visions for the new year

I'm not going to list my resolutions, dreams, and expectations for 2012, but I will give you an idea of where I'm headed with this blog.

Motherhood has consumed my life, and it's a welcomed change, but I don't want this forum to chronicle my day to day life as a mom. I will keep this blog project based. That said, I don't have anything posted in my Etsy shop right now, and that probably won't change any time soon. I'm more likely to show off the curtains I made for the nursery (BabyCenter told me he would become more interested in complex colorful patterns this week, and ta da! I found him staring at them over my shoulder twice this week. Mission Accomplished!) or the tiny all-in-one cloth diapers I made for a not so tiny baby (ten weeks in and they are officially too small).

nursery curtains

cloth diapers

I was inspired by some Children's Place animal hats to make my own funny faced versions, and I got a copy of Handmade Beginnings from the library today... so add baby clothes to the list of pending projects to keep your eyes open for!

baby blankets

So one side effect of making all our local friends in a couples newlyweds group is that now (three years later) there are a lot of little ones in our circle of friends. I love making baby blanket quilts for them. The one pictured above is my current work in progress. I don't usually offer sneak peaks, but since I'm running behind this time and not making progress as quickly as I usually do, a little preview won't hurt.

Teddy is a charmingly dimpled babe, and if you want to know more about him and his family, I highly recommend his mama's blog: Savoring Every Moment about adoptive parenthood.

I have fabric selected and creative juices flowing for two more baby blankets that I hope to finish in the next month (ish), so stay tuned for updates.

Merry Christmas from the Jurgens family

decor by Jesse, latte by Patrick

Merry Christmas!

Though I have not attended a single holiday party this year, we've stayed busy this season. This week I decorated our apartment and some gingerbread cookies. I wrapped the final gifts going out to California today (a little late), while Patrick worked on setting up our Christmas gift to ourselves: an espresso machine! We couldn't wait until tomorrow to get started. Patrick is a natural and made us some delicious drinks this afternoon. He has yet to perfect the latte art style heart on his first attempt, but I didn't mind a bit. My mocha was foamy and perfect.

gifts going out to Cory and M

I really enjoy wrapping gifts, almost as much as buying them. Gifting is my love language, and finding a way to make the gifts I choose look good without spending much money is a creative outlet and an excuse to get crafty. I was especially pleased with the stuff going out to Cory and Matt this year. I did not buy any of the paper used. The brown paper was in the Amazon box with our espresso machine as packing material, and the rest was reused from various baby gifts we've received the last few months.

I hope your holidays are filled with warmth, joy, and family. Merry Christmas from the three of us!

life changes

I am fully aware that I have not posted since February. I haven't worked on many projects since then either, but I think I have a pretty good reason. I was pretty preoccupied with this little guy!

Meet Atlas.

Of course, I bought a journal to start writing to him (more on that later) when I was about two months pregnant. I carried it around with me my entire pregnancy and now two months into his life I still haven't started writing... We'll see how I do resuscitating this blog!