homemade...and not

 The Saturday before Easter, I got an itch to sew. I was browsing through Shabby Apple after having seen her LDS video. I was so inspired by her determination to make her own dresses, that I decided to do the same! I found a night dress/muumuu at a thrift store in December, and I just fell in love with the fabric. On Saturday I decided to turn this mass of fabric into EXACTLY what I wanted it to be-a light, summery, high waisted skirt, with a vintage flair.

 Notice the detail with the pleats? Eh? Eh? I also added a blue lace trim to the waistband...

 ...and the bottom hem.

Not bad, right? Okay, please ignore the 'I'm trying really hard to look effortless' pose.

 I also made the boys some matching bow ties. Look at that face! He lost another tooth Saturday night, but that's another story.

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I did not make Joelle's outfit, but I DID make Joelle. Does that count?

Spring+Trampoline

 Once the weather warmed up a bit, we were all pretty excited to get outside and play!

This trapoline experience is brought to you by:

Joe. He's the best. Thanks babe!

Winter

 Winter took forever to leave us here in Missouri. We mostly stayed inside and played.

 The boys experimented with their blocks. They built a temple-run for their lego man. Not bad right?

 I experimented with Joelle's hair. This is her on a curly hair day. I absolutely LOVE playing with her hair!

 I also experimented with my own hair quite a bit.

 We did some indoor camping, which the boys really loved. As you can see in the following pictures, they had a lot of fun playing with the flashlight.

 

Looking back through the pictures, it looks like we had a lot more fun than I remember. This winter was a hard one for me.  But now spring has sprung and I can feel my energy and zest for life returning.  I'm looking forward to a beautiful spring!

New Furniture

In case you were wondering what Joe was actually trying to accomplish in this video, here is the finished product.

We don't have a fully put together 'before' picture, but these will help you get the idea.

I think it adds a little something extra to our bedroom with very white walls and very light carpet.

 

We got the idea from this link on pinterest. Joe was aching for a new project AND something to keep our blankets pinned to our bed so they'd stop slouching. He also wanted us to have something other than one plastic drawer for each of us to use as an underwear drawer. We found this dresser on craigslist for $20 and voila! Now Joe has one more furniture piece to show off, along with these.

Can you tell I finally figured out how to add a link?

 

 

 

Happy First Birthday!

Look at her face! This is what I call her 'polite' smile. She does it a lot now.  I can't believe she's a year old today! I've been saving this shirt for her birthday. It says "I got my first hug at Mercy Hospital". At first I didn't think much of this shirt, but now that we're away from Iowa, every little reminder holds a special place in our hearts. I always want to remember that Joelle was born in Iowa.

 Let's take a look at her whole year of life in pictures.

 

 

 

I absolutely love having her as a part of my family. She is so fun and cute, and I love watching her grow.  She loves table food, and floor food, and any food EXCEPT for whole milk, so we still have her on formula.  She loves to crawl around and play with her brothers. She absolutely loves her blanket that her grandma Petersen made for her. She is seriously attached to it. She's getting so much better about letting other people hold her. As long as I'm not in her view, she has about an 80% chance of letting someone else hold her. The chances increase if you're wearing a necklace for her to play with. She says 'dada', but usually just to make noise. She says 'mama' but still only says it when she cries. She has always been a fantastic sleeper. She loves to clap, play patty cake, shake her head 'no', eat Joe's chin, open her mouth for kisses, bounce up and down to music, and say "uh-uh-uh-uh" as I hold and bounce her while going down the stairs. She is pulling herself up to stand, but not really close to walking yet. She has crawled up one or two stairs, but I'm too scared to let her practice that very often. 
We love her so much and can't wait to see her continue to grow and progress. She's our little Christmas Eve baby girl.