My favorite dress pattern, my daughter’s upcoming birthday, and my existential crisis.

It’s probably about time that I write a post about the Oliver + S Bubble Dress. It’s got to be my favorite little girl pattern ever, and I made it for a third time tonight. It’s really getting to where I could do this with my eyes closed.

It’s so unfailingly cute in every way, fits her so perfectly, and is so simple and unfussy. It’s a perfect frame for her beautiful little self.

The fishie dress, worn at 2 months, was the first thing I sewed for her while she was in my belly.

The orange bubble dress, worn for her very first pro photo shoot (with the very talented Autumn Bradshaw of Picket Fence Productions), was such a happy color and so atypical of baby clothes.

This brings us to the most recent incarnation, the Birthday Dress. It’s sort of hard for me not to get all worked up thinking about all of the gorgeous photos we’re going to have of her in it, and how different she’s going to look in all of them. The baby face is fading fast, and she’s got toddler written all over her every expression. She has a marked sense of humor now, has music preferences, favorite things to do, loves to dance, makes friends everywhere we go (the kid is relentless – she WILL get a smile and a wave out of every single person who crosses her path)… She’s a far cry from the cuddly little lump she was when she first entered the world, and to be honest, it’s really freaking me out how fast this happened.

I’m doing my best trying not to think about how we only get 17 more years before she’s headed out of the house and off to college, only a few more years past that until we’re grandparents, and…

oh, life’s just so much shorter than I thought it was going to be. We’re planning to take a lot of camping trips this summer, and every summer after this one forever and ever. Or as long as we can.

Hope you’ll forgive me if I’m not on here as much as I used to be; it just feels like I have such pressing matters to attend to these days. I do have a few fun things in the works to share with you all, but between planning for Ada’s ridiculously large birthday party, a friend’s baby shower a couple of weeks later, a trip to Germany a few days after the shower, and the general business of living, it may be a while before I get them posted up here.

Love to you all!