Sweet Sleep & Baby Booties

My current memory verse is Matthew 11:28, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  What a sweet verse!  Ah, lovely rest! 

Thanks to all who have been praying about Fynn's sleep.  There has definitely been improvement this week.  We went over two months with him sleeping in only one hour increments.  He would generally fall back yo sleep right away, but that still equals two months with zero REM sleep for either of us.  I tried everything I could think of as well as suggestions from everyone.  We got into a very regular sleep schedule (any sort of schedule is a big challenge for me!) and bed time routine, I was careful what I ate and  made sure there were no infections going on.  I even elevated his head in case he got a runny nose at night.  The room was just warm enough with a snuggley blanket...still no sleep!  Yet he remains generally happy throughout the day.

The pediatritian and public health professionals I talked to said that at this stage in his life, he's either teething or learning some major skill that he just want's too keep practicing all night long!  And that would fit in just about right: he popped out 4 teeth and I think I see a fifth on the way, learned to sit independently, crawl, stand up, eat more solid food, and got a new car seat all in the last two months.

The only other thing I did differently this week was tell him that we were going to be close all night and that we love him, but even better than that, Jesus loves him and can keep him safe even if momma and poppa aren't right there.  He never sleeps and can send guardian angels to protect him.  So if he wakes up at night, it's okay, and he can just close his eyes and fall right back to sleep.  Do you think he understood?  I don't know for sure, but I know there has been a change.  Last night was the first time he slept through the night for as long as I can remember.  Maybe I don't give him enough credit for what he can understand.

I love that Fynn's a little chunk (love those sausage legs!!!), but I can not find a pair of shoes that will stay on him!  The best one's have been a crocheted pair that my friend Willow made.  So, how hard could it be, right?  I made them kinda big so they could fit over his pj's or big socks if need be Well, here's my first attempt and a pattern to go with if you should ever care to repeat my trial.

Baby Step 1: Open pattern full size, print, and cut two of each piece

Baby Step 2: Using a blanket stitch, work your way around the toe, like so:

Baby Step 3: Sew the tongue in place at the top and center of the toe piece with a running stitch.

 Baby Step 4:  Line up the corner of the heel to the corner made between the sole and the toe pieces.  Blanket stitch up the toe and heel pieces until you have overlapped the tongue by a few centimeters.  Then sew along the base connecting the sole and the heel.

Once you're all the way around, stitch up the toe on that side as far as you did the first.  If there's a little too much extra on the heel piece, you can clip it down so the corners match up right.

Baby Step 5:  I slipped these on Fynn at this point so I could determine the narrowest part of his ankle.  Here I secured a ribbon at one point at the very back that will wrap around to tie in the front.

Baby Step 6:  Finally, I took some puffy paint to give my little mover some traction.  Super simple little extra layer to keep those wiggly toes warm until breakup!  

Tip: Be careful that the soles are facing the way you want them to.  I almost ended up with two left feet!

Baby Crib Mobile

What a chilly day today!  It's hanging just under 30 below and refusing to rise.  Josh is working 12 hour shifts this week getting equipment ready for Prudhoe Bay.  I haven't gone out much this week because of our record low temperatures and Fynn's cold, but everyone's going stir crazy.  Fynn gets grumpy when he doesn't go outside a lot and the dog really needs to run off some energy.  Even the cats try to go outside, but when we open the door for them, they just flatten their whole bodies against the blast and glare at us like, "why won't you make it warmer!?"  Not in my power.

Anyway, I really like the idea of putting some DIY projects on here because I love them so much myself!  If there are only certain things you want to read here, I’m categorizing things over on the right there.  Anyway, I’m all about using what you’ve got on hand if possible, or can get relatively cheaply if not.   It’s sort of funny how Josh and I balance each other in that aspect.  I’m totally thrifty and he’s more about quality, we usually get by pretty well in the end! =)

I’m finding a lot of baby stuff is expensive!  The only mobiles I could find were all well over $50!  Not exactly in our budget right now, but I could see that Fynn would enjoy something of the sort.  I’ve had these fleece scraps laying around that I’ve been going crazy with lately.  Fleece is so forgiving, I love it!  Anyway, a couple naps later, I had a couple simple animal faces, but you could really do any shapes.   Then I filled them with what I had lying around: Some old pasta noodles and the fabric scraps from making them.  You could use real stuffing, beans, filler popcorn, whatever. 

Next came a couple of willow swatches from outside.  I used more of the fleece strips to lace around two, making a hoop.   A third long swatch was tied to the top of the bed.  Then, it was just a matter of tying the portions together, allowing enough length for swinging and swatting.

 Fynn really loved this (as did the cats), but it held up! =)  Note:  This was perfect while Fynn was in his batting stage.  Now that he's grabbing everything and putting them in his mouth, this mobile has sadly been removed, but Fynn is interested in different toys now, anyway.  Perfect for that stage, though!