Generations

When Jessica was born, my dad custom built a cradle to be used for all of my babies. When Hailey outgrew the cradle, we disassembled it, packed it away and moved it from house to house, state to state. Now that I'm in the grandparent stage, we pulled it out of storage, found all the parts and hardware and brought it down to Orem last week. It's now on its 2nd generation of Taylor babies. Evie has been sleeping in it and will probably fit for several months.

Here is a picture of Jessica at one day old, right after dad assembled it.  Dec 29, 1989

Here is a picture of Evie at 1 week old, after I assembled it. March 28, 2011

 I can't wait to see the grandkids' grandkids lying in it.

Thanks Grandpa!

PhotoTherapy

Evie came home from her pediatrician's visit on Friday with the recommendation (read commandment) from the doctor that she have phototherapy due to her high bilirubin levels. Her Friday levels were 19.? and they need to be below 12. The bili light guy brought the bili bed Friday evening and we had her under the lights for a couple of hours. Saturday morning levels were 17.5. Definitely an improvement, especially for such a short exposure. Sunday's levels were 12.9, after all of Saturday under the lights. Great! We're taking her in to the lab this afternoon and we're hoping they are well below 12, since she's spent the better part of the last 2 days under them. You can see from these pictures taken Thursday evening that she was definitely yellowed. (Contrast against Hailey's pink skin.)

Evie didn't like the goggles that were sent with the bili bed. She kicked and screamed and hissed and spit and pushed them up over her eyebrows. When we took them away, she settled right down and actually napped for hours at a time under the lights without a peep. The improvement is incredible--and obvious. We know it's because of the phototherapy, but also prayers offered in her behalf.

 

I'll take more pix after Evie wakes up, to show her pretty, pink skin.

Later:
The bili levels are down to 10.6 today. Yay! Here are some pix to show off her lovely, pink complexion.

Playing at Evie's House

I'm spending the week (or however long) in Orem, playing at Evie's house. Evie's mommy called  me Monday (right after the last post, as it turns out,) to say that they were at the hospital and that Evie was on her way. She was born Monday night at 11:30. She weighed 6# 3 oz, is 18" long and has dark brown hair and blue eyes. She looks like her daddy. Her hair is sniffable. Mmmm.

Tad, Hailey and I came down Thursday and I'll be here for several days. We still haven't painted our toenails or braided each other's hair, but we have stayed up all night and eaten fun food. Later we'll talk about boys, make popcorn and watch movies.

Sick...Tired...Still Here

I'm not going to apologize. I'm just sick. I have been for 2 weeks. I've been to the doctor, I'm on meds, I'm just waiting for them to truly kick in. I know that it can take time for them to work, but I want instant results. I want to be well already. I have a good motivation to be well. I know that if I'm sick, I can't go play at Evie's house. I want to go play at Evie's house. It will be fun. We'll have a slumber party, stay awake all night, eat fun food, talk about boys, paint our toenails and braid each other's hair. That's why I have to hurry and get well, because when Evie's mom says it's OK to have our sleepover, I'll be there. It'll be fun. Hurry, Evie's mom, hurry and call and tell me it's time to come and play.

Done and Done

I finished both the quilt tops, quilt #1 ( which was really quilt #2) and quilt #2 (quilt #1) and they both look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Obviously, there are lots of flaws in both, but they are done, and now I just need to get them layered with batting and backing, and quilted. And bound. But for me, the hard part is done.

Here is yesterday afternoon's effort--

the sashing strips around and between quilt blocks on the original, favorite blocks

 and today, I added the border strips.

Same fabric, just making it large enough to fit a crib size batting and backing

and the second quilt, with all the sashing pieces and corner blocks, with the borders around it, also large enough to fit crib, batting and backing.

Done, and it's not even lunch time!

A Good Morning's Work

I psyched myself up, put on my Big Girl panties and got back to work on the baby quilts this morning. I cut the newly purchased peach fabric into 3 1/2"x 12 1/2" strips and sewed them to the blocks for Quilt #2. I'm doing quilt #2 first so that I can make all my mistakes on it, since it doesn't have my favorite blocks in it. Now I'm ready to start work on quilt #1, but here is proof of my efforts...

 Quilt blocks with peach sashing strips in between them,

 Quilt block strips with sashing strips and corner block strips laid between them,

and the finished quilt top.

 I still need to put border strips around the quilt top, then layer the batting and backing, but this is a good indication of what I've gotten done. Not too shabby for 2 hours work.

Busy

I had a crafty day last week. They are getting to be few and far between, but it was lovely to have an idea of something to do, and all the supplies with which to make it.

If you've read anything of this blog, or have looked at my blog followings, you know that I love the Our Best Bites blog. I print lots of their recipes and put them into my family cookbook binder. Well, between those recipes and others that I had collected and put into the cookbook, it was overfull. The cover sat open at about a 30 degree angle. I decided to create a new cookbook to hold all the new, collected recipes, and keep the Taylor Family Cookbook with the original recipes.

Last Wednesday I spent a few minutes perusing my patterned paper stash and found the perfect line of paper that I wanted to use in my new cookbook. It was Studio Basics 101 by Creative Imaginations. The embellishments were simply buttons and ribbons I have in my supplies. I have had this paper in my drawer for a year or so, waiting for the perfect  project. The colors are bright and cheerful, and "match my kitchen!" Here are the results of my crafty day.

  

I spent a few minutes putting the printed recipes into this new book. It's full.