What I did on my Spring Break

1. Got my sewing machine out of the box. It was a lot of box for not much sewing machine. But it's out of the box. I plugged it in and turned it on. And pressed on the pedal. It works like other sewing machines. Now to wind the bobbin. I'm doing this under the watchful eye of a seamstress to be sure it's done right. (The sad thing is, remember, I made a button-down shirt in college, with a pocket and a contrasting collar and cuffs that was a thing of beauty. And it was functional--I got an A in the class. This is not my first time at the rodeo. However, I look at that box, see that it has multiple quilting stitches available, and I want to run, screaming, from the room. Technology is wasted on me). But I know, once I figure it out, I'll be OK.  I already was telling myself I could make Babygirl an "I Spy" quilt. Or work on a couple artsy ideas I have in my little pea-brain.

2.  We went for Someone Small's 9 month pictures. She wasn't feeling her best at the start and had been sleepy all morning, but she perked up at the photo studio. Not at first--we had a minor meltdown in the middle of the first shots, but when I popped on the blue dress, she got happy:

Babygirl is 9 months old.


I do want to send a shout-out to the photo studio we went to. If you're in the Maryland suburbs, or know and love someone who needs some photos taken, they do a great job at the JC Penney's at Lakeforest Mall. We had the same photographer, Christina, who did her 6 month pictures, and Katie really responds well to her. And their prices are reasonable. These are pretty special times, and I like that they do such a great job.

And her dress is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Crazyville has a Belk (I always laugh at the idea that they say they are Southern and you could pretty much jog to the Pennsylvania line, but there's a reason this is Crazyville). We saw these when she was 2 months old, and thought it would be nice to get one for her. The company is Petit Ami, and they do smocked dresses with hand-embroidery. Well, as a needleworker, I wanted something special for her, vintage-y, but not overly frou-frou. This company makes a nice baby dress. I don't know if the store carries their designs for older kids, but I'll be looking for more like this.

(And none of these places paid me, I'm just really pleased with how it turned out. Though, I won't lie here, if Petit Ami wants to hook us up with some clothes, we'll take them! Someone Small likes to look 'pret-ty')

I can't believe 9 months has gone so fast and that we've managed to survive it. When they handed her to me, when she was 20 hours old, after being in the NICU that first day, I was so scared I was going to really mess this up, since I'd never changed a diaper, never held anyone that new, never really had experience with little people, but she's been such a good baby.  And I am amazed every day at just how wonderful having this little person in my life is. She's a pretty cool kid!