Sophie's new pram liner

Earlier this week I bought a new (second hand) pram for Sophie. I have an old pram that I used for the boys, but it has pretty much done its dash and is trashed!

I wanted one where she faced me as I walked as I that was one thing I didn't like about the prams I had for the boys.

I found a second hand strider on a local Facebook group and bought it. Love it already!

One thing it needed though is a lovely new pram liner. I searched a bit around Etsy, but couldn't find what I wanted.

What's a sewer to do????? Make one, of course!

I found a tutorial here and looked through my fabric stash for some fabric. I chose aqua chevron for one side and aqua polka dots for the other side. I lined it with micro fleece to make it nice and comfy.

I got the fabric ready, plus made up some white binding to go around the finished product

Then cut the pieces to size to match my pram as explained in the tutorial

Sewed the 3 pieces together once down the middle to secure them together. Then marked the button holes and cut those out. First time doing button holes and I had a bit of a fight with the button hole foot on the sewing machine. I ended up just doing them manually. 

Here's the polka dot side finished after the binding had been sewn on and the button holes cut out. 

Here's the chevron side finished

The chevron pram liner in the pram

The polka dot pram liner in the pram

It's so nice to be sewing something for me / baby. I'm hoping to find more time now that she's a little older. Watch this space!!!!


 

Some days are just hard

You know, some days life can be a struggle. I know a lot of people have really bad times and that I'm super lucky, but some days can still be a struggle.

Today is one of those days. I think that I just don't cope too well when I haven't had the much craved for sleep. Just like lots of parents!

Most days, I take it in my stride. Being tired goes hand in hand with the parenting journey. But today, I'm giving in. I'm going to have a sad day.

Then tomorrow, I'll be back to normal

image

I saw a quote on a page today that made me stop and think.

"You will never have this day with your kids again. Tomorrow they'll be a little older than they were today. This day is a gift. Breathe and notice. Smell and touch them; study their faces and little feet and pay attention. Relish the charms of the present. Enjoy today, Mama. It will be over before you know it" Jen Hatmaker

I'm off to play trains with Luke. Positive Sarah thinks he'll have a nap soon. Reality Sarah knows that it probably won't be the case!




 

She's growing! 4 months already

I know that *everyone* says that time goes so fast, but it really does sometimes. I still think of Sophie as a brand new little newborn, but this morning when I dropped Luke at preschool there was an actual newborn there and it made me realise just how much  Sophie has grown!

She's 4.5 months now and has 2 little teeth! She smiles at pretty much anyone. So happy all the time, except when she's tired or hungry! She's interacting so much with the boys now and loves watching them. They include her all the time and while they are still learning that they can't be as rough with her as they are with each other, they are so great with her.

I melt when she smiles at me. She lights up just that much more when she looks at me and I love it :)

image from here

 

Our baby girl

I haven't updated about our girl! I guess I have an excuse..... I've been enjoying my little newborn. And trying to sleep when I can!

 On the 4th of December, our daughter Sophie Charlotte entered the world. And she's so gorgeous. She weighed in at 3870 grams or 8 pounds 5 ounces with dark brown hair and a cute little face :)

 

The boys adore her. Luckily, she's pretty patient and puts up with them right in her face!! They want to help and hold her all the time. It's quite sweet even if it can be a little annoying when I'm trying to feed her and they are fighting over whose turn it is to hold her! haha. 

 

 She's now a month old and sometimes I can't believe she's already here but other times it feels like she's been here forever. She's starting to interact a bit with the boys and tries to reach out to them. So gorgeous to see them all together.

 We are pretty sure our family is now complete. And that feels good! Hubby had 3 weeks off work once Sophie was home and now he's back to work and it's just me with the 3 kids. I thought I'd panic, but hey, it's working ok so far! I've even taken all 3 to the park. I can do this! haha.

 

On the home stretch

Did I mention I'm on maternity leave??? No? Well, I am!! And I love it! Loving that I don't have to find something to wear (where DO all my work clothes disappear to each morning??), get the boys ready, drop them off at daycare / Grandma's house / before school care, drive an hour or so in traffic, sit at a desk all day, turn around and drive home / pick up the boys.

I'm loving that I don't have to rush rush rush each morning. I can take my time getting the boys ready for kindy and school. I'm loving that I can stay local, unless I WANT to!

I'm now nearly 35 weeks. eeek!! I'm getting quite excited :) I saw my obstetrician today and I only have a few more appointments left until THE day. Woot!!!

Just now have to do a few more things around here and I'll be ready. Finish the baby's room, organise the house a bit, cook a few things for the freezer, do my Christmas shopping etc. Oh well, I've got time still.... just!

Here's my latest belly shots

 

Baby shower / morning tea - chevron!

While this is my third baby, I thought I'd still like to have a little celebration with my friends before my little one arrives.

We decided to just have a girls morning tea with yummy food and chatting.

I searched etsy for some cute chevron baby shower labels and found a lovely little set from this store. I wanted editable table settings so I could put the words I wanted. They were super easy to use and came in lots of lovely colours. Seeing as this is my last baby and my first little girl, I went a little crazy with pink!! Lots of pink!

My Cath Kidston tin came off the display shelf in my kitchen. I love this tin and still love looking at it everyday. It fit in perfectly at the baby shower :)

 I couldn't find a table cloth I liked, so I used this lovely fabric from my fabric cupboard. It went perfectly!

A couple of the guests couldn't make it at the last minute, including one of my lovely friends who gave birth to her son that morning!! But, it just meant more food for the rest of us :) It was a really lovely day.

Oh and here's a belly pic!

 

Spunky boys

I love this pic of the boys. It was taken last month at my BIL's wedding.

They are so handsome :)

 

Saying goodbye to a friend

My mum has always had corgi dogs. She had one when I was born and I grew up with him. He died when I was 9 and I still remember how upsetting it was.

After him, we had 2 more corgis who lived long lives and died when I was in my 20s.

My mum had a few years then with no dogs, but around 10 years ago she brought home 2 new corgis.

My boys spend a lot of time at my mum's house and the dogs have been like their own. They play with them every time we are there and love spending time in the yard with them.

One of the dogs, Lace, has been getting sicker over the last few months. She had cancer. The vet did an operation on Lace a couple of weeks ago, but she became very sick over the last few days. She could no longer walk, go to the toilet, swallow and blink her eyelids.

The decision was made to put her down :( hard one to make, but best for her.

I explained to my boys about Lace. They knew she was sick and knew she was going to die. I took them over to say goodbye last night. Jack was really upset but Luke didn't really understand.

 Luke with Lace

Jack with Lace

both boys with Lace. She loved their cuddles :)

Jack was at my mum's this afternoon and was looking for Lace :( he was upset that she was gone.

RIP Lace. You will be missed, sweet girl xx


 

Baby's first quilt

Tuesday is my day at home with no kids. Lately, I use it to clean the house and to sleep. Ahhh sleep!!

But today, I felt like sewing! So, I made baby's first quilt. It's going to be for her cradle and later to use in the pram. It's nice and small and I love the end result. So pretty :)

 

I'm getting impatient. I've been checking and double checking the letter box since I put in my fabric order last week (or was it the week before??) on etsy. I want it now! I know, I know, it needs to come from America so it can take a little while.

While I'm waiting, I decided to look for more fabric. Yep. I put in another fabric order today. And now I'll have to wait for that order too...... hmmmm.

I'm loving this new range out from Riley Blake. I'm thinking I'll make a cute little quilt and some cushions :)

And I thought I'd add into my cart some chevron. I really love chevron and have looked at it for ages. I'm going to make a couple of cushions for our lounge and maybe a wall hanging.