Refreshed . . .

I love tulip trees and cherry trees and pear trees and buttercups . . . and sunny days that are just warm enough that I can wear flip flops . . . and taking my child to the playground and strolling through the neighborhood . . . the zoo and eating outside at El Porton. Ahhhhh . . . Spring is making me feel like a newer, happier version of myself. Although it will be a hellacious August when I am 9 months pregnant, right now I love that I'm in the middle of my second trimester during the most beautiful time of year. I have lots of energy and the weather only makes that better :)

I also love bright Spring colors and that I can stop wearing my Winter uniform of black and gray -- and I love seeing Miss Mimi in bright Spring colors. There is nothing better than her little chubby legs in bloomers or seeing her little pink toes peek out under ruffle pants. With that being said, this is what I've been up to:

I. Am. Obsessed. I had no idea how exciting it would be for me to learn how to sew. I carry around a note pad with me now and jot down ideas for things I would like to make, and the list is about 27 miles long . . . but I still have a 9 to 5, so finding the time has been nuts. Twice this week I stayed up past midnight (which is just plain crazy for a person who needs at least 9 hours of sleep), but I couldn't start until the most high maintenance child in the world went to sleep. I actually did not make the cute little snail applique (I bought it at Bumbletees www.bumbletees.com), but I bought matching fabric and did make the rest -- they were so much fun to do. So maybe I sewed the front of the pants and back of the pants together on my first try and if you turn the bloomers inside out they look like a big ole hot mess, but I am learning.

Okay, so enough about me. Last week we had the joy of hanging out with my brother's children at the zoo. We don't get to see them too often, so it is always so much fun to have these sweet kiddos around. Mimi is crazy about them!

Mimi and Lainee-Luckett sang E-I-E-I-O all during lunch! Luckett is such a pretty little girl, but she loves throwing a football and wearing a jersey (with a bow, of course).

When you gonna eat that pickle?

Okay, okay, so I know my child is a blog outfit repeater . . . hopefully my new hobby will help correct that problem!

The Cure for "Only Child Syndrome"

Uh oh . . . Baby Darby better watch out for her big sister . . . He he he. After Halloween Clint and Mimi found this fancy pitch fork on a clearance table at Schnuck's while I was shopping. She is finally tall enough to open her closet door and has discoved that is where I hide all kinds of interesting toys that I would rather she forget about. After running up and down the hall with this eye-poker-outer and knocking the dogs around with it, I was able to divert her attention to Sesame Street and find a new hiding place.

Honestly, I think Mimi will be a fantastic big sister . . . once she figures out that it will work to her advantage. First of all, she is a very spoiled little toddler who is smothered with more attention and admiration than I ever thought possible. I have been advised to start making her wait -- don't hand her a cracker and sippy cup as soon as she whines, don't pick her up as soon as she asks -- but she's so stinkin cute that this has been really hard for me. Once the baby comes, I guess she won't have a choice but to learn some patience.

She also doesn't yet know how much her little bro or sis will admire her. Mimi does some very interesting things that I think will make a baby crazy about her. She sings, she dances, she colors on everything, and is so mischevious. The baby will adore her. Kyle and Matt came over this weekend with sweet little Banks (who I could absolutely squeeze for days he's so cute), and he was so interested in Mimi's artwork and watched her intently. On a side note, Mimi didn't freak out at all when I held Banks this time. This is progress.

I was finishing up some work one night, and Mimi was trying very hard to entertain herself and get my attention. Once she realized I was busy I guess she did the only thing she could think to do -- she started chasing herself. At first I thought she was chasing Spike because I heard her say, "I get you! I get you!" but then I realized Spike wasn't playing along . . . Mimi was running around the kitchen table chasing herself! I've also noticed her having conversations with herself. Could "Only Child Syndrome" turn into schizophrenia?

The child has also begun to realize that she's cute -- which is sweet but maybe a little scary. A few days ago Clint told her she looked pretty, and she said, "I so pretty." Every time she sees me pull out the camera she stands as close as possible to me, makes a cutesy face (see below), and says, "CHEESE!" Then she wants me to show her the photo and every other photo stored on the camera so she can point out herself and tell me that's Mimi.


And I think I may have found a way to make my little child even cuter.
TA DAH . . . my very own sewing machine!

Oh my goodness, I am SO excited about this! I have wanted one for a couple of years, but I didn't think I would have the time. Honestly, I don't have the time, but I need to make time. Over the past few years, I have had zero creative outlet. I know this may come as a shocker, but I actually majored in art my first couple of years of college. I wasn't good enough to make any real money drawing flower arrangements and making pottery, so I switched my major to education (where the real money is, wink, wink). Now I talk about colonoscopy preps all day, and the career isn't doing much to fill my void. The final straw came when I was in a children's boutique a couple of weeks ago and saw several little outfits that looked so simple. Then I looked at the price tag and was appalled. I know I could totally do that, and it's time I stop saying it and do it. So here goes the new hobby . . .

And "hobby" is the key word here. I am definitely not quitting the day job to become the new Project Runway star. Last night it took me a good hour just to figure out how to thread the machine and then another 30 minutes to just sew a couple of inches of stitches. By the end of the night, I had sewn one piece of fabric to another and was really ambitious by trying to applique an "M" and a square. Don't look too closely because it's a hot mess.

Tonight I made my first functional item -- a burp cloth. So I didn't actually "make" it. All I did was sew a cute piece of fabric on a cheap Gerber cloth diaper, but I'm still really proud of it. I tried to open a pattern for bloomers, and my heart started racing and I broke out in a sweat when I saw all the diagrams and crazy sewing terminology. I think the burp cloth will have to do for tonight.