#16

Last August I started working on a tenth anniversary quilt for Mike. My goal was just to finish it before our 11th anniversary. :)  Here's to 10 years!


NUMBER ONE
7/07 - Fractured Pinwheels (for the Burmen)

NUMBER TWO
12/07 - Roman Fence (for Gramma Larson)

NUMBER THREE
5/08 - Log Cabin (for my parents)

NUMBER FOUR
9/08 - 30s throw (for my friend Ryan's baby)

NUMBER FIVE
12/08 - Stars and Stripes (for Jack and Marsha)

NUMBER SIX
12/09 - scrap quilt (for our living room)

NUMBER SEVEN
5/10 - Hug and Kiss (for the Failors)

NUMBER EIGHT
12/10 - Amish quilt (for Anne)

NUMBER NINE
12/10 - Corner Stars (for my boss Joan)

NUMBER TEN
1/11 - another 30s throw (for my friend Megan's baby)

NUMBER ELEVEN
9/11 -Nature Studies Nine Patch (for Mitra)

NUMBER TWELVE
3/12 - I don't remember the name of the design! (for Rose's crib)

NUMBER THIRTEEN
7/13 - Christmas Cactus (for my office at work)

NUMBER FOURTEEN
8/13 - Moda Charms Toddler Quilt (for my friend Aryn's baby)

NUMBER FIFTEEN
12/13 - another Moda Charms Toddler Quilt (for Rose to have at school)

NUMBER SIXTEEN
1/14 - Checkerboard Plaids (for Mike)
Note that I didn't choose a simple plaid fabric, but I instead picked a ridiculously challenging directional fabric! The pattern turned to be so much harder to make than I expected, but also much more rewarding and beautiful in the end - kind of like a metaphor for our first 10 years together!

If I can ever wrestle it out of Mike's hands, I'll take a full picture of the finished product! :)

"official" 21 months photos

We (finally) took a couple (slightly belated) 21-month photos yesterday while Mike was snowblowing.

In other news, our little grown-up girl is:

1. forward-facing in her carseat! (please no judgments for doing it "early"!)

2.starting to potty train herself! (I know it's too early to dream about an end to diapers, but I can't help but be excited about that vision in the distance!!)

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Quilts: #14 and #15

It feels so great to have time for hobbies again! I've really been enjoying quilting for the past few months. I really pushed myself with these latest quilts, by picking colors and fabric patterns that are NOT typical for me. But #14 just screamed ARYN (the recipient's name) to me, so I took the risk. I think it's a good sign that I seriously debated keeping it for myself, even though it would have clashed with our decor. :)  And I was so inspired that I ended up using the same pattern and bold new fabrics again as I made a quilt for Rose to have at daycare!


NUMBER ONE
7/07 - Fractured Pinwheels (for the Burmen)

NUMBER TWO
12/07 - Roman Fence (for Gramma Larson)

NUMBER THREE
5/08 - Log Cabin (for my parents)

NUMBER FOUR
9/08 - 30s throw (for my friend Ryan's baby)

NUMBER FIVE
12/08 - Stars and Stripes (for Jack and Marsha)

NUMBER SIX
12/09 - scrap quilt (for our living room)

NUMBER SEVEN
5/10 - Hug and Kiss (for the Failors)

NUMBER EIGHT
12/10 - Amish quilt (for Anne)

NUMBER NINE
12/10 - Corner Stars (for my boss Joan)

NUMBER TEN
1/11 - another 30s throw (for my friend Megan's baby)

NUMBER ELEVEN
9/11 -Nature Studies Nine Patch (for Mitra)

NUMBER TWELVE
3/12 - I don't remember the name of the design! (for Rose's crib)

NUMBER THIRTEEN
7/13 - Christmas Cactus (for my office at work)

NUMBER FOURTEEN
8/13 - Moda Charms Toddler Quilt (for my friend Aryn's baby)

NUMBER FIFTEEN
12/13 - Moda Charms Toddler Quilt (for Rose to have at school)

P.S. If you're reading this blog, you're most likely still on my list of people to give a quilt to! :)

21 months

Rose turned 21 months old today, and somehow I didn't realize it until AFTER she had already gone to bed! I promise to take some updated pictures soon, but in the meantime I thought I'd provide you all with a few updates and "old" photos from the past several weeks:

1. Rose is speaking in two-word sentences! "Mama move" seems to be her favorite command. It's so much fun to hear her language abilities exploding!

2. Her bath boycott is FINALLY over! It's a Christmas miracle!! Thanks to Dolly and Peter for giving her some fun bath toys for Christmas so we could finally end our six-week power struggle. Now she begs to get into the bath tub each day!

3. She went to bed about 30 minutes ago, and I just heard a thump and a wail emanating from her room. I ran across the house, terrified that she had climbed out of the crib (for the first time ever) and landed on her head. As soon as I opened the door, however, I heard her say "book! book!"  That's when I realized that the thump had been her book landing on the floor.  Yep, she now insists on sleeping with a book every night! She's definitely my (and Mike's!) little girl :)

4. Finally, we made the momentous transition to a forward-facing car seat last weekend. It's legal to be FF at one year, but the AAP and NHTSA recommending waiting until at least two years. Well, we got tired of shoving her in the backseat, having her sit all cramped up, and hitting her head on the doorjam every time she got in or out. I'm having a lot of Mommy guilt about the "early" transition, but overall I think we're all quite happy with the change - Rose seems to LOVE looking out the front as we drive!

Have a great night, everyone!

Christmas photo bomb (part three - final installment)

Christmas morning started with our traditional meal of "Eric Estrada" (aka strata), followed by our Burcusa family gifts.

Rose also helped me to bake chocolate chip scones!

Then we went to the Fleischhacker family gathering, which Jason and Emily hosted at their new farm.  It was so much fun that I neglected to take any photos! Sorry!

Thursday (boxing day), Mike and I ran some errands. Then I busied myself with finishing Rose's new quilt for naptime at "school"....

and Mike set up Rose's new bookshelf.

On Friday, we ran a few more errands, and I again worked on a quilt:

Then my parents came to town! We had lots of fun eating, eating, and more eating. And opening more presents, too!

Rose is super excited to have her own shopping cart now.

Mike is super excited to have a new toy: a helicopter!

And my dad is super excited that we're all going to be cheering on our respective teams during the World Cup this summer. (We're not going to Brazil or anything! Just wearing our shirts at home.)

 My parents took off after breakfast this morning... Rose already missed her Ninja and Pop Pop!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!