Happy Birthday, MommaSissy!

I seriously cannot find a picture of you and Paige... I know you love her but what the heck!? Maybe you have one you can email me! {And clearly these pictures are all older.... next time you come I'm taking pictures of you and the girls & the boy}. We love you and hope you have a very SPECIAL birthday!

Yes, she did...

That's Paige.

I just walked in there to check on her (thinking she'd be waking from her nap) and that is exactly where I found her-- after slightly panicking that she wasn't in her bed. I asked Morgan (who just woke up 20 mins ago), "Did Paige take her nap on the floor?" Morgan replied, "Yes, she did! She fell asleep reading books." Apparently she has no problem getting out of her bed but can't get back in. I'm feeling like a bad mother... those wood floors are NOT soft by any means. I'm guessing my threats to her not to get out of her bed prevented her from coming to get me once she was out.

Another Whopper!

This is not a very good picture of me but it's what I've got... I've had pink eye in both eyes this week... the left first then the right... and now Morgan has it.

Well I posted yesterday that I was 36 weeks pregnant... that was an error... I'm 35.5 weeks. I guess with the 3rd you tend to lose track this late in the game. He's due July 14th which is Paiger Raiger's 2nd Birthday.

After 3+ hours in the OB's office (99% of which was sitting and waiting) we have been informed of few stats (none of which surprise us because the girls weren't exactly small). He currently weighs in at 6 lbs 10 oz and can (but hopefully won't) gain up to a 1lb a week between now and then... um let's hope that's not the case (that would be 10 lbs 10 oz and I'm certain that would nearly kill me). His head (which is measured in weeks rather than cm or inches) is measuring 38 weeks BIG rather than the 35.5 weeks that he is. So, we hope it tapers down some... and he's in the 75-80 percentile for overall size! And no progress from my body on evacuating him from his home {ie: 0 cm dilated}.

It's a...

sling! I had one with Paige & loved it! But it's purple w/polka dots and little man can't be seen in it!

And yes, you guessed it, the fabric is none other than the fabulous Amy Butler's Lotus Wall Flower Sky. Hancock's of Paducah is a great source for all her fabrics {just keep in mind they sell them by 1/2 yard increments}.

I first saw the idea over at Everything In It's Place. And between her tutorial and these tutorials I came up with this! It took about 2 hours total to complete, next time it will probably take a lot less... the first time you do anything it seems to take a lot longer.

The other things I learned: make sure both fabrics are of a lighter weight or if you choose a heavier weight fabric don't make your sling as wide. I would chose 2 lighter weight fabrics and not make it any wider than 30" max! The Amy Butler fabric is lightweight and I should have lined it with another one of her fabrics that coordinates because you see so much of the lining. (The white cotton lining that I chose was too heavy.) Although using Amy Butler for both the lining and the outside could get pricey as it is recommended that you use 2 & 1/2 yards of each. However, I prefer a "shorter tail" so I got by with 2 yards of each. I cut both the wall flower fabric and the lining to exactly 32" x 2 yards. This proved to be too bulky for my machine when it came time to attach the rings. I'd like to also note that I'm just telling you what I did, this doesn't mean this is best for everyone or that you should necessarily do what I did. These slings are probably a high liability item and Jan notes on her website over and over these are to be made for personal use and not sold. With that said, I fully trust my work and I intend to put my child in it, but I'm certainly not going to be making these for anyone else or selling them! :)

Ok, disclaimer complete... my machine could handle the basting stitches over the pleats (w/a heavy duty denim needle) but couldn't handle two layers of pleated fabric (when you put the rings on). Thankfully, I've come to know Ed at the local upholstery shop that specializes in car upholstery and I knew he would have a machine that could... so I ran there this morning and he did the stitches that hold the rings on and he did a lot of them-- it looks like he went back and forth at least 3 times. He said "pay him what I thought his services were worth"... I gave him $6 and he did it while I waited. He also used super-duper strong nylon thread (like what seat belts are made of) which made me appreciate his willingness even more. He also offered me a job... but between the posters of 1/2 dressed women and the smoke, I told him he couldn't afford me! :)

Cost to make:

Amy Butler fabric (+ shipping): $23.91

Lining fabric (+ tax): $7.62

Large Sling Rings (sold in pairs) (+ shipping): $5.19

Ed's services at upholstery shop: $6

grand total: $42.72

A special thank you to my daughters who let me borrow their "scary looking" baby doll for the picture. I'm certain the sling will fit better with a baby in it rather than both in it and behind it... at 36+ weeks I couldn't quite suck my tummy in and let the sling lie flat against my stomach. I can't wait to put him in it... it will be great for nursing and for trips to the store with 3 little ones in tow! I'm sure any passerbys who saw my husband taking pictures of me with this "thing" in the sling had to wonder what on earth we were doing! :)

Once you put the sling on and adjust it... which takes a considerable amount of time and effort. I would NOT undo it. Simply slide the sling over your head until you're ready to wear it again. The last sling I had came with a DVD tutorial and they have wonderful directions HERE. There is a very important step they call "bubbling" which adjusts tightness of the sling around the baby {it pulls it tight across your chest (like you see in the picture of me and scary baby) rather than allowing it to droop down in a "u" shape}. You do the "bubbling" after you've got the sling in the right position on your body, the "bubbling" doesn't adjust the height of the sling on your body it simply pulls the sling closer to your baby and supports them better. It will take time to get the sling comfortable around not only you but the baby also and once you get to this position don't take the sling apart through the rings... or you'll have to start all over again! :)

For those of you who have asked questions about my sewing machine & embroidery software, etc. I'm working on a post just for you... maybe tomorrow if I can get my links in order!

Sweatin'...

Some pregnant women "nest" before they have a baby... not me, I like to lock myself in my "sweat shop" and sew... lastnight I started this... and I'll hopefully show you the finished product soon! I should be a better blogger and work on that Tastebook Cookbook I started months ago... but it got a little overwhelming (to say the least)! Y'all seriously came out of the woodwork over that and eventually (hopefully) I'll get all the recipes entered!

Family Portrait {HELP ME IF YOU CAN}

Erika came this weekend and tried to snap some pictures of our family this morning. This is about as good as it got. She has a dear friend, Marla, who is an extremely talented photographer and I'm wondering if there are secrets to get kids {under 4} to not pick their noses {& it looks as though I may have just finished picking mine too}, not close their eyes, and to actually look 1/2-way decent for a picture. Please share any tips you can for us novice folks... and I'm hoping it doesn't involve a clown suit.

We've had a wonderful weekend! I had a baby shower yesterday and I am truly feeling so blessed by the friendships of the women in this town {& especially our church}. We've only been here a year and I honestly feel like it's been years and years. These women are special women who love the Lord and freely gave of their precious time {& money} to celebrate with us and shower us with some of the most beautiful, thoughtful, & useful gifts for our son. I also had the very rich blessing of having my sister and 3 very dear friends from Tallahassee {1 of which is Gov. Crist's photographer... if Marla can't help me, Caroline could you please?} there to celebrate too! It was a big day and the little guy is now fully outfitted in a blue wardrobe and he has plenty of diapers to dirty! I'll blog more later, for now I'm ready for bed! Hugs to all my blogging friends! Hope y'all had some Sonic ice this weekend... you better believe I did! And LOTS of it! They even had it at the shower!! I'll leave you with a "somewhat" normal picture (minus a smile from Raiger) of me and my baby girl...

Fun Fact...

Did you know that you can go to Sonic and BUY an 8 lb bag of their {super yummy} pellet ice for $1.68 (this may vary by location). We have 2 in our town and from what I've heard you can get a "cooler full" at one location for $1.80... I went to load up and was informed it's $1.68 for an 8 lb bag. Either way it's a lot of pellet ice and will make your freezer a much happier place! There's no better ice to crunch between your teeth... especially on a hot summer day and it's even better if you pour a tall glass of strawberry lemonade over it. This is my drink of choice this week... perhaps you should try it? I can pretty much offer you a satisfaction guaranteed.

A Little Something for Brother... finally!

From the "land of making clothes for the girls", I've finally ventured into the "land of making clothes for the boy"... here's my first attempt at something "boyish". The infant shirt is white pique & the peter pan collar is piped in the blue stripe of the diaper cover. The blue striped fabric is the same fabric as the girls sundresses. You can see in the picture below the diaper cover is all one piece and has 3 snaps on each side & elastic around the back part only. I buy my snaps and snap setter from Snap Source. And I purchased {for $1.49} the sailboat embroidery design from Embroidery Designs. Once you purchase any of their designs {in your machine's format} you can instantly download it!

The pattern is "Infant Shirt & Diaper Cover" by Creations by Michie. It's SUPER easy and has patterns for both girls & boys but only comes in Newborn, 3 mos and 6 mos.

Thank you, MommaSissy!

We love our new dresses... Mom put our initials on them and they're even cuter now! We hope you have a good day and remember Romans 12:12 "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." We can't wait to see you this weekend!

Plumb Tuckered

These pictures aren't the best... but trying to stage a picture with these two little weasels proved quite difficult. In the second picture Paige was eating a blueberry that wasn't quite ripe yet.

I am oh so grateful to be "blogging" from my bed! It's Sunday night and I'm "plumb tuckered". We've had the most delightful weekend... full of fun, sun & fellowship. I'm feeling completely satisfied and exhausted all at the same time.

We had the pleasure of having our Sunday school class over today after church for our monthly "fellowship". There were just a few 41 folks {about 1/2 of which were youngin's} who showed up for the occasion! I absolutely love having people in our home {or in this case... outside our home} and prayed this morning that the Lord would protect all the kids and keep them safe {and afloat} while swimming & playing. While He answered all my prayers, I believe something more along these lines would have been more appropriate...

"Heavenly Father, please protect and keep all the grown men who act like children safe while they run aimlessly, jump neurotically, and flip erratically into the pool"

And although I didn't audibly pray this prayer... thankfully, He protected all these guys... {the object of the game was to get the ball in the bucket that was floating in the yellow ring}

Thankfully most of these guys have a wife who could be responsible for the well-being of their children while they "played"....

Morgan swam for 3 hours this afternoon. After her nap she walked in our bedroom donning a different bathing suit and informed us she was ready to "go swimming again"... I do believe she has turned into a little fish!!