Letters to Nolan: 5/18/15

Dear sweet Nolan, 

I am so amazed at how much you have grown and how much you are continuing to grow each and every single day.  You are taking more and more and putting words together to form cute caveman-like sentences now.  Most of the time we are able to figure out what you are saying and as the days go by you add more and more words to your growing vocabulary. 

When you want something, you do anything that you can to get it!  I love your spunk and your personality and how much you live in the moment.  You are very feisty when things don't quite go your way but are easily distracted away by things that are of interest to you.  Nolan, you are quite the little character and you love to put on a show.  Frequently we will find you dancing, singing, and jumping around providing all sorts of fun entertainment for anyone who might be around.  

The thing that I think you like to do the most is to eat!  You love meat and fruit, of course sweets, but you will pretty much eat anything and everything and enjoy eating.  While your love of eating is strong, you are still mastering the art of feeding yourself.  Most of the food makes it into your mouth however there is always a bit of overflow.  :) 

You love to be outside and run in the great outdoors!  You always want to be doing what Everett is doing and you don't let much get in the way of your plans.  You do not have very many fears (except of bounce houses and electronic fish that swim in the bathtub) so you usually do not hesitate to climb stairs, jump off of things, anything that looks fun and exciting.  

A major development we have had in the past month is that you are potty training! We started elimination communication with you around your first birthday and now you are almost fully potty trained!  I am so proud of you and how eager you are to sit on the potty when you need to go.  We have had some accidents, but you are getting the hang of it and even got to "pee in the grass" (as Everett calls it) the other day! 

Oh sweet Nolan, I love you so much.  You have brought so much joy into my life and I cannot imagine life without you in it.  You are such a sweet sweet boy and your laugh is so infectious!  I do have to admit that I love when you want me to hold you when you are angry or upset and you need your momma (or mommy as you now call me).  Thank you for being such a joy in our lives, I love you so so much. 

Momma and daddy love you to the moon and all the way back! 

xoxoxox,

Momma

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For more Letters to Nolan, click here! 

For Letters to Everett, click here!

Look What Laura Made: A Quilt for #KinderSchmidt

One of the first friends I made when I moved to good old Virginia was Sarah. We were in gymnastics, cheer leading, and student council together and were best friends throughout high school.  We are lucky enough to have the wonderful internet (thanks Al Gore) and so I was able to secure a sweet photo of us from high school graduation! 

Gosh we were young but really, we are like fine wine Sarah, we only get better with age!

So when Sarah announced that she and her hubby Brennan were expecting a baby I knew immediately that I wanted to make their baby a Stars and Stripes inspired quilt.  You see, Sarah was all about America before #murica was even a thing... she and Brennan's wedding colors were red, white, and blue! So the boys and I headed off to the craft store in search of the perfectly patriot fabric for #kinderschmidt (yes, the baby has a hashtag)! 

After I picked out the fabric I started brainstorming ideas for how I wanted to lay out the quilt.  I had come across "coin quilts" in my searches and thought that a modified version of that might be cute, especially because I had so many different fabric patterns.  Here's the layout that I came up with...

 

After I had it laid out the way I wanted it, I got to work.  This was a fun yet challenging quilt because of the layout I had selected but I am quite pleased with how it turned out!

Here's an in-progress picture of the quilt making process!

The finished product!

Ready to keep #kinderschmidt nice and warm!

Letters to Everett: 11/22/14

Everett,

You are growing and growing and growing! I am so proud of the little dude that you are and how awesome you are with your brother.  You are a loving and kind spirited big brother and love to play with Nolan more than almost anything.  The two of you are getting along more and more these days and it is so fun to see the two of you playing together and having fun! 

Now that you are getting older, you really are getting into doing things for yourself which is bittersweet because you really aren't a baby anymore! Every day you are learning how things work and learning more about the world around you and it is such a blessing to watch you grow. 

Your imagination is at work within you! The drawings that you come up with are so cute and the stories that you tell are so fun to listen to- you are quite creative.  This year for Halloween mommy made you a Peter Pan costume, just like mommy was when she was your age! You had a whole entourage: RaeRae went as Tinkerbell, PigPaw was a Pirate, Mommy was Tiger Lilly, and Nolan and Daddy were Lost Boys!  We had a lot of fun and you really (really) really liked the candy part the best! 

Time is going by so fast and I know that I say that almost every day, but its true.  Every single day with you is a blessing and I am so proud and happy to be your mother.  You give me a joy that is unexplained and I cannot imagine life without you, your brother, and daddy!  You are the best! :) 

Momma and daddy love you to the moon and all the way back! 

xoxoxox,

Momma

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For more Letters to Nolan, click here! 

For Letters to Everett, click here!

Letters to Nolan: 11/18/14

Mr. Nolan,

You are 18 months old today and boy what a big guy you are growing up to be! You continue to amaze me every day with new things that you've learned how to do and new words that you are learning! Everett is your best friend and you want to be doing exactly what he is doing... sometimes before he's even doing it!  You like to climb on anything and everything and especially like to go down the slide... I think you might be a thrill seeker! :) 

This past month your jibber jabber has been transforming and you are starting to form words.  You are learning Spanish from Suyapa and really like to say "agua"... I think it is probably your favorite word! You have such an animated way of speaking; when you say Please, you rub your hands together and say "Peeeeease" with your teeth together, lips pulled all the way to each side, and your eyes squeezed shut! It is so CUTE!  Some words you know are: 

• Momma, Daddy, Everett, PaPa, Rae,GaGa
• Agua, Drink, Nack (Snack), NUH! (Nurse)
• Ny-Ny (Night night), Bye, Hiiiii
• Peeeease (Please), Tanks (Thanks)
• Mine, Me, No

Nursing is still one of your favorite things to do but eating is right up there with it! You are a great eater and are generally happy to try new foods.  Your favorite thing to eat right now is scrambled eggs, just like Everett! Whenever you want something to drink you always ask for agua... unless you want to nurse. Haha.  (Don't hate me when you're older for writing this!)

Oh Mr. Nolan! You are such a sweet and amazing baby toddler and are growing up too quickly!  These past 18 months have been joy-filled and I have loved every single minute.  You love to play and be with Everett, snuggle with mommy, and rough-house with daddy! Thank you for being part of our family, I love you more than you will ever know! 

Momma and daddy love you to the moon and all the way back! 

xoxoxox,

Momma

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For more Letters to Nolan, click here! 

For Letters to Everett, click here!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

For the past few years we have been going up to Graves Mountain for the Apple Festival with our cousins/best friends to kick off the fall but this year we decided to change things up and go to the Pumpkin Patch instead!  Some people think change is a bad thing but in this case, it definitely was not! The kids had a blast because there was so much more to do at the Pumpkin Patch and I am pretty sure that the adults had just as much fun as the kids did!  I brought my camera along with me and couldn't decide what photos to share, so here's a photo overload from our adventure! 

So serious! 

He was not interested in smiling for the camera...

Pumpkins!

The farm that the Pumpkin Patch was at had a CORN BOX!  It. Was. Amazing!  The kids Everyone loved it and had a blast playing, swimming, and being covered up in the corn. Colt and Everett really liked to jump from the side into the corn!

 

Since the farm had some great scenery and props we had to try to get some family photos and shots of the boys... we may or may not have been too successful...

As you can see... they didn't want to sit still for photos!

Happy fall y'all! :) 

Look What Laura Made: A Quilt for Brooks

With one quilt already under my belt I couldn't wait to get started on the next one and I knew just who the recipient would be!   My cousin (in law)/best friend Krystal is currently expecting her second baby boy and I was eager to get a head start on the quilt for him.  I found the cutest fabric set and got to work! 

I learned the hard way that you shouldn't just start sewing because you are really excited and can't wait to see how it turns out and sure it'll all come together... you know that saying "measure twice, cut once?"  Ya, I think the same can be said for quilts.  I mapped out blocking for the portion of the quilt below and went ahead and sewed it all together before I figured out what I would do for the rest of the quilt.  Yes, it looks cool, and yes in the end it all did work out but if I had mapped it out ahead of time it would have been a little easier!  Oh well, you live, learn, and then blog about it so you won't make the same mistakes next time!! 

After I sewed the middle portion together and mapped out the remaining squares I sewed team all together. This part was a little tricky because of all of the various corners and intersections (punny.. get it, bc its a car quilt...) but I was able to make it work and logged this down as a lessons learned for the next go round! 

Instead of stitching the ditch this time, I used the "swirly" stitch (number 63 on my Singer Stylist) to quilt the three pieces together. I really liked this better because I didn't have to worry about coloring sewing outside the line and it looked super cute! Double points. 

Photo found here

I found a tutorial on Cluck Cluck Sew on how to machine bind your quilt and I LOVE it!  It is very easy to follow and I think that this binding actually looks much nicer than the first quilt I did.  (And so you know, I did ask Tiphany if she'd let me take back the quilt and "fix" the binding, but being the wonderful woman she is, she said she loved it the way it is!) 

Here's the final product! Can't wait until Brooks is here to snuggle up in it! 

Happiness Is...

Happiness is...

• The leaves changing color and reminding me that nothing is permanent and to live each day to the fullest
• Checking off items that I have completed on my to do list ... even better ignoring the things that can wait until later on my to do list
• Spending quality time with my family
• The sound of my children laughing

Look What Laura Made: A Quilt for Penelope

When my best friend told me she was expecting her second baby I immediately knew I wanted to make her a quilt and I knew just the fabric that I would be using for it.  A few years ago I found a set of these fabric samples and fell in love with them but had never come across a reason to use them... nothing felt right, nothing that is until now! The fabric has somewhat of a "hippy farm" feel (that's how I describe it anyway) and it was perfect for this baby.  As the due date got closer I began realize that I hadn't ever actually made a quilt before so I enlisted the help of my Grandmother, Pat and my friend, Vivid to help guide me on my quilting journey and since neither of them are local to me I probably bothered them too frequently with questions!  So this is my shout out to those two lovely ladies, thank you a thousand times over for being patient with me and my late night questions... and thanks to y'all I now have a new hobby!  So without further ado, here are some photos of the quilt progression... enjoy!

Here is the quilt laid out and ready to be sewn. 

The quilt top has been all sewn together and "quilted" to the inside layer and flannel backing.

Here is a look at the back of the quilt.  Since this was a smaller sized quilt I was able to do the quilting myself by "stitching in the ditch" with my sewing machine. 

Here is the completed quilt! Ready to be wrapped up around a sweet little baby! :)  I am so happy with how cute it turned out and that my first quilt didn't end up a total mess!

I was so excited to give this quilt to Tiphany at her baby shower and even more excited for the baby to have it once he or she made his/her appearance!

And here SHE is! Little Miss Penelope laying on her quilt!  

Chatting with Everett (2 years old)

Since kids really do say the cutest things I have been keeping a note on my phone all of the cute things Everett has been saying. Here's a list of the most memorable and things (that I remembered to write down at the time) he said when he was 2!  Hope you enjoy this little compilation as much as I do! 

Me: Everett, who is your best friend?
Everett: Ummmm Toke-Oh (Tyler's friend)

Me: What are you gonna do tomorrow?
Everett: Me play with my friends. Micah, Tee Tee, Pig Paw, Rae Rae, Colt.
Me: What are yall going to do?
Everett: We play trains.

Everett: Me go to PigPaw's house.
Tyler: How are you gonna get there?
Everett: Me ride my bike.
Tyler: Oh, well we are about to go there- you wanna hitch a ride?
Everett: Uhhhh ok.

Everett: PigPaw has a little lamb.

Everett: Daddy, we go in dere.
Tyler: Sorry buddy, we can't go in there.
Everett: Yes me do!

Everett: Me call mommy.
Me: What are you gonna call me?
Everett: Ummm Woah-wa (Laura)
Me: How about mommy?
Everett: No. Woah-wa

Rebecca: Will you be in Patty and I's wedding?
Everett: Ummm sure.
Rebecca: oh great! Will you wear a cute little tuxedo?
Everett: No CaCa, me a Viking. Me Hiccup. (From How to Train Your Dragon)

Everett: There a monster in the closet.
Me: Oh no! What are we gonna do?

Everett: I get my gun, it on the porch.
Me: Your gun?
Everett: Ya! It go "pow pow!"

Everett: (After over hearing Ty and I talking) Mommy what's the issue?
Me: What's the issue?
Everett: Ya, what the issue?
Me: Oh, well daddy I were saying we weren't going to order you your own meal because you won't eat it.
Everett: Oh, that be fine.

Everett: Where's Reo? (A car he named Reo)
Me: Your car? Why do you call him Reo?
Everett: Weeee ohhhhh weeee ohhhhh!

Everett: Guess what?!
Me: What buddy?
Everett: IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! (It was not his birthday!)

Grandpa: How old are you?
Everett: I be 17, its not my birthday!

Everett: That man and me, he my best friend.
Me: Who is that man?
Everett: Jimbo! He my friend.

Everett: I love you and mommy and Nolan and you and mommy and Nolan. You my family.

Me: What do you want to name our new puppy?
Everett: Pink
Me: Pink?
Everett: Oh, I fuh-got. Jon.
Me: You want to name the puppy Jon?

Everett: YA!

Everett: I want to watch bwee-dos (videos) on your pweeder (computer).

While watching Spiderman Everett saw Martin Sheen and who plays Uncle Ben and repeatedly asked who it was. Tyler and I kept telling him it was POTUS or the President (because he also plays President Bartlet in the West Wing).  Then about ten minutes later Everett says "Oh! That West Wing guy!"

Fhing-en = Anything that he doesn't know the name of

Everett: That girl, she text me.
Me: A girl sent you a text?
Everett: Ya, she say "yaaaaa baby!"
Me: What?! Who is that girl?
Everett: Oh, it Lilly Bean.

Everett: That man, he told me the car go fast!

Me: Where are you driving to?
Everett: Oh, I here. I in Jean-na.
Me: What?
Everett: I live here. You know, Jean-na.
Me: Oh! Virginia!

Me: Hey Everett, wanna help me unload the dishwasher?
Everett: Um actually, no.

Everett: (While wearing sunglasses and walking outside at 8pm) It sure is dark out here.

Me: Do you want fries or rice?
Everett: BEANS! No beans!

Everett: Hey daddy
Tyler: Hey Everett
Everett: What?!

Midnight Thoughts

With all the tragedy, loss, violence, hatred, and tears that we experience here on earth we must have faith and cling to the knowledge that God is who he says he is, that Christ died and rose again to cover our sins, and that the Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf. There is hope through Christ, that our life here on earth will not even begin to compare to the glory that we will experience in heaven.