. . . introducing . . .

. . . born at 9:50pm . . .

. . . 23 august 2011 . . .

. . . by last minute c-section . . .

. . . after thirty hours of labor . . .

. . . weighing in at seven pounds three ounces . . .

. . . twenty-one inches long . . .

. . . already needing a haircut . . .

. . . sporting plenty of bruises . . .

. . . including one that looks like

his dad's heavy beard . . .

{just as i predicted}

. . . meet colby tyler johnson . . .

. . . congratulations to amelia and tyler . . .

. . . they were champs throughout . . .

. . . and it certainly was no cakewalk . . .

. . . you know what that means . . .

. . . time for another giveaway . . .

. . . leave a comment

for a chance to win

your choice of oops! . . .

. . . ferris bueller's day OUT! . . .

. . . yes, OUT! . . .

. . . something tells me the cheesy grin

has been wiped off this cute face today . . .

. . . especially after one night in the hospital already . . .

. . . on pitocin and off pitocin

and now back on again . . .

. . . so while she's contracting

and counting the minutes

until they crank up the epidural . . .

. . . let's talk about her quilt! . . .

. . . the blocks went together like a dream . . .

. . . probably the easiest

~ yet with the most bang for the buck ~

that i've ever made . . .

. . . because hey! look . . .

. . . no half-square triangle points to match . . .

{more like one-third square triangles ~ but i'm no good at math!}

. . . also none of the bulk in the corners

usually associated with

matching {or perhaps unmatching ~ as they sometimes are} points . . .

. . . and i'm always thrilled

when i see a quilt i've pieced

after it's been so skillfully machine quilted . . .

. . . i'm a big fan

of using up every scrap possible

on the back . . .

. . . even though sometimes

it looks exactly like i was trying to

use up every scrap possible

on the back! . . .

. . . and you can't have a proper quilt

without a proper quilt name . . .

. . . i've explained this before,

but only my family thinks it's funny . . .

. . . brief recap: amanda had a baby in may.

his name is cameron.

amelia doesn't have a name for her baby yet

or simply won't tell us what it is.

hence ~ amanda started calling amelia's baby ferris ~

you know ~ as in cameron and ferris ~ bffs . . .

{please don't tell me you've never seen ferris bueller's day off.

if so ~ i weep for the future! go ahead and youtube that}

. . . i digress . . .

. . . so ~~~ now we wait . . .

. . . but, hopefully, not too much longer,

before we find out

what tyler and amelia name their baby . . .

. . . not that it really matters . . .

. . . i'll have a hard time calling him anything but ferris . . .

. . . geshundheit . . .

. . . summer colds are dumb . . .

. . . it's one hundred forty 'leven degrees outside . . .

. . . and i've got a raw, scratchy throat . . .

. . . i'm achy and sneezing . . .

. . . it just doesn't make sense, does it? . . .

. . . so ~ i'm taking this opportunity

to watch a little food network . . .

{reruns of chopped all stars, in case you were wondering}

. . . and finish up the handstitching

on a loooooooong overdue project . . .

. . . seems like perfect weather

for cuddling under a quilt,

don't you think? . . .

{you know what else is sad?

my eyes have gotten bad enough

that i can only sew on black stuff

in broad/natural daylight.

hurray for the fifties!!!!}

. . . it's been a year . . .

. . . since my dad passed away . . .

. . . of course, i'm missing him like crazy today . . .

{and pretty much every day}

. . . i keep telling myself

i'm one year closer

to seeing him again . . .

{i also went back and re-read

my blog posts from last august

and all your comments.

thanks so much ~~ i love you all!}

. . . this girl deserves a party . . .

. . . it hardly seems possible,

but my youngest daughter

is having a baby . . .

. . . where have the years gone? . . .

. . . wasn't it just yesterday

she was sitting on the couch

with her blankie and thumb

watching ferris bueller's day off? . . .

. . . and running to get the curling iron

{it made a great microphone}

at the appropriate moment

so she could join him singing danke shoen . . .

{please refrain from judging my parenting skills}

. . . nevertheless . . .

. . . in a few short days,

i'll have another little grandson . . .

. . . so we had an amazing shindig to celebrate . . .

{please notice that darling newly upholstered chair courtesy of her mother-in-law ~ sooooo cute!}

. . . with friends . . .

{who invited the baby daddy in the background?}

. . . and more friends . . .

. . . our family . . .

. . . including grandkids halleigh and baby cameron . . .

. . . and all the johnson gals . . .

. . . they're the ones

who made this table

look totally fabulous . . .

. . . and it was tasty, too . . .

. . . with little weenies . . .

. . . and meatballs . . .

{mandatory at all boy baby showers}

. . . it was worth coming for these breadsticks alone . . .

{everyone should have a friend who does their hair and bakes!}

{and whose husband is our neighborhood police officer. remember him?}

. . . what a lucky girl . . .

. . . so many fantastic gifts . . .

. . . including these

from a group

of the most generous well-wishers . . .

. . . and this one ~ nearly as tall as the mom-to-be . . .

{she's only five foot nothing}

. . . from her mother . . .

. . . containing my crafty little sewing projects . . .

{i've gotta get a better photo of that quilt ~ it's pretty cute}

. . . and even though i understand

they're not totally politically correct

any more . . .

. . . i hope she'll use these bumper pads . . .

. . . i also hope to get a better shot

than this one from tyler's phone . . .

. . . i might have to go out there

and hang the quilt on the wall myself,

but for now . . .

. . . there you go . . .

. . . we can't wait to meet little ferris . . .

. . . and find out his real name . . .

. . . m.i.a. . . .

. . . i'm alive . . .

. . . and well{ish} . . .

. . . just holed up . . .

. . . in my own personal sweatshop . . .

{now that i think about it ~ it might've been nice to borrow a couple of assistants}

. . . working on stuph . . .

. . . it's all pretty cute

and i'll share soon{ish} . . .