Pants for my sweet boy

I can't make this sound pretty, so I'll just say it. When I found out I was pregnant the second time, I really hoped for another girl. And those who know me, know that it took me some time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to have a boy.

In my mind, I had good reasons for only wanting girls..  Firstly, I knew 'how' to be a girl and secondly, I already had a little girl and loved that Mother / Daughter bond that we shared.  People with boys told me I was crazy, and that I would regret wanting daughters when they reached their teens. But my fears were mostly about not knowing what goes on in a boy's head - and wondering how I would help any son of mine through those awkward teenage years.   It was never that I wouldn't love him as much as I would a daughter, it was all about whether I could be a good mum to a son - without having had any experience as a 'son' myself.

But since having Andrew 4 months ago - a lot of those fears of mine have gone. I don't look at him and worry about whether I'm making the right decisions for him, and if I'm doing a good job as his mum.   Instead, I look at him and wonder how I could ever have lived another day of my life without having met him.

And so because I love him so much, I made him some pants. The pants are cute (they're from Anna Maria Horner's book), but they're nowhere near as cute as he is.

Turning 1...

As I see it, turning one is a huge milestone in a childs life. But when your very first child turns one - there really is double reason to celebrate. All congratulations (of course) must go to the child on the occassion - but the 'new' parents really deserve to congratulate themselves as well.

Because when your baby is first born, you never feel like that first year will end. It's hard work. It's messy. It's tiring. and it's emotional. And while older people will tell you 'it all goes very quickly' - it's difficult to believe that when you're lost in that first year.

But when baby turns one - you deserve to congratulate yourselves.  After all - it's been all the decisions you've made together as a family that have bought you to this point.  And no two families do it the same way.  You've done it your own way, and you've created precedents and traditions that will carry on throughout the years. 

A tradition that we adopted was the Birthday banner - originally blogged about by Soulemama here. I like that it hangs proudly in the background of all our family photo's since our daughter had her first birthday.

And it is with much love - that I made another one this year for our dear friends "The Kelly's". So when the banner arrives in Canada guys, I hope you'll hang it for Stella's first birthday celebration - it will be like we're there with you..  in a special way, not in a stalky way :)

Here's a sneak peak for you Libs

Boxed cushion covers...

This was one of my sewing projects that I kept delaying because it wasn't as fun or rewarding as a ruffle skirt or a funky kids hat. It was a task of necessity - and I'll admit that I only did it eventually because I could no longer turn the cushion over.. One side was badly torn, and this project got bumped up the list after a little 'accident' that Lola had on it yesterday.. So after cleaning and drying the foam in the sun for the day - I decided I had to sew a new cover for the cushion.

I had already tried to sew one a few months ago - but I hadn't found clear instructions and I ran into problems at the end (velcro was not the neatest way to close the cushion cover at the back).   But I found this tutorial on Sew Mama Sew and it was awesome. I decided not to bother with the piping - but everything else worked exactly as the tute said it would.  And I reused the zipper out of the old cushion cover and it is a million times neater than my dodgy 'velcro' attempt on the other cushion.

So I now have two matching cushions on our lounge chairs. They'll look lovely for the next 10 weeks until our new black leather lounge suite arrives (purchased on our 3 year wedding anniversary - which is 'leather'). But don't worry - they'll get a second life somewhere in our house. Trust me - nothing ever gets thrown away in this house :)

Here's evidence of my successful zipper placement

And finally here's evidence of why I would never get hired as an interior designer..