Happy 6th Birthday Lilliana

Dear Lilliana,


Today you are six and I am feeling the changes. You are losing your little girl attitude in some aspects and becoming sassy and determined. You have gone from not caring about a lot to having an opinion on everything and knowing exactly what you want. You take after your mama in this aspect. Some days this has resulted in a bit of clashing of heads, but in the end my sweet girl still emerges. You have always been sweet and even during the tough times you continue to be so.  

 I have watched you go from being the only girl to having sisters this year and it has been wonderful. You are the best big sister.  You love those girls like they are your own. I love that you have helped me take care of them. I love that you are always willing to jump in and help me grab them, make them happy, or just hold them for a second. You have been a such a blessing. 

I love that you want to spend your evenings in the kitchen cooking with me. You are such a help. I know if I am baking I can always find you there. It is a dream come true being able to teach you how to bake and cook even if you want glitter, neon frosting, and sparkles on everything! 

The highlight of this year and watching you grow has been having you by my side learning. You have taken up the love of documenting things. You have your camera in your hand a lot. My favorite is the videos you did of me sewing. You also have wanted to learn to sew and and I spending time sewing will always be a highlight. 

Your birth was always such a healing and bright spot after Eli's birth. You were the easiest labor and delivery. To this day you still hold true to those things. You are my bright spot when things are tough. You make them easy and fun. I love you sweet girl and I am so glad you are mine! Happy 6th Birthday to the girl that loves to twirl!

Love,
MOM

I took her to a greenhouse for these. She is such a goon and insisted on posing herself the entire way and choosing where we took photos. I gave some directions, but she definitely had her mind made up about some. It is here though. The blue dress she helped me sew. She doesn't like it, but she agreed to take some photos and now it is being passed to a friend. It may go down as the most difficult item of clothing we have had to deal with, but in the end we compromised and came to an agreement. The black dress is her all time favorite. It is close to being to small, so she wore it for these and soon it will be put away for the girls. Regardless these are Lilliana and I wouldn't change them for the world. I still need to do her "chalkboard" style photo, but that is ok.

Bring on the Comfort

If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen a post about blogging some women's pants today. Change of plans. I just do not have time to photograph them and do it justice this week. I had to do a quick shoot with Eli and Lilliana for their coming bdays. I also have been trying so hard to keep the best schedule for school we have ever had since the babies were born. It actually has been amazing and my days have been wonderful. It is supposed to be so nice and warm this weekend so I can get outside to photograph items. As long as I am not testing a new women's shirt pattern I will be having a blog post just on women's clothes and patterns. 

These pants I had planned to include in the post. Eli and Ari frequently ask me to sew for them. The truth is, finding boy fabric just is not as fun. That being said, I found this amazing camo fabric right before Christmas. It came from my all time favorite fabric shop. I buy 98% of my fabric from them. I hate to tell you where, because if I am being honest they are growing so quickly I am going to have to compete for fabric and I hate that!! The pattern is FREE it is from Elegance and Elephants. You can find it here.

Now for the fabric. My all time favorite fabric shop is So Sew English. Amanda the owner loves soft fabric and I can honestly say I have not bought a single thing that is not soft. If you follow the craze of Lularoe you know their leggings are very soft. They are made out of double brushed poly. They really are fabulous. I am not knocking anybody that sales them (chances are I may have bought an item or two), but I have found their double brushed poly does not hold up well. I have two pair of leggings. They began pilling basically as soon as I wore them. I have made two shirts and a cardigan out of fabric from So Sew English and no peeling or issues whatsoever and I have washed them more. I also find the patterns much more appealing, but hey I love floral and so do the So Sew English ladies. I have found double brushed poly is not my favorite it is FRENCH TERRY!! Amanda stocks rayon spandex french terry and it is to die for. Seriously Ari's response when he put them on was that they were the softest pants ever!

When I first learned of So Sew English the wait time for fabric was a month (Current wait time is 10-14 days.) They were that backed up with orders. I stuck with them though because of their customer service and how amazing I saw them treat their customers. I first hand saw this myself. I had ordered some white knit sweatshirt fleece. Crazy me bought 3 yards. It was on sale, and I do love it. I just don't know why I bought 3 in white other than that was the only color way. There was a hole and run in one yard. So they sent me two entirely new yards no questions asked, but shoved in the box (they can shove boxes with so much fabric to save on shipping too) was an olive green colorway. The softest sweatshirt fleece ever plus knit! I can't wear olive around my face, so I made myself some bottoms. More on those later. With the leftovers I made these for Eli. The pattern is the same as Ari's. I also added knee patches, because Eli blows out his knees in a matter of weeks.

Since we are talking about comfort I am replacing my pants post with this adorable romper. I have had these photographed and ready to use. Today seems like the perfect day. Brindille and Twig is the perfect pattern company for the modern sewing mama who loves adorable and functional things for her babies. All the patterns are so cute. Grab some black and white cotton lycra and you have the making of many Zulilly worthy outfits. I promise you can make them in half the cost. If you are like me you grab the floral french terry from So Sew English and sew some up for the girls. The pattern is the Harem Coverall 097 . It boasts NO SNAPS!! This right here is my FAVORITE aspect with twins. It literally slips down over the shoulders. I added elastic, but that is not necessary. With two I hate snaps especially now that they are mobile. The pattern is so quick and easy it is wonderful. I sewed these including cutting in a day with many interruptions all day. I took these two months ago. They have changed even so much since then. These rompers still fit and will fit into spring which is what I planned. For summer I plan to make a few sleeveless with shorts option or purchase the adorable summer romper. Either way this pattern is versatile and a favorite. My sister will be getting some of these for her coming baby. She might be sick of me sending them, as I LOVE making this pattern. 

If I haven't convinced you enough So Sew English is having sale every day on a new fabric type or color. They are celebrating 13,000 members in their facebook group. I am on  fabric ban going on two months (self imposed as for some reason you have to buy thread, needles, and other notions for all that fabric). It has been really hard not to buy all the fabric. Thankfully next month my budget will allow for more fabric. So go join the group and buy all the pretty fabric since I can't! 

Week 6-365

6 weeks in and thankfully this is still going pretty strong. A few days missed here and there, but I am so glad I am back to using my camera. The new joke in the house is, "mom started taking care of her forgotten kid again. This was after she spent a lot of time with her second husband (sewing machine)." Have no fear, everybody else has been being taken care of this entire time! This is mom time. 

This week may be heavily of Annalise. She is the character of them all and lately has been pretty funny.

Day 36- Breakfast Mess

Day 37- New skills, pushing the walker 

Day 38- Tummy blowing 

Day 39-New Skills, She was practicing all day and would scream if you didn't see her. She wanted you to clap and tell her how awesome she was. 

Day 40- Reading

Day 41- Wrestling with Ari 

Day 42- Baby Blues

Week 4 and 5-365

I got behind on my picture a day. Two stomach bugs wasn't enough. A respiratory infection hit all the kids two weeks ago I think. I am honest I don't know. My brain is mush most days from lack of sleep. Either way they each have slowly gotten it. The babies are on the tale end. Every day I wake up with a sore throat and begin inhaling garlic. It helps until I wake up again. I am hoping I don't get it!! The good news is the babies are once again sleeping better. 

Day 22-24 No picture

Day 25- Lilliana and Daphne are the only ones not sick. I began teaching Lilliana how to sew. We cut out her first dress and she helped me sew it.

Day 26-Eli is feeling somewhat better. In order to not get behind continue with school. I had been preparing dinner for that night and came in to Eli helping Lilliana with her math. It was really cute. Yes, that really is still Christmas Decorations up. I made the advent calendar years ago. I am waiting until we build some shelves in our storage closet for it. All this of course has to happen when Anthony and I get some more sleep. 

Day 27-Annalise is cranky because she just doesn't feel good.




Day 28- Details-Always a baby standing at my lap when I sit down.




Day 29-Still not sick, but teething




Day 30-She has joined the sick kid ranks.

Day 31-Finally some snow. I think I take a similar picture every year of him shoveling. This year was not to be missed. When he is 20 at my house helping I may still snap this photo. He loves to be in the snow and to shovel.

Day 32-11 months of these monkeys!

Day 33-I come home from grocery shopping to Daphne sick and Ari trying so hard to make her feel better. He is still sick himself. 

Day 34-Daddy is home and this girl just wants held

Day 35-I am so tired this day I just sleep and catch up on usual house cleaning. 2 of the 5 are still sick and  miserable. 

The good news is everybody is on the mend. We actually completed our first entire full week of school in a month. Everyday somebody has missed something it seems.

Juniper Jeggings Release

If you remember my last sewing post. You know how much I love Peek-Boo-Pattern Shop. I was able to test a pattern last week for Amy. The Juniper Jeggings just released today and is on sale for Thrifty Thursday. Buy it while it is on sale! They are 15% off today only.  I really LOVE this pattern and it definitely is going to be a staple in the girl's wardrobe for several years just for the shorts alone.

The pattern is well written as always. Don't let all the top stitching intimidate you. I used a double needle and it worked well. I only broke one, but that was complete user error as I had forgotten to set my machine to the right setting. My machine has to be programmed for a double needle. If you go that route definitely read your user manual. Don't be afraid of a double needle. Just practice first and work out the tension. I also increase my stitch length to 3.5. It seems to work best for my machine. It may take some trial and error, but the results are worth it if you don't have a cover stitch.




If you don't want to mess with a double need, no problem! I did my muslin pair without. This was to test for fit. They still look great. These are made out of Cotton Lycra and Lilliana won't take them off. They have a couple mistakes in the stitching, but she doesn't care. They are super comfy, and I just used a stretch stitch for the top stitching. They make great pair of play pants, and if she wore them out I wouldn't even care.

I purchased 3 yards of fabric from Amy. I did 2 yard's of the denim jeggings and 1 yard cotton lycra french terry. French Terry is my all time favorite. Unfortunately with time I did not get those sewn up for pictures. They will be shorts for summer. All that to say with all of that fabric I easily have 6-7 pairs of bottoms for a size 6. Had I done any baby sizes and we definitely could have fit more. If you need cotton lycra french terry here is a great selection. The jegging material I used can be found here.

The possibilities with these are endless with all the different lengths. You could even leave the back pockets off. The legs can be tapered in, for a more fitted look. You can do a different thread color for a completely different look. Lilliana has requested designed stitching that my machine does on the pockets for her next pair. She also has picked out a patch for another pair for the pockets. If I let her she would probably attach glitter to a pair too. I may have to find some glitter stretch denim in the future. Like I said there are so many possibilities. They are a fun easy sew! I sewed 4 pairs of pants last week 3 being these with 5 kids, homeschooling, all 5 being sick, and keeping up on the house. Keeping up with the house is always a battle with 7 people regardless of how much I sew. I hope I have convinced you to grab the pattern! 

Almost to One

Christmas until now has flown by. It did the same to some extent when I was pregnant with these girls too. I wish I could slow this last month down just a tad more and drink in all the baby more than ever before. With 5 kids it is really hard to do that. I can see why big families just keep doing this. Although, Anthony and I both agree we are ready to move past the baby stage. Each month we inch closer to a year is bitter sweet. I look towards the future of sleep, no diapers, and doing older kid things like amusement parks. I still lovingly look at babyhood and kind of wish we could keep one around. Unfortunately it brings a lack of sleep and demands I am ready to move past. Instead I look towards the future of grand babies a long ways out!! 

The personalities are beginning to shine with these two. 

They look so chubby, but in reality I believe they are the smallest any of our kids have been at this point. They are not tiny by any means, but they are not huge either. 

Annlise

Anthony and I marvel at this girl every day. For her being so somber and serious her first few months she now makes up for it times ten. She is a very expressive child. She is a people person through and through. She will do whatever it takes to show off and get your attention. Although she still does not say dad just mom. 

Temper tantrums are her thing. She has hurt her head more times than I can count. When she doesn't like something she throws herself backwards. This has resulted in many times crashing out of my hands if I am on the floor with her. She figured that will hurt her head so now instead she goes forward. The girl is flexible. Because of this Anthony calls her Hammerhead. She just has a big old noggin and clangs it around even in sleep. We all have been the victims of the hammerhead in the middle of the night while she sleeps. 

She loves to play Peek-a-Boo with any clothes or blankets. She covers her face and we say, "where's Annalise?" Then she takes it off and giggles when we say, "There she is."

She only has eyes for Anthony when he gets home from work. She snubs everybody and screams if he won't pick her up. She just loves him to pieces. She is the blueberry queen and would eat pounds a day if I let her. 

She can now stand by herself. She loves when other people sing to her. She also loves to sit and play by herself with toys. We love her to pieces even with all those temper tantrums.

Daphne

This child is just busy! She is a little explorer through and through. She does not throw fits like Annalise and is much easier to keep out of things. You can tell her no and she looks smiles and finds something else to do. She does like to snuggle, but on her own terms. Bed time is her favorite time to snuggle. She is shy also when people want to hold her. She will smile at them all day long, but if they try to hold her or touch she ends in a fit of tears it seems. 

She loves to sing and dance. She things she is a monster like Ari and roars and waves her hands in the air. She also plays pat-a-cake and is now patting her hands.

She is loud too. She has learned to scream like the older kids and does it just to get attention. Anthony has taken up calling her Doo. She responds to it usually which is funny. She loves any electronic she can get her hands on and squeals with delight if she succeeds. She loves bananas. She screams at the baby gate if she can see them on the counter.

She is very close to standing, but is not as balanced as Annalise is.

Happy 11 months sweet girls!