Of all the births this week, Tess is the cutest!

Oh my is she ever cute! She is 8lbs. 7oz of super sweet cuteness. We are all just crazy about her. She has been good and sleepy and smiley and not crying-for-no-apparent-reason. So much fun! Patrick is totally smitten with her and says the cutest things like "that baby of yours' is really cute," and "she's so cute I can't take my eyes of her." Here is a picture of him not able to take his eyes off her. This is not posed, he just truly couldn't take his eyes off her long enough to have his picture taken.

I think it is such a special gift to bring a new baby into the world and into our family. Patrick and Maria won't remember when Betsy was a baby, but I think they will remember how exciting it was to have Tess as a baby.

In other exciting birth news, the cicadas have come. EEEEWWW! We've got it really bad in our yard and it is gross to go outside. Probably millions in our yard alone. This is not an exaggeration and our yard is standard suburban size.
The spots on the trees are the cicadas. The density of them on this tree is typical of every surface in our yard. All the trees, plants, bushes, car wheels, fences, lawn furniture everything is covered like this. They also fly very poorly, fast and with no control. So were not spending too much time outside right now, it's just too freaky.

Jim's home helping with the kids and everything for a couple of weeks and it is so great. I think by the time he goes back to work we will be in a nice routine with Tess and it won't be too crazy to be by myself. Hopefully the cicadas will be in back in the ground for another 17 years by that time and we can play outside again.

Completed spring projects

I've finished up two dresses for the girls this week. I don't have a lot of experience making clothes. I found making the kimono for Patrick pretty easy so I thought I would try some summer dresses. I used Butterick B4501 and it is an easy pattern to follow. The fit is not great in the bodice. Way too big. I made the orange dress first and I think it looks better worn over a tee shirt. I used a pretty fabric Jim got for me at Liberty when he was in London in January. When I made the white dress I sized down one size for the bodice and kept the same length for the skirt. This made for a much better fit. The fabric on the white dress was ordered from kitty-craft. Both dresses are really for Maria, but I let Betsy model the white one. She got very mad when I said she couldn't ride her muddy bike with the new white dress on. That's why she's not looking at the camera. She is very good at being three and a half.

I have, at this time, only one (but I'm not counting a lot of other things at this time:) unfinished project. I've been working on a baby quilt. I fell in love with the Freshcut fabrics and hemmed and hawed for a long time if I wanted to start a quilt, what colorway to go with, what quilt pattern to choose. It went on and on. I got it all together and made up a quilt top. But I couldn't leave it at that. No, that would be too easy. I looked at it and decided it needed lots of applique to make it cuter. I wanted the appliques to be my own designs and some to have special meanings. I started with fusible web applique, they were all cut out and ironed down, some even satin stitched down. Then I got fussy. I didn't want fusible web applique. I wanted them to be hand sewn. Gah! Why do I do this to myself? I pulled those appliques off and started again using the freezer paper method. Well, it is really looking beautiful and cute now but it is taking longer.
It will not be done before Tess comes. In less than a week! I have scheduled a C for the 23rd of May if she doesn't want to come sooner. I'm in a very surreal state during this last week of pregnancy. I spent about and hour in the grocery store yesterday trying to shop. I spent hundreds of dollars and when I got up to make breakfast this morning I had no syrup or milk. What on earth was I doing??? No milk? I'm pregnant and have three children in the house and I didn't even consider milk. Nice work. I hope my next post will feature a photo of my greatest work in progress for the past 9 months.

how much can I get done before baby Tess comes?

We are scheduled to have Tess on May 23 if she doesn't come sooner. That is two weeks and one day from now and it is so exciting and so soon! I asked Jim yesterday if we should use these last two weeks to get as much stuff done around the house as possible. I gave examples like picking weeds, cleaning the basement, organizing closets. Or should we spend this time enjoying ourselves. The fact that there are so many things to do around the house is proof that we don't fall into the "let's get it done!" type of people. This is a picture of my sewing table. It is set up in our living room and it has looked like this for weeks now. I love it. I've been doing a lot of work in there and I just keep adding projects. I think I will be having fun for these last two weeks at this table.

One thing that I made was this bear for a baby boy who just arrived across the street. His name begins with "S", so I thought it would be cute if it were personalized. Jim really thought this was great and that I should make one for everybody. I liked it, but it ended up looking like other things I have seen before. I don't know exactly what. Maybe after looking at so many craft blogs and Softie Award photos, I think this bear reflects that asthetic. Anyway, I think he was a cute gift and I probably will make more in the future.
I finally put the finishing touches on the crochet blanket I made for Tess. The colors look kinda muddy in the photo, they look prettier in real life.
I have two more projects on my table right now. One that I might finish today, and one that is a longer project that I am being extra fussy about. I hope I will be able to add another post to this blog before Tess is born.