A Halloween Costume for Gracie

There's a little pink monster in our house!

But this monster isn't scary. 

She has cute little ears, and pointy green horns. Googly eyes and a pretty pink polka dot bow.

She has a big green belly, and soft cuffed sleeves...showing off those cutest little baby hands!

And she has pointy clawed feet...

But no, this monster isn't scary...

We think she's pretty cute!!

(I made the basic shell of the costume using Simplicity 5720 as a rough pattern. I added the monster details...clawed feed, cuffs, green belly, hood, horns, ears, eyes, and bow...which I kind of made up as I went along! More pictures will probably follow after the big event...Happy Halloween!)

baby sweater dress

I was looking through Gracie's closet the other day and realized that she doesn't have any fall dresses. A little girl without dresses is like a day without chocolate. (What? Everyone doesn't eat chocolate every day?) So during that glorious thing we call naptime, I got to work.

I pulled out this old sweater from my closet. It's probably ten years old. (Wow, how did I get old enough to have clothes that old in my closet?) Anyway, the orange-y color is perfect for fall, the sweater-y softness is perfect for my little baby.

 I followed Ashley's tutorial at one of my favorite blogs, make it and love it to recreate the sweater to a pint sized sweater dress for my little lady. I only used the old sweater and a short strand of elastic..basically free!

 I love how the neckline (which is cinched with elastic) looks all ruffly. So girly. So cute!

And I love how soft and cozy it is!

The perfect dress to wear with these super cute bloomers that my mom sent down for Miss G...

Pop over to make it and love it to learn how to make your own!

Being Enough

Hello old friends. I miss this little blog. But as I'm sure all you Moms out there know, it's just SO. DAMN. HARD. to find time for yourself with a newborn around. (I'm guessing this doesn't change much when the newborn grows up, either...) 

Yes, this little lady has occupied quite a lot of my time lately.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I absolutely love being her Mom, I feel so blessed to have such a healthy baby girl and that I am able to stay home with her all day. But there are times where I miss a little "me" time. You know what I'm talking about....right?

Like when I asked Greg to take a cute little picture of Gracie and I, because we hadn't gotten one since we left the hospital...and this was the best shot we got.

And then 3 minutes later, this happened:

Oh the glamour of being a Mom! But in all seriousness, it's times like these when I wonder if I'm doing this whole Mama thing right? Am I being the best Mom I can for her? Is she healthy? Is she learning?

Is she happy?

A few weeks ago I attended a moms group, where there was a speaker who was talking about just this same topic...is what we do, as moms, enough? And she said something that stuck with me.

"Being a Mom IS enough."

We may not have all the time in the world to devote to our children. Jobs and spouses and chores and the simple human necessity that I need to eat and shower every day tend to get in the way. But I've come to realize that I shouldn't feel guilty if I want to steal a few minutes here and there for this little blog, for some sewing, for myself. Gracie will still be fed, she'll still be loved, she'll still be happy.

Because I'm her Mom, and that is enough.