Finally!

I've been waiting for over a month to publish this post! It was so hard to keep this a secret, but well worth the wait. I had our family photos taken by the wonderful Shaelyne Meadows a few days before Callie's 1st birthday. You can check out more of Shaelyne's beautiful work on blog and also on Facebook.

Anyways, the reason I kept these photos to myself was because I gave our parents/grandparents prints of them for Christmas. Now that Christmas is over, I can finally share! :)

Here are a few of my favorites:

Quilting Bee (Mer)

I signed up for a quilting bee. Lame? You may think so, but I think it'll be fun...and most likely challenging since I've never made a block quilt before!

Kelly of Irene Design put it all together and even made the cute link button that you see on the left-hand sidebar (MSQB). You can click on it to see what we're up to :)

Anyway, next month it starts and Mer and Kelly are hosting. I already started and finished Mer's block, here's what it looks like:

She wanted us to do an improv block that plays with frames in yellow, gray, and white fabric (which I have little of ). I can't wait for my host month (March) to see what people come up with!

More Hats

A few more hats added to my shop:

B&W Hat

Another little knit:For sale in my shop.

Quick Little Hat

I made this hat last night for Callie, it took me about 30 minutes to complete from start to finish. Pretty great considering I ended up making two hats with the yarn which I got for 40% off! Two cute hats for $3.81 and 30 minutes of my time = success in my book!

I've made this hat several times in the past and last night when I made this one, I finally wrote down how I did it. Here it is:For a 9-12 months size:

*Ch2

*DC 8 st. into first st. to make a circle. Join with sl. st. Ch 2. (8)

*2 DC in each st., repeat around. Join with sl. st. Ch 2. (16)

*1 DC in first st. 2 DC in second st., repeat around. Join with sl. st. Ch. 2. (24)

*1 DC in first st., 1 DC in second st., 2 DC in third st., repeat around. Join with sl. st. Ch. 2. (32)

*1 DC in first st., 1 DC in second st., 1 Dc in third st., 2 DC in fourth st., repeat around. Join with sl. st. Ch. 2.

*1 DC in first st., 1 DC in second st., 1 Dc in third st., 1 DC in fourth st., 2 DC in fifth st., repeat around. Join with sl. st. Ch. 2.

*1 DC in each st. around for the next 5 rows or to desired length. Join with sl. st. Ch. 2.

*1 SC in each st. around for 2 rows.

Note: You can either add or subtract the amount of increase rows depending on the size hat that you want. For a newborn size do 4 increase rounds (ending with round 1DC, 1DC, 2DC). 8 rounds total of DC and 2 rounds of SC.

(Photo by Amber Middleton of Foxtree Photography)

[Ravelry link]

P.S. I don't mind if you make this hat to sell or give to family/friends, but please just be sure to link back and give credit to where credit is due. Thanks!

Louisville Slugger

After living in Louisville for over 3 years, I finally took the tour at the Louisville Slugger Museum. Here are a couple pictures I took:

Callie and me :) [Part 2]

Here's me and my baby girl one year ago:And us now:

Are you ready?

I always get [a little] excited about Christmas about a week or two before Thanksgiving. This year was no different. I got just about all of my shopping done on Black Friday and over the weekend I decorated the tree, wrapped gifts, and sent out Christmas cards. Now I can relax and enjoy the festivities of the season... ...and remind myself of why we celebrate Christmas in the first place:
the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

First {real} snow of December!

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Crafter's Wishlist

Following the trend seen on this blog [here and here]. I'm making my own version of a "Crafter's Wishlist". I'm sure there is more that I can add, but these are a few things that I've been wanting lately.

1. Sewing Machine Case:

[image source]
I've had my own sewing machine for about 2-3 years now and I still don't have one of these! My sewing machine can get quite dusty in between projects...not to mention that it would be much easier to move it from place to place with one of these.

2. Yarn:

[image source]
I love, love, LOVE to knit! I want to use this lovely cotton yarn to make a fun blanket for Callie. I'd also like to get my hands on some more wool yarn to make some more cozy hats and mittens - because winter has only just begun!

3. Cables needles[image source]
In the next year or so, I would love to learn to knit cables...these are a must when knitting cables, I hear :)

4. Fluted pastry cutter:[image source]
To make my pies prettier :)

5. Fabric:[image source]
I made Braden a blanket out of fleece way back when we were dating...and we still use it all. the. time. But I want my own now...and apparently Braden isn't going to return the favor and make me a blanket (hear my sarcasm?) so might as well make one for myself! :)

6. Headlamp:
This one is cheesy, but I don't care! I'd like a headlamp...the kind you strap to your head to read a book in the dark....but I will most likely use it in the car to see my knitting. It gets dark early with the time change and I need something to do when we drive to St. Louis for Christmas. I'm sure other passersby will think I'm crazy! I'm also pretty sure that I have a headlamp around my apartment somewhere...just need to find it!

Nashville Trip

For a fun, little family weekend getaway, we took a short trip to Nashville, TN to check out the sites and sounds of the city.Nashville was alot of fun and we will definitely have to go back again. We had a great time exploring, shopping, eating, and relaxing in our hotel room.

Callie enjoyed spending her time taking naps in odd places: controlling the heat in our hotel room: and being pushed around in her stroller:I think she had a good time:

On our way back to Louisville, we checked out the National Corvette Museum:I think it's a toss up as to who is more happy about being in the front seat of this Corvette:

Our Thanksgiving

Check out this post over at Alicia's blog to see how we spent our Thanksgiving Day :)[image source]

P.S. Is anyone else have feet that are killing them from shopping ALL day long today? Not that I'm complaining...I started and just about finished all of my Christmas shopping in one day! I love Black Friday! :)
Are you hooked, Beth?

P.S. Also, over at Beth's blog is a short video from Thanksgiving Day :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat, eat, eat....and eat some more! And be reminded, on this special day, of all that you should be thankful for. I can think of much I am thankful for, but the two biggest blessings in my life are this pair:

Warmest Mittens

Thanksgiving is less than 12 hours away! Seriously. I've spent the day prepping and baking some of the items I'm taking to our Thanksgiving feast! This year, we're opting out of traveling home to St. Louis and spending the holiday with the Theules and the Crousers. Can't wait! I'm pretty excited about the pumpkin pie recipe that I'm trying this year with its no-rolling pie crust!

I'm even more excited about the pair of mittens I knitted up in lieu of the cold, wet weather we've been having: Plus, they will be perfect to wear on
MY MOST FAVORITE SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR!!!
BLACK FRIDAY! :)

Pattern found here [via Ravelry]

Striped Stocking Cap

Pattern found here [via Ravelry]

Callie's 1st Birthday

I can't believe a year has already come and gone since Callie was born! We celebrated her 1st Birthday in St. Louis with one big family gathering. Callie didn't quite understand the opening of presents, but her aunts and uncles helped her out quite a bit: After a while though, she sort of figured it out:One thing she did understand completely was dessert! I made cupcakes and we let her dig in by herself. She was so serious the entire time that she ate it.

We love you Callie!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

For Callie's Birthday on Saturday (more on that later) I made Pumpkin Cupcakes.

They were amazing! I ended up tripling the recipe and had more than enough batter for 3 dozen cupcakes. The recipe was easy and I would definitely make it again. The cupcakes were moist and actually tasted like pumpkin...and the cream cheese icing was a big hit!
Check out the link above to make your own! :)