Making new wet bags

Yesterday I had the time and energy to make some new wet bags. As I find myself using my wet bags as a carry-all some days, I wanted to make some double zipper bags. One area is just for dry, clean items, and the main pocket is waterproof for your dirty diapers or wet bathing suits. I made a nice wide strap with a snap, so you can attach the bag to a handle, a door knob, your stroller, etc. I just like having something to put around my wrist, so that I can hold the baby and still open doors and get all of the kids out of the house. Cutting the bags:

Here is one of the bags for sale:

I just snapped this photo of the biggest and littlest of my kiddos. They share a special bond, and I love that this boy has a big sister like her to keep him occupied!

Ball for Baby

How sweet it is to have a boy! He is already interested in playing with balls, but I didn't want to buy any plastic balls. I found this free pattern at The Purl Bee.
I used some of my husband's old jeans, and some hilarious $1/yard fabric with globes. It says, "http://www.worldwideweb.com/" on banners going through space!! I didn't do the circles on the ends, I found my seams matched up perfectly, and I didn't feel like doing any more hand sewing. I used polyester filling (gross) that I got from the thrift store, but would prefer to use bamboo or an eco-filling in the future.

The sickness is over...

I hope I'm not jinxing myself by typing that.
The oldest had a fever, and then a stomach ache (thankfully no barfing/other end issues). It passed, and then the next afternoon the second got it. That continued and then the baby got it. He is also teething and quite fussy with that. He went from sleeping 8-12 hours at night to waking 3+ times a night. Phew, I am exhausted, if that is even an appropriate word for it.
My husband started a new job yesterday at a bicycle shop 1/2 mile from our house. I am so proud of him. It will take some getting used to his new schedule, but I think it's going to go great.
When baby was sick, he actually fell asleep on me, which is rare. I snapped a bad iPhone picture:

My studio has been completely moved to our basement. Husband is working his tail off for me still, working on the dust and debris issues. Our neighbor installed some lights and outlets for me, and it's starting to shape up.
While I was out on a playdate with the kids, husband made this baby gate for our treacherous stairs:

Isn't he the best?!?

Binky's Fudge is delicious.

I was prepared for Father's Day, for once. I got smart and ordered my husband something that both of us would enjoy: fudge!
I had heard about Binky's Fudge by hanging out in the forums on Etsy. It seemed like a smart decision, and boy was it ever. Look at this stuff:

I can't recommend it enough. This is the peanut butter chocolate. I will be ordering some for my dad for his birthday in a few weeks. It gets delivered via Priority Mail, and she ships on every business day. It's a ridiculous amount of fudge. YUM. Check out her Etsy shop: Binky's Fudge!
(No, I wasn't paid for this, I just really, really like her fudge!)

Toddler Shorts

My daughter is turning 5 this week. One of the most exciting things about that, for me, is that she is finally done with her princess stage. Amen.
The thing that is not so great about this is that she won't even wear skirts anymore! She doesn't like the shorts I got for her at the thrift store. I could easily go to Old Navy and buy her some shorts, but I knew I wanted to make her some.
I just traced a pair of her pants and added some seam allowance, as well as hem allowance. I added plenty of room at the top, as I knew I wanted to use wide waistband elastic.

(This is little sister wearing them: score! they fit everyone!!! Click photo to see more on Flickr)
Here's a mini tutorial:

I'm happy with the way they came out. I sewed them all during nap time yesterday (they were cut a week ago). There are some minor flaws, but I think they will work for now. Please tell me if I'm leaving something out of this, I am NOT accustomed to making tutorials, and most of my "knowledge" of sewing is from making my own mistakes!!

Keeping the kids busy

Here are two things keeping my kids busy, homemade play dough and paper:


so that I can sew cute stuff like these harem pants:

Standing tall

There is a beautiful mosque a block away from our house here in Philadelphia. The outside of the building has many tiles and small murals, and this one stuck out to me the other day:

I just love the geometry.
Baby R is pulling himself to standing, and was very proud of himself here:

My studio is almost all moved down to our basement, and I am quite excited for the kids to have more room to play. Photos once I have everything in its right place.

Nursing

My eldest daughter, S, is turning 5 in a few weeks. I have been pregnant or breastfeeding for almost 6 years.
I am glad that I've nursed my babies, but it is times like now, amidst a clogged milk duct, that I resent it. I've been under the weather for 2 days now, and taking echinacea, vitamin C, my usual vitamin/immune system supplements (green based prenatal vitamin, probiotics, vitamin D drops, and astragalus). I'm trying to drink a ton of water, massage, apply potato compresses and warm ginger compresses. I'm nursing in all kinds of weird positions, nuff said on that. I'm still wiped out and on the verge of tears and impatient with feeling sick. Oh, and the baby has another ear infection (which may have been why he wasn't nursing well on the side of my infection). Oh and it was 90-something degrees yesterday (heat index of 100, the city closed school early).
I think I'm going to go find a funny Netflix movie and veg out.
Have you had a breast infection/clogged duct?
In happy news, boy is crawling and scooting and pulling himself up on everything! What a ball of edible cuteness, here with his friend Milo:

ps: didn't my hunk of a husband do a good job on that floor!?!?! Ignore that trim in the background, it'll all be painted soon.