Labor of Love

Last year, my labor of love was intense and painful but produced this beautiful girl:

This year, I had a different kind of labor of love. Logan got a beautiful toddler bed from her grandparents for her birthday and after looking through hundreds (seriously) of bedding sets for toddler beds, I decided I needed something a little less commercial. So, naturally, I turned to all things etsy and found several that I really liked but at $75-80 a piece, definitely could not afford (I mean, come on, it's for a tiny little bed she'll be in for a couple of years). So, I headed the fabric store, spent less than $15 and got started.

Now, all of this had to be done while the munchkin was asleep or otherwise occupied with daddy because (as you'll see below), she can be a bit destructive. I took out my handy dandy scissors, cut my squares (over 100 of them):

Added the batting and took a more artsy shot:

Quilted for HOURS:

Laid out my pattern:

Pattern was destroyed by said toddler monster:

RE-laid out the pattern:

Sewed it together:

Then began the two hour process of fringing it to make it a "rag quilt." There are no pictures of this because you'd basically see me making a bunch of nasty faces asking why I decided this was the best route to go. :) BUT, I am in love with the result and am glad that I did decide to go with it.

You know who else loves it?

Birthday Party Snapshots

We're about to celebrate Logan's first birthday and we are so excited! I want to share a few snapshots of the birthday preparations.

I've pretty much been designing Logan's 1st birthday invitation since the day she was born and Heather over at PeaPod Announcements put it all together for me. I LOVE the way it turned out!

And here are a couple of sneak peaks of what's to come:

Walk Like A Lady

Logan started officially walking on Saturday. She had taken a step here and there before that but nothing crazy. Saturday evening she and I went to Starbucks to have dinner with daddy and she really started being brave and moving and one step turned into 3 steps and since then she's gotten about 5 steps in at a time--we think it's because they have a tile floor there and it's easier for her to keep her balance than on our carpet. Nothing too wild yet, she can move from one piece of furniture to another without holding on, or from Mike to me, so long as it's not more than about 5 steps. She doesn't really seem to enjoy it too much, I think it scares her when she does it because she'll sit down and she's really shaky afterwards. She much prefers crawling or being carried, which we're fine with!

Now that Logan can walk, she's ready to grab the keys and head out the door on her own!

Logan's new word is "go!" and she'll stand at the door, bang on it, and say it over and over hoping we're headed out. (she's mid word in the picture below)

I'm trying to catch her walking on video but because she's not super steady yet, it's hard to capture being that she does it so sporadically. In any case, here she is getting ready to walk to me:

Please pardon the 80's work out gear, we went to get her portraits done this morning and I didn't want to have to wash her tunic dress since she was only in it for 5 minutes so I took it off before we left the shop and she was left with the above outfit.

Praise Baby

I seriously love this kid.

I figured I'd catch you with a picture and then you'd continue reading (or stop, since I know most of you just look to the blog for pictures). Anyway, it's been a tough week in our household. From non-stop screaming babies, to family illness, to finances, to heartbreaking news from some good friends. It's been one of those weeks that leave you totally exhausted and dry.

Our church recently put out a worship album that pretty much plays on repeat nonstop when we're in the car. One song in particular has touched me and really just sings to what I've been feeling in the last week or so. I've attached a video of the song below because I want you to be able to experience it, too. It's a long one, but if you've got time, I promise you, it's worth it. I was playing it in the car this evening while Logan and I drove around town and had really gotten into it and was a bit lost in the music until I heard what I thought was crying from the backseat. I turned the music down, looked back and Logan looked at me, smiled and continued "singing" with the music while kicking her boot into the back of my chair (her singing is more of a wailing of sorts...but we're getting there), she started soft and then I turned the music back up and she got a lot louder and we worshipped together. It was such a special moment, I just didn't want it to end!

The song starts off a bit slow and you may be tempted to stop watching/listening, but give it some time. When you hit the, "we will overcome, by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony" frame, you'll understand (that's the part Logan usually jumps in at, I think she can feel the music change). The song was written by the guys at New Life Church and the story behind the song is pretty amazing too. You can see a video of that here. We serve an incredible God!

I know this is a blog that usually centers on Logan and her happenings, but I though it'd be nice to share a little bit of my heart, too.

Almost Walking!

Logan is getting so close to walking! It's been so exciting for Mike and I to watch as she gets closer and closer. She's standing on her own for short periods of time and has even begun to experiment with taking mini steps towards things! Now, I must warn you, this video will probably only be interesting to her grandparents/close family but I wanted to share it, anyway.

She's playing with the walker that her grandparents got her for Christmas, she has so much fun with it! We had it in the living room but she'd walk two or three steps before ramming into furniture so we cleared a little "runway" in the hallway for her so she'd have a long, straight line to walk in. (side note: I have to say, my favorite part of the video is the booty shot, there's just something so cute about a newly walking baby's backside!)

The Girl's Got Hair

I don't have a whole lot to post about today. Mike's got the cold that Logan and I shared earlier in the week so he spent most of the morning in bed before heading off to work and L and I ran errands and did some house work. I've been reflecting on the fact that I am almost the mother of a 1 year old. It just is insane to me that a year ago I was driving around with a huge towel under me afraid that at any second my water would burst (and if it did, it would surely be in the car, in the middle of a busy US1 intersection, right?). And now, I still drive around with a towel in my car just in case we have some sort of bodily liquid accident (which doesn't happen much anymore). Life changed forever but I never want it to be the same. Our sweet girl has really added so much to our lives and we can't wait to see how much more she'll add as the years go on!

She's been pulling up for a while, but just this week she's really taken hold of standing on her own. She gets SO excited when she does it and just starts to wildly flap her arms (which usually causes loss of balance), but it's so cute. I'm trying to capture it on video but she tells me that she's not a performer when I do it. Anyway, here are a few pictures. I haven't captured the independent standing yet, but I promise, I'm working on it!

She's got that really toothy grin now with her 3 (almost 4) teeth! I've also been looking like crazy for a cute pair of baby keds for her now that she's standing but NO ONE carries them until like March. The seminary has a great swapping shop where you can drop stuff off that you don't use and pick stuff up that you can use and I happened to find a pair of the shoes I was looking for in her size!! She looks like such a big girl with them on!
And finally, a meaning for the title of the post. I've had several people ask about how long L's hair is because it's hard to tell in the head on shots of her that she does actually have some hair growing in. She's got quite a bit in the back, and, as you'll notice, it's got a bit of a flippy curl to it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! We like to sit in the morning and brush each other's hair...or, Logan tangles my hair with my brush and I make hers pretty, however you want to look at it.

Happy Sabbath!

Blowing Kisses

Logan recently learned how to blow kisses but today she really got it! Enjoy!