Lately I've been sewing more and more...and really enjoying it. Last week I made a really simple Thanksgiving/Fall table runner (I know--crafty--but it looks better than it sounds). Then, on Sunday, I made a little pouch out of two cheapish stained receiving blankets. It holds about 4 diapers and wipes. Yesterday I finished a little **surprise** Santa helped me with for Mack. I can't tell you what it is because that would ruin the **surprise**. I also just found a pattern online for soft soled baby shoes. YES! Bottom line? Before Christmas I still have the following items to sew:

• shopping cart cover
• Christmas stockings
• 3 pairs of pajamas
• a handle for the car seat bag I made in August
  
• 2 or 3 pairs of shoes
• several bibs
  

It is very likely I won't get everything done, but no one can say I didn't try. Sewing for Mack is similar to knitting scarves. Quick, not very complicated and very satisfying.

Wanted to share this Photo: It seems like these "Quince Años" girls are everywhere. I've never seen one wearing white. Instead they're usually dressed in varying shades of sherbet colors, bright lime green is very popular right now. Naturally each young lady is accompanied by a well dressed young man and the two of them are followed around by group of girls with a disproportionate number of boys. It's funny, but the girl's friends wear the DARKEST (skimpiest/tightest) dresses they can find, while the image of the "Quince" conquers up visions of a light and fluffy, sweet cupcake.

On of the best things about having a visitor (I say 'a' because we'll probably only get one the entire time we live here), is that it gives you the chance to finally take pictures of everyday moments. These types of photos typically become my favorite when I look back because they have so many more memories attached to them. Since all of you reading this (excluding my mom, dad and sister Karly) will probably never get the chance to come to Monterrey, I'm putting up these photos so you can get an idea of what our life looks like here...


This is the view of mountains near the Monterrey Temple, on the road to Santiago, where the market is. You follow?

Mack and my mom at the top of Obispado Hill.

Rain on our way to Zona Rosa. It's like this every time it rains, and it usually rains a couple times a week.

Here I am, nursing mack at Las Monjitas. It's this little restaurant in Zona Rosa where the servers and the cooks dress as nuns, and the menu has a papal theme. The food is both very delicious and very cheap.

Tyler on his way to the corner store.

Tyler inside the corner store, our preferred tortilla purchasing location.

Downtown Monterrey.
Don't fret, there's still more to come, but right now--I've got to run myself!

To Market, To Market

These are some of the pictures my mom took while she was here. Tyler had the presence of mind to download them before she left, thank goodness. The first picture is of some children at the market we caught licking the sugar off their wax Dia de Muertos skulls. Next, is a picture of Mack and the nice woman from Oaxaca. We bought Mack a traditional Mexican outfit from her, and my mom bought an embroidered dress (you know the kind!). I thought that perhaps the sight of Mack might entice her to give us a discount and it worked! We've had to start covering Mack with the stroller canopy or making him wear a hat when we're in public because of all the attention he was getting. Apparently there is a tradition/superstition here that if you see a baby you think is cute and don't touch their head, the baby will get sick. The woman at the market LOVED Mack! In this picture she is tying a good luck trinket (black with a Mexican man and woman on each end) she gave him onto his wrist. In the last two pictures Mack is wearing the outfit we got him with and without the poncho. It's a size two (children are much shorter here) so it's still too big, but should fit him perfectly by Christmas.

I don't have ANY time right now, but I L.O.V.E. this picture and wanted to get it up on our blog. It's a picture of Tyler, Mack and I at el mercado on the road to Santiago, you have to click it to get the whole effect. I think it is so beautiful, plus we had so much fun browsing all the stalls. Prepare yourselves for a picture explosion as soon as I get the time (probably sometime later tonight).