Six Months!

I'm certainly nothing if not consistent, so without further ado, how about I share E's 6-month pics today? You know, like just over a week before he'll be 7 months old. 'Cause that's just how I do things around here. And never mind the fact that I couldn't get the kid to smile. [See: Five month post where I vent about the trials and tribulations of photographing one's infant solo.]

Here are a few of my other faves of my little chunkster!

I thought it'd be fun to compile E's first 6 months in a little photo collage of sorts as well. Nothing like commemorating half a year of life, am I right??

GULP!

It wasn't expected.

I hadn't anticipated it.

I never thought it'd happen today.

But it did.

I got the call. THE call. The one I've been waiting on for over 4 years. I knew it would happen and I knew I wouldn't be prepared. And I wasn't.

The Charleston area code on my phone. At first I considered that it might be the Beads of Courage contact at MUSC calling me with more information on getting Chase enrolled in this amazing program for children coping with serious illness and their families.

It wasn't.

It was the Pediatric Cardiothoracic surgery scheduling department. They were calling to schedule the third of Chase's planned heart surgeries, the Fontan.

Dear Jesus!

We knew this surgery would take place in May 2014 and that we'd eventually get a call from MUSC to schedule the actual date. Somehow just knowing "May" was enough for me. It didn't impact my daily routine.

But now? Having an actual date?? This mama is going to stress like a fool! It's never easy to turn your child over for surgery... but another heart surgery? His third? Now at 4 years old? This kid is such a Rock Star and a warrior and a fighter but that world of heart surgery is every bit of 3 1/2 years in our past! Now to have it suddenly be in our future again? With an actual date and everything?? There are no words.

I can only ask that those of you who may still be reading along on this journey of ours will begin to flood the gates of heaven with your prayers even now for a successful surgery, smooth recovery, no complications and a stronger, healthier Chase once it's done.

I just love this boy!!!!!

Happy Halloween?

No, I haven't lost all sense of time.

I'm just reeeeaaaally behind schedule, mmmkay?

This year was the first year I handmade THREE Halloween costumes for the kiddos, so I felt it was worth documenting it here. I'm super proud of these looks and the fact that the kids loved them? Sooooo worth it!

Chase had a very specific vision in mind for his costume. He wanted to be Super Mario! But not just the standard, regular, non-super-powered Mario. He wanted to be: FIRE MARIO. This actually made things super simple and I was really excited to get started!

Of course I scoured the interwebs for a handy tutorial and boy did I ever find a gem over at smashed peas and carrots with Maggie's tutorial! Of course I had to modify it ever so slightly to make FIRE Mario, but this tutorial was totally easy peasy and a lot of fun!

So here's the look I was going for:

 

And here's my own little Fire Mario (wearing his Mario costume at his 4th birthday party a few days before Halloween):

As I mentioned, the costume was super easy and went together in a matter of minutes! He also had gloves and a mustache and cute brown boots. He looked just like Mario! I ordered his hat online and made the "M" logo and sewed (?) it onto the hat. Too cute! The best part was that I had this costume finished a few weeks before Halloween and Chase wore it EVERYWHERE! He insisted on wearing it every time he played Super Mario Wii, had to put on the hat anytime we went anywhere, and just loved to be in this costume! It was such a hit!

With a little brother also in need of a Halloween costume, it didn't take long for me to proclaim little E as "Baby Fire Luigi!" His costume was also a snap and was completely adorbs!!! I used a hat that Chase wore for his 1st Easter (with the added "L" of course)... awwww!

I'm so proud of these costumes!

Next up was LO's costume... she wanted to be none other than RAINBOW DASH! For you non-MLP fans, Rainbow Dash is a My Little Pony pegasus. Should be fun to make, right?

Last year she was a unicorn and I totally cheated by purchasing a hoodie sweatshirt and sweatpants and just modifying them to make the costume. This year I made the entire thing myself -- hoodie, pants and all! This wouldn't have been possible without the amazing Toni at Sugar Tart Crafts and her step-by-step My Little Pony tutorial. She broke everything down into easy to follow steps and I was sewing like a pro in no time! I made the hoodie with mane and ears, sweatpants, cutie mark, removable tail and removable wings!

Not surprisingly, I had one super happy Rainbow Dash on Halloween night! She just loves to pose for the camera! And the best part is that she'll wear just the tail or just the wings with other outfits (pajamas) so these individual pieces made a super fun addition to her dress-up stash!

My little Halloween cuties!

My next sewing project? Christmas pajamas!!! :)