Monday, January 31, 2011

22 Weeks and a birthday

Sunday we celebrated Mom's birthday, which meant I needed to get moving on her present.  My poor family.  I don't think Mom or Ashley has had a store bought present from me in the last couple of years.  They get the brunt of all my "great" ideas involving the sewing machine.  Anyway, when Mom saw the cup towels I made for Ashley's Christmas present (did I ever show you those?) and then the ones I made for myself, she subtly hinted that it they would be great presents for people's birthday.  Hint taken.  I just couldn't figure out what fabric would go best with her kitchen.  She doesn't really have a theme or color scheme in there, and most of my fabric is a bit more whimsical than she would probably want displayed.  Finally I came up with this:


Except when I got started on Friday is exactly when the FedEx man dropped off my curtains and I got a little side tracked.  And then the bomb was dropped that we were celebrating a day early due to my grandfather wanting to get home before the horrible weather hit.  A whole day is a big deal in sewing world!  But I got it done, she loved it, and Ashley and I even baked her a cake. 


I made sure to do the icing.  (She benefited from Evan's gender reveal party)  I just couldn't bear to associate my good name with something that looked anything remotely like this.  No matter how good and sweet her intentions are/were.  So anyway, Dad fixed us a mmm mmm mmmm meal of homemade lasagna, bread, and a Greek salad.  Oh I stuffed myself silly.  Plus I had seconds.  And seconds on the cake too.  Then I beached myself on the couch. 


Today is Mom's actual birthday.  A little more low key than last year.  And also the day that I'm 22 weeks!


Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 22 weeks.  It's weird.  Up until now it's flown by, but this week and last have been considerably slower.  Maybe it's the thought that I'm already as uncomfortable as I am and I still have 18 weeks left.  Or the fact that I looked again at my pictures from Luke's pregnancy, and I'm thinking I'm looking about 5 weeks ahead with this one as I did the last one.  That's a lot.  I didn't take pictures every week, and the next match up is 23 weeks, so if I remember I'll post it so you can compare for yourself.

Size of baby: a spaghetti squash.  Ashley was not a fan of this one.  But she's weighing in at right under a pound.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I did think about using their scale when I was over at Mom and Dad's last night, but that was after I was beached on the couch.  Yeah right, like I was going to weigh at that point.

Maternity Clothes: Very much so.  I put on one of my hoodies the other day and I couldn't get the zipper to touch.

Gender: I'm having me a baby girl! Evan Elaine Carver has 4 new bows after my Etsy order today.  ;)

Movement: Lots.  and Lots. 

Sleep: Still not the best.  I've been trying new things each night get comfortable, and the best I've found is smack in the middle of the bed with every pillow possible.  Sorry Cody.  Come to bed sooner and stake your claim if you have a problem with it.

What I miss: Normal sleep. Not keeping track of total caffeine intake throughout the day.  Winter is so hard, when all I want to do is sit around and drink coffee!

Cravings: Besides the sweets, just the pancakes.  But that's better after my date with Luke on Saturday.

Symptoms: This one really amped up this week.  The top of my belly has felt tight and blech, like the muscles have reached a limit.  My back gets tired and hurts really easily.  Besides being exhausted, my back has been one of the reasons I've hit the hay earlier this week.  Trying to clean the floors and the bathrooms today was more painful than usual.

Best Moment this week: I'm tired with a headache, and all I can think about is the ice cream in my freezer. 

On a totally unrelated note, I've had to start having the "Story vs. Truth" talk with Luke today.  Every time I ask him if he's got a yucky diaper he would say no, even though we both knew that was.  I talked to him about how saying no when he really was, was a story.  The last time tonight when he was dirty I asked him if he was, and he hid behind the couch and quietly said no.  Oh, that boy knew what he was doing.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Curtains and a beautiful day

The last few days have been absolutely gorgeous around here.  Today the temperature hovered around 75.  Perfect.  But we'll get to that in a minute. 

Yesterday Evan's curtains came it!  I managed to find some cheap curtains online at Walmart, I got both panels for $30 (they are lavender gingham).  After a couple of rounds through the sewing machine to add some green ribbon and coordinating room fabric.....

Voila!  Perfectly matching curtains that I'm loving!  It makes the room seem just that much closer to being finished, although I've still got a ways to go.  The only blue left in the room is the cushion in the rocking chair (which is  kind of a bummer, I was really excited about using blue for a girl), and I'm not sure what to do about that.  Hopefully I'll be able to find a green something to go?  The room is turning out very sweet and serene, although if I had been able to start from scratch, it is definitely not what I would have picked for her.  I totally would have gone more in this direction.


Or this.


Or this. 

But that's neither here nor there, and it's been fun making everything just for her as opposed to buying it.

This morning was another early one in the Carver house.  No matter what I try and do, I just can't get that boy to sleep in later that 7:15.  This morning by 7:40 I heard him dragging a chair across the kitchen, and I knew he was trying to make himself breakfast, so my eyes popped open and I called out to him "I'm up! I'm up!" No rest for the weary when small children are under foot.  After breakfast I got my camera out to play with it.  See, Dad just got one too last week (only the step above mine, of course) and he actually read the manual.  Then he told me what the manual said.  And now I can do a few more fancy things than I could before.  But not without a million test shots.  Seriously.  A million.  As I mentioned last week (or the week before), I've found the best way to get a good picture of Luke is to turn on the timer so the light comes on the front of the camera.  In an effort to get a good (decent) picture of him while trying out new settings I turned the timer on.


See?  He loves it.  But after a while I got tired of waiting for the timer each time, so I turned it off.  I didn't tell him, and at first he was a little confused.


Where did it go?  Finally he just went back to playing with the little box of toys he had dumped out everywhere.

Some of the pictures turned out too bright, some turned out too dark, and a very few were just right.  The only problem is, I don't exactly know how I got the just right ones just right.  

Eventually I got him to play in the back  yard, and then it was lunch time and nap time.  After nap time the two of us took a walk around the block, then up to the school that is two streets away to play on the play ground.  That boy should sleep good tonight!  Eventually I got hungry and I've been craving pancakes (something I craved with Luke's pregnancy too) so I took my boy to Cracker Barrel for dinner and we split an order of blueberry pancakes.  We both drank our milk like champs, and he downed most of the sausage patties that came with the meal.  I kept waiting for the pepper-y-ness of the sausage to catch up with him, but it never did.  Then, because I wasn't quite ready to come home yet, we popped over to Babies R Us so I could scope out some ideas of what I might put on my registry.  Sara has said she would go with me since I'm using her pump, and she can show me the accessories I'll need to go with it, but I wanted to see what else I thought I might need.  Eh, we'll see how it turns out.  I've still got awhile.  Luke was very patient with me as I looked, so I rewarded him with a giant box of diapers.  Okay, really we were totally out and he would have had to switch to big boy undies tonight if we didn't get some.  Shhh.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Please be medical

So just now after giving Luke a bath, he was absentmindedly itching his ear as he picked out his story for the night.  I just happened to be kneeling next to him and I noticed a little fuzz something in his ear.  I got it with my finger nail, and I had what appeared to be a Thumbelina size blue metal spool for thread.  That was his tube, right?  Blue?  Spool shaped?  I'm really hoping so, because otherwise he's sticking toys in his ears when I'm not looking.  For some reason I assumed that the tubes they put in ears were tiny clear, well, tubes.  No? 

Anyway.  That's not what I was gonna talk about today, it just happened to occur right before I sat down at the computer.  You're welcome.  Yesterday and today I completed a project a day.  ggggGGGGOOOOooo me!  (that's me doing a cheer for myself.  Again, you're welcome.)  Yesterday's project was a pillow to tie in all the fabric for Evan's room.


I guess not sleeping at 5 in the morning has it's benefits.  At first I was going to pattern it after the green one(from Pottery Barn that we bought with the bedding) and have one fabric be the middle, one fabric be the side panels, and one fabric be one of my trademark fabric monograms.  Then in my brilliant sleepless-ness I thought, "Wait.  I've seen scrappy pillows that were really cute.  Maybe I could do that to mix it up a bit.  And HOLD THE PHONE.....what if I did the monogram in BUTTONS?!"  I get a little excited in the wee hours of the morning.  I took a risk, and I love it.  So different from anything I've ever done.  The only thing that concerns me is if you can really tell what is going on with the buttons.  But I can, and I'm really the only one who will see it, so whatever.  I like it. 

The project that I did today was a pillow case dress.  Remember that one time I said I had a plan and that it shouldn't be too hard?  *hangs head*  Fail.  I pulled out one of the 0-3 month dresses that we've (okay, Mom's) already bought to try and use the measurements to make a dress that's a tad bigger.  I was aiming for something in the 3-6 month size range.  What I got is barely newborn.  And the sleeves didn't go as planned either.  I didn't make them deep enough, so when I went to hem the top of the dress (with a casing big enough to hold the ribbon) it left the arm holes roughly the size of a quarter.  Thaaaaaat's not gonna work.  So I got creative and added the panel on the top to extend it and hold the ribbon. 


Also, the ribbon that I made was a little bit thicker than I realized it was going to be, so actual bows are a little out of the question.  Another boo boo was I accidentally made the top panel sligtly too short because I forgot to account for turning the ends under to create a finished edge.  You can't tell, but now there are two small pleats on each side.   It doesn't look bad if all the gathers are pulled out, and you can't tell at all with the gathers.  At least it's totally identical on the front and back, which I like to call "Daddy-proof".  If he ever has to dress her cutely when I'm not around, he can't mess this up.  There is no front or back.  Ya just put it on.  But who knows if she actually will get to wear it.  She's already gotten several dresses that are super small, and I don't know if I made it wide enough to be able to wear as a top with pants.  If it's winter when it fits that way, I figure I can just stick a long sleeved white onesie underneath.  And on the bright side, at least I've gotten one under my belt and more of a "pattern" to go by!  I'll probably try the top a little different next time, maybe with elastic in the top and let the bias tape continue up to tie into bows?  I don't know.  I'm not ready to use my fancy material though.  Darn.  I'll just have to go buy some more fabric.  ;)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Early morning

This morning I woke up at 3:00 AM.  Just woke up.  At first I thought I was supposed to pray for someone, and then I'd be able to go back to sleep.  An hour later, long done with my prayer (which stretched out longer and longer as I waited to get sleepy again), I was hungry.  So at 4 AM I got up and ate a cereal bar.  I was sure that it would be the trick to go back to sleep. 

Nope. 

At 5 AM I stopped trying to force my brain to shut down and just let it wander.  I came up with a plan for E's first pillow case dress (using cute material I have, but not my amazing fabric so if I mess up it's no big deal.  But I have a plan.  In my head.  So I won't mess up.)  (I think I tell that to myself every time I make something new.).  I decided what she should wear in the hospital.  I decided on what to do with that brown lacy Amy Butler fabric I've been terrified to cut because I love it so.  I'll make it into a blanket which will save me from actually cutting it AND help me to not feel guilty about not knititng her two blankets like I did for Luke. (I'll still knit her a lovie blanket, just not one to match the room.  Unless I get bored.)  I decided how to make the decorative pillow for her bedding, and what to embellish it with.  I decided what to do with the 3/6/9/12/18 month/2 year pictures of Luke to make room for Evan's.  Do you see a pattern here?  I'm a little obsessed with my girl.  But in my defense A.) I'm pregnant  B.) she was moving a lot so I couldn't help but think about her and C.) I'm a tad obsessive anyway.  At one point it occurred to me that I had talked TO God, but hadn't really listened, so I tried to be quiet and listen to Him.  Wasn't meant to be.

All that, plus I just couldn't get comfortable.  I made my nest of pillows exactly like I did the night before, but alas.  Something went awry.  Maybe it was the heavy breather that was next to me who kept trying to take the pillow between us and use it as his own.  He almost got a swift kick in the shins.  (the night before he had crashed on the couch at 10 and never made it to bed.)

Then a little face appeared next to mine at 7 this morning.  I told Luke to go back to bed, but instead I'm guessing he came into the living room to play.  All I know is when I finally pulled myself out of the warm covers at 7:50 there were Hot Wheeles lined up on the couch, my lap top was turned on, and the strawberry and blueberry cartons were lined up on the kitchen counter. 

Speaking of the early riser, in case you didn't know, I've got a child genius on my hands.  Sure when he talks he may sound like someone half his age but there are other things.  Out of the blue he's started picking out the letter "s" on random items and saying "s" and making the /s/ sound.  Apparently I should start working on letters.  Last night he was waving a finger all around and it finally dawned on me he was singing "This Little Light Of Mine".  He didn't have the tune down, but he sure did have fun blowing out the "light" and saying "NO!" to Satan puffing it out.  This morning during breakfast he got cream cheese all on the coffee table.  So he ran to the bathroom for his step stool, pushed it alllllllll the way into the kitchen, got a paper towel, and then handed the towel to me for ME to clean up the mess.  Genius I tell you.  And as if that wasn't manish enough, we were reclining on the couch watching some tv (I decided to take a little break from my chores and crafting and catch up on the DVR with coffee.  Long night and all.) and I looked over at my sweet, innocent boy.  Who was lounging back on the pillows with one hand lightly tucked into the top of his jammies/diaper.  When did this little man arrive?

Then he turned back into a toddler with pro stalling techniques.  He piddled around with his lunch so he wouldn't have to take a nap.  Then when I laid down the law he amazingly needed to go potty (something he hadn't done in days).  After going potty he insisted on washing his hands alone.  Then insisted on putting his pants back on alone.  The kid had a plan.  Finally it was nap time.  Blessed nap time.  I got to sewing.

For dinner we met Mom and Dad at Schlotzsky's.  Luke and I arrived before they did, and let me tell you the whole place knew when they showed up.  I felt the need to go to every table and apologize for the extreme shouting of Nana and Papa! but I didn't.  Cause then I'd probably just look crazier than I already did.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Toilets don't heal themselves

Update:  I created myself a nest of pillows to sleep on top of last night, and so I was able to sleep comfortably on my "tummy".  I think I maybe woke up once during the night, which was a blessed change. Also, I forgot to mention I've got my tummy table back.  I'm not gonna lie.  I very much love the fact that I can recline on the couch and balance my drink or plate on my tummy.  In fact, when I'm not pregnant it's one of the things I miss.  It's back! 

Now on to some sad news.  After almost a week out of commission, I've come to realize that Hot Wheels in toilets don't just magically disappear.  Metal doesn't melt.  Plastic doesn't dissolve.  I've done test flush after test flush, and the thing just isn't getting better.  Boo.  I was hoping that if I just ignored the problem long enough, that it would go away.  Nope.  I'm for real gonna have to call someone. 

Besides the other half of the laundry and most of the ironing, today I got my nursing cover finished!  I've been putting it off and putting it off, not because I thought it was going to be particularly difficult, but because I love the fabric so much I was afraid of messing it up.  I'm notorious for making the first of a project a bit of a mess.  And true to form, I probably could have done the panels on the side better, or not at all, but it wasn't terrible.  I put the contrasting fabric on simply because I didn't want to use up all the floral fabric and wanted some left overs to make a dress or something.  If I were to make myself another one I would just do one solid piece of fabric.  Not only because it will make it 10x easier, but because I won't have an ugly unfinished back.


So there you have it.  It does have an adjustable strap and boning in the top seam so I can look down and see her, but that's about the end of the special features.  Like I said, the back is a total mess, but at least the front looks pretty!  I'm just hoping it's big enough.  I tried it on, but psh- like I have any frame of reference.  If it's not big enough there's a good chance I'll be making my second ever nursing cover.  And I would definitely recommend making it over buying it.  A yard of fabric is no more than $10 (at the VERY most, generally anywhere from $6 to $8.50), the boning was $1.50 and the D-rings were 2 sets for $1.50.  So the cost is at the most $13 to make it as opposed to buying a Hooter Hider for $30.  Yeah right.

Monday, January 24, 2011

21 Weeks

Real quick, a couple of things I forgot to mention about the weekend:

-Saturday Luke and I went to a surprise party for Sara's husband (who turned the big 3-0).  They had balloons there that we were supposed to hold when doing the actual surprising, and when Luke say them he pointed to each one saying "No no.  No no.  No no."  I've taught my boy well.  Muah hahaha.

-Sunday night we went to a first birthday for a friend's little girl.  My boy ate 7 mini corn dogs and a piece of cake.  He's been packing in the food.  He's also been packing in the politeness.  Every time I give him something, from food to a toy, he says "Thanks Mom." in the sweetest little voice.  I hope that he always stays polite and this isn't just a phase. 

-At night (okay, this isn't about the weekend, but it's every night) he doesn't want me to read him a story, it has to be Daddy.  I'll bathe him, medicine him up (inhaler and allergy), brush his teeth, dress him, but when I ask if I can read a the story he says "Daddy does."  Fine.  When we say our prayers he always goes first (it's in pure jabber, I'd love to know what he says) and then it's "Momma does." and it's my turn to pray.  My sweet boy.


Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 weeks

Size of baby: From head to heel is the length of a carrot. 

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  I weighed at Mom's this weekend, and yep- I'm up the 8 lbs total.  Hopefully it stays low and slow like this, no ballooning at the end please!

Maternity Clothes: In every way, shape, and form.

Gender:  I'm having me a baby girl!  Evan Elaine Carver

Movement: Not only is she moving, she's MOVING.  I actually got to watch my tummy start moving this week as her little body parts pushed through.  Also, Cody got to feel her!

Sleep: Oi.  I think we are on the down hill slide for sleep.  It's been awful this week.  The extra pound seems like lead weight on my shoulders and hips, they have been cramping up on me when I lay on my side, which is the only way I can lay.  So not only does that wake me up, but I'm having to do the inch worm now to turn over from side to side, so I have to wake up to do that too.  I've be EXHAUSTED lately.

What I miss: Normal sleep.  And mojitos.

Cravings: Sweets!  No matter how full I am after a meal (which happens a lot sooner now than it used too, she's moving up into my stomach cavity) I just have to have something sweet.  That box of chocolates sure does come in hand for a quick fix!  I'll have one chocolate after each meal, and it usually satisfies enough.  I'll be super bummed when it's gone.

Symptoms: Nothing more than what I've already mentioned.  Exhaustion.  Feeling full sooner when I eat.  My patience isn't what it used to be.  But that could be a mixture of having a toddler and being tired.  ;)  Oh!  And my belly button's almost popped out!  Last time it very slowly flattened before becoming an outie, but it never really went back to how it was before, so this time the top of it popped out rather quickly and has slowly been working it's way downward.  There's just one little crease at the base of it before it's totally an outie again.

Best Moment this week: Watching that sweet girl move across my tummy and knowing I've got lots more time to enjoy it (hopefully).  Last night she was so close to the surface that I was able to gentle feel her and get her to move around.  Apparently she likes to be right out in front where she can experience as much of the world as possible.  Is it weird that I'm still in awe that there's an actual baby in there?  A BABY.  Whole new person.  Just hanging out in there.

And here's my big baby.  Yes he's naked.  The only time I could snag Cody was right after bath time, and Luke got so excited from the possibility of "da wight!" (the light) that he just HAD to be in a picture.  I made sure to keep him covered.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

What's with the name

So, the last two days have been busy busy busy crafting days.  I've gotten busy putting Evan's name on a lot of things.  If there's one thing I love, I sure do love me a monogrammed item.  The big thing was making the letters for over her crib.


Whew lordy.  Every time I say "Oh, that won't be hard at all" I should realized it's a death sentence.  Trying to get the fabric around all those curves was a nightmare.  But it's done and I love them.  I also made her a bib (there will be lots more to come in a variety of fabrics!) with her name embroidered on it and paci clips with her name.


A towel to hang next to brother's in the bathroom.  (Baby girl, this should be a testament of how much I love you.  I hate making these towels.  The letters float everywhere, it's hard to keep things straight and together, and all that extra towel gets in the way.  But I love you, and I want you to have what your brother has, so a towel you got.)


There will be much much more to come, for this is only the beginning.  Can you tell I love her name?  When we were trying to narrow down the choices on our lists, I was so afraid I wouldn't find a name for this kid that I love as much as Luke's name.  I love his name.  Love it.  For me it's just perfect.  Actually with Luke and Evan we weren't 100% sure that the name was "the" name until the sonogram.  And then it just fit.  As soon as the lady said "it's a girl!" I just knew she was an Evan.  Charlie and James were our other two girls names, but all of a sudden I knew who she was.  It's one of those things I think every mom feels when she finally names her baby, the name that just fits. 

On a sentimental note. Today Mom showed me a small box of the few baby dresses she had saved from me and Ashely. She still had the dress that she brought me home from the hospital in, and I got to bring it home and hang it in my girl's closet!  It's in amazingly good shape, as well as the little shoes that I had worn.  Hopefully I won't give birth to a giant and she can wear this home too!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

More firsts

We had another first today folks!  And this one is way better than toys in the toilet....I saw Evan moving across my belly!  She's been thumping around in there for awhile, and I'm the only one that's felt her from the outside, but tonight as I was reclining on the couch my tummy was visibly rolling and I called for Cody.  He finally got to feel her too!  I've so enjoyed this evening of just laying on the couch watching her move.  And I'm thrilled that it's so early in the pregnancy and it's already happening.  This is my very favorite part of pregnancy (although I love most of it!) and now I'm gonna get 18 to 24 more weeks of it. 

The rest of the day was mostly spent on the sewing machine.  I think.  I don't really remember.  It was fa-reeeeeeezing today.  After days of near 60 degree weather, a cold front came through last night with some rain and dropped the temperature severely.  And I think there is another chance for snow this weekend.  Anyway, I was super glad we got out and did the errands yesterday and today could be spent in jammies and sweats.  Or in my case, a flannel robe and sweats.  And I've just about worn these house shoes out.  I LOVE them!  My mother in law got them for me for Christmas last year and I can't go a day without them. 
So one of the things I made today I can't show you, I've started working on my friend's baby shower present and while I'm pretty sure she's not a reader I can't be too careful, but the other I can!  Mom's friend who has ordered several things from me asked for a Valentine's day shirt for her granddaughter and this is what I came up with. 

I'm kinda wishing Evan was gonna be here by V Day so she could wear one too!  I guess there's always next year.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Another first

Well, I guess we could add this day to the ole baby book.  (Something I haven't looked at in months and months.)  Today was the day we had our first.....toy in the toilet.  Yep.  It finally happened.  As I've mentioned before, Luke really likes to flush the potty, no matter who did the business.  We were getting ready to leave the house for some errands so I made a pit stop.  You know, pregnant lady + coffee + water = it happens.  Luke ran in holding a couple of Hot Wheels against his chest (he'd played with these two cars the entire morning) so that his hand would be free to flush.  As he did, right at the last minute, I mean RIGHT at the last minute, one slipped out and was whisked away.  After the bowl tried to fill back up, I even stuck my hand down in there to see if I could feel it just beyond sight.  Nope.  (Don't worry.  I washed well.)  All I kept hearing was "Cars' gone.  Cars' gone."  He repeated that for most of the rest of the day. 

I sent a text to a friend who knows a little something about plumbing, asking if he had a snake to retrieve a Hot Wheel from the great depths of a toilet.  He said that once it's out of sight it's probably gone.  Gone to Hot Wheel heaven.  Or the ocean, as Nemo would say, since all pipes lead to the ocean.  I'm not so much concerned with getting the car back as I am with a permanently stopped up toilet in my bathroom.  After a few test flushes, it's still not working quite right.  Anyone know the number to the Roter Rooter Man? 

Luckily my day didn't (totally) revolve around a lost car.  I finally got the chance to make something for my Evan!  I'd mentioned the other day about having to wait until the open frames went on sale at Hobby Lobby to make my project, and low and behold this week they went on half off.  Hallelujah!  So first the boys and I ran to the cleaners to pick up some dry cleaning (those winter skirts I wore once and then got to pregnant for), then to Hobby Lobby for the frame, and finally to Home Depot for chicken wire (which is actually called poultry netting, in case you were wondering) and something to attach it to the frame with. 


Ta da!  Evan's head band and bow holder!  Bows with clips on them can just be clipped to the wire, head bands will get a cloths pin to hold them on.  I'm so excited, I love it!  The fabric name actually took longer than the wiring part.  I had to create new letters for it, I felt the ones I had were too big and took up too much space.  The best part is this is something that can grow with her.  When she's too big for hair bows she can use clothes pins to clip pictures or whatever to it, or hang earrings or necklaces from it.  Anyway, I'm just glad to have one project crossed off my to do list.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

A little bummed

Well, all my fabric did come in today.  I held it up to the blue gingham curtains, and it didn't look as good as it did in my head.  I really like the fabric, it's just that the blue in the gingham is darker and more dusty than I realized.  I have an idea of how to salvage everything, but it probably won't be until next month that I can do it.  I'm really trying to be good and stretch out my purchases, but it's going to be so hard!  I HATE having crafty ideas in my head and not being able to act on them!

Anyway, the rest of the day was rather boring.  I didn't do much on purpose, I felt I've earned a day after the last week I've had.  Just a few loads of laundry, a good dinner, and a switch-er-oo of the sheets were my only tasks.  Luke was a nut.  Since he got to spend the evening with my parents last night, he WOULD NOT leave me alone about it.  "jabbberjabberjabber Nana Papa jabber in Momma's car?"  Which I'm assuming meant "Can we go over to Nana and Papa's house in Momma's car?"  That's what I've listened to for the last 12 hours (minus nap time).  Needless to say, someone was in bed promptly by 8:15 tonight. 

Tomorrow we will be headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up a frame that I was talking about the other day.  They are on 50% off this week, whoo hoo!  That will be one project I get to start working on!

Monday, January 17, 2011

20 Weeks and cleaner than clean

Whew, I have spent most of the last two days cleaning!  I had some ladies over tonight, and I'm fairly certain they could have given two hiney hoots about finger prints and milk splatters, but if I don't wipe them away at some point I'll have a forensic mystery on my hands if there were to ever be a crime committed here.  I could just see the plot line now...."I've dusted for finger prints and it seems there are various sizes of the same print completely enrobing the house.  What does that mean?"  I'd never do this stuff just for myself.  Too much work. 

Anyway, the day started out nasty.  Foggy, misting, cold, and dreary.  I had to go get gas in MY CAR (yes!  It's back!  The truck is fixed!) and it took me 10 minutes in that weather to clean out the junk my dearly beloved left behind.  Lord have mercy did he trash my car.  But it's better now, and after that Luke and I headed to Target.  The whole way there he kept asking to go home or to go to Nana and Papa's.  Every time I would tell him sorry dude, we're going to Target.  And every time he would casually say "Noooooooo" in a tone that implied he had some say in where we were headed.  It made me laugh.  At Target I found a splurge for Evan. 


How cute is that lamp?  (sorry for the bad night photo) It's the perfect shade of lavender, and the girl needed something feminine in there.  Hopefully the fabric will come in the next few days and I can get on all of that.  At Target my boy was a dear.  Such a helper.  And when I say helper, I mean he actually helped me, not like the you-really-are-trying-to-help-but-that's-not-really-helping kind of way.  I let him walk, he kept up with me, and he would put all the non delicates in the basket for me.  I drew the line at the carton of eggs and glass jar of tomato sauce. We came home, lunched, napped, and then Nana and Papa came to get him for the evening so I could finish cleaning (without a "helper") and he would be out of our hair tonight. 


See?  He even wanted to be a helper in my picture!  Cody was taking forever to come help me, so I just used the timer again.  Luke was so thrilled by the timer light on the camera he wanted to take our picture over and over and over again.  I may have found a way for him to actually take a decent photo!  Maybe.  At the end I'll put up a couple of the really cute ones we did while playing around.

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 20 weeks.  Holy moly we are half way through, little girl!  I can't believe it!

Size of baby: Evan is the length of a banana.  Which makes sense on why this morning I could feel her moving on both sides of my belly.  She must have been laying across me.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I haven't checked lately, but if I'm gaining the theoretical pound a week I'm supposed to be gaining at this point, then I would be up to 8 lbs.  But that's not including all the chocolate I ate today.  Sometimes a girl just needs motivation after each task to keep cleaning.  Plus, since I didn't have a napping boy during happy hour today, I took myself on down to the Sonic and got me a cherry limeade.  I asked Cody if he wanted to come, and he said no, so I spent his drink money on fries.  Boo ya.

Maternity Clothes: Ummm........yes.

Gender: Everyone was right, it's a girl! Evan Elaine Carver will be here before we know it!

Movement: She's a movin and a grooven.   I've just got to get someone to sit with me long enough and they'd be able to feel it too.

Sleep: Much better this week since I've been feeling better.  Although, I do keep waking up on my back with a funny feeling in my belly (I'm not supposed to be on my back anymore, my uterus is heavy enough now to cut off the circulation of an important vessel back there), and then I wake up laying too far forward on my belly and she's kicking the mattress to make it move.  Sunshine does not like to be cramped up.  I have a hard time staying in the perfect side sleeping position.

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Nothing.

Symptoms: Just some minor aches and pains as my ligaments keep stretching.  That's always fun.  Today I was unloading the dishwasher-just standing there- and I got such a pinching side stitch that I had to sit down.

Best Moment this week: Sounds silly, but enjoying the beautiful sunny weather this afternoon (it really warmed up after the clouds dispersed) with a cleared out car, loud music, and the windows down.

(This one was without the timer, and he was confused/upset that the light wasn't coming on.  This kid and his lights.)

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Funny boy

Have I told you lately that I have me a funny boy?  Sometimes this kid comes up with things and I just wonder where they came from.  Lately it's been mostly stuff with the dog.  He's really enjoyed "playing" with her.  And when I say "playing", I mean torturing her.  For instance, when the front door is open he likes to crack the glass door a bit, then when she tries to dart out he slams it in her face and shakes his pointer finger at her while saying "no no no no no no no no no no" through these duck lips.  He'll take her toys and shake them at her like he's gonna throw it, then put it on a shelf out of her reach but where she can see it.   He chases her around the house with his push cart attempting to ram into her.  And yet when there is the promise of crumbs falling from his sweet little hands, there she is.  Back again. 

He hates it when I try to play with his toys that isn't the "correct" way.  I've tried putting Hot Wheeles, dinosaurs, and motorcycles on the train tracks and every time he takes them away from me with the same "no no no no.  No Mom." duck lips.  Then he throws the toy across the room so I can't reach it. 

He's still obsessed with lights.  And my car.  And the fact that Cody takes my car every day.  And eating.  The kid wants a variety of finger foods at his disposal at all times.  That generally doesn't happen though.  ;)

Today was a productive day.  I got my Etsy orders finished and mailed, took the drawer pulls back to Hobby Lobby.  Know why I was able to do this?  Because Cody has been at his parent's house all day working on the truck.  Wahooo!  It's currently 9:30 and he's still not home, so hopefully that's not a sign that it's going poorly.  And I have to say, it was so nice driving around in my car today.  My music was on, my kid was in the back seat, the sun was shining, and it wasn't even that cold.  The high today was in the very upper 50's. 

What I didn't do today was drink enough water.  I was really feeling it tonight, the pain.  There was an extra cup of coffee at breakfast this morning, and a cranberry limeade from Sonic on the way home from errands.  That was it until dinner and I was huuuuuuurting.  Still am a bit.  But baby girl is doing flips in there right now (which is good because the sonogram showed Evan to be currently breech.  Obviously she's got months to turn around, but still....no breech please!) and I keep stopping to feel her.  Luke even came over at one point and put his hand on my belly to see why I kept doing it, but she didn't kick or move at that time.  I'm so looking forward to him experiencing that!

Speaking of baby girl, I think I've figured out a bow holder for her room!  I'm excited....and all it should take is a big frame (like 16x20 or bigger) and some chicken wire.  I just have to wait for the glass-less frames to go on sale at Hobby Lobby to get the project underway!

Oh!  And before I forget, I had a great night last night!  Before Cody left for work he asked me if I wanted to go on a date with him.  Yay!  After work I asked him where he was taking me, but he didn't say.  The inlaws came and picked up Luke and off we went.  Turns out he took me to La Madeline's!  He really really really is not a fan of that place (which he only mentioned twice) but it was very sweet that he did it just for me.  We tried a couple of places to go see a movie after dinner, but nothing looked good.  We ended up just going home and building a fire.  So cozy!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

No drama

Yesterday was my 400th post.  Whoa Nelly!  Too bad it was about drama, not about something meaningful.  Eh.  Maybe I'll catch it on the 500th.  Luckily today there was NO drama!  Whoo hoo!  I finished my dish towels....

 (the cupcake one says "cupcakes welcome" the cup says "coffee needed")

and even put together a little something for the oven mit that hangs close by.



It's not sewn on, just pinned at this point.  I'm trying to decide if I like it enough to take the time to hand sew it since the opening isn't big enough to use the sewing machine.  And I can't decide what to put on the square ones.  A layered monogram?  A stripe?  A yellow birdie?

When I wasn't sewing I was putting up the curtain rod in Evan's room.  Don't most almost 5 months pregnant gals get up on a ladder in their bathrobes and house shoes and install curtain rods?  Well, this one did.  I also did a little rocking with my boy, quite a bit of tidying when the toys got out of hand, and I cooked a really good meal for dinner.  I found this recipe for a shrimp salad in my cook book and it was MMMM MMM good.  Anything that involves cooking bacon first and then cooking the rest of the meal in the bacon grease is delish in my book.  PLUS right after Cody got home I took the car to Hobby Lobby and picked up the rest of the supplies I need to finish my Esty orders tomorrow.  I got some new drawer pulls for Evan's dresser after we repaint it (it's currently housing all of Cody's clothes...that's gonna be interesting) and I'm bummed that the handle pulls aren't the correct length, but about 1/2 inch too long.  I'm afraid it's going to be hard to find the right length of pulls, but the things need to be replaced.  This piece of furniture was my dad's growing up, which became mine growing up, and now will be Evan's growing up.  The girl deserves a little sprucing for it.

And now for the verdict of all the obsessing last night.  Sara and I weighed the pros and cons of the Kalencom diaper bag, versus the Vera Bradley one my mom keeps tempting me with.  We contemplated the size (VB is much bigger), the style (I like K's messenger style), accessibility (the reason I like messenger bags is they are so easy to get into one handed), clean-ability (VB you can just throw in the washer whenever you want, K is laminated so it wipes clean).  See why it was so hard?  Finally our friend Brandy sat down at the table and I sucked her in.  Luckily she is not a person prone to obsessing, she's one of our more level headed friends.  And my level headed friend made an excellent point.  She said that since I'd already had a Kalencom bag and been very very happy with it, I should probably stick with it.  She's had SEVERAL diaper bags and just can't find one that suits her.  And that sealed the deal. 

Kalencom it is.  I really liked the orange, but someone else made a good point on the orange was a tad smaller and I'd need as much room as possible with a potty training toddler and an infant.  Plus I really love the blue.  Yay for making a choice!  And I've made another choice about a recent obsession...fabric.  More specifically, the fabric for accents to create a more feminine room out of Luke's boy bedding.  His bedding was blue, dark moss green, and light moss green with white mixed in, so I'd been looking for something with blue, green, and pink to tie it all together.  Then it hit me today.  There is so much blue (blue gingham curtains and dust ruffle), that I don't need more blue in the fabric and it didn't have to be pink.  So I'm officially going with this.
 



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Always something

Apparently the good Lord has decided I've whined one to many times about not having my car, because all week I've been given what seems to be busy work.  Every day something comes up and keeps me busy from morning till night, preventing me from doing the things that I want to.  Monday it was the house work.  Typical.  Yesterday it was the ironing, which took much much longer than usual due to needy little boys.  Today it was the washer.  I'll get to that story in a minute.  All of this was scattered around the tons of sewing I've had to do.  When it rains, it pours in the sewing world.  First Mom had a baby shower gift set for me to do, then I needed to mend a ripped square out of my quilted pillow, as well as add a panel so it wouldn't rip again, after which I got to proceed to the two dish towels I've been wanting to make for myself.  I'm STILL working on those because of today's distractions.  I also got two new Esty orders today, which will take another couple of days to finish. I'm thankful for these, they will pay for more fabric for Evan's room, as well as a few pictures I've had my eye on!  So, I hear ya Lord.  I'm done complaining.  If you could just halt with the mindless tasks that would be great. 

Now for today.  This morning I thought I would wash my new fabric, some new burp cloths, and my couch cushion covers.  The new things needed washing and drying to get out any shrinkage before I use them, the covers had been hit by the 2 year old tornado fingers.  I put them in, dumped in the detergent, and started the cycle on cold.  Nada.  I switched the temp to warm, and only HOT water came out.  HOT.  This was not good.  I called my mom (who called my dad) and I called Cody (who called his mom), and no one knew exactly what to do.  My mother in law called me with the name of a good plumber, and then Cody showed up at the house for his lunch break.  He came to look at the washer before calling the plumber, and he showed up with pizza because he knows I'm stuck eating sandwiches every day.  It was so good, and even Luke had several pieces!  Mmmmmm......pizza.  Anyway, after looking at it, he said to hold off calling the plumber, although he didn't really say why.  Of course I posted something in my status about the whole ordeal, and I had several people comment that it sounded like the pipes were probably just frozen.  Hopefully.  That would be the cheapest way out of the situation.  Can't get much cheaper than waiting for ice to thaw. 

And what were my steaming, gooped with wet detergent, sopping pile of threads doing during all of this?  Well, I fished them out of the water and took them to Luke's tub (which I scrubbed and disinfected first, since I hadn't gotten around to cleaning the bathrooms this week yet).  I filled it, enough to cover the load, with cool water and got to swishing.  Then I let it soak for an hour or so, and agitated it a bunch more.  After I felt they were sufficiently cleaned I drained the tub and turned on the shower.  I rinsed each piece, wrung them out, and put them back into the laundry basket.  Into the dryer everything went and an hour later my covers were sparkling clean and dry, while my new materials are ready for use!  And I have to say, hand washing like that was so much gentler on my new fabric, I barely lost any width to fraying.  Score!  Oh, and while the stuff was soaking I had gone back to the washer to at least turn the dial to the end of the cycle so the water could spin out and drain.  Wrong.  As soon as I turned it back on water started GUSHING out of the connection in the wall.  Great.

After Dad got off work tonight he came over and took at peek behind the washer.  He confirmed my facebook diagnosis of a frozen cold water pipe, as well as a frozen drain pipe (hence the gushing).   We syphoned off the water in the washer so nothing would get mildewy or anything while I wait out the next few days for everything to thaw.  Now it makes sense on why it's taken me the entire. day. to sew up ONE towel. 

Church tonight was a good one.  Dinner was good (and not just because I didn't have to cook), and the company was good.  I sat with Sara and we obsessed some more about diaper bags, and then we dropped the kids off at bible class and........went across the street to Starbucks!  We've never done anything like that before, but I have to say it was SO NICE to just sit with a friend over coffee, not at home, not with kids, and just talk.  Plus the kids were learning about Jesus, so that's a win-win, right?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

19 Weeks and it's COLD

First of all, look at what my sister bought for Evan on her trip to Nashville this weekend.


Her first hair bow!   Oh my.  The tag says 3-6 months, so we're guessing it's supposed to be a shirt, but can't you just see this a little earlier as a dress with white eyelet bloomers embroidered with her name in navy?  (Nana?  Did you catch that? Ha!)  Anyway, I was also thrilled that my Hawthorne Threads package came yesterday.


My first batch of fabrics to make her some goodies!  I'm LOVING the yellow rose one, it's my favorite, and the one I was thinking about making the nursing cover out of.  But is it too light?  Would the darker brown be better suited for something of that nature?  I mean, I'm not Jesus or anything so I don't emit light, and I'm thinking that's about the only way you'd really be able to see through it, but still......Sara?  Thoughts on that?  Plus I'd really like to make her a dress out of it too, and I'm wondering if it would be weird to have her match her cover.  Eh.  We'll see.

On a totally different note, it's friggen cold here people!  I mentioned Sunday that it snowed a whole bunch, and it was still on the ground for most of today.  Yesterday it tried to flurry a little bit more, but that lasted 5 minutes and was just cloudy the rest of the day.  The sun was out today so the snow on the roof finally melted.  But the ground was still frozen which meant ice ice ice.  I'm not sure our faucet was supposed to look like this.

And inside the bushes were all decorated from the water dripping off the eaves.


But the winner of the "Most Trashy Award" goes to the back porch.


See, several months ago I got tired of Luke's room smelling like poo, so I got rid of his Diaper Champ in favor of a Walmart bag outside of the back door.  Classy, not so much, but it sure did get rid of the smell.  Well, by trash day (like today) the bag is usually hit or miss with most of the diapers, and I just gather them up and take them to the can in the ally.  TODAY they just happened to be where the water was dripping off the roof but the concrete was still frigid, freezing them fast.  I was able to pry most of them up, except for that fellow, he was stuck something good.  It's a good thing we don't live up north where the thing might have to be frozen there for the next two months.  I'm sure the morning's sun will remedy the problem.  If not, oh well.  No one comes over to look out my back door anyway.  (and FYI, the brown clumps in the picture are clumps of potting soil Luke dumped out of my pots before breaking them.  Or while he was breaking them.  Either way the pots are gone but the dirt is not.)

Now on to the good stuff.  I'm a day late because my dearly beloved (and photographer) seems to have come down with a version of my head cold.  Yesterday on his lunch break he bought some cold medicine, took the night time version an hour before he left for the day, barely made it home, and was zonked out by 6 PM.  I didn't have the heart to wake him just for a quick picture, and it seemed cruel to turn on the lights so I could try and do it myself with the timer.  So here we are today.


Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 19 weeks

Size of baby: an heirloom tomato.  Apparently that's a lot bigger than a regular tomato? 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Well, on Thursday I was up the 7 lbs.  But I'm thinking that for being a week shy of half way through, 7 lbs ain't that bad.  My tummy is definitely growing too.  I've officially lost all of my rolls when I sit down (the first one disappeared FAST, I just kept forgetting to mention it) and also when I am sitting, things touch that didn't used to.  It's very odd to have skin to skin contact in places you're not used to.

Maternity Clothes: Yes and yes.  I tried on three different sweaters tonight for running to the store in, and it was just pathetic.  Yes, I had to run to the store at 8:30 after Luke went to bed since I STILL don't have my car.  I'm getting highly annoyed that I'M the one paying for HIS procrastination about getting his stupid brakes done.

Gender: Everyone was right, it's a girl!  Evan Elaine Carver will be here before we know it!

Movement: Oh yes, she has become quite the little squirmy worm.  Especially in these pants.  The band goes below my belly and when I sit down she lets me know that she doesn't like it there.

Sleep: It's been hard to tell with the sickness, but I'm thinking okay.  There for a few nights I was really afraid the hip pain had already set in, but that seems to have gone with the fever.  I know it will be back, but I'd like to hold out as long as I can!

What I miss: Nothing

Cravings: Nothing. Okay, maybe milkshakes, which is crazy since it's in the 20's here.

Symptoms: Not a one!  Not even any tightness in my belly, which had been happening off and on.  Unless she's moving I don't feel pregnant at all.

Best Moment this week: Finding out that all is well with my baby girl and we are right on track, and being able to give this little person an identity!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Death becomes me

Holy moly.  I've had the worst head cold this weekend.  Friday I thought I was just a little run down, had a little runny nose, a bit of a cough.  Yesterday I woke up feeling like death.  Walking death.  I had already made an appointment to get Luke's 2 year pictures done (okay, more like 2 1/2, but whatevs) and I really just wanted to get it over with.  Trying to get his picture taken is a nightmare with or without sickness involved and I just wanted to get it over with.  Mom went with us, which was a good thing because she brought the fruit snacks which enabled us to bribe this one good take.


Two packs of fruit snacks for that one cutie picture.  But I love it!  And only one good one made it super easy to pick which one to buy and not go over board.  The really sad part is this was probably the best photo sessions (outside of his newborn takes) we've had yet.  After the pictures we tried to go across the street to do a little shopping for Evan, but I didn't make it very far.  Mom ended up just dropping me off at home and taking Luke with her since I could barely function.  As in, I snapped at him when he didn't get in the car seat just right the first time.

Yeah.

After a pretty long nap, I still felt awful.  Cody convinced me to go to the doctor, but the only place open was Prima Care.  You know, a doc in a box type place.  But we went, and 2 hours (and $50) later we were sent on our way with a paper that said all I could take was Sudifed.  The over the counter stuff.   Thanks.  I still felt like I was in no condition to take care of a child, so we just left him over at Mom and Dad's taking some jammies and church clothes over to him.  Okay, Cody did that.  I sat on the couch with french onion soup and Hawaiian rolls pounding water with a towel around my shoulders.  The towel was for the bowl of steamy water and with melted Mentholatum to help clear my pounding face, but HOLY COW that stuff was strong.  I've never done that before and I almost gagged on the fumes.  I think I'll stick to just rubbing it under my nose, thank you very much.  Eventually I went to bed, even though I felt like I'd spent the whole day with the clock stuck at 3 AM and I was walking around in the haze you normally only experience stumbling to and from the bathroom at that time, but I couldn't get comfortable.  I don't know if it was the Sudifed that kept me up or the millions of pillows or the whir of the humidifier, but dozing was all I got. 

Thankfully I still managed to wake up today feeling marginally better.  Sat in bed and watched tv drinking coffee and eating breakfast took a while, then I got to picking up the scores of tissues from around the house.  I even managed to get a hot shower, hoping the steam would make my congestion even better.  Eh. 

When I woke up it was raining outside, but around 10:30 I noticed a few snowflakes in the mix.  By 11:30 it was full fledged snowing, the big beautiful flakes type of snow.  It even stuck!  When Luke got dropped off after church and lunch we sat and watched the snow for awhile.  I would have loved to let him play in it, but I didn't want him out there alone, and his nose has been runny lately too, so I decided this snow would have to evade us.  Finally it was naptime, and I got out to do some errands.  Didn't particularly want to get out in the snow to go the store, but we are still down a car and it would be now or never.  I'm not frustrated with Cody about that at all.  While I was out I ran to Home Depot to get an adapter for the light bulb in Evan's closet so I would finally have light in there to work.  I got home, installed it, and it didn't work.  *sigh*  So I called my father in law and he was gracious enough to come over and fix it up for me tonight!  Wahoo!  He ended up having to go back to Home Depot to get a new fixture, and then replaced the whole thing.  I am so glad!  PLUS he was able to take a whole stack of things that Cody needed to take back to their house from the purge of that room the other night.  *whew* One less thing off my list. 

After he left I got down a box of my very old things from the top of that closet to share with Luke.  There were notes from high school, a couple of pictures from my nursery, photos from high school and college, and my old "journals".  Oh. My.  I only really read a few entries from one that I kept in eighth grade, and all I could think about was how I was going to have a little girl who would be going through the exact same thing.  And I just wanted to hug her.  Tell her that it's only eight grade and all the things that annoy her will get better.  All the things that bother her will change.  All the things that are confusing will clear up (mostly.).  It just takes a little life and a little experience and a little patience.  But I have the feeling when I tell her that, she will (if she's ANYTHING like me) roll her eyes and then write down the dumb thing her mother just told her and forget all about it.  My heart already aches for my children who have to be middle schoolers for awhile. 

(This is one of the things that was in my nursery, I've kept it out to put in Evan's nursery.  There's really not any yellow in there, but I love the idea of passing down a nursery item to my daughter.)

Ug.  And now, at 9:30, I'm going to bed.  If I cough one more time I swear the top of my head is going to explode off.

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Details

So here are the details on yesterday's appointment:  All of Evan's measurements on the sonogram were spot on, a huge relief since there had been some discrepancy in the beginning on her size as opposed to how far along I thought I was.  It took forever for her to show us the girly stuff, the lady even had to jiggle the jelly of my tummy quite vigorously several times to get her to wake up and turn into a better position.  That was not comfortable.  Then I had immediately had an appointment with my doctor, who confirmed the sonogram looked good and went over my blood work from last week.  Luckily before they sent my vial off she had been able to catch it and tack on one of the thyroid tests that I had wanted.  She didn't get the memo about the antibodies test, but I feel confident that the Lord would have revealed something in the test that they did do if there was an issue.  I was so thankful it ended up working out!  Everything in the quad screen looked good, so combined with the normal sonogram it looks like we are fairly in the clear concerning any congenital or physical issues.  Whew!  Not that I was really worried, if anything I'm more concerned with the problems that come up later- autism, more speech problems, etc.- than anything else.  They are more common and can't be screened for. 

Anyway, I was busting to tell people the news once we left the office!  But Cody and I took a few minutes for ourselves and grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading home to Mom and the boys (she took a half day to baby sit them while we were gone).  Cody could not stop beaming.  He really wanted a little girl, and now he's finally got one.  (Although tonight when I was being particularly stubborn it hit him that this little girl could be just like me and moaned that one of me was enough for this world.  Ha!)  We started quietly spreading the news to a few people, but I couldn't go all out due to my reveal party last night.

At Sara's over New Years I had casually mentioned that I had wanted to do a gender reveal party but Cody had nixed the idea.  You know, where you have the sonographer do something like write it down or put an outfit in a bag (you bring one of each) and then at the party you all find out together what it's going to be.  Fun right?  Well, my girlfriends loved the idea too and said that we should do it anyway, with just the girls.  Like I was going to turn that down!  Even though I would already know, it made me feel so loved that my girls cared enough about me and this baby to get that excited about finding out.  Yesterday afternoon I ran to Target to get some pink cupcake decorations (one girl was bringing plain cupcakes) and blackberries to make a cobbler to take too, and that's when I found the little white shoes (plus a pair of black patent leather mary jane's!).  I also went to Khol's to buy the blue dress I'd seen before, and Mom went with me and bought this little lavender sun dress too.  I have to say, the whole day I'd been smiling and beaming about my baby girl, but when I was picking up those dresses the teeny polo's with sweater vests and matching plaid shorts caught my eye, and I lost it.  I stood there in the store, tears streaming down my face, sad that I wasn't going to get to buy all the perfect baby boy stuff anymore.  I know I will so enjoy my girl, but I did have to mourn the loss of another boy, the loss of a brother for Luke. 

But now on to the party!  I decorated a few of the cupcakes with sprinkles, paper crowns, and spelled out Evan's name.


Then I brought my friends into the kitchen to see.


They were thrilled!  We all laughed and hugged and they told me all the great things about having a girl.  The picture only has a few of my friends, I think there were 10 of us in all, a couple of girls couldn't come at the last second.  We all got there at 7 last night and I didn't leave until 10!  We all sat around Sheri's big table and just visited, chatted, and LAUGHED.  I'm so glad there weren't boys around, the girl time was priceless!

Taylor was one of the ones that couldn't come at the last minute, and she told me she didn't want to know, she was coming over for breakfast this morning so she could find out then.  Fine by me!  Of course she is thrilled too, her Vera is due a mere 2 months before Evan, so we get to have our baby girls together.  After she left around 11 I spent most of the rest of the afternoon on the couch.  Lunch didn't sit well with me, and my nose was all stopped up, plus Cody was home sick with a sore throat, so I just vegged with him in front of the tv (during nap time)  After Kayden got picked up I tackled more of the computer room.  Call me crazy, but I really needed the crib put up in there, which meant taking the day bed apart and tossing all the stuff that was stuck under there.  Except for my wedding dress.  I forgot it was under there and now I'm really not sure what to do with it.  Anyone?  I needed the crib up because I couldn't handle all the pieces being scattered all over the house anymore.  The mattress was in the computer room, the back board still in Luke's room, and the rest in the garage right where my car door opens.  Annoying.  Plus I feel like if Luke sees it up in there and gets really comfortable with being in that room now, it will make another baby sleeping in "his" bed an easier transition.  Yes?  No?  Crazy?  I hope not.  He did kiss the crib tonight and pat it saying "go night night", so maybe I'm on the right track.  But then again, he did also kiss Cody's guitar case and the bookshelf.  Who knows.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Today I bought....

my precious Evan Elaine Carver her very first dress and pair of shoes. 

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Diaper bags

Yesterday and today were the slow-going easy days I thought Monday would be.  Yesterday I spent most of the day on the computer working on my 2010 photobook.  Remember how my plan had been to keep up with it throughout the year so that now at the beginning of 2011 all I would have to do was upload and print?  *cough* Yeah.  After spending hours yesterday I'm still only up to the middle of July.  One day we'll have hard photographic evidence of last year.  (last year.  Eek!)

Today was spent on the couch, but that's because my baby sprouted a fever.  Amazing since we haven't left the house since Sunday.  He woke up early (ug, 7:15) this morning and was playing hard until about 10:30 when he semi-crashed with a fever and we spent the rest of the day either cuddled on the couch or rocking in the rocking chair.  The fever mostly held at a measly 100.7 with spikes here and there of 101.3, but it really knocked the wind out of him.  I put him to bed tonight at 7 because he was so pitiful, and I'm really hoping that doesn't translate to a 5 AM wake up call. 

What else have I been doing with my time?  Obsessing.  Obsessing over diaper bags.  Originally I wasn't going to get a new one, just make one of my canvas ones, but Mom said she wanted to get me one for my shower gift.  Aaaaaaannnnnnnd the obsessing began.  I've narrowed it down to three choices:


I'm really loving the orange one.  Really loving it.  The only thing is it's a tad smaller than the other two (which are just like the one I had when Luke was a baby, only different fabrics) and I'm worried that all the fabric from a nursing cover will really kill the whole inside.  But I guess besides diapers I won't really have anything else in there.  I won't have to have bottles or formula or bibs or a ton of burp rags since I've heard you don't need as many with nursed babies?  I don't know.  I just really love the orange.  But I also really love the blue one for a girl.  Although if I pick the yellow one I've found a great fabric to coordinate with it.

Speaking of fabrics, here are some of my top runners for non room related sewing projects. 





And that's only a few.  See how that yellow and gray one would be super cute with the yellow diaper bag?  I'm so glad I've got an outlet for all of my meaningless rambles like this.  But I love love love fabric and I can't afford to buy all of them so I need some input.  What do you think?  Obviously I need help before I spiral completely out of control over such petty things.