Flower Picking

On Saturday Connor said to me:

Mommy I just wanted to tell you something. I picked some flowers for you for Mother's Day and put them in my desk to hide them from you. Now they are all dead. I guess they needed water.

The flowers were these little purple wildflowers that I had actually thought of picking for myself.


So on Sunday morning I found a new bunch of purple flowers sitting next to the door. These I got into water before they wilted. They were one of my favorite Mother's Day gifts, right next to the handmade pop-up book about soccer, frogs, snails, sisters, and of course Connor & Mom.

Helper

Here she is, my new little seamstress:


Up until about a month ago Maari would cry every time we brought her into the den/office/sewing room - yeah quite the catch-all room. We have no idea why, but it made computer time and sewing time very limited. Now, she loves it. This makes Mom very happy - I was starting to get a little worried. I lay her on the floor, turn some music on and she beams from ear to ear. She is especially pleased if I sing or dance for her. The new helper has her very own little corner in the catch-all room between Mommy's sewing machine and Daddy's closet.

As a reward for her coming around I made her this:

It is the Easy Empire-Waist Top from Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little Ones.

I somehow managed to goof on the sleeves and was too lazy to try to fix them so I just improvised instead. All and all my little seamstress and I are happy with the end result.

Now if only I could get her to cry every time I took her into the laundry room - then I would have an excuse for all those piles.

Sweets for my Sweets

Ever since Maari was sent home from the hospital with a stuffed bear Connor has been pleading with me to make him a bear. Not that the poor child doesn't already have a teddy bear or ten (which I pointed out to him). I happily agreed to make him a new stuffed friend trying to persuade him to choose something that I had a pattern for because of course that makes things much easier for Mom. But, he insisted on a bear.

So...




I am thinking it looks more like a cross between an owl and a squirrel but am told that it looks just like a Pokemon. He was a little shocked at first - not realizing it was the bear he had been begging for - but loves it just the same.

And for Maari I whipped up a little redheaded doll to cuddle.

Fist in mouth + babydoll in hand = happy baby girl!

Complete

Our little nursery is now complete with the arrival of this...


I take no credit for this lovely, it was all Nana - although I did pick out the pattern. Yes, I made my poor mother squint at a small blurry picture I had found online - can't remember where now, it was so long ago :( Also, there was the fact that it was written in Japanese and she had to convert centimeters to inches. The end result was well worth the toil though - it is perfect!

There was so much thought put into every detail. I went over to Mom's house one day and she had five different hairstyles laid out - bun or ponytail, light brown or dark brown hair. Little did we know at the time that our little girl would have red.

She even goes all out on the back. This is truly something that Maari will treasure for many years!

Over a Week Later...

Maari was baptized last Sunday morning the 29th... It was a very nice and surprisingly relaxing morning. Maari wore her great-grandpa's christening gown - eighty years old - which someone put a LOT of work into making! She did a great job of not making a mess on it. She also had grandma's baby shoes. Her little outfit had lots of sentimentality. She decided to take her morning bathroom break right as she was being baptized. After that the star of the day took an extra long snooze all the way through brunch.



A few scenes from a lovely day:

Little Birdie

The finished bird mobile for the nursery (inspired by this) has turned out to be very fitting. As a newborn, Maari's noises reminded me of a little birdie. As she has gotten older the little chirps have begun to transform into coos, but those bird calls are still there, especially after she wakes from a long sleep.

The birds were oh so fun to make, trying to get them to hang evenly was not quite so fun. I wanted to use real twigs but figured that wasn't such a baby friendly thing to have hanging over the crib.

I am proud to say that her mobile is her favorite thing to watch! It makes her giggle every time. She prefers it to be "wound up" so the birds fly around all crazy. I think she is going to be a birdlover. Her first smile was not at mom or dad or big bro, but at the owl decal on her wall. It must be a thing in this family. Connor is currently fascinated by the eagles that have taken to sitting on the edges of the melting ice on the lake. I guess we are all a bunch of birdwatchers!

Munchkin

Another baby knit...just couldn't resist the Gnomey Hat. It is my new favorite for many reasons. All of Maari's other hats fit nicely until I squeeze her into the carseat. Then either her ears are left exposed or the front covers her eyes (which she does not like at all). The ear flaps are the perfect solution. Second, it seems as though it will get used well into next winter, two seasons - amazing!

But the real reason I love this hat so much is that it is so darn cute on her - must be the pom poms!