Decembertime

Thanks for everyone's sweet comments on my Ivey post. The vet said he was 99% sure it was some kind of congenital heart defect that she was born with or developed along the way. Another cause could  have been a tumor or cancer however because she showed no symptoms of anything, the heart is probably the cause. We didn't want to do an autopsy so we won't ever know for sure. Bottom line, we couldn't have done anything about it and we gave her the best 6 years of any pet. Lots of attention, a warm place to sleep, food, water and love. But losing a pet is HARD! I have never lost a pet before really. My childhood dog died when I was in my 3rd year of college so I had not lived with her for 3 years. Ivey was with me everyday, she slept with me every night for 6 years. This weekend was really hard for me but this week has been better...and I know it will keep on getting easier and easier to live without her.

Since her passing, Ray has been spoiled rotten! He has been sleeping on the couch all day everyday. We can't bear to make him get down and I only put him outside when I leave or when he has to go to the bathroom. It s ridiculous but I just want to let him do whatever he wants. Life's too short. I'm sure I will get tired of him on our furniture soon but for now, he can do no wrong.

Moving on...
I think I bypassed a 5 month post for Will. Here he is in the exersaucer. We started him in this at about 4 1/2 months and he likes it OK. He definitely prefers his jumper still but he can sit in this about 15 mins.
His schedule is pretty much the same as it was at 4 months except we are feeding him solids now. He eats about 3 oz of food 2 times a day. Lunch and dinner. We just introduced green beans this past week and boy does he hate them. T and I make him eat them though. I really want him to eat and learn to like green veggies. T and I love veggies and we eat green beans all the time so it is super easy to fix them for Will when they are always in our freezer! Will is still taking 3 naps a day but he is not as regular with them now. Sometimes it takes him a while to go to sleep or he will wake up after only 1 hour. I think that at 5 1/2 months he maybe getting closer to dropping one soon. But the thing is, if I try to keep him up he is fussy. He is just in between stages I think.

Also, I have also been working on a fun project! Ta-da!
My first smocked longall! My friend Carrie helped me start this and piece it together but now that I've done it once, I can't wait to try it again with picture smocking. I started off with this geometric smock, which is easy. I will say that getting the pleated material together and preparing it to be smocked is a little tricky. The actual smocking is the easy part. Putting it together is not too hard though. Except for the piping. I've got to buy a special foot for my machine to do this on my own. I borrowed Carrie's for this project.
The smocking is addictive! I loved it!
I ended up smocking the insert last week and then Carrie came over Friday to help me put the front piece together. It was great timing b/c Ivey had just passed away and it gave me something to work on this weekend to keep my mind off things. This longall is blue corduroy with matching smocking thread. I think it turned out really well for my first smock. It is far from perfect, so don't look too close! I already have ideas for a couple of other outfits. Smocked outfits may have to be a one time a season kind of deal. They are a lot of work and are time consuming, but fun. I have an idea for another longall and a summer birthday outfit bubble. So hopefully I can get those done during the winter. It will be nice to have something to work on when we are cooped up inside during these cold months.

Hope you are having a wonderful December. I'm still trying to finish up C'mas shopping and making goodies to take to events. I'm really craving time alone with God though and focusing on what the season is all about. I love going to our church during the month of December. The first weekend of December the Christian group FFH came to our church to play. They were amazing, so talented! Being led in worship by such talented artists is always a plus. This weekend is the choir's Christmas program, also a great time of worship. Christmas time really makes me want to worship with music more than usual and it is such a blessing to be able to do that. Hope that you all focus on what the season is truly about, the birth of our Savior. The ultimate gift of everlasting life through the death and resurrection of the King of Kings!