Family Photo Shoot - 8 months

Over Christmas we were a little bit north of San Francisco with my family. Before leaving the west coast, we were lucky enough to do a family photo shoot with the amazingly talented Anna Kuperberg!

Sadie was right at 8 months for these pictures and it was just the perfect age: she made silly faces, was very interactive, and had just recently started clapping. We had so much fun during the session and were absolutely in love with the results!

Below are a few (ok, a lot!) of my favorites, although it was really hard to narrow them down. And, of course, all photos are credited to the wonderful Anna Kuperberg.

Sadie at 7 & 8 Months

I am so behind the times! Being a working mom definitely puts blogging on the back burner, and it's hard to get these month posts up. So, here we are at the 7 and 8 month updates. Wow! Sadie is growing like a weed, getting taller and taller and less "babyish" looking. She's crawling backward and sideways (no forward movement yet), eating lots of food, clapping, giggling, sitting in a high chair when we go out to eat, pulling herself up in her crib. I could go on and on! I feel like we've finally started to hit on more of the "joys of parenting" and getting to enjoy Sadie more, whereas when she was smaller we were most focused on eating, sleeping and diapers.

Nicknames: Sadie Boo, Boo-ba-loo, Sadie Girl, Sadie Baby, Stinker, Little Bun (what her nanny calls her)
Temperament: Still so happy, but also very "talkative" and you easily convey if you are happy with us or not!
Things I Could Do Without: More consistency with naps, although you are getting much, much better about taking longer (60-90 minute) naps! Those are blessings.
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Your big play area in the basement - we put out a couple of quilts and you can sit there and play. Your play mat went away because you are too big and don't need it anymore!
Item/Toy You Love The Most: We bought you a shape sorter and you're obsessed with the lid!
Things I’m Loving Most Right Now: Watching you learn what words mean. You understand: momma, dadda, puppy, clap, dance, milk (along with the sign for milk).
Things You’re Loving Most Right Now: FOOD! Anything and everything we give you. You also will not let us feed you finger foods - if I try and put any food near your mouth, you immediately close it so that I put the food down for you to crab and feed yourself. So independent!
Sounds/Words: Lots of babbling - mamma, baba, etc. Still no clear "dadda" although we hope that will happen soon!
Foods You Like: Some new foods have been: yellow lentils and rice, quinoa, beets, blueberries, puffs, oat cereal, yogurt. Again, you love EVERYTHING!

 

Sewing Project: Retro Dolls

I'm excited to start adding more updates of sewing projects that I had previously shared! I had completed our Christmas stockings, which were so cute hanging in our dining room.

One of my "super secret" projects I was working on for Sadie was kept a secret because if it went well I was going to make it as gifts for some friends who also have little girls.

Well, my first try was acceptable (resembled what it was supposed to, wasn't terribly messed up), so I decided that I could green light the project and make more!

I'd found a pattern on Etsy from Retro Mama - a super cute doll pattern that was retro and fun with quirkly little details. I knew it would be a challenging project but I decided it was worth a try. Her pattern was very well done, the instructions were easy to follow, and she even sells a bundle of felt in the different hair colors. (So, really, if I hadn't decided to make more, I would have been left with a lot of black, brown and gold felt.)

I had some struggles along the way: when it comes to assembling the doll, it's hard shoving all of the limbs into the body in order to stitch them in place. By the time you get to the legs, there is no room for them to go and it's difficult getting it stitched well. I had to re-do a few of them, and some are less than perfect. Sometimes the arms didn't line up well, either. Ah well. Each doll is unique!

It was really fun decided on the different fabrics to pair together. Sadie's was super colorful with the turquoise mary janes, argyle tights and polka dotted dress.

And, obviosuly, Sadie loves her (I hope!).

It was also fun picking out colors and patterns that I thought fit the personalities of the little girls I gifted these to (ok, they're all infants, so really the personalities of there mamas!).

For awhile these dolls were all lined up on our piano, looking a bit like a 1960s doo-wop group!

I am incredibly proud of this project and that I got 4 of these dolls made in a little over a month!

Note: Retro Mama holds the copyright for the pattern, which I purchased from her! You can check out her blog for more fantastic projects.