Sunday, February 26, 2012

Good Weekend


This weekend was pretty awesome! It started out with a rough ride down to GR, seriously the roads were not pleasant! But we made it. Matt went to a gun show Saturday morning with his friend Joe and Keith.

Meanwhile, my mom and I went to a bunch of different fabric stores and Hobby Lobby. Then we met Val at Once Upon a Child and did some kid shopping! I found three dresses and two pairs of shoes for Avalyn, and mom found a cute sweatshirt and a pair of shoes. We’re shoe people!

Here's the fabric for the car seat! The top fabric I'm going to use for something else, but it was too cute to pass up!
The shoes!

How cute are these?

Val and Alyssa followed us back to mom and dad’s house and Avalyn demonstrated (in no uncertain terms) that she does not want to and will not share. Awesome. That will be a fun problem when she and Nicolas are playing together. Poor Alyssa, she was just trying to play! But she was a very good sport, and often handed things to Avalyn (perhaps hoping for a trade?) when she got upset… which was a lot.
Sharing is caring Avalyn!
"No, Lyssa!"

Alyssa found a happy spot in a chair.

We initially wanted to head home about 4:00-5:00PM but we ended up going out to dinner with Josh and Val, and didn’t get on the road until 8:00PM which got us home at 11:00PM. Totally worth it though! We had a lot of fun.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Project Number Two… Check!


I got the curtains up! Yey me! What do you think?

Yeah, I need to steal Matt’s drill to actually get the middle screw in, but otherwise I like how they turned out!

Clearly my garage sale futon leaves something to be desired in this room, but what can I do? We have no other seating so it will stay for now.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Project Number One... Check!

Woot woot! Poncho is done! Well... kind of. I didn't put the button on yet. I've got to get out the baby wrap and put it on someone (probably Matt - poor guy), then put the poncho on said person (*cough* Matt *cough*), and find a good placement for the button. Until then, here is what I have!

I don't want to post the steps because it's from a pattern, but I will tell you I found the pattern at Joann Fabric's and it was $2.99, See&Sew B4266. You can find it on amazon for $4.88. I bought three and a half yards of no pill fleece fabric in an olive color, and a half yard of the patterned blizzard fleece.
 This picture is horrible. My gray carpet looks greenish... ew. But see the pop of blue in the hood? Yes, I made it more complicated, but isn't it cool?
 It fits! Ignore the weird look on my face, I broke out laughing when I took the picture because Avalyn was trying to climb me.
 Yeah, it's pretty good at hiding my baby belly, too!
Here's the cost break down:
Striped fabric: $6.49/yard @ half yard =  $3.25
Green fabric: $4.99/yard @ 3.5 yards = $17.47
Pattern: $2.99
Button: $5.95
Thread: Free (already owned)
Total cost: $29.66

Not to shabby eh? Anyone else make something they love, or do anything crafty lately?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Oh, the crafts!

I have been on a craft kick lately. Matt even took me to the fabric store yesterday after we went to Sears. What a guy!

Here's what I bought:
 No I didn't buy the car seat, just the stuff inside it! I have five projects in the works. Here's number one: Make a poncho! I wanted something that I could wear and wrap Avalyn up in (because we don't put her in a jacket in her car seat). This seems to be the ticket. I can just lift her up and wrap it around her until we get into the store. It will also work for new baby when he gets here. Since Avalyn will (hopefully) be able to put her own jacket on by next fall, and I will be wearing baby into the store. Avalyn won't lose her toddler seat in the cart yet. ;) What I didn't picture is the button I found. It's two inches around and a dark brown color. I decided to use only one button because otherwise the poncho will be too complicated for what I need it. The striped fabric is for the inside of the hood, it also has teal in it, just for a pop of color.
 Here's project number two: Rip apart the old car seat cover and make a new one. This was a used car seat Matt got from his friend. We are so grateful for it, but I would like it to match Avalyn's seat a bit better. So I'm going to take the sucker apart and cowafi it. That's a word. Now....
I'll use the same batting, and the old fabric will act as my pattern template. I also intend on making it fire retardant with help of a spray I found. I figured this would be the safer alternative to the slip covers you can find online. I don't have all of my supplies for this one yet, though. I need some bias tape and another yard of fabric for the inside of the canopy. I'm thinking something black and white with some red mixed in, hopefully some fun contrasting shapes for his little eyes. If I don't find fabric with all of those colors, then I will just get some red bias tape for the canopy. That will be a fun pop!
 Project number three: Another sweatsuit size 2T. I'm going to see if these things are sell-able. They were such a hit at Christmas with all the kiddos and if I can find a way to make a little mad money, that would be great. They take me about three hours from start to finish so they aren't difficult.
Here's what the finished product should look like:
The outfit I will make won't be made with a zipper though. They're expensive and difficult, not to mention they can get stuck on the clothes underneath, or pinch sensitive skin. Ouch! I'm using snaps instead. That little model, by the way, is Alyssa. Isn't she sweet?

 Remember these beauties? Yeah, needs something more huh? On to project number four!
 It's simple. Put up a curtain rod and hang some curtains. I went with white. Can't go wrong there!
 Project number five is relatively simple, too. Gross, but simple. See that toilet seat? Yeah, it's wood... and it's cracking in places that pinch other places. It's got to go! Unfortunately, the metal screws are all kinds of broken down. Thanks to urine. See it's totally gross. So, I'm going to have to take the seat off from underneath. The trick is to find the right tool in Matt's monster tool box to get the thing off there. The old owners were kind enough to leave behind white plastic seats, but didn't take the time to remove the old seat. Who can blame them?
So, lots of projects! I won't be doing them in order. From easy to hard it's probably: Curtain rod, toilet seat, poncho, sweatsuit, and finally car seat. Which one am I most excited to tackle? The car seat of course!

After writing all of that, I just realized that there are two more projects I want to do. Figures huh? I want to dye the pink canvas of my new double jogger. Black would be the best bet. I also want to switch out the harness on the single jogger. I just need to buy some canvas to reinforce it. Yep... I'm sure there will be more to come... A slip cover for the pink baby swing perhaps. Who knows.

Anyone else going project/craft crazy? Matt thinks I'm nesting. I think it's winter and there's nothing to do. ;)

Monday, February 20, 2012

Happy Birthday Mom!

It's my mom's birthday today! Avalyn and I gave her a call and left her a voicemail. Avalyn even said "Happy Birthday Grandma, I love you!" When my mom called back Avalyn wasn't as talkative... Well, about that anyway.. she had her own things to discuss I guess. While I talked to my mom she told me about a rug she saw at Sears that looked like it would fit in with our bathroom and it was on sale.

Well, needless to say Matt and I went to Sears and looked at rugs. While I didn't see the one she was talking about, I did find one that I fell in love with.

We have one like it in our half bath, too. That one is red, green, cream, and yellow. It's held up against kids and pets for five years, so these should do okay, too. I hope.
 Here it is against the shower curtain.
 What do you think? I like them!
 The bathroom is slowly coming together!
Did you see my new toothbrush/random stuff holder? Let me zoom in...
 My grandma made it over twenty years ago and gave it to me as a graduation present this fall. She even signed and dated it. What a pro. I didn't know what to do with it until now, but I think it fits right in!
I also organized the closet while I was in there. I used an idea I found on pinterest for storing sheets in their pillow cases. It works and looks a lot less messy!
 Our laundry shoot that no one except for me knows how to find. Seriously the easiest thing in the world and no one uses it. Or if they do, it's to throw rubber duckies down to the basement... Avalyn... ;)
Anyone else find the perfect bathroom rug? Or have a laundry shoot that is only used for evil instead of good?

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Out and About

Matt and I went shopping today. Weird huh? Mostly he was looking at guns and gun safes. Yey... Though one gun store had a sign on their door that said, "Nothing in here is worth dying for." Wow! It's true though, why would you try and rob a gun store? I was nervous about taking Avalyn in there because they also have a shooting range and of course have deer heads (and other animals) mounted on the wall. Not my favorite thing. In fact I hate it, but she thought they were "pretty." I don't think she realized they weren't alive. Aw.

The good thing about today is we got to try the Chinese place at Chum's Corners. It was yummy!

We also went to Toy's R Us for the kids. We got our tax returns back and decided to give them each a treat. Avalyn got two wooden puzzles (buy one get one free), and a flower, and Keith got a Lego set. He's starting to realize that his toys are more expensive so $20 doesn't go as far as it used to. We ended up spending less on Avalyn for more stuff.

She loves her flower though.
 Attack!
 She loves lo mein! Keith wouldn't let me take his picture. *sigh*
Anyone else eat good take out lately? Go to a gun store and get grossed out? Just me?

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Hallelujah!

I'm off bed rest! This meant that I could go to Keith's concert tonight. He (and his classmates) did a fantastic job. I have a lot of video for Matt to watch when he get's home.

Avalyn didn't want to watch the whole thing so my Mom and I had to chase her through the school hallways. It was a sort of blessing though, because I found out they have free preschool if the child does early enrollment (assuming they do it again next year). Which means, this time next year I will sign my baby up for classes. Hard to believe she will be three when school starts in 2013. Wow!

Avalyn was very interested in the Reader's Tree in the library.
 "I dancing!"
 Sitting in the chair shaped like a hand.
 Giving me a dirty look because I was interrupting story time with Grandma.
 This is my favorite picture, she just flopped down on her belly and looked at the books.
I would post Keith's videos but they would take forever to load. I'll screen shot them at some point, but I am beat today!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

24(ish) Hour Bed Rest

So, I had a scare today, I found out I was bleeding. Not something a pregnant girl wants to see! I called my doc right away, thinking it was before 5:00PM (4:54PM to be exact) so they would answer. Not so much, they turn off their phones at 4:45PM. Boo! So, I had to call the switchboard and wait for the on-call doctor to call me back. Thankfully my doc was the one on call. I just had to wait for her to deliver a baby. The on-call nurse asked if I had done anything strenuous or had been intimate with anyone lately. I told her no and that's when she started sounding concerned. She told me to drink a lot of water and lay down and wait for a phone call. I was not to do anything.

Thank goodness my mom is here! The kids needed dinner, Avalyn always needs attention (diaper changes, playing together, refilling her sippy cup), I had no idea how much I run around! If I was put on bed rest while I was alone I would have been in trouble. Mom did everything, I felt so bad! But I was so thankful she was here.

So, here I sit, hours later, still not moving. The bleeding has stopped, but my doc wants me to call and update her first thing in the morning. She will decide then if I need to come in for an appointment. The good news is: I have a fetal doppler and his heartbeat is still very strong, and he is being a wiggle worm. I hope the bleeding is just from walking a lot today or from him kicking me. He's already pretty strong!

Before today went horribly wrong, Mom and I went shopping at places Matt doesn't like to go. Hello craft, fabric, and thrift stores! I walked out of the women's resource center with two strings of mardi gras beads for Avalyn, and four onesies all for $2.12! I had that in change! Such a good deal. Oh, and I bought a onesie for our new baby boy. :) Mom also bought a few onesies for Avalyn, a couple of shirts for Keith, a puzzle for Keith and a toy for Avalyn. We also found Stride Rite shoes for $1! So, of course we snatched those up for Avalyn! $40 shoes for a buck? You can't go wrong there. On our way home we got KFC for dinner and lunches, good thing, too since I couldn't cook!

Yesterday Mom treated us to Bud's for Valentine's Day. Isn't she rad? I think so. We even got ice cream for desert! Yum. 

Here the kids are, enjoying the scenery at Bud's (and playing with the little wooden IQ tests).
 How cool are the lamps over the tables?
 The ceiling, beams, tree and some wall decor. Pretty cool.
 Here's the tree again. Avalyn loves it, but not as much as she loves one of the things on the shelf (that I didn't snap a picture of). Can anyone guess what that is? It's a cow of course! He's hiding on a shelf above the ice cream counter. She yells at him whenever we go there.
 Avalyn doesn't want to wait for dinner, she'll just eat her napkin.
 Grandma helping Keith cheat on his IQ test. :p
 Everyone working hard except me, I already know I'm a genius (I kid, I kid).
 Oh, and here is the first piece of clothing I bought for our baby boy. Mom supplied the socks. They have cows on them of course!
Anyone else ever been on bed rest? It's so hard! I don't know how people do it! How was everyone's Valentine's Day? I hope it was fantastic!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Quick Update!

My mom is here so I'm going to update with a quick shot of my clean bathroom!


Much better, eh?

In the meantime, Mom is enjoying her grandkids. 
 And Avalyn is enjoying riding in Mommy's sleigh. Circa 1984. ;)
Probably no more updates this week. I want to hang out with my mom! Nope, I'm not lame. I just love my mama!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Done Painting!

That's right, I am done painting the bathroom. I am so pooped. Who knew painting while pregnant would be so tiring? Not me. At least the painting part is done. Woot!

Here are some "I'm done painting" photos.

Clearly I haven't removed the painting tape. Nor have I cleaned up. I'll get to it. After my back stops hurting. ;)

I love the color! I'm just so crazy excited!
My mom is coming up for the week tomorrow so I'm glad to be finished painting before she get here. Now I just have to clean the house before tomorrow. Possible? Probably not. :p