Burp rags for great moms

I know several wonderful women who all had babies about the same time that Claire was born. I was literally watching blogs and Facebook and emails from late June through early September to hear good news from friends. Before Claire was born, I decided to made these embellished towels for everyone. Sadly, I just finished them and am mailing everything out tomorrow. Better late than never though.

I found these towels online. They are also called flour sack towels. They are PERFECT for burp clothes. I got two sizes - one the size of a large burp cloth and the other the size of a receiving blanket. I embellished each with some fabric and then added embroidery to each. I had never embroidered before, so these were my first experiments. I found out that I love it.

So never fear, ladies! Your gifts will be mailed out tomorrow! Keep an eye out in your mailbox Kim, Lisa, Diane and Jenny. Now you just have to figure out which one is yours...

The bouncy seat must be comfy

I've discovered that my new favorite thing to do is find pictures of Claire that look just like pictures that I had taken of Sophia.

Sleeping in and housework

I love it when Brett comes home from his work week. But even better is when he comes home early, we get an extra afternoon to play, we all sleep through the night, and then we all lay around in our pajamas until noon the next day. Brett ended up coming home about 9 hours earlier than normal last Friday, so it's like we got an extra day with him. We all ended up sleeping well that night, and in the morning, we all ended up in our bed by the middle of the morning. The girls were in great moods, which made for a great picture moment.

The weather was great on Saturday, so I opened up all the windows in the house. The fresh air must have knocked Claire out because she slept for about 3 hours that afternoon. I did laundry, which is my normal Saturday chore, and Brett tackled the brakes on my car which have been squeaking like the dickens since we got the brakes changed back in, oh, May-ish. Sophia woke up from her nap, so I put her straight in her bathing suit so she could help Brett wash the car. She ended up washing a car and taking lug nuts off a few tires. "Lug nuts" is her new word now. Comes out clear as day when she says it. Anyway, it was a fun day. Nice to have all the family together and relaxing.

BIG thank yous for all the new quilts

With the birth of our little Claire came the plethora of blankets. Some mothers hate being inundated with blankets every time they have a baby. I, on the other hand, LOVE IT. I love taking these beautiful, handmade blankets and quilts and completely covering the floor in the living room and lettin the girls play and roll around on them. That's what these blankets are made for - to be USED!

The first two quilts in the pictures are from my aunts on my dad's side of the family. My Aunt Anne made the one for Sophia, which she loves. We were opening up the package for her, and Sophia looked at the fabric and yelled, "Fish!" (It comes out more like "Sish!" because she can't quite say her "f" sounds yet.)

The second quilt for Claire is so pretty. My Aunt Anne quilted it, and she and my Aunt Marg put together the fabric when they were visiting about a month ago. I love all the prairie points on it. I didn't have any plans for what to do in Claire's room, but the quilt is now my inspiration. I went out and found the same fabric that is in the quilt, and I'm going to applique some khaki-colored curtains that are just taking up space in our linen closet.

The third quilt was made by all the quilting group ladies from NY. What a great surprise! We were all working on a quilt for another woman in the group who was also expecting (she and I were due on the same day), and I REALLY hoped they would made one for me. I should have taken a picture of the back too because there is this cute duck with an umbrella that is appliqued on the back. It's so cute! Thank you Kathie, Lynn, and Diane!

Claire's Baptism

Claire Elizabeth Musick
Baptized September 13, 2009
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church
Carmel, Indiana


My mom and I are dressing Claire in the baptismal gown that my great-great-grandfather made from my great-great-grandmother's wedding slip. My grandmother was baptized in it, my mother was baptized in it, myself and all of my siblings have been baptized in it, and both Sophia and Claire have been baptized in it. Wow. That's a lot of history in one small piece of clothing. Amazing.



I don't think Claire was too keen on the cold water because she started crying here and didn't stop until the entire baptism was over.



Godparents! My good friend, Cindy, and my brother-in-law, Louis.

Which is which?

I love looking at pictures of Claire and finding pictures of Sophia in the same pose. And then, we play the "Which Baby is Which?" game. I love it! So...which baby is which? I bet you can guess...just look at the next posting.

Playing catch up

Once again, I misplaced the download cable to my digital camera, so I couldn't post any pictures for quite a while. Let's just look at some pictures for now, and I'll catch everyone up in picture caption format.


Does anyone remember those "paint with water" books that you used to be able to get? I finally found some for Sophia. She's really been getting in to the whole coloring/drawing/painting thing lately, and the books I found we Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Club books. For those of you who what the Disney channel with your toddler on any morning during the week, you know how crucial these shows are! Sophia really likes her "painting" books - an artist in the making.




See? Artist in the making, and she's even showing her sister how to do it.



Visit with Great Grandpa Musick.


Naptime wasn't happening this day. Can you tell?



Not sure what Sophia was doing with her duck here, but she was awfully proud of it.








Claire has officially become a thumb-sucker, and it's always her left thumb. Maybe we'll have a lefty in the family.







Claire took a 4-hour nap this day and was in an amazing mood!











I was working on my computer and sitting on my bed, when Sophia walks over to me and said, "Mommy! Hat!" Hilarious! Wasn't too proud that I had eaten that entire 2 lb bag of Twizzlers by myself, but still, it was funny.