Things to do!

Sewing Projects I will definitely have done before the baby is born:

1. Make nursing pillow. (Half way done with this one project!)


2. Make a few cute nursing covers.


3. Make blessing gown/blessing suit for baby.


Projects I would like to do but don't know if I will have time or budget:

1. Car seat canopy.


2. Cute baby bibs.


3. Cradle bedding. (This one really depends on weather or not I am able to find a cradle at a yard sale or thrift store. I really want one but they are waaaaay too expensive to buy new.)


Projects I will 99% not do because of time, budget, or skill level.

1. Car seat re-cover. (I want to do this one so bad!!!)


2. Cute mobile.


Pretty busy schedule in my future! Now I just have to focus on the non-sewing tasks in my immediate future:
1. Help Jackson get better from his Pink Eye and Ear Infection (Yes, he has both at the same time!)
2. Keep myself from getting Pink Eye.
3. Stay healthy and deliver baby.

Tie Troubles, No More!

So a while ago I talked about how annoying it was that I couldn't find little boys ties for Jackson to wear to Church. Well my solution to that problem was a tutorial I found where you could turn old adult men's ties into little boys ties. This was great...except I was limited to my husband's old ties that I thought were too ugly to be worn in public anyway. Well I came up with a solution. I used the same idea that the tutorial had except I modified a pattern for a 9-10year old boy's tie and made one for a toddler. Still the same two piece concept but these ones just look so much cleaner and I have thousand's of fabric options because the pattern only takes about 1/4 yard of fabric! (I usually buy 1/2 yard just in case I screw up.) So because of
this new development, I have been making a tie every Saturday for the last three weeks.

You can tell this is the first one I made because I made the mistake of choosing a very white design. I don't think it looks as good against a white shirt, which is what Jackson wears each week.





Notice how this one is shorter and a little wider? I made a second pattern for slightly younger boys because I noticed the first two ties seemed a little long even when they had been adjusted to their shortest possible length.

Happiness Is...

Happiness is Saturday morning at home.

Best Parent of the Year Award goes to.....Someone else.

Jackson has been sick the last two days and it seems like when he is sick all my good parenting knowledge goes flying out the window. Is it so bad that pretty much all he has eaten in the last 24 hours is either watered down Gatorade or toast??? Is it so bad that I let him stay in his warm footy pajamas until 2pm? (Is it so bad that I am also in sweats and a bathrobe until 2pm?)Probably. I swear I am trying to be a good mom. We usually have a routine and a clean house and no boogers caked on our faces. But when sickness comes its like I go into survival mode. Jackson won't eat anything but toast? Fine! Feed him toast for every meal! At least he won't be hungry. He won't drink water or Pedialight but loves Gatorade?? Fine! Give it to him!!! FLUIDS!!! So yea, right now I feel like the worlds worst mom but hopefully this too shall pass and in a few days when we are sickness free I can go back to being a responsible human being.

Dye + Old pants= Slightly Newer Pants?

Money is always tight and I couldn't really justify spending $30 on new maternity pants even though my favorite pair was all faded and had a patch on the inner thigh. Then I had the idea...Try to dye them! I saw something similar on one of my favorite blogs (centsationalgirl.com)and I thought I would give it a try.
Old looking pants :( So sad because they fit so well!


I used RIT dye. $2.25 at Jo-Ann's - I used a 40%off coupon.


Instructions are on the inside of the box. I did the "bucket method".


So after 30 minutes of stirring and then another 30 minutes of rinsing until the water ran clear than washing them twice by themselves just to make sure I got all the dye....


A slightly newer looking pair of jeans!!!! In the future I think if I wanted to do something like this again, I would buy one box of black dye and one box of navy blue than mix just a little black dye in with the navy to give it a slightly darker wash. Overall though very pleased! For less than three dollars I have a pair of jeans I am not embarrassed to wear in public and will hopefully last me through this pregnancy!

Tomatos on my mind.

I have been wanting to plant a garden ever since Ike and I got married but I have never had the yard space. Finally this year I decided I would try some container gardening. I started some tomato seeds in our glassed in back porch. I don't expect them to grow into anything but it is fun to try :)

If any of them actually sprout I will have to give them names.

Grow my tomato babies...GROW!!!

Let's Start Counting!

Went in to the doctor's today for my monthly check-up and he gave me the OK to schedule an ultrasound appointment for next month! Ike has school off Feb 6th so that was the day I asked for! This means I can start counting down the days until we find out if we are having a boy are a little girl!!! Little pink tutus and purple hairbows or little trucks and a rough and tumble playmate for Jackson. 27 days! Let the counting down begin!


Decisions, decisions...

Persistence Persistence Persistense

The Mr. and I got Jackson a little kitchen play set for Christmas and I was expecting something mostly assembled with maybe a sticker here or a screw there to put in. I thought I could have the whole thing up in like 20 minutes and then Jackson could enjoy hours and hours of play kitchen fun. Well when I actually saw the box for the first time I was shocked at how huge it was (Surely a good indicator of a per-assembled product right?... No.)Too bad for me there looked to be about 1000 little pieces shoved inside a nice big box. But in order to fit the kitchen into our car so we could take it home from Ohio, we ended up having to take everything out of the box and put it in trash bags then shove it in all the empty spaces available in our Volkswagen Golf. So we get home from our Christmas adventure and I am pumped to assemble Jackson's present. Too bad for me this is what I had to start with:


But after roughly 8 hours, 70 screws (Really 68 because I had two left over in the end and I don't know where they were supposed to go.)and a bloody hand I had completed a masterpiece! At least that is how I feel.


And best of all, the little man loves it. For $25 I think it was a pretty good deal.

What a Vacation!

It seems like Ike and I have adopted the tradition from my family of going on vacations not to relax necessarily, but to see family and drive a lot. We just got back from our big Christmas trip and I am exhausted! I am still trying to get my house in order. It was an amazing trip though. There are very few things I love more than spending time with family.


The trip started as most of ours do, with lots of driving. 14 hours from NE to OH.


Then hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's and playing with all their cool toys.


Opening stockings and presents on Christmas.



Celebrated Ike's birthday...27!!!!!




My awesome brother married the sweetest most beautiful girl, Kara, in the Columbus, Ohio Temple.




We went to visit Ike's brother, Abe, his wife Ashley and their adorable little boy, Joseph. We got to drive around where they live in Virginia and see some beautiful waterfalls, pretty landscapes and outrageously huge homes.


Then we finished our trip with some more driving.
Although our bank account is a bit smaller and we are all exhausted and don't want to sit in our car again for as long as possible, this trip was amazing and I loved every minute of it.