thought it would be an easier feature than having to thread two D rings every time I needed to nurse... and I was right :) Super easy to use. You can also see the insert of boning in the front area.

Finished product with my funky pattern! You can see here how the boning is used to keep the fabric away from the neck so Mama can see her baby :)

Used it SOOOO much during the summer months, and wish I would have made it sooner to get more use of it... Oh well, I will just have to wait for our next kid to get full use of it :)

Ahh... Young Love ;)

We watched Chase's girlfriend Lydia the other day... and OH MY did they have a BLAST together.... no kidding, these kiddos didn't want to be apart for one minute!

Here they are chasing each other up and down the hallway, from room to room! :)

Even though it was SUPER cold, I walked them to the park since they were starting to get stir crazy being inside all day...

Hey Mama, I'M HAVIN' FUN!

Lydia didn't know what to do with the leaves at first, but then really liked the way they made noise when she smacked them :)

Here they are in action!

Awww, what a beautiful little girl...

Here we are, packing up to go... and what does Chase do?

He goes in for a KISS!!!

Lydia gets a little shy... :)

Here is the little cutie pie having fun with me (and watching the traffic go by) as Chase took a nap...

What a sweet little girl... makes me want to have one ;)

I must say though, having two kids (the same age) on rotating nap schedules was challenging... but wow, did we have tons of fun (and tons of GIGGLES!)!

Talyor 5 Year Reunion

Has it seriously been that long?!? or... has it ONLY been 5 years?!? I don't know which describes it better... but it seems weird that chapter of our lives is now being marked by '5 year' increments.

Here are two of my lovely roommates... who are two of my closest friends (sorry I never call you guys)

Here is a pic I just found from our college days! Sorry Shan, I can't find a digital one of you :( I guess I will have to scan all my negatives in one of these days (wasn't life before digital so, so... stone age?!?) But here is our other roomie Jen :) YAY JEN!

(oh my goodness! Do I actually have some color?? aka - days before the dermatologist)

Chase met up with Lucas, who is a month(?) younger and like 110th Percentile... ahh, Chase, you are destined to be tall someday, I just know it... at least taller than your Mama! :)

Of course, they both wouldn't look at the camera at the same time (ANY TIME) but they were super cute playing together among the college students who watched them like they were a rare species... which I guess you COULD consider babies a rarity on a campus ;)

Lucas' mom texting in the background, as she and I 'herd' the boys away from the non-baby-proofed bulletin boards where brightly colored tacks were conveniently placed at child level... thanks college students! ;)

I didn't get to take any other photos of the weekend, as I was busy running after our little guy... but it was fun to see old friends and professors :)

Happy Birthday again...

To my baby boy, I love you with all my heart

Chase's 1st Birthday Slideshow from Mel Tsai on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday

To my baby boy:

You sure are silly...

especially when you go for something as yummy as cake with cream cheese frosting

and then you cry because you got it on your face, and your hands are now sticky with it

you cry and cry (demand, is a better word) that Mama wipe it off, and PRONTO!

oh, but look, your buddy Asher (who shares your birthday), is calmly plugging away at decimating his little cake, can you watch and copy what he is doing?

no, oh no... you won't touch it anymore... so Mama takes pity on you, you teary-eyed, pitiful, helpless thing, and feeds you your birthday cake a bite at a time

yeah... 'see!?!' you say... 'that's more like it, I can have my cake, and have you feed it to me too'

Silly quirky son of mine, I hope you had a wonderful first birthday!

love always, your Mama

Urban Baby

Sometimes mama gets a thought in her head to do 'interesting' photo shoots, and I gotta say "Mama, what are you thinking?!?"

But then I get happy 'cause Mama makes silly faces and noises... SO BIG!

And laugh 'cause she rolls in the grass with me...

But then it goes on too long, it gets kind of get boring... and stuff on the ground is SOOO much more interesting than Mama's noises...

with the engrossing task of using this new jean jacket as a teether... the city buses that drive by and make loud machine sounds are {also} more fun to watch...

While the pre-rush hour traffic goes by, Kung Fu is sometimes in order...

but above all, trying to pretend Mama {the photographer} does not exist, is my goal especially when the photo shoot should have been done a LONG time ago...

And so ends our {somewhat} unsuccessful Urban Baby photo shoot *sigh*

I think I will have to try again, when the beginning of rush hour is NOT happening...

Vacation...

With Kim and Ryan! :)

It was such a blast to be able to hang out with such wonderful friends again. The week’s menu was a bit labor intensive, but made us all drool with anticipation when we sat down with tired feet (from standing in the kitchen for the previous hour+). Jeff and Ryan, aka Masters of the Grill, made ribs, whole chicken on a beer can and some other meat-ful delights that, since I did not partake in, I have since forgotten. But the roasted veggies, crunchy peanut noodle salad and cowboy salsa still haunt my dreams (Kim, I want that recipe by the way!).

I should have taken photos of our meals :( I missed another photo opportunity. *sniff*

‘Uncle’ Ryan and ‘Aunt’ Kim are Chase’s new favorite playmates. He complained for quite a few days after returning home that he was NOT getting the attention that his Aunt and Uncle had bestowed on him all week!

Even though the rain kept us indoors for two of the days at the Bergman’s Family lake house, we had some fun times on the Pontoon boat,

watching the waves go by,

playing games,

watching pig races

(yes, PIG races!),

looking at fun stuff with Mama,

and liberally snapping photos of the Chase-boy!

Vacation was so much fun, but sometimes it just makes me sad that I don't live closer to our wonderful friends... *sigh*