baby Finley

My brother and his wife added another baby the family late last month. Miss Finley is one tiny sweet lady. They came over a few weeks ago for her newborn shoot. Yes, I am still on maternity leave, but family is family. Plus when it's my brother I can do the shoot without cleaning the house or changing out of my jammies :).

Also when its family they trust you when you say you are going to stick their naked tiny baby in a box...



I love this shot of all four of them. Just look at my nephew Charlie's little face. Don't you want to eat his cheeks? I do. Even though he pooped in my bathtub tonight. Really, he did. But I love him anyway.



Welcome to the family Finley! You can poop in my tub whenever you want.

DIY baby bow tie from men's necktie

This Sunday Tate is being baptized (or as Marlie calls is baptamatized) at our church. We are having family over to our house for a little brunch afterward to celebrate. So you'd think that today I would be cleaning and getting ready for company, but instead I decided to make a bow tie for Tate's outfit because I'm just sort of nuts like that. His outfit needed a little something. I read some blogs on making a baby bow tie from fabric, but I wanted it to be real tie fabric. So I got a tie on clearance at JCPenneys and just kind of hoped I could figure it out. I thought I would be cutting big pieces of fabric out and ironing and sewing, but as I looked at it I realized maybe the easiest thing to do would be to use the skinny tail end of the tie. I took some pictures as I went in case it did turn out cute so I could show you how to do it. So, here we go...

1) Buy a men's tie you like. Please refrain from buying a psychedelic one or one with cartoon characters on it because well...they are ugly.



2) Cut a strip from the skinny side of the tie about 8 inches long.



3) Fold the piece in half with the back side (the side with the seam) facing out. Dust off the old sewing machine and sew together the two edges to create a loop.



4) Turn the loop right side out so the sewed seam is now on the inside.



5) Cute a small strip a few inches long from the back of the neck tie.



6) Turn the small strip inside out and sew the edges together. Then turn the fabric right side out. This isn't easy, use a pencil or scissors to help you turn it right side out. Then hand sew the loop in the middle to make the bow tie. Make sure it is tight enough.



7) Measure your little man's neck to see how much elastic to use. Then slide the elastic through the small loop and sew the edges together.



8) And finally, put it on your little man.



Doesn't Tate look dashing in his new bow tie? He did get a little cocky though. I peed my pants a little bit when I edited the pics and found this shot...



"Heelllloooo there. Yes, I'm kind of a big deal. I have many leather bound books."

Anyways, that's how you can make a baby bow tie from a regular necktie. Here are some similar tutorials for other ways to do it Here and HERE.

O.K., now I really do have to go clean. Have a good weekend!

Tate boy - 2 mos 11 days

Hi Tate boy.

Hi Mamma.



How's it going? What are you up to these days?

Oh, pretty good. I've just been sleeping and snuggling and cooing.



You've been smiling a lot too. Why won't you smile for me when I get out my camera?

It makes me nervous. I'll give you a little smirk.



What about that big sister of yours? Are you guys getting along?

Yeah, she makes me smile. She can squeeze a little hard so I have to watch out. Oh, here she comes now!



You guys are the cutest kids I ever had.

Thanks Mamma.

1 month + 4 days

Tate turned one month old on Friday. Its only fitting that I am few days late on this post cuz you know...I have a one month old so I'm late for everything. Some random thoughts about this past month...



Tate is a pretty darn good sleeper. It was rough the first week or so but now he only wakes up once during the night. That is pretty amazing and I'm so thankful.

Dividing my attention between Marlie and Tate has been really challenging. I knew it would be, but that doesn't make it any easier. Its kind of heart breaking to watch Marlie adjust to the new normal. Its also really hard to keep my cool when she is too rough with Tate. I'm trying to breathe deep and be patient with her.

However, Marlie can be really cute with her new baby bro. When he cries she sings "Jesus Loves Me"...very loudly...to calm him down. Its really cute and also kind of maddening.

Baby car seats are even heavier than I remember. I hate the way it digs in to my leg when I carry it.

I love Tate's legs. They are really soft and his knees are wrinkly.

Breastfeeding consumes so much time. So...much...time.

My husband is amazing.

Friends and family have been making us dinner a few times a week. I cannot explain how helpful it has been. I cringe when I think about cooking dinners again.

I love my mom. She is such a good listener and encourager.

I'm trying to live out my goal for the year to take it one day at a time. Some days I am successful.

My body is starting to feel pretty healed up. However it doesn't look that way. Very few clothes fit and I look 6 mos pregnant. I know its early, but its hard not to let it get to me.

I don't know if its the hormones or what, but throughout the day I flip flop from thinking "Oh my gosh I can't do this." and "Oh my gosh this is so wonderful."

Today I saw a glimpse of the sweet relationship Marlie and Tate are going to have as he grows. They snuggled together as Marlie talked and he listened and watched. And then she wrapped him up like a burrito, head and all, and we had to have a little talk about that but whatever...it was cute while it lasted :).

Tate Hill

Tate likes to snuggle. He nuzzles his head up under my chin. He loves to eat. He gained over a pound in one week. He is a really sweet, easy going baby. He has a fussy time at night sometimes and cries and cries. Sometimes I cry too. His cheeks are so squishy. His skin is really soft. His hair feels like velvet and I like to feel his head wrinkles.

Of course I've been taking photos of him when I get the chance. Here are my favorites from the past week...







And this one will promptly be put on a large canvas...



Marlie is such a loving big sister. She smothers Tate slightly. We are working on it :). I love these shots from the hospital...



I'm trying my hardest to soak in every moment and to enjoy these early days of Tate's life. I know it will all go too fast even though that is hard to remember during those late night feedings.

Marlie is 4!

Thanks for all of the sweet comments! We are settling in at home. Trying to find our new groove. Getting to know little Tate. More on the new guy later though. Today is Miss Marlie's 4th b-day. I cannot even believe it! A few weeks ago we went out to take her 4 year photos. It was a short photo shoot since I was huge and slightly immobile, but I love the few shots we did get.







And my favorites, that were totally unplanned...



And a little look over the last 4 years...


Happy 4th b-day Monkey Pants! Love you to pieces!

hello Tate

Tate Hill Duggin was born on Wednesday night at 11:06. He is a big boy, 9lbs 6oz and 21 inches long, but still seems tiny just like I thought he would. He has big sweet cheeks and we are in love, of course.



We were all set to welcome him on Thursday morning at a scheduled c-section, so imagine our surprise when my water broke Wednesday night while we were getting Marlie ready for bed. I still had a c-section, just with a little more excitement :).



We are snuggling and soaking up every newborn minute. Welcome to the world little Tate!