bugaboo {29 weeks}

I've had a couple people tell me recently that they feel like my pregnancy is flying by - I'm glad it's not just me! Hard to believe it's time for another weekly update. Not too much has changed over the past week. I'm still getting bigger...feeling tired...making and shopping for baby...trying to prepare Asher.

One concerning thing is that I've been experiencing a ton of Braxton-Hicks contractions. Some are painful, some aren't. I'm sure these are just happening when I try to do too much without drinking enough water, but still - disconcerting. I have a doctor appointment on Friday and will check with them about it.

As you saw yesterday I've been busy getting the nursery ready. We're still waiting for the rest of the furniture to arrive, but I'm doing what I can in the meantime. I also made a big trip to the baby store to stock up on basic essentials. Despite this, my list doesn't seem much smaller - ha!

Lady baby is the size of an acorn squash this week and is moving a ton! She's a pretty busy girl in there and I love it. Every twitch and jab is a reminder to me of the miracle she is - love, love this part. :-)

How far along: 29 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: will find out officially on Friday

Maternity clothes: yup.

Stretch marks: none yet

Belly button: mostly out

Sleep: pretty good, although I wake up feeling very sore and not particularly well-rested

Baby movement: yes - lots!

Gender: tiny girl

Food cravings: buffalo chicken wings {great for growing a baby...I know - ha!}

Food aversions: nothing really

What I miss: sleeping on my belly

Looking forward to: getting ready for our family beach trip in a few weeks

Best moment this week: getting a few more things done in preparation for her arrival

Milestones: baby is gaining {more and more} weight

 

nursery projects {DIY crib skirt}

In the nursery this time around I decided that I didn't want a bedding set with bumpers, which means only buying a crib skirt and sheets {I've been planning to make a quilt myself all along}.  Have you ever shopped for a la carte baby bedding at box stores?  Yeah, they have notsomuch.  I looked around a bit and was really disappointed in the options.  They were all very princess-y and not at all what I was envisioning.

After this disappointment I went to my go-to second option - Etsy!  Of course I found wonderfully beautiful custom options - with prices to match.  Most of the crib skirt + sheet sets were going for around $160 or so, which is more than I was hoping to spend for 2 items.  Plus, I was pretty sure I could make it myself.  So...that's what I did!

Thanks to Drew watching Asher all day {thank you, thank you Drew!} I was able to get out on Saturday to shop for some bedding fabrics and work on dressing up miss bug's crib.

With the pink ruffle curtains making such a big statement in the room I wanted something darker to center the space and give it a little depth.  I also wanted something modern and geometric to contrast the super girl-y ruffle explosion over on the windows.  ha!  I decided on this navy blue and white chevron fabric.  While I was fabric shopping I saw the pink trim and thought it would be the perfect accent to tie the room together.  In my {very humble} opinion it really makes the skirt.  :-)  

I kind of followed a tutorial online, but mostly ended up winging it myself based on my crib dimensions.

Honestly, it was super simple.  I didn't take photos as I was going, but here are the basic steps.  If anyone wants more details, just ask!

{1} measure your crib side lengths + the length of the drop from the crib platform to the floor

{2} add 2" per side of length for hemming

{3} add 2" on the bottom width for hemming + 4" on the top width for hemming and adjustability space

For example, my front crib length was 51" and a 16" drop, so I cut my panel 55" long and 22" wide.

I made my crib skirt in 3 different pieces.  I'd highly recommend doing it this way.  My crib had some bars that attach the mattress platform to the crib sides and they would have been really hard to work around if the skirt was all one piece.

{4} iron the cut fabric smooth, then do a double fold over to capture the fraying, cut edges within a closed hem {I did it this way because I don't own a serger}

{5} do a straight stitch along the edges to hem it all nicely

I made my skirt adjustable because I hate having a dragging crib skirt as the mattress is lowered.  This was simple enough too.  Since my crib has a wire platform, I sewed ribbons to the top edge of each piece so I can tie them to whatever height is best.

{6} cut 2 pieces of ribbon, 8" long each

I did 6 sets of 2 for my long front and 4 sets for the short sides

{7} using a zig zag stitch attach the ribbons securely to the top of the panel.  It looks ugly, but no one will see it anyway

Now for the final steps - adding the ribbon trim:

{8} place the ribbon trim along the bottom edge + pin it in place

{9} straight stitch along the trim, making several back stitches at the beginning and end

That's it!

I also bought some coordinating fabric to make a crib sheet, but I haven't gotten around to making it yet.  I used one of Asher's solid navy sheets in the meantime and I really like the way it looks.

It's so fun and satisfying to see things go from a piled heap of fabric to something pretty and useful!  Not to mention the money savings - my total for the skirt {fabric, trim, thread} was $40.  Since I loved these fabrics I thought it was well worth it!  :-)

{phone dump friday}

Hey, I'm on the right day this week! Exciting!

The most thrilling thing that happened this week I don't have a photo of. Guess I can still post it here....

After 2 trips to the DMV I finally have my NC plates and registration! I'm excited to finally, officially be a full fledged resident of our new state. Drew got the plates on my car last night, so I think Asher and I will take her out for a spin today to see if we get more "hey, neighbor!" and less grumble, grumble "out-of-towner who doesn't know where she's going, better not let her merge". Ha ha - it hasn't been that bad, but you all {or should I say y'all, now?} know what I mean.

You've been there. You've thought it too. :-)

In other goings on Asher and I made some banana bread. He's a huge fan - and a good baker to boot.

 

I've been doing a little more work on my embroidery machine as well, including this simple {but cute} shirt for our little friend, Scarlett. She had her 1st birthday in May and I'm finally able to send this!

 

I also did a bit of work in the nursery. Ladybug's curtains have been hanging for over a week now and it was time to get the wrinkles steamed out. It was one of those crappy-but-needs-to-be-done jobs. Halfway through my arms were aching but the progress was undeniable. Can you tell where I stopped? Ha!

 

It felt - and looked - great when I was done. Hopefully this won't need to be done again for awhile...

 

Asher has found a new love for Play-Doh. We dug it out the other day and haven't looked back.

 

See. Happiness. :-)

 

Know what else he loves? Peanut butter. Wow, this is good stuff. He started out dipping his pretzels in the PB but then realized that was way too slow and requested a spoon.

 

 

Captain A and I went to the pool yesterday and brought baby bug with us. She's so portable these days. :-)

That's it for our week. Happy weekend, all!

wordless wednesday {snuggle bug}

I ran across this photo of newborn Asher the other day and just about melted on the spot.

Oh my, that little squishy guy makes me swoon.

And someone please tell me ladybug will be born with her brother's hairdo. Love it! :-)

nursery projects {DIY canvas art}

I'm excited to share another piece of miss bug's nursery with you all!

I first saw this saying on {where else??} Pinterest and loved it, but when I investigated buying a print it wasn't available. That figures! I still wanted to try and use it somewhere, so I decided to make my own canvas art using a combination of several tutorials I found online.

The first thing I did was paint my canvas. I bought this 12"x16" canvas at Jo-Ann Fabrics when they were 50% off so it was a $5 investment. I saw a great tip on Pinterest about putting push pins on the back of the canvas so the wet paint on the sides doesn't stick on the floor and tried it out.

 

It worked great!

I bought a {professionally} painted sign for the room from a seller on Etsy and wanted another piece in the nursery to coordinate with it. I knew what the exact color was, so I hit up Benjamin Moore for a sample of their "Robin's Nest" and used that as the background shade on this canvas as well. A quick pass with a foam brush and we were set.

While that was drying I created my text. I used Photoshop, but I'm sure you could use Word as well. All I did was organize my text so it would fit nicely on a 12"x16" canvas and then printed the words. I cut the words apart and then followed these steps one word at a time...

{1} scribble white chalk all over the back of the paper
{2} tape paper down on the canvas with masking tape
{3} trace around each letter with a pen - press HARD
{4} c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y remove the tape and paper
{5} squint and adjust the lights until you can see the letter outlines on your canvas
{6} use a fine tip, angled paint brush and acrylic paint to fill in the letters

Voila! Handpainted {but really, copied} canvas art.

 

Here it is against the gray walls...

Of course, I learned a lot along the way and would do a few things differently - and hopefully better! - next time. In fact, I bought a 2nd canvas while they were on sale and may still give this one a quick do-over. All in all, though, I love it!

I think the obvious imperfections give it that made with a mother's love look. :-) I am in NO way an artist - if I can do it, you can do it. ha!

 

bugaboo {28 weeks}

Third trimester!  This is it - the home stretch.

Baby bug and I are doing pretty well together.  I haven't had any major problems and am really grateful for that.  Sure, there are aches and tiredness, but that's small potatoes.  I've even been able to do a lot with Asher which is a huge bonus!

I've been busy getting things ready for baby, but still have so. much. to do.  The nursery is far from complete and I have a list on my phone about 30 items long that I need to buy before she arrives.  In a few weeks Drew, Asher, and I will be heading to New Jersey for our annual beach vacation and I'd like to get a bunch of these things done before we spend a week away.  Drew and I both have a niggling feeling that this little one will come early, so the clock feels like it's ticking {even though it probably isn't really}.

At 28 weeks, baby is between 1.5-2.5 pounds and about the size of an eggplant.  She's practicing her breathing and gaining weight to stay warm on the outside!

How far along: 28 weeks

Net weight gain/loss: 15 pounds

Maternity clothes:  yes and no {but mostly yes}

Stretch marks: none yet

Belly button: either flat or out {but mostly out}

Sleep: it's been pretty good, just need to get to bed earlier!  It's hard to make myself go to bed early since when Asher's sleeping is my only time to work on baby and house projects.

Baby movement: yes - love it!

Gender:  ladybug!

Food cravings: fruit - I've been loving watermelon this summer, which is totally the baby - I normally hate the stuff.

Food aversions: nothing really

What I miss:  sleeping on my belly

Looking forward to: getting a few more nursery projects finished up

Best moment this week: having Asher get his baby doll out all by himself and ask me to help him wrap her in a blanket so he could hug the baby and give her a bottle.  Of course, the next step was to dump her headfirst on the floor, but still...  :-)

Milestones: my body is making colostrum already and getting truly ready to sustain a newborn!

{phone dump monday}

I take so many photos with my camera - can't get too far behind or I'll never catch up! A lot of randoms this week...

Thank you, Pinterest for providing a fun and simple way for me to distract Asher while I make dinner. He loved this pan of baking soda, an eye dropper, and colored vinegar. Fizz!

Mr. Man decided suddenly one morning that he wanted to wear his "tiger shirt" - aka, Halloween costume from last year. It was hanging in his closet and just caught his eye, I guess! Never mind that it's August and this hoodie is thick fleece. Made me sweat just looking at him. We didn't leave the house. :-)

Hello, tiger tail. I love this age - so fun and unpredictable.

When I was making Drew's lunch the other morning I noticed a certain someone supervising. Where did he come from??

Baby girl got her first shipment of bows in this week! I'm still not totally sure what kind we will like best, so I'm trying a variety of styles from all different stores so I can compare the quality as well as the size and style of bow. It's so hard to buy online sometimes. You can't see the color, feel the material, or tell how well made it is. I don't mind paying a little more for a great product, but it's hard to know which are great and which are just overpriced. :-)

Once again, if anyone has had a good experience and can recommend a shop I'd love to hear it!

This little bow went so well with a cute sleeper I have for her - it just might end up being the coming home outfit.  I'm really loving the bows and flowers that will clip on to any hat or headband - seems like a more flexible way to go then all securely attached pieces.

Tonight Drew's work sponsored an event at the local minor league ballpark, so we took Asher to his first ever baseball game. He really loved it! We were practically in the dugout.

Bless his heart, though, Asher kept saying "Asher play". He definitely didn't understand why we couldn't go on the field, but did very much like the fried chicken he had for dinner.  He's embracing Southern living full throttle.  :-)

Ash cheered for the home team and clapped every time the crowd got excited.

"go Bulls!"

Hope you all had a fun weekend as well!

more than just a park

Thanks for the great compliments on my towels the other day! Because a few of you asked, here are the details...

My machine is a Brother PE-770 {it does embroidery only} and I bought it through Amazon. The original machine I got was a Brother SE-350, embroidery + sewing machine. I don't want to completely disparage that machine because there are lots of people who reviewed it with 5 stars on Amazon and obviously love it. I had a bad experience and can't recommend it, but obviously that's up to you. :-)

Hopefully I'll get the hang of all it's capable of soon and will be able to make lots of cute things for Asher, ladybug, and our friends! I don't know about you, but I loved getting personalized stuff for Asher as baby gifts. Hopefully our friends will too. Ha ha.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

Asher and I went to a wonderful place yesterday - Pullen Park in Raleigh! It's one part regular playground with swings and slides and such, and one part amusements with a train you can ride and a carousel. When I told Asher we were going to ride a 'neigh-neigh' he couldn't get in the car fast enough.

 

{notice his double skinned knees? Yeah, those are permanent these days. As soon as one heals a little he falls on the sidewalk and starts anew. Sigh - guess that's life with a little boy!}

Once I freed him from the car he was off in hot pursuit of some fun.

Silly Mommy thought getting to the park early would be smart since we'd beat the heat and the crowds a little, but I didn't think about a small boy who would want to immediately ride the carousel. We only arrived 15 minutes before the ride opened, but it felt a lot longer. To pass the time we climbed on the caboose they have displayed. Asher was very excited to "drive" it.

Then we hit the swings for a minute. Swings are usually A's favorite, but he was too jazzed about the upcoming neigh-neigh ride to enjoy it for long. :-)

Even after all of those adventures we still had 5 minutes to kill. Sheesh - time was running backwards, I'm pretty sure. Ash took those few minutes to grab a drink and stay hydrated.

Then finally, finally! it was time to ride. Someone was thrilled with the brown horse we found.

I love making him happy and this was such an easy way to do it. He adored the ride so much that when it came to a stop he cheered "yay!" and started clapping. I don't think the attendant ever got such rave reviews before. Ha!

After the ride was over I thought we'd have a big problem getting off but Asher was very understanding and gave his horse a hug and kiss good-bye while saying "thanks neigh-neigh!". Too cute. :-)

The train was up next on the agenda. Ash loves trains and kept telling me he wanted to ride the "train on a track". I'm not sure what the alternative is, but ok!

Another hit! He loved riding around and waving to the other people we passed.

If getting there before things opened was my first mistake, then buying him a fudgsicle was the second. Actually - I don't think it was. Sure, it melted everywhere and made a huge mess, but he loved it and hardly ever gets treats like that. We had wipes and new clothes so it was all good. :-)

There will come a day {in the not too far future} when it's going to be a lot harder for me to take him on carousel rides without help. Baby sister will be here and Mommy just won't have the same kind of one-on-one time with Asher that I do now. I want to enjoy these little days and treats as much as I can, while I can! I'm excited to have 2 little ones to love on, but it's undeniable that things will change. For now, my little guy and I are going to live it up - one neigh neigh ride at a time.

happy birthday, erin!

Happy, happy birthday to my little sister Erin!

{Ohmystars - how adorable are these 2 together??!  ha ha!}

I won't tell you how old she is, but it's younger than me and our older sister Jenn.  Lucky duck.  :-)

She's the best aunt and is always making special things for her nieces and nephews.  In fact, a little birdie told me that her sewing machine has been working up a storm putting together little somethings for ladybug. 

We love you Erin and hope this year is filled with wonderful surprises!

Slide on over to her blog and wish her a big 'ole happy birthday folks!

just beachy

I was given an embroidery machine for my 30th birthday back in May - yaaaay! - but when I opened it up and got things running it was NOT working. Boo. I called customer support and they said it needed service. Well, I don't know about you, but I wasn't about to take a very expensive piece of machinery to the repair shop on Day 1, so I sent it back.

Sad, sad day. :-(

I did still really want an embroidery machine so I decided to do some more research and went up a level in machine quality. At first I kept it simple since I don't plan on being a professional or anything, but I think if you go too simple the company gets cheap and the machines just don't work as well. Lots of other reviewers had the same problem as me, so I'm confident it was my particular machine.

My new {better!} machine arrived the other week and I finally got it up and running! I've made a few things, but here's the best so far - personalized beach towels for Asher and his cousins that we'll see on the Jersey Shore at the end of August. They turned out great - if I do say so myself. :-)

 

Alden's favorite color is blue and Mercer's is orange so I tried to please everyone. Luckily for me Asher doesn't care this year!

I have a few other projects in the queue and will be sure to post the final items when done. Since I had so much trouble with that first machine I think every time this one works I'll be surprised and excited - bear with me. Ha ha!