baby quilts and family quilts

Over the summer two of the favorite girls I have met so far in my life had babies.  Of course I could shower both ladies with cute outfits, toys, stuffed animals, the works.  But that isn't me.  They needed homemade quilts! Because I was very first trimester all summer long, I was kind of a loser when it came to making two completely unique quilts.  I found fabric that I liked and decided to use the fabric on both quilts, but of course I used two different patterns.

The first quilt was for a sweet little boy named Lincoln.  I wanted to make a genuine richmond va little boy quilt.  What do you think of when you think of richmond little boys?  For me it is bow ties!  So here you go, one little bow tie quilt!

I just drew out the pattern on some paper and it worked out pretty nicely.  One quilt for a sweet little boy!

For the second quilt that was up to be made was for one family that we hold very dear to our hearts.  Mom and Dad are one of our dearest friends, Baylor is one of C's besties and I knew that new baby Chatham would be beloved by our whole family.  Because Baylor was born literally months before I started quilting he never really got a baby quilt.  So instead of baby Chatham getting a baby quilt and poor Baylor not having one, I just made a family quilt.  Same fabric as before but this time I used a pattern by one of my favorite websites cluck cluck sew.

I hope this quilt will be used by their family for years to come.  With years of stains and memories made on it!

Congrats girls!  Love both of you and your families dearly!

breaking in the new backyard

The house we're renting for the next ten months is a little smaller than the house we owned, but what we traded in space we gained in an awesome backyard. Our old house had a big backyard, but it was always the last place to get money and attention. Over the course of seven years we gutted our kitchen and replaced with all new cabinets, flooring and the whole nine yards. We also renovated a bathroom to update the overall look complete with a new toilet, vanity, beadboarded  walls and tile floor. We replaced windows and light fixtures and all of the fun things you can do inside, but like I said, we always have wanted a nice backyard, but I could never bring myself to throw money at it. We made some good memories in that old backyard and had some really fun parties and get-togethers, but our new backyard is great and we broke it in just two days after we moved in with our good friends the Smiths complete with hot dogs, s'mores and more. I was sure to transfer all of the firewood we had stored up at the old house so that we could use our fire pit through the fall and winter months. If you don't like hot dogs I apologize for this picture, but man those look good.

A shot of the kids, my mom and some of the delicious grub that we put together. As you can see, it was finger licking good.

I think Charlotte was a little intrigued by Josh in this shot. It was a nice clear night and we just spent the night, talking, eating and playing with the kids.

Melissa decided to put a marshmallow on a stick, kind of like a carrot in front of a horse and Charlotte followed it around for a bit until Kathryn came to her aid and pulled it off so that she could have it. That's what friends are for.

Nothing cuter than a kid eating a s'more. Ah, the sticky little faces and fingers.

Kathryn's baby "chocolate baby" even tried to get in on the marshmallow action.

Charlotte was not shy around the whoopie pies that my mom whipped up.

Best friends getting a wagon ride around the backyard.

The hostess with the mostess. I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life with her.

Me trying to be artistic.

Here's to many more nights spent in our borrowed backyard. Cheers!

-jay

moving day

Most people who know us are aware that we have had our house on the market on and off for the past couple of years. We listed our house again on February 1st of this year and with only one week left of our contract with our realtor we got an offer. After the typical 45-60 days of home inspection, appraisal, paperwork and all that goes into selling a house we are happy to announce that we are no longer home owners! A nice young couple bought our house and it sounds like they fell in love with it the same way that we did. They were looking for something with character that was move-in-ready. We closed last Thursday and spent the weekend moving. The great news is that we were able to find a great little house just down the street, seven houses down to be exact. That means that the same neighborhood that we have grown to love over the past 7 years won't change for us. That means that the playground that Charlotte likes to play at is still really close. And it means that we can keep an eye on the couple that bought our house to make sure they take good care of it  :)

My mom flew in to help us pack, move and help watch Charlotte. We set up an event on Facebook, our friends showed up and we moved all of our worldly possessions on Saturday morning and were done by lunchtime. We can't say thanks enough to our friends that helped. It was an easy move and we were able to get our new house set up by the end of the weekend. Below are a couple of pictures. I chose not to include any pictures of our friends because everyone was a bit sweaty and gross from the move, but enjoy the couple shots of our family starting off with the last picture of the three of us on our old front porch.

Three of our friends let us use their pickup trucks saving us money on a uhaul. It's amazing what you can acquire in just 7 short years.

Charlotte even helped move things in....well....kinda.

A family shot in front of the new house after a long day of moving in.

Charlotte enjoying a magazine read on her new front porch.

Stay tuned for a post regarding our cool new backyard, that came equipped with a great firepit and deck that we have already broke in.

-jay

john adams' fourth of july

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty; it ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

-extensive celebrators of the fourth