Sunshine

I just might make it through the winter if we have more days like we had yesterday. It was sunny and above freezing! Blythe and I took advantage of the day and ventured out to the zoo with some friends. It was perfect. There weren't a lot of people, it was beautiful out and I found free parking. Blythe loved looking at the monkeys, gorillas, fish and Emmy running around (her friend). We were right up close to the giraffes, but Blythe didn't care much because they were just standing there eating. It's so much fun watching Blythe discover new things like animals existing outside of her books.

Here she is with Emmy watching the Gorillas. Blythe is in the pink and Emmy in the black coat.



I didn't get too many pictures, but here is one of her watching a gorilla not pictured.



And why not a few cute pictures of what she's been up too this last week. Like giving herself hugs.



She had a doctor appointment and she was so good this time. She just laid like this the whole time. I'll take this over a crying baby every time!

Birthday Girl

Get out of town!! One year already! (plus a month). I'm so happy I get to be this little girl's mom!





About half way through opening her presents, Blythe went through a toy overload. I love that you can see it in her expressions in these pictures. So we took a break, ate some dinner and had some Birthday cake.



She couldn't wait to eat this cake. We barely made it through Happy Birthday before she got her little finger in the frosting. Because of poor planning on my part, she had to sit and wait for me to frost the cake. I was going to do just plain cupcakes but saw this idea on the back of the cake box. I thought I could handle it. Joel and I made the frosting and iced this puppy in less then 10 minutes. So the polka dots and a bit pokey and the coloring on the "purple layer" is a bit off. But, these things didn't matter in the end. Blythe loved eating it!





After she licked as much sugar off her fingers and a good cleaning we finished opening her presents. I think she doubled her toy collection and tripled her book collection all in one night. What can I say, first kid, first birthday.. it's not spoiling! Ha ha. What a night!



Happy Birthday sweetie.

Finished

I decided to make this Halloween wall hanging/table topper/mini quilt/whatever you want to call it a couple weeks ago and get it done before my mom's birthday which was last week. I had a lot of doubts. I'm a pro at not getting things done on time or ever! So, I'm a little proud that I got this done and sent before her birthday. I also like how it turned out, but don't look too close. I usually have my mother-in-law, who is an amazing quilter, with me every step of the way when I make a quilt. This time I am here and she is in Hawaii. I did make a few phone calls, watch some tutorials online, and got some help from Joel. (He wanted to make sure everyone knew he helped out). So I didn't do it alone. I really need to work on my straight lines for the next one.. if there is a next one.

Blythe helped out a lot too. She loved crawling all over it. She also loved taking the scraps and hiding them all over the house. What a good little helper!



Happy Halloween!

Steps II

Here is a little video

Pictures

Since Blythe is coming up on her first birthday, I thought I better get some pictures taken of her. I had my friend who took her 6 month pictures take these as well. I loved how they turned out once again. It was a cold day and Blythe didn't want to smile let alone move, but we still got some pretty cute pictures. I'm having a hard time deciding which is my favorite. Here a a few, and there are more here.














Blythe loves sticking her finger in little holes, cracks and anywhere else she can fit it. This is the spot she found that week.

Well, I guess there were more then just a few that I can't choose from. There are even more, but I can't post them all!

Steps

It was a big day at our house yesterday. Joel, Blythe and I were playing before Joel left for school. Joel had Blythe by the hands while she balanced on her feet facing me and he said "walk to mommy," and let go of her hands. So,

She walked to mommy!

Three whole steps!

I instantly became the proudest parent in the world. Joel and I started cheering and laughing and smothering her with kisses. I think we scared her. Ever since she did it we've tried to get her to do it again, but she just turns her body all limp. (Which is pretty funny to watch her do). I hope we didn't ruin it for her.

She hit a big milestone, but I think she's going to wait a bit longer to really walk on her own. I could be surprised though... that's how this year has been. I absolutely love being her mom!



Here is her 'I want to eat that' face. If you look close you can see her two teeth. It only took her 9 1/2 months to get them!

summer school

I took a class this summer and we traveled around parts of chicago and sketched different buildings and landscapes, here are a few of my finished drawings. the first is of a street in pullman done in pastel.  


 This next one is of the pritzker pavillion in millennium park done in pen.

This next one is 333 West Wacker done in water color.
I also had an ecology class but didn't do any cool renderings for that class to post.