Jude's Quiet Book

Back at the end of March I got a text from Jessica-

So I was off on a mission. The only quiet books I'd ever been involved in previously were not for my family but usually some kind of church project... I have to admit that I HATED MAKING QUIET BOOKS !!

But I've found an interesting fact... when I make something for someone I love I usually end up enjoying the process. This time is no different and I love this whole new creativity outlet. That being said, there is always a HUGE learning curve involved with some new craft and this one was no different. Luckily I was able to use many other skills I've learned along this path-of-life as I made Jude's book.

And here's the happiest piece of news about being creative in 2016... PINTEREST! I'm not good at pulling things out of my head but I'm an adequate copy-artist... give me a picture and I can make a good interpretation of it! I've worked very hard to try to give credit for each of my ideas. Thank you for the generosity of idea sharing!!

Jude's Quiet Book-

This is when it pays off to be a hoarder-of-crafty-stuff-and-fabric! The only thing I had to buy was felt and a few other miscellaneous items.

I had this lovely cowboy fabric and ric-rack left over from a quilt I made for my friend Holly!

The lady bug zipper makes me happy!
(inspiration)

Shapey-shaper-tons! I love these! I used mini magnets for these but think I will just go with velcro or snaps next time.
(inspiration)

Each shape name is written underneath.

Put on the Whole Armour of God! I really dug deep into my ancient embellishment stash for these trims... some go back 40+ years!
(inspiration)

I love this scripture from Ephesians 6:13-17

I found these cute ready-made owls while I was browsing at Hobby Lobby. This is probably the easiest page I made. Next time I will put loops on the ends of the ribbons so it is easier to unsnap. Love these snaps!

This next one may just be my favorite!! I just *winged-it* making the little worm/caterpillar! It took me two tries to get one I really liked! (And a serendipitous accident gave him a bulge part way down his body. I used an old bitty crochet hook saved from doing a L'Oreal Frost and Tip kit eons ago!)
(inspiration)

I DIE!!

This was another favorite. You'll notice that I included Pluto (he's still a planet in my book)!
(inspiration)

I used snaps again here! I color coordinated each planet and snap to make matching easier. (I couldn't find a satisfactory way to write on felt, so I left the names off.)

Sadly the inspiration for this page was an item that is no longer carried on Etsy. So I played around in photoshop with my pinterest photo and made up patterns. (I ended up doing that for many pages. Only two of the ideas came with free or low cost patterns)

I loved the pockets to hold the vehicles.

Counting page. The numbers velcro off. This was my very first page.
(inspiration)

This is one of the few pages where the idea came with a pattern page! Bless her!!
(inspiration)

The pieces are stored in the sand bucket.

And this is a fun detail.

This one cracks me up...
(inspiration)

But last Sunday I had baby-Emmy with me all weekend and took some other pom-poms (I bought a ginormous bag) in a little box for her to play with at church. Erm... let's just say Grammie did a lot of bending to retrieve thrown pom-poms!

Both the front and back covers have pockets to stash extra things or for an "Oops! look what I found!" as you're walking out of your pew!

And the finished spine. I may be back in a few days to do a tutorial on how I bound the finished pages together in a book, or maybe not. Either way I took lots of photos to remind myself how I did it next time I get the bug to make another quiet book.

Jude may not be busy with this quiet book (I've also heard them called busy books) but it sure has kept Grammie busy for 100+ hours!

At The Park

One of my things I loved to do when my kids were small is go to the park... now I've graduated to grammie-duties at the park. Know what? They are still just a fun!

I got to take these littles to the park THIS-day!

Roxie was so good sticking with Jude until he felt comfortable on his own. (Well, HE thought he was on his own... Grammie shadowed him pretty closely!)

They ran, climbed, slid and played on the swings until they were tired and ready to head home.

But before we did Jude showed off his skills with a solo run down the big slide... giggling all the way.

A New Tradition!

Last week while I was making my gingerbread nativity the thought kept rolling around in my head, "Wouldn't this be an awesome activity with the grandkids?" I knew that the kids needed to be old enough to actually participate so that ruled out the littles. (As it turned out, Jude came to hang in the highchair and eat copious amounts of fruit and beans while Mama went to see if she could get her 2-week migraine under control)

(You know what I love the most about this photo? Yup, that family sign that proclaims- THIS is my family!)

I knew that I needed to have the gingerbread baked and ready when the kids got here to keep this from being an all day affair. My plan was to have the icing ready too... but it wasn't so I had some champion frosting tinters on the job.

Once the frosting was tinted it was time to start decorating. I love how self-sufficient and creative these kids are. I gave them some general instruction and a demonstration and they were good to go.

Well, all except Sophie. It's hard when you have tiny hands.

(I just love her pixie hair!)

I told them about my black sheep and explained how the Savior's atonement cleanses us from all our sins when we repent. I'm so grateful that I can share my testimony with my grandchildren.

When it was time to go home Christian stayed for one last photo op!

(I do love this boy!)

Now can I just say a couple of things?
(Yes, yes I can! This IS MY blog after all!)

I am one of those lucky women who got to live my dream. As a child, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was, "I want to be a Mommie, just like my Mommie!" I wasn't always able to be a stay-at-home-Mommie (just like my Mommie) but I got to love and enjoy my children. It is the hardest and most fulfilling job I've ever had.

But you know what? This being a Grammie is perhaps even more satisfying. (I am the Grammie-spoiler NOT the Mommie-enforcer) I recognize just how blessed I am that I can be a part of these darling children's lives!

I'm in hopes that next year I will be able to include more of our grandchildren. I do love this new tradition!

Tender Mercies for Jude

"The Lord is good to all:
and his tender mercies are over all his works." Psalms 145:9

Our little Jude was born with a moderate VSD (a hole in his heart). His Hero Mama has worked tirelessly for the last 10 months to help him heal and be strong. I cannot say enough good things about Jessica! She is a wonderful, spiritually guided Mama. I always know that her choices are what is right for her and her family. There is such power in that for me. She has researched and implemented so many techniques and nutritional factors in this sweet little boy's life. She is such a dedicate and loving mother. There is NONE better!(period)

Part of that healing process involved open heart surgery this last Tuesday (as in three days ago). There have been much faith and many prayers offered up on Jude's behalf. There are people all over the world praying for this sweet little man: Hong Kong, Jerusalem, Arkansas, California and Illinois to name a few!

Here are Mama and Jude pre-surgery. Can you believe how tiny this little gown is? (all photos are from photo messages from Doug and Jessica) Oh, I do love that little face!

Jude's surgery went smoothly. This is the patching material used to close the hole in his heart. The surgeon said that the hole was about 3/8". I had to make that have relevance to my mind so I did some research. The human heart is about the size of that human's fist. So even though we think that 3/8" is small, compare that to the size of a golf ball!

This ubber-loved little boy is always so happy. This is Jude at less than 48 hours post surgery.

Now for the remainder of the abundant blessings from our Lord! The original projection was that Jude would be in the hospital for 4-6 days...  

Jude is coming home from the hospital TODAY! 

(Yes, that decision was made less than 72 hours after surgery!)

Truly The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his [children]!

Grammie's Little Pumpkin

Every once in a while there are just the cutest baby-Jude clothes that I can't pass up! When I was at Sam's Club lately I saw this and another darling red-plaid outfit that I got for him.

BUT THEY WERE TOO SMALL!! YAY!! HOORAY!!

Maybe most people don't get that excited about baby outgrowing his cloths, but with Jude it is an occasion to celebrate.

It says "Mommy's little pumpkin"... but he's Grammie's little pumpkin too.

And look at this on the bum...

Grammie-Heaven

I've sung the praises of being a Grammie before, but today I was in Grammie heaven! Since our little man, Jude, is too small to go to Seven Peaks and play with the family  he needs someone to come and stay with him. Enter Grammie! We have a standing Friday morning date.



Usually I will do a few things to help Jessica while she is away... but this day? I spent the entire 4 hours holding my little man. It's what Jessica calls baby-therapy... and maybe that's true, but there just are not words to describe that *tie that binds* me to this precious little grandson!



Yes, I had a wonderful day in Grammie-heaven with my little Jude.

Jude's Special Day

Today, in Doug and Jessica's home, little Jude received his name and blessing from his Daddy. It was a wonderful and moving blessing; sniffing could be heard throughout.



I'm so grateful that we are blessed with the Priesthood.



It is such a blessing to know that the Lord is intimately aware of each of his children... especially His tiny ones.

(Back row- Uncle Micah, Uncle Kevin, Uncle Stuart, Uncle Beau,

Front row- Uncle Matt, Poppa Warner, Brother Hickman; of the Bishopric, Daddy-Doug with Jude, Grampa Gordon, Poppa Dell)

Jude donned his first little-man-shirt and his ginormous tiny-baby tie.



This is a very happy Grammie...

Little-Man-Shirt

Our sweet-baby-Jude has a big day coming up. He's going to be blessed this Sunday. Jessica was telling me that her sister bought matching tiny-baby ties for Jude and his two boy cousins, who were born within days of each other, to wear for the big occasion. I happened to arrive at Jude's house while Jessica was looking online for little-man-shirts to go with his blessing tie. They were $28! So I blithely said, "Oh, I'll make him one!" and took his measurements. (How many 7 week-old babies have you seen getting measured for a shirt?)

That was Monday... Tuesday morning the sinus infection that has been lurking in my... well, sinuses, took over my head! I felt like one of those cartoon characters who has an air pump hooked up to their head and someone is inflating it. Luckily I was able to get an appointment in 20 minutes (how soon can you get here... 20 minutes to wash my hair and get dressed)...turns out I had an ear infection as well! Bah!

After my first dose of antibiotics, some more Benadryl Severe Sinus and a rest I thought I could tackle the task of making up a little shirt for Jude. HA!

HOW HARD COULD IT BE?

First I looked for a pattern, any pattern, that would give me a start... I'd forgotten that all pattern makers believe that BABIES are born at 15-20 pounds. What planet are they from when they think a *newborn* pattern will fit a one-year-old?

Well, let's scrap that idea... so I got to do my favorite thing... make it up as I go! So using the GARGANTUAN newborn pattern, my handmade pattern pieces from the little blessing dresses I make for granddaughters and Jude's measurements I made this...

But by the time I got to this point I was exhausted, my head was starting to inflate again and I just said... NUTS TO THIS, I'll buy something!

To cover my bases I stopped at Kohl's and picked up a somewhat acceptable substitute on my way home from the Temple yesterday. It's very cute monkey-wear for our newest little Zoo creature.

But then I walked into my sewing room today and here was this little white onesie shirt all cut out and calling to me... Oh ALL RIGHT!

So I put in a few hours working on this little shirt for our newest little man.

As I was sewing on the snaps I remembered that sometime in the last 52 years I thought that when I finished sewing on the snap I *NEEDED* to run the needle through this tiny hole! Why? I can't even remember.

I'll be back on Sunday of Jude in his first *Little-Man-Shirt*!

Jude- 4 weeks old

OK now that I've given Jessica time to post her favorites of baby-Jude now I can do MY post about my newest grandson! It's always a good thing to start them young and get them used to a paparazzi Grammie. (His first shoot was when he was just hours old!)

I just love his little Shar Pei puppy forehead! Seriously, how cute is this baby?

I just love being able to do a newborn photo shoot of my very own grandson...

I love the mama & bebe photos...

I love his tiny, fuzzy little head...

(And can I add that Jessica has the most beautiful hands? Some girls have all the luck... cute babies AND beautiful hands!)

I even got a photo of Jude with both eyes open!

He is usually sound asleep.