Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas. Ours has been almost like any other day other then I have had a headache for most of the day and Kaitlyn acts like she hasn't had a nap.

Last night Neal and I were talking about next year's Christmas. If we were going to be stateside (which we aren't) we would stay home for Christmas. We would put lights on everything along with a ton of garland, and shower the house with snowmen, and any other "Christmas" creatures we could find. Kaitlyn hasn't had a normal Christmas since she arrived and this was her third. Well last year we were at my parents house over Christmas, but when we left England our house sure didn't look like Christmas. We are done with drab Christmases; I want a decked out house.

Today we put all Kaitlyn's presents on the couch and let her have at them. After opening the second doll outfit she decided she was done. We tried to get her to open her Vtech laptop or her gift from Neal's parents, but she didn't want anything to do with them. I knew how she would respond to the doll clothes and she didn't followed it to the "t". Kaitlyn doesn't like change. Some things she is totally good with, but not things like, me making her a new outfit and immediately putting it on her; that isn't okay. She will scream, pull it, say she is "stuck", and basically carry on like she is dying. She was almost as bad with her doll. It was "stuck" in the clothes and had to get out. She adjusts better if I put her doll in something (like the snowsuit) when she is sleeping. When she finds the dressed doll she usually loves it. Mind you the doll isn't naked on a regular bases. Before Kaitlyn turned one I sewed the shorts onto the doll because they kept falling down then I sewed the shirt to the shorts because it kept coming up. Anyway, she opened gifts in about four rounds. Mind you she didn't have a lot of gifts, she just didn't want to open them.

Christmas Eve Babies and Hospital Stays

Because we spent Christmas in the hospital and it felt nothing like Christmas we have talked about doing something every year for the women in the hospital here. Last year we were gone over Christmas, but really debated leaving something in the maternity ward for all the new Christmas and Christmas Eve mommies. We ended up scrapping the idea. I think next year I will plan a bit more in advance on what to do.

Well we were local this year so we bought Christmas cards and simple ornaments to give away. After writing in the card our congratulations on their new bundle, a short story about our stay over Christmas two years ago, we wished them a merry Christmas from our family. I wrapped ribbon around the card with the flat star ornament on top. I curried the ends to make it look like a fun little package. Last night just minutes past the actual time of Kaitlyn's birth I walked into the maternity ward and gave the little gifts to one of the nurses. I explained how we were there over Christmas and it just didn't feel like Christmas. I know we got Kaitlyn and all, but it wasn't the same. Anyway, they said they had two new mommies and two mommies to be currently on the ward. So today at least those four women were given our Christmas gift. I hope next year they choose to give something to the women who will be spending their Christmas in the maternity ward at RAF Lakenheath.

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!!

Today my Christmas Eve baby turned 2!!!
We took her to Burger King for a kids meal then let her open her presents. She was so excited to see Igglepiggle she didn't even car to unwrap UpsyDaisy. We had to motivate her a little.

She is now playing in the community center for the last time. They close in less then 45 minutes until after the holidays. I think we may go for ice cream before Baskin Robbins closes for the holidays.

Moved!

We are out of our rental house. It's good to be done with it. Although I may come up cheap, next time I think I will pay someone a couple hundred dollars to clean the house for me. It would take a load off to knowing once I pack my bags I'm done; the rest would be up to the movers and cleaner. Instead we begged the movers to keep our vacuum until the very end. They were very accomidating. They packed and we cleaned.

Kaitlyn really got into the packing. She thought hiding in the luggage was the best. She cried when we made her get out.

The hotel they put us in is SMALL. I was expecting the two bedroom suites they put family into, but having pets mean we got the shaft.

Here's the tiny bathroom with the little shower.

This is the kitchen with the tiny bar/table. Can you say "family friendly"? Kaitlyn has fallen off those bar stools three times already.

Here's the living room. The TV is on a dresser.

We had to ask for a Kaitlyn friendly bed so the pack-in-play is it. Notice the passing room between the pack-in-play and the bar. I have since moved the dresser over enough and turned the pack-in-play.

A Kiss

Kaitlyn doesn't hand out kisses left and right so when we get one we make a big deal out of it. We do the same kind of song and dance parents do when a child finally uses the potty. Yesterday Kaitlyn came up to me with her lips stuck out. I quickly turned my cheek to her for the impending kiss I was about to receive. As soon as her lips made contact I broke into my normal praise and excitement over receiving a kiss. It goes something like this which is repeated with clapping and happy moves until the point has gotten across, "Oh, thank you, thank you. I got a kiss, I got a kiss..." As soon as I was done with my victory dance Kaitlyn looked at me and sweetly said, "spit". I put my hand on my cheek and sure enough... She didn't kiss me she was spitting on me. Here I had made a big deal about a kiss I never received. Spitting is her new thing; it's blowing bubbles until they slide down her chin usually, but she is working on perfecting her technique.

Riley Top And Bottoms Pattern

Tell me what you think of Kaitlyn's new outfit?
I know you have seen the top before, but now you can see the whole package. I never would have guessed the flowers would have been so easy to put on. I'm now inspired to try appliqueing again. My last go at it was maybe a year ago and it was rough. I've heard several people say how to cheat by using coffee filters and other such random items behind the applique'; I say don't be cheap. Buy yourself some sturdy stabilizer! I used the sew in kind, but I didn't actually sew it on. I put it behind my applique' and held it in place. It made the fabric turn so smoothly. When I was done I tore the stabilizer off the back.


Here's the back. If you don't want to try your hand at button holes you can use snaps or Velcro. If you aren't brave enough to sew in Velcro you can use the iron on kind; I'm not sure how sturdy it would be long term, but you can give it a go.

If you would like to try this fun pattern it will be available soon on You Can Make This and Etsy. Because Christmas is right on top of us the pattern may not be available until after the holidays. I'll let you know when it's published.

Packing up

As of today our Christmas tree is packed. We took it down while Kaitlyn was napping. One thing I just noticed is she hasn't mentioned the missing tree. Neal took all the ornaments and garland off only to find a few unauthorized ornaments. A sippy cup and a couple toys had taken up residence in the tree. I expected it. I told him to give the tree a good shake when he was done, but all he had to do was move the tree.

LOL... I think Neal is going to cry. I just said, "Kaitlyn, where's the tree?" Her eyes got big as she looked around the room saying, "Where's Christmas? Where's Christmas?" Okay, she is still asking. I was laughing to hard as I looked at Neal with pity in his eyes. He had to confirm what she was asking.

Today we sold her Around-We-Go table/activity center. It was a great toy. We finally put it away five months ago because we were having to live with so many toys, not because she stopped playing with it. This morning Neal took it out of the garage, through the house then out to the car. He wasn't quick enough. He left the table top against the couch while he took the base and seat out to the car. When he came back for it, Kaitlyn was watching. He had one side of the table and her the other; she was crying and pulling. I told her we have to say bye-bye to the table and give it to another baby. She wasn't buying it. She wanted her table.

And to keep the post on the sad side, my sewing machine is now packed. =( This morning I shortened the elastic in the neck of a doll top then handed the machine off to Neal to put back in it's original box. I then went through all the craziness on the table and either put it in a large baggy to take with me to Texas or sorted it in my craft bins. Here's the last three doll outfits I made this week.

The jumper is actually on the big side. I'm a bit puzzled at the sizing the author used. The dress underneath should stick out the bottom a little, but there is not way that would happen with as long as the jumper is. I'm glad I ran out of fabric before I could add the ruffle that should be on this jumper. Instead I put fabric around the bottom like binding.

Notice this one looks like the skirt I made Kaitlyn a couple weeks ago. I actually shrunk down the apron from that pattern to make this apron. I had debated putting elastic around the waist of the dress, but didn't do it. Now I wish I had. I think she apron would lay better.

This was my last creation. It's REALLY made up of scraps. I was going to make it all blue with a yellow strip (like is on it), but quickly realized I didn't have enough blue. I hated to use the yellow for the sleeves, but thought it wouldn't look so bad if I put the blue on for both the ruffles and elastic band. The flower on the front was actually on a small piece of scraps I had from making the pants. I was about to throw it away when I got the idea of putting the flower on the top. As you can see I did put the elastic in the chest/waist band this time. I wish I had remembered the pants pattern are a bit long for Kaitlyn's doll. I would have shortened them if I had remembered. Oh, well...

Our week in pictures

This was just to cute not to post

I still need to get Nanette a picture of Kaitlyn in this outfit I made from testing her pattern. I tried to get one this night, but she wouldn't cooperate. It is a really fun pattern. I was picturing making the top again and pairing it up with a twirl skirt.

Mmmm... Shrimp. I love shrimp. However, I can no longer eat any one's shrimp, but mine and my mom's. Sure people take the vein out... I'm not buying it. I buy shrimp where the vein is supposed to be gone then pop off the tails, finish slicing down the back with a paring knife, and dig out the remains of the vein. Did you know in the tail area the vein looks like a deflated balloon? If you didn't know that, but you regularly eat shrimp you should stop. You are eating the shrimp's colon and that is gross.

It was just to inviting not to crawl in

Sitting on her riding toy while surrounded by coats, scarves, gloves and hats

Talking to Nana while singing,

K: Eyes

Me: For looking

K: Ears

Me: For listening

K: Mouth

Me: For speaking. And brains for thinking. Eyes, and ears, and mouth and brains(!) are what you need, you need to play the game.

Dinner Party Frock Giveaway!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!
Check out this cute party dress. Can you picture Kaitlyn wearing it while egg hunting? Actually, she will probably have the spica cast on over Easter, but at least her upper half would look cute.

Stash Diving

How often do you dive into your notions stash when making an outfit? Or even try out some the special stitches on your sewing machine? Yesterday I poked through everything, cut out the pattern, then I couldn't find my Wonder Under so I decided that meant I was done for the night. After church I got back on my project.

I used some ric-rac for the stem of my flower and used Wonder Under to put the flower and leaf on the top. I was impressed how well the zig-zag stitch went around the flower. I used tear away stabilizer for the first time and it worked like a dream.

Here's what it looks like with the finished bottom portion (pockets). Crude as it may be the four buttons on the bottom right is a butterfly. I sewed the dark blue ric-rac onto the pocket. I actually used a double seam on the top of the pocket so the ric-rac would be more stable.

I layered a second flower onto the top. After ironing it on I measured out my ric-rac again and heat sealed the ends. Did you know you could heat seal the ends of ric-rac? It really helped with the fraying.

And here I was finally finished with all my additions so I could sew it all together. Please excuse the blue lines on the pocket. I wanted to make sure I sewed them straight so I drew lines on with a washable pen.

Here's my first set of button holes and buttons on a garment. I love how easy it is to make button holes with my new machine. I put the special foot on, line it up, and press the petal. Before long I have button hole. I also used the sewing machine to put the buttons on.

My last picture is the completely finished top. Tomorrow I will make pants out of the same blue fabric in the flowers. I'm wanting to put pink flowers on the pants too. I just have to decide how I want them to look.

Random Projects and Makka Pakka

Today I made the bloomers for the doll dress I made a few days ago. I know what took so long. Using the pants pattern it was really easy. I'm glad I made them.

I know I bought this fabric for two different projects, but I'm going to use some of it to test Nanette's new pattern. I thought it could be fun colors to mix and match. I have yet to decided exactly which two will be used for the top. Now ask me why I didn't wash it until today? I have no idea. I went to cut out the fabric and noticed my slacking made me put the project off yet again.

You may not be able to see this picture well. If you are really curious you can click on the picture to make it larger. Today's activities consisted of trying out my two different button hole options and sewing on a button. I'm impressed how well it sewed the button on. Now do I dare try it on my coat? It needs two buttons sewn back on. My machine has auto tension. The manual says if you are going to use the satin stitch to adjust the tension. Well I played with it, but found it to pucker less if you leave the tension alone.

And finally for my family members who were wondering what or who Makka Pakka is... Well, take a look for yourself.

He's from the a British children's TV show call In The Night Garden (ITNG). He says his famous lines along with his theme song. All the ITNG characters have their own song. We also have Upsy Daisy and Igglepiggle, but we haven't given them to her yet. She will get those for her birthday. We gave her this one last night after we picked him up.

Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip or DDH

I'm not sure how to start this or even if I want to. Oh, let me start at the end then go to the beginning.

Two days ago the term Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) came into our lives. Actually the doctor said Hip Dysplasia which led to a lot of interesting sites about dog hips. Once he gave me the full term in kicked all the dogs out of my searches. Now back to the beginning...

Kaitlyn started pulled up at 7.5 months. She probably would have been walking at 10 or 11 months if her gait wasn't off so much. She didn't actually walk in public without me being afraid of her falling every other step until she was about 14 months. When she first pulled up, like most babies, she was on the balls of her feet. She finally wised up and put her left heel down. However her right heel stayed up. Back around May (17 months old) I took her to EDIS where little kids go if they need special help in different areas like eating, speech, and so forth. The nurse checked Kaitlyn out making sure she didn't have a tight tendon pulling her heel up. After a couple exercises she said Kaitlyn was fine just doing it out of habit. For over an hour she showed me different things to do to get her heel down. I went home to work on it. A month later she called me to see if I wanted to set up another appointment. I told her I didn't feel she could show me anything more that would actually help so I declined. Basically, I'm pushing her heel down like the nurse told me too and going back to learn more ways to push her heel down didn't sound like it would make any difference. Seeing how I expected her to be walking long before her first birthday I was a bit concerned when she was delayed. At every well baby check up from 12 months on I asked the pediatrician about her gait. They all pushed the problem off as something she would grow out of, a habit, her being cute and quirk (what???) and so on. We took her in at different times for vaccinations outside of her appointments and even mentioned it then. I got nowhere enough that I began to believe them that yes, she will grow out of it; however I would still mention it so they would make note in her file that it's still an ongoing problem.

Over this past month I've started to become really concerned. She will be two on Christmas Eve and she is still walking on her toe. I was expected by what the nurse at EDIS said, that she would put her heel down by two. I really started working with her on it. I noticed while she was on the changing table if I pushed her heel down she would squat. Her being "cute and quirky" wasn't sounding so legit anymore. I had real problems getting her to stand as she should. Mind you she has the ability to have both feet flat on the ground when standing still, but she still favors the left side.

Armed with a determination to get answers before we PCS out of here I made an appointment just for her walking issue. Wednesday I took Kaitlyn to see a pediatric doctor we haven't seen before. At first he checked her tendons then started to give me the same answers everyone before him did. Then I began to tick off different things I've observed like pushing her heel down and her squatting. Suddenly he became more serious. With her sitting in his lap he checked her leg length. He flipped her on her tummy to see if her crack was straight. Now how many people look at their child's crack to see if it's straight? He asked me if it was before he checked. Even if I ever thought it was, which I didn't, I wouldn't even consider it being a symptom. Could you picture that conversation, "hey doc her crack goes to the left..." Anyway, it is off. Now when I look at it I can tell it isn't perfectly straight at the top. He then laid her on the examining table and pushed her knees up. He pointed out how her right heel was closer to her rear then her left. Her left knee was noticeably higher then her right. He immediately sent us to get a x-ray.

Yesterday the doctor called to confirm she has DDH on the right side. I was very confused how it could be the right side seeing how the leg appears shorter on that side. I kept picturing us having the hip put back in the socket and the leg being even shorter. With all my searching last night I discovered the top of the femur is actually to the side and higher then the socket. It was like a big "oooooh, I get it" when I read that. Suddenly it made more since why her right leg is shorter (in appearance only), she walks on the ball of her right foot, and even the creases on the back of her skinny legs when she was a baby.

For those who don't know it (I didn't) the creases on a baby's leg should be the same on both legs. I don't mean if there are two on one leg there should be two on the other. I mean lay the child on their tummy. You should be able to draw a straight line across both legs starting with one leg crease and ending with the crease on the other leg. If the creases do not go straight across there is a problem. A leg pushed up out of the socket like Kaitlyn's will basically have everything more compacted possibly causing more creases or at least putting them in different places then the other leg. Another way to tell if something might be wrong is putting the child on a flat surface on their back. Push their feet up to their rear equally; are their knees the same height? Of course the crack check, is it straight. Does the child's hips pop? Kaitlyn's did for a time. It concerned me, but I didn't know how serious it was. Is the child's gait off?

Hip Dysplasia is more common in:

• Firstborns


• Girls


• Breech births or babies who were breech for long periods of time during the last three months of the pregnancy


• Heredity

Kaitlyn has at least two out of the four markers. I have no idea if she was breech until close to the end. I asked at several appointments and was told she was head down. I don't know of anyone in my family with the problem, but maybe in Neal's. I really don't know though.

If I knew this was a real problem and something that needed to be caught early (BTW, catching it at 2 isn't early) I would have been checking Kaitlyn myself. If all the pediatricians she saw up to six months old would have noticed the problem we could have put her in a sling/brace and corrected the problem early. If it would have been caught before she was 18 months old they would have sedated her, put the hip in place, then put a full body cast on her for a couple months. Now she must endure at least one surgery and a full to partial body cast. It needs to be done ASAP as the longer it goes on the more damage is done to her hip. The doctor told me yesterday her hip wasn't properly formed. I'm really curious how off it is.

Here's Kaitlyn with her new doll bed last night. She was all smiles until I pulled out the camera... as usually. You have to wonder if she thinks that is how we put her to bed. Notice the yellow arm sticking out from under the pink blanket. She completely covered her baby up other then the arm.

I Want A B**B Job

While looking through Christmas songs I came across the song I Want A B**B Job For Christmas. I laughed so hard when I heard the song. Sure it has some blushing moments, but it's really funny. In the spirit of keep Christmas time playful the song will be playing on my blog for the next couple weeks. I will probably switch it back to something "normal" before we move stateside in a couple weeks. However if you want a chuckle turn up your volume. If you are offended you can either scroll down to the bottom of the page and hit the pause button on the player, hit mute on your keyboard (if you have that option), or turn your speakers down. However it's a funny song. If I could have a b**b job for Christmas... Well, it's not secret I would like my girls back in their rightful place restored to their former glory. LOL...

For those who wonder why I'm spelling the word b**b that's because there are a lot of perverts who do searches under that word. As much as possible I want to limit how many pervs hit my site. I got a lot of hits when I wrote about Kaitlyn's b**b fascination. I didn't realize at first it was freaks coming to my site.

Now Grandma click on the link at the bottom of this email (she gets each post automatically sent to her when I hit publish) so you can hear the b**b song. You will get a good chuckle out of it.

Kaitlyn's New Skirt

For all who have admired the skirt I made for Kaitlyn last week the pattern is now available on You Can Make This. I was one of the testers so I got a sneak peak at the ebook. It has fun options to change it up and make it uniquely your own. This pattern was made by Aimee' with Sew Sensible. I have several of her patterns and they are all great.

Tomorrow I'm going to test another ebook. Our printer is packed so I've had to wait two agonizing days until I can go to base and print the pattern off. I also need to go pick up some buttons for it. I'm excited to get started and see what fun things I can do with the pattern. Nanette always give you a great pallet to be creative with. I made her Dee Dee dress over the summer.

Doll Dress

I made Kaitlyn's doll a dress today and I'm not happy with it. I finished it a few minutes ago. I used the same pattern I've been using for all the tops. I decided where I wanted the ruffles to begin and started cutting the bottom of the dress off in 1.5" strips. I sewed on a ruffle, then a 1.5" strip, then ruffle #2, then a 1.5" strip, then ruffle #3. I now wished I wouldn't have gone with the size of ruffles the dress/top calls for. I think they are a bit long. I also don't like how wide the top is without the ruffles. Anyway, it's so wide and a bit on the short side that I'm thinking about making some of the pants without the ruffles and adding elastic to make bloomers.

I took this picture right before taking Kaitlyn up to bed. She is such a stinker. She won't smile for the camera. I know what you're thinking, "she's smiling here". If you try to tickle her or go to tickle her she will smile for you and hold it long enough for you to take a picture. That's the only way I can get her to smile for the camera.

Our house is cold!!! Brrr... I really did just shiver. What stinks is our heat has been on all day yet the house has stayed a bit drafty. On weather.com it says it's 31 here, feels like 24 and will be down to 26 tonight. Brrr.... We really need it to warm up. Start praying now that it will be in the 40s (at least) when we fly out of here. If it's below 20 there is no way for us to fly the dogs out. We have to get the vet to sign a form allowing them to fly below 45 degrees. Mind you all of that is talking about the ground temp. They don't want your pet sitting on the tarmac freezing awaiting to be loaded. Poor Kensey, he gets cold easy. I wish they would allow him to wear a sweater, but they won't.

Today's Accomplishments

I've been kicking tail today and just had to share a couple photos. Alright now that I take the picture it doesn't seem so much like kicking tail. Here they are anyway...
The flash is killing the colors of this pillowcase dress and pants. Today I finished the dress and made the pants. In the past I put elastic between the main fabric and the cuff of the pants. as of right now I'm leaving these like they are. **edit** I forgot to add these are Boutique Bottoms by Sew Sensible.

This doll outfit is the same as the one I made yesterday other then I shorten the pants 1" so it won't cover the dolls feet.

My other accomplishment was sewing up some pants of mine. *insert blushing* Last week I was dressing for church when I decided to iron my pants (thank God). While straightening my pants I noticed there was a hole in the rear. For heaven's sake if I hadn't ironed the pants I would have worn them that way. I'm so glad I took a moment to look less frumpy. Well today I restored my black dress pants to their former glory with an extra seam as back up. =)