Airplane Quilt

I have a secret project I've been working on lately! It's been months in the making, and I pretty much love how it turned out!  My sis-in-law and I talked about making a quilt for their second baby boy. She was using airplanes and found this adorable bedding set to go on the twin bed in the nursery.  She had an extra Euro Sham, so she sent it to me along with free reign to do what I liked!

 Here is the Euro Sham (front and back)

Isn't it just darling for a little boy?!

First things first, I had to cut the sham. I cut out each different piece of fabric, leaving the quilting in the pieces. I also made sure to keep the solid navy border completely intact, taking extra precautions not to cut or tear it.

Next, I took the matching crib sheet and cut it to size so I could lay everything out and see where there were gaps and needed extra fabric. There were five airplanes that were repeated on the crib sheet, so from a different one, I cut one of each and placed them where I thought they should go. I still had a few holes, so I used solid red fabric to fill in the rest.

 Next, with the help of my awesome Mama Phyllis, I serged (and serged, and serged) each piece, then section together until the whole front was one piece!

 Now for the quilting! I laid the backing (crib quilt), stuffing, and front down in that order, and from the center and working myself out, I pinned and sewed each section of the quilt. When I was finished with that, I cut the edges to make sure the quilt was straight all along the edges.

The edges were still loose, and I wasn't quite comfortable putting the binding on like that, so u serged around the entire outside (see the white stitches?).

 After I ironed and created some nice creases in the binding material (the blue border from the sham), I realized I had NO idea how to bind a quilt. Here's how my panicked phone conversation went with my mom:

Me: Mom, hi, what are you doing? I have no idea how to bind this quilt. HELP!
Mom: (Starts rattling off instructions, using words I've never heard before. It sounds something like this) blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...
Me: uhhhh
Mom: Oh, just look it up on YouTube or something!

The conversation didn't REALLY go like that, but the outcome was still the same!

 So, to YouTube I went, and I found this video by Missour Star Quilt Company, and was able to figure out how to do it.  After a few mesups, changed minds, and a half day of tearing out stitches, I finally finished the quilt just minutes before our littlest nephew was born!

Here is the finished product, and I sure hope baby CC loves it! 

Next time I hope to be able to show you our new headboard and Elliot's growth chart!

Until then...

-Jill

E Baby's 1 Year Photo Shoot

So Jarrod has this aunt.  She's pretty awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that I claim her as my own. Seriously :) 

Anywho, Jarrod's my Aunt Shelley just so happens to be a photographer - a GREAT photographer!  Every once in a while (about every 3 months or so) we are able to con her into taking pictures of E Baby.  It usually goes something like this:

Me: Hey Shelley! Can you take Elliot's pictures?

Shelley: Sure! I'd love to!

Here are the pictures as promised.

I don't know what it is, but I LOVE when E Baby wears tennis shoes with her tutu!
Onesie: My mom
TuTu: Gift from Aunt KK and Uncle Jess (Target)
Shoes: Toms

Don't worry, her hand never even got close to the flame!

She looks like a monkey eating her banana!

Onesie: My mom
Bloomers: Ruffle Butts
Headband: Hobby Lobby
Flower: Me
Rocker: Shelley's

I adore this smile and the little girl who wears it!
Toenail polish: Essie

Parents - when you do a cake smash session and want to photograph the bath after, make sure the water is warm!
Tub: Babies R Us (we use it as her dirty clothes hamper)

Outfit: Mud Pie
High Chair: Mom and Dad's attic
High chair color: Blue Ocean Breeze

Door: Browsearoun (Pearland, TX) 

PetiRomper: Lollipop Children's Boutique (Pearland, TX)
Headband: Lollipop Children's Boutique
Flower: Me
Ottoman: Shelley's

Right before Shelley took this picture, Shelley whispered to me that she wished Elliot would lay her head down on the ottoman  so she could take some sweet pictures.  Before we knew it, she started kissing the ottomon, and this is her giving it a hug!

E Baby's 1st Birthday

This was my favorite little girl one year ago!  Can you believe how quickly this past year has flown?  Me neither, and while I'm so happy that E Baby is growing and developing perfectly, I can't help but wish I could pause time for just a while and relish this sweet girl for just a little longer!  As we approach her second year of life, I am so excited about watching her grow and learn and discover things on her, but there are a few things I wish I could keep forever (here smell, giggle, toothless grin, emotion leg, eating habits, and her face when she realizes we're playing chase...to name a few)!

Here are a few of my favorite recent pictures:

I call this "Squinty Eyes" or "Squinty Face."  It's usually used in
extreme distress or extreme joy.  Either way, it usually makes me laugh!

This is "Sippy Cup Face" - it melts my heart
Every. Single. Time!

Couldn't you just eat her?!

"Contortion" or "I Cried Myself To Sleep and
I'm Really Angry, So Maybe If I Sleep Like This
Someone Will Rescue Me*!"
*We did the "Cry It Out" Method and it totally works!
Also, we moved her - she didn't stay like that all night!

This is E Baby taunting the dogs.  It was her birthday
that day, so I felt bad telling her no.  Needless to
say, she gave Emma and Zeus some sort of complex
and we are taking donations for their therapy sessions!

So anyways, about this birthday party!  We were so excited to celebrate Elliot's first year with some of our closest family and friends!  Our daughter is beyond blessed to have so many people surrounding her with love and affection, and it makes my heart incredibly happy!

Sign in table

Oh, GiGi!

The sweets table.  I made that cupcake stand
 (the smash cake was on top!) and spent triple
what I would have spent if I just bought one.
DIY is no longer my BFF!
(Not really, I love you DIY!!!)

A fun way to display snacks for the kiddos.
Funny enough, our oldest friend, Sam, was the
only one to eat them!
P.S. I found this idea on pinterest!

Thank You suckers and the million dollar
Jelly Belly jelly beans. Seriously.
 Uh Million Dollars.
I think I was scammed!

Opening gifts

Elliot with two of her favorite friends - Corley and Everleigh!

My daughter, the bully, and her friend Corley!
P.S. Isn't that one of the cutest cry faces ever?!

You can see the rest of E Baby's birthday party pictures here.  Please, don't post them anywhere.  That would be awkward and we couldn't be friends anymore!

I'll be back soon with a few projects I've had stewing in my head!  

I can't wait to share them with you!

Love,

Jarrod, Jill, and E Baby

Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies

I have a sweet tooth, and by sweet tooth I mean all of my teeth are literally made of sugar.  Not Splenda.  Not Truvia.  SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR!

When I ran across this blog on Pinterest, I knew I had to make these!

These are the easiest things to make in the world, and only require 2 ingredients!

1. A tub of Nestle' Toll House cookie dough
2. Hot fudge sundae topping

See?!  TWO ingredients!

First, I lined a cupcake tin with fluted papers*, and took my handy dough scooper thingy to make sure I had the same amount for each one.  I flattened the cookie dough and put it in the bottom of the cupcake liner, making sure the dough went up the sides.

Once you have them all lined with cookie dough, put about a table spoon of the fudge topping, take your handy dough scooper thingy to measure out the cookie dough, flatten it, and lay it on top of the fudge.

Seriously.  THAT EASY!

Bake on 325 for 10-15 minutes, depending on how ooey gooey you want them!

*The blog says to just spray the cupcake tin with Pam (I suggest Baking Pam because it smells SO GOOD), but I found it a bit hard to get the cookies out.

Kate Spade Knockoff

I LOVE Kate Spade.  Her line is timeless, classy, chic...perfect, so when I found this tutorial on how to turn a striped long sleeved shirt into a Kate Spade tank top, I was in HEAVEN! I've had this one black and white striped long sleeved t-shirt sitting in my closet for ages.  It's too big, stretched out a bit too much, and it looks like a prison uniform.  I NEEDED this tutorial!

Here is my "prison chic" t-shirt:

And here is my lovely Kate Spade Knockoff!

So much better, don't you agree?!

Our Big News

If you came over to my severely under-updated blog to see when baby number two is due, then the joke is on you! HA!  But seriously, no baby!

In other news, in less than three weeks, Jarrod, Elliot, and I will be making our trek back across the Louisiana/Texas state line, where we will once again, reside in our beloved city of Houston!

Long story short, our house became available, and Jarrod's company has been understanding and gracious enough to let him return back home.

Soo...if you are in Louisiana (or are willing to travel to New Iberia) and know of someone who needs a (basically) brand new refrigerator, couch, or love seat, let me know.  These are the three things we don't want to have to bring back.

That is all for now.  I'll keep you updated on any other news we may have!

-Jill

Life Lately

We've been living in "Da Boot" for nearly four months now, so I figured it was time to update you on our life lately...

October:
Our first month here was full of ups, downs, highs, and lows. Jarrod got settled in with his new position at LAPCO, while Elliot and I tried to stay on our somewhat schedule.
Two weeks after our move, we got to go back to Houston and stay with Joseph, Lauren, and Carson. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch where E Baby got to dress up as a ladybug and take TONS of adorable pictures!

In October, we also met our neighbors! Barbara has been such a blessing to me, and I'm pretty sure she is trying to fatten me up with her AMAZING banana bread. Oh yeah, it's vegan too :)!!!!!

November:
After finding out Elliot lost an entire pound in two months, we started supplementing her with formula. Since starting her on solids, shes become such a good eater, that we have yet to come across something she truly dislikes!

November also brought us Elliot's first "big" vacation! Jarrod had work in Chicago, so she and I tagged along for the week! While we stayed at the Sofitel, we visited Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Michigan Ave, & Giordarno's, but my favorite part was getting to visit with my sweet cousins Robb and Kate, and their precious daughter Libby!


December was a very bittersweet month for us. We lost our beloved PawPaw Conner to lung cancer on 12-6-11. He was diagnosed in July, so seeing him not have to suffer anymore was a huge relief, but I know we all wished we had a little more time with him.

In December are two of my very favorite birthdays...Jarrod and Jesus! We spent Jarrod's birthday with another weekend in Texas while also celebrating Christmas with his extended families! I have never seen so many people from the same family in one room!

Christmas weekend took us back to Texas for the third weekend in December! We spent Friday and Saturday with Jarrod's family and came back to Louisiana to spend the rest of the weekend with my family. We all had a blast celebrating Elliot's very first Christmas! She got lots of great toys, books, clothes, and movies from her sweet grandparents, aunts, and uncles!

January: For New Year's Eve and Day, Jarrod, Elliot and I stayed snuggled up at the Montagne Mansion recovering from the mayhem also known as December 2011! On the 2nd, we too Elliot to the zoo for the first time to see the lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). She had an absolute blast and enjoyed an up close and personal view of Bambi AKA Sausage!

Jarrod still seems to be enjoying his job, and he never fails to bring me home a "you'll never guess what happened at work today," story!

E Baby is growing and developing so rapidly, that I literally feel every time I blink she's hit another milestone! Her favorite word is "Mama" and she has become such a little ham! She has started reacting to me laughing at her, and I can already tell she will be our little entertainer!

I am coaching club volleyball this spring and will be coaching with my high school volleyball coach (another Jill) this fall at Ascension Episcopal School. My heart still longs to be in Texas, and it will forever be "home," but right now I am concentrating on being the best wife and mom possible.

I believe that this is all for now. I will post pictures and more updates soon...maybe!