Amelia In Her Curtain Dress

You remember I bought an antique curtain panel and made it into a dress for Amelia, my newest granddaughter?

Well, look at this gorgeous photo I got today:

She is just so dang cute!

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Amelia’s Dress Finished

This has turned out to be a very satisfying project. That curtain panel really looks great in the finished product.

The pattern I used does not call for an overskirt, so when I cut the skirt, I cut it about 3 inches wider on each side than the underskirt, so that it would be “fluffy”.  I also cut it with the original hem at the bottom, and cut it 3 1/4 inches shorter than the underskirt, so that when I hemmed the underskirt, it is just the right length.

Here is the pattern I used, McCall’s 2053. I bought it in 1999, when Miss Sarah was born, and used it to make a dress for her, too.  Her’s was a baby plaid seersucker. It turned out just as cute. I made that hat for Sarah, too. I’m thinking this dress needs a more “baby bonnet”  looking hat, though.

I finished the back with baby snaps instead of a button, so that it will be easier on her mommy when she is dressing Amelia. Can’t wait to see the pictures, except that it is about the size to fit a 6-8 month old so I will have to wait. Sigh.

I’m sharing this on Everything Etsy’s “I Made It!” Blog Party

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A New Dress For Amelia

Yesterday when I was in Kanab, I found this old curtain panel in an antique shop for $4.00.

Today I made this dress for Amelia. The bodice is lined and it has an underskirt, both made with a piece of fabric I got in 2002 in a thrift shop in Forsyth, Georgia. There used to be an Arrow Shirt Factory there, and this fabric was once used for making expensive men’s dress shirts. I think I paid about 5o cents for a yard of it. It was just right for this dress.

Here is a close up of the bodice. I used a piece of lace around the neckline because the sheer fabric showed the seams in an ugly way.

I still have to finish the hem and put on a button on the back, but I am so happy with the way this project turned out.  And I can’t wait to see a pic of Amelia modeling her dress.

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My New Fab Granddaughter

Until today, I had four grandchildren–Michael, Sarah, Spencer, and Owen. Three Fab Grandsons, and one Fab Granddaughter. Every time one of my children and their spouse announced that they would be having a new baby, I always said, “You know if you have a girl, you will have to name her after me!” I never really expected that to happen, but a grandma can ask, right?

This morning, at 12:45 a.m., in a hospital in Maryland, Amelia Summer Gail Parson entered the world. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 13 oz. She is the pride and joy of my son, Seth and his lovely wife, Sarah. And, she shares MY birthday. They called me last night to tell me they were on the way to the hospital. The last time I talked to them was at about 11:45 p.m. Maryland time. Sarah said she was only dilated to 5 cm, so they didn’t expect the baby to arrive any time soon. I told them I had to get up early to go to work, and asked that they just text me, so I would know when I got up whether or not she had been born.

This morning, I called, and Sarah told me Miss Amelia was born just an hour after I last talked to her. She told me there were pictures posted on Facebook, so while I was talking to her, I signed on to look. And that is when I discovered that they HAD named this baby after me. I got so choked up I could barely speak. And my eyes started leaking. My son said that since she was born on my birthday, she had to have my name.  Her “middle middle ” name, Gail is my middle name. What a wonderful birthday surprise–not only does she share my birthdate, she shares my name as well!

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I Love A Vacation!

Our vacation started out with a drive to Birmingham to the VA Eye Clinic for FabGrandpa’s one week post-op check up. Everything looked fine–the doctor said to just keep using the eye drops until they were gone. After the check-up, we headed on over to Georgia.

We checked in at the Holiday Inn, our home away from home for the next week. Got settled in, then I went to pick up our granddaughter. We had a giggley spend the night party that night, with her telling us about her friends, her school, things she likes to do, and things she likes to eat. I think we got to sleep finally at around mid-night.

Sarah playing on the Webkinz website on Fabgrandpa’s computer.

The next day, we got up early and met Aunt Emily and cousin Spencer for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel across the street from the motel:

After breakfast, we had a day of shopping at the mall. Because we don’t see her very often, we tend to spoil Sarah rotten when we do. We got her some new jeans, 3 new shirts, a new purse, and a new hoodie. Then we went to Aunt Becky’s beauty shop where we all got haircuts.

The afternoon was spent at Monkey Joe’s, an indoor playground in town. There are lots of things to jump on, lots of room to run and work off some energy.

The kids needed to be active, and the adults needed to rest. I was already exhausted by walking all over the mall.

Dinner that night was at Longhorn Steaks. Mmmm. FabGrandpa, Sarah,  and I were joined by Emily and her husband, Tommy, Spencer, and Becky. Just about the time desert was served, my son, Seth, called and said he was almost to the motel. So, we all hurried up so we could get back over there.

That’s my son, Seth–he is in the Air Force and lives in Maryland. The last time we saw them, we were working in Gettysburg, about 100 miles from where he lives. Owen was only two months old then.

He is now a rambunctious two year old. He is so sweet and cuddly, so much fun to be with.

Michael is now a teenager, (YIKES! I have a teenaged grandson? how the heck did that happen?)

We stayed up again, until past midnight, talking and catching up and just being with our kids. We slept late on Sunday, then the kids took the grandkids to the aquarium in Atlanta, while FabGrandpa and I went to meet Becky’s future in-laws.

I did not take pictures of Rafe’s parents, but I can tell you we had a pleasant visit. We met them at O’Charley’s for lunch, then headed over to Rafe’s house, where Becky will be living after they get married next year. His parents are very nice people, we liked them very much. And the house has a nice guest room, where FabGrandpa and I can stay when we are in town. I teased Rafe that it was big enough for a “mother-in-law” suite–it really is, but I don’t really expect to live with them.

We went back to the motel, where we met up with Seth, and his family. Then we all went over to my Mom’s for a short visit. I was ready to drop when we got back to the motel, so I went to bed “sort of” early, about 10 p.m. to get rested up for the next day.

…to be continued…

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The FabGrandchildren

These little people are the ones who make me FabGrandma. They are all the loves of my life, after FabGrandpa and my own children, who just happen to be their parents. I am always amazed at how much they have grown since the last time I saw them, although I shouldn’t be since it has been two years since I saw my son’s children.

But this time, I saw more than physical growth. They had each grown in maturity in ways that I had not noticed before.  Spencer, the little guy on the left in the yellow shirt, was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome in October. Because we now know what it is that makes him different and unique, we as parents and grandparents have been better able to help him understand why he has tics and why other children sometimes find that scary. He is doing lots better at being able to interact with others, and because of that he is doing better in school. Yay, Spencer!

The last time we saw Owen, he was just two months old. So, yes, seeing a physical growth was expected. That he was able to call me and FabGrandpa by name by the end of the week was awesome. He knows several songs, like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and The Wheels On The Bus, and proudly sang them for us.

Sarah is an amazing artist. She can draw very awesome pictures in just a couple of minutes. She told me she knows she wants to go to college, either at the University of Kentucky or at Harvard. She made the Honor Roll at her school this semester and is in the Beta Club. I was really impressed with her when we went out to eat. She made very good choices from the menu, and ate what she ordered. The day we went to Longhorn Steaks, she ordered the chicken tenders with steamed veggies and ate every bit of it. At the Thai food place, she ordered sweet and sour chicken. The waiter tried to talk her out of it, but she said “I’ll just stick with the sweet and sour chicken, thank you.” She ate all of it.

Michael, the oldest grandchild, also made the Honor Roll. I was really proud of him for that, because he was expelled from school when he was 10 for his behaviour, and was home schooled for more than two years. He only went back to public school after Thanksgiving, so for him to make the Honor Roll was a really big deal. He was a good helper, too. On the day they left, we were all sitting in the lobby of the motel. His father gave him a key to the room, and told him to get a cart and bring their luggage down. Michael went up, loaded the cart, and brought it down all by himself.  This was a big improvement over two years ago, when anything we asked him to do was met with him throwing a fit.

I am proud of all the FabGrandchildren, and I love them all so much!

I didn’t make anything this week, because I was on vacation, but wanted to brag about my grandchildren. Thanks for stopping by.

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