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
Friday, September 7, 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
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
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
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
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.
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
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
Bake 30-35 minutes.
(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
Monday, March 12, 2012
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!
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!
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)
Inspired by Gregory's 2nd Birthday Party!
Thursday, March 8, 2012
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?
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.
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.
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?
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tasty Tuesday/Apologies
Can you believe I did not get in the kitchen and pull out any wonderful recipes!? Sorry guys, I've been really busy just trying to do day to day things. I have tons of projects I've been working on plus we have started painting. Excited??? Well I'm not really, at least not with the actual doing part, I'm not much into painting. We got the kitchen all painted up this past weekend and it does look so much better but I just lack the patience and the skill to be a great painter. I plan to conquer the hallway this coming weekend and then we are going to attack the living room the next weekend as a duo and maybe recruit some help from family as well....it's not a tiny space! The colors we have chosen are nuetral...yep I'm totally boring! The only reason I'm painting my walls now is because after 4 years of dealing w/ contruction grade matte paint we just HAVE to do something about it in the main living spaces.....but a lot due to the fact that we are getting rid of the horrible berber carpet in our living room and hallway so painting the walls in the living room and hallway just made sense and then realized...well the kitchen is right there so might want to paint it too! I think when it's all said and done I'll be really happy we did it but boy am I not thrilled about having to do it....not to mention all the birthday planning that is in process right now, less than a month away now and during all this painting I'm going to be in hyper birthday planning mode. I have another gift to share with you that I've completed....now all gifts are done. Next will be the planning and making the decorations for the actual event. So I do apologize that Tasty Tuesday is being sacrificed this week....I do have something planned for next Tuesday though so I'm not going to totally abandon it. Although I must admit I'm starting to grow weary with this series....I'm so awful. I'm going to try to get over this hump but fore warning it may become something to where I post food as I get to it and stick to more of my crafty projects b/c there are plenty of those to go around!!!
Inspired by Tasty Tuesday
Inspired by Tasty Tuesday
Monday, March 5, 2012
Gregory's Birthday/Name Quilted Blanket
Another birthday gift for my precious Gregory! I'm still working on the final gift but I have this one to share. It was a time consuming gift but my favorite I think! I shared with you here the quilt I made for Gregory for his first birthday. This year I had not planned to make a quilt for Gregory but a comforter to be a part of his bedroom suit I've been working on. Well the bedroom suit is complete....here I will share Gregory's quilt....yes that is right...I ended up making another quilt that is also Mickey Mouse but very different too!
Here is my blanket all laid out. The back is white, there is a layer of fusible batting (reason for the iron!) and the top fabric is my Mickey Mouse fabric! I ran the iron over my fabrics as instructed to get all my layers to stick together.
I folded around the quilt to create clean edges on my blanket and pinned them into place.
Sewed all around to hold the finished edges!
I made stencils for Gregory's name.....this is where this became a pretty big project!
I made a graph on the back of the blanket so I knew how much room I had for each letter
This is the front of the finished project
Here is the back...do you see it? There are some missing pictures but I made stencils of Gregory's first and middle names since they both have seven characters is was perfect. I traced the letters into each square as shown a few pictures up and then I followed the traced lines on my sewing machine. In the end...I sewed Gregory's name into this blanket. I think it turned out great....it was really hard to get a picture of this since I used white thread but this is how I mean't for it to look. I hope Gregory will love it and keep it always!
Inspired by Gregory's Birthday
Inspired by Gregory's Birthday
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