smockety

Delma has developed a bit of an obsession with pockets. She likes to hold little things, like rocks or beads, and since she is not allowed to carry her own little things around in school, or have little choking hazzards around Mimi, she has realized that pockets are the perfect solution. She can fill them up with rocks, beads, barrettes, hair ties, etc, and have all her little treasures close by without getting into trouble. But not all of her pants/shorts/skirts have pockets, so I whipped up a smocket using Alicia's tutorial. Now if Delly is wearing something without pockets, but needs to stash some little treasures, we can toss this on her over her clothes.



I squared off the ends of the straps and put snaps on instead of tying them. I used a nice cotton/linen blend from jcarolinecreative.com that hides schmutz and cat hair very well and can just go in the washer and dryer.



Here's a close-up of the pocket, which was a total late-night hack job. It's really bad. But it works, so there you go. Plus it has mushrooms. "Mommy, I like mushrooms!"



I have some little tops similar to this shape that I made for D when she was a babe, and that Mimi will wear this summer, and am very glad to have found this pattern for larger sizes. So easy to modify it, make it completely reversible (leave off the pocket), make it longer or shorter, etc. Love it.

big day

Delly hit a major milestone this weekend when she pooped on the potty for the first time. We were beyond thrilled. Josh and I both got tears in our eyes, and while Delly sat on the toilet, grinning from ear to ear and practically bursting with pride, we sang the Shehecheyanu. Josh said, "It's a red-letter day! May 23rd, mark the calendar!"

May 23, 2009. The 30th anniversary of my mother's death. Delma Elizabeth, for whom our own little Delma is named. It was a very bittersweet moment when I realized what day it was and what it meant.

Delly is finally figuring out what the relationships are in our family, that her grandparents are also Josh's and my parents. She likes to ask us about it. She and I were talking about it in the car one afternoon last week, and I was quizzing her. I asked, "Who is my daddy?" "Opi!" Then she paused and asked for the first time, "Who's your mom?"

It knocked the wind out of me, though I've been waiting for that question for some time now. It took me a moment to recover, and Delma was staring at me in the rearview mirror. Finally I answered, "My mom died."

"Why she died?" She was watching me like a hawk.

"I don't know why, honey."

The tone had become very somber, and Delma wasn't comfortable. Out of nowhere, in true Delma fashion, she started spazzing out, laughing and flailing her arms and wagging her tongue, and lightened the mood. She is most excellent at providing comic relief.

I don't know what she understands about death. She knows that flowers die and that bugs die. What that means in her squooshy little brain, and how that translates to people... Who knows. And I'm certainly not going to press the issue. But we are entering a new era, our first baby is not a baby anymore, and the questions are only going to get tougher. I just hope she always feels safe enough to ask.

baby blanket

Here's an atrocious shot of a baby blanket I made last week. A friend is preggo with her second child, she has a son at home and is now expecting a girl. Is it just me or does it seem like when someone already has a son, and then they have a daughter, they go completely bonkers for the girly stuff?? I think I would. All I have to say is Thank God I had daughters, or else I'd be raising some baby trannies.



So, the blanket. Some Michael Miller Disco Dots on the front, and Minky Chemnille on the back. Such a totally simple project, but it was SUCH a bitch to make. Took three tries, because of the minky... It's slippery, so I had to pin that thing like crazy before sewing, but also the machine grabs it differently than the cotton and was pulling it all over the place. Sewing the width-wise sides was actually pretty easy, but the length-wise sides (going along with the ribbing) sucked. It was just a torturous process, and one I'm not likely to repeat anytime soon. BUT -- the finished product came out pretty cute. As long as you ignore the fact that when you fold it it's totally not squared. And also it left my house, like everything leaves my house, with a fine coating of cat hair.

And then to prove that it passes stringent approval process of the Baby Council of America for Promotion of Cuddly Items, I let Mimi have at it. And then Delly wanted in on the photo action. This resulted in exactly ZERO decent photos of the blanket, but oh well. At least it left my floor a little cleaner.

wedding crafts

Last month my fab gal-pal Moira tied the knot. Not only were Josh, Delma, Mimi and I luck enough to attend the joyous event, but Moira also asked me to help add some hand-crafted bits.

I helped make the cupcakes, which were topped with sweet little images of vintage seed packets.


And I made two ring pillows, one for each of her sons to carry. I knocked off ideas from some that I found on Etsy... just little satin pillows with a bird's nest glued on top, some moss glued inside to fill it a bit, and some little plastic eggs glued it. And orange ribbons glued to the pillow, poking out from under the nest. OMG, the wonders of the glue gun! The one thing I did which worked out very well and I'm pleased with myself for figuring out, was to sew a button to the middle of the pillow -- to squoosh the middle in and make it nice and sturdy and flat for the nest to sit on. They came out quite cute, if'n I do say so myself!

yet another blog to read

Thanks to Christina, I have a new blog to follow: What Not To Crochet.

And Rainn Wilson Tweeted yesterday about another hilarious blog: This is Photobomb.