Weeks 20 & 21

So this will be short and sweet...

The last two weeks have been a blast and FULL of holiday activity as we both have a lot of extended family. It has been a blast, but I'm excited for a little more rest next weekend (a 4 day weekend for me!!!). Then, unfortunately James has to go back to school :(

But Christmas was so fun as usual and Baby Boy was treated to a few first gifts. My parents and in-laws went in together to buy his furniture so we didn't ask for anything else this Christmas. I think a lot of Christmas is about asking for big, fancy things and we've really tried to scale back on that in our lives. We definitely don't live a completely frugal life, but we try not to buy lots of unnecessary things. I spend a lot less of my life worrying about the next new awesome thing and shopping at the mall is a distant memory. Anyways, since we hadn't asked for anything, we expected very little. We still had a few gifts to open though which was fun. Even Penny got some love at Christmas time and I can't tell if Thanksgiving or Christmas is her favorite holiday. Thanksgiving involves leftover turkey and ham, but Christmas has brand new bones and treats to unwrap!

Speaking of Penny, we've been trying to get her ready for her little brother to arrive. My cousin has a little boy who was born in April and he loves dogs, so we try and have her visit a little with him when he's around. He is a cutie and was smiling at her but he reached out and grabbed her whiskers and yanked. I was afraid it would scare her and she might react but when he let go, she gave him a kiss and continued to hang around. Whoo hoo! I think she's getting more and more ready :) We've also tried to teach her the command "Gentle" which means not to use her (giant) paws when greeting and playing. I know it will be an adjustment once the little man arrives, but I think she'll learn to love her new life :)

Weeks 18 & 19 - Drumroll! It's a....

BOY!!!



We were all shocked! Everyone was so convinced we were having a girl that it took a few moments for us to take it all in. But we're so excited! We have yet to decide on a name but we're keeping it as a surprise once we do :)

We just bought a few things for him yesterday and that made it all the more real. His crib was already ordered as we wanted a very gender neutral one but it will still be awhile before it comes in. Once it does, let the nursery decorating begin!

He moves around a lot now and seems to like music as he's always more active when I'm around it. From what I can tell, he is sitting very low, even though my bump isn't.

The ultrasound was so amazing! He was trying to suck his thumb and waving his arms around. Very cool as he is only 10 oz (although they said that is slightly ahead of average already! Yikes! I think he's going to be a big one). Everything checked out perfectly and amazingly normal which is just what a mama wants to hear! It was pretty funny because I was amazed at all the cutesy stuff like his little feet and hands and James loved checking out his aortic arch and other medical terms :)

I also just had my next appointment and my doctor is very happy with everything. I've gained 8 pounds which is right on track. I was very happy to hear that after Thanksgiving :)

I took my 4 month picture just after my last update so it's a few weeks out of date, but here it is!

Yeah, I'm definitely sticking the bump out on purpose but you get the idea! I am guessing my 5 month picture will definitely show a difference. James has mentioned that he's noticed a big change in even the last week :)

Can't wait to meet my little guy!

Christmas Crafting Part 2

And now another Christmas craft!

I wanted to make a craft that combined natural elements with some bling :)

I decided I wanted to use some branches but we had trimmed our trees about a month ago and didn't save any of the wood. However, on a walk with James and Penny in the park, I saw some branches had fallen so we picked some up (and let Penny have a small one). Problem solved! James cut them into the lengths I requested and I got to work. I hot glued the branches together for a little more stability, and wrapped twine around them. I then just used some small ornaments in white and silver - most I already had on hand but I also bought a small pack from Hob Lob for $3. I hung it in front of some curtains and I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. Not bad for $3 total.

Christmas Crafting Part 1

Well, I should have been at Lifegroup right now but work ran super duper late today. Yay for budget season :/ Anyways, I shall blog before James gets home and while the dog is sleeping... I absolutely love to craft around Christmas and I've already been able to accomplish a few things this year.

I wanted to make something to hang on our door and I liked the idea of something I could easily change to accommodate the seasons. I had seen the idea on a blog a long time ago (pre-Pinterest so I didn't save it!) to make different flowers that you can pin to a wreath. I wanted a big "S" for our last name (it cost a whopping $1.99) and I covered it in twine that I already had on hand. I also added a few circles of t-shirt fabric I had left over after cutting out squares for a t-shirt quilt (started on that 2 months ago - really need to finish!). The fabric was for attaching the flowers easily.


For the Christmas season, I wanted a bright red flower so I used this tutorial (I just googled DIY Felt Flower).

I hung a Command hook upside down on the inside of my door to anchor the ribbon.

And this is the finished product!

Weeks 16 & 17

Holiday stuff has kept us pretty busy the last few weeks. Since each side of our family has an extended family Thanksgiving holiday, we had 4 dates with turkey and ham :) They were all really great and lots of fun, but I think I'd be happy if I didn't see any traditional holiday foods for a few weeks. During the holiday break, my parents snapped a few shots for our Christmas cards and I was pretty happy with how they turned out considering we just did threw some ideas together at the last minute.The BIG ultrasound is this week and I can't wait! We'll be having our gender reveal party on Saturday which will be so exciting and fun!

Here are some old wives' tales for gender predictions and their outcomes...

Even though I'm not showing too much yet, I do have a slight baby bump and I've been told I'm carrying high... GIRL

The heart been was around 160 last time which was slightly faster than average... GIRL

Craving salty and sour foods... BOY

So far, I haven't had too much pregnancy acne... BOY

Ring on a string swung back and forth, not in a circle... GIRL

Lots of morning sickness in the first trimester... GIRL

So those are about 66% for a girl. We shall see soon!

Weeks 14 & 15

According to my doctor's appointment yesterday, everything seems to be right on track. The heart beat was between 158 and 163 beats per minute. James and I love that whoosh whoosh noise! My doctor said that everything looks great!

How far along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: According to my weekly e-mails, Baby S is the size of an apple. What type of apple is what I'm curious about!

Total Weight Gain/Loss: 4 pounds (my goal is 25 for the whole pregnancy but we'll have to see how that goes)

Maternity Clothes: My mom took me shopping for my birthday so I have some maternity clothes mixed in with my normal ones.

Gender: Will find out in 3 weeks!

Movement: Might have felt something this week but I'm still unsure. Felt like bubbles popping so that could have just been hunger or indigestion too.

Sleep: I usually wake up once to use the bathroom but otherwise that's it.

What I miss: I've been craving a wheat beer so that's a bummer

Cravings: I randomly bought beef jerky at the store and it tasted delicious!

Symptoms: Exhaustion, occasional nausea, the beginnings of a sore back

Best moment this week: Hearing the heartbeat

I just started thinking at church today that Baby S can almost hear everyone worshiping and how awesome that is. I got a little teary about it (which isn't hard - I teared up during a car commercial this week). So amazed by this little blessing.

Ah, and here is my 3 month picture that I took a few weeks ago! Ignore the grubby clothes!

Weeks 12 & 13

Life hasn't slowed down too much yet. My mom is home from Hawaii though!! Whoo hoo! She honestly looks great and by now it's hard to tell anything happen. Her case file is pretty scary though. But it looks like there isn't any permanent damage and the doctors told her she'd be completely normal in 6 months (she's shooting for 3).

Well, we have a date for the big reveal and I'm so excited for it!! My doctor nicely made sure it was before Christmas because she knew we'd want to tell people over the holidays. It's actually at 18 weeks so a few weeks earlier than I was planning.We're planning on doing a "gender reveal" party but keeping it pretty low-key. It falls on a big rivalry game day for the state we live in so we'll just combine it with a watch party!

I've been feeling pretty good and don't get sick as often. I am starting to consider getting some maternity clothes. I don't need them in the morning but by the end of the day, I feel like my stomach has grown twice its size. Multiple days require a rubber band trick on my pants :) But... good news... my mom is taking me shopping for my birthday now that her stamina is back. Yay! Still craving Mexican food and I've started wanting ham sandwiches (heated to steaming hot, of course!) and sweets a little.

I haven't taken my official 3 month picture yet - oops! - but I did take one at the pumpkin patch. I tried to find one that was close to a small baby size. Still have lots of growing to do before then!

Weeks 10 & 11

I was sidetracked from my weekly posts due to my mom being in the hospital. She's doing great now! Just trying to get her strength back and get around now and then she can come home! We're staying at my parents' house to watch their dogs and I can tell the puppies miss her and my dad too.

Anyways... week 10 was pretty much like most weeks. I did have the unfortunate incident where I threw up in my car WHILE I WAS DRIVING! Yeah.... awesome. I did manage to hit the floor mat. James had nicely put bags in my car for such instances and asked why I didn't use one. Well, I tried but you try and throw up in a bag, keep the bag open and drive 60 on the highway at the same time. It ain't happening.

Week 11 was after the horrible news about my mom. I hadn't felt as pregnant as before as I had less symptoms (which James kept reminding me was a GOOD thing) and I was worried since I had been so stressed out. I luckily had my next appointment (actually at 11.5 weeks but close enough) and they heard a strong heart beat at 170 beats per minute. That put me right at ease. Right now I'm just enjoying feeling less sick (still a little nausea but nowhere near what it used to be!) and having more energy.

James took my month 2 photo around week 10 and I never posted it so here goes...


Pardon my fake smile... hadn't been feeling all that well that day. James nicely pointed out that it was not my real smile. Oops :)

Week 9

Morning sickness has slowed down finally. It still hits me occasionally but it's much less often. I might actually be able to watch the Food Network soon, which I had to give up after every other recipe made me gag.

The smell of certain foods is still unappealing. I detest the smell of steak (just the thought makes my stomach turn) and I can only eat pork if it's pulled pork drowned in bbq sauce. However, give me a BLT (with turkey bacon) or a Turkey Bacon, egg, and cheese bagel, and I'm a happy girl. I don't know what it is about turkey bacon but I could eat it at every meal right now. I also am addicted to Rosemary and Olive Oil triscuits. YUM!

Other than that, everything's still pretty much the same. We're very excited and getting more so every week :) I love getting our weekly e-mails to show what our baby looks like each week. He/she is no bigger than a peanut and about to change our lives. So fun!

I Need My Mom

We got some very scary news last night. My mom had some sort of cardiac episode and is in the ICU. The worst part is that she is in Hawaii with my grandma so we can't be with her. My dad flew out this morning and is still on his way to her. Luckily my grandma stayed behind with her (they were scheduled to fly out early this morning central time) so she isn't alone. It started off with her snorkeling and at first we were told that she got water swamped and inhaled a bunch of salt water, but that she was doing okay. She still would have to miss her flight because she was getting breathing treatments, but that she was talking and doing fine. Then they thought she had a small heart attack or something of that nature and that caused her to get exhausted and breathe in the water, so it was a little more serious.

The next few phone calls were terrifying. There was something seriously wrong with her heart and they were going to run an angiogram and check for any heart blockages and would call us back after the test - maybe an hour or more. The next call came only 30 minutes later. They told us that they were doing everything they could but her heart was shutting down and they couldn't find anything on the angiogram even though the test wasn't done. We knew it was bad because they called before the test was even over (the doctor confirmed that the news was grim at this point but only after the next call). Thankfully the next call was that she was stabilized and might have suffered some sort of virus that attacked her heart.

She's currently on a breathing tube and a balloon pump (pumps her blood for her) and apparently like 5 IVs, including sedatives. They're hoping that using these machines will allow her body to rest and repair itself, but it's too early to tell. They said the next 72 hours (about 55 now) are the most critical. She stayed stable all through the night with little to no changes. My dad was able to book a flight this morning and he is on his way to see her. He is a rock but is obviously freaking out right now, as are James, my brother, and I. We're terrified.

I'm having a lot of selfish thoughts about why I need her to come back home. I need my mommy and I don't know what to do. But most of the midwest and beyond is praying for her it seems, and that comforts me because I absolutely believe in the power of prayer. We've been talking about how it could have been worse than this but that God had it worked out for her. She ended up having this episode on an island that had a great hospital with what seems to be a great team of doctors and nurses - instead of the more remote islands that they had visited. She was in a snorkeling group that had a man that recognized she was struggling, helped her to shore, and insisted on getting the paramedics even though she thought she would be fine (I will forever believe he saved her life). She was in a hospital when her heart starting shutting down which helped the doctors respond to her needs quickly and efficiently. And her mom is with her and she's not alone. All God's doing...

What we need now is for her heart to gain some strength so she can be weaned off the balloon pump. We need her to not have any more declines. We need her to slowly get better and stronger so she can get back home to her loved ones.

If you believe in the power of prayer, please pray for my mom. Also, if you could throw in one for my dad and my grandma who will be at the hospital with her constantly, I would so appreciate it. Thanks.

ETA: My mom's been improving! They're hoping to wean her off some of the machines. Praise the Lord! After my dad got there and called to tell me that she had improved, I went into "get it done" mode and quickly relayed the news to all my points of contact, then once that was all over, I ran into my parents' bathroom, sat on the tile floor, and cried tears of relief. She's doing much better than we were told to expect and we're so grateful. It's truly a miracle to me.

ETA: She's off both the heart pump and the ventilator. She had the pump taken out last night and Dad said she's wanted the ventilator out for a long time. She's still very weak and groggy but she's improving all the time!

8 weeks

It's hard to express how amazing it was to see our little one's heartbeat flickering on that screen, not to mention the look on James' face. So unreal! The doctor said everything looks great so far, so that was a relief. Our next appointment is in October so I'm hoping we'll be able to schedule the "big" sonogram then. Can't believe it's been flying by so fast!



(Pardon the bad quality, this is a phone picture of the sonogram printout, which I then e-mailed to myself... Very technological, right?)

For symptom news... nothing new to report except the apparent tightening of my pants. I'm at that stage where I just look like I've put on a few pounds because my stomach is like a little rock - can't suck the gut in anymore. Can't wait until it's apparent that I've got a baby in there, not just a Chipotle burrito (although today, I have both, yes!!).

Week 7

Some of the "highlights" of the week:

Throwing up at work... with someone else in the bathroom. Lover-ly. I threw up there the week before but managed to be much more discreet about it. Luckily I washed my hands and ran out before they came out of the stall...

Coming home after the previous incident and watching a Baby Story since it was the only thing on and freaking out. Note to self: Just watch Walker, Texas Ranger instead.

I need to give my husband mad props. He has taken such good care of me. While he is a little afraid of my mood swings (it's sad when moving furniture can bring me to tears), he has ran out and got me smoothies and went to the store to stock up on things I can eat. Not to mention, he has been keeping the house together by doing extra things for me like bringing me breakfast in bed. He has been amazing!

I can't wait for my appointment in a few days!!!

Week 6

Morning sickness has officially set in. It used to be occasional nausea but it's getting to be much more constant now. James was driving home from his parents' house and I felt sick and started crying because I didn't want to throw up in a gas station because they're gross, haha. Nausea and hormones rolled into one!

I can't complain too much about feeling sick because that just means our little sweet pea is hopefully growing bigger!

I also could sleep 20 hours a day if I wanted to. I'm pretty much a zombie by 3:00.

James took my 1 month picture about a week ago... No baby bump yet!



Our first appointment is at 7.5 weeks so it's coming up. Can't wait!

Week 5 - Our own little secret no more!

So this week was momentous... we finally told a few people. Just our parents, brothers, and a few close friends. We tried to think of some creative ways to do it...

For our parents, we gave them a little "Grandkids" photo album with a note that said "First Picture Coming May 2012." It took a little bit for them to get it, but when my mom figured it out, she immediately burst into tears. To say they're all excited is an understatement.



I also told a few of my best friends. I just happened to be able to see a couple of them this weekend (we live all over the place these days) so I wrote them letters from the baby with each a specific prayer - baby's health, mommy's health, mommy and daddy being prepared for baby, etc. - so we can all be covered in prayer at this time. They were very excited!

So far, my nausea has gotten a bit worse, but nothing I can't handle. I also had what I think is my first hormonal meltdown. We got rid of our coffee table and were rearranging our furniture and I literally burst into tears because I couldn't decide where I wanted the couch to go. Ha! Poor James!!! He took it in stride and nicely said "well, we don't have to make a decision today" and when he came back in and I had moved the couch 1 foot and decided that is where I wanted it he told me it looked great :) Other than that, just the same feeling of exhaustion as before. So glad it's a holiday weekend. One more day of sleeping in!

Also, a new tradition of a fantasy football league with my Dad's family has started and the draft is on Monday. This baby is going to be a sports lovin' fool. Boy or girl...

Edited to add: My mom just called to let me know they bought the baby's first gift... some college football gear... yeah we're a sports family.

Week 4 - Sweet Pea is on the way!

So the title says it all, I'm pregnant! We're currently not telling anyone as I'm only 4 weeks along, but I thought I would chronicle what is going on each week until we DO start telling people, and I'll post them all then.

So, James and I had just starting trying to conceive after our second anniversary. I started noticing some changes, like very tender breasts and everything smelled super strong, so I decided to take a test about a week before Aunt Flo was supposed to come and visit. Well, the first test I took didn't work (as in, neither one of the two lines showed up) so I wasn't sure if that meant I wasn't pregnant or that the test was a dud. I waited until I had to pee again, which was conveniently when James took the dog for a walk. I quickly took the test, and sure enough, a VERY faint second line showed up! It's hard to see it but it's there!


I quickly thought about how I wanted to tell James since he would be home very soon before we were going to a prayer meeting. I knew I had some leftover onesies from gifts I had made, so I grabbed some permanent markers and wrote "I<3 Daddy" on one and put it on the counter with the test. When he got back, I told him I had put something on the counter for him. He was running around trying to get everything ready before he left and passed by the little "surprise" about 3 times! I finally reminded him and he looked at it with a shocked face, haha! He couldn't see the second line very well, but that's ok! It was there :) He picked me up to spin me around but I felt a little nauseous (nerves or early morning sickness, hard to tell!) so he quickly put me down.



We had already decided we would wait a little while to tell people, so we had to keep it to ourselves over the next few weeks. Sorry to anyone if I evaded questions or possibly told a little white lie! We figured that 1) it was nice to have it our little secret, even if only for a few weeks and 2) we wanted to make sure the pregnancy test wasn't false. We did take a second test a few days later and the second line was much darker. We're very thrilled and are 90% excited and 10% a little terrified, haha. I think that's probably normal!

So... symptoms so far...
My stomach feels full even when I'm hungry, can definitely tell things are changing in there!
Sore boobs (sorry, tmi!)
Slight nausea, bummer
Exhaustion
Crazy dreams... seriously weird and yet, very realistic ones!

James made my 8 week appt. at the hospital on campus so I'm looking forward to that. I think we'll tell a few people before then, but definitely won't announce it on facebook or anything till 10-12 weeks.

Sewing Projects

I went to another baby shower yesterday (I seriously know so many babies/pregnant ladies this year!) so I thought I would whip something up with my handy dandy sewing machine. I've been trying to make gifts lately 1) to make something truly personalized and 2) to save a little moola without sacrificing the cute factor :).

I decided I would make some cute little shoes and a pillow-case dress that can be worn as a little tank once the baby gets bigger.

First things first, I needed to get some fabric. Hobby Lobby, my favorite place, was having a 30% off sale for their fabric so it was the perfect place to pick some up. I had planned on picking some up that weekend but the hubby was off (it was the week before school started) and he offered to go pick some out for me. Seriously, I love that man! I told him I wanted something with aqua in it since the baby's room was aqua (and super adorable!). He called me while I was at work because he saw two different patterns and described them in detail for me, haha! He ended up finding some coordinating ribbon for one, so we went with that.

I used this pattern for the shoes and I thought they turned out super cute. It wasn't terribly hard to follow. I have an old machine and my thread got jammed once but that was the only problem I had. I then used this pattern for a simple pillowcase dress. It was so easy!

The finished product:
Can't wait to meet baby D! She's going to be one gorgeous and Godly girl! How's that for alliteration???


Linking up to Frugal Friday and Show And Share Day

Summer Centerpiece

I know that it's already August, but I just finished my summer centerpiece for our coffee table. It's been 85% done since the beginning of the summer, but I knew it had been missing something. When we were at Hobby Lobby the other day, I picked up some fake orchids (at least I'm pretty sure they're orchids) to finish it.

When we were in Hawaii, we bought a bowl made of Koa wood that we wanted to put out so I filled it with some blue beads. I also had some little glass jars from Goodwill that I filled with the same beads. My parents had seen us eyeing some Koa wood chopsticks that we ended up deciding against buying because we couldn't justify the cost to ourselves and surprised us on the last day by taking us to a wood store to find some because they wanted to buy them for us (which was extremely generous since they paid for almost the whole trip - they are true blessings and not just because they buy me stuff) and we LOVE them. We wanted to display them as well, so we put them in the jars with the beads. It looked a little empty so we added the orchids and I love how they turned out! It's nothing special but it was fun to piece the ideas together. Also pictured are our "S" coasters for my new last name :)

You've Got Mail

James and I have a huge problem with mail piling up in our "catch-all" basket that sits on our counter. It started becoming an eye-sore and driving me nuts so I went looking for a mail sorter. But the ones that I liked were $20 and up... not terribly expensive but more than I wanted to spend. I knew I could make something for much cheaper so I looked around the house for supplies. I had wall hangings in my kitchen that I was planning on taking down - they're hanging where I'm putting my chalkboard dish and the colors did not match our kitchen anymore. I bought two of these for I think $5 each at Wal-Mart back in college. They're very cute, but just don't go in our place. I decided to use one for my project. They're the perfect width and height and already had a way to hang them on the back!
After I painted a few coats of white paint I had on hand to make a blank slate, I attached some fabric to the wood. I put modge podge on the front, placed the fabric on and smoothed out the wrinkles, then flipped it over and hot glued it on the back and put some modge podge over the edges in case it frayed. I also needed something to fashion pockets to hold the mail, so I grabbed some matboard and cut out 2 squares (same width as board and I made mine 6 inches tall), then 4 triangles (3 inches wide and 6 inches tall) to make two little pockets. I hotglued them together. They don't look perfect but I was covering them anyways!I then covered them in the same fabric with modge podge and hot glue again. The inside doesn't look awesome, but you can't see the seams too much and it's the INSIDE and no one can see it! I then hotglued the pockets to the board. I plan on adding two little labels for MAIL IN and MAIL OUT so we can keep things organized. The total cost on this was $0 since I had the board and matboard from previous decorating and the fabric was from my stash - and even if I had to add the cost of the fabric, it was a fat quarter for 50% off at HL that ended up costing about 3$. Not too shabby!I still have another board and matboard left so maybe I'll make another to put bathroom stuff in. Or I can just paint the board and cover with fabric that actually matches the house and call it good.

Linking up to Frugal Friday and Show And Share Day

Chalkboard Paint

So there's this awesome stuff called chalkboard paint. Oh you mean you've heard of it? Okay, so I know that chalkboard paint has been all the rage in the DIY world for awhile now, but I just recently finished my first project with it. I've been wanting to do this for awhile but last year I couldn't find just a small, cheap tube of it, only pints, and since I didn't want to paint a huge space, I've been putting it off.

James had a week off before he went back to school this week and nicely went to Hobby Lobby for me and found a little bottle that would cover 10 square feet at most and was only $4, so he picked it up for me. I had an old metal serving plate my friend had given me for a DIY project of my choosing (Thanks, Paigey!) sitting in my cabinet. I decided it would be really cute, painted and hung up on the wall. We have a ton of paint samples in our utility room, so I went and scanned them to see what I wanted. We have a ton of white options (did you know how hard it is to match ceiling paint?!?!?!) so I grabbed one of those.

I painted a thin coat and let it set, then attempted a second coat but it was flaking off and just not covering well. James informed me that the paint I was using would not work well on metal. Bummer... But he had an awesome idea - he had painted our shed last summer and used a white paint for the trim work. It was a durable outdoor paint that would adhere to metal. PERFECT! I painted a few coats on the dish and it seemed to be working great! I then painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint on the middle of the dish and waited the requested 24 hours for the paint to cure. All I had to do after that was rub a light coat of chalk over the area and then wipe clean. Now it's perfect for little notes, bible verses, or even grocery lists!
After this picture, I hotglued some wire to the chalk and hung it on one of the handles for easy access. James is figuring out the best way to hang it, so for now it's sitting on our table. I want it to be easy to take down and put back up so I can write messages on it without too much trouble so I think we'll hang it under the handles. I'll update when it's up!

Linking up to Frugal Friday and Show And Share Day

Fear

I'll be honest... today's church service was a hard one for me to hear. Summed up, it was about giving and receiving the Word of God. There were lots of other little things in there, but I'd say that was it in a nutshell. Giving encouragement to those close to me is not hard at all. I love to tell my friends and family what amazing blessings I see in them.

But taking them and giving them out to strangers... not my forte. It's easy for me to think that evangelism is not a gift I have - I lack the charisma, courage, and words for people I don't know. I even get nervous praying out loud in front of others. Not because I don't have things to say, but because of FEAR. But I know that even if it isn't a particular strength of mine, doesn't mean that I should fear it. That my words won't mean anything to others is a lie I've believed for far too much of my life.

So, that being said, I'm going to be praying for BOLDNESS going forward. For the lies of the enemy in my life to be broken off. For encouragement given to me by others to be fully received and believe in. For words of encouragement for others to flow from me to bless those around me. But mainly, that I have full faith in my God to use me for his purposes in ways I can't even imagine.

Decorating on a Dime

Since we're a one-income fam until the hubs get out of med school, I've made it a personal goal to really design on a small budget. We've got a ton of things that we each had before we were married and that we have received as gifts, but I do try to mix things up a bit every now and then to keep our decor fresh. For this reason, I hit up Goodwill every now and then, buy things on clearance, and try new DIY ideas with stuff I have laying around.

I've seriously been crafting all weekend and need to blog on some of those ideas, but I just realized I never blogged about a craft I did months ago that I love. I saw this on one of my many craft blog searches, and I fell in love! I knew I had almost all the supplies around the house and gave it a try. I actually had some of the wire but couldn't find it (cue an organization of my craft closet!) so the hubs nicely went and bought me some. He had also just trimmed our tree and patiently waited while I picked out which branches I wanted trimmed down for the project. What a guy! I then used scrapbook paper I had picked up to coordinate with our living room and cut out 3 sizes of leaves. I then glued the leaves around small pieces of wire and wrapped the wire around the branches. I put them in a vase I had laying around and called it good! I still need to go back and add more leaves (they're even cut out and waiting), but I keep forgetting!It was a really fun project and I completed it pretty quickly! I really like how it spices up that corner of the room!

Linking up to Frugal Friday and Show And Share Day

Sunday Lyrics 7-31-11

Yes I will rise
Out of these ashes rise
From this trouble I have found
And this rubble on the ground
I will rise
Cause He Who is in me
Is greater than I will ever be
And I will rise

- Chorus from "Rise" by Shawn McDonald

Toddler Gift

Another couple in our lifegroup have a little guy who turned one in May. He is the cutest little boy ever! I couldn't make it to his party but made him a little gift that I hope he can use in the future. I've seen a ton of the little crayon rollups so I just winged it and sewed it up pretty quickly. I just took the length of the crayons I bought (Crayola Triangular Crayons) and cut two layers of the outside fabric about an inch and a half taller. I also planned on making pretty wide slots for them since they're big crayons so I made them about 17 inches wide (an inch extra for the seams). For the pocket fabric, I just made it twice as wide as what I wanted it to look like finished, and pressed it in half. I then took 1 of the outside layers and the pocket fabric and sewed the little slots (as straight as I possibly could). Then I just sewed everything together (right sides in, including very thin batting) leaving a small gap to turn things right sides out. After pushing all the corners out with a skewer, I did a 1/2 inch top stitch to finish things up and also stitched a small ribbon on to tie the roll up.
My friend said her little boy is still trying to eat the crayons but he'll hopefully grow into the gift!


Linking up to Frugal Friday, Free for All, and Show and Share.

First Attempt at Baby Booties

Time for another baby shower gift idea! I've really had fun pushing my limits on what I can make myself. This time I wanted to make a pair of cloth baby shoes. They seemed like it would be completely out of my sewing skills, but I didn't have too much trouble with it (besides sewing the wrong side and having to tear out the seams AFTER I sewed the whole shoe together... nice one). I used the template here, but made them slightly smaller since it would be for a newborn. I feel like my blog should really just chronicle how I see an idea and totally copy it! Haha! I do have some ideas of my own for the near future :) Here is the final product minus the elastic step - I knew I'd forget to take a picture the next day after the hubby went out and grabbed me some elastic. I paired it with a tie onesie in the same fabric and I thought it looked so cute and preppy!
And here's the package all wrapped up! (This was after I added the elastic to the back of the shoes - I was right and forgot to take a picture of just the shoes after that step!)I wasn't able to make it to the shower since it was during the day while I was at work, but I hope she liked it! I have heard that they look like baby Toms :)

I have seen reversible versions of these shoes and I want to give those a shot!

Linking up to Frugal Friday, Free for All, and Show and Share.

Baby Tie Onesie

On to other baby shower gift ideas... I made bows for my friends' little girls for Easter, but I still needed something for the little boys. None of the boys were really old enough to care what I got them (the oldest was under 2), so I decided to make them little tie shirts/onesies. I followed the tutorial at Crap I've Made and I thought they turned out super cute!

I can't decide which pattern is my favorite! The argyle is so preppy and cute but paisley is the classic tie pattern! Ah, geez, I think I love them equally :) I bought a fourth of a yard of each fabric at Hob Lob (at 30% off!) and it was plenty to make 6 ties, 3 of each pattern and I could make many more with that as well. The argyle was tougher since I tried to line up the pattern just right. I also bought a pack of onesies for the littlest ones in a 3-9 month size (random sizing, right?) and 1 12 month onesie and 1 little 2T t-shirt at Wal-Mart so they were very inexpensive and so fun to make!

Baby Shower Cards

As I said previously I went to a boat-load of baby showers in the spring. 7 to be exact. I guess this is a nice follow up to my last year in which we went to 8 weddings. So, while I am not (or try not to be) a cheap-skate, I do like to be frugal when possible. One way I did this was to make cards for the baby showers. I have a ton of scrapbook paper, so this was basically a free project. I used two different scrapbook papers and the general tutorial here. However, I just judged the size myself and mine was just one page, not a folded card. I added little bows on a few of them with some extra ribbon I had on hand. These were great for group gifts because we each got to write a little note all over the cards. These were fun and very easy to make!



I posted this to Frugal Friday and Free for All.

Bows!

Now that I have quite a few projects to blog on, I'll probably do some mass posting over the next few weeks (which is about a post a week at my pace) and then drop off the face of the blog world for months again. It's just how I roll. So, now that we've gotten more involved in our new church, I've gotten to know the people in my lifegroup a lot better. I seriously love them! And I love their kids... which is a good thing since there were four babies born in our group in a month and a half's time! It's been so fun! I actually know a TON of people that have recently had babies and I went to 7 baby showers in 2 months... no joke! So, that being said, I have been making little baby-inspired things left and right. Love it! I made a little bow holder for a friend and her little bundle and I thought it turned out very fun. It was also very easy and very affordable to make. To start off, I made a bow for decoration (I actually made about 6 of these with different materials and turned the rest into hairbows). I found a tutorial here and thought it would be perfect! I took some pictures of one of the bows while I was working on it, but it will be easier to just check theirs out.




I added the bow (which is different than the one I showed pictures of above) to a frame that I painted. We had a picture of the hubs' trip to Africa in this, but the glass broke in the move, so we repurposed it. I also bought some ribbon and modge-podged (gotta love that stuff!) the same fabric (which matched the little one's nursery bedding) onto the middle of it. I then glued the ribbon to the back and held it so it dried nice and tight. Note: I glued this to a little ridge on the back so it wasn't laying flat against the wall if they were to hang it. I doubt it makes much difference but just something to think about. I also added a little knob (from Hobby Lobby, my favorite place ever, at 50% off) at the bottom so they could hang her little headbands there if they want.
I had a blast making this! They've already shown me all the bows they hung on it and it gave me some major baby fever, especially for a little girl!

More baby craft ideas to come!