Maine

 Back from another trip to Maine. This year we visited and camped at Cobscook Bay State Park. It was a great time. Here we are clamming (no we didn't get any) They were all full of mud, not a good spot. There were empty shells all over the beach. But we did have fun getting all muddy.

There was a very nice man that taught Savannah to fish. They caught some herring and sardines.

 She kept a sardine as a pet for a little while.

Camping was a lot more fun than I anticipated. We were close to the toilets and water. We all had to go to bed once it got dark because the kids had trouble calming down.

Pillows

I guess you can' say I have been spoiling Savannah lately. My sewing has been all about her, but she is totally worth it. 

My house is a wreck with the master suite renovation still going on (yes is said still, 2 years and counting) so I have been updating things here and there. I've been obsessed with pillows lately. I made myself a bolster and a few throw pillows for my bed (forgot to take pictures) and I made a few for Savannah also.

I bought this My Little Pony fabric a few months ago and could not figure out what to do with it so I stitched up the quilted tote from the Fresh Fabric Treats book. I still need to put a stabilizer in the bottom.

When I was on the NJ Quilt Shop Hop I found this adorable Queen Coral panel at The Quilted Nest in Collingswood. It was so easy to make, it all comes on a panel of fabric with the directions written on the panel. You just cut, sew and stuff. She has a seahorse friend, pillow, blanket, skirt and mermaid tail. According to Savannah the tail is her Pajamas and the skirt is for the daytime.

Savannah named her Stella Bo

Now we move on the the Let's go Fly a kite pillow. This was a pattern I found at a quilt shop a while ago. The cover is envelope style so you can make several to go with the seasons. 

The flying geese blocks in the corners were so much fun to make, I had never made an actual quilt block before, the directions were very simple. 

I had two issues with this pattern. One was that there is no pre made pillow form to go with this size pillow so I had to make the pillow form (not hard just annoying) I saw a pillow at walmart the other day that was 17" X 36" So next time I will try to make the pillowcase to that size.

Next issue was the quilting. It's not necessary but suggested. I attempted free motion quilting and was not successful, so not knowing what I was getting myself into I decided to hand quilt. I drew traced the design accidentally using a non washable embroidery pen (why would that exist?) then used a backstitch because I didn't like the look of the traditional stitch. It took about 2-3 weeks. 

Lastly I made a large 24" pillow, and a standard pillowcase with more of the Moda Coral fabric I found.

A little about my life these past few months. 

I have been sparkling the entire new addition (it is a finished attic so think the whole length and width of the house) It has been taking forever, not only have I never done this before but i'm a perfectionist. I was enjoying the change of pace for about 4 weeks then it just got old. I am in the sanding process now and that is just messy and hot but i'm almost done. Jake has been working on tiling the new shower, it's nice to get to work with him. He is doing a great job, just finished grouting and it looks amazing (pictures to come soon)

Savannah "graduated" pre-school but not really because she is going back. It's not an easy decision to keep her out of kindergarten another year but we feel that it will be good for her. 

Nolan is potty training. He is 2 1/2 and had been asking me every time we were out to use the potty so we went for it. I started out just staying at home and reminding him every 30 minutes or so, then someone told me about the Potty Training 123 book. I didn't read the book but there is a short video on youtube that goes with it. It helped so much, I wish I had heard about it sooner. No he wasn't accident free after 2 days like everyone in the video said, but it's not so bad. 2nd child syndrome has kicked in and I just don't care as much this time about the accidents. I had Savannah in pull ups for about a year because I couldn't stand it and that just prolonged things. He was good through naps and night after 3 days but has since reverted. And only 1 or 2 accidents in the past week. He mostly tells me but I still remind him during play time. 

Quilts

I have been so busy working on my quilts that I haven't done much in the Children's clothing area. I thought I could hear my sewing machine calling me yesterday, poor thing is so lonely. 

My first quilt ever is this applique tree bells quilt. I really enjoyed the applique part once the millions of little pieces were cut and folded and bonded. That stuff was a pain in the butt. The tree bells quilt is ready for me to piece the back, I just need my mom's help with that, then off the the quilter for the batting and quilting. I might actually have it done in time for Christmas.

The next quilt I have started is the Crabapple Hill A to Zzzz Christmas quilt. It is hand embroidered which I am enjoying a ton. Again, not a huge fan of the tracing process. I worked on my first square while vacationing in Maine.

We had another great year at the cabin in Maine. Jake got to do a lot of work on the cabin (he actually enjoys this) and I got a good amount of sewing done. The kids had fun, they wen't canoeing and swimming, and fishing. Nolan was loving all the rocks at the beaches and Savannah and Jake even went into the ocean at Roque Bluffs (way too cold for me). The weather was cool, which was a really nice break from the hot humid Jersey weather. 

Bad Little Falls, Machias

Bog Brook Cove

Roque Bluffs

Eastport

Washington D.C and a vest for the little man

Happy 5 Months to my not so little guy. He is about 15 lbs and 26 inches. Growing like a weed. Still a very sweet boy, has quiet little laughs and wants to grow up way too fast.

He is trying to crawl, holding himself up and chewing everything within reach (including tables and chairs)

I made him a vest sewn onto a onesie, accidentally used too big of a size onesie but he will probably fit in it by Easter. Got the idea here

We took a short vacation to Washington D.C. Went to Air and Space, and National history museums. Savannah Loved Air and Space museum.

We had to stop in the National Art Gallery for a diaper change emergency. It turned out to be another favorite. What kid wouldn't love a sparkling hallway.

 This is the Play Work Build exhibit at the National Building museum. Jake and Savannah had so much fun showing their creativity with building.

There were so many beautiful buildings in D.C

Savannah showed us how well she could sleep in a big bed for the first time since we forgot her pack n play. We got home and converted her crib, She is doing so well. She comes into our room super early sometimes but it's so nice to let her have this freedom when i'm so busy with Nolan. 

We are in the process of potty training Savannah because her super sensitive skin couldn't take the soiled diapers anymore. She has been getting non stop diaper rashes that get to the point of broken skin. And no we do not let her sit in her mess, it's instant. It's going well but she doesn't seem to understand why she can't go in her pants or wear diapers. Any ideas?

Maine and gender reveal

 

We took our yearly trip to Maine this past week. If you don't know, we stay in Jake's dad's cabin in Northfield which is about 9 miles from Machias, where Jake's 94 yo grandma lives. It was a  great vacation except for the one day I caught a stomach bug. The weather was great, even cold by the ocean. We swam in the lake a lot, did a little sightseeing, and tried to fly kites but that was the day I was sick.

 

 

 Savannah loved picking and eating the blueberries. She sat right down in the field and started filling her basket.
Blueberries grow wild in Maine but Jake's aunt owns a large patch that we can pick from. They are smaller and much better tasting than Jersey blueberries.

 Love getting pictures of Savannah and her Great Grandmother. Savannah took to her so well, even gave her a hug.

 Savannah is a little fish, she loves swimming and with her swimmies on, will go off on her own.

One of the places we visit often is Quoddy head in Lubec. It's pretty close and has some nice views and hiking trails.

 We visit Raye's mustard in Eastport every year. The mustard is amazing, they make it right there and there are so many different flavors to choose from. We had to get extra this year because we keep running out early.

One of the grinding stones.

Finally the gender reveal.

Thanks to my SIL for watching Savannah while I had a crazy time getting my ultrasound.
Baby boy is due November 4, 2013. Name is most likely going to be Nolan Spencer Holcombe. Spencer is Jake's dad's name. We are so excited, but picking out all new clothes is difficult already.

If you're interested:
My 20 week ultrasound was scheduled at my 21 week appointment. The OB's office does not take my new insurance for testing so I was told to schedule at the local hospital. The soonest they could fit me in was too far away, the testing needs to be done by 24 weeks so I was told to call a different place. I made an appointment for the next Friday, show up and the department is not only closed, they have no record of me making an appointment. After hours of frustration, hysterical crying and getting transferred to 10 different people who "could not help me" I told my OB that I refused to reschedule again since this was not a mistake on my part, and they fit me in at their office later that day, waving the insurance.
Another exciting update, I gave my notice to work and my last day will be August 27. YAY!

Giggleberry Fair

It's been one exciting week. My husband had a class in Exton PA to learn how to install Geothermal heating and air units, I got to tag along and take a mini vacation with shopping and a trip to Longwood gardens with my sisters and brother in law. My aunt came to visit over the weekend and we got to do some great fabric shopping, and while my family walked around Peddlers Village my sister and I took our kids to a great place called Giggleberry Fair.
While at Giggleberry Fair my sister took the older kids to the 3 story obstacle course, foam ball mountain and arcade, while I took the 2 younger ones to the discovery area for babies. That had water activities, musical instruments, interactive walls, slides, and lots of other great things to discover.

This is Savannah and cousin Stella on the firetruck

 

 

Attempting to play video games

Riding in a helicopter

and a spaceship. It's been such a fun week and I hope to do it again sometime soon.

 

 

For my nieces birthday I took her to Terhune Orchards for apple picking. It was free! we only had to pay for the apples and that was very reasonable. When we got home we made caramel from scratch, caramel candy apples, apple pie and homemade applesauce. I still had apples left over too.

 

 

Big news to share. Savannah started pulling herself up on September 27. We worked on it the whole day and she finally got over her fear. She pulls up on mostly anything now and cruises around the coffee table, she even climbs up on the couch now. She is supporting her own weight very well now and hopefully will be walking soon.

Maine

Every year Jake and I take a vacation to Maine. We stay in one of the family cabin's in Northfield which is 20 minutes from his grandmother and uncle in Machias. There isn't much to do there unless you enjoy hiking, and fishing. We are off the grid for a while with no Internet, phones or T.V while staying there, even the showers are lake water. I can't complain though because it gives us a chance to enjoy the beauty that God created.

This is Bad Little Falls, which is a small but beautiful waterfall right in the town of Machias.

We took a trip to Bar harbor, which is about 1 1/2 hours from town. We ate lunch in the park, did a little window shopping and had ice cream. This is not Savannah's first time eating ice cream, her daddy always shares. She loves it! and surprisingly it doesn't upset her stomach.

Jake is determined to get her to walk by her first birthday but it doesn't look promising as she just started pulling herself up, and will only do it about once per day.

This was a new sight for us. Bog Lake right past Cutler is an amazing sight. We went here on our last day and didn't have much time but I could have spent hours taking pictures and climbing all the rocks.

Jake tried to teach her how to throw rocks. She is very good at throwing now. Sometimes Jake can be a bad influence but he's a big kid so I have gotten used to it.

Back at the cabin it's a tradition to play with Jake's grandma's organ. Savannah loves to sing already too.

We went for a fishing trip on the lake. I thought Savannah should wear a life jacket but it didn't stay on too long. It took a lot of shots to get this smile.

Visiting Jake's grandma Christine. She is in her 90's and I'm so happy Savannah was able to meet her.

This is another new sight for us. Reversing falls in Pembroke. You have to get there about 1-2 hours before the tide changes, then when it does change you get to see the river flowing both ways at the same time. It was difficult to catch on camera, you will just have to go a see for yourself.

Waiting and waiting for the tide to change. We had a picnic there but got bored after a while so we went to Eastport to get some Raye's mustard in the meantime. Raye's mustard is another tradition, they make the mustard right there and you can take a little tour, the mustard is not boiled like the kind you get from the store so you don't get that watery junk. They have so many different flavors and you can try them all right there in the store.