Sewing: Easter Dresses

Making the girls Easter dresses is my new traditon.

I just decided :)

This is the second year I have made them,

and I love that I can pick out exactly what I want.

I love spending the hours sewing them,

and seeing the finished product.

This year I made Ansley a skirt, and a dress for Olivia.

I fell in love with this skirt pattern at my local quilt shop.

It was sold out, and the minute it came in a bought it.

This skirt was tedious.

It is a Jona G pattern.

I am a quick sewer.

And this took 5 hours.

It was 88 inches of gathering,

for both layers!!
It made for a very full skirt.

I am happy with the way it turned out,

but will not be using this pattern again any time soon.

Liv's dress is a Juvie Moon pattern.

http://fairytalefrocksandlollipops.com/catalog.htm?item=2637

I had never used their patterns before.

They are darling.

And simple.

I didn't get a great picture of Livvy's dress.

Getting a 2 year old to hold still is impossible.

And I gave up.

The girls got matching outfits for their dolls from the Easter Bunny.

They held their dolls ALL day long.

It made me SOO happy.

Ansley kept pointing out that their dolls had bows :)
This is the best picture I got of them together.

Like I said, impossible.

I tried getting them standing...

That was a complete joke.

A smile from Olivia.

On camera.

An Easter miracle!?

Hehe.

At least one of my girls can cooperate for the camera.

Easter baskets and the rest of Easter coming soon!

Easter: Decorations

I had too much fun decorating for Easter this year.

This is actually the first year I have ever decorated for the holiday.

Lately I have really enjoyed trying to make each holiday more fun for my girls.

Decorating is totally part of that. Right??

Because I was starting from scratch this year,

I based all the things I made on a little chick and bunny I found at a cute local shop.

Before I even bought them. He he :)

I love the way everything turned out.

And, it is nice to have a little "Spring" in the home,

when the weather hasn't been quite so outside.

(Blogger has uploaded my photos WAY out of order... so I am just going with that.)

So, not exactly Easter, but, I did hang these the day I decorated.

And I love them.

My frame is vintage, found at a consignment shop.

I duct taped the chicken wire to it.

I am classy like that.

Eventually I will clothespin pictures to it.

Book page wreath I made with a friend.

It was time consuming (like 5 hours...), but totally worth it.

It is one of my favorite things in my whole house.

I have become the banner queen.

I am obsessed.

Any and all banners.

And, I have quite the collection.

This was actually one I made for a friend's baby shower.

It matched my decor so well I hung it up for Easter.

This is the COOLEST paper fabric!!

See, this is where it would be helpful if these pictures were in order.

These are the little eggs that hang from my "tree".

I wanted sparkly eggs.

I looked everywhere for them,

never found the perfect ones.

So, I ended up with these cute little eggs.

I hung them with fishing line,

covered that up with ribbon,

and flowers.

And they cost me $5 for the whole project.

Look!

THE bunny and THE chick.

I love, love, love them.

Another banner.

Told you I was obsessed.

This one says SPRING.

It is hard to tell in the picture.

And those are more book pages behind the glittered letters.

Love cutting up old books :)

My tree.

I totally copied a friend after seeing hers.

This has been the BEST decoration for anything.
Birthdays, baby showers, EVERY holiday.

I hope you made it through this post.

And that it wasn"t totally boring.

I love looking at every one's cute holiday decorations,

so I thought I would share mine.

Happy EASTER!!!

Olivia Kate: Things I don't want to forget

Livvy has been so cute lately!!

Her talking is crazy.

Like, full sentences.

All the time.

She has started telling "stories".

It is the cutest thing I have ever heard.

Earlier this week her story went something like this,

"I saw a ladybug.

And then,

I said,

Go away ladybug,

GO away."

(all the while making hand motions.)

She was actually recounting a story about a fly.

A fly she called a ladybug.

And that she did actually yell at.

When she tells such stories,

they always include,

"And then..."

The other day she climbed up the outside of the stair case.

She yells to me,

"Look Mom, I am taller!"

Olivia LOVES to sing.

Her favorite song,

"Happy Birthday to you,

You're 102,

and you still go to preschool,

and you miss your Mommy."

Thank Ansley for that one :)

I am loving this funny girl of mine.

A lot.

Sisters: Pedicures

One afternoon a few weeks ago Ansley asked me if she could paint Liv's toes.

I have never let her do this before,

and I must have been distracted,

because I said yes.

Several minutes later I walk in to find this set up.

It had to have been one of the sweetest sister moments I have ever seen.

Ansley set up her "stool".

Livvy's potty seat. He he.

And lifted up those cute little piggies.

Ansley would blow dry after each toenail.

How cute is that!?

Olivia sat SO still the whole time.

Here is the best part.

I totally didn't even notice this until I took the picture...

CLEAR sparkly polish.

Ah, what a relief.

No mess :)

(It is totally bothering me that I forgot to round these corners!!!)

And the best big sister.

My Ansley.

She really is THE best.

I love her,

and the way she loves her little sister.

I couldn't ask for more.

Sewing: Lace Ruffle Pants

My friend Triana spotted the most darling pants on a little girl at Target.

I knew I had to have them the minute I saw them.

I also knew where the fabric was from.

Perfect.

A few days later I grabbed the materials I needed.

I made these sweet little pants today in 30 minutes.

And I am in LOVE!!

I couldn't wait to blog them.

So, excuse the quick photos. And uncooperative model.

She is still cute though :)

I LOVE the lace!!

Especially because it meant I didn't have to gather ruffles.

I hate gathering ruffles.

I need a ruffle foot.

(Curtis!)

For anyone interested,

I just used a basic pants pattern.

(Mine is sew sensible boutique bottoms.

I add length to them though.)

I added lace found on a spool at Hobby Lobby.

It comes in a lot of colors.

And is cheap.

Super cheap actually.

www.dana-made-it.com

Has a great pants tutorial as well.

I have the girls' Easter dresses done.

And I will post those soon.

Tonsils: The Real Deal

Now that it is over, I want to document our experience.

The first few days were the "honeymoon period".

It got worse.

Way worse.

Ansley hated the way the pain meds tasted.

All of them

Tylenol with codeine, tasted like vomit she said.

(Lovely, right!?)

Motrin was too strong.

Chewable grape Motrin hurt.

Livvy's Tylenol was "just yucky".

Basically we had to force her to take it,

and threaten trips to the ER.

Which, would have been a reality had she not taken it.

She quit eating for DAYS!

And would wake in the night crying.

It was the saddest thing.

To watch my tough girl in pain.

It has now been 2 weeks,

and she is pretty much recovered.

Except her little voice. She sounds different.

Yesterday was her first day back at school.

I LOVED that when we walked in (late), her class CHEERED!!

It was the sweetest thing,

and I think she loved it too :)

I am glad that we did it,

I am VERY glad that it is just over.

And, I never want to see another Popsicle again.

Olivia Kate: 2

Olivia is a funny girl.

She is a talker.

Just like her sister :)

And we love it.

There is nothing she cannot say anymore,

and we can have conversations with her now.

Her new favorite word is awesome.

Awesome, right?

She uses it a lot.

"Grandma Bair is so awesome."

(My Grandma was recently in town.)

"Mom, Jamba Juice so awesome."

I have to agree with her, on both counts.

She also likes to say that things are,

"sooo cute."

Recently while asking her who was a boy,

and who was a girl, we stumped her.

Her answer to whether Clay is a boy or a girl,

"Uncle Clay sooo cute."

Way to play it safe Liv :)

She keeps us laughing.

In huge Olivia news,

she is officially,

100% weaned.

That is right,

now who wants to throw ME a party??

23 months people.

Crazy? I think yes.

Olivia is obsessed with baby dolls.

She loves pushing them in strollers.

Changing diapers.

Feeding them.

And stripping their clothes off.

All of her babies must be naked.

At all times...

So annoying if you ask me.

We have a lot of cute doll clothes :)

This past month she has cut out naps.

Or maybe I cut out her nap.

She was not going to bed at night,

and it was killing me.

No nap= 7:30 bedtime= happy mommy.

I do miss those 2 hours of free time during the day,

but I like my long evenings better.

Potty training is next.

Wish me luck!

LOVE you Livvy Kate!!