Clifton's Birthday

Friday was Clifton's birthday and we spent the afternoon in San Antonio with Layton shopping for some new clothes for Clifton for the cruise we are taking in less than two weeks.  Yep that is right Clifton and I are finally taking a real vacation and we are leaving Layton behind for 7 days.  I know we are going to miss him like crazy but I think the break will be good for us and will allow Clifton and I time to spend some much needed time with each other.  Daniel and Lauren and our friends Chad and Kellie are going too so it is going to be a lot of fun.  We are leaving out of Galveston on the Voyager of the Seas and heading to Belize, Cozumel and Honduras.  My sister offered to come stay at our house for the week and keep Layton for us.  Gotta love Aunt Amanda for this sweet offer we couldn't pass up.  I know Layton is going to have fun spending the week with her and they are planning on spending a few days in Rockport with my parents too.  

Back to Friday I think our shopping days with Layton are over for awhile.  He was good for the first two hours and then wanted nothing to do with the stroller and just wanted to run around the stores and mess with all the displays.  Poor kid was bored and we were trying to get way too much done that day.  We ended up walking out of DSW later that night Clifton looked at me and said "Amy we are those parents with the bad kid running up and down the aisles screaming."  For the most part Layton did good but it was not the relaxing shopping trip we were hoping for.  We opted for pizza at the food court at the mall instead of trying to sit down at a restaurant and have a nice dinner. 

Saturday night my parents were nice enough to keep Layton for us so we went back to San Antonio and did a little more shopping and then had a nice birthday dinner for both of us at Cheesecake Factory.  It was so nice to have a long dinner by ourselves.  Thanks for keeping Layton for us Nana and Papa we really enjoyed our night to ourselves!  We had some cake at my parents house on Saturday before we left that evening for our birthday dinner.

My Laura Ingalls Dress

Jackie this post is for you girl.  I made my first dress for myself a couple of weekends ago.  It didn't turn out like the tutorial I was following online but I think it looks cute with a wide belt.  It was a learning experience for sure and I don't know if I will be using elastic thread in my bobbin anytime soon.  The night I made it we had lots of good laughs during the process with my mom, dad, Daniel and Lauren.  I was told it looked like a tent or a scrub top but whatever I kept going I was determined to finish it.  Jackie has teased me about sewing so much lately and told me I was going to be like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie before too long and only make my own clothes ha ha.  Yeah right this girl loves to shop too much and not only for fabric.  So here are some pictures of my modern Laura Ingalls dress :)  If any of you are brave enough to try to make one here is the tutorial I was trying to follow.

http://prudentbaby.com It is called the Most Flattering Shirt Dress under the Hot Mess Mommy category

I actually emailed the women that wrote the tutorial on Prudent baby and they told me my tension probably was not correct and that sewing with elastic thread is really tricky.  My mom thought I was crazy for trying but I still wanted to give it a shot.  I also should have chosen a lighter weight fabric instead of the cotton that I chose so lessons learned for sure. 

Another trip to the Children's Museum

Last Friday I met two of my coworkers and their little ones at the San Antonio Children's Museum.  Layton had so much fun and was able to appreciate a lot more of the neat things they have there this time.  It was nice to just sit and catch up with each other and watch the kids play and have fun.  I also spent a good amount of my time chasing Layton I would look up and he would be up the stairs or on to the next thing.  He is a busy body for sure these days.  I also had fun playing with my camera and trying to take pictures of the kids but they were all so active it was really hard.  When it came time to leave we didn't even make it out of the parking garage and he was already asleep.  He took a 3 hour nap that afternoon, I think he was worn out.  Layton talked about playing at the museum all weekend, we will have to go back soon.

 Marshall playing with the ball machine

 Sweet Katelyn checking everything out in the ball display

 Layton in the airport control tower

 Becky and Marshall

 Baby Daylon was so laid back he was just taking it all in.

 Layton shopping

 Katelyn was on the go too.  I didn't even get any pictures of Kerry because she was busy chasing Katelyn the whole time :)

 Playing in the toddler area

 Sitting in "Layton's trolley school bus" he sat in this thing for the first hour we were at the museum.

 Daylon sleeping on his mommy.

I need the ashes song. . . .

Last night when I was rocking Layton before bed we were singing like we normally do and he said "mommy I need the ashes song" and I was thinking what?  Then I remembered we had sang Ring Around the Rosies the night before so I started singing it and he joined in.  He has a great memory and then when we finished he said "I like the osies mommy."  He then asked me to sing it over and over.  I thought it was cute that he called it the ashes song.

The first thing Layton did when he got out of bed this morning was grab his stick horse and say "I gotta turn my blower on."

Today is Clifton's birthday and I told him when I got him out of his bed this morning that we needed to go sing Happy Birthday to daddy so we walked in the kitchen he said "Where is daddy's birthday party, I want a cupcake!"  I was laughing so hard.  We will have to make cupcakes later for daddy for sure.

Layton makes us laugh all day long because he never stops talking.  I love my sweet boy!

I've been busy. . . .

. . . . . sewing and sewing these days.  I've had so much fun making gifts for all my friends that are having babies soon.  Here are a few pictures of the things I've been working on.

My mom actually made this and I helped monogram it.  She is supposed to show me how to do it.  I think they are so cute for a newborn baby girl.  I have bought some more onesies and material to make a few more so I will be making them in the next few weeks.

Clifton finally agreed to let me have a sewing nook in our office (I think he was tired of the mess on the dining room table).  I bought a cute little table and put it in the corner of our office.  I wanted to decorate it a little and make it look nice so one night I stayed up really late and made this reversible sewing machine cover.  I used some fabric scraps and pieced it together.  It was one of the first things I made all by myself without any help from my mom and I think it turned out really cute.  I used this tutorial as my guide.

http://www.stayathomeartist.com/2011/01/reversible-sewing-machine-cover.html

We cleaned out this cabinet in our office so now it is my sewing cabinet.  I have a slight addiction to buying fabric right now and when I see cute fabric I end up buying at least 1/2 yard.  Needless to say I have a stash already and I've only been sewing for 3 months.  I have a list of projects and I'm really going to try and finish the ones I have bought fabric for first before I buy anymore.  I'm not allowing myself to go to Hobby Lobby or Hancock Fabric this week.

I have big plans for this fabric I just love the color combination.  I will post pictures once I'm finished. 

This is for a sweet little girl who is turning 1 this week.  I made this on Saturday night while giving my friend Kellie a sewing lesson on how to make a pillowcase dress.

My mom made this dress but I thought it was too cute not to share.  I found this Easter fabric at Hobby Lobby back in January and I'm glad I bought it when I did because now you can't find it anymore.

I made this last night and it really didn't take me very long.  This is for a sweet coworker who is expecting a baby boy next month.

I made this on Saturday afternoon and I finally tried out a fancy topstitch.  This is also for my coworker.

This is a ruffle butt onesie I made one evening after work.  It was super easy to do.

I started this skirt one Thursday night with my mom and she finished it this week.  I can't wait to make some more of these using different color combinations.

Layton Funnies

Some funny things Layton has been saying and doing lately:

Grammy D (Clifton’s mom) was leaving our house the other day and Layton was outside sitting in the Ranger getting ready to go for a ride with daddy and she said “I love you Layton” and Layton looked up at her and said “I love the ranger!” what a turkey.  He is all boy and loves riding the ranger.  If he is ever resisting naptime I just tell him when he wakes up we will go for a ride and he rolls over and says okay “Layton take a nap, night night mommy.”

Last night Clifton was using the weed eater and blower in the yard and the Layton was watching him through the window and then went and got his stick horse and turned the stick down and said “This is Layton’s blower” and started making the noise using it like a blower.  He wants to be just like daddy and it is too cute.

Last weekend I was in the office sewing and I could hear Layton happily playing in his room so I thought everything was good until I went into his room and saw the big pile of clothes in the middle of his room.  He had emptied every drawer from his dresser and I asked him what happen and he just shrugs his shoulders and starts throwing the clothes up in the air.  Some days I feel like I just clean up messes all day long but I know one day I will look back and wish these days were still here so I'm trying to cherish every little moment with him.

The other night Layton wanted every single stuffed animal in the chair with us for the bedtime stories.  He said they all wanted to read so I just went with it.  He is really into carrying around all of his animals now all the time and wants them all in his bed with him at night.

Layton's new thing is to run around naked after he gets out of the bath and he wants me to chase him before I put his diaper on.  He decided to ride the horse naked the other night Clifton and I were just laughing at him thinking we will probably need these pictures some day to show his girlfriend when he is a teenager.

On Monday evenings I have been taking Layton on runs down the road with me.  I'm usually too tired to get up and go to the gym before work on Mondays so Layton and I get in a good workout together.  He snacks in the stroller while I run.  He loves it!  He gets so excited when I tell him we are going for a ride in the stroller.  He is much heavier this year than he was last year though.  It is a great workout!

The other night I put Layton in bed and stood outside his room once the door was closed because I could hear him talking and he said “I want to see the Grinch” (he sleeps with a stuffed Grinch) “Oh hi Grinch there you are.”  This just cracked me up I couldn’t stop laughing.  He is talking so much these days he will ask a question and then answer it himself.  The days that I’m with him all day he wears me out because he talks non stop all day and repeats everything I say.   He is now repeating everything that he hears on the t.v. and radio.  Needless to say we have been very mindful about what he is hearing because he is soaking it all in.

Tonight Layton grabbed the broom out of the closet and was riding it and he looked up and said "This is Layton's ditch witch."  This kid has a great imagination and knows all of his tractors and construction equipment.  He now corrects me if I don't use the write name. 

This is such a fun age and Layton makes us laugh constantly.  You never know what he is going to say.

My dad took these two pictures of him and I just love them!