Baboo Free!

What's a baboo??? It's a word my daughter made up. It refers to this...



Or as we usually see it around here, this...



Last Monday, Miss A went to the dentist for her first checkup. No issues with her teeth but dentist said it would be a great idea to start weaning her off her pacifier. I wasn't too excited about it because she seems to rely on it quite a bit and I did too when I was a kid but eventually grew out of it (as in you don't see me with one now). But we thought it wouldn't hurt to try and it has been surprisingly painless. Not painfree but painless. It has been a week since she has been using one and is still asking about it but hasn't had any tantrums or anything over it so I think we are baboo free! Congrats to all of us, especially our baby!

One More Weekend Done...

I worked Friday and Saturday nights. It wasn't bad, I have certainly had worse nights at work and my friend Jane was there so I talked to her quite a bit. She wasn't feeling good though so it made for a rough night for her. She helped me with an IV and we had a talk about why I have so much trouble with starting them sometimes (probably because it happens very rarely) but I'm going to use some of her tips in the next few weeks and I will be successful. Sometimes I really get on a roll and get almost every one I try and other times, I can't hit the broad side of a barn. But I will get better. Realistically though, I only have three more weekends of work and stick a fork in me, I'm DONE! Six more work days to go!!!

We are not leaving for Japan until October but I'm going home to stay with my parents for a few weeks so they can hang with my daughter and get in some bonding time since they don't see her very often. That is the only reason I wish I lived in Wisconsin. I like moving around a bit and seeing new places but I wish my daughter saw my mom and dad more. We Skype but it just isn't the same thing. So we will go and enjoy our time. I already have some plans to do somethings while I'm there.

I will probably be going to the annual Warrens Cranberry Festival. For some reason, the past few years that I have gone, I wonder why I bother but this is the last time for a few years so I'm going to do it. It is a festival celebrating the cranberry farming and community around Warrens. Wisconsin is huge for producing cranberries. I have gone to this since I was a little kid when my mom used to sell crafts and it has a kind of nostalgic feeling for me when I go. I basically use it as an excuse to shove fried cheese curds in my face and buy stuff I don't need.

I think I also want to go on an Upper Dells Boat Tour. This is another nostalgic thing. I grew up by the Dells and worked there during my summers in high school. I should hate the place but I actually love going there. Probably because it is so full of cheesy souvenir shops which I love to look in and wonder what the people who designs these things were thinking. And there is a lot of natural beauty. Wisconsin is full of it. If you love the outdoors, you will love Wisconsin.

There is definitely more I will be doing but I haven't the time to list everything. I will blog about my adventures while I'm there. I will be taking my sewing machine and fabric with me and hopefully doing some crafting with my mom while I'm there.

Home Ec Projects...

So far I have made a double-sided potholder...



A cute pincushion from fabric scraps...


An ironing board cover for my little board I use in my craft room...


And some cloth napkins so we can be more environmentally friendly in our house. They are double-sided with plain black fabric on the back. I am making 9 total and I still have quite a few to go before I finish them all.


I feel like I'm getting practice thinking out of the box with my sewing projects. I usually just make the same things and I'm actually learning how to make pretty, useful things other than clothes for our child. I'm also using up some scrap fabric with some of these little projects that might otherwise just sit around and rot. And as I always say, when you get rid of that old fabric, you make more room for new fabric!!!

I also have to say that even though we have a lot of beginners (well duh, it is a beginning sewing class), I am really impressed by the cute stuff people are posting in the Flickr group. Everyone is really taking a project and making it their own and doing a great job!

Make that two projects down...

Finished this today too. I'm sure she will grow out of it in another day or so!

Seriously, can you tell my kid lives in short/shirt combos? I need to work on more dresses and shirts that are not exactly the same only different fabric. I have lots in mind and I just need to sit down, figure out what fabric to make what and do it. Here is a list of things I want to make...

Oliver and S Popover Sundress
Oliver and S Ruffled Halter
Everyday Chaos Apron Top
Sugar Bee Craft Edition Shirred Pillowcase Dress
Not a dress but UCreate Bucket Hat

There are more, especially here at Think Liz.

I just need the time and inclination and cooperation from my little one to get it all done. I love sewing, especially sewing things for my daughter. My mom used to sew clothes for me when I was a kid and I'm sure I didn't appreciate them then but I certainly do now. Lots of love goes into handmade stuff. I like to think that someday my daughter will want to be a crafter too.

Another project down, many to go...

I started making this outfit for my daughter in June. JUNE! I'm finally done with it. The shirt is another pattern from here. My feelings about it? Honestly, I don't really like it anymore. I was in love with this Amy Butler Love fabric when I bought it a few months ago but now, meh. It's okay. Bright and a bit crazy, yes. I think I was in "here comes summer mode" when I got it. Thankfully, it is hot as heck here until October and then we will be in Okinawa where it is perma-summer all year round.

On second though, I think I will like it more when I actually see my daughter wear it but I'm kind of wondering what I was thinking. No big deal. She will only fit into it for another couple of months and then it can be given to my friend for her daughter. I have to admit I loved the pattern when I bought the book but I should have read it closer. It required you to handstitch quite a bit. I'm not all that great at handstitching except for embroidery and with my daughter running around making messes, I don't have that kind of time. So I figured out a way to sew the bias binding on my machine and it came out okay. Not perfect but it will do. The great thing about my friend who I give hand-me-downs to is that she doesn't sew and doesn't have a clue when I make a mistake or take shortcuts.

ETA: After seeing the look on my husband's face when he saw this outfit, I doubt my child will be wearing this very much. I did take the bow off and it is a little more tolerable but I'm still not in love with it. I still have some of the fabric left, mostly the blue fabric so I will probably make a pillowcase type dress or something out of it.

Today's Sewing Project

Okay, not really today. I started this on Sunday morning, quit to focus on other things and picked it back up Monday morning and finished it by 11:00 am. I photographed it later on Monday while my darling Miss A was sleeping. So instead of cute child modeling her new hat, Kai Lan will have to do. It is just as well. I know I will have to fight the child to keep it on her head. It will get dirty from her throwing it on the ground. Good thing it is reversible. The yellow inside fabric is something I had left over from years ago. I'm not really in love with it but might as well use it and make room for more fabric in my ever growing stash.



The pattern came from the book, Making Children's Clothes by Emma Hardy. I like a lot of the projects in this book but some of the patterns need a bit of editing. But I'm not a beginning sewer so I can figure out what to do without having it layed out for me. I have made a couple of other projects from the book. I would share but one of the dresses I made two months ago is now too short for my child who grows like a weed so why bother?

Despite being a somewhat experienced sewer, I am taking on online sewing class. It is called Home Ec and it has lots of cute projects. Realistically, I am only going to gain a couple new techniques but it seems like a lot of fun and a way to practice sewing other than making clothes for my child. Registration is only open for a few more hours so check it out!!!

First Day Back at Work...

...since being diagnosed with mono! I hadn't been to work since July 9 and I only worked four hours and then was sent home due to overstaffing. The next day I had to call in because I took my daughter to the ER and she spent a night in the hospital. Thankfully, we are all well now and work can resume for a few weeks. I have already put my notice in that I am quitting. Well, I told them a long time ago that I was leaving but I finally narrowed it down to a specific day so Sept 11 is the last day I can work.

Anyway, I was kind of thinking how it was nice to go back to work and see everyone and be productive. And then reality set in and I remembered why I like work but despise it at the same time. I was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY! First off, everyone was having emergencies right and left and I didn't get to finish my assessments and passing meds until later than usual. And I had three people who were in a lot of pain so that sucked up a lot of my time passing out meds. Things did finally calm down a bit but I was tired when my shift was over. The next night was so boring and not busy that I was almost wishing I had more to do! Sometimes that is just how it goes. But it was a good work weekend so I won't really complain.

Here is where I will complain. We had some realtors coming to look at our house this am between 9 and noon. House is fairly decent but still needs a good touch up (vacuum, dust, windows cleaned, bathrooms cleaned and dishes done). I just had no energy when I woke up yesterday to do any of this. So I did a bit, hubby cleaned up the garage (after much prodding) and I woke up early this am to finish all of this. I do finally get everything done by 9:15. I call the realty office to see if they can give me a heads up when they are coming because I have to get the dogs and baby out of the house. They act like I'm a pain and can I just wait until the realtors arrive to leave??? Um, no. Have you ever seen a grown women try to wrangle two little excitable dogs and a crazy toddler out of the house and into a car with minimal difficulty? Not in this house. I wonder why it always seems like such a problem for them to call me a few minutes before they show the house. But I'm a nurse and not a realtor so what do I know?????

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been too busy lately. Today is doctor and dentist appointment for myself. I have been at the doctor at least once for the past three weeks for suspected strep throat and then a mono diagnosis and then for checkups. Yesterday was doctor appointment for my daughter and then our least favorite thing, vaccinations (for her and me!). I got the Japanese Encephalitis vaccination and she got the dreaded tetanus and some others and was irritable the rest of the day which was not good because we traveled the fun two hours to St. Louis to see my husband's cousin and her family who are visiting from Wisconsin.

While we were there, we went to City Museum in lovely downtown St. Louis. My husband and I have been there before but that was years ago before we were married (2000??) so it has changed a lot. It really isn't toddler friendly because of the tunnels and mish mash of crazy stairs and slides and things my wild one would love to try to hurt herself on. So we had to guide her carefully through the museum. There is a toddler area but she was cranky from the vaccinations so that didn't go over well and she even hated going on the small slide which is unusual for her. My favorite was the Museum of Mirth, Mystery and Mayhem. It is an eclectic mix of all of the crazy stuff I love. It even had a photo booth which I begged my husband to do. The pics of course are my favorite black and white and none turned out all that great. But I cannot resist a photo booth. They are a rare find nowadays and I absolutely have to stop and use it. I don't mean the new ones at the mall where they take your pics and put them on stickers or you get to write your name on the pic but a real life vintage booth. You know it is old when it says "Featuring the new flash technology!" Despite crankypants, it was a great day!