"B" is for...

Baby Boy Benjamin

He has at last arrived! We are actually still in the hospital and are doing well (hopefully we'll be able to go home tomorrow!). The induction went beautifully on Monday/Tuesday and Ben was born yesterday at 3:36 pm, weighing in at 8 lb 8 oz and 22.5" tall. It's been a very peaceful 24 hours and we're feeling very lucky to be the parents of this amazing little boy :)

Overalls and Invisible Zippers

Still no baby yet... tick-tock...

I've been anxious for fall to come so I could start making embellished overalls for Sydney and her friends and I'm smitten! So fun and generally easy - here's a pair that I finished up yesterday morning (for Syd's friend, Amelia - her mom absolutely loves the lime star paisley print, so this set was an easy one for me to pick fabrics for):




The next pair will be for Sydney (I found a practically new pair of Osh 'Gosh overalls yesterday at the second -hand store for $1.50!), using these fabrics from Heather Ross: (I can't get enough of these little fish!).

Don't know if I've mentioned this before, but a friend of mine up here, Michelle, is also pregnant (due today!) and we have a strange feeling that we'll be in labor the same time next week...

Anyways, I started working on a few things for her last night - one of which is a boppy cover. I've made them before using a velcro closure, but wanted to try and use an invisible zipper. I've never put one in before, but I picked up one of those handy little plastic COATS Invisible Zipper Foot kits at Joanne's a while back in case I ever got inspired.

Well, I sat there for a while, staring at this package... hoping that the scant directions they give would process somehow in my brain. No luck. I headed to the computer with fingers crossed, hoping that some nice crafter would have a lovely tutorial for me to learn from. I was in luck, and found THIS TUTORIAL on the blog: Sew? I Knit! Again, thank you, thank you, thank you Cyndi! I've now added this tutorial to my sidebar :)

I used the kit to insert the zipper for one cover, using this print:

But for the next one (I made a new one for our Baby as well - Sydney LOVES to carry the bolt of this fabric (which calls "oofs"):

around the house, so I figured she might also like to "help" carry the pillow when Baby comes), I tried using my regular zipper foot and it worked perfectly. Luck? Who knows.... but at least I know how to use the darned kit now!

PS: Isn't this Swedish duvet & sham set from Pottery Barn adorable?!

Off to start the day - have a great weekend everyone! ~ Kris

"The Word"

I'm currently reading a delightful new book by Elizabeth Gilbert, titled "EAT PRAY LOVE".

You've probably heard of it, as it's been on the New York Times Bestseller list for a bit, and I think she's been on Oprah by now as well. It was a last minute purchase - we were in a book store recently and I just picked it up and bought it, remembering that I had heard some positive chatter about it somewhere.... The writing is fresh and descriptive and just what I need right now. The book is divided into 3 sections (3 different areas of the world that she travels in: Italy, India and Indonesia). I haven't been to the later 2, but was lucky enough to spend 2 glorious weeks in Italy with hubby a couple of years ago.

Oh how I've loved the Italy chapter... her descriptions of Rome, Lucca, Venice, Naples... the people, the food (oh, the food!), the history... Calgon, take me away!

At the close of the Italy chapter, she has a discussion about "the word" of a city - as she put it "if you could read people's thoughts as they were passing you on the streets of any given place, you would discover that most of them are thinking the same thought".

Interesting concept.

I won't spoil it for you and tell you the word of Rome :) She goes on to discuss "the word" for different times of her life, and for herself.

Hmmm... what would your word be? Is it really possible to sum yourself up in one word? I've been thinking about this one for a few days now and am still struggling to pick just one. The closest that I can come to is:

FOCUSED

Not the most profound of words, but definitely one that describes me in every stage of my life, and in all that I do day-to-day. It's got some good and bad to it, but it has kept me grounded and generally successful with life's ups and downs.

To completely change the topic now... today is the due date for Baby V and he has decided that he's not quite ready to meet the world. We scheduled an induction for next Monday, but hopefully the membrane stripping that the doc did today will stimulate labor before any drugs need to be introduced. I'm hoping the next time I write I'll be the happy mom of 2 :) Until then, I'm focusing on a healthy and safe delivery...