Kisses for the Babies

This week I went to visit two of my friends who have had babies recently.  I was curious to see how Bea would react when I had another baby in my arms since I really haven't had that opportunity lately.  I was pleasantly surprised when Bea was so gentile and kind to the babies in my arms.  She very softly patted their heads, gave them tender hugs and then turned away to go play.  I was so relieved that she didn't immediately defend her territory. 

She got two baby dolls for Christmas and she's slowly getting more interested in them and is getting a little less interested in only boyish toys.  This morning she clearly said "baby" and has been walking around carrying her babies and a little purse around the house. 

Until yesterday morning Bea had never really understood the action of kissing.  Never closed her mouth, puckered, no suction, etc.  Yesterday I caught her hugging her baby next to the ottoman and I saw her repeatedly kissing her baby when she got totally carried away with it, leaned back, lost her balance and fell to the ground on her back.  I ran over and she looked like she was in shock, unsure about what happened.  Since then she's been kissing my head, kissing Henry and kissing her babies all over the place.  The cutest thing about the whole thing was the repeated kissing sounds she was making.  She just gets more lovable every minute!

Best snowsuit ever created

Bea inherited this 12 year old hand-me-down pink snowsuit from her cousin that has been the biggest blessing for Bea this winter.  It's for a 12 month old so it has soft feet and probably wasn't meant for bombing around in but our tiny little girl can really book it in her suit.  The great thing is that it makes her look wider than she is tall.  Everyone who has the chance to see her in the suit bursts out laughing and wants to squeeze her fluff.

 This photo clearly illustrates Bea's horrible underbite.  There could be some serious head gear in her future!

She spent many contented hours outside during Christmas wearing this suit and has never cried from the cold when bundled up in it.  She doesn't even mind the mitten ends which don't allow for any hand movement.  Her favorite thing to do is lay on the ground and eat the snow straight from the ground or from Gammie and Grandpa's pond(yuk).

When all the other little kids were crying as they struggled to walk on the ice or through the snow, Bea found it quite entertaining to fall on the ice since there was no way to get hurt in her suit.  She willingly puts it on and all she wants to do is walk around in the snow for hours.  Good thing it's going to snow all day tomorrow so we can have fresh snow to play in and for Bea to eat.

Christmas Dress Inspiration from Heaven

I knew I wanted to make a dress for Bea for Christmas and I had already bought the fabric a couple weeks ago and it had been staring me in the face every time I walked into the sewing room(that barely gets used).  I began the dress on Saturday late morning the day before she was supposed to debut it the Sunday before Christmas and I had no idea what I was going to make.  I learned from my good friend Cynthia about just putting something together without a pattern so I started with a band around the middle and the straps over the shoulders and then I had to leave until 11pm on a date with Justin.  While I was on my way to pick up the babysitter I had a revelation about how the dress would look.  My heart was pounding and my adrenaline was pumping.  I didn't even want to go on my date but I couldn't back out.  I came home, began sewing and it all just came together like I was a pro.  I was all but finished with the last details around 2am and it was exactly what I had imagined.  The finishing touches were put on the dress five minutes before we had to leave for church and I ended up tying down the top to the straps and tucking in the corners to make it rounded.  Now it's perfect.  I just love the big pleats.

A few things need to be changed with the design, like it would have been nice if I could have measured Bea before starting or during construction because it was supposed to be more like a wrap dress in the back but I ended up having to sew snaps on the back.  I'll make another and measure it out better.  The idea was that the dress could somewhat adjustable so she could grow with it but it's exactly her size.  Luckily she hasn't grown in about 6 months so maybe she'll be able to wear it for a few more months. 

If you love this dress as much as I do, I'll make you one for a small fee.  I need the sewing practice!