Evan's First Christmas

        Evan had a fantastic first Christmas fill with lots of love and family time with a few naps along the way. We started the holiday celebration at home on Christmas Eve where I made a rookie mistake...no pictures.  Then Christmas morning we went to mass to celebrate the birth of our Lord. The rest of the day we spent at my parents' house.

        Daddy helping Evan open his first gift.  He did it all by himself even if it took him forever.  Evan was blessed with many new outfits to go along with his growing waistline.

        The first toy he, or should I say Kade and Liam, opened was a John Deere dashboard, which for now is one of his favorites because his goal in life is to get the throttle in his mouth.          

         Kade and Evan enjoying some cousin time while Liam went outside to ride a horse with his Dad.

        Later on while Evan was sleeping the rest of us enjoyed a few games of bingo. Before we got started we had to teach Derick how the game is played.  By the look of intense focus going on I think we created a monster.  Watch out bingo halls Derick will be coming to take all your prizes.

     Kade made the game very entertaining with his overzealous method of rolling out the numbers.  Sometimes he was chasing them across the floor because they flung out of the cage.  He didn't quite understand the concept of slowing turn the handle.

      The Sunday following Christmas we went to my husband's side.  We had a wonderful meal, opened gifts, and had some great conversation.  Evan as you can see was worn out.  He spent most of the afternoon sleeping while we installed my mother's-in-law new outdoor lights and took down her outdoor nativity before it got cold.   When Evan finally woke up Grandma read him some Christmas books.  

Christmas gifts

         On Black Friday there were some great deals on charm packs of different fabric lines.  A charm pack usually has about 40 - five inch squares of a certain fabric line. I decided to purchase some to play around with the color combos to make some unique table runners. 

         The first table runner was made out of Red, White, and Free fabric by Moda.  I used the five inch squares to create 3 pinwheel blocks tied together with some coordinating red fabric.

       Then I tried out a new sewing foot used for free motion quilting.  It was my first try at free motion quilting...not bad for a first attempt, but room for improvement.

     The next one I tackled used fabric from a line called April Showers by Moda.  The duo that designed this fabric line is a mother and daughter team.  Earlier I used a different line of theirs to create a baby quilt. (Sorry for the poor quality of pictures.  It was a cloudy day, but also Christmas Eve when I finished.  No time to wait for better lighting.)

        Upon closer inspection you notice the turquoise fabric is a raindrop print and the red semi -circle print is actually umbrellas.

      The last one is from the fabric line Elementary.  As you can see, some pieces have the alphabet while others have mathematical equations. 

         I love the color combo of this line!

 

      The fun part about charm packs and table runners is when you are done with one, you still have plenty leftover to make another one with a different twist.

       Meanwhile my husband was outside playing with our dusting of snow the other day.  Merry Christmas!!

Tummy Time - November 22

     Evan is still not a fan of "Tummy Time."

Any time with Daddy, though, is his favorite.

Evan's giggle

       

Five Months - November 30

       Our little turkey is five months old.

       He is full of energy and loves to play.  He is now a pro at grasping his rattle and chewing on it or any thing within reach. 

        Come here...just a little closer...I think I can grab your hair.  Yes, he has learned how to pull Mommy's hair or Daddy's beard.

         Looking at this smiling face you can see why he draws everyone to him.  It doesn't matter if we are visiting family, at the grocery store, or in church, he is always trying to get you to interact with him. 

Where did I find his shirt you might ask?  Well I used some scrap material and made an ordinary onesie festive.

Rice Cereal

         Now that Evan is four months old, he gets to try his first taste of something other than milk.  Before he gets started he is very clean.

        Learning to open our mouth and swallow can be challenging.

       The end product is one messy baby.  It's a good time for a bath!

Picking Corn

        Evan & I had a beautiful view from the cab of the tractor the other day.   Derick had two people with semi trailers helping him haul the last of the corn to the elevator, so we ran the grain cart. 



         Evan was a trooper in the cab all afternoon and part of the evening.  He only got fussy once when he was getting hungry, which was amazing after a crabby morning.  We have an outside loving boy.  Who needs baby toys when you can watch corn being picked and the wildlife that scares up.  I will have to say bunnies are not that smart.  Run away from the combine instead of in front of it.

        We only got to unload on the go once since the rows were too short in the back field with ditches.  I have a feeling now that Derick knows we can do it, he will utilize us more next year.  Most of the time we shuttled grain from the combine to the semi tractors by the road. 

         It's hard work helping mommy drive the tractor. 

         By the end of harvest season the combine is getting really dirty.  After today it's back to the shed until another fall comes around.

        We did get the chance to ride in the combine a couple rounds.  I bet Evan will be happy to be out of the Baby Bjorn for awhile.