28 weeks

Time really is flying by. Third trimester, here I come! Baby is moving all of the time, and has even woken me up during the night a time or two with his or her little antics. I continue to feel really good. I have a bit of a hip muscle thingy that makes me walk a little slow when I first get up (in the morning and if I have been sitting for a while) but that is really the only complaint I have and it is so minor, I feel a little silly even telling you about it.

Easton has now learned to point to my belly when you ask where the baby is, but I still believe that he is clueless as to what that will mean to his life in 3 short months. If you ask him if we are having a boy or a girl, he answers with girl and if you say a girl or a boy, he answers boy. Whatever word he hears last. He's really playing it safe with his prediction.

Ronnie and I continue to struggle coming up with a boys name. We just don't have any that we really love, and a heck of a lot that we like okay. I'm not looking to get it down to one name, but I would like to narrow our list of 10 down to about 3 or 4. Girl names we are down to 3, so we are good to go there (although I'm sure there will be more discussion in the next 3 months). And since talking about names, and not actually telling you our list would be absolute torture for most of you, the girl names are Camryn, Brynn and Kendri or Kendrey, or Kendree, or Kendry, in no particular order (spelling issues are another hurdle altogether). I won't share the boy names until we narrow it down a bit, but feel free to leave us suggestions!

And if you are dying to see all of the belly pictures of this pregnancy, here's a list: 24 weeks 20 weeks 17 weeks

The Project That Caused Me Pain

Okay, so I guess it wasn't technically the project that caused me the pain, but instead my own stupidity for allowing my guiding finger to get under the needle, but still....

I'll always remember.

I had a package of simple cloth diapers left over from other baby gifts and decided that my future child needed some cloth diaper burp cloths as well.

They are incredible simple to make (fabric strips 4.5" x 20" and two strips of ribbon 20" long) and went really quickly (minus the incident of course).

It felt good to used up previously quilted strips.

And darn it if they aren't just plain cute as well.

This one had fabric that was not quite 20" long, so I used an additional piece of ribbon on the ends to cover up that raw edge.

Do you know what really hurts?

When you break the needle on your sewing machine as it sews your finger.

Ouch.






Don't you worry, I am fine. It's nothing a few band-aids and a little Windex (name that movie) won't fix.

Dancing to Peter Pan

Easton love him some Peter Pan. Specifically the "Following the Leader" and "What Makes the Red Man Red?" songs. Enjoy his dancing.

P.S. Towards the end is when you see a more accurate representation of what he does normally (when the camera is not running). Kind of a step-STEP-step-STEP movement.

Also, this second video is not for the faint of heart. Yes, it is a gigantic boogey that you see on his face.

The last quilt top of 2009

Or, at least Ronnie is hoping.

Let's back up a bit and go through just why the heck I felt like I needed to make another quilt. You see, when I was pregnant with Easton, I made his crib bedding (quilt included) as well as a simple square quilt. In my head, the crib bedding quilt is his. If I have a girl, she is already set with two quilts, the crib bedding one and a simple square quilt, however, if this baby is a boy, I only had a simple square quilt ready for him.

Seriously, so unfair.

I have had this quilt bookmarked for what seems like years, and decided it was time to make my own.

So I did.

And I love it.

All of my quilts have now been trimmed, backing fabric has been ironed and all I have to do is make sure I have enough batting for the interiors and then they (all 5 of them) are off to the machine-quilting lady.

Step Four

Yesterday I finished the valances for my Baby Girl Bedding. That means that all I have to do is get the quilt quilted and then bind it and I am done! Hooray!

I've had several questions about how I have time to get all of this done. First, I cut out the material and patterns for all of these projects at the same time. There were days and days of cutting that you didn't see, but now, all it takes is a few straight lines of sewing and wa-la, a finished project. Second, Easton sleeps for 2-3 hours a day, right after I get home for work. I am able to get housework done, start prep for dinner and usually get at least 30 minutes of crafting in. Third, I have a husband in law school. This means late nights at the school studying sometimes and after Easton is in bed, I can craft without feeling guilty about neglecting my precious "husband" time. Fourth, I have an extreme case of "anxious energy." I hate just sitting and watching TV (the majority of the time--we all have veg times) so I am usually crocheting, stamping, cutting, sewing, reading, playing with Easton, making dinner, cleaning, etc. You get the idea. I don't claim to be a superwoman, and fully expect that the "spare time" I speak of now will virtually disappear after this second little one makes his or her appearance.

23 months

Can you believe we are so close to 2 years? Me neither.

Although, when you ask Easton how old he is, he usually answers "two," so at least he is prepared.

Easton is now stringing two-three word sentences together "daddy frow ball" or "more ju peeze" and man it is nice to get a better idea of what he is thinking. I do think that his recent explosion in words will officially end my word updates for him. I just can't keep up anymore, so sorry.

He loves anything "boy" right now. Jumping, running, "frowing" balls, etc. He loves that daddy does all of that with him and constantly asks for daddy when it is just me around. Apparently, I can't "frow" the ball quite right. Ronnie and I also spend ALL DAY LONG making hoopes with our arms so he can throw ball through them. Cute, but getting a bit old. Perhaps it is time for a basketball hoop at our house.

His new favorite movie is Peter Pan, which he calls "Pam." Ronnie put it in a few weeks ago so we could get a break from Toy Story and Cars, and now we get "Pam" requests all day long. Oh, how things backfire sometimes.

He continues to say "yesh" instead of yes, and while I don't want him to sound like that all of his life, I love it right now. He also says "Ada" for "Love you!" and we have no idea why. When we say "I love you" to him, he answers right back with an "ada" and tries to make the "I love you" sign in sign language.

He also loves numbers. 2 and 4 are his current favorites and he can recognize them in stores, on boxes, etc. He can count to 7, but needs prompting to say 3, since he usually skips it to get to 4 as fast as possible. It sounds something like this "won, two, tree, fowr, ive, sick, seben" and is adorably cute, but as always, I am a bit biased. He also know how to show the first five numbers on his hand as he is counting.

You can scroll down for the pictures I just posted the other day and I'll try to get a few more uploaded soon--I know how you crave those pictures! :)

Why is it

that trail mix always has an overabundance of raisins?

If I wanted that many, I would just buy a bag of raisins.

I'm here for the M&Ms and nuts.

Step Three - check

And.....


the Baby Girl Bedding crib skirt is complete!


You know I love you, but there was no way on earth that I was going to strip Easton's crib and remake it all with girl stuff, just to undo it all again, so instead, you get crib skirt on my love seat.

What's left? A valance, and then the quilting/binding of the quilt. Almost there!

Just a few pictures

Easton's nursery leader took these pictures, and I thought I should share. After all, what is this blog if not picture updates?

Craft It Forward Part Two

WAAAAAAY back in February, I did a little giveaway of sorts on the blog, Craft It Forward.

This week I finally got the projects completed and sent on their way.

Hooded bath towels for the children/future children of the three women who signed up.

I love crossing things off my list.

And then I keep some promises from forever ago...

The other day I was searching for something on my blog and realized that many times I had promised you to post pictures, or let you know when something happened and then I didn't.

All of that is changing today. With no further ado, I give you my previously unfulfilled promises.

Lake Powell Pictures (promised 6/15/2007)

Daddy-o and the houseboat.

A sideways picture of Jord-man and his sand castle.

Ronnie and Adam enjoying a ride on the tube "Big Bertha." (That's really the tube's official name).

You know I love you when I post pictures like this. The only picture taken of me the entire trip.

Baby Shower Pictures (promised 10/22/2007)

Me, Grammy, Cousin Jill, Mom, Sassy and Erc.

Alene, Val, Me, Mom, Jill, Jenn, Ashley, McKenzie and McKell.

Me, Mom and the fabulous Grammy.

Nail biting update (promised 11/15/2007)
I did not so much keep up this breaking of habit. After Easton was born and my nails returned to their previous, weak, state I succumbed to the biting again. I've found it is definitely a nervous habit and in my case, more of a bored habit. Nothing to do? Check out which nail you can chew on. Thanks to this pregnancy I have now gone one week without biting. So count this as attempt #2,749.

Forgetting about Labor? (promised 12/21/2007)
You don't so much forget, but more become okay with going through it all again. Plus, in my case, you make yourself a promise that you will really REALLY push this time, so that baby can come out more quickly than 2.5 hours later (although, in my defense, it was not so much the level of my pushing that was the issue with Easton).

Deodorant (promised 1/6/2008)
I have now been using deodorant exclusively for almost two years. I love it. My white shirts don't have yellow stains on them anymore, I sweat less and everyone is happier. I will tell you that it takes time for your body to adjust to no anti-perspirant. For about 3 weeks I was more sweaty than normal, and then my body calmed down and we all lived happily ever after.

Picture of my mom in my glasses (promised 1/20/2009)

Remember my new glasses? Here's a pic to refresh your memory.

Well, my mom looks really good in them, see?

In fact, she looked so smokin' that she allowed us to convince her to get a similar pair of her own and now she is even more foxy.

The dreaded scrapbook in its entirety (promised 5/29/2009)
You can view all 130 pages here.

Changes in my Job (promised 6/5/2009)
My job has not changed dramatically. I still work with donors and alumni of the college, plan events for the big wigs and help with other general events. I now report to the dean, and don't so much have a day to day boss that I check with all of the time. This works out great, as I can get direction when I need it and otherwise just continue to do what I have always done. I do have to write a lot more of the articles, etc. for the college and that is not so much a favorite change, but I deal.

Adam's Happy Homecoming Pictures (promised 8/5/2009)

See? He did make it home.

And Erc and Alayna rejoiced (as did the rest of the fam).

Halloween Pillow Pattern (promised 10/21/2009)
I've scoured the internet and can't find a source but for your reference the pattern is called "Halloween Pillow" and is made by Images in Fabric. The pillow measures 14" x24".

Step two--complete

So, we all remember the Ruffle Strip Quilt.
It's still not done, but step two of Baby Girl Bedding (if I ever even need it) is.

Here are the crib bumpers. I just love how easy these suckers come together. The only catch is that each one requires a bit of hand sewing, and I have yet to find anything I hate more than hand sewing.

Next up? The crib skirt.

24 Weeks

While I realize that I technically turned 24 weeks yesterday, this picture was taken this morning. You take what you can get around here.

I'm still feeling great. I feel kind of lame saying the same thing with every update but it IS true, just not very exciting. I have hit the point where turning sideways to try and fit through a tight spot doesn't do much for me, as I found out this week. Baby is moving all of the time now, and those movements are even becoming visible from the outside (but only if you are intently staring at my belly, which I don't think anyone but me does).

I have been informed twice that I am carrying low, which apparently means a boy. But then I always wonder--I did carry low with Easton, and he was a boy, but maybe that is just the way my body carries babies? Only time will tell.

Easton continues to have no idea what is going on (and I am confident that oblivious-ness will continue until we place a tiny baby in his arms). We pray for the baby in mommy's belly every night, and he continues to call my belly button "baby", but he also calls his own belly button "baby" so that isn't really getting us anywhere.

My energy is still around, although starting to dwindle a bit. I seem to notice the energy stuff with this pregnancy much more than I did with Easton (I'm sure chasing a toddler around has a lot to do with that). And yes, I still crave Taco Bell. I do want to clarify that anytime Ronnie asks me what I want for dinner I say Taco Bell, but I only get Taco Bell 1-2 times a week so while it is a craving, I am not a crazy pregnant lady who MUST HAVE THE FOOD NOW!

Just so you know.