Project Venting

I missed posting anything last week; what a slacker I am!!!  Really no excuse for it since I only make like 1 post a week!  I thought about it a few times but never sat down and did any blogging.  A small part b/c I didn't have anything specific to blog about but mostly b/c I just didn't make time for it.  NO EXCUSE!  On another note I am currently in a mood.  My 2 year old has taken quite well to whining and since the hubby works 2nd shift I get to listen to this and be entertainer, disciplinarian, cook, maid...etc. all by myself and I'm just frustrated w/ it right now.  So I put in a movie and am getting a few moments of peace; who knows how much time I will actually get though.  Trying not to complain as I have the best blessing in the world in the form of a 2 year old and I'm prego w/ baby boy #2 and a great hubby and all this great stuff but of course in the middle of all these blessings life is moving really fast and I feel a tad overwhelmed.  For whatever reason I thought that after Christmas I would have 3 months to prepare for baby...that is more than enough since it's another boy and I have pretty much everything I really need but then my stepmom pointed out that I actually only have 2 months.  Holy Moly!!!  I'm also growing at a ridiculous weight!  I gained 60lbs w/ my first son and swore I wasn't going to do that this time.  I "try" to eat better and I am exercising this time around but that doesn't seem to matter..... I feel like such a failure in this.  We broke ground for the addition being built to our home and it's moving right along but there is a long road ahead as my hubby, dad and granpa are doing it themselves, I'm fine w/ this b/c we can pay as we go but it's still overwhelming to think of all the money we still have to put into this!  I did get a better photo editing software thanks to a tip from a lady I know that is trying to get into photography as well.... I haven't used it much but then again I haven't taken many pictures either.  Where to find the time!?!?!  So there is my venting party.....I do have a project to share but in that is some frustration as well.  Ugh, I'm a load of cheerfulness I know and I'm sorry!

So I'm not sure if I mentioned that I decided to knit a baby blanket for baby boy #2 who is Zachary.  I started one w/ my first son but I didn't get far at all!!!  This time I actually finished it!  I get carpal tunnel in my hands induced by pregnancy so I paced myself a little doing a couple of lines a night.  I have a vision of a navy and gray theme to Zachary's bedding but it's not as easy as you would think to find so I decided to knit him a gray blanket to match the gray hat I bought him for newborn pics.  (Okay now it's coming back to me that I have mentioned this in another post...anyways!)  So I wanted it to be larger than a scarf of course so I did like 100 stitches and just took off from there and here is the result to share.

Do you see the issue?  It's long...it's like a wide scarf!!!  Yes I'll be able to swaddle Zachary in it until he gets too tall and it will do for pictures but not my idea of a blanket so I'm a tad frustrated by it.  Of course I'm sure I could add to it but at this point I'm not feeling it plus as time goes by my carpal tunnel gets worse and I have other fish (projects) to fry w/ holidays and then baby coming quickly afterward.  So yes this blanket will get used and everything but I'm not thrilled w/ it at all!

Just a pictures to show that it is gray and knitted since the other picture was mean't to show more the shape.  Sorry no fancy new camera pics....too lazy to pull that camera out I guess.  One down fall to a really nice camera is that you can't just whip it out and snap a shot.... that is why my point and shoot will be sticking around!!!

So now that this project is done I get to move on to working on the Batman cape for my son.  Not happy that I'm signing off on a project that I am not super happy w/ but I guess you just gotta move on something!?

Inspired by Zachary's blanket....swaddler?

Not to brag but.......

I'm so spoiled!  I am so blessed to have a husband who works so hard on his job and here at home; who also will do whatever he can to give me anything and everything w/ in his grasp.  I don't often go for big or exquisite gifts; I'm a pretty simple girl plus I don't like spending a lot of money on something unless it's truely necessary but I know for my husband there is nothing he wouldn't do for me if he could.  So when I decided I really do "need" a new camera b/c my little pocket size point and shoot is about 3 1/2 years old and believe me in that time I've used it a lot. Now we are expecting #2 and going to be taking even more pictures!  The pictures from my old camera for me have become less than flattering to say the least.  Not sure if there is actual ware on the camera or technology is just so much better that it makes my little old camera's pictures not so great in my eyes!?  Anyways.... I began asking around and looking into cameras and became really wanting something nice.  But should I go all out for a SLR or get a really nice point and shoot?  This really became more of a money issue for me.  I could get a nice point and shoot for around $400....I'm not talking a little $100 one this time around!  An SLR your talking more....quite a bit more.... I did some research on the best ones and the cost and a SLR seemed out of my price range b/c I'm a cheapo!!  I did talk to my husband about this and our neighbor allowed us to check out and play w/ his SLR which is a slightly older model but wow the pictures were nice and my dad let us borrow his nice point and shoot!  You know my husband is all about fancy technology but this purchase would be way more for me than him as I take 95% of the pictures around here!  I was still so torn.... the photographer we used this last time jacked her prices way up but we could always find a new one.  If I got a SLR that means I have A LOT and I mean A WHOLE FREAKIN LOT to learn aboutt he camera, about lighting, about editing....WOW!  I did know one thing if I were to get a SLR I was commiting to learning all this so I could take our own pictures, no more studios and photographers.  We would be spending the money and I would be the photographer and maybe one day I could be good enough to do pics for friends maybe!?  But would definitely be doing our boys pictures as w/ our first son we always do a birthday and a Christmas session and w/ two kids we would be doing 2 birthday sessions and a Christmas session every year!  This would save us some money but again...WOW!  However my hubby told me in so many words that he believed I could learn it and be great at it and was ready to run to the store and get a SLR for me!  That is exactly what we did.... He bought me the camera I wanted and got all the goods and the extra lens I wanted which was based on my research of the best SLRs out there and that I know 4 people personally that have this camera and would help me if I had questions about the camera.  Lucky for us they were running a promo on it but the price has stung for me ever since we bought it!  However for him when I was ready to tell him to take it back he has stood his ground that he does not regret his purchase!  For days since my heart has overflowed that my husband wanted to do this for me despite how hard he works to just provide for our family!  And how much faith he has in me in being able to learn this camera and take good shots of our children and he is positive I'll be getting paid one day.  I guess I don't have that kind of faith in myself but it's so great to know he does!  I have done a lot of research, reading and watching videos and I've learned quite a bit but Lord I have a lot more to learn.  (Any and all suggested techniques and/or websites to check out would be greatly appreciated!)

Yeah so obviously this pic wasn't taken w/ the new camera but w/ my old point and shoot!!! 

I've played around w/ this camera a few times but I'm not great or even good but I'm trying to learn how to use it manually instead of just using the automatic setting.  No editing done yet as that is a whole other thing to learn but I took some pictures playing w/ my large lens taking pictures from my backdoor to my sons swing set which is every bit of 100 ft!

Here are the guys playing w/ G on the swingset after setting a bunch of concrete.  From left...my great husband Michael, my son G, my grandad and my dad! 

Now please remember I'm a total Novice w/ this camera and this is taken from at least 100ft away!

Gregory and Grandad.... I have learned enough about editing to know this picture should and could be straightened out as they look crooked!  However I haven't done any editing.  However I think the lighting is looking even better than I thought in the original shot!

One of the main reasons I did tell my husband I was really "wanting" to go for the SLR is the ability to take motion shots w/ out blur.  Obviously Gregory is very much in motion in this picture and NO blur!  With 2 kids soon I thought this was a very important aspect!

Grandad's turn!

He was not falling do not worry, he went down the slide.  Another great action shot and I cannot wait to show him his face in this.  Amazing to be able to see the facial features so well from such a distance!

I just thought this was really sweet!  Gregory LOVES these three men!  I'm going to have to definitely play w/ editing on this one and some of the others!

Gregory and Papaw, another action photo!

Like I said this was a play around w/ my large lens which is a 55-250/4-5.6 lens but I feel I got some keepers!  As a play around this is actually my FIRST time really taking pics w/ this lens!  And in all honestly I have only taken like 5 pictures before taking these w/ this camera!  I'm a tad....or quite a lot intimidated by this gadget!  I feel like I need to learn all this stuff about the camera before really useing it.  I don't have the knowledge to get the best out of the camera but these pics make me feel hopeful I think!  I actually felt that when I had these pics enlarged on my computer they looked even better so I think that is good if I wanted to make larger prints too!
I by no means will be discarding my little point and shoot.  It's very nice to have tucked in my purse and/or to be able to pull out quickly when the kids are doing funny things which is ALL THE TIME!

Anyways....you saw my first mini-session if you will!  They knew I was taking pics but it was all just snapping pics of them doing whatever, no poseing involved.  At least I have taken pics of real live subjects, I had been sticking w/ objects!!

Inspired by my CANON! 

Knitting for Baby

First off HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!  I'm looking forward to taking my cute little fireman trick or treating this evening.  Pictures will be shared!  However today's post has nothing to do with Halloween it's just the first time I've gotten to my blog to post. 

So as mentioned I am pregnant with baby boy number 2!  Of course baby boy number 1 was super exciting.  We did do maternity pictures and bought all the stuff to prepare for him.  We kept most of his things so this time around there isn't as much to do.  We will be doing maternity pictures when the time comes but shopping and getting all this baby stuff isn't necessary anywhere near as much as the first time around.  So it's been decided that we really need to do some special things for this baby to give it that fun factor.  So the main thing I've been focusing on is getting a few cute items that will be super adorable in newborn pictures.  One of the items I ordered was this little hat.

I saw these on Etsy but found this one on ebay for a little cheaper.  Not sure how well this photo turned out but the hat is dark gray.  I'm really hoping to incorporate grays into the new baby's theme!  Baby number 1 was more brown and a bright blue.  Well anyways...this hat will of course be put on his little head for photos and I'm sure at other points as well but in pics I'm thinking he will wear this hat and a diaper.  Yeah the diaper is going to stick out like a sore thumb!  So I need to figure out how to fix that so the pictures turn out well.  I can knit....I cannot knit a hat but I do scarves often and have done one baby blanket for my now 6 year old neice!  So I decided I could make a small blanket to match the hat that we can lay over his diaper to make the pictures look better! 

So I pull out my knitting stuff and found that I have an almost completed scarf on my needles that I am pretty sure I have worked on a little at a time for the past 2 years.  Yes you read that right!  I'm horrible!  Last winter I was a busy bee on a lot of other projects, I didn't do much when it came to knitting.  I just find it very time conusming.  But before starting yet another knitting project I really needed to finish that scarf!

So there she is, I did finish it and now can move on to work on the baby's blanket!

Got a good start and I've done some since this picture but I've got a long ways to go!  I've got 18 weeks to do it!  Pictures will be posted when it's complete!

On a side note.....I'm working a little on my picture taking skills and as I'm sure you can see I have A LOT of work to do!  But below are two pictures I took...no editing done.  I haven't gotten that far but what do you think?  Which picture do you prefer and what are your thoughts?

Give me your thoughts!



Inspired by Photography

Fall Festivities

While Fall is no where near over and neither are the festivities I've learned to enjoy since I've had a child.  Summer has been my favorite season ever since I can remember and I still love summer but the other seasons have a whole new meaning now that I have my son.  They mean memories and getting to be a kid again.  Having a reason to do all those things you used to do as a child or you wish you would have gotten to do as a child.  It's no secret that my mom was not mom of the year and I don't have a whole lot of memories from my childhood that involve my mom that are happy ones.  Which is why I think I enjoy so much making memories w/ Gregory and these memories I hope when he is an adult he can remember his Momma being right there w/ him having fun and loving life w/ him! 
So w/ my husband's work schedule it is hard to sneak in the fall festivities and I really want him to get to be a part of these things too.  Gregory's memories need to include his daddy too but it's not always possible but I do what I can!  Family time means so much to me!  Money is good to have and I am so incredibly thankful for Mike's hard work, long hours and missing out on things to make sure we have things covered around here.  But when it comes to having family time I do everything in my power to make it happen it's just not always that easy!  I will say I have purposely cleared Mike's responsiblities around the house a time or two and told him to just play w/ Gregory.  It's so imporitant to me as I'm sure it is to Gregory as well!  I know as he gets older he and dad will do more together.  They may take care of those responsibilities like fixing the car together and get to do those things my husband enjoys like hunting together and I really hope that happens even though that will mean Momma will probably get left out then  :-(  I guess that is where our roles will reverse.... right now it's "Momma, Momma, Momma" b/c I'm always the one sacrificing any alone time b/c of Gregory where one day I'll probably have more alone time than I could ever want.  I'm not the type that likes to be alone anyways!  Gregory makes for nice built in company!  However this Momma yearns for adult time even if Gregory is there w/ me I just really like to have another adult around!

So.........Fall Festivities! 

A tradition I guess we started since having Gregory is going to the pumpkin patch.  Maybe I was missing out on life or just too cool but before Gregory we may have gone once or twice but it was just NOT my thing.  Now I love it and makes for some adorable pictures of my little man!  Every year I suit him up in what I feel is the perfect fall/country boy outfit and we hit the local pumpkin patch.  There is a much larger one about an hour away but it's just not worth it to me.  That place is so much more commericialized therefore pricier and more crowded.  I really like the laid back feel of the local pumpkin patch.  They have a little ride for the kids, bouncie house, pumpkin painting, face painting, a sort of play ground of hay bails, a little old country store, a small area they cook out and serve food, petting zoo, pony rides and of course the pumpkin patch.  No not top of the line but we have so much fun and couldn't ask for a better time!  We invited the usual of grandparents and this year we even had some friends we met up w/ so it was even more fun as Gregory adored playing w/ their little boy that is just a year older than him.

Gregory painting his pumpkin

 

Papaw, Gregory and Daddy....I just had to sneak it in I love these kind of pics!

 

Gregory and our friend's son...Gregory loved having him there!

 

Gregory and Momma feeding a goat!

 

Our little family; Gregory wasn't cooperating w/ pics that well!

 

He had a lot of fun!

 

 

So just a few pictures of our trip to the pumpkin patch.  More festivities to come as we have and will continue to do Halloween related stuff and I can't wait to share. 

What traditions do you have or want to have w/ your family?

 

 

 

Inspired by Fall Traditions

The Race Car Bed

Hello, hello!
I hope everyone is doing well...I know I'm doing pretty good myself!  My husband, my son and I were lucky enough to enjoy a three day weekend together!  This rarely happens since even on holiday three day weekends Mike usually ends up having to work on Saturday....so athlo they are two days which is longer than the one day weekend he usually gets it's still no fun that he doesn't get three days.  Well we had a sonogram this morning so he took off work and at my husband's job if you take off Friday or Monday you get off on Saturday!  So we kicked our weekend off Saturday by changing up Gregory's room a little!  We took out his crib and put in his big boy Race Car bed!  I bought this bed a year ago for $20 at a yard sale and have been excited to give it to him ever since.  However my son has never been one to try to climb out of his crib so I didn't have any reason to make the move.  Now w/ a new baby coming along I decided we should do it; I really don't want Gregory to see me take his bed from him and give it to the baby even though his new bed is WAY cooler!  Gregory loves cars...no seriously!  That is all the kid wants to do!  So it's no surpise that he was pretty excited when we pulled that Race Car Bed out of Mimi and Papaw's attic where it has been stored for over a year!  He even was super excited to help Momma clean it...Momma used Clorox wipes while Gregory touched up w/ the baby wipes!  ;-)  It's all the same to him he LOVED it.  On a negative note Daddy put the bed on the porch to be cleaned and well in all the excitement of trying to help clean the bed Gregory fell off the porch and hit Momma's Happy Halloween sign.  :-(

Sorry for the blurry pic I took it w/ my phone.  But you see where he was showing his booboo and asking for kisses!

Anyways...the bed went into his room and he was actually ready and willing to take a nap!  We were running a little late on naptime so I'm sure he was sleepy but that usually doesn't keep him from fighting a nap!  But the bed definitely made it more fun!  He took a great nap!

Notice the pillows and quilt...I made those for Gregory for his 2nd bday to tie his room all together.  His car bed, the brown curtains, the sage green walls..... I couldn't find anything so I had to make his bedset and it worked out great w/ the Mickey Mouse Vehicle fabric I found!  Shown in these posts... Quilt, Applique Pillow and Pillow w/ Pillow Case.  I also put a noodle under the sheet to try to prevent him from falling out of the bed; just a little trick I saw on Pinterest.  This didn't do the trick that night though, he did fall out of his bed that night and I woke up w/ him half off the bed but I watched and w/ a little confusion he climbed right back into the bed! 

That evening we went to a Chili Cook Off where my husband put in some chili and altho we heard his number being talked about A LOT and people even thought he won, sadly he didn't win.  But we had a good time, w/ good ppl and yummy food!  That evening Gregory fell asleep in the car on the way home so going to bed wasn't much of an experiment.  But props to him for sleeping very well all night! 

Sunday we went to church and then I had a 31 Party where I ordered some really exciting stuff...now the not so fun part of waiting for my order to get here!  Monday we had our Sonogram, had lunch with some family, played at the play ground, ran some errands and relaxed before a yummy dinner as a family.  Who could ask for any better of a weekend w/ their family!?  Now I'm a little sad b/c Mike had to leave early this morning to cut grass and he went straight to work after that so I wont see him until 11:30pm tonight.  Really hoping Gregory doesn't give Momma any trouble going to bed tonight as he has done so well going to bed in his big boy bed w/ daddy here!  Guess we will have to wait and see!

Inspired by the Race Car Bed!

Sleep inspired Picture Craft!

   
    The other day my son and I did a little craft together so I figured for a change that I would share a little craft project.  My son; Gregory is 2 1/2 years old and although one might think he was a professional at sleeping through the night unfortunately this is not always the case.  Of course most nights he does really well but then all the sudden we will have a random night that he will wake up once or twice and sometimes nightmarishly more!  I'm not sure why this is but when he does that it tends to almost always start him on a bad habit of waking up numerous times a night for like a week or so.  I've looked into this and it doesn't seem all that uncommon.  Some might think it could be bad dreams; this of course has gone through my mind but I don't think this is always the case.  Of course he has woke up some nights in a horrific cry where I run to him as fast as I can b/c he sounds so scared and w/ out a doubt I believe he has had a nightmare.  Gregory doesn't have the conversation skills to tell me why he is screaming but I guess a momma just knows!?  Other times he wakes up and just says "Momma" or will moan in his way of saying "I'm up come here" so I groan and go to his room and he points down at his bed so I lay him back down and tuck him back in and he will go straight back to sleep.  It's these times that I believe he is being a little high maintenance! 

Okay I got a little off track w/ that back story...moving on!

    My parents (Gregory's Mimi and Papaw) went out of town on a weekend camping trip and I'm not sure how much Gregory realized their distance as much as found a picture of them that they had given him months back.  He clung to this picture....took it everywhere and even to bed one night!!!  The next night he didn't take the picture to bed w/ him but woke up hysterically crying and when I went to him and held him he just didn't want to get back into bed.  I knew there must have been a bad dream or something for him to act that way but this pregnant Momma needs her sleep!  So I thought "the picture!".  I went and got the picture and put it into Gregory's bed and then he did go right into bed and went to sleep.  It was then I decided he really needed one of these pictures in his bed for comfort or whatever other reason he might have; I was going to make this happen!  When my parents returned from their trip I requested an extra b/c I knew they had a few of them.  I also pulled out our family pictures of Gregory, my husband and myself b/c of course he needs to have us close by too right!!!  He picked his favorite!  I ended up putting this project off for about a week as it got swept under the imaginary rug that is my "to do" list; until about a week ago.  Gregory woke up twice one night and I wasn't at all thrilled w/ this b/c there was no shreaking or crying...just wanted to be tucked back in.  The next night Gregory woke up 4.....yes 4 times!!!!  I was so not happy about this and did some research.  The more I thought about it the more I decided that my husband and I were enabling him.  All he was wanting from us was to come into his room tell him to lay back down and we would cover him back up w/ his blanket.  Momma had to make some changes....new rule: we are not to cover him up in the middle of the night anymore...he needs to learn to do this on his own!  But this momma isn't just going to leave it at that and expect Gregory to understand this so I made some changes.  In case it was a hunger thing b/c I read something about that Gregory for sure gets a snack w/ his milk every night before bed...he isn't a big eater so I never really made this a priority...but now it was going to be.  I placed a larger blanket in his crib which I was kind of scared to do in fear that it would smother him but I had to trust that he was old enough to be okay.  [We are changing him into a toddler bed this coming weekend so that was when I had planned to give him a bigger blanket but decided if he was going to need to learn to cover himself I needed to make it easier for him b/c he is OCD about making sure he is covered completely!]   And I needed to get his pictures up in case they provided some extra comfort.  Of course if he wakes up in hysterics I will still run to him; it's the times where he is just waking up to be tucked back in....we would then walk to his door and tell him to lay back down not providing any extra contact.  This I hoped would do the trick!

One to the craft...sorry!

Gregory and I sat down w/ the two pictures and 8 popcycle sticks!

Gregory colored the popcycle sticks with his crayons.  We placed a couple of stickers (his favorite of course are from the movie "Cars"!).  Momma hot glued the popcycle sticks together to form a square to fit the pictures in and taped the pictures to the back.

Our little family...Gregory picked this family picture out of the like 10 we had...of course b/c of the rocket ship he was on!!!

The picture of Mimi and Papaw

I just clipped them to the side of his crib for a temporary fix...he doesn't mess w/ them or anything and it's not going to cause any permanent damage to the crib.  When he moves to the big boy bed this weekend mommy will attach them to the wall above the bed some how!

    Since all these changes have been put into place: the pictures in his bed, the larger blanket and the snack before bed; Gregory hasn't woken up calling out to us, so we haven't had to enforce the don't tuck him in rule!!  I hate that my little man is growing up and Momma needs to learn just as much as he does that he needs to do things on his own like covering himself up but I'm so happy I've been able to make this so much easier for him!

Inspired by Sleep!!

Fall Decore

Not much to share these days.  I'm still waiting to be able to feel the baby moving.  I can't believe I don't feel him yet.  I'm going on 18 weeks with my second pregnancy.  I had always heard you feel movement sooner w/ subsequent pregnancies and I'm just not feeling him!?  I do know he is alive and kicking b/c I have a fetal dopplar and I listen to his heart and movement daily, just ready to be able to feel him inside of me. 

Not so sure I updated w/ our Potty Traning journey.  It was a bust.  We gave Gregory a week and he wasn't catching on and continued to show frustration so we were advised and decided amongst ourselves that it would be best if we dropped the Potty Training.  With a new baby coming Gregory is about to be going through a lot of big changes in his life so we wanted to cause him as little frustration as possible.  Gregory was fine w/ going back to diapers but has asked to use the potty a few times since but we aren't going to jump back into potty training for a while. 

I have decorated for fall!  Here are a few photos:

Not much but bought this for $1 at Target the other day so I put it on my entertainment center.

Sitting inside of my front door is this Mickey pumpkin w/ a maroon metal bucket holding all those flowers behind it.

Here is a display of pumpkins in my kitchen.  All the pumpkins seen here except the ones in the middle were bought at Walmart last year after fall for 75% off!!  Also seen to the right side is the Pedestal Bowl I posted about here!

This is my front door.  The lighting is not great for photos but w/ a few window clings and my scarecrow welcome hanger it's cute at least!  I have bought supplies to make a wreath but haven't gotten to that.


However most of my time these days is just trying to recorganize our house to make room for baby Zachary.  We do plan to add an additional room but we are building it ourselves so it's going to take time to get that done so in the mean time we will make due with the space that we have available to us.  I've got the closet in the extra room aka the playroom where my babysitting kids spend most of their time emptied out so I have a place to put Zachary's clothes and some of his other things.  My next project I hope to get done this week is cleaning out my own closet to put some of the things I took our of Zachary's closet!  At that point I will have cleared my craft area as I have plans to make the boys a few things!  So maybe I can get back into some projects to post soon!?



Inspired by Fall

Gender Reveal

At 16 weeks my husband and I opted to get an elective ultra sound to determine the gender of our baby that I'm carrying.  With my first I knew he was a boy from the moment I found out I was pregnant; I just knew!  This time I was back and forth.  I had a lot of morning sickness which I didn't have with my first so I thought probably a girl.  Then I was sure it was a girl and then I started flip flopping again.  As the ultra sound date grew closer and closer I realized that I really wanted a girl.  I was seeing so many super cute girl things, dresses, bows, tutus, bloomers etc.  I started picturing all this in my mind. 
Then we had the ultra sounds and found out.................

It's a boy!!  Yeah so I was hoping for a girl and there was a little disappointment in that but there is plenty of good things about having another boy.  My son who will be almost 3 when this baby is born will soon have a brother to grow up with.  Play cars, go fishing and hunting w/.....endless things two brothers can do together.  And of course love, cherrish and take care of their momma!!!  So no bows or dresses but a Zachary Paul on the way.  My husband and I did waver from our "Only 2 kids" stance and are thinking that in a few years if we get an itch for another child we could try for another and maybe get a girl?  No pressure to do so but my husband isn't getting snipped like I had planned!  That is probably why he agreed to the third child!!  :-)

So this weekend we did a lot of stuff focusing on the new baby.  Even though we are having another boy and have no need for another baby shower we went and registered for a few things.  It's more for ourselves a kind of "Wish List" if you will that we will purchase off of and if any family were to want to they could too.  Registering also means free goodies and coupons in the mail!!!  I also bought him a little outfit but failed in finding a blanket I wanted to buy for him...hoping to find one this weekend.  We kept pretty much everything from our first son so we don't really need anything but Zachary needs a few of his own things too!

Sunday we had a Gender Reveal Party planned for close family and super close friends.  A little craftiness went into it so figured I would share some stuff we did.  Most ideas picked up from Pinterest of course!

First off I didn't get a picture of the boxes I made so I'll try to explain.  I decorated 2 empty baby wipe boxes.  One saying "Team Girl" and one saying "Team Boy".  Everyone was to write their name on a slip of baby and put it into the box that went w/ the gender they thought the baby was.  Of course 90% of everyone thought girl!!  So we had our son Gregory draw a name out of each box.  The name from the "Team Boy" box was Greg (stepdad) seen above and the name drawn from "Team Girl" is Norma who is my MIL.  They each received a balloon of the color that went w/ their gender guess.  The balloon that expanded was the winner!  As you can see the blue balloon shows it's a boy. 

Here is my husband and I acting it out as our little family. 

I also had my husband sit down w/ these HersHEy bars and color w/ a sharpie the "HE" part to show we were having a "HE".  These were set out after the reveal!

I also brought out this poster that I quickly made up to announce the name of the baby and so everyone could view the ultra sound photos of Zachary.

Anyways.......  so that is what I've been up to since I posted last.  It's been a few days too long so I do apologize for that but at least this time I have pictures to share and in that is some craftiness on my part since I've horribly lacked in this department!!!

Inspired by Zachary Paul

Oh Potty Training!

Enough said!!  So a small backstory....
My son Gregory turned 2 in April.  I've heard and read that the average age for a boy to potty train is 3 now days.  "Okay cool, I'm in no hurry"!  I had very little reason to think Gregory would be ready before his 3rd birthday.  Although very smart and has used the potty many times before bathtime and recently before bedtime b/c he kept wetting through his diaper at night; I still just haven't thought him to be ready for such a big commitment.  Well the two boys I babysit that are right around Gregory's age have been using the potty.  One of them for a little while now and the other started just 3 weeks ago.  This apparently had caught Gregory's attention and he began asking to go potty randomly.  My husband and I had a sit down and agreed that we would get the pullups that I had bought on clearance down and we would give it a try.... I mean the kid is asking to do it so lets see where it goes.  So we began "potty training" on Saturday.  I had heard to take them every 30 minutes that way they figure out they go potty in the toilet.  So this is what we were going w/; sometimes he would pee but sometimes he didn't but he stayed dry except for a small tinkle one time.  This was great for Gregory until about half way through the day.  He became very frustrated that he was having to go to the restroom all the time and not b/c he wanted to but b/c we were making him.  He started whineing whenever we would mention it.  So we realized every 30 minutes was a little much for our guy so we began asking him repeatedly if he needed to go potty until he said yes unless it seemed like it had been a while and then we would just take him but this worked and he continued to say "yes" when he needed to go and he stayed dry. 
Jumping to Sunday........  Gregory on his 2nd day potty training ended up having 4 accidents where the first day he only had the 1.  When mentioning going to the potty he would protest.  "No potty!"
To Monday.......  Gregory continued to protest the potty and would need to be carried into the bathroom and would try to get away when taking his pants off.  Then he began peeing in his pullup.  He was however still going in the potty when taken but even if it had just been 30 minutes since he had gone last he would have still peed in his pullup.  What to do!?!?!?!
At this point I was very frustrated and I'm sure so was Gregory b/c he wasn't even getting potty prizes b/c he kept wetting his pullup!  I put in a call to a seasoned momma and babysitter friend of mine.  This lady babysat me from 2 weeks-12 years and still babysits to this day.  I also talked to some other momma friends who have potty trained.  I know some ppl frown on pullups but I've seen kids train using pullups and easily and w/ little mess when accidents did happen <~ I really like that part!  Before it was all said and done Mike and I decided Gregory just wasn't ready and we would be throwing in the towel.  The more I thought about this the more it bothered me that after just 3 days we had given up on Gregory.  I do not want him to get frustrated and I realize he has started shutting down on us but feel that we should at least give him a chance.... but the way things have been going just isn't going to work. 
So New Plan!  We have decided to go big boy undies cold turkey w/ plastic covers!!!!  Still some mess I'm sure but better than pee and poop all over my house!  Anyways.... we have decided that starting tomorrow morning Gregory will be put into big boy underwear.  Many people swear by this method and I do realize that pullups probably feel a lot like a diaper and heck Gregory called it a diaper even though we always called it a pullup.  The idea is that Gregory will feel the wetness of his pee and be uncomfortable and want to go in the potty instead plus maybe not want to pee on his friend on the underwear (cars characters!).  We have decided to do this until Friday and see how Gregory does...if there is improvement, if he continues to just pee on them or if he worsens.  If by Friday he shows no improvement or is still showing signs of shutting down we will stop.  As I said I didn't plan to potty train him yet anyways so it really doesn't bother me to go back to diapers and altho frustration in children is a part of life I don't want to turn him against the potty all together.  But maybe he will surprise us?!  But either way we will be able to know that we at least gave him half a chance!  I'm so interested to see how he does in the morning when he isn't in a diaper/pullup but in just thin cotton undies!  Maybe at his cognitive level he will realize it's very different from his diapers b/c I don't think that at his level he realized the difference w/ the pullups. 
Wish me luck b/c I'm really going to need it!

Inspired by Potty Training Frustration!

YAY!  It's not even been a week and I'm back! 

So I'm pregnant and feeling huge!  I hope I don't look as big as I feel since I'll just be 15 weeks tomorrow.  But I swear I look 5 months pregnant!  I hear that you show sooner with your second pregnancy...just hoping that if anyone else can see my growth will remember this and not judge me!  However....I cannot stop eating!  During my first trimester I was plagued with morning sickness so I ate what sounded good and forcing myself to eat something just b/c it was healthy was not an option.  My morning sickness finally began to go away a few days ago, really hoping it doesn't return!  So with my new found better feeling self I would love to start eating better and getting active again.  As I said in my last post I had lost 22lbs before I found out I was pregnant; along with a huge change in my diet I had become very active.  When I found out I was pregnant I had planned to stick to that and keep in shape and NOT gain 60lbs like I did when I was pregnant w/ my son.  Well...the morning sickness totally screwed up that whole idea.  If I've happened to not be nauseated I've been exhausted.  The fog may be lifting some but now I have to find the motivation to get up and do something.  As far as eating I'm starving ALL the time.  I'm not exagerating, it's so frustrating.  You know it's bad when you are frustrated that you are having to find something else to eat!  Today after lunch I've had carrots and ranch dressing, grapes, crackers and cheese, some left over chicken, shaved ice!  UGH!!!  You guessed it; I'm starting to feel hunger again.  So I'm going to have to start thinking; hmmmm....what sounds good?
As far as my current favorite pregnancy symptom besides being hungry all the time is having gas.  Sorry for the taboo subject but it's simply ridiculous!  This pregnancy is not going as glamorously as I might have hoped!

Behind me is a 2 year told who has been chasing the dog and getting in trouble over and over for it over the last hour.  The living room looks like a tornado hit it; momma is just waiting for bedtime so I can clean it up!  And get some peace!  Repeated requests for chocolate milk when I don't have any.  Chocolate milk is not something I purchase often.  I bought it b/c it was on manager's special so I guess now he thinks we should have it all the time.  I keep telling him that we dont' have any but he doens't seem to want to accept that answer!

In other news we are going to try for potty training.  I'm pretty scared and thought I'd be putting this off until he was almost 3.  That is apparently the going age for potty training boys these days and I am not a fan of pushing children into potty training.  I've seen too many kids peacefully and smoothly mold into potty training that just did it in "their" own time.  Could it be my son's time?  I definitely didn't think so but as a couple of the boys my son's age that I babysit are using the potty now my son keeps requesting to go potty.  I can't deny that request!  And I guess if he is going to make those requests we need to give it a try.  We decided to start the process this weekend, this will hoping be uneventful!

Well that is whats going on in my life right now!

Inspired by life

Is anybody there!?

Wowzer...it's been a while!  I'm so sorry for my absence.  No real excuse, life has gone on and on and on....just flashing before my eyes.  Will anyone see this?  Who knows, I would be so surprised if anyone takes the time to read from someone who has neglected keeping in touch for so long.  Recently I have been thinking of some of the blogs that I liked to follow in their projects and as seasons are getting ready to change from summer to fall then to winter (which I am oh so ready for!) I have really been wanting to see what everyone is doing for the upcoming seasons!  So here I am, I need to get plugged back in! 

Interested in an update on whats going on?  Well a lot....last you heard from me I was recovering from the traumatic experience of having to give an 11 month old CPR.  She is doing great and as far as that goes I would say I am as well.  I have caught myself thinking about it more and more recently although I'm not completely sure why.  I still panic whenever a child cough or makes any odd noises when eating or something....made a fool of myself a few times in public w/ my own son.  I'm a tad crazy!  Anyways, lately I have been thinking a lot about it.  How it all went down, how it played out well but how it could have so easily not!  Anyways....Of course I think about it but really all is as well as I could expect.

Anyways after my son turned 2 in April I was very frustrated w/ the fact that I hadn't lost all of my weight from my pregnancy so I joined weight watchers.  In 3 months I lost 22lbs!!!  Go me!  So proud of myself, not only did I lose the rest of my baby weight but I got down 10lbs less than I weighed when I got pregnant w/ my son!  I toned up real nice and felt hot again, it had been a while since I really felt good about myself.  THEN...I found out that............... I'm pregnant.....  Yep you read that right.  When my son turned 2 I dropped the birth control despite a lot of emotional stuff.  As I've stated before I have endometriosis so we were advised that if we planned to have anymore kids to try w/ in 2-3 years after my son was born.  So as agreed I dropped the birth control when my son turned 2.  I was sure that since it took a year and a half to get pregnant w/ my son that I had time so it would be fine.  WELL....not so much. A little over 3 months after dropping the birth control I got pregnant.  SO wasn't expecting, nor was I prepared for that positive pregnancy test.  Hubby was super excited though.  Yeah you probably hear that.... I wasn't excited.  All I could think about was all the stuff we now needed to do; buy a van, build an addition.....  How is my 2 year old going to react to another baby?  He is my world and the only little one in my family....he is our prince and I personally don't care for that to change.  How am I going to deal w/ the dynamic of my little family changing from a party of 3 to a party of 4?  Scared to death of how I'm going to be able to handle two kiddos.  My husband is still working 2nd shift and altho we hope that after baby is born that he might be able to get on 1st; but while he is on 2nd I have a lot of pressure on me as more of a single parent which is hard enough w/ just my toddler. 

Anywho....I haven't felt very connected to this baby...currently I'm a little over 14 weeks.  Officially in my second trimester and although I know I would be devestated if something happened to the baby I just don't feel too ready for it either.  Ready or not!!!!!  So any kind words or advice are very welcome.  Maybe there might even be someone out there that understands?  I have almost felt depressed which is upsetting.  Morning sickness has been awful and exhaustion is 24/7....these aspects don't make it any easier to connect w/ baby!  I'm hoping that when I start feeling the baby it will help and thinking when I find out the gender maybe that will help me connect w/ the baby as well.  The dr is planning for our gender reveal to be Oct 15 but we found a place that does Gender Reveal Ultra Sounds recreationally and knowing that I need this we have decided to pay the extra money to make it happen so we are going to find out Sept 21.  We all want me to be more happy/excited about a new baby.
Gender preferrence.... unfortunately I kind of do which means there is a 50% chance that I'm setting myself up for disappoinment.  I just feel that if it's a girl I'll be able to separate my feelings between my kids better.  Gregory will still get to be my one and only precious baby boy and then this baby will get to be my precioud baby girl.  Where if it's a boy how do I separate those feelings?  I fear that I'll have a favorite which will most likely be Gregory b/c we have such a strong bond.  It's been he and I against the world for over 2 years now.  Guess I don't get to decide these things....I just keep trying to tell myself that if it's a boy then Gregory will have a close brother to grow up w/.  Maybe grasping at straws.  Just hoping something huge happens to change these emotions! 

So if anyone reads this thanks.... I'm hoping to be back in blogland regularly.  I haven't done a lot in craft projects as I've kept pretty busy and will only get busier as things come closer to the arrival of the baby but I'm hoping to share things w/ you all again and maybe some projects if I can get the motivation.  Maybe I'll find my motivation in you all! 

Inspired by this roller coaster called life

Healing

So I've been gone for a while now and pretty confused by all the changes to Blogland.  Sorry for my absence; I have no good excuse other than that life has been very busy.  This is not my normal post at all as there are no projects to share but a heavy heart to try to heal and I'm hoping that by blogging about a current event in my life will help in the healing process.  I've been hesitant to talk about this with those around me, but geez the video keeps playing over and over in my head anyways right?

Here we go.....I'm extremely anxious about sharing this story and I'm not 100% where my words are going to take me...in my mind things are graphic however I don't believe my words will describe well enough what my mind keeps showing me.  However by all means you don't have to read if you can't.

This past Thursday I had to give CPR to a 10 1/2 month old baby girl that I regularly babysit, we shall call her "E".  (First side note, I did get certified in CPR; however had no intentions of ever using it...sorry, sounds awful but is the truth!  It was a good addition to my resume in my doing childcare.)  E got choked on her lunch, in my experience a child might begin to choke but have always just coughed it right back up and move on.  As I realized she was struggling I grabbed her up and turned her over on my arm hoping for gravity to do it's job but gravity failed me and when I looked at her face and saw the color changing I freaked out.  I started screaming and doing the Heimlich repeatedly.  Nothing...NOTHING it was doing NOTHING, it did NOTHING!!!!  E looked at me in panic as she was getting no breaths and stuck in my mind is a snap shot of her eyes right before she lost consciousness.  Thoughts were flying through my head as I allowed myself to realize that I needed help and I recalled seeing my neighbors car in her driveway...we shall call her C (she normally is working and since I've been waiting on something in the mail I checked my mail earlier than usual and noticed her car was in the driveway and remember thinking; why is she home today? [another note, we have the best neighbors ever!])...no time to look for Cs number in my phone as E was not responsive, discolored, not breathing, totally limp.......  So I grabbed my home phone and dialed 911 as I flew out the door with a lifeless E in tow.  I got to Cs door and rang the doorbell frantically several times as she answered the door and I was screaming "The baby is choking, the baby is choking" I learned yesterday evening that I passed E to her and she tried the Heimlich as well but all I remembered was the dispatcher answered the phone and I was screaming at him "The baby is choking, the baby is choking" and just spouted off my address and of course the poor guy couldn't understand a word I was saying.  But as he started giving me directions I ran back home with E figuring C would be right behind me....which she was but now I know I ripped E from her hands! (Funny how you can totally forget something like that.)  I remember seeing my 2 yr old son on the porch when I got back but I didn't even think to do anything about that; maybe I just knew C would be right over???  Along w/ C came 2 other neighbors from across the street...one I found out C went to get b/c she didn't know what else to do and the other heard my screams and ran over (lets just say the guy that heard me screaming was across the street and 2 doors down!)  I know somewhere in this time when I was screaming but still trying to listen to the dispatcher...there was the voice in my head calmly telling me that I had to stop...I had to calm down as I told that silly voice that I absolutely couldn't calm myself, however the voice insisted (yes I have conversations w/ myself...you going to say you don't?).  Somehow I did stop screaming and the dispatcher began to walk me through the Heimlich as I tried to do it again at his request I was telling him that I had done it and I was doing it and it wasn't working.  Then he asked me if I knew CPR and I whimpered "I'm certified but I cannot remember"....totally defeated by panic....I was so defeated but he began to tell me what to do.  Was she breathing "No", was she responsive "No", call her name out loudly to see if she will respond ([In my mind] "Are you kidding me right now?  She was not responsive, discolored, not breathing, totally limp.....she isn't going to respond b/c I call her name!!!  But yes I did it!), "you have to open her airway" he said explaining how to do so and then in ways my training came back to me?  I wish I knew who this dispatcher was b/c he was a God send......  I couldn't remember how many compressions to how many breaths for an infant, "am I doing this right?" I wondered in my mind.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5....breath ("Oh I saw her chest rise so I guess I did that right" another thought!) 1,2,3,4,5...breath.  The dispatcher asked if I heard anything and I heard a rattle "YES" as her eyes popped open w/ no life in them but they were open! ....so AGAIN; 1,2,3,4,5....breath...she started to whimper folks....she started to freakin whimper and then she started to cry....the Good Lord my God gave her breath, he gave her life once again!!!!  For whatever reason the dispatcher asked a few more questions which I allowed a neighbor to answer; the dispatcher advised the ambulance would be here in 3-4 minutes and then he hung up.  Aren't they supposed to stay on the line until help is there???  Anyways all the while I rubbed her belly and encouraged her to cry all she wanted....all I knew was that crying meant she was breathing, she was breathing, she....was....breathing....!!!!!  A neighbor fetched my cell phone and I called Es mom who we will call Z; over the phone she was super calm!  Now I learn she was calm b/c I was freaking out and she knew we couldn't both be freaking out!  Even as E was crying and breathing I was still freaking out...what a sight I must have been.  The paramedics came as I am practically smothering E with kisses and praises to God above but I had to hand her off.  That was the last I saw her, she was crying, so she was breathing but she was still blue....I then hear that when she got to the hospital her father was already there and she smiled at the sight of him.  Yes she smiled and she had regained color!  Isn't that fabulous!?  I can easily say that was the worst day of my life up to this point...I've had a lot of bad days and some super crappy stuff happen in my life but this takes the cake hands down!  But shouldn't I say it was a great day?

Happy ending huh?  "And they lived happily ever after"!!!  They did and E will.....I'm still coping.  I'm on my knees both mentally and sometimes physically at the good Lord who saved that babies life so that I didn't have to live knowing that she died in my arms, on my time, in my home.....I have yet to find the right words to show how truly thankful I am to His great mercy.  He is so good to me!  Ecstatic about this I promise you I truly am....but on my knees I cry ....why did this happen, what if the Good Lord didn't save her, what am I to learn from this experience...I feel so much guilt....what should I have done differently to prevent this all together, her parents had to leave work to rush to their baby in the hospital....the movie in my head shows me in panic mode....I see the lifeless precious baby and wonder how in the world is it even possible that she is still here?  My head refuses to allow me to make sense of any of it... I'm a very analytical person and making sense of things is what I do.....things just have to make sense right?  My daddy who some of you have already read about says to me... who am I to be able to make sense of everything?  Who am I to always have control of my world?....this is what he says is my biggest issue....that I always need to be in control and always need things to be part of my plan....he is 100% right..... I get that I can't always have control and not everything is going to go according to my schedule.....and no.....making sense of the world is not my job nor is it even possible..... Even still my mind will not rest.  As I watch it play over and over and over and over and over in my minds eye....I see her discolored face, her frantic eyes, her limp body...... daddy says this too shall slow down; at first it's going to haunt me and I will always remember these things but they wont be as often or as haunting.  My dad has seen a few horrendous things himself and I have found his words very comforting as he understands and validates how I am feeling, thinking, acting.  Anxiety fills my chest and unrest fills my soul. 

In case you're wondering the parents have been a God send to me...can you even imagine?   I feel that I did something wrong b/c she choked on my watch,s he had to go to the hospital and seriously people she was knocking on the Golden Doors of Heaven but yet they have been so reassuring that it's all okay.  Even when I first called Z and E was screaming and I told Z in short what had happened Z said "Stephanie, she is crying so she is breathing"...I knew that but panic had filled every inch of me.  Es parents kept me updated from the hospital and sent me pictures of E sitting up and eventually getting a drink.  They blessed me tremendously as tired as everyone was; that very evening they came by so I could see Es pink beautiful face.  E was sleeping at this time but peacefully...I listened to her breathe and kissed her face....and hugged Z and once again apologized.  I talked to Z a bit and had peace that even though I blame me that she did not....helpful step number 1 for sure.  Again yesterday Z brought E over but this time E was awake and I got to hold her, hug her and watch her play...all pink and happy!  C got to come over too and meet the precious life she saw hanging in the balance just the day before.... oh and I failed to mention that my greatest neighbor in the world rode in the Ambulance w/ E b/c I couldn't....  During that visit there was a most important healing moment where E laid her little head on my shoulder in forgiveness for the rough day she had the day before.  I must say that the visit was the most healing moment of it all....

So I slept better last night and some of the horrific visions have been filled with her smiling face rather than the face of frantic pleas that have far too often haunted me over the past few days.  I look forward to Monday as she will be back in my home as normal and I will get to hold her and hug her many many more times and remember that she is okay.  I do believe that normalcy will be my next healing step after this one of getting my feelings out and no longer hiding from the questions I'm sure that are to come.  Other than that daddy says I'll have to count on time to heal the rest of it.  The mental pictures will always be there but I'll go on and I'll be fine.  E is here and she is alive and she is beautiful and happy and PINK!  I am truly blessed so please don't misunderstand this post....  I have the most loving and compassionate God who without a single doubt in my mind carried me through those dark moments.  A friend of mine who has no idea until she reads this what has been causing me such pain reminded me of the poem Footprints.... when I expressed my need to cry but I was simply unable her words brought those tears I needed so bad....b/c I keep looking at the moments where CPR was administered and can't figure out what I did that would have brought that baby back...I was panicking, I was confused and lost.....it was God.  He was carrying me and when I look back on those moments in my life there will be only one set of footprints in the sand and they most definitely were not mine.....

Psalm 116:1; I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:5-7; The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you

Inspired by E

Tasty Tuesday/Meatloaf Muffins

Sound appetizing?  Well it's super easy and quite tasty!  Of course I found this on Pinterest here

Ingredients:
1lb ground meat
1/3 C breadcrumbs or oatmeal (we use oatmeal)
1/3 C Parmesan cheese
1 or 2 Eggs (we used 1 but 2 probably would have helped
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce (or 1/4 C ketchup)
1/2 tspn garlic powder
Salt and Pepper
Several shakes of Worstenchester sauce
A couple of handfuls of whatever veggies you may want to include.  We only used onions but you can use peppers, carrots, onions....etc.

Preheat to 350 degrees. 

Mix ingredients in a bowl. Sorry for the dark picture

 Ball up mix and put into muffin tin...original post I found said 8-10 muffins but we ended up with 12.  Top w/ tomato sauce or ketchup.
Bake 30-35 minutes.

I failed to get a picture of the done meatloaf in the muffin tin but here is what was left after we pigged out!


(Calorie content per muffin is 110!)

I really liked this, it was so easy and they were good.  I did use the tomato sauce but next time will be useing ketchup as the tomato sauce I believe took over the taste of the meatloaf muffins.  I think the ketchup will definitely fix that but even with the tomato sauce they were tasty!  Plus how fun....meatloaf muffins!!!


Inspired by Tasty Tuesday

Gregory's 2nd Birthday Shirt

Here is the last of many birthday gifts I've made for Gregory's upcoming 2nd birthday!  Finally done with gifts and now I have to move on to decorations!

So last year I had no idea how to do an Applique so I paid $18 for a 1st birthday shirt for Gregory that had a "1" appliqued on the shirt along with his name embroidered on the shirt.  Of course I still don't do embroidery but thanks to blogland I've realized that appliques are doable and once I actually did one I realized it was actually quite easy!  So this year I decided to save some birthday funds and make his 2nd birthday shirt myself and I'm quite happy with it!

I bought this t-shirt at Walmart for $3.88...it has a pocket but thanks to a blog I had come across all you have to do is use a seam ripper and you can get rid of that pocket quite quickly!

Looks like there was never a pocket there!

I then used a stencil to cut a G out of some black fabric and then as seen here I took an embroidery needle and some embroidery thread and then sewn a white line down the center of the G to make it look like a road.

Maybe I should mention that Gregory's birthday theme is all things with wheels...cars, trucks, motorcycles..... Gregory loves them all!  (colors are black, blue and bright green)

Thanks to my stepmom I decided to applique our last name on the back of Gregory's birthday shirt.

A closer picture...no the appliques are not perfect but I'm proud of it!

Here is the front of the shirt. I appliqued the G onto the shirt after I sewed the road down the middle. I then Applqued the 2 in the corner....G squared!....I then Appliqued our last name on the back of the shirt and then sewed two little car buttons I found at Walmart for just under $2. I think it's pretty cute and more importantly I think Gregory is going to love it!



Inspired by Gregory's 2nd Birthday Party!

Sunburst Mirror

    I am so excited to share this project with you.  I've been a very busy girl lately and have been feeling super productive.  Of course mainly I have been focusing on Gregory's birthday gifts and now preparing to start working on the decorations and party favors....honeing in on crunch time over here!  All the while as mentioned before we have started painting in our home..... forget Spring cleaning we are just jumping around everywhere in productivity!  Along with the projects that I feel are of priority I have had projects that nag me constantly so I must fit them in as well! :-)  This is one of those projects!  I actually saw this when I first started blogging a couple of months ago in the blog What The Graham?.  I imediately started collecting stir sticks and after a lot of other projects I finally got all the stir sticks needed and got to work!

I got the mirror (it's upside down in the picture sorry!) at Michaels for around $7...I used it to trace a circle onto a diaper box b/c the card board is sturdier than some.

I used my Xacto knife to cut out that circle.

I then traced a smaller circle on it so I would be able to make sure my stir sticks were all evenly placed

I laid out my stir sticks so that I made sure I had enough to go all the way around twice

Sorry I don't have a picture of this but I cut half of my stir sticks down about 3 inches so the top layer would be shorter than the bottom layer.

I painted my stir sticks black....if you have been following me for any time you know that my room is black and white so of course they are black!

I started glueing the bottom layer of stir sticks useing a hot glue gun

Then started glueing down the top layer of shorter stir sticks

I glued down the mirror

Okay...be careful it is flimsy...but it's just going to be hanging on my wall...I don't plan to do a lot of moving around with it.  My husband suggested useing his nailer to nail each stir stick down to a wooden plaque but I didn't feel like waiting until I could get to the store to do that.  This works for me...but if you want it to be more sturdy you may want to do something like that.  What I did to help was flip it over and shoot hot glue into every crevice for some extra hold.

To hang I simply took a piece of ribbon and hot glued it to the cardboard but to make sure it stayed I shot a couple of staples through and then topped it with hot glue again.....It definitely did the job!

Here we have it....I LOVE it!  The basket as created here and the sunburst fill this space wonderfully.... It was blank for 4 years....how awful is that!?  I had many ideas in the past but never "did" anything about it....I'm in love with this and my stepmom came over this evening and her exact words were "I love your sunburst....maybe I could make one?"  The pictures do not give it justice!  I realise there is a lot of room for improvement and I plan to use the basket and the headboard surface to decorate for special occasions.

Oh I almost forgot the BEST part!  I paid about $7 for the mirror at Michaels, I got the stir sticks at Home Depot for free...a few here and a few there...., I already had the black paint which I've used on several projects and will be continuing to use, I just cut a circle out of an empty diaper box from Gregory's diapers, I already had the hot glue gun and glue, the little ribbon on the back was scraps from another project....Yeah...add that up!  $7!!!!


Inspired by What The Graham?