Under the Blanket and Dreaming

Tuesdays my neighbor and I get together to sew various things. This week i hemmed a white peice of linen and sewed a green ribbon to the top to make a light weight blanket for Arkose. It took me about two hours because I refused to take the "extra" time to iron the hem flat. Once finished, I gave it to Arkose to see what he thought. He immediately pulled it around himself and started gnawing on the satin. He loves his new blanket but i'm starting to think white was a poor choice for Mr. Poopie Pants.

InFlight Hammock

Before out trip to San Antonio I scoured the internet for ideas of how to fly happily with an infant and i came across the Fly Baby Hammock. It retails at about $50 dollars plus S&H. So I looked at as many detailed pictures as possible and came up with a blueprint of how to make it for less than $10. I disassembled a hand-me-down bouncy seat and attached Velcro straps around and over the back of the cover to securely fasten it around the "full, upright and locked position" of the tray table in front of me. I then sewed a strap with a buckle to the bottom part of the cover that was long enough to snap around my waist to hold the hammock close to my body. It turned out great and Arkose had a blast watching JD and I the whole flight. He was a celebrity within minutes with his high pitched goos and gaas. The flight staff all took turns admiring his full head of hair and his contagious smile. He had no cabin pressure problems with his ears but his bowels gave way almost instantly when we reached elevation nearly every leg of the flight. We quickly learned that there is no convenient place to change a blowout on a 747. The hammock was worth the work and we had a great experience flying happily with our infant.

109 and forget The Alamo

Two weeks ago we went with JD on a business trip to good ole San Antonio. I was so excited to see the historic missions of Texas that line the beautiful Riverwalk and it was a great opportunity for us to visit the all too famous national treasure, The Alamo. We set aside half of a day to tour the Alamo but the conference JD was attending ran late and we left our hotel at about 4:30. The Texas banks kindly advertised the temperature and time as we wound through town trying to find the Alamo. 107...108...109 they read as we got nearer and nearer to our destination. We parked the car, grabbed a bite to eat and headed out on the Riverwalk. Soon we realized that most Texans smoke so I furiously pushed the stroller in a vain attempt to bypass the airborne carcinogens. Arkose appeared lifeless as the 109 Texas heat consumed the lingering AC of his stroller. We wondered up and down the dirty city streets of San Antonio searching for the Alamo. It was 6 o'clock by the time we realized that we has walked past it twice. We eagerly approached the gates of the landmark only to discover it had closed at 5:30. Exhausted by the heat and defeated in our attempts, we snapped a picture and returned to our hotel completely bypassing anything of historic significance on the way.