Tabula Rasa

IF you happen to actually see my blog by visiting it, and not on a reader, then you'll notice that it's boring now. No cool, colorful layout. Not that it was crazy and fabulous before, but now, it's really blank. My blog is almost a year old and I haven't changed it once since I started. I need some new blood. I'm starting over, tabula rasa. Any ideas? Where are some good layouts to be found?

Boy Gifts

My friend Laura is having her second boy here pretty quick, so I wanted to whip up something for her that might prove useful. She already has everything from the first boy- it's tough to think of new things to get for the second! I decided to try and make, what I've seen called "wet happened" bags. Never having seen one in person, just online, I just kind of went with it. I made the pouch (about 9"x14") and lined it with iron on vinyl. The only thing that stinks about the iron on vinyl, is that you can't put it in the washer. It has to be hand washed, or just wiped clean. Not so nice for a "blow-out bag," as I'm going to call it, but hey, it's something to put those dirty clothes in.
I did a freezer paper stencil on the front with a dirty onsie (as you can see). These things are great! This is where I first learned about freezer paper stencils, and I love them! You can draw your own pictures, trace photos, print off your computer onto the freezer paper, or if you have one (I don't, very sad), one of those Cricut thingys. Then, I made a burp cloth out of some of the left over fabric and a cloth diaper. Those things are great for burp cloths. Dale has requested that I made at least 10 for our new baby. I'm waiting to see what "it's" going to be before making them. So anyways, happy 2nd boy Laura!
I have another friend who's having a second boy... any good gift ideas?

16 Weeks

Dale took this photo for me on Monday, when I was officially 16 weeks! There's not much there, but I feel like a blimp. Isn't it crazy how a few pounds, a full bladder, couple days of constipation and bloating can make you feel so huge and uncomfortable? I'm SOOO looking forward to being hugely pregnant. So there it is, the first sign of a bump. I know, most of you can't see it, but really, my stomach tends to lay much flatter...
I'm so excited for the little kicks to get much harder so Dale will finally be able to feel how strong this little monster is. I get some good surprises every now and then. Last night, we could actually feel the baby, not moving, but "he" was hanging out in a good spot where I could poke at "him." We'll hopefully get our ultrasound in about 4 weeks, and then we'll know what "it" is! I'm hoping for a boy, and of course, so is Dale, so keep your fingers crossed. We've got some fun names picked out either way.

The Rain

Most of you probably remember on Friday, there was a period of about 10 minutes where the rain just came down in buckets. I've never really looked at the windows here when it rains, but this time, I really noticed the water RUNNING down the window. I wanted to share this picture, to show my family in AZ, just how hard this rain was coming down (and literally 10 minutes later, the sun was shining). You can see there are no "drops" hitting the window. It was raining so hard, it was just like buckets of water were running down the windows. Kind of cool.

Finished Quilt

Dale bought me a sewing machine last February for my birthday because I was all excited to teach myself how to quilt! For those of you who don't remember that far back, here's the last post I did about that quilt. You'll notice is was posted to the the blog May 28, 2008, almost a year ago! Ridiculous! I blame all the cute crafty blogs out there that got me distracted with purses, dresses, curtains, and everything else that's out there. So I pulled out this old pile of rags and finished machine quilting it, and finished the binding yesterday. I loved this experience. I realize how much I've learned about sewing in the last year, and I honestly can't wait to make another quilt. And this time I'll finish it a little faster, I hope. There are so many mistakes that I never want anyone to actually look too closely, but it has been a great learning experience for me. I've got my next quilt picked out, so let's all keep our fingers crossed.

And who knows when I'll actually start it, since I've now sentenced myself to make 5 crafted items for friends for the Pay It Forward Giveaway... Speaking of, here's the list that I have of people who are getting a crafted item from me and in return will be crafting for 5 others!
1. Brittany
2. Jenny
3. Kim
4. Lauren
5. ???
Yes, you see correctly! I have one last open spot if anyone is interested. Or else, I get off the hook, and only have to do four! Check it out here for the Pay It Forward details if you'd like to be my number 5! Leave a comment on this post, or the Giveaway post letting me know you want to be a part of our crafting MOVEMENT!!!

***Number 5 spot has been filled by the Mabbs! Thanks guys! If you want to participate, start your own and maybe it'll come back around! Pay It Forwards are good like that...

Finished Mystery Bag

So, for those of you who didn't want to do the Lola...again Mystery Purse Sew Along, because you weren't sure how it'd turn out, here's the finished product. It turned out to be a really nice size tote bag (a pretty huge tote bag, really). I want to make another one with some fun bright colors to make, what I'd like to call, an "I'm going to the beach and need a towel, flip flops, sunscreen and a good book, maybe some snacks" bag. The front fabric actually makes a pocket, and then there are two more pockets inside. If you want to make one, check out Lola...again's Blog for the 6 Days of Sew Along.

Just For Fun

Whenever the camera comes out, Brighton likes to get right up close to it. So, here's a picture where she got in my way, and it didn't turn out too hideous. I actually kind of like how close she is. Brighton is just so darn cute it really doesn't matter, does it? Enjoy!

Toy Picnic

I'm calling this Brighton's Toy Picnic. She has this weird thing about jackets. If her jacket is out, she wants to wear it. She'll bring it to me to put on, she'll walk around with it for a little, and then take it off only to bring it back to me to help her put on. The same goes for any of MY jackets that happen to hang out around the house, and not make it into the coat closet. She's sitting on one of my jackets in these pictures. She likes to sit at the bottom of the stairs, so she laid out my jacket (I helped, a little, when she got frustrated) and then started bringing over toys and books and her water. Then she crawled right in the middle of it all and hung out. Here she is showing me her "Happy Apple." This actually used to me MINE when I was a baby. Fun!

Having a great time with her toy picnic.

I liked this one because for some reason she decided it was necessary to put her hand behind her head while she drank.

Brighton and Kaylin in a Fort

Kaylin came over last Tuesday to hang out with us while Eric and Bri went to the doctor. The girls are so funny together, and seem to really like playing together. I made a little fort for them to hang out in, and they had a fun time laughing, sitting next to each other, and sharing toys under the blanket. Just thought I'd share a few photos (none of them really turned out great, I'll work on that...).

A Giveaway!

So, my long time friend Jessica is doing sort of a "Pay it Forward" giveaway. I thought it would be a good idea to join in on the fun! I figure, all of those who ACTUALLY read my blog won't mind getting something crafty from me, so join in on the fun. Here's what Jessica had to say, and I don't think I could say it much better:

My first giveaway! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For YOU! I saw this on a blog and I thought, "humm, in my attempt at being a better person, why not do a little service for friends and loved ones." This is going to be fun and I can't wait to start some new projects. It must be something to do with spring because once the sun comes out I all of the sudden get this huge urge to take on tons of new projects. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations: 1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! 2. What I create will be just for you. 3. It'll be done this year. Hopefully sooner than later. 4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be sewn, painted, written, scrapbooky, or be something totally random that I come up with on a whim. I may even bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! 5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. Let's spread some love! So, the first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they are doing it too win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! (I know...that could either be cool or scary) Who knows! :)Be sure to post pictures of what you won when you recieve it! :) I thought this sounded like a pretty neat idea!

Ok, let's get in the crafting spirit! Leave me a comment telling me that you're going to do it too. The first five get something amazing from me!

I'm Just Putting It Out There

So I've decided to stop ignoring the questions, concerns, emails, phone calls, and the symptoms of my own body and let everyone in the world in on a poorly kept secret:

I am now 14 weeks pregnant! (For those of you who don't know weeks, I'm now in my second trimester! For those of you who don't speak girl- I'm four months pregnant.) Last time I was able to keep it a secret for quite a bit longer- I didn't really tell people until well AFTER we knew we were going to have a girl. That was after 22 weeks being pregnant (5 months). And I didn't start showing a recognizable baby bump until well into the 6th month. But I've just been so sick with this one, and I have so many concerned friends who kept asking what disease I've caught that helped me to lose those pesky 10 vanity lbs I always wanted to get rid of. I probably could have won anybody's biggest loser challenge!

I'm starting to perk up a bit, and I've gained some of my weight back, which is, so I'm told, great news. I still have to take the nausea medicine for chemo treatments all day long and try to eat small meals all day long which has never really been a problem for me, it's just now B wants to eat all my food. She's worse than the dog! Other than that, nothing really new is happening. It's still pretty much the boring "trying not to throw up on myself" time of the pregnancy. I'll keep you all updated with pictures and Dr.'s appointment news.

Thank you for all your concerns and love, and all the dinners and visits! I could really go for one of Jenny's Spinach Smoothies...

I'm ready. Are you?

For the Lola...again SEW ALONG! Here's the list of notions. It just so happened that I had everything (except the interfacing) I needed! Great way to use up my unending stash, and another project to add to the pile. If you decide to do the sew along too, leave me a comment so I'll know and can keep tabs on you!

Our New Curtains!

I finished the curtains yesterday! Dale bought my sewing machine for my birthday LAST YEAR in the hopes that I would make him a quilt and some curtains. I have yet to finish that first quilt I started (I WILL one day) but finally got my butt in gear to pump these babies out! Here's some before pictures of the window in our living room. It's coming together, slowly, piece by piece.

We usually have this couch sitting in front of the window. I CAN'T WAIT to get rid of it, but until Dale agrees to buy me two nice new chairs (and NOT recliners) we're keeping it so that we have places for people to sit when they come over.

So now we've removed the couch so you can see the boring-ness of our wall. Can't wait to get some new chairs!

And, this is the best picture we could get last night, with only the lamps to light up the room. Of course, our house has no overhead lights that are built in. Why would anyone want that? EVERYONE wants to put a lamp at EVERY outlet just so that there's enough light to see in their own living rooms.
I'm not going to mention any names- he knows who he is. But SOMEONE decided to start drilling holes and hanging brackets without measuring or listening to how far out from the edge of the window I wanted these things to hang. So, that someone is going to have to take this down, fill in all those holes, paint over them, and drill some new holes for the brackets and then I'm going to have to refluff and rehang. But you get the general idea, and we wanted to share the new curtains with you. Instead of the tassels, I have some nice holdbacks that we're going to use- but I put a freeze on the usuage of the drill for the rest of the evening.

This was a chair posing for Dale. This chair (my favorite!) usually sits on the other side of the living room, but I used it to show Dale just how AWESOME it would be to have chairs instead of a couch. He also said all on his own (finally agreed with me) that anything bigger than this chair would be too big. GOODBYE recliners! I think it worked! I may get those chairs sooner than I thought!

And because it's hard to tell in the picture, this is the fabric that I used. It goes perfectly with the living room. Thanks mom! She gave us like 12 yards of this stuff that she had leftover from one of her own projects. You can't beat free. Feel free to come by and check it out!

Brighton's 17 Months!

Yesterday makes Brighton 17 months! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by, and just how much she's changed from my little baby into a little girl. She's so crazy, funny, smart and sweet. We had a great time hanging out in the backyard yesterday while the sun was out. We played with her ball for a little, threw the ball for Sawyer, and then she decided she was going to gather up all the leaves her little hands could carry.

Sitting by her little pile of leaves. Wait until she learns how much fun it is to rake leaves up into a huge pile, and then jump in!

She was just talking (kind of shouting even) the whole time we were outside and just walking around all over, running, and sometimes rolling in the grass. We had a lot of fun! Happy 17 months B!

Saturday 28 February

So I was sweeping the kitchen and Dale was doing the vacuuming for me. Isn't he so nice? I HATE to vacuum. Brighton kept getting all up in my business and trying to take the broom from me. So I gave it to her and grabbed the camera. She was entertained for a good 10 minutes, at least. We're thinking of getting her some of her very own "cleaning" toys so she doesn't have to take mine. She loves the broom and the vacuum.

My cute little helper!

One of my BESTEST friends from high school, Krystle, now lives in Seattle. We try to get together once a month and hang out. We've been working on making a t-shirt quilt out of all the hundreds of t-shirts that she's hung onto throughout middle school, high school, and college, and the years beyond. It's fun to just sit and chat for hours! As you can see, we've made quite the mess in my living room. Dale had to vacuum again to get all the shreds of t-shirts up. Haha, sucker! Maybe I shouldn't say that, then he'll make ME do it next time!

Out For a Walk

Last week there were so many days of sunshine! It was awesome! Dale got home early from work one evening, so we decided to go on a walk together. We have a nice little trail that goes behind our neighborhood, and connects with the neighborhood park. Dale took the camera so he could practice some landscape shots, which I won't share with you now. They're boring. They're of dead grass. Maybe when things start to look pretty we'll put some up here. For now, enjoy Brighton and I on a walk.

And, of course, Dale always seems to NEED to get a behind picture. Boys...

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

I can't even express how much I want to win this one from Grosgrain. There are no words. Only this: I want you all to try to win so you can give it me. OK?