Sewing

I tried my hand at sewing and learned I am far from an accomplished seamstress. However, I've already washed this and it didn't fall apart in the washing machine....so that's got to stand for something! I bought the shirt and appliqued the J on it, then made the pants with the same fabric. At one point I had one of the legs sewed to the other one inside out. I had to rip out several seams and start over several times. My stitching is a little crooked. But I'm just proud that I finished them. I've made curtains before, but this was my first attempt at an actual pattern. For my first time, I say not too bad!

She did NOT want her picture taken....can you tell?

The Dentist

Yesterday I had to go to the dentist to have a crown replaced. While in the chair, I was thinking about how really violating it is to go to the dentist. At least when you go to any other doctor, you have your own room, and they close the door. They usually give you a paper gown or paper blanket to cover yourself with....helping you have some sort of privacy. Not so at the dentist. You can have 2-3 people poking around with your mouth wide open for all the world to see. Not only that, but then there's the continual water sprayer and vacuum going on in your mouth. It's just very invading. I know it all needs to be done, and dentistry has come a long way in making procedures more comfortable for patients. But still....It's not one of my most favorite activities.
So, I was really worried about Josie's first dental appointment and how she was going to handle it. I think next time, I'll go to a pediatric dentist. It was much more fun! The minute we walked in, she LOVED the waiting room with all the toys. Then they took her back and got her all settled in her chair. They gave her pretty pink flower sunglasses to wear (I got sunglasses, too, but mine were ugly "scientist" looking glasses). Then she got her own mirror to hold. She was not a fan of the girl cleaning her teeth (with the rotating drill thingy), but who is??? She got 2 Elmo stickers for being good and a No Cavities Club sticker. She had yummy bubblegum flouride painted on her teeth. Dr. Delclos (highly recommended to anyone in our area...he was great!!) said her teeth look fantastic! She still has 2 molars coming in on top. We're doing a great job of consistently brushing her teeth every night, no need to floss right now, and she can keep her paci!!!! Then Josie got to go to the toy box where she picked a beautiful yellow beaded necklace, a matching yellow bracelet, and a lovely mini rubber ducky. She did cry, but was easily comforted when everyone was done looking in her mouth. Overall, for her first visit, I'd say she did pretty awesome!

Soooo pretty!!!!

Yesterday morning, Josie and I were dressed and ready for church a little bit early. (Don't ask me how that happened!) She looked soooo pretty in a beautiful dress handed down from her friend Audrey. On a whim, I thought "Let's go outside and take your picture in front of Mommy's flowers!" I was so proud of how they turned out! I am not much of a photographer at all. It's just not my thing. But I guess the sunlight was just right, because these look great! I had been putting off going to get her 2-year pictures taken professionally, but I think I may just make copies of these to hand out to family.

Children's Ice Cream Social

On Saturday, we had a get-together for the kids at church. We made cards to take to the nursing home, played games, and had ice cream. Well, some of us had ice cream. Josie refuses to try it---I guess the coldness and texture just isn't for her yet. But she did have a cookie.
Oh, and the kids dressed up in costumes, too!

Angel Babies

Last week we finally had the official dedication of our new babies' classroom at church. We ordered this transparency kit from creativeforkids.com. It's basically a paint-by-number system. You use the transparencies to draw the images wherever you want and whatever size you want. Then, they've already assigned what Folk Art paint colors you need for each image. It's soooooo easy!!!! We came up with the verses ourselves and I just found a font I liked and typed them up. It took us about 2 months to finally finish--working an hour or two whenever we could. But now it's finished and it looks fantastic! Now our babies have a clean, bright and welcoming place to learn about Jesus' love for them!
We dedicated the room in memory of Wyatt and Eloise Deaver, the twins our friends lost earlier this year.

Josie and Ginger Go for a Walk

The kids I keep have a dog named Ginger. Ginger is really old....17 years, I think. She's completely deaf and "hobbles" when she attempts to get around at all. She's very quiet and low key---I almost forget she's around!---quite the opposite of how our pug, Chloe, used to be!
Ginger used to stay outside, but they've recently brought her inside due to some health concerns. So, this morning while the twins were napping, Josie and I took Ginger outside to go "potty."
Josie absolutely LOVED leading Ginger around! Josie was so sweet to her and they only got tangled up in the leash once! It was a very cute scene to see them together!
No, she didn't ask for a dog of her own. And no, we are not getting one. :-)

Our Not-So-Big Backyard o' Fun!

So, we finally got around to spending Josie's birthday money on some outside toys. We ended up getting a great deal on walmart.com. We got the swing set for $99 and the water/sand table for $57....both with free shipping!
When Josie walked outside for the first time to see the swing set, she said "I see side!!!! I see sing!!!!" She was very excited. She can already climb up the slide ladder all by herself. Of course, I still stand behind her to make sure she doesn't fall. And she LOVES to swing! It kind of surprised me, but she prefers the normal blue toddler swing to the car shaped one. Go figure...
Lane put together the sand/water table inside and it was a day or so before we got sand to go in it. Josie had the best time playing and running her boats around the dry table right in the middle of the living room! It was tempting to just leave it there.....
But we moved it outside to the deck, got some sand and water in it and she had the best time! She got soaking wet, but I couldn't have cared less. She wasn't the biggest fan of the wet sand on her skin. I think right now she's definitely a bigger fan of the water side than the sand side.