I love NY

We took our first plane trip with our 16 month old son, Paul this past weekend. The weather didn't cooperate the whole time but we had fun anyway. Paul got to meet some of his cousins for the very first time and we got to visit with lots of Andy's family. On Monday we spent the day walking and shopping. This is my favorite photo - it's of Paul and Andy on the cobblestone streets in the SoHo area.

And then there were two

We returned from our whirlwind trip to NYC this past Monday evening (more on that later). Our oldest cat, 13 year old Bubba, has been losing weight rapidly over the past few months - going from a hefty 18 pounds down to a skeletal 9 pounds. He was barely eating, sneezing a lot and pooping in the floor everywhere. We had lots of tests done on him to try to find out what was causing it. None of the tests showed any problem ($800 later). The next step would have been more invasive and potentially life threatening tests - and we still may not have answers.

So, when we got back home Monday, Bubba looked really bad. So my husband and I made the decision that it was time to put him out of his misery. I did the deed on Tuesday and took Bubba to the vet and had him put down. I made myself stay with him the whole time, petting him and talking to him. It's the least I could do. It was very sad but I know it was the most humane thing to do at this point. So now we're down to two cats - 9 year old Little (the gray one) and 6 year old Fig (the striped tabby). Here is a photo of Bubba with Fig- he's the big black and white cat. He was a loving and sweet kitty and he'll be sorely missed. RIP.

Bunny Rabbit Painting

This is a photo of a rabbit painting I did for my son's room before he was born. I also used the same image on his birth announcements and I have also made little "calling cards" for him with the same design.

My Diaper Roll Ups - for parents on the go

I came up with this idea back in November. I have a (now 16 month old) baby and I was tired of having to carry a whole diaper bag with me all the time. Just throwing a diaper in my purse was making a mess too. So I came up with this idea and I've been selling them online and to my mom friends. It's machine washable and very easy to use. I make them in many different fabrics - here are a couple of my favorites. I sell them online at my store D.R. Mercantile for $25.

Quilt for my Grandfather's 80th birthday

This is officially my first quilt. I came up with the design myself. I'm making it for my grandfather's 80th birthday this month (we call him Papa D). The background is sort of a brickwork/subway tile layout using several different dark brown prints. Then I appliqued a dimensional "D" that is supposed to resemble tree trunks and branches and I embroidered "PaPa" onto the top. Then I bordered it with dark brown corduroy with light tan corner blocks. The top border has two appliqued mules (my grandfather just purchased two mules in February and that's all he talks about!). I wanted to work in more of the family theme so I appliqued the first initials of my dad and his brother and sister onto the other three borders. I plan on filling in around them with quilting when I get to that point. I'm pretty happy so far and I think he will like it. My grandmother passed away about 13 years ago but she was a hard core quilter so I think he will be happy to see me taking up the craft. I'll post more photos as I make progress.