Now Open!

It's official! My Etsy shop has opened! Check it out at Kate and Aly . It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time, like since I first discovered Etsy and bought my apron years ago. Alyssa was just the inspiration I needed to get myself going! I am so grateful for her and all the blessings in my life! Alyssa was my inspiration and Joe is my support. I would be NOTHING without the two of them!!!

Now I know everyone reading doesn't have a baby girl, but I am sure you all know someone who does or will soon! My shop doesn't have much in it yet, but I am just starting! Just you wait!!!

Etsy? Yes Please!!!

Whoa...it has been quite awhile since my last post! Having a (soon-to-be) 10-month old is a rather busy job!! But summer (at work) is finally over as of today, so I will have MUCH more time on my hands...well hopefully not...since I am in the process of opening an Etsy Shop!!! It is something I have wanted to do for a LONG time and am finally doing it! I am SO excited!!! And Joe has been very supportive which is a big help and burst of encouragement. Hopefully my shop will be open tonight, but it is taking FOREVER to upload the pictures...so it might not...but either way it will def happen before Alyssa's first birthday, which was my goal!! GO ME!!! 

In other news...Alyssa had her MRI last week and we go get the results tomorrow...I am very nervous...but I know it is in God's hands and whatever the results, it is his will!! I just want to know, but it has been a great test of patience and faith. My sewing has been a great distraction...and Alyssa having a little tummy flu has also been a distraction (very fussy and not sleeping well, which lasted 1 week, and is over now...) 

We are excited and looking forward to my step-sister, Melinda, tie the knot with her fiance Rolando in San Diego this Friday. We are flying down on Thursday (Alyssa's first plane ride!!) and will come home on Saturday. I am excited to enjoy some time with family, time to relax, and time to have fun!!! 

Lastly...I uploaded the pictures for my Etsy shop earlier today and found these pictures I took of Alyssa a few weeks ago...

Isn't she adorable?!?! I just love looking at her! And these pictures turned out so perfect!!! She is such a musician...and she looks great in her cute dress mommy made her! 

Pictures finally uploaded...I am  now going to open my shop!! YAY me!!!

Coloring Apron

One of my girlfriends text me a picture of this the other day...

 As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make one!!! So she came over tonight and I made it...

Mine isn't perfect, but i had fun making it! I need to make a few changes, mostly with the straps, I need to do it how they did, I was just being lazy, but it will work much better if I did it like the one on top and make the crayon holders go all the way across. But I am pretty happy with mine for the first try. Just means it can only get better next time! I will have to make another one and post a tutorial so you can make one too! 


Have a wonderful night :) 


Katie

Clothing tags and "new" clothes!

Joe had to work this weekend so my little princess and I got to hang out just the two of us! Today we got all out shopping for the week done- Costco, Trader Joe's, and Safeway! It took a while but feels good knowing I don't have to worry about it! 

Before dinner tonight we went on a bike ride! Her seat was on Joe's bike and I didn't want to ride his bike (his seat is uncomfortable!!) so I figured out how to put it on my bike. I was rather proud of myself! We had fun! 

Isn't she adorable with that little helmet on?

We rode to the Marina so she could swing! 

She loves the swing!

Then she had pasta, chicken, broccoli, and cheese for dinner. She ate it up FAST! All that swinging wore her out! She is quite the little busy bee! 

Once baby went to bed mommy went to work! I got my clothing tags in the mail this weekend!!! I am so excited about them! I had to sew something tonight so I could use them! I decided to add them to the dresses I made the other night. I ordered the tags from the Etsy shop Mommie Made It. She was very helpful, nice, and prompt with all correspondence. I would highly recommend.  Here is the first Kate and Aly tag being sewn on...

It was so exciting to sew the first one on!

Don't they look so official now? Not that I need to be official, but it is fun! And it looks SUPER cool!!!

I decided that Alyssa needed a new outfit so I made her a pair of leggings from a tank top I got at the thrift store for 99 cents and a dress which I made from a t-shirt I also got at the thrift store. I used tutorials from the blog I was talking about yesterday, Make it and Love it. I am pretty proud of them...

Cute summer outfit!

And a couple close-ups of my fun tags! 

Glad I had such a productive weekend, but even more GLAD (and relieved) that this was the last weekend Joe has to work! Starts his new schedule beginning of August and has next weekend off! The weekend is the hardest time for me when he works because at least during the week we go to work and everyone at the pool wants to play and hangout with her so I get somewhat of a break...but the weekend is just me...all day...even when she doesn't want to nap and is super grumpy...so I am very happy! 

Thanks for stopping by :) 

Dresses and Swimming

It took quite a while to get Alyssa down for a nap. But since she is napping here goes...

We went swimming (as we do a few times a week since we work at a pool) and Alyssa is quite the ladies man...She had a swim date (or met a friend, who is a boy, at the pool and went swimming as Joe would call it) with her friend Gabriel. Whose mom also used to work at the pool so it is perfect for us to take them swimming!!!

Aren't they just adorable? They had fun playing and swimming together! Alyssa of course had to shove her hands in his mouth...

While nursing when going to sleep she does that to me too...not quite sure why, I guess she wants me to eat like she is?!?! hehehe I can't wait until they are both bigger and able to run around together and talk to each other! It will be so fun! I am glad we have people in our lives whom she can play with! Friends are the BEST! 

While swimming she also learned how to crawl out of the baby pool on the stairs all by her self! Isn't she only supposed to be 9 months old? My little munchkin is WAY too independent! But I love every second of it! It is such a joy to watch everything she learns and teaches herself. She is such the little Curious George! She also went under the water...

And she didn't even cry! What a BIG girl! Gabriel went under for the first time also, he didn't cry either (they must be meant to be)...hehehe

Since I didn't get to finish Alyss'a party dress for next weekend the other night when my little princess had a hard night, I finished it (and made Tori's dress) last night! 

I LOVE it! I am getting much better at it! I love that it is Tinkerbell (for Toribell) and it has purple butterflies ( my favorites.) I got pretty lucky with this fabric. Here is Victoria's dress...

And a close up of the top.

It was much more difficult to make hers. I didn't have one of her t-shirts to use as my guide...so hopefully it fits!! I pretty much just went for it...with a lot of stopping to think, and looking at Alyssa's. Although I pretty much just went for it with Alyssa's, I at least was able to try it on her as I went. I am hopeful and excited for her to try it on. 

I keep wanting to make a tutorial on how to make it...I start off very well with taking pictures...but then I get wrapped up in it and forget to take pictures. Next time I will ask my husband to come out and by my photographer and just take pictures the whole time. Here is how I started though...

Making the "pattern" and my first cut

I just lay the paper towel (I like using them to trace the piece of clothing I am going to use) over the shirt and sketch the arm opening. The top is the only part I use a "pattern." I just go with what looks right for the rest. It is pretty easy. After cutting the top part I cit it for the length of the top of the dress then fold over a couple inches from the top and start sewing with elastic thread (which I discovered and learned to use from my all time favorite blog, Make it and Love it. It is full of tutorials, sewing tips, and all kinds of wonderfulness. I discovered her site through pinterest a while back and once Alyssa started sleeping at night I pulled out my sewing machine and started creating! I credit my starting to sew again to her blog and the fact that I am now able to create on my own with out needed a tutorial is a blessing! I LOVE IT! I love being able to see something (I have been taking pictures of things I see in the store or online so I can sew them myself) or think of something that I think about be cute and just make it! It is such an awesome feeling. Finishing an item (and trying it on Alyssa and knowing it fits/works) is wonderful! I did make myself a shirt last week and I was super happy with out the top came out...but I made it too short...It is cute...and I will try again and it will be perfect! I do want to try to find the fabric I used and just add it to the bottom, because that is how the shirt I used as my guide is, I just didn't buy enough of the fabric to do that (or Joann's didn't have anymore of it, since they are selling everything to move to the new store, maybe the new store which open next week will have it!!) So hopefully I will have a wonderful story to tell in the next few weeks about how I fixed my shirt...

And lastly for today...

My three candlesticks I have collect over the past few weeks to make cake stands for Alyssa's first birthday. The glass and wood ones I got at Marshals and the white one I found at Ikea yesterday! I plan on doing this and this. I found clear glass plates at the Dollar Store, but they have a sharp bottom circle, so I am not sure how well it will work. But I plan on trying tonight. If it doesn't I saw some at the Goodwill that should work (I bought one and then dropped and broke it while cleaning it.) I want to use the tall wooden one for Alyssa's cake. I plan on making her this cake. Not the recipe, just the design. I am so very excited! And hopefully I will be able to use the glass one for the guests' cake. I hope it end up being sturdy enough, I guess we will find out. And I just bought the while one because it was so cute, I will find something to do with it...any ideas would be wonderful! 

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I will get to create something great tonight since I already cleaned the house (steam cleaned the kitchen and all, even cupboards!!) during Alyssa's first nap, just have to put the dishes away and then I can escape to the garage with baby monitor in hand :) 

Busy week!

It's been a few days, life of this part-time working/full-time momma has been busy!! I have accomplished a lot though. I made Alyssa banana bread in the bread machine! Recipe found here, I just used applesauce from 2 apples I made and only a splash of milk (I meant to use yogurt, but I guess I forgot). It isn't too bad. Alyssa had it for breakfast this morning and loved it! It is a little moist, I think from the applesauce instead of sugar, but it is perfect for her, I even find it pretty tasty!! 


And I loved watching her pick through the mango to get a piece of the bread...

Doesn't her face just show how tasty it must be!!!

Since Alyssa doesn't really let us feed her anymore (she's a big girl...duh!!!) I feel like I have been giving her the same finger foods, so the other day Joe was making salmon (which she has had, just in a puree) and I had him make an extra one (we buy it at Costco and portion it in the freezer). She absolutely LOVED it! I put the first piece on her tray and as soon as she put it in her mouth she was reaching for another piece. She was picking it out of the rest of her dinner (pasta and bell pepper) to eat it all! She is SO her daddy's daughter (I HATE fish!!!) But I am glad that she isn't picky like me- makes life much easier! 


Happy Crafter: Joann's in Hayward is moving to San Leandro (happy dance). So The Hayward store is selling all their fabric at 50-75 % off. 

This was my third trip and they were no longer cutting fabric, you had to "Buy the Bolt." I got $200 of fabric for $50. SCORE!!! And the past 2 times I have gone  I have gotten around $100 of fabric for $50. I have quite the stock-pile of fabric now! But Joe doesn't have to know quite how much I have :) I will be having fun thats for sure!!! Plenty of things I have in mind I NEED to make! 


Another exciting thing that has happened these past few days...we got Alyssa a helmet and bike seat! She LOVES it! She is so cute with her little helmet on! I am so excited that we have something else we can do as a family now! Especially since we live so close to the Marina we can just ride over there (she gets a little fussy on the way back when we walk, but it is too close to drive). Check her out though, isn't she a cutie pie (her dad isn't too bad looking either). 

Joe had the day off today, so we decided that when Alyssa went to sleep we would drink some wine and go out to my craft room (aka the garage) so he could finish her birthday banner (he started it last week) and I could sew. The banner is adorable! I found the tutorial here. A few weeks ago Joe and I cut a big piece of butcher paper and painted a bunch of huge squares of different colors to cut HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALYSSA on. Here is a sneak peak, I think it is going to be ADORABLE!!! 

I am so proud of Joe who figured out how to use my Cricut! He really liked being able to help make the banner. And I know I don't have to worry about it being messed up, because he is so scared of messing up that he is try super hard to be perfect. 

He is so serious!!! Thanks hunny!!!

And just a cool picture Joe took of some of the dots for the banner. 

Like I said above, while he worked on the banner I sewed. I am making a dress for Alyssa to wear to my friends kids birthday's. She has two little ones whose birthday's are 3 weeks apart so they are having their parties together. Victoria will be turing 3 and Rudy will be 2. The these is Rudy and the Neverland Pirates and Toribell. They always come up with cute party themes to incorporate the kids names. Last year was Tori Story and Rudy's Roundup. Anyways...I found some lime green corduroy-ish fabric with Tinkerbell and butterflies on it. Here is the top I started...

I almost had the dress finished (just had to add the straps) when our little princess woke up screaming! So that ended couples wine and craft time. It took Alyssa almost 2 hours to fall back asleep. I tried everything (except nursing, since I had drank wine, of course, the one night I drink wine in weeks she can't sleep). I tried rocking her, laying with her in our bed, rubbing her back, letting her cry...Finally she fell asleep. Her poor little gums must be hurting BAD! I hate it! I wish I could take all her pain away. And I feel horrible that we fianlly gave her Tylenol. I had already rubbed alL Natural Orajel on her gums and that wasn't helping. But I am glad that she finally was able to get back to sleep and I just hope that she sleeps well the rest of the night. We all need our sleep!