Little Feet

I love everything about my little presh head.  Right now, though, I am drawn to her little feet.  

 When she first arrived her little feet were an unknown extension of her body.

Soon dexterity arrived and with it the discovery of the appendages that would change her life forever.

 At this point they simply served as rudders guiding the ship.

 And as items to explore while mommy did weird things with a black box.

 But now they are all important tools for mobility.

 They take us where we want to go.  And fast.  

I love EB's little feet.

At Last

At last, my love has come along

 My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

Oh, yeah, at last

The skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up in clovers

The night I looked at you

For you are mine

At last

It happened.  The moment we (well, EB, really) have been waiting for finally arrived.  Ella Brooks is the proud new owner of a "gently used" Cozy Coupe.  

For all of you plastic toy hatin' folks out there, all I have to say is this:  look at the photographic evidence.  This child is in heaven.  When it was time to pull it into the garage and park it for the night, she cried.  She even whispered "night night" to it before I closed the door to the garage.  The sweet girl loves this new gift. 

And we love this sweet girl.  Thankfully, 16 is a long way off. . . 

All's Quiet on the Maslin Front

Well, actually, the opposite is true.  We have been plenty busy around these here parts.  In fact, we have a great deal of news to share.  So I will share in order of events.

1.  We took our house off the market at the end of June.  Main reason being there simply wasn't enough traffic coming through to sustain the constant cleaning.  My supply of swiffer wipes couldn't handle the suspense.  Neither could my own mental state.

2.  We refinanced our home after discovering a great package through 5/3 bank in Black Mountain.  So we are here to stay a little while longer. 

3.  We decided that since we are here to stay we may as well nest a little bit more.  Here's what we have been working on:

Our wonderful friend, Nick Stilwell, helped us plan and build this wonderful little addition.  We are in the second (and lots more fun) part of the project.  We will be placing a fan, can lighting, outdoor speakers and a tongue and groove ceiling in the coming weeks.  Then I will patiently wait until patio sets go on sale and we will outfit our new room.  Hooray!

4.  In addition to the new addition we have reorganized our pantry and garage.  It feels good to know we are sticking around for a little while longer.

5.  The much anticipated arrival of my new sewing machine occurred at the beginning of the month.  The good news is I love her.  The not so good news, she's not been very active recently.  That's mainly due to traveling and said organizing/building.

I think that pretty much sums up the household news for the month of July. Whew, I'm wiped.

Mimi and Bean

Bean, EB, and Mimi

Mimi and Bean are the presh head's paternal grandparents.  They live in Florida on the Space Coast.  They get to watch rocket and space shuttle launches from their front yard.  It's pretty cool.

Living in Florida means we do not get to see them very often.  We cherish our time with them when they visit.   Last week they came up to see their grandbaby.  And maybe us, but mainly their grandbaby.  We took them on a Western North Carolina adventure.  We began with Park Rhythms on Thursday night.  Kat Williams was amazing as usual.  And EB made lots of new friends. 

Clapping along with Kat

 EB loves Ms. Nancy

 Then we headed over to Chimney Rock on Friday morning.  What a beautiful day!  

 Mimi, Chris, EB sporting a new sun hat, Beth

On Saturday, we headed over to the Black Mountain Tailgate Market for coffee and bagels.  It was another beautiful day, so afterward we went to the playground in Montreat.  EB loves swinging, sliding and driving the resident Cozy Coupes.  Mimi and Bean proved to be excellent swing pushers and car drivers.  Ella Brooks had a blast with them. 

 

Ella Brooks loves driving

 Mimi giving Ella Brooks a push

 Bean's turn to power the coupe

We had a great visit over Father's Day weekend.  Grandparents are such a treasure!  Thanks Mimi and Bean!

Recalls and Close Calls

This week our presh head's crib was recalled.  This is a massive recall of Graco and Simplicity drop side cribs sold between 2007 and 2010.  Thankfully, we have not had any incidents with the crib, but I did send in for the repair kit that will permanently fix the drop side of the crib.  [On a side note, there is legislation being pushed through Congress to ban drop side cribs from being made or sold in the US.]

While I was on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website I was bombarded with a large number of recently recalled items.  Alarmingly, most of the products were specific to infants and children. 

As a Christian, I know that our lives and the lives of our loved ones, children included, are in the hands of God.  We are not to live in fear of all the things that could go wrong.  (What a waste of precious time!)  However, when I scanned the reasons for the recalls it was mostly due to high levels of toxic substances or cheap, breakable parts that led to choking or suffocating hazards.

We trust companies that create and market toys and other kids' items to make the best decisions for our children.  I expect Graco to inspect, test, and ultimately build a quality item.  My child's life and limbs are at stake if they don't.  What I cannot understand is the risks companies are willing to take to save money.  Adding more lead to paint or dye certainly means less of the other materials necessary.  It is a cheap filling agent.  Yet, it is one that can and does cause permanent brain damage to infants and children.  So why is it still used so abundantly?  Plastic has proven to be one of the most convenient materials ever created.  Yet, companies make products just strong enough to meet standards.  In a good many cases it still is not strong enough.  (Not to mention the ridiculous amounts of petroleum that are required to make plastic, but that is an entirely different rant for another day.)

This is certainly not a perfect world.  I recognize that even the most enterprising and cautious companies make mistakes.  I just wish that more companies would take seriously their responsibilities to the people that are using their products. 

I'll step down from my soapbox now.  

The Presh Head  with pool hair enjoying Kat Williams at Park Rhythms

A Sad Day

About 18 months ago I received a wonderful surprise for Christmas. I mentioned in passing that I was interested in starting a new hobby. After being influenced by my beautiful and talented friend, Leigh, I decided sewing would be a great use of my time and creativity. It was a brief mention, but one that stuck. Under the Christmas tree sat my new sewing machine.

I immediately set to work making bags and baby sets. I found all sorts of websites, blogs and books that inspired and informed me. As I became more confident I began to venture into uncharted territory: quilting. Something about the process delights my obsessive-compulsive sensibilities.


My very first project- a purse for my friend Jenny



A baby set for my friend Niki



Applique bibs



Max's Quilt- Front



Max's Quilt- Back

Unfortunately, my Singer could not handle the demands I placed on it. I sent it in last week for a routine tuning and clean up thinking that the skipped stitches, broken thread and tension issues were simple matters to fix; just a few screws to be tightened or a lint ball in the wrong place. Sadly, this is not the case. I did the Singer in after only 18 months of sewing.

What is most disappointing is that I am in the middle of several projects. Stacks of prepared fabrics are sitting on my bookcase waiting to be turned into a throw, a quilt, a set of cafe curtains, a sundress for the presh head. The sewing projects that are floating around in my head are amassing and I am running out of room. And there will be no outlet for the time being.

This is a sad day indeed.

It Only Hurt A Little Bit

It's been a busy week filled with teething, runny noses, loose poops, oh, and rushing to the doctor's office for staples. That's right, EB and I had our first emergency experience. While I was in the backyard weeding, EB happily played with her new chair. I place the chair near me on the patio while I weeded.

She was right next to me when I noticed her standing in her chair. I am all for adventure, BUT that kind of thrill seeking does not sit right (pun intended). I promptly removed her from her stance and resumed weeding.

In no time I heard a thud and the beginnings of a cry. Fortunately, I was just two feet away from her. Swooping her up I quickly assessed that this was a regular fall, no big deal. We sat on the deck and calmed down. No worries.

Then I felt something warm dripping onto my arm. After a few choice words (I claim no responsibility for that) I found the spot. She cut her sweet little precious head on the paver edge. After stopping the bleeding we loaded up in the car and made our way to our doctor's office.

It's funny, the conflicting voices that go through my head in situations like these. I questioned my decision to go the doctor because what if they told me it was no big deal? I don't want to be the mom that rushes to the doctor for everything. On the other hand, what if she had a serious issue? I couldn't live with myself if there was something really wrong. It is her head, after all.

I am glad I listened to my intuition. One serious flushing of the wound and a two staples later, we have a little one who is good as new. EB and I made a deal, no more emergencies. We even shook on it.