1 Year

Today was Chase's 1 year birthday...


I can't believe how fast it has gone by. It feels like we were in the hospital with him just yesterday. I feel so lucky to be Chase's mom - there really isn't anything that can compare to a mother's love.


Some of my favorite things about the last year:
- Delivery itself - it was so exciting and amazing
- Holding Chase for the very first time
- Chase's tiny hands and feet
- The way Chase buries his face against me when he is giving me hugs
- Chase's open mouth kisses
- The Yum Yum dance
- Checking on Chase while he sleeps
- All of the firsts - rolling, crawling, walking, words, waving, etc.
- Naked baby after a bath
- Chase's soft fluffy hair
- The way babies smell
- How Chase loves tags more than anything else
- Watching my parents with Chase
- Pretty much just about everything!


I can't imagine going back to life before Chase....

What a Cute Birthday Boy

This weekend was Chase's 1st birthday party. His Grammy hosted the party and it was a huge success. He got a ton of amazing gifts including a convertible, a hand painted wagon, lots of books, a ball toy, balloons, bubbles, an ATV, and a penguin pillow. He is such a spoiled kid.

The funniest thing is that I think Chase takes after Boris when it comes to cleanliness. We could not get him to dive into the cake! Grammy had to break it into pieces for him and even then he stayed pretty clean.

Check out the rest of Chase's birthday pictures at his website.

Choo Choo Sugar Bomb

I made Chase's 1 year birthday cake last night! I borrowed the cake train pan from a friend and I was very pleased with the final results. I think it is adorable, although with all of that candy on the cake it is certainly sugar filled! The one thing I did learn was that I think I over filled the pan a bit and had to cut off the train bottoms - but it worked out alright. The best advice I had for doing a cake like this was to grease the heck out of the pan...

Family Night Out

Boris, Chase, and I had some quality family time on Tuesday. We went to the mall and ate soft pretzels followed by a trip to The Counter for milk shakes, ham and cheese sandwiches, fries, onion strings, and sweet potatoe fries. It wasn't exactly a nutrious night but we had a lot of fun. Chase loves going for walks and being outside now so he enjoyed the new outdoor addition to Park Meadows. Boris and I also ended up investing in some new fleece lined Crocs (which Boris likes to refer to as Cr-Ugs). They are amazing! I highly recommend them to everyone - it is well worth the money.

Cute Chase Update: Chase's favorite word right now is Uh-Oh! He doesn't exactly use it right - just about everything is UH-OOHHHHHHH! It is adorable! He is also getting so close to walking! Yesterday he took 4 steps...so close...

Ouchy!

Poor Chase! He had his first accident today, he fell and cut his lip on his tooth. His poor lip is all swollen and bloody! I feel so bad for him. He cried a lot when it happened but he seems to be doing better.

There is something about seeing your child injured that just breaks your heart. I wanted to do something to fix it so bad but there wasn't really anything I could do other then snuggle him. How am I going to survive all of his future accidents?!

PS. Chase is pretty much walking now!!!

Embroidered Onesie

I finally figured out how to embroider onesies on my embroidery machine!


Things that I learned:
1) Use a sticky stabilizer - otherwise the fabric tends to bunch and shift
2) Use a water soluble stabilizer on top of the fabric to keep the threads from sinking into the onesie
3) Hoop the onesie and then flip it inside out to keep the back out of the way
4) The back is pretty rough after being stitched so it probably needs some kind of backing on it - I still have to figure out what kind of product I want to use for that


In general I am pretty pleased with the final product!

Where to Start...

I haven't blogged in so long I don't know where to start! So this blog is going to be comprised of a bunch of random thoughts. Also check out my crafting blog - I've actually had time to finish a few projects lately.

Ignoring the Budget:
So Boris and I are suppose to be budgeting (mainly because we are moving Chase to a new daycare that is insanely expensive - what a parent won't do for their child...). Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try I can't seem to control myself lately. I just keep spending spending spending. Some of my more recent purchases included:
- a new pocket camera (I am tired of always hauling my SLR around)
- a penguin costume for Chase for Halloween
- new pants for Chase
- some Old Navy clothes for everyone in the family
- crafting supplies
- Zoo pass for Chase's birthday
- there are also these necklaces that my friend showed me and I'm sure I'll cave soon and purchase one of those also


Chase Update:
Chase has been adorable lately. He has taken a few steps and he learned how to drink from a straw. I can't wait until he is full on walking. He is getting to be so big - I think he will even need a hair cut soon!

Health Update:
I'm still sick - and it still makes me miserable. I had a test done where they drew my blood, took out the white blood cells, and then flagged them and re-injected them back into my body to see if they all went to some kind of infected area. It didn't turn anything up but it was the most uncomfortable thing I have ever had to do. It involved 4 attempts at an IV and sitting still for 45 minutes while they scanned my body (and of course in that 45 minutes my limbs all fell asleep and I had an itchy nose etc etc). I am tired of being sick...


Family Update:




My brother in law and his wife had their second baby. I haven't had a chance to see her yet but I guess they named her Sophie... I saw pictures and she looks just like her dad... I guess the Kalikstein genes are rather strong. I'm surprised Chase looks as much like me as he does. Also we went to Boris's grandma's 85th birthday party today. It was very fun - I can't imagine what life will be like when I'm 85...

A Sewing Learning...

Chase absolutely loves tags so I decided that it would be a good idea to make him a tag blanket. It didn't really turn out well and it was a bit of a disaster. A few things I would do differently:

1) Skip the tags on the corners

2) Maybe add some kind of decoration to the fabric

3) Use safety pins to pin the tags rather than straight pins

Yet Another Tote

So I am apparently addicted to totes...


Here is my latest one. I used a heavier fabric which I was pretty happy with and I did a bit more decoration such as the cream stripe on the tote. I also add a bunch of pockets inside so that I can use the tote as a diaper bag. Overall, I think it turned out well.

The Long Weekend

The three day weekend was just what I needed...

Friday - Boris and I went to Barolo Grill which is our all time favorite place to eat. I had Ricotta Gnocci, Mushroom Risotto, and Creme Brulee. The service was amazing as always and the food was just perfect. We even got to take the Porsche to dinner - it was a wonderful night.

Saturday - My mom ended up taking Chase to a birthday party so I got the chance to do some sewing. I made a tote bag and finished a quilt that I have been working on for awhile. Check them out on my crafting blog.

Sunday - Chase and I went with Jamie and Everett to the zoo. It was Chase's first time and he was busy pointing at everything. He enjoyed the train a lot but was terrified of the carousel, can you blame him? Then in the evening Kathy watched Chase for us and Boris and I went out to dinner with friends.

Monday - Boris and I got up early and went to Kohls. We got Chase a new truck which he LOVES. Then we went for a walk and now I am getting some time to catch up on blogging finally!

Overall it was a great weekend.

Also, check out some of the bugs that we found outside our house this morning!

Still No Regrets...

Isn't she lovely!!!

My First Embroidery Project

I finally finished a project using my embroidery machine!


Check out this quilt. It is 40 x 60 which I think is a nice size for a baby quilt or a throw. The front is made of cotton and the back of the quilt is fleece. I have never backed a quilt in fleece before but I was really happy with the results, it made the quilt very snuggly. I did pretty minimal quilting on this because I didn't want to clutter the look of the front, I can't decide if I should add more or not...



Here are some examples of the embroidered blocks. I thought they were perfect for a kid blanket and I love how detailed they are.

Overall the machine was definitely worth getting! I can't wait to finish more projects with it.

Back to Crafting

Well I have finally returned to the crafting world...


Here is the second tote that I have made. I actually like this tote A LOT better than my first attempt. I made it a little wider which I liked and I also made short straps which I think looks better. The only thing I was disappointed in was that I wanted to do a bit of decorative stitching where the two fabrics meet and I forgot. Otherwise I was very happy with the project.