Necktie Onesie

         On Saturday in preparation for Evan's very special day, I spiced up his ordinary onesie.  The material was from a small scrap leftover after making a quilt earlier this year.  It literally took 20 minutes to cut two pieces out, reinforce them, fold over the edges, and sew it down. You can't really tell in the picture, but I did not sew the bottom part of the tie to the onesie.  It gives it a more realistic look....especially when Evan holds it while feeding.

         Evan is all ready for church this morning!

Baptismal Gown

        On Sunday Evan will be christened in a family heirloom. Evan's Great-Grandma Rose Koopmann lent us this special outfit for a very special day when he will be welcomed into the family of God. 

         Great-Grandma Rose was telling us this weekend that her sister Mary made this gown.  Mary made it when Great-Grandma's first born was to be baptized.  Since then it has been worn for all of Great-Grandma Rose's 10 children, her 22 grandchildren, and most of her great-grandchildren. This January the dress will be 60 years old.

       The slip on the other hand is even older.  Great-Grand Rose said it was her older brother Georgie Hosch's.  Then when Grandma Hosch passed away she was given it out of her hope chest to be worn under the baptismal gown.  It is 90 years old and looks great besides for a little wear on the shoulder.

        This gown has some beautiful hand sewn details.  I love the hem!

       Evan in Georgie's gown.  If you look closely you can see the additional details under the neckline. 

         It's hard to imagine, but years ago all babies wore gowns until they were two years old. 

         More pictures to come of Evan in the actual baptismal gown after Sunday.

2 months old

 

         We are such a happy baby these days.  At our 2 month appointment I weighed 11 pounds even and was 20.25 inches long, which puts me in the 22% for weight and 0% for height. 

        I am a mover and a shaker. Even when I am sleeping my arms and legs are always going.  You can hear me grunting in the next room, but my eyes are always shut.  A couple of times I even gave Mommy and Daddy a break by sleeping for six hours at night. 

        Each and every day I am more alert.  When you talk to me I like to smile or coo back.  My favorite thing to look at is ceiling fans. 

Warm & Cuddly

         It's the perfect quick and easy boy blanket for baby Henry Lawrence.  My fabric stash was getting a little out of control.  In an effort to make some room, the only material I purchased to make this blanket was the blue fabric. 

        Baby Henry's mom loves to play the piano so the flannel musical notes material was an excellent choice for the backing. The front blocks are so soft, mommy and baby will love it come winter. 

Farm boy quilt

 

        Finally, I snapped a few shots of Evan's farm boy chevron or zig-zag quilt.  It took awhile of moving things around to figure out exactly how to incorporate the red barn squares to the chevron pattern.   

        The finished product is perfect, though.  Just like the adorable baby boy in the photo.  Hard to believe he is three weeks old today. 

        The quilting was done with zig-zag lines inside the gray strips, which adds a nice detail to the green tractor backing.  





        Sleeping babies are so angelic. 

He's here!

        We welcomed a beautiful baby boy into this world on Monday, June 30, 2014.  He arrived 3 weeks early, but is perfectly healthy.   Evan Frederick Hoelscher surprised us with his arrival and I'm sure he has many more surprises in store for us. 

         Evan was born at 12:51 p.m. via c-section, weighed 5lbs. 3oz, and was 18 inches long. We spent an extra day in the hospital for jaundice, but are home now and doing well. 

        Evan is normally a really good sleeper especially when being held by Great-Grandma Rose.

       My bright-eyed baby boy who is already up to 5lbs. 5 oz.

        It's hard to believe he is already a week old!  Evan looks so tiny in the bassinet his mommy and grandma used. 

It's coming along

        It's been two weeks since they started the house.  Siding is done on three sides and the porch is coming along.  It's looking so much better.  A view of the northeast corner of the house.  

        Here's a closer look at our house's makeover.  For the first couple days it was funny to see the neighbors drive by.  Normally cars fly right by our house, but they were going a lot slower to see what we were doing. 

       With anything there is always an oops.  Well here was ours.  We came home from picking out a new front door and found our TV antenna had fallen over.  We thought it was anchored in the ground and the straps on the soffit were just for extra projection.  When the contractors undid the straps the wind took it right on over.  Luckily there was a cable stretching from the other corner of the house that held it off the ground. 

        It ended up being a blessing in disguise.  We were able to take off the two old antennas that didn't work anymore, move the one that does to the top, and anchored it in with concrete so we don't have to worry about it again.  Bonus, we now get CBS all the time.

        The south-side is done too.  I love not having the overhead electrical lines running across the backyard. 

         It's hard to tell in the picture, but this is the downside to buying your siding two years ago and storing it in the back machine shed.  The mice and weather carried mud in between the layers.  After they put up a side I have to wash it down with soap and water.  For one box I tried washing it down before they put it up, but it was even more challenging. 



        Our back door is looking great.  Yesterday my brother and dad stopped by after work to do some electrical work for us.  They installed our doorbell and new light that was my husband's Christmas or maybe it was birthday present two years ago.  On the bottom left corner you can see a spot where we will be putting an electrical outlet in.  The evening just wasn't long enough.  The other door, in case you are wondering, goes to the basement. 

        Meanwhile on the west side my husband and dad ran electrical wires for an outdoor light between the door and window.  Currently we have a makeshift light until the siding gets put up and it can get put into the exact place it will go.  Also, they re-ran the doorbell wires.
        While I was fixing supper it was interesting listening to them try to locate the wires to bring it through the small holes.  Down just a little bit more,  oh I can see it but it is too far to the right, now you are to much to the left, etc.  We are hoping to put an electrical outlet on this side too.   

         One side left to go.  You can see they replaced the old front door and have started framing up the porch. 

         The top of the porch is decking that is made out of recycled plastics.  It is supposed to be maintenance free.

        The small gray rectangle to the right of the porch is our new underground wiring bringing electricity into the house.  Maybe by next weekend the siding will be done so we can focus on roofing and gutters.