happy thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for my family, especially healthy babies, modern medicine, and my sister-in-law's delicious chocolate pie.

Speaking of babies ... remember how I just had one?  Without further ado, I'd like to introduce Cora Margaret:

Cora is such a peaceful, sweet baby.  We just love her!  I was so worried about Ruby (a.k.a. "the brute") using her muscles on the baby, but so far it is just hugs and kisses all around.   Oscar, of course, is smitten as well  (it probably helps that she looks just like him).

We had a few hiccups in the hospital, so it has taken me longer to get back to the computer.  Between needing to recover and the holidays coming up, posting is going to be really light around here for the foreseeable future.  But can you blame me?  We are all super busy snuggling Cora.

For Thanksgiving, I crocheted Cora a silly turkey drumstick hat:

Funny, right?  After seeing it on Pinterest, I just couldn't resist!   I made up the the pattern as I went along and didn't write it down, so I don't have instructions to share with you.   You might be able to find a crochet turkey leg pattern online, and just add it to a simple hat.  After the holiday, I think I might take the drumsticks off and add some teddy bear ears for a more useful everyday hat.

At first it seemed like Cora really liked it:

But then she started making sour faces at me:

One-week-olds are so fickle.  :)

In completely unrelated news ...

I have a Black Friday Deal to share with all you Silhouette fans.  Silhouette is having a great Black Friday sale where everything in the online store (except the CAMEO, subscriptions, download cards, and gift cards) is 30% off.  You can get an extra 10% off using the online code, JILL, for a total of 40% off!

Also, the CAMEO will not be found in the regular online store, but you can find it on the "secret" Black Friday Page.  The Cameo is not 30% off, and my extra code will not apply, but it will be nicely discounted. The Black Friday Cameos are expected to sell out fast.

All shapes will be 50% off.

The Black Friday sale starts at 12:01 a.m. (MST) on Friday, November 25th.  Codes will be valid through the 28th.

Happy shopping!

bringing home baby - she'll probably need something to wear

Unbelievably, the week has already arrived when we get to welcome our new baby - we'll meet her on Friday!  Some of my friends started asking about her "coming home" outfit, and I realized I didn't have anything planned.  Come to think of it, I have never planned a special coming home from the hospital outfit for my own kids.  I'm not super sentimental about that kind of stuff.  But this baby needed something, poor third child that she is.

First, I made her a really simple knot-top cap.  It is modeled after my favorite store-bought newborn cap that I bought for Oscar years ago.  I sketched out a simple template for you, which you can print out HERE.  You'll need to cut two pieces of stretchy knit fabric from the template, and then another rectangular piece for the border at the bottom.  I cut my border piece to 3 inches tall, and double the width of the bottom of the template piece.  I'm not going to go into detail how to piece it together, but Make It and Love It has a really great baby hat tutorial that should give you a pretty good idea.  Keep in mind that her hat brim folds up, but mine does not.

I also have basic instructions for a really easy baby hat from a t-shirt sleeve from my early sewing days - you can find it HERE.

Besides long sleepers, my favorite newborn clothes are the basic kimono-style snap shirts you can buy in packs.  I even did a tutorial a few years ago about how to dress one up with ric-rac and some pretty buttons (find it HERE). For this shirt, I simply added a lace trim around the shirt's opening - really easy, really fast.  This is actually the exact shirt that Oscar wore home from the hospital, and possibly Ruby, too (I don't actually remember what I put her in).

So there you have it, possibly the easiest coming home from the hospital outfit, ever.  Add a pair of leggings and some cute socks, and you're all set.

a very halloween birthday

I'm sure by now you are all sick of hearing about Halloween, but I had to share a few more photos of Oscar & Audrey's double birthday party.  My friend, Sonja, and I put so much work into it, but it was such a great time!  Both of the birthday kids were in Halloween heaven.

I wish I had taken more photos of the decorations!  Sonja's house looked awesome - she made several cute felt buntings, including the bats pictured above.  There were also decorated lanterns, lots of bat silhouettes, and a gigantic yarn spiderweb that covered an entire wall in her hallway.

I made a simple cake (vanilla with blackberry filling and chocolate frosting), and decorated the top with cardstock cutouts (made with my Silhouette) to look like a haunted house, or "house of spooks" as Oscar called it.  Sonja made yummy nutella mini cupcakes, decorated with the cupcake toppers.  Sonja's husband, Jake, cooked up a delicious dinner of pulled pork burritos with all the fixings, and we also had clementines dressed up as jack-o-lanterns, spooky mummy sugar cookies on a stick, cookie bones, and brownies with cute jack-o-lantern wrappers (there was no shortage of treats).

Since the kids were mostly 3-years an under, we kept the activities simple.  After handing out the treat bags Sonja and I made, we sent them on a mini trick-or-treat to the doors inside her house.  The kids received stickers, spider rings, a piece of candy, and a pumpkin-wrapped brownie.  Afterward, we sent them outside to break open a pinata to fill their bags with a few more treats.

We ended the evening with cake, of course.  After Audrey beat Oscar to the punch of blowing out the candles, we re-lit them at least five more times.  I hope they got all their wishes in.

You can find many of the ideas and tutorials from projects mentioned above linked on my Halloween Party Pinterest Board.

ruby's wonder woman costume

Hello! You'll find me over at Lil Blue Boo today, sharing a bit more about Ruby's Halloween costume.

If you aren't already keeping up on Ashley's story, you'll want to check out her posts on her recent battle with cancer.  I've always admired Ashley's work, but even more I admire her positive attitude and tenacity.  She is truly an inspiration, and it sounds like things are finally turning around for the better.  Hurray! 

Keep fighting, Ashley!  We love you.