I love my cardinals as well, and they had a bumper crop this year. I have counted as many as 20 males in the willow tree, so no suprise that there are lots of babies.

Thanks so much everyone. I will have to take pictures next time I do a label and I will do a tutorial. I do use Photoshop for my labels, but any graphic type software will work or even Word. I use photo fabric in my printer and it is a cotton poplin fabric. It is a tad expensive, but I think I bought it at JoAnn's with a 40% coupon. It comes in 6 sheets and I can get two labels out of each sheet. I use a half sheet to print the label, rinse the label in cold water, dry with an iron. Also, I bind the top of the label with matching fabric or you can just fold it down to finish the edge. Then secure with pins onto the backside corner of the quilt when I sew the binding on the front. After sewing the binding onto the front, I trim the label back to form the triangle. I stitch the top of the label down to the backside when I am doing my hand stitching of the binding to the back of the quilt. Magothy, I used to not make labels either until I started making them on the computer. Theresa, I REALLY wish my gardens still looked like that. Unfortunately, we had a really wet, cold winter a few years ago and killed most of the tender things we grew. We mostly have daylilies now and we also have a daylily business that my husband and I inherited 4 years ago. Rosa, I don't know if the last one has a pattern name. I took a 5 inch block and put 2 1/2 inch blocks in opposite corners, sewed diagonally and trimmed. Then flip the corners back and iron. Real simple blocks. The border was the left over corners that were trimmed off. Clear as mud? :) Lois, I only quilt them myself if they are lap size or smaller. Everything else goes to the Long Arm quilter. Give it a try! Kathi, rag quilts are so quick and easy to make. The hardest part is the clipping. I have made two and plan on making many more! Okay I have been long winded enough! Rebecca

I have a Winnie the Pooh "Baby's First Year" calendar that sounds like what you are trying to put together, only mine didn't have the scrapbook side to it. I loved this calendar and it was my baby "bible" for the first year. I often refer to it when my friends/family ask me " . . .when did she . . ." I have an easy reference. Anyhow, at the top of each monthly page it has the following: height, weight, baby's sleeping pattern, baby's eating pattern, and notes with spaces to write in a sentence or two about baby's advances that month. Also included were stickers: first bath first smile religious ceremony sleeps through night first tooth first word says mama says dada first solid food feeds self first Christmas doctor's visit (several of these) It would be cute if you could include some stickers that illustrated these events that she could stick on the days on which they occurred (doctor's bag or stethescope-doctor's visit, spoon or bowl-first solid food, smiley face-first smile, etc.) Sounds like a cute and very thoughtful gift! Let us know how it turns out!

I have been down that cancer road several times, so I know how physically and emotionally exhausting it is. You have to do what you can live with long-term, and if you feel you couldn't live with yourself if you left your husband in these circumstances, then all you can do is minimize the wear-and-tear on yourself and your daughter. I am sorry your step-son is so impossible and even sorrier your husband is so difficult and unsupportive. Cancer didn't suddenly make him a better or different person. Here are my suggestions: 1) Protect yourself and your daughter financially for the possible time when your husband is no longer with you. You may want to set up a separate bank account and sequester some of your resources so you are assured of access to monies regardless of anything your husband might do (like decide suddenly to put his sons' names on the account). If possible, consult with an attorney regarding estate planning. Given your husband's current intractability, you may not have any luck securing his cooperation. But at least you will know what your legal rights are. 2) Prioritize your tasks. Your husband's medical care is a priority. Your daughter's physical and emotional needs are priorities. Doing your step-son's laundry, picking up after him or fixing meals are not. At 14 he can do those things for himself. If he doesn't do them, his problem. 3) Look into support systems for yourself and your husband. That would include hospital services, family support groups and Hospice, so that if the burdens get too heavy to carry alone you know who to go to. Do these things while you're still capable of thinking clearly. A time may come when you're too tired to think at all. This assumes you decide to stick it out. You may decide this is too thankless a task and leave your husband and his rotten kids to their own devices. Feel right in your choice and the judgements of others won't matter.