My Newest Creations

This week I've spent my evenings sewing after Gracie is in bed. I am really enjoying this new hobby, and it's the perfect evening activity while Trinity is out of town.

Here are my second and third sewing project finished! I made some bloomers in the green and pink striped material to match both shirts.


I'm trying to decide what I want to start on next. The sizing is sometimes a challenge. Gracie is wearing 12-18 month clothing now, but I'm curious if her growth will slow down any now that she's mobile. I have a pattern and material for her birthday dress, but I'm holding off until it gets a little closer... just to be sure it fits!

Beach Babe

We have another beach babe in the family! I took Gracie to Clearwater Beach, Florida with my mom and five other lovely ladies last weekend. We arrived Thursday around 11am and headed straight for the beach after picking up our rental minivan.

Unfortunately, a storm blew in as soon as we arrived at the beach, so we went straight to The Palm Pavilion bar and grill (our favorite spot right on the beach and next to our hotel, the Palm Pavilion Inn) for lunch and our first drink of the weekend. The food and drinks at The Palm are great and cheap. And they have live music all weekend, so it's a great atmosphere. Last year it's the only place my mom and I ate the entire weekend.

After dinner on Thursday we all walked down to the beach and let Gracie walk at the water's edge. We were disappointed that we didn't have any time at the beach but were hopeful it would clear up in the morning.

First time in the water

The weather did not cooperate. It was extremely frustrating to watch the days waste away under storm after storm. Friday we headed to John's Pass for breakfast and some shopping, hoping that after a few hours the sun would shine. But it wasn't meant to be, so we took our time shopping and even stopped for coffee and hot tea... something I never thought we'd want to drink at the beach! Friday night it was back to The Palm for dinner, drinks and music. Megan, Gracie and I again walked down to the water to get our feet wet. Grace loved sitting in the water as the waves splashed around her. Grace and I called it a night early, but the rest of the ladies danced and sang the night away!

Saturday morning we woke to a rain-free morning. There were still plenty of clouds in the sky, but we were determined to have a beach day, rain or shine. A few sprinkles came and went throughout the morning, but we didn't have to head for cover so it was a successful day!

This was Grace's only full day on the beach, and she did great! She was not so sure about sand on her feet and hands, but thankfully I had bought her a sunshade that kept her off the sand and out of the sun.

The Palm Pavilion Bar and Grill and Inn are behind Gracie

Although she wasn't a big fan of the sand, she LOVED the water! She relaxed on her turtle float (nicknamed Tommy the Turtle by Mimi), and giggled and splashed as the waves came and went.

Saturday night we had dinner at another great restaurant on the beach and saw our first sunset over the water before bedtime.


We had to head home Sunday afternoon, but the weather was beautiful that morning, so we spent a few hours on the beach before cleaning up and heading to the airport. Grace again floated in Tommy the Turtle and even fell asleep! Mimi and I were excited to see that we'd have a fellow sea-floater for our beach trips! I was again thankful to have the sunshade because it was sunny and hot!
It was hard to say goodbye to the beach so quickly, but we had great company that made the trip a success, even though we had less time on the water than we had expected to enjoy. I guess there's always next year!

9 Months

Gracie hit some pretty exciting milestones this month!

She has been crawling the official way for about two weeks now. She will still occasionally crawl with one knee in the air, but she's figured out that she is a lot swifter on both knees. Grace is also very interest in walking these days. She loves to hold onto furniture or someone's hands and walk all over the place. Her balance is much improved, so I won't be surprised if she takes her first solo steps before her first birthday! We have yet to completely baby-proof the house, so we folllow her all around as she explores new rooms, stairs, and cabinets!

She remains in the 95+ percentile for height and weight at 23 pounds, 9 ounces and 29 inches long, but she seems to be slimming down some at the same time. Her face doesn't look quite so chubby, but those thunder thighs sure are sticking around!

These days Grace prefers "real" food, as opposed to baby food. If we don't have enough veggies or fruit with our meal, I'll feed her baby food before any other food is brought to the table. She has no interest in the baby food once she sees our food! I honestly can't blame her... our food has seasoning. Daycare also feeds her portions of baby food and finger foods. To date Gracie has already had more food than I can keep track of, but some of her most common foods include: pineapple, apples, mandarin oranges, mac & cheese, chicken breast, deli meats, hamburger, black beans, green beans, peas, guacamole, yogurt, cheese, rice, and bread. I have yet to see her reject any food we offer her! She'll even eat a pickle or lemon!

As I posted earlier this month, Grace has had a little separation anxiety from her momma. Thankfully it is usually only when she is really hungry or tired. Bedtime is definitely a struggle when I have to put her down, which has been more often because of Trinity's travel for work. She's also cried when I dropped her off at daycare a total of three times (yes, I'm counting), so I usually try to wait until she's distracted by one of her teachers or another kid before I head out the door.

Overall, she is very happy at daycare though, and Trinity and I are very happy with her teachers. I know she has a special bond with the main teacher, Miss Silvia. Silvia has been out for the last two weeks, so Gracie was very happy to see her this morning when I dropped her off at daycare. She smiled big time and reach out her hands to go to her as soon as we walked into the room. It was too cute!

Gracie is still a very happy girl, and we have been so blessed these last 9 months. I can't wait to see what the next few months have in store for us, as she continues to grow and learn!

Sew What?!?

If you had asked me a year ago if I wanted to learn to sew, I would have laughed in your face! But there is something about looking at adorable $50 little girls clothing and knowing that it can't possible cost that much to make them that made me want to learn. I might not ever be good enough to sell the clothes I sew, but they will definitely be good enough for Gracie to wear for the few months she'll fit in them!

A few weeks ago my mom, Megan, and I were sitting around drinking wine on a Saturday night, and my mom asked what I wanted for my birthday. I mentioned that I had thought about asking for a sewing machine so that I could learn to sew for Gracie. Thirty minutes later, after finishing our bottle of wine, we were on the internet looking at sewing maching prices! We headed out to Target and Walmart around 10pm and came home with a $100 machine!

The next morning my mom and I went to Joann's and bought a pattern, material, and the necessary supplies to teach me to sew! We thought making Grace a 4th of July outfit would be a good first project. As an aside, my mom made my whole family matching 4th outfits one year, and we were one good-looking family! Unfortunately, our shorts fit us for about 5 years... much longer than any of us wanted to match!

That afternoon Mom and I sewed for quite some time. I was pretty slow at the beginning, but I started to get braver as the afternoon went on. By the end of the day, I had made pretty good progress on the bloomers. Ironically, they looked quite large, as Trinity is demonstrating!

Over the next week I worked on the outfit after putting Gracie to bed each night. It took just over a week to complete the top and bottom, and I was so proud of my accomplishment that I decided to make the matching hat!

Although my seams aren't always straight, I was generally pretty surprised at how well the outfit turned out. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be, and I definitely think that I have already improved from the beginning to the end of my adventure.

Gracie wore her darling outfit to Erin and Craig's cookout on the 4th. I was so glad it fit! I wasn't able to get a great picture of her with the hat on because she just doesn't like things on her head.

This project was so much fun, and I cannot wait until I can start on the next outfit for Gracie! I already have some material waiting for me to start, and I have plans to make Grace's dress for her first birthday party!