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