Good News!

Today in Nursery, Celeste actually got off the leaders lap and played with the toys!! This is progress! She still cries when we drop her off, but it's not near as bad and she doesn't cry as long anymore. Hopefully in a few weeks we'll have this down...but until then, we are making progress!

Here is her picture she brought home from Nursery today. It's the first one she's actually done (again, progress!) However, I'm pretty sure one of the leaders did most of the coloring! ;)

Rag Quilt

Quite a few months ago, my friend Emily S. asked me to give her a tutorial on how I make my rag quilts. I told her I'd e-mail this to her but other friends requested me to just put it on the blog, so here it is! If you don't care how to make them, just skip to the end so you can at least see the finished project! It did turn out pretty cute! :)

I will post the instructions then the picture will be under. (Don't read the date of this post...I started it a week ago!)

This is a baby quilt. If you want a larger one, you will need more fabric and cut your squares bigger.

I like to use 4 different fabrics. 1 print, 1 stripe/polka dot/plaid, and 2 solids or in this case almost a tie died solid. That is just my preference. I also use one of the solids for the whole back (see pictures of finished blanket).

Need:
Print: 1/2 Yard

Stripe/Polka Dot/Plaid: 1/2 Yard

1 "Solid": 1/2 Yard

"Solid" you are using for back: 2 1/2 Yards

Batting: 2 Yards (I think!)

Cut all your fabric into 6 inch squares and your batting into 4 1/2 inch squares. (You will need a total of 56 batting squares, 14 squares of each "top fabric" and 70 squares of your "back fabric" (56 for back, 14 for top).

The easiest way to cut your squares is to use a rotary cutter, mat, and one of these big rulers.

Place 1 piece of batting in the middle of 2 fabric squares. Remember your "backing fabric" will be on the bottom of every square. Sew an "X" through every square. (So you will have 2 pieces of fabric with the batting in the middle.) All right sides of the fabric will be facing out.

Hint: It's easiest to just keep the fabric going when you're sewing the "X" then clip them apart when you finish. I do one fabric at a time, clip it, then start on the next print.

After all your squares have the "X" sewn through them, lay them out. You can copy my pattern if you want. If you want it random, I suggest using more fabrics! Sew your squares together. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Sew a couple rows and then sew those rows together.

Continue sewing them all until you have your quilt put together.

With your same seam allowance, sew around the entire quilt.

(this is the part that takes forever!) Get a GOOD pair of scissors that have SHARP tips. Clip ALL seams on the quilt. Around the whole outside of the quilt and all seams in the middle.

All the seams!

Wash it and dry it. I usually wash it by itself because it gets strings and fuzzies everywhere!

Pull it out and it's a cute rag quilt!

This one turned out to be one of my favorites I've made! :) It was for one of my employees who is having a baby in January.

Thanks for looking! If you have ANY questions, please don't hesitate to ask and I'll answer them back in the comments so everyone can see the answer. Some things are hard to explain so if it's not clear, PLEASE ask!

18 Months and 6 Years

Celeste

I can't believe she's 18 months already! (Actually, it's closer to 18 1/2 months!)

Here's her update:

Swine Flu: The rash was just a viral rash and was gone when she woke up Wednesday morning. Her fever came back Thursday night and stayed with her most of Friday. Now she's just left with a cough but feeling much much better.

Nursery: It consists of hanging on to mom as tight as she can and screaming as soon as we walk into the room. I peel her off and hand her to the nursery leaders. Today was the first day she didn't fall asleep. But she won't leave their laps. The leaders hold her the whole time while she cries on and off. I sure hope this ends soon because it's hard on mom and dad, too!

Talking: She has really started to talk and says new things everyday. I love it!

Hair: She really needs a hair trim to even everything up. However, today after church I put her hair in these awfully cute pig tails. Now I don't think I want to cut it!

Here she is today...I thought she looked really cute and so grown up! Don't mind the awful lighting....I still thought it was a cute picture.

I love this little girl!

Ryan and Melissa
Today is our 6 Year Anniversary! Once again, I can't believe it's been 6 years!

(just a random family picture taken Jan 2009)I Love You, Ryan!

Update on Celeste

Today has been the worst day of this adventure. Celeste was miserable. We had melt down after melt down. It's been a long day...

Here she is last night cuddling with Ryan before bed time.

The poor girl. She just didn't feel good. You can see it in her eyes.



And when she woke up this morning, she had a rash all over her stomach and up her face a little. I called the doctor and the nurse said it's probably just from the fever. I watched it throughout the day and thought it was going away. However, at 5:30 it started getting worse. Of course, it happened after 5. These next two pictures are what her back and stomach look like. Her face has been swollen all day today, too.

(You can click on this last picture to see it better)
I don't know if it's an allergic reaction to the Motrin? Roseola? Who knows?

In Our Home...

...Pigs are flying!

Celeste came down with the swine flu yesterday. It was a little scary when her fever hit 104 degrees. We were having a hard time keeping it down and if the medicine ever wears off, it's right back up to 103-104. However, as long as we can keep the fever under control, she's been fine! Here she is jumping on the bed last night!

Even though she isn't feeling great, she's still our sweet little angel! On the bright side of this all, I've been getting LOTS of cuddle time! (She's normally never cuddles with me.)

Halloween 2009

Remember this picture from last year? Trying to get Celeste's costume on this year was a similar experience!

However, on the third try, we did manage to happily get the costume on! But the picture had to be taken while the little mouse was on the move! So here is sneaky mouse.

Our Cute Little Mouse

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Multitasking

I wish I could do two things, like eating and sleeping, at the same time! However, I'm glad I don't eat every time I sleep!

Disclaimer: These pictures were taken General Conference weekend, which is why she is still in her PJ's at lunch time!