Weekender Bag and New Supplies

I made the Weekender Bag by Amy Butler last week.  

I love the bag, but sewing it was a bear.  I felt like I was wrestling it under the machine half of the time.  

I didn't think it would actually be big enough to literally use as a travel bag for an entire weekend.

It actually fits a three year old comfortably.  

This is what I get when I ask for a smile and to look at the camera.

I have a few other projects that I am excited to start.

 I bought this for an upholstered bench for our bedroom.

 The top three are cotton prints for summer clothes for Alaire.  The yellow polka dot is swim suit material.  The bright solid yellow is stretch twill for jeans.  The blue and white is sheer and I haven't decided what I am doing with it yet.  Something for me or Alaire or both.

I am using these towels to make a bath/beach/swim lesson robe.

These rugs and linens are for my kitchen.  I am giving it a makeover soon.  I am really pumped for that.  I have a backsplash bought I just need to find the right paint shade and get the motivation to take that on!

Getting Back to Normal

When I was pregnant with Alaire I didn't work for most of it, so I got to sleep a lot.  Many days I would wake up at 11 and try to get dressed before Drew got home for lunch.  I am not going to even try to downplay that.  It ruled.  I envy my old self : )

Flash forward: I anticipated being wiped out again, but you just forget how tired pregnancy makes you.  It's crazy.  I felt like I had the flu and kept thinking "No one require me to get off the couch again.  EVER"

 I found out I was pregnant in the middle of November.  I felt normal and energetic the whole two weeks we were out of town.

But literally, the day we got into the car to drive the eight hours home, the nausea hit me. 

 Maybe it wasn't the baby and it was me thinking about all of the laundry I had to do, and all of the food I had to clean out of my back seat.  

It took me almost six weeks to feel somewhat normal again.  I am not complaining.  I know some people are puking their guts out for nine months.  The good part of it was that I wasn't sick in the morning.  It started right before lunch and I was sick until I went to bed.  That would be the bad part I guess.

Either way it is not easy being sick for a month with a three year old running around.  Poor Alaire, she ran this house  ALL. DAY. LONG.  She watched a sh!tload of TV.  She watched so much she didn't even want to watch it anymore. 

She made lots of surprises for Daddy.  Some of them surprised me too.

The dog food tornado was probably my favorite. 

(That would be where you take a full bag of dog food, open it and then spin around in circles, throwing it to every corner of the house.  This trick is best used right after your mom cleans the floors while running to the bathroom every five minutes to dry heave.)

I am laughing looking at these pictures but I just couldn't catch a break for a little bit there.  Kids totally sense you when you are weak and they take advantage.  

We survived though.  Everything is feeling like it is getting back to normal.  Drew has clean laundry for work and I unpacked my suitcase and put it away.  I am back to working on and planning new projects.  

We have a lot to do before the baby comes, which is scheduled for July 19th, if he or she doesn't come sooner.  

Alaire is so excited to be a big sister.  Anyone who walks into our home immediately gets told that I have a baby in my belly.  A few people have almost got to  HAD TO see me topless because she has tried to lift my shirt up so fast.  (apologies for that) 

We have finally convinced her that it could be a brother.  She has said from day one that she ONLY wants one and only a sister.  Well I came through on the first half, but I can't guarantee anything.  

Drew thinks it is a boy.  I keep picturing a boy nursery, but I don't have a "feeling" yet. 

 I do love when people guess, so tell me what you think it is!!!  

THANK YOU so much for all of your kind words and congratulations.  It means a lot to us.  Were really excited.  I can't believe how fast it is going already.  I hope you all have a great weekend.  We have a couple of things planned.  Okay swimming lessons...lol.  Scratch that were losers, and will be watching Homeland on Netflix. : )

PS  Yes, we are finding out the sex of the baby.  Probably in early March.

PPS  Is it me, or are there A LOT of people having babies this summer? 

Exciting News

There has been a lot of excitement at our house the last few months.  There is someone coming to stay with us.  We don't know who yet, but that's all part of the excitement.

I'll give you a hint.  

We're having what they're having...

It feels good to get that out!! 

Hope you all are having a great weekend!  

DIY Height Chart Ruler

I did think of this myself, nor am I the first to knock it off either.  I will still show you how I did it so you don't have to go searching for it.  This took less than an hour start to finish.  The most time consuming for me was getting my vinyl cut and sized right. (I took these pictures with my IPhone at night so they aren't great!)

Supplies I used:

• 1x6 board 6ft long
• Minwax- Dark Walnut (left over from this table)
• foam paint brush
• paper towels
• vinyl number decals (I made my own)

 ***I decided to hang the board 6 inches off of the floor, so the final measurement will be 6ft 6inches. (Whatever you decide remember to put the numbers on accordingly)  I wanted mine to look like a real ruler so I used longer dashes for every quarter of a foot.

Start out by making a pencil mark every inch from the top to the bottom of the board. Do this on the same side as you are going to put the black lines.

Here you can see a close up of the lines.  My advice would be to put all of the lines on first and then the numbers.  I ended up readjusting the numbers a few times so there was a little space between the line and the number.  These numbers and dashes are made out of vinyl. You could also paint them on or stencil them on.  I cut mine on my Silhouette machine.

Here is the ruler all put together before I stained it.  

I used Minwax in Dark Walnut to stain the board.  I wanted a rustic look, so I wasn't too 

worried about it staining perfectly even.  

I did this in my entryway, so I just threw down a canvas drop cloth.  (BTW I use the drop cloth for any project in the house, but not painting walls.  I put it on my dining table when Alaire glues or paints too! I keep it with her paint so it is easily accessible)

I put the stain on in sections and then wiped it right off with paper towels.  You can use old t-shirts too for staining.

 Here is the front when done.  I didn't stain the back.  There's no reason to unless you aren't attaching it to the wall.

I put a thin line down the sides, top and bottom and then just wiped it off.  The vinyl is really well attached, but be careful when rubbing the sides not to pull up the dashes and get stain under them,

Here it is wet.  Staining took about 10 minutes.  I then put it out on my porch to air out over night.

Here it is hung.  

I put it right next to the half bath of of the kitchen.  This hallway connects the kitchen to the dining room.  I had thought about putting it by the front door, but it felt a little like a height chart at a gas station to catch robbers.  

And that is it.  Thanks for reading!

Happy 3rd Birthday Alaire!

My sweet little Alaire.  You turned three.  I cannot believe it.  

And then some days I can.  I am so lucky to get to spend all of my days with you.  

You are so full of excitement these days.  I love when you say dramatic things like,

 "oh mommy you did this just for me?  I cannot believe it"

 You love to play babies and kitchen and anything make believe.  I love how your mind works.  You are so creative and artistic.  We paint something almost everyday.

Sometimes you get shy and back away from new things.  

Once in a while I wish you would just jump in with two feet, but I am also thankful that you are cautious.  

 You know you are funny.  I know because you've told me.  I have a hard time not laughing at you.

 You love going to school and dance class, but you also love it when we are all home together.

I think you would choose popcorn and movies every night.

 I don't blame you, I would too.  

 Daddy told me that I have created a miniature version of myself.  

 Maybe that's why we have so much fun together.

You light up our lives and make it impossible to think of life before you.

 What did we do without you?

We can't remember either!

 We had such a fun day eating cake...

 Singing to you...

and celebrating the best present we've ever received... YOU!

I hope all of your wishes come true, this year, and all of the years to come.

Our Christmas in a Nutshell

Hello,  I was totally MIA last month.  I have a great excuse.  I was spending time with my little family.  Here is our Holiday in a nutshell, oh and in I Phone pics sorry : (  :

  We did an ombre rainbow tree.  I kept it pretty simple as far as decorations went.  I usually put up a traditional tree too, but it wasn't happening this year.  

Alaire wanted to put the bow on top!  I love it.

Our friend Sam came over to decorate gingerbread men.

My personal favorite.

If you let a kid decorate a gingerbread man... 

chances are they are going to ask you to make a house for him.

Whoops!  Paco was in the house last month too.  Don't worry Alaire didn't see the girls.  I just couldn't resist.  The Barbies are always naked around here.

Alaire and I made cookies and bars and dipped pretzels until we couldn't make any more.

Santa brought these suckers in our stockings. They were a hit.

We made a big turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and all of the fixings for Christmas Eve.  

Here are the loves of my life having fun with the mixer.

My absolute favorite photo of the whole season. This is true excitement for Christmas morning.  Santa brought a cardboard playhouse.  Isn't that what kids like to play with anyway?

He also bought the long awaited Bitty Baby Crib.  I did little crafts and candy presents for 12 days of Christmas.  Every single time she would ask if it was going to be this crib.  

This year was truly magical for Alaire.  It really is so exciting making their wishes come true.  

Above all it was just so nice to spend quality time together with Drew home for an extended period of time.  

I finally feel settled after the Holidays and Alaire's birthday (December 27th)  I have started getting back into creating things again.  I have a really big exciting project that I have been working on for some time that I will probably be able to share sometime in the next week!  I need to take some pictures first!  

I hope you are having a great weekend!!