Happy 1st Birthday Caspian Finn

Dear Caspian,

Today you are 1 year old.  I can't believe it!  Your first year flew by at warp speed.  It seems like only yesterday you came into our lives, but yet I can't imagine our life without you.

1 Year Old

Pictures taken by Mama on August 31, 2012

Caspian, on your 1st birthday today there are a few things I would like to remember about you......

1. Your favorite food is bananas.
2. You are so sweet. And I mean SO sweet.
3. You army crawl everywhere.
4. You say 'Dada' and 'Mama'.
5. You have just learned how to shake your head 'no'.
6. Your sisters love you and tell you that there is 'No better baby than Caspian'.
7. Your giggle is just about the best sound I have ever heard.
8. You love to smile.  Your Gigi and Grumpy call you 'Smiley Joe'.
9. You are so happy.
10. You are a dream baby.  So even tempered and delightful.
11. You like feet and shoes.
12. You have the most adorable chubby thighs.
13. You like to eat. A lot.
14. You like when mama sings to you especially 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine' from Show Boat.
15. You like to dance.
16. You love water and going swimming.
17. You like cars.
18. You love your mama, but as of lately you REALLY love your daddy.
19. You are very 'go with the flow'. {Thank you for that!}.
20. You bring such a completeness, joy and happiness to our family.

Before you were born, many of my friends told me that there was something different about the relationship between and mother and a son.  I never really thought there was much to that, until I had you.  I absolutely love my girls, but our relationship is just different.  I can't put my finger on it, but all I know is that you are my sweet little boy and I can't imagine you any other way.  What a light you have brought into our lives.  Thank you for being such a joyful, wonderful, lovable child.

Happy 1st Birthday!

I love you from here to the moon and back again my sweet, sweet Caspian Finn.

Love,

Mama

Pitching Matchups for Yankees - Orioles

Well folks, here is the biggest series of the season so far and amazingly it's against the Orioles. It also begins a stretch of 16 games against the O's, Rays and Red Sox so it goes without saying that these next few weeks are huge.

Game 1: Tonight @ 7:05 PM | TV: YES/MLBN | Radio: WCBS
RHP Hiroki Kuroda (12-9, 2.98) vs RHP Miguel Gonzalez (5-3, 3.66)

Game 2: Saturday @ 1:05 PM | TV: YES | Radio: WCBS
RHP Freddy Garcia (7-5, 4.90) vs LHP Wei-Yin Chen (12-7, 3.87)

Game 3: Sunday @ 1:05 PM | TV: YES/TBS | Radio: WCBS
RHP David Phelps (3-4, 2.96) vs RHP Chris Tillman (7-2, 3.26)
FYI, ticket prices for this big series in the Bronx start at just $7 for game 1, $9 for game 2, and $11 for game 3, and you can get yours right here via Sliding Into Home Tickets.

Alex Rodriguez Will Begin Minor League Rehab Tomorrow

Another 'Out to Sea' Dress and a Little Sailor

We spent this past weekend up in Lake Geneva, WI celebrating Caspian's 1st birthday and my father-in-law's 60th birthday.  Knowing that we were going to be up to the lake, I couldn't resist making another dress from Sarah Jane Studio's new 'Out to Sea' fabric line.  It just had to be done!

Here are the girls wearing the two dresses that I made for them.  I shared Matilda's dress in a previous post (which is made from my Charlotte Apron Dress Pattern), but I made a different style dress for Miss Savannah.

This dress is a basic peasant style dress with a flutter sleeve and a double layer ruffle down the front.  If you've never sewn a peasant dress, you should definitely give it a try.  It's probably one of the easiest garments to sew because the fit is very forgiving and it will take you no time at all to whip up.  Definitely great for a beginner!

I decided I wanted to add in some seersucker with the 'Out to Sea' line because nothing says nautical summer more than seersucker.  I had this pink and white stripe in my stash and used it as an accent for the ruffle and sleeve.

I did a double layer flutter sleeve with the pink anchor fabric on top and the pink and white seersucker underneath.  I did a rolled edge on my serger to keep the sleeves as light and 'fluttery' as possible.

I'm really happy with the way this dress turned out and Savannah seems to like it too!  I adore the rich navy blue and pretty pink. Such a classic, timeless combination.

How grown up is she looking?  Four going on sixteen........gosh, I sure love that sweetheart.

So with all these nautical dresses, I couldn't help but let Caspian join in the fun with a cute little sailor suit.

Here is my husband, Brett, and Caspian Finn.  I think Caspian looks so much like his daddy!

Caspian's sisters sure love him.....poor guy.  You can just see the look on his face, 'please stop smothering me!'

Here is Daddy and his boy.

I did sell some kits to make the dress that Matilda is wearing that I listed in my Etsy shop. It included all the fabric, trims, buttons as well as the printed sewing pattern to create the exact same dress in up to size 8.  I shared the kits over on the Facebook page first and they sold out very quickly.  I don't plan to offer anymore of this exact same kit, but if you are interested in future dress kits, please join us over on The Cottage Mama Fan Page on Facebook.

Have a great day!

Updates on A-Rod, Tex & Pettitte

I know most of this news is a day old, but I've had a very busy week, so sorry for the delay.

- Mark Teixeira will likely be out 1-2 weeks with his calf injury reports Mark Feinsand.

On to better news, Andy Pettitte threw off flat ground for the first time since his ankle injury:

Andy Pettitte could be throwing off a mound before the end of the week. The lefthander took a significant step in his return from a fractured left ankle when he threw off flat ground Tuesday before the Yankees beat the Blue Jays at the Stadium. Joe Girardi said Pettitte threw three sets of 20 pitches and tested himself during the last one.

“For two of the sessions, he did not push off much,” Girardi said. “In the last session, he basically did 10 or 12 pitches where it was his normal windup. He actually looked really good.”

... After Tuesday’s session, Girardi said of Pettitte’s next move “our hope is it’s a mound, a bullpen. We’ll have to see how he feels in the next couple days.”

He said that would likely occur Friday or Saturday.

Alex Rodriguez also took a major step in his rehab:

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez took live batting practice on Tuesday afternoon, the first time he's done so since fracturing his left hand on July 24 against the Seattle Mariners.

General manager Brian Cashman said on ESPN NewYork 98.7's "The Michael Kay Show" that if everything goes well, Rodriguez could begin a minor league rehab stint over the weekend. Cashman added that he believes A-Rod can be back earlier than mid-September, but also didn't want to put a firm date on it.

"So far, so good," Rodriguez said. "My legs are coming under me, and I see light at the end of the tunnel. My expectation is to come back at full strength and help this team win."

So despite the two losses to the Jays, not all is bad in Yankeeland.

A Week of Many Firsts.......1st Day of Preschool

So this is a busy week around here.  The girls had their first day of preschool on Monday and their first day of tap and ballet class on Tuesday and we have our little man's first birthday coming up on Friday.  Whew.......that's a lot of firsts all in one week!

It's hard to believe that both my little ladies are in preschool this year.  This is Matilda's first year and she is in the three year old class and this is Savannah's second year and she is in the four year old class. It works out really nicely because both girls go on the same days which allows me a little alone time with my little guy.

Miss Matilda was so excited for her first day........

Savannah was excited to see her friends again and show Matilda the ropes.......

Savannah is really into purple lately.  Can you tell?  She picked out her own outfit.

These silly sisters truly love each other.  As much as they know how to push each others buttons, they really adore one another......

The first day of school was just an hour and the parents attended with their student.

Savannah loved showing her sister exactly what to do and where to go.  The girls are in different classes, so my husband took the day off and went with Savannah and I went with Matilda.

Here are some pictures of Matilda's first day in her class.......

The girls had a great time on their first day!  Today was actually the second day and they both went for a shorter day without the parents.  Both girls were absolutely fine........they barely even looked back at mama (which was quite different than Savannah's first day last year.......oh, the tears).  My girls are growing up. I am so excited for them and all the fun they are going to have this year!

And this goofy guy.......he and I will be doing a lot more hanging out this year (which I'm really looking forward to).  I seriously cannot believe he will be one year old in a couple days.  

Where did the time go? {Sigh}. I guess they all eventually grow up..........

State of the System (Tyler Austin, Tampa Pen, David Adams)

*Coming into the 2012 season, Tyler Austin was only a name that the most diehard of Yankee prospect followers knew. As a Charleston RiverDog, he went on to decimate South Atlantic League pitching to the tune of a 1.002 OPS for 70 games before getting the call to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League. One might think that there would be an adjustment period until Austin got acclimated to the new level. Not so much. If there was any struggle, it was miniscule because as of this day, he has put up an OPS of .861 to go along with an On-Base Percentage of .395 in 31 games. The only potential concern with his game was his ability to transition successfully to Right Field. There have been no issues at all. His meteoric rise, not only on Yankee prospects lists, but nationally, has seen Austin jump onto Baseball America’s Midseason Top 50 Prospect List. He clocked in at #39. With his combination of hitting ability, power, on base skills, and surprising speed, he is looking more and more like the future everyday Right Fielder for the New York Yankees. Without a young, impact player currently holding down the position, it looks even more likely.

*The Tampa Yankees has an intriguing amount of power arms in their bullpen. The star of the pen was Mark Montgomery before getting a late season call up to the Trenton Thunder. Armed with a fastball that can reach the mid-90s, his slider has been said to be “unhittable” by Jim Callis of Baseball America. His strikeout numbers back that up. There is also Manny Barreda, a former starting pitcher who has been committed to the bullpen. While his command needs some fine tuning, he still possesses the necessary stuff to be an effective member out of any big league bullpen. Another guy that does not get enough credit is Tommy Kahnle, who sits in the mid-90s with a changeup as his secondary weapon of choice. It is kind of surprising that he is still in Tampa because he has hardly been challenged all season long. With 71 strikeouts in 54 innings, he has an ERA of 2.33 and a WHIP of 0.96. His numbers since the All Star break are even better than that so it really is a mystery as to why he is still overwhelming hitters in the Florida State League. The New York Yankees should never be in the Free Agent market for overpriced bullpen help when you have a fast tracked core that could be a year away from making it to the Bronx.

*With A-Rod getting older and more injury prone, it is going to be vital that the Yankees look to find their Third Baseman of the future. It appears that they are beginning to explore that option in newly minted Trenton Thunder Third Baseman, David Adams. A Second Baseman by trade, the Yankees appear to finally realize that a change had to be made. With Robinson Cano holding down the position in the Bronx and is most likely going nowhere (who knows with Boras), Third Base was the only other position for Mr. Adams. He sort of fell off the prospect map for a while due to the ankle injury but he is re-establishing himself with Trenton this season. He is hitting .315 with an OBP of .393 and an OPS of .858 to go along with it. He’s only recently been converted to third so he is still getting used to the hot corner but he still has the bat to be a very good hitter at the Major League level. Am I saying that he is without question, the Third Baseman of the future? No. But I am glad to see the Yankees are actually exploring the idea by moving him off of second. Alex cannot play third for the duration of his contract, and the Yankees need to give their young position players a shot. Adams is easily AAA ready, and he has been for a while. It is possible that he can break in with the big team sometime next season assuming he stays healthy.

Twitter: @trevwolff

Link Party No.82! / Candy bar leigh

I can't believe it is already the end of August. You know what that means right? Monthly link party at Tea Rose Home! It has slowed down by a lot since I switched from weekly to a monthly link party, but I still enjoy looking at your creations. It is fun to have you guys over my place and I hope you feel the same way.

Before we start, I have something small to share...

I had a birthday party for my little girl, and I thought about what to do with party favors. I have three kids ages 11, 9, and 7... a total of 27 birthday parties! I was starting to feel like the party favors were getting boring. I usually get candy with some small toys from the dollar stores and such. The kids used to LOVED them, but now they are getting older, they are not that excited about those small toys.

Besides, this time Rachel invited 16 kids to her party (including her brothers...but still), even if I spent $1 for each child, it is a lot for a party favor for my taste.

Then, I had an idea... make a "Candy bar leigh".

I found a big bag of candy bars at Target for less than 9 dollars. I used a hole puncher to make holes on both sides of the candy, then, tied them with cotton yarn that I already had. I think it would have been much prettier if I used a thin sheer ribbon between the candies, but Oh well. :) and, we didn't forget to "thank" the friends who came to the party.

It was a hit! The kids were really excited about the candy leigh, even my 11 and 9 year olds.

It is now your turn to share whatever you have been creating.  Do you have any craft ideas we can do with our kids?  Very tasty summer recipes?   Well, lets start the party! 

Ok everyone, I bet you have some projects you would love to share.  I am excited to see what you have been working on!

1. Please post something YOU made. It doesn't matter if it is crochet, quilt, clothing, anything would be fine. I want to see it! If you use someone's idea or patterns please give them the rightful credit.

2. Link to your specific post, that way it is easier for everybody to find and read it.

3. Please grab the "Tea Rose Home" grab button, and link back from your post. If you can mention the party in your post or place the button on your side bar, that would be great! I want more people to have a chance to come and show off their creation.



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Late Summer Pears

After such a long hot summer, I am so very excited to see signs of autumn on the horizon. Beautiful ripe pears are just the beginning of our transition into another gorgeous season. 

Here are a few scenes from the pear orchards early this morning...

Happy pear season to you!