Adventures in Mommyhood

Last year Anabelle was just a little over 1 month old when Halloween came around. We decided to not dress her up and instead just put her in a Halloween onesie.

This year was a little different. Anabelle was more able and willing to participate in Halloween and while she doesn't really understand what's going on, at least she can enjoy some of it. After lots of discussion John and I agreed upon the Flintstones. We wanted a costume that was a family and thought that Anabelle made the perfect "Pebbles". I had been thinking about purchasing a sewing machine for quite some time and this was the perfect opportunity to do it. On Monday of last week I bought a Brother Basic sewing machine from Target for $75, a pretty good deal. I figured that the Flintstones costumes were a pretty easy project to try and re-learn how to sew on. The first day was spent learning how to use the machine, I read the manual, learned how to thread it, and practiced a little. The next day I dove into making Fred's costume. Not too hard, the only thing I wish I had done was to sew the black triangles onto the orange fabric before I made the outfit. It was a little challenging to maneuver the fabric to sew on all the black spots; I made a mental note to remember to do it on Pebbles costume. So in one night I made Fred, it fit John and so it was a success!

The next day I started on Pebbles, remembering to sew all my black spots on first. I used a little dress of Anabelle's in a similar style as a pattern for her costume and was really amazed at how easy it was. My only mistake was some over-zealous stitching where I sewed her arm and neck holes shut and when I realized my mistake had to rip the seams out-oops! But none-the-less, Pebbles was created during nap time, and was great. I also added a small felt bone shaped hair piece that attached to a pony tail holder. Finally, I left Wilma for the last day, a little nervous to attempt a fitted dress I started by using one of my own dresses as a pattern. I am not sure why I was nervous, Wilma was by far the easiest out of all three. I even sewed some elastic around the one-shoulder neck line to make sure their was no gapping. Sewing elastic can be tricky, but it turned out ok. I also added a necklace made out of pom-poms to look like Wilma's rock necklace.

Now here is my disclaimer** These were intended to be costumes and so I was not going for perfection. If I had to wear these clothes somewhere not on Halloween I would be slightly embarrassed by their construction. However, for Halloween I was pretty proud of myself. I completed them in 4 days, and they were pretty cute. The fabric and some supplies cost $56, which isn't too bad for 3 costumes. I also have a lot of fabric left over because I wasn't sure and over-bought a little bit. But I can use the left-over fabric for something else.

I have to thank my grade school home economics teacher and also my mom for showing me how to sew about 15 years ago. Because of them I had a good base for knowing what to do. Sewing these costumes has made me all the more excited to get a little better at sewing and tackle another project. Not sure what yet, maybe something for Thanksgiving?

We had a busy and fun Halloween weekend. Friday night Anabelle stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's while John and I went to a party at Phil and Liz's. We had a great time, and enjoyed spending some time with friends we don't see often enough.

Saturday after picking up Anabelle we relaxed a bit and then got ready to go to a party at Jim(Dr. Love) and Terra's. Anabelle seemed to enjoy the party, she always likes to meet new people and explore new places. She was a party girl and stayed up till 9pm. She then slept till 11am this morning, which was unexpected- she must have been worn out. We didn't do much except play today. Until this evening when we put on our costumes, took some pictures, did some trick-or-treating, and then passed out candy. Grandma came over to visit a bit and trick-or-treat with us. Anabelle seemed to like the idea of people giving her candy and she also seemed to understand to reach out and grab it out of the bowl. It's like kids are born with that skill =) It was a nice Halloween here at the Delaney house. Hope you all had a great Halloween too!

Trick or Treating at the neighbors house

Then it was time to head home to pass out candy to the other children

This year John and I had 4 weddings to attend. It is such a joy to see our friends and family members start their married lives together and celebrate with them. This past weekend we went to our last wedding of the season, our friends Elizabeth and Matt. John met Liz while working at HSBC, neither one of them works at HSBC anymore, however we still find time to get together and have fun with Matt and Liz. This weekend was no different, we had a great time at their wedding!

The Happy Couple