Alexa – 11 Months

This month has been one of my absolute favorites thus far! You are the sweetest, smiliest little gal, plus you and Chelsea are getting along so great!

 

You are toughening up against Chelsea’s teases and rough-housing and she is learning to be a little more gentle.

You are fully on solid foods and transitioning to whole milk! But I think you may be a little picky.

We’re learning about your likes and dislikes as we go.

Still as bald as Grandpa Stange! (alright, maybe not that bald)

You have recently begun pointing your dainty little fingers at objects, mostly at me, Daddy, or Chelsea, to imitate me when I’m saying “no.”

 

Your dainty little finger has really come in handy for you to push the home button on my phone over and over again. You and Siri are becoming frequent friends!

 

You are just a small little gal! You’re still fitting in your 6-9 month clothes and are BARELY too big for size 1-2 diapers!

Although your size may be small, your personality is NOT! I love that you say hi to everyone, multiple times in one sitting! You always have the biggest smile and the cutest little hand-wave. I love it so much!

 

Nothing makes you laugh harder than dancing, Chelsea, and when Daddy flips you over in a somersault. Then you start kicking your legs and you have the biggest smile on your face!

 

Your dancing consists of turning your head left to right and/or standing up and bouncing up and down, just like Chelsea used to!

You love playing little games! Cups, buckets, and other concaved objects are always fun for you to talk into!

You do the cutest little fishy faces! You started doing it about a week ago and I finally caught it on camera this morning!

You’ve been enjoying books recently, too! It’s fun to look at all the pretty pictures with you!

You are SO close to walking! I got you to take two steps in a row yesterday, but you like to tease me and just lean over for me to catch you instead of really walking. You’ll get there eventually!

You know how to go up and DOWN the stairs safely! It’s nice not to have to worry about you falling down the stairs anymore. At least, not as much.

You are still attached to me, a lot, but you tolerate others if they have treats.

You’re starting to get into things you shouldn’t, like getting the entertainment center cupboards, the cupboards under the sink, the cupboards and drawers in the bathroom… Just to name a few.

 

You climb on EVERYTHING! Boxes, chairs, everything.

I just love your sweet smile and your little babbling! “Woof woof,” “got it,” “thanks,” “ma-ma,” and “da-da,” “thanks,” and “ball” are your most common words.

 

Peek-a-boo still remains your favorite game!

 

You still love your blanket and your pacifier and go to bed with them every naptime and bed time.

We love you so much, Alexa! I can’t believe you’re almost an entire year! It doesn’t seem like you were born that long ago at all. You’re just growing much too fast, my dear, but I love getting to know you more and more each day. We love you!

^^click on any of the pictures to be taken to their corresponding month updates. thank you alexa zurcher for the monthly stickers!^^

Susan is a birth photographer/videographer serving Mesa, Arizona and surrounding cities including Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, and Tempe. Considering a photographer for your birth? Contact Susan for EDD availability.

1

Tutorial: From Curtain to Crop Top

When we moved in, our previous owners left us with a couple of lace curtains that they said had been left by the owners before them. I don’t know why the owners before us decided to keep them, but I kept them because I have a fear of giving something away and then realizing one week later that I actually really could have used that thing I gave away (did I just define a hoarder?)

Luckily, I really was able to put the curtain to some good use and got my Maria (from “Sound of Music”) and Gizelle (from “Enchanted”) on and made some clothes.

The best part is that it cost me… nothing. Just time.

shirt: me // skirt: me – tutorial coming

You will need:

1 curtain

Model shirt

Pattern Paper

Measuring tape

*sew with a 1/2” seam allowance unless otherwise stated
*if you’re concerned about your fabric fraying, zig zag stitch all of your seam allowances after sewing the seam

Try your model shirt on and decide how long you want the shirt to be. Measure from your neckline to that point and add 2.5”. Fold your model shirt in half and align the fold with the pattern paper edge (label that edge “fold”). Trace around the shirt with 1/2” buffer for seam allowance (except for the neckline which you will trace with 1/4” seam allowance). draw a line away from the pattern paper edge at the length that you want the shirt (plus 2.5”) to the side seam. Don’t trace around the sleeve just yet. Follow the armpit to shoulder seam with 1/2” buffer. Make a front bodice piece and a back bodice piece.

Now align the fold of the sleeve with the edge of the pattern paper (label that edge “fold”) and trace with 1/2” buffer. Extend the length of the sleeve 1.5” for the hem.

Pin your pattern pieces to your fabric, aligning the “folds” on the pattern with the fold of the fabric, and cut. *It is ALWAYS a good idea to label your pattern pieces.

Cut a section of your crop top out, as shown in the photo above. Cut just below the armpit all the way across and all the way across again about 7” below that (you can try your shirt on and decide if you want it wider than that or not). Cut the sections out on the front and back, trace those two pieces on another piece of pattern paper, or lay them flat on the curtain fabric and cut around them so you have two identical section pieces for the front and back.

Place the middle section pieces one on top of the other and pin the top edge to the top portion of the crop top, right-sides together. Sew together. Do the same for the bottom edge to the bottom portion of the crop top. Repeat for the bodice back. Pin the bodice front to the bodice back with right sides together at the shoulders and sides and sew.

Pin the underarms of the sleeves with right-sides together and sew. Then sew the hem of the sleeves.

Turn the bodice of the top inside-out and slide the sleeve inside so that the sleeve and the bodice are right-sides together. Pin, and sew, then sew the hem of the bodice. Clip around the neckline about 1/8” in, especially at curves, and pin down 1/4”. Sew that, and you’re finished!

^^keep your eyes open for a tutorial on how to make this super simple high waisted maxi skirt^^
model photos courtesy of Mariasha Rowland Photography

Happy Sewing!

1

Maternity Photos – Ashley

This beautiful lady is a mama again!

I was so lucky to be a part of her experience being pregnant and even on the day of her delivery! That’s right! I was the official head of the Text Encouragement Committee! Big responsibility. I was in charge of texting things like, “You can do it” and “you can do hard things” and “your body can do this, it’s your mind that’s begging for relief, so tell your mind to shut up because you’re busy having a baby!” Her goal was to have her baby without any pain medications and, with help from her Text Encouragement Committee, she did it! And now she has a beautiful baby boy to snuggle and hold!

But before baby brother made his big debut, Ash and I got together to document the precious time he spent safe in her tummy (er. uterus).

Taking photos of Ash was exhilarating! Just about every shot was a keeper! Taking photos with the girls was a little trickier, but after a little prompting, encouragement, Princess Role Playing, and maybe a TINY bit of bribery, we got some good ones!

 

Thank you so much for letting me document this precious time of you and your family’s life! I can’t believe you’re a mama to a baby BOY now! It’s amazing how one day you’re a mom of two and the next, you’re a mom of THREE! You are amazing! I can’t wait to meet the little man himself!

Susan is a birth photographer/videographer serving Mesa, Arizona and surrounding cities including Chandler, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Scottsdale, and Tempe. Considering a photographer for your birth? Contact Susan for EDD availability.

1

Tutorial: Periwinkle Swing Dress

One of my favorite bloggers is Jackie Welling of Little J Style. I LOVE her style! A month or so ago she wore a black swing dress that I knew I had to recreate! I hopped on over to my favorite fabric store and found just the right fabric in the LOVELY shade of periwinkle, and I have decided it is my new favorite color.

On a scale of Beginner-Expert, I’d say this dress is on the lower end of intermediate, only because there are sleeves and you have to draft your own pattern, but if you’ve had some experience sewing and want to get into creating your own patterns, this dress would be a great place to start!

You will need:

2.5 yards cotton jersey-knit fabric (WASH FIRST!)

Measuring tape

Model shirt

Pattern paper (crepe paper works great!)

 

*cut and sew with 1/2” seam allowance

Find a shirt that you like the fit of to create your new pattern. Fold it in half and align the fold with the edge of your pattern paper. Trace the shirt with a 1/2” buffer for your seam allowance (trace following the armpit seam, not the entire sleeve). Make a front and a back piece.

Measure from the neckline of the shirt down to your knee and subtract 2”. Draw a line on your pattern paper at that length (away from the folded edge). Measure around your true waist and divide by two. Extend your hem-line out to that measurement (so the hem of your skirt will be double your waist on the front piece and back piece). Connect your hem line to the rest of the pattern, diagonally from the hem up to just below your arm pit.

Now for the sleeves. I gathered my sleeves slightly, but for the purpose of simplicity, I’ll explain how to do a regular sleeve. I’ll post a tutorial for how to make a gathered sleeve eventually.

So, with your model shirt sleeve folded in half, align the fold with the edge of your pattern paper and trace the sleeve with a 1/2” buffer for seam allowance, but subtract 2” from the sleeve length.

Pin your pattern paper to your fabric and cut out the front and back of your dress as well as your sleeves.

Next, cut two pieces of fabric that are the length of your hem (just in the front) and 6” wide. Now cut two pieces of fabric that are as long as bicep of your shirt sleeve and 6” wide. Finally, cut one more piece that is the length of the distance around the neckline and 2” wide. Fold all of these pieces in half, wrong-sides together, hot-dog style (long edges touching) and iron to make a fold.

Pin the front piece to the back piece, right-sides together at the shoulder seam and sew.

Pin the sleeve to the front and back piece as shown in the picture with right-sides together, and sew.

Pin the folded sleeve hem (the piece that is as long as the sleeve bicep and 6” wide that you folded and ironed) to the sleeve with right-sides together and sew.

Pin the folded hem piece to the hem of the dress with right-sides together and sew (SUPER SIMPLE HEMS!)

Pin along the sleeve underarm and sides of the dress (right-sides together) and sew.

Unfold the neckline piece and pin the two shorter ends, right-sides together. Sew.

Turn neckline piece right-side out and fold again. Pin the neckline piece along the neckline of the dress, right-sides together, with the neckline piece seam in the center of the back, and stretch the neckline piece to fit around the dress neckline. Sew with 1/2” seam allowance, then trim down to 1/4” and clip around curves.

And you’re done!

^^ By-the-way, this Skip Hop Diaper bag is amazing!^^
All photos are c/o Mariasha Rowland Photography

Wondering where that green and navy blue fabric in the tutorial photos went? Click here.

2