Homemade Bib

Will get to Christmas pictures when I have a little more time.  :-)

Just wanted to share a little something I made.  I copied a bib that I received from a friend for Daniel.  (Thanks Lea!)  I love this bib.  It's large, absorbent and cute!  All that I want (and need) in a bib.  I finally got around to making another one - and have hopes of making more. 

I bought a cute Christmas hand towel to make into a bib.  I cut this in half.  (First is a pic of the entire towel and then a picture of half of the towel.)

Next, I cut out a small semi-circle in the top center for the neck opening.  (I can measure if anyone wants it - just let me know.)

I finished off the top edges.  I then used quilt binding (36" in length) and sewed this around the hole.  It is centered on the bib so that there are equal lengths on each side.  The lengths leftover are the ties for the bib.

Here's the bib on Eliana.  Isn't it cute?! 

She is a really messy eater (when feeding herself), so this works out great!  If anyone wants more details, I know this is not much and I'm happy to give more.  There isn't a lot though as these are pretty simple.  I think they will make great gifts too!  I know I've loved mine!

Blessings,

Leslie

Planning for New Years Eve!

If you are looking for something fun to do on New Year's Eve, I would love to share with you what we did last year!  You can visit my post here.

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LeslieNelsen/462208/

This wonderfully creative idea was not mine, but was shared by various women on the Five in a Row message board.  I don't remember who the idea belonged to originally, but each person has taken it and made it their own.  Changes in what is done, times done (some do it earlier to end before midnight), etc.  Make it your own!

I'm busy planning on ours and am thinking we are going with a theme this year.  I'll write more later.  I need to make sure my one blog reader knows not to peek so that the surprise isn't spoiled.

Blessings,

Leslie

Roseola?

Well, yesterday, Eliana's fever finally seemed to be getting better.  Early in the evening when I was changing her I noticed a rash on her trunk and back.  It didn't seem to bother her.  I vaguely remembered seeing this before and googled it.  I think it's what Eliana has had. 

Today her rash is worse.  It still doesn't seem to be bothering her thankfully (no itching).  She has been a little more irritable than normal, is eating poorly and isn't sleeping well.  The last 2 probably contributing to the first on the list.  She is still being a trooper about it all though.

Hopefully she will be all well soon.  Though if we have to deal with a sickness, this one has been a relatively easy one to have.  Thankfully she didn't have seizures which can be the one bad symptom.

Just an update.  Thanks for your prayers.

Blessings,

Leslie

December catch-up post

Just thought I'd share briefly a little of what we've been doing around here this month. 

We went to Bethlehem.  A local church (not ours) puts on a fabulous interactive "Journey to Bethlehem".  You are led through a market and to meet various people on the way - Herod, the wise men, merchants, shepherds, angels, the innkeeper - before seeing the Nativity.  The costumes and sets are amazing!  It's one of our family's favorite activities.  I don't think  you are ever to old to experience the Christmas story in such a real and fresh way.

The girls met for Keepers of the Faith and did a second class on Herbs.  You can read more about it here.  Roger and some of the children went to a Christmas parade.  We attended Christopher's football awards banquet.  It was a very nice event and we enjoyed being there.

We made applesauce/cinnamon ornaments.  The children enjoyed this and we used them on the small tree.  The room smells soooo good and the tree looks beautiful.  I'll post a picture when I get it uploaded.

We also made trees out of rice krispy treats.  This was an idea of a friend, Jen, and we enjoyed it too.  We used our hands to shape trees, snowmen, balls, whatever they felt like doing.  We decorated with sprinkles - and then ate. 

We attended a St. Lucia party hosted by some dear friends.  She goes all out in decorating and attending to all of the details of making the event a beautiful and fun one for all invited.  The house was beautiful, the food was delicious and bountiful (and Swedish), and activities were fun for the children.  The adults had a great time just talking and catching up.  It's an event we look forward to each year! 

Rebecca wrapped up some of our Christmas books and put them under the tree.  The younger boys have been opening one each day or so and then enjoy listening to the story. 

Each of the children received an ornament.  I try to choose something the represents some aspect of their year or their personality.  Here is what they received this year.

Eliana - an angel that loves to dance.  That's pretty much says it all, doesn't it?

Daniel - a little drummer made of candy.  He plays music and beats the drum.  Daniel loves candy and music has been an important part of his year in terms of therapy.  He loves this ornament.  We've had to convince him that it isn't a toy to be played with and needs to stay on the tree.  LOL

Isaiah - Pooh and Tigger sledding.  Isaiah loves the action of sledding and the constant movement also reminded me of my active and energetic little boy.  He loves watching it move.

Joshua - Two bears cuddled up with a book.  Joshua loves to read -and to be read to.  It's a gift that has taken him many places.

Rebecca - A handcrafted ornament with beads and wire - which reminded me of her bracelet making.  There is also a cross which reminds me of her love of Jesus.

Christopher - An ornament that says "License to Drive".  Another one that explains itself.  There is a space to place a photo and Christopher is covering the photo that came with the ornament.

More later on Christmas itself.  

Blessings,

Leslie

Eliana has a fever

which is some of the reason I haven't posted.  Most of my computer time has been holding a fussy, sleepy (or NOT) little girl.  She started a fever on Christmas Eve and still has it.  She is playing pretty well, though much fussier than normal for her.

Her eating is also much less, so just trying to keep her hydrated.  We are giving her tylenol to help manage the fever.  So far it hasn't been *too* high - 101.4 the highest I've seen.

Will try to post Christmas news and pics when I have a bit more free time.  We've had a sweet time together and I look forward to sharing more.

Blessings,

Leslie

Merry Christmas!

I had hoped to post some pictures of some of our Christmas activities, but just haven't gotten to it yet.  Will try to do that after Christmas - along with more pictures.

I wanted to take a few moments to send greetings.  Wishing you all a day filled with joy!  Wishing you happiness, sweet memories, laughter and love.  Wishing you peace.  Wishing you hearts filled with gratitude as you remember the One who gave the most precious gift of all.

I'm humbled to think of God's gift for us.  One so undeserved.  A gift that forever gives us the opportunity to live with God in fellowship.  Wow!  We truly couldn't ask for more.

Thank you God for redeeming us, for adopting us into your family, and for loving us in spite of our sin.  Thank you Jesus for giving your life so that we too might live.

Merry Christmas!!!

Leslie

Eliana's birthday

We spent a simple day with our girl.  We were scheduled to have physical therapy, but it was cancelled due to her therapist not feeling well.  That was probably a nice thing for Eliana as this is the hardest of her therapies.  It also allowed us to get in a nap before the party started. 

We had some friends join us for food and fun.  Eliana was wearing a cute little apron that her Nana made with a birthday cake on it (with 2 candles).  We took this off once the eating began so that it wouldn't get ruined.  (Not the best pic of Eliana, but you can see her cute outfit.)

We decorated simply - a princess theme for the table and pink and white balloons.  We had a dinner of one of her favorite foods - really one of the only "real meals" that she eats - spaghetti!

I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for our birthday girl.  After I looked at pictures, I realized that it was almost identical to last year's cake!!!  I didn't write on it which may be why the lettering looks different on them. 

Eliana tried blowing out the candle.  I'm not sure if she actually did.  We thought she did until one of her brothers confessed that he had been blowing.  lol

Eliana ate a little bit of cake - but mainly she was thrilled to have a fork.  I haven't given her a fork much as she mainly feeds herself with a spoon (with help).  So, she was intrigued with this fork.  She did stick it in the cake and sometimes got it close to her mouth.  I'm not sure if she actually ate any cake, though she did have some of the frosting.

What she did enjoy was ice cream!  Eliana loves ice cream and does really well eating it.  I think that the cold of it helps her to close her mouth better.  She ate a big bowl of it.

We opened gifts.  She received some new toys, a new Baby Signing Time DVD and a rainstick (with mirrors on each end).  She also received a musical card from her aunt which delighted her.  She would open it, listen and laugh.  It was playing the song "Who Let the Dogs Out".  I was delighted to see Eliana signing "dog" after she listened to it. 

She received another musical birthday card from a dear friend which also delighted her - it was Rachel from Signing Time singing Happy Birthday.  You can view it here if you want. 

It was fun celebrating our sweet girl.  I can't believe that she is 2!

Blessings,

Leslie

Yippee!!!

Most of my blog sidebar is recovered - and the parts that aren't, can be added.  I could never have done this on my own and have to thank some friends. 

Thank you to Renee who helped retrieve the buddy links from hsblogger.  This is a sweet gal that I just met via my blog a couple of days ago - and she volunteered to help me.  She worked me through finding and posting the list.  What a sweet new friend!

Thank you to Leanne and Abbey.  Leanne is a friend I've known for years.  We met because we used the same curriculum when our teenagers were young.  We've never met in real life as she lives across the world, but I'm thankful for her friendship via cyberworld (and would love to one day meet her).   She and her daughter helped set up and make my blog pretty - they added all the graphics and designs.  They also saved my template and thus were put things back that I had accidentally lost!  I'm so glad to have things back like they belong!  :-D

Oh, and I did copy the template so that hopefully this won't happen again!

I still need links from non- hs blogger friends.  If you comment, would you add in a link to your blog just to make it easier for me to link back to you?  Thank you!

I'll try to get back to posting more soon.  I need to put in a birthday pic or two.  :-)

Blessings,

Leslie

I goofed on my blog ...

and would love some help please!  I tried adding in a button to my blog a couple of days ago.  I put it in the side bar.  I have done this before and didn't think anything of doing it again.  Well, I learned a lesson. 

***You should have a recent and updated copy of your blog template saved in a separate location.  I thought I had done this, but  it was long ago and I can't find it.  It probably would have been missing a lot of things anyway.***

So, I've lost a lot of information that was in my sidebar.  Some of the things I'll be able to recreate (hopefully).  I would love some help here.

If you are one of my blog friends, could you post here or send me an email with your blog address so I can work on making a new "friends" list of blogs?  I know I can find a lot of them, but it would be so much easier if you could post and help me out - please.  :-D  Those that are on my friends list with homeschoolblogger - I can retrieve that list!  Whew!  It's all the others  that are hosted by different blog sites that will be a bit harder to get.

Thanks friends for your help.

Merry Christmas!
Leslie

Two Years Old!

 

 Happy Birthday Eliana Joy!!!

I can't believe that you are 2 years old! It just doesn’t seem possible. In some ways it seems like a much longer period of time and in other ways it has flown.  The first year was difficult in a lot of ways - feeding struggles, heart failure, open-heart surgery, salmonella, feeding tubes and more.    

And yet, the joy is also overwhelming. I don’t know that I can ever convey what an incredible blessing Eliana is to our family. And not just our family – she brings joy to so many others. I watch people who are just taken with her sweet personality (and she is incredibly cute too!)

When she was born, I wondered how we would handle having a child with special needs.  Would our lives be changed in ways that I didn't like?  Would we ever find "normal" again?  I found that having a child with special needs caused me to depend more on God - the One who could help us.  It meant changing the way that we lived.  It also meant that we would be changed - our priorities, our views and our values.  I'm so very thankful for that!

Eliana is such a joy!  (What a great middle name for her!)  She is loving and forgiving - incredibly so.  We can all learn from her example.  She is curious and smart and funny.  I love her sense of humor, her independence and her love of music.  I love her giggle and her smile and her signs.  I love watching her siblings love on her and have fun with her.  I love the changes I've seen because of her. 

Thank you God for blessing our family so richly two years ago.  I didn't realize then what an amazing gift you were giving us.  I'm so glad that You knew better than we did.

Here are some photos during her first few days. 

This is her first birthday. 

This is a picture of Eliana on Sunday.  

I'll post birthday pictures as soon as I'm able to.  We are planning a low-key party - ice cream and music are sure to be on the agenda. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful Eliana.  

I love you so very much,

Mommy