Some sewing. Some reggae. And some Angry Birds.

New Years Resolution:

learn to sew clothes

I've been practicing on Rubi since, in the event that I mess up (which is pretty much every time), I don't feel too bad because

1. I seriously use less than 1/4 yard of fabric

2. It doesn't take too much time

Attempt #1:

used tutorials here and here.

And, on the model:

Doesn't fit too well - her thighs and belly are continually expanding. And definitely not winter appropriate. I'm trying to make a cardigan to go with it, but it's 

not going so well.

In fact, at one frustrating point, I threw my scraps over Rubi's head and this is what happened:

We were dying -- she looked so Bob Marley-esque. But, cuter.

And, just for fun, here's a picture of Gabe doing what he likes/does best:

A Balmy Fifty-Six

Middle of January and it was 56 degrees here yesterday! Shocking, I know. Even more shocking? According to weather.com, the record was 81 in 2008! Global warming, people - toss your aerosols. 

All small talk aside, we took advantage of the warm and went to the park.

Here's Rubi, working on her tan.

Later, we went for a walk, and inaugurated our new double stroller. 

 And then, Rubi and I chilled on the couch

while Gabe drew on the white board . . . and the wall . . . 

And, Phil spent the day here. In his happy place: favorite chair, favorite blanket, favorite homework :)

That was our warm weather day. It looks like we won't get

another one for awhile. 

Stomping the snow

The weather here has been amazing. Yesterday, it got up to 59! Earlier this week, before it started raining, there was still snow on the ground. Since it was warm enough to go jacket-less, Gabe had a ton of fun running around and stomping the snow... and climbing the neighbors' stairs...and collecting rocks.

more robots...

I made these little robot thingys and framed them ages ago, but I never took pictures because every time I thought about it, Gabe was sleeping. Picking out colors and fabrics and designing the layout was really fun, but I went through dozens of needles going through all the layers, so the sewing was not.

The plan was to make three robot pictures to hang on the wall

of the boys' room, but then I ran out of steam.

So, I started work on a stuffed robot.

I made this from a Freddie's Friends pattern called "Ronnie the Robot."

All of the patterns are Awesome and super

easy to make.

The plan was to make a matching one for Gabe's brother, but again,

I ran out of steam.

Thank goodness for my lack of steam!!

Now that we have a girl, I plan to go back and make a girly robot 

to hang on the wall, 

and a stuffed robot for Rubi.

The pictures never made it up to the wall anyway. I ended up just displaying them 

on Gabe's cubby shelf, but they are usually sprawled

out along the top of it like this:

Gabe would always lean over the edge of the crib and knock 

them down.

Well, now, he doesn't lean. He simply climbs right out.

The other night, he attempted to scaled the shelves down to 

the floor (at 11:00 at night when he was supposed to be sleeping)

and ended up falling face first, cutting

up his chin and the inside of his mouth.

So, until his new bed gets here (we ordered him one

for his birthday), the cubbies and the crib

are temporarily separated.

You want to see the whole room? I was trying

to be so careful and only take close-ups

so as to hide the real disaster lurking behind.

But, what the heck? 

This is Gabe's tornado room.

It just gets more and more jumbled because,

like I said, every time I think to 

do anything to his room (i.e. clean or organize it), 

he's asleep!

The rest of our home is not terribly different. We 

are living in chaos.

Two Months

This little angel is two months old!

...and, as you can see, she is super strong.

Rubi put on a couple pounds over the holidays :) and it's been

showing in her arms, belly, legs and chin.

She loves eating, and looking at lights and faces, but sleeping still 

trumps all of her favorite things.  

Monday night, she actually slept through the night. I woke up on

my own in the morning and realized that it was 

the first time I had been awake since bedtime.

That's not the norm, but she never 

wakes more than once at night.

Rubi is the happiest baby.  I guess when you are only awake

for a few hours a day, you tend

to enjoy every minute of them. Chances are, if you

look at her, she'll smile at you.

No laughing yet, though.

Gabe continues to ignore her for the most part. Except 

for the rare occasions when he gives her a 

kiss (strokes the side of her face)

or when he tries to 

move her off his favorite spot

on the couch.

Length: 24 inches

Weight: 11.6 lbs

Over the Break

We have gone on and returned from our Christmas break to Utah.  We had a great time with all of our family, and wish we could've stayed longer. The last couple days we've been trying to get things back to normal here at home, which has included gradual limitations on movies and Angry Birds for Gabe -- we are slowly weaning him off :) Here are some of my favorite pictures over the break.  Some aren't that great, but I tried to capture most of the people we visited with. 

These first two are taken from the plane on our way to Utah.  Kirksville has a wee airport with one wee airplane (I am taking this picture from the last row).  The view of the Mississippi River is always really cool to see from up high.  

She is always so happy!

...and sleepy

Please notice Gabe with Jackson's ipod touch. He is almost always featured in pictures holding a phone or ipod or other tablet of some sort.  Usually he's playing Angry Birds. Here he is watching his favorite Despicable Me. 

Here is Gabe showing Jeanna how to play Angry Birds.

 Skye wanted so badly to play with Gabe, but he wasn't having any of it. Here they are after church.  

And finally, our two little champs sleeping in the car during a shopping trip.