Making.

Rather than spending my free time sleeping like a normal parent of a new baby, I've been spending a lot of time lately making stuff.

One excuse is that I'd been working on this quilt for Cecily since June. To avoid the Wheeler habit of having projects that last for years, I decided to give her the quilt for Christmas (thus making my project last only half a year instead of a whole one--or several). So thus ends my first attempt to make a quilt from beginning to end. (It might also be my last, except that I promised Caleb I'd make him a quilt, too. Think I can get it done in time for his birthday?) My quilting is pretty loose and large, but the back is fuzzy and yellow, so it all evens out.

Another excuse is that it was Christmas. And buying a lego table costs anywhere from $150 to well over $200. Making a lego table costs under $40--unless you decide to add a magnetic strip and some magnetic jars (which we did). The expense (in case you're wondering) is in the lego boards (32 bucks! It's like they're made out of something other than plastic!).

My final excuse is that I couldn't find a blessing dress I liked for a price I wanted to pay. So I bought a pattern for $1, found fabric I loved for $10, bought some ribbon for about $4, and ended up paying $35 less than the dress I liked most. I altered the pattern by shortening it significantly, lining it, not putting on the collar, and adding sashes so it could tie in the back. It did end up a little wide, but that's why I added the sashes: just in case the fit was off. Also, I feel obliged to mention that the pictures don't reveal the dress's humble origins (those being that the sashes got a little wonky when I sewed the sleeves on, a ribbon patch on the skirt's hem to make up for a ribbon shortfall, and perhaps the absolute worst buttonholes ever made). And pardon the dramatic (poor) lighting in the pictures.

Ta-da!

No collar to push up her chins or highlight the fact that babies don't really have necks.

Ribbon on the hem (not the patched part, though).

Sash cleverly tied to hide the worst buttonhole. (But aren't the buttons sweet?)

Flower made by Paul's former roommate's wife. Headband made out of a knee high. Chubby cheeks a result of a lucky roll of genetic dice and lots of milk.