Friday Faves!

My little sweetness (of course)...


PROJECT RUNWAY!!! LOVE this show and am so excited for a new season!


Dry Shampoo = Mommy must have!!! WHY have I not tried this before???

Not being afraid to get wet!


The Dollar Store - Well I actually don't care for the Dollar Store on most occasions, but for birthday party crap, it was perfect!

Pinterest - Just might be my new addiction. Definitely more addicting than Facebook. LOVE IT!

The smile on C's face every morning! (This was one of many UNSUCCESSFUL attempts at the 12-month photo.)


Baking Success!!! (Same cookies, two different icings)




Listening to Andrew playing with Carson yesterday...so sweet. He stayed home with him after our doctor's appointment instead of having the nanny come over. Andrew was worn out at the end of the day. Dads need that little reminder every now and then about how exhausting it is.

Knowing that your child has learned to show affection because of all the hugs and kisses you give him. I read somewhere that it's a good sign if a child has a stuffed animal or lovey that they want and hug on all the time. It shows that they've learned how to love and show affection from you. All together now... "Ahhhh, so sweet." This was Andrew's baby doll by the way...Carson LOVES it!




The contents of this box....


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A SERGER/OVERLOCK MACHINE!!!


I laugh now because when I took my sewing class last year, the instructor called it. She could tell I was LOVING sewing and was also a perfectionist when it came to certain things. She was right. I want to make stuff for other people, not just for Carson, and I can't stand how a sewing machine finishes an edge. It's pretty rough looking compared to how a serger does it. There are certainly ways to pretty up garments using just a sewing machine, but it takes a lot more time and effort... two things I don't have much of these days.

Most people won't find this exciting, but I am PUMPED!!! I will likely be like a guy and bypass the manual and just start playing! Actually, probably a bad idea because I'm pretty sure there is a lot I can screw up. I can't wait to figure it all out and get started!

Happy Friday!

Guess it had to happen sooner or later....

Carson hasn't really been sick yet at all. Well, he's finally joined the ranks of a normal child. He has his first ear infection. In addition, I guess the drainage spread to an already irritated area on his nose (from it running/rubbing it/maybe a little carpet burn too), which is also infected. I had NO CLUE he had an ear infection. That certainly came as a surprise. Thank goodness for early morning walk-in appointments. :-)

The good news is that he really doesn't act like he feels too bad. He has his moments, but in general has been okay. What really had me the most concerned was that he has hardly eaten anything solid all week, wasn't terribly interested in drinking, and hadn't had too many wet diapers. He woke up virtually dry two days in a row. He wasn't showing any signs of dehydration and seemed to still be getting plenty of liquids, but it was just weird for him not to pee. Today he has been much better in the eating/drinking/peeing department and the doc didn't seem too concerned as long as he was getting fluids and going at least once every 12 hours, which he has.

Check out that nastiness on his nose...it literally went from being just a little red from it rubbing it so much to this in a matter of 6 hours. Then it seemed to be growing. Gross! He also has a skeeter bite on one side of his face and a bruise on the other from falling onto the corner of Wannie's coffee table. Poor kid. He's looking pretty rough...


The doc put him on amoxicillian for the ear infection and prescribed some antibiotic stuff for his nose. Hopefully he gets back to himself soon.

Why? Wednesday

Why do companies/doctors feel it's necessary to have obnoxious music playing when you are put on hold or to remind me that my call is important to them? You know what would be great....silence. I don't know about you, but a few moments of silence sounds fabulous!

Why has Blogger only let me upload two pictures at a time and half the time that doesn't even work??? Frustrating.

Why is my our son so ridiculously precious? :-)

Why, oh why must Shutterfly run amazing deals (BOGO on photo books) when I don't have time to make two photobooks???

How in the world could our government end NASA??? I think this is SO sad and hope that someday it will be brought back. What do you tell a little kid that wants to be an astronaut?...sorry, kid. I guess you need to move to China or Russia to do that.

How do people assemble children's toys WITHOUT power tools? I'm sorry, but a simple screwdriver is NOT going to cut it.

Along that same line, who are the people that right or illustrate these instructions? They should be shot.

As I was making cookies for Carson's party, I was just thinking HOW did people discover how to make certain things? Eggs, flour, sugar, baking powder (what is that really?), etc... ah ha, cookies? I'm guessing LOTS of trial and error.

Where do the random shoes/boots on the shoulder of the highway come from?

Why was it so cool to be able to spell MISSISSIPPI when we were younger? (And even cooler to spell it backwards.)

Why do the [excuse me] a-hole drivers never seemed to get pulled over and the [at the time] 8-month pregnant me, 1 mile from my house get pulled over AND get a ticket?

Is it just me, or does Hershey's chocolate have a very distinct smell? I'm pretty sure I could sniff it out against other kinds of chocolate.

All Dressed Up (sort of) ...

I probably won't be able to do any serious blogging until this weekend since the upcoming posts will be long ones, so in the meantime, here's my little man in a tie t-shirt I made him with scraps from his crib skirt. He hasn't quite been himself the last day or so, so no smiles here.


Yes, he has a big 'ol skeeter bite on his face... he swells up like his mommy.

I WON!!!

Remember that FABULOUS give-a-way from Coffee & Cabernet??? Well... I WON!!! I NEVER win anything!!! At the Halloween carnival in elementary school, the kindergarten room had a cake walk. EVERYONE just about won a cake. I NEVER won one in SEVEN years (actually, more like 9 years since I went a couple times in junior high since my little brother was still in elementary). Talk about bad odds! I definitely like Random.org which has now improved my winning odds! :-)

Pretty soon I will be the proud owner of this beautiful dry erase board. It matches my kitchen PERFECTLY!!!


If you haven't checked out Coffee & Cabernet, definitely do!

Make Ya Smile Monday!

Of course, Carson't birthday weekend will warrant a post of its own, but here's a sneak peak of the birthday action!

Just's just say the cake was a hit!

It's Really Hard to Believe...

...that on this day last year, we were at St. Elizabeth's in Beaumont anxiously awaiting for our little man to make his debut into the world.

Ready to Go! (Pretty sure that shirt no longer fit and that my belly is hanging out the bottom.)


I was HUGE!


All Situated!


Let's Walk this Baby Out! (Didn't work.)


I was still all smiles at this point...it got pretty rough for a while after that, but the end result was the most precious gift, more than I could have ever imagined.

I think the way I have my pictures on my computer pretty much sums up life. There was the "Pictures" folder that had many different albums organized by date. Then, I created the "Carson" folder and EVERYTHING goes in there now. At 12:39am on July 22, 2010, our life was forever changed. Our life is now about HIM, and I wouldn't change a thing.

As thrilled as I am to be entering toddler-hood, I still find it hard to believe we no longer have a "baby." I'm thankful he will still snuggle with he, and I still enjoy giving him his bottle in the morning and at night. We're working on the bottle weaning though. We've finally found a sippy that he'll drink more than just water out of.

So, tomorrow is the big day. Our little man will be ONE. I still don't know where the time has gone. People that weren't even pregnant when he was born have already had their babies. I feel like he'll be in Kindergarten before we know it, then graduating high school, then college, then getting a job, then getting married, then having his OWN kids. NO, this must slow down! I know it's cliche, but TIME DOES FLY, especially when you are having fun!

It's certainly not easy, but it's worth it. I'm still struggling with how to juggle A child (God Bless those with more, I don't know how you do it!), a marriage, a job, keeping a house [somewhat] in order, responsibilities at church, and trying to make time for myself as well for both "quiet" time and pursuing hobbies (which I have put on the back burner and learned that I need to make time for this). I think every mom faces this struggle on a daily basis. If anyone has it figured out, PLEASE let me know. I pray daily to find joy in household chores and responsibilities and to have patience and exhibit grace in all that I do. I fail. A LOT. I know that my current calling is to be the best wife and mother that I can be. I feel that I generally keep up with the mother part, but the wife part tends to take the back seat...and it shouldn't. I'm convinced that part of my problem is that I don't have a schedule. This is certainly part of the problem of working from home. I don't set an alarm and generally get up when Carson wakes up, which is 7-7:30. I work all day (usually quite a bit past 5 just because I didn't get at least 8 hours of actual work in during the day due to distractions around the house...another problem of working from home), get Carson ready for bed while Andrew cooks, eat late, clean the kitchen, and then by the time that's all over it's 10-10:30. Where is the time for Andrew? Where is the time for me? There isn't any. I had a little melt down earlier in the week and whined to Andrew about how he has a passion/hobby (given the time of year, it is currently fishing) that he gets to pursue on a regular basis. I was being selfish and whining that I didn't have any ME time to do anything. He promptly reminded me that he gets up at 4:00 in the morning to do that BEFORE work. Good Point. So, I decided to start getting up earlier (NOT at 4 AM though) and having "me" time. Wow. Already LOVE it. Actually finishing a cup of coffee while it's hot = AMAZING. :-) Finishing the little dress I started on Saturday = AMAZING. Not rushing through my devotional = AMAZING. Silence = AMAZING. I'm thinking a couple days a week this time should be devoted to me and the other days spent with Andrew. When was the last time we sat and ate breakfast together and talked? Alone? Couldn't tell ya...

I just realized this was the first post in a while with any "feelings" to it. Want to know why? Probably because I haven't devoted any time to my feelings...I've been running on auto pilot.

Remember the Mary and Martha story? (Luke 10:38-42)... I think moms are SO often the Martha's...busy, busy, busy doing things for others. Jesus reminded her not to worry about all the little things and instead concentrate on what was important. In this story, he wanted Martha to be like Mary who was sitting quietly and contently listening to Him. I can honestly say it's pretty hard to sit quiety and contently and listen for God to speak without thinking about what all I have to do or some other distraction running through my head.

I think a verse I could read every day is, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) I need to quit worrying and trying to do everything and just trust God. Easy, right? :-) Wouldn't it be nice if a "Chill Pill" actually existed???

Happy Thursday!

Sewing Project #2 - Sweet & Simple

While I enjoyed making the little turquoise gingham jon jon for Carson, I have to admit I would have rather sewn a little girl's dress instead just because they seem easier and it seems you have so much more creative flexibility. Of course, I didn't exercise all that creativity yet since I'm still just learning the basics.

So, Google "simple baby dress pattern" and the first result you get is the DIY "Pillowcase" Baby Dress Pattern from Prudent Baby. If you've never seen their blog, Prudent Baby, definitely check it out. I can take NO credit whatsoever on this dress because they laid it out, plain and simple, and even included a set of pattern measurements, one for 0-3 months (which I used) and one for 2T. So, BIG thank you to Prudent Baby for making this so simple! Oh, and please honor their wishes that this pattern only be used for personal use since it was FREE! Thank you! :-)




So now that the credits are out of the way, here's how it went.

Measurements for 0-3 month dress:


So I needed to make the pattern but wasn't sure I had anything big enough (and didn't really want to tape together a bunch of computer paper), but then I remembered we had some left over "wrapping paper" (i.e. Andrew's butcher paper-esque paper they use to cover the tables when people bring in dead ducks after a hunt). Yes, add some red and gold ribbon and you have Christmas wrapping paper. :-) Turns out, it made the perfect pattern paper. So, I just got out my tape measurer and created the image from the computer on the paper.


Fold the pattern in half and place on the fold, pin, cut, repeat.






You should have two identical pieces now. Put the wrong sides (what will be the inside of the dress) together and pin the sides. Sew a 5/8" seam along the sides.


Now for the arm holes. We will finish with single-fold bias tape to give a clean finish. Pin one of the folds like so, then sew along the crease.


Then, fold back over, tucking in the other fold in the tape. Pin and sew.


You now have finished arm holes.


Repeat on the other side. You should now have a garment that looks like this. I left extra bias tape on the ends just in case. Turns out that was unnecessary, so I just cut off.


Now to make the pocket for the ribbon. Fold down and press a 1/4" (pictured on left side below), then fold over another 3/4" (pictured on right side) and sew along bottom edge so there is an ~1" "pocket" for the ribbon. You will do this on both the front and back pieces of the dress. See 2nd picture below for finished pocket with ribbon.


Finished pocket with ribbon. Use a safety pin to feed the ribbon through.


Fold the bottom hem up 1/4", press and then sew in place. If you want to stop here and not add ruffle or a trim, then fold up again, and sew to finish the edge.


Everything to this point was SUPER easy, but then I decided I wanted to add a ruffle since I had the perfect fabric and really no other use for it. I suggest just Googling how to make a ruffle, because I'm pretty sure that from here on out was not proper dressmaking. I pretty much just winged it and will probably do it differently next time. The short version of how to make a ruffle though it so just sew a basting (very loose and wide) stitch and then pull the bobbin thread to gather. I then sewed the two edges together so I had circle of ruffles that I could attach to the bottom of the dress.


I spent the longest amount of time just trying to figure out how to attach the ruffle and not have a rough edge anywhere. I NEED A SERGER.

What it initially looked like before turning up the edges to finish. I'm not really sure how I would even describe what I did. I know there had to be another way...oh well, next time.


It was a mess on the inside (I knew it would be), so I trimmed down the inside rough edge of the ruffle with my pinking shears to that it would cleanly fold up into the hem of the skirt when I rolled it up. Again... I know this makes no sense without very detailed pictures.


This is how it looked in the end on the outside...


...and on the inside.


Amazingly, it looks pretty good. Far from perfect, but if I had a little girl, I'd let her wear it. :-)

The finished dress!!!


Let's just hope it fits the little sweetie I'm giving it to! Pictures (hopefully) to come soon!!!

Why? Wednesday

Why do so many articles of clothing say "cool iron" if necessary? Who the heck uses a "cool" iron?

Why can a little, teeny, tiny eyelash in your eye be so painful and irritating?

Why does it feel like all I do is clean up and pick up after everyone (dogs included) at my house yet it NEVER looks the way I want it to? No one obviously LIVES in any of the model homes in the catalogs.

When calculating movie revenues that set blockbuster revenues, do they account for inflation?

How could someone with any morals ever represent someone who they knew was guilty of a horrendous crime and work to get them not convicted? (The end part of that sentence is what bothers me.) I certainly understand everyone is entitled to a fair trial, but trying to give someone a fair trial and corresponding, fair sentence versus trying to have them released just doesn't make sense to me. I didn't go to law school, so I'm probably speaking out of ignorance here.

Why can my dogs be so stupid at some times, but then be smart enough to figure out the child safety gates? Yes, they can open them with their nose. Punks.

What's so horrible about changing a diaper? Gee, kid, you'd think you'd be HAPPY to no longer have poo poo in your pants! Now me getting poop under my fingernails, that's something to cry about!

Why to 'older' people use the word "B.M."? Pretty sure I haven't heard to many of my friends referring to their child's poop as a B.M. When you saw what the letters B and M stand for, it just sounds gross.

Why does it not rain for months and then won't stop raining. I'm not complaining though... we NEED it!

Why can I easily kill the fly that isn't really bothering me and the one that's driving me nuts WON'T DIE???

How bad does the weather have to be to not get your mail? Do those postmen & women really deliver rain, snow, sleet, or hail?

A Special Kind of Patience...

Only Shooter would be Carson's step stool...

Make Ya Smile Monday - Baby Steps!!!

Carson is certainly not a walker yet (other than around furniture and behind his push toys), but he did take a BIG step with some BABY steps!

That's right, Carson took his first (two) steps on his own last night!!!

Check it out!!!



I promptly cut off the video before he decided he was SO OVER trying to walk. :-)

Fabulous Give-A-Way @ Coffee & Cabernet

My friend, Sarah, has a ridiculously cute blog, Coffee & Cabernet, and today through Friday she is hosting a gorgeous give-a-way of something SHE MADE. How fabulous is that??? Check it out...

http://www.coffeeandcabernet.com/2011/07/giveaway-chic-unique-dry-erase-board.html

Friday Faves!

I'm wishing now I hadn't name this post "Friday" Faves, since it appears I'll never be able to actually post on Friday. Anyways, enjoy...

New Treats! (Under adult supervision, of course.)


Playing in the rain with Nana


Thanks, Humidity, for fogging my lens and ruining my picture...


RAIN!!! (The baby pool is FULL...from RAIN!!!)


A Good Laugh (Thanks to the One Step Ahead catalog)...



(Poor child - Yes, they took a picture of her going to the bathroom in the back of a car.)

Weekly organization! Got these for about $0.10 when visiting Meghan in Denver when a Michaels (I think) was going out of business. :-) LIFE SAVER!



A little innocent bathroom humor to make me laugh. This is my favorite souvenier from our honeymoon in Alaska...a pooping bear.



A new monogram return address stamp! I thought it was time to get a little classier and quit using all my free charity labels, at least for things that weren't bills. :-)



Hope everyone has a nice weekend!