Birthday fun

Here are some more pictures we took of the girls wearing their new dresses. I'm in the process of making new ones and tweaking the pattern even more. Leave it to me to not follow a pattern completely;) I'm excited because I have two projects going on...one is the dress I was just talking about, and the other one is my smocking adventure. I am almost done with the smocking of Alley's dress and then all I have to do is sew the dress...I can't wait to see how it looks when it's done. It's been frustrating at times but I am really enjoying it! I will keep you updated:)

Alley before church

Playing on our neighbors porch

Kendall watching Alley

This weekend Alley and I got to go celebrate Alley's "BFF"'s birthday. We had so much fun coloring, painting and playing outside. Here are some pictures from the day.

the girls coloring with markers, stickers and glitter glue...can we say heaven (for the girls, but not for an OCD clean freak...whew, I survived the glitter)

this decision was a serious one...I hope she made the right one;)

playing in the sandbox

what could be more fun than a huge play gym...they had a blast

the birthday girl and Alley waiting patiently for food

back to the "drawing board"....breathe Catherine, breathe...;)

We had a great time at the party and Andy and Kendall had fun at home as well. We are so glad the weather turned beautiful and we were able to spend most of the weekend outside! It's beginning to feel like spring and we are excited:)!

Oh Wow

And so we have it...the news we have been so looking forward to!

McPherson baby #3 is a GIRL!

To say we are excited is an understatement!! We have been anticipating this moment for a couple days and have been positive it was going to be another girl, so the news was just what we were looking for:) Of course, maybe this is why Andy works at an all boy school...he gets his fill of boys all day and then can come home to our girlie chaos:)

Baby girl is doing wonderful. She is already so precious and quite the diva...every view of her face she had the back of her hand resting on her forehead like she was about to faint....such a Scarlett O'Hara thing;) Everything is looking good and we are hoping and praying for a normal pregnancy this time around!!

Weekend Away

This past weekend we traveled to Richmond to spend some quality time with Mimi and Papa. Okay, the real reason was because we had a baby shower for a really good friend on Saturday night, but we will use anything to make a trip to see Mimi and Papa;) We had an added bonus on this trip...Uncle John and Marion were in town as well...yeah, more playmates!;)

My parents were given some hand-me-down outdoor play equipment this past week and they set it up for Alley and Kendall to try out...oh boy was it a hit!! The girls just couldn't get enough of it. They are obsessed with being outside anyway, so this is perfect. Now we don't always have to travel up to "Papa's playground" at "Papa's church" to play outside...whew, we've been saved from the multiple daily trips up there;)

here are the girls when they first got outside...can you tell Kendall is lovin' it?!

this was just too hilarious to pass up:) She was trying to climb through the hole and fell in!

super happy and being goofy

Kendall is so proud of herself

peek-a-boo!

cheesy goodness...Andy was throwing her up in the air and catching her. This is right after he caught her:)

big girl going down the slide...she loved it

weeeeeeeeeeee....

help, I've fallen and I am stuck

I give up, I'm just going to lay here until someone comes to get me...literally, she waited for me to get her!

pausing for a snack break on their new picnic table

inside playing and getting a little education in;)

my job for the shower was to make cupcakes...yummy!

oh man, which one will I eat...I'm mean test....first

Kendall, John, Marion and Alley relaxing after church

Fun, fun weekend:) We are so happy Mimi and Papa can handle the craziness, that always seems to follow our family, and let us come for the weekend;) We had a blast and can't wait until next time...

Projects

Recently I've started sewing again. I learned how to sew, smock, knit, cook, etc. years ago from my wonderful Grandmother, but I never found time to keep up with it. Not that I have a lot of free time, but for some reason I have been really wanting to sew again. 

Back around Christmas, I embarked on the smocking journey. Granny and I worked on matching Christmas dresses for the girls (ok, lets be honest, Granny did most of the work, but I contributed a good amount!) that turned out so cute. We are now about to begin Easter dresses for the girls, and I am even going to make the dresses, as well as try to do most of the smocking myself (it's a pattern with butterflies on it...why do I always pick the hard stuff!?). I will keep you updated on how that all turns out;)

A week ago I found some adorable material while I was in Richmond, plus a fun pattern, and it inspired me to make the girls a dress. I thought it was neat because it was a reversible dress...it can't be hard right?? Okay, it didn't get hard until I decided to stray from the pattern and add some embellishments to the dresses myself...ha, not a good idea to do on the first dress you make all by yourself after years of being away from the sewing machine! All in all I think they turned out very well (just don't look too close please!). I already have new ideas for the next time I use this pattern...oh I can't wait to go to Richmond and buy more material!!!

Alley sporting her new dress 

(Disclaimer: IGNORE the wild hair! Yes, I brushed it and even wet it down...).

Kendall getting in on the action. Doesn't she look excited;)

Kendall got tired of getting her glamor shot and decided the toys were more interesting...notice who is excited to finally have the rocking chair;)

Watch out for more of my projects!! I found a slew of fun patterns for the girls and myself!!