3/52 + 23 weeks

One of these days I'll need to play catch up for the first week I missed...

1. LM loves to dance. She has really improved since starting her new class last Fall.

2. This might be my favorite picture of Lark ever. She has me wrapped around her little finger, that girl.

3. Watching the snow fall and starting to feel kicks higher up.

diy: geometric heart pillow

Every once in a while LM will come up to me and ask to sew. Most of the time this means I give her an embroidery hoop with a piece of scrap fabric and let her practice going up and down with a needle and thread making her own pattern, but this week she had a specific project in mind - a heart pillow. I was game and so we started to collaborate.

I fully admit that I kind of took over as the idea for a geometric color-blocked heart got me all inspired, but she approved the design with excitement. I quickly got to work drawing out a pattern based off of this one. Then I let her sit on my lap and help guide the fabric through the machine and stuff the pillow insert inside. The smile on her face was definitely worth all of the effort, but we also ended up with a really fun pillow for our living room that never would have been made without her!

We used an old pillow we had on hand for the insert and backing which helped speed things along nicely, so those were the measurements I used for the finished size. I didn't have to worry about adding any sort of closure since the back piece on the old pillow already had a zipper. This is an easy way to give a pillow you are tired of new life!

Below are some pictures of how I pieced the heart together. Using a 1/4" seam allowance you will end up with a heart about 9 1/2" x 10".

I scanned the geometric heart pattern below for your personal use. You can put all of the pieces together using the letter key on the picture above (you will need to cut 2 of a and f). Just click on the scanned images, save them to your computer, and print them out on a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper (if a shape is missing an edge that means it is the edge of the paper). Happy heart-making!

2/52 + 22 weeks

1. LM picked out a "cute little plant that is all her own" this week and has been making sure it gets plenty of sunlight.

2. Lark has been carrying around an old movie camera and giving us directions of what to do while she 'films'.

3. My wardrobe options are getting few and far between these days.

Friends: Some weeks this project may be the only time I pop in to say hello. I hope you understand that my family and not this blog is my first priority, but I surely appreciate you taking the time to visit this space.

1/52 + 21 weeks

I've decided to commit myself to a 52 week project this year. Inspired by the lovely James I will be taking pictures of my children each week with no real rules or limitations. I just want to capture a moment of their childhood. That means until baby brother is born I will be in them as well. I am not interested in doing formal baby bump posts like I did with the girls, but I do want his growth to be documented.

1. The girls requested I do their hair in 'princess crowns' for church. I did my best with Lark's short hair but it wouldn't stay on top of her head and by the time we left she had two braids sticking straight out like Pippy Longstocking. It was pretty cute.

2. These two are developing such a sweet relationship. I am so glad they have each other.

3. Lark wanted a turn to take pictures too. I was surprised to come across this non-blurry one in my camera roll.

expectations

I was going through some pictures and came across these photos of Lark I snapped one afternoon about six months ago. She was singing and dancing on my bed in the vintage tutu her sister once wore almost every day, and I remember thinking, "How does she fit into that already?" These little girls of mine are growing up before my eyes. 

When Lark was born I was expecting a carbon copy of LM to come out (or at least close to it), but when I held her for the first time she looked totally different with all of her own tiny features for me to memorize. And then when her hair finally grew in I was shocked and delighted that it was a beautiful red, just as I was shocked and delighted to discover LM had beautiful curls. 

As Lark has grown every aspect of her spunky and sweet personality has been so fun to watch unfold and compare against her sister. Not in any sort of competitive way, but just as us parents marveling at how our girls are their own little wonderful selves, and finding it funny that in most areas they are complete opposites. So different from each other and yet so alike. 

I can't help but wonder who is coming to join our family now. All of my expectations have been wiped clean since I now know we don't make carbon copy children. I do know we make pretty amazing ones though, and every day they make us smile and keep us on our toes.

I guess I am expecting to, yet again, be surprised.

best news

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from ALL of the Hart clan! I guess I have a penchant for making baby announcements coinciding with holidays because we spilled the beans about our newest little bean on Christmas (last time it was Valentine's Day). My heart is overflowing with happiness and gratitude about this new little life growing inside of me.

Am I also scared? Yes. I waited longer to tell our news this time around because my heart needed to hold onto the secret, tucked safely away, for a bit longer. But now doesn't feel like the time to tap into all the of thoughts running through my head about pregnancy after miscarriage. It has been an emotional journey to say the least and maybe someday those thoughts will start to form themselves into sentences, but for now I just want to celebrate that God willing we will have a baby BOY join our family at the end of May! We are all so excited.

I could stare at that cute profile all day :)