Striking Up a Conversation

Charlotte gets more and more verbal everyday. She has been conversing with us since she was six weeks old. Doug is worried he might not get a word in edge wise once she can really talk. I don't know why he is surprised. Charlotte is her mother's daughter. :) Enjoy!

Pretties

I couldn't resist taking pictures of my little Charlotte this afternoon. I had dressed her up in an adorable smocked day gown given to her by one of my dear friends, Christy Bein Meadows. It was my "official" first day back at work and we went to a business meeting together. Before you get worried, it was a volunteer group that I am a part of through my job. They welcomed us with open arms and Charlotte was the hit of the show. :)



These two pictures were too cute not to share. She was so happy through most of her photo op so I am glad I was able to capture her little smile. No real laughs yet. Can't wait for that to happen, but we get plenty of coos and smiles whenever we play - which is sometimes 3:00 in the morning.


Finally a picture of the completed new design. I am going to take some more pictures because I am not thrilled with this one - it was the best one out of the group. I have decided to call this design the Audrey Hepburn. I know she wasn't a domestic lady - like my other two namesakes - but I don't think you have to be domestic to wear an apron. Audrey beaconed style, class and elegance. I don't think there is a better fit for what this apron is to me. So... finally, a year after attempting to start on this design, I finally have it done. This, too, will be posted on alisonaprons.etsy.com for sale.

Until then...

Apron Strings

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a blessed holiday full of love and laughter. Ours was certainly more special with our newest addition. A friend of the family was right when she said that little ones make the season more magical. We can't wait until she gets a little older and is able to actually really enjoy the holidays. Nonetheless, it was still a special time for us.

I actually completed some custom orders over the holidays for a few customers. The Carol Brady above turned out lovely for my sister, Lauren Brownfield. Her reaction on Christmas day was priceless. Did I mention that it looked darling on her? Lauren, I will have to get a picture of you in it cooking away in your kitchen to post here. :)


I had two customers request this combination. This is the June Cleaver in retro orange with a stripe piping around the edge. The combination is wonderful! Ironically, the recipients of the two aprons varied drastically in age. One was a young bride the other was someone's sweet Nana. Who knew these fabrics could be so versatile.


This June Cleaver Apron turned out well with the blue peony. Made for a very classy, southern lady, the gift giver said it fit her personality perfectly.

So, believe it or not, somehow I managed to pull off the apron orders and sell a few things on etsy. Considering my circumstances, the season went well. All of these aprons are available at www.alisaprons.etsy.com for sale - not to mention a few other items are there for your pleasure.

Stay tuned, as I hope to begin on my childrens' aprons soon - once I build my inventory back up. It is completed depleted at the moment. Back to the sewing room!

Sleeping Beauty

It is amazing to see how much our little one is changing in such a short period of time. She is already almost five weeks old and we can't believe how fast the time is already flying by.

Things have been going well, but not without ups and downs. We found out that little Charlotte had lost half a pound at her one month check up. I think I cried for two days straight - poor Doug. Things seem to be going a little better since we have begun to supliment formula after every breast feeding. Our little angels disposition is much happier - seeing as she was very grumpy for about a week when I didn't know she was hungry. We find out tomorrow if she has put on any more weight. Our hopes are high. :)

Here is a photo of our little sleeping beauty during a nap time in one of her favorite places - the swing. She looked so sweet I just had to snap a picture of her.



Finally, here is a photo of the wall plaque I made her. I still love her nursery and I loved the way this turned out. For those of you interested - it is a pretty inexpensive project. So... just email me and I will give you the directions if you want them. Thanks, Mom, for the inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by. Keep standing by for a few more new apron styles. They are done, I just have to wait until after Christmas to post them. :) Wouldn't want to ruin a surprise for anyone.

Good Charlotte

Ironic that I would name the title of this post 'Good Charlotte' - seeing as it is a name of a band, but it is fitting. Our little one is doing so well and we can't believe how much she has changed in such a short amount of time. I thought I would use this post to blog about some of the details of the delivery, post some more pictures, and brag on our little girl's good behavior. I am hoping that this info will suffice for some of the questions many of you have emailed me. Sorry, but it is nearly impossible to respond to everyone.

All the photos you see above were taken by Charlotte's Aunt Melissa -and yes, we are calling her Charlotte. The little outfit she has on was the one I wore home from the hospital. She wore it to meet her Poppa (my dad) and her great Mommy (my grandmother). Both came for a visit - which was quite a trip for my grandmother who is 87 years old. It was special to have four generations all together. I am just happy that my grandmother got to meet her.

Many of you have asked who she looks like. We believe she is a pretty good combination of both of us. There are times she looks just a like a Moore baby (with red hair) and there are times she looks just like her father. I see her dad a lot in her eyes. That mouth and chin are mine through and through (poor little Moore mouth. We are definitely looking at braces. :) ).

A little about the delivery... I woke up ready to work on Tuesday, November 13th. I started work about 10:00 a.m. at home. I had slept in because I was feeling so tired. The night before I had been crying telling Doug I didn't know how much longer I could stand being pregnant and I didn't sleep well. Around 11:15 I stopped working and decided to lay down. My back had started hurting and I was starting to feel very uncomfortable. By noon I was in the bed and crying because my back pain (and stomach pain) was so bad. I had a routine dr's appointment that afternoon and my mother suggested that I call Doug and get him to come home to take me - I was in so much pain I couldn't drive.

I just knew I was having a gallbladder attack. It did feel a little different, but the pain was constant and it definetly didn't feel like the contractions I had previously experienced, nor did they feel like the labor contractions that had been described to me.

We left for the dr early. We went ahead and took our bags - just in case. They let me see the dr early and when the midwife checked me she said I was in labor. The pain was awful at this point - constant, mainly hurting in my back. We went to the hospital, got admitted, and by the time I got to my room, the pain had subsided. My contractions were coming irregularly and I just knew that they were going to send me home.

By this time, I was still showing signs of labor. I was five centimeters dilated, but the contractions were still not intense or regular. The dr decided to give me patossin (spelling is probably wrong). I was not excited about this. I had heard horror stories about how strong this makes the contractions come. After about an hour the contractions were still managable. I thought to myself, "I can do this!" Boy was I wrong. About the time this thought passed through my mind the contractions got worse and within about three contractions I was asking for the epidural. It probably took 30-45 minutes before I could get the epidural so I was really ready by the time the anethesiolgist arrived.

I will spare you the details of my pain. All of you who have delivered naturally have endured much worse than myself and let me say, more power to you! I couldn't do it. I wound up having a great epidural without any real side effects and the rest of the delivery went great. It wound up being much more pleasant than I imagined. The only real set back was a 2nd degree tear, which occurred when little Charlotte's not so little shoulders had a hard time coming through.

Recovery has been reasonable, but let me warn you against the effects of 800 mg of Motrin. This is what I took for my pain for the tear and by Monday of the following week we thought I was going to have to go back to the hospital - it tore up the lining of my stomach. Thank God my mother was hear along with Doug - who both nursed me back to health. I am feeling much better and glad to have that behind me.

Just a few more notes and I will wrap this long epistle of a post up. My mother stayed with us until this last Wednesday - I hated to see her go. All my sisters came over at some point and I had help from all. My mother really helped us get Charlotte on a schedule. She is such a good baby - a sleepy one - and has been sleeping from 12:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. and then until 9:00a.m. Doug and I are actually getting some sleep.

The baby is also nursing really well. I had heard horror stories about this as well. Our little Charlotte came into this world loving to suck - we saw her doing this to her hand on the ultrasound a few weeks before she was born. I have also been told I have really good nipples. :) With the help of the lactation consultant and Charlotte's ability to latch and suck well, breastfeeding has been relatively pleasant.

So... we have a lot to be thankful for. We are doing great and looking ahead to our next transition - Doug going back to work on Monday. We will have some help from his sister, Kate, for a few days when he goes back and possibly from my mother the following week. Eventually I am going to be on my own during the day with this. Hopefully by that time I will be completely adjusted. I guess we will see.

I leave you now with a few more photos (more recent) of our little princess. Enjoy!

Mo, our poodle, believes that Charlotte is his baby. He is her little protector and does not let our other dog, Jemison, get too close. :)

She's Here!

Charlotte Keelin English made her debut at 11:34 p.m. Tuesday, November 13th. Our precious little bundle weighed 8 lbs 3.5 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. We are all doing great and thanking our lucky stars for grandmas' and family. They have all been wonderful in helping Doug, Charlotte and I adjust to life together.

We will keep you posted with additional pictures - maybe some that show her hair, which is strawberry blonde by the way. Big surprise. :) We think she is beautiful and we are thrilled to have her here. Stay tuned...

The Nursery

Many of you have been asking for me to post pictures of the nursery. Doug and I finally got everything done today. We love it and can't wait to bring our little one home to her room. Please enjoy!


The feeding and changing corner of the room. Thanks to my parents for the glider and my in-laws for the bed. My grandmother also gave us the bedding. I love the way everything turned out.


Don't you love this precious print. It is by an artist on www.etsy.com. Check out her illustrations at www.sarahjanestudios.etsy.com. This picture went over the changing table.


The closet corner... My child will definitely be clothed well this next year. The closet is full of beautiful things. The shelf you see there will evently adorn some hooks where I plan to display her coming home dress and shoes.


You didn't really think I would show you her name did you? I can't wait to post the wall plaque after she has arrived. Hopefully that will be soon.

We have only nine days till her due date. We shall just see what she decides to do. We may have a Thanksgiving baby after all. :)