I need a holiday to recover from my holiday......

Friday 8 January 2010
Phew, what a long two weeksI've just had. Holidaying with a little kid is certainly not easy, nor a whole lot of fun really. We flew up to Brisbane boxing day morning to stay at my in-laws for two weeks, with a few days in the middle spent out at a beach resort at Kingscliff so it should have been relaxing and easier for me with more hands to help out with the baby. Yeah except I didn't count on Anna being possessed by some evil spirit and turning into an absolute nightmare for the whole time!

Her sleep patterns, which are bad at the best of times, became atrocious and she woke crying and screaming frequently through the night, staying awake for a few hours between 1am and 3am and then waking up at 4.30am for the day. Daytime naps were just as difficult too. Then because she was tired she would scream and have tantrums in her highchair and not eat, just throw her food around making a huge mess. And then because she was tired and hungry she just couldn't cope at all - in the car she would scream and scream until she fell asleep, and all the other times she would be so clingy and whingy all day long. Anyway we're home now so hopefully she'll get back to normal soon.

The little monkey was also terribly spoilt with presents galore at christmas time from my family. I took a thriftier approach though, making her some presents instead. First up I made her a mini moopy stuffed toy, from this pattern over at neststudio:

So easy yet so cute. I also revamped this timber wagon I bought an op shop for $2:
Before:
After:
I gave it a coat of bright red paint and put Ikea wrapping paper inside the tray using some spray adhesive. It bubbled a little when the glue dried which was a tad annoying but I doubt the recipient noticed - she was too busy walking around using the wagon for support:
And of course I made her some clothes. Some really cutesy matching outfits that in a few years there will be no way she'll let me dress her in them, but for now she has no say in the matter! First up I made some yellow gingham shorts with black ribbon trim and a fabric yo-yo, with a top to match with yo yo flowers and the same black ribbon trim for stems. Mismatched vintage buttons too.
Next I made her some polka dot shorts, and made a little cap sleeve ruffle to sew onto a singlet I bought from Target. Again so quick and easy.

I also made some aqua blue gingham shorts with red ric rac trim, and a top to match with an appliqued butterfly from the gingham fabric with a stripe of red ric rac through the centre.


All of the shorts are made from the bloomers patterns in Amy Butler's Little Stitches for Little People book, and the tops are morphed from Butterick 400 view C gown just shortened. I've used this pattern several times before because it's so simple with just two pattern pieces and the neck and arm openings are just finished with bias binding, but for these tops I just serged the seam allowance, turned it under and stitched it down.

Anyway I hope you all had great christmas celebrations, I have so much blog reading to catch up on to see how some of you survived the record snow falls in Europe and the US (we sweltered by the way!)

26 comments:

  1. So cute!! Anna is such a little beauty! I feel your travel pains - my little are always at their worst when we travel. I wonder sometimes what our families think...

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  2. I love all the clothes you make for Anna they are so so pretty . I love the cart too , what a clever idea !

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  3. Oh she's so cute, maybe she's a little homebody and is happiest in her own environment! I hope things get back to normal.

    Happy New Year :)

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  4. Very cute clothes, but I just LOVE the toys! That wagon is adorable, as is the doll.

    Holidays with kids get a bit easier than you described, but I've grown to think of them a bit differently. A holiday with kids is not a holiday. It is just a change of venue.

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  5. What an amazing job you did on that wagon! And the matching tops & bottoms are sweet. Happy New Year!

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  6. What a lucky little girl Anna is. She's so cute I bet you can't stay mad at her for long!

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  7. You poor thing. I am so sorry about how your holiday went. We don't do too much traveling either when our children are small for this very reason. They just don't do well.

    I love all of the things you made for Anna. You are so very clever.

    Anna is becoming such a beauty.

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  8. love the target vest with frilly sleeves. as ever a great idea! maybe that will work for a grown up too...

    happy new year from snowy london,

    georgeina

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  9. I LOVE the clothes you made Anna for Christmas, they are adorable. And the trolley is such a great idea.

    Sorry to hear about the holiday horrible sleeping. I remember mine was the same until he was about 18 months, and then started to notice toys, especially a soft rabbit and a sheep and now he sleeps mostly well in strange places as long as they are around. Although now I live in fear of losing the rabbit.

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  10. How cute is the wagon! How kewl is it that you thought to do that! I expected cute clothes but cute toys, too...absolutely amazing.

    BTW, this isn't the last time she will "ruin" a vacation...welcome to motherhood! :)

    And can I ask the dreaded when do you go back to work question...cause I need to see some adult clothing coming out of that sewing machine!

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  11. It is a shame Anna was not going to let you enjoy your holiday. We went to Peppers Salt at Kingscliffe about a week before Xmas and enjoyed it very much. Some kids just don't travel well. Love the gifts you made Anna.

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  12. Anna's new clothes are cute. I remember all too well those "holidays" visiting family at Christmas. :( It's hard, very hard! I'm so glad those days are behind me. Hang in there!

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  13. amazing amazing amazing stuff here!!!

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  14. It's all absolutely adorable Kristy - Anna looks gorgeous

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  15. Very, very nice! I really like the cute clothes. I need to learn to do that kind of thing - I'm always so afraid for fear it will look "homemade". You did a great job on both the clothes and the wagon!
    As for the behavior away from home - we have that too!! The good thing is that as they get older, they get better at going away. (Or are we getting better at bribing them?????)

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  16. Little Anna's clothes turned out really cute! Poor thing... it's hard when they don't travel very well! Sorry think I would have gotten the baby asprin/tylenol out and given her a bit of a dose...
    But at least your weather was good... to go to the beach... enough said!!! We have had really cold weather off and on lately... this a.m. at around 8 it was 7 degree's outside.... brrrrrrrr!
    Just thankful that we have a nice warm home and warm clothes to protect us! I so feel for the homeless out there!
    Happy New Year!

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  17. Traveling gets easier, I promise! My girls are 7 and 10 and they are good travelers now but I remember "those" vacations all too well. When I was just barely pregnant with #2, we were staying in a hotel and were awakened by #1 singing Shake Your Booty at 5am!

    The Anna gifts are so cute! Kudos to you for not overdoing because what is she really going to remember?!

    Annie

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  18. I wonder sometimes what our families think...

    Work from home India

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  19. Happy New Year...and I think you must be exaggerating, Anna is adorable ;) My niece has just had her second son and he sleeps ALL the time. He is 2 months old and he just won't wake up. The clothes are all just so cute. I made lots for my first born - we were into fabric painting back then. But none were as cute as those! And the wagon - what a great job you did!

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  20. Oh, you made some really cute and lovely clothes for your daughter! Beautiful!

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  21. You're making me so jealous with all this adorable baby sewing! I gotta stop cleaning my house, lol. Well done on the wagon. Hope you have a good rest at home.

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  22. I can see a touch of red in her hair in that bottom shot. Belated happy new year. Make the most of the next few weeks.

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  23. She may be a little rascal, but she sure is a cute one. :) So impressed by that wagon and am loving the yellow and black outfit. I'm totally stealing that idea is we ever had a little girl.

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  24. What a cutie! I feel you with the sleep issues, my little one just never recovered from all of our holiday parties last year. Everyone wanted to see her, so we had not one, not two, but three Christmas present-opening celebrations. Phew!

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  25. Hi Kristy, your Queensland holiday reminds me of holidays past in Noosa where the kids would be up with the sun (ie. 4.30am) and we'd be on the beach at 5.00am!

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  26. she is growing up so quick!
    so darn cute.
    love her sweet clothing.
    x

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