some of last week's creations:

uber-scrumptious cupcakes. that plate did not last two days.  y.u.m.

super-soft receiving blankets with fabric from Mom's shop. *love*

soon-t0-be booties and layettes for the project.  

I was feeling pretty darn crafty by the end of the week, and thinking I had accomplished "all this stuff."  

Meanwhile I'd been talking about getting our master bedroom cleaned and organized before another small human was required to share the space.  I'd been talking about it for a good few months. 

Finally the other day my dear-sweet-undeserved husband gave up and did it all for me.  

*kiss*

And then he gave us all a painting lesson for FHE tonight. The boys did swirly ribbons, sister started a fairy painting, d-s-u made a portrait of a fictional character and I copied a vintage pattern that I like. (because any images my imagination might provide me will decidedly NOT look as cute when I try to get them onto paper. kristen must copy)

it was fun! i think everyone (except perhaps our actual full-fledged artist) came away rather impressed with themselves. :)

I know, I know!  I haven't posted in awhile (sorry, catherine!). But, as you can see, it is not because I am happily taking care of a cute new baby:

No, I am still carrying him around behind my belly button.  I was up all night long last night though. In labor.  And then as soon as the sun came up it stopped. Completely. 

So I get to be tired and sore today. But it's a good thing (the no-baby-yet thing, not the tired-and-sore thing) because we desperately needed milk and quarters for laundry, which I have gotten this morning and feel much more together. 

pretty flowers!  that's just a random photo. Because I like their color.  it's one of my favorite things about Los Angeles - there are flowers EVERYWHERE, and all year long. It makes the city pretty.

This week I have made 3 receiving blankets, 1 1/2 layettes and one pair of booties for Kelly's project. I'm also going to sew 4 layettes for my little guy and a pair of booties. I've never sewn baby clothes before and it's VERY fun! I keep squee-ing as I sew... 

Yay! One down, who knows how many to go! I still can't believe how many squares I got from the denim I'd collected. 

I picked up some backing fabric today - a smooth and sturdy linen/rayon blend from the upholstery clearance section.
Also picked up some cute knits to make layettes with. We hardly have any newborn clothes! I'm using the pattern from the LDS Philanthropies website. It's easy and looks cozy and I'm already making 3 from that pattern for a friend's service project, so - !

wish me a productive weekend!

I told my mom that connor loved puzzles and that one would be a good present for christmas.  she got him a 750 piece garden painting. i'm not sure if we'll EVER actually get that thing completed! Connor did pretty good - better than I for sure - and Nancy was pretty much a wizard at it. But we still ended up needing the kitchen table after 3 days and had to put it away.

maybe we'll try again next year...

my youngest has spent some days looking like this:

last sunday and yesterday.  random barfiness? virus that just hung on? who knows.  poor kid though. Of course, yesterday morning after waking up at 5 a.m. and throwing up every 20 minutes for 5 hours he suddenly wanted a banana, milk, and a cookie; ate them all down, and was fine for the rest of the day. 

kids are amazing. 

Played hooky from bed rest last night to go to my baby shower.  Many gushing thanks to the wonderful friends who put it on and those who came to help celebrate.

Betsey made an awesome diaper cake complete with accessories for our Winnie the Pooh crib. 

It was really nice to have sister Nancy there. The first time family has been able to be at a shower with me. She'll probably be here when we bless the baby, too - which will also be a first for my side of the family.  We've always lived so far away!

I HATE EVERYTHING.

... and other mature thoughts from a cranky pregnant woman who would rather not have spent 6 hours in the hospital just now. 

so yeah.

that was fun. 

also more than a little bit embarrassing because it was all (apparently) because I was dehydrated that the baby's heart rate was so high but then I was stressing out and extremely uncomfortable and so having a jolly ton of contractions which then became the main focus of the residents and instead of being there for 20 minutes it was SIX HOURS and now I'm home and would love to sleep but have been laying down for so long already that it just feels all wonky.

4 days of full bed rest until my "follow up" appt. on Monday.  Oh joy of joys.

am going to log off now and count my many, abundant, and unbelievable blessings and try to improve my miserable rat-faced attitude.  

cheers.

for several months (because that's how I roll) I've had this stack of cut-up jeans that needed to be made into squares for a picnic blanket. Denim picnic/beach blankets are the BEST in my opinion, and so durable, etc. etc. 

so the other day I finally got to work and cut a bunch of 5 inch squares.  I got a stack big enough for the size blanket I wanted.

and my bag full of jeans scraps is still almost the same size as it was when I started! I'll probably be able to make up 3 or 4 quilted tops with the fabric I've got here. Perhaps I was a bit zealous, no? 

I have a couple of really cool Harry Potter patches to add to one of the blankets, too. Maybe I'll even have it done around the time that the 6th movie comes out.... :)

I just don't know what to do!

This fantastic little capelet is on sale at Anthropologie.  And I could totally make one. I could even do that embroidery myself. But I could never make it for the low low price of $29.99 that they are selling it at.  It's wool. And the hours... 

anyway - the problem. We have a new budget and I've already blown through my allowance and it's a question of "can I REALLY not live without it or is my wanter just on overdrive right now?" 

whaddayathink?

I'm behind in my posting.  Possibly because the past two weeks I've pretty much put myself into a sugar-induced coma. Besides the chocolate chip cookies, v-day chocolates, and ice cream sundaes, there has been:

a vanilla-lemon valentine's cake. We HAD to make it, as the silicone heart-shaped cake pan was a gift from Elle. 
and then a pumpkin cheesecake, which was very scrumptious when eaten this way:

I have yet to make a cheesecake that did not crack terribly.  What is the secret? Also, how can a cheesecake be "light" when it calls for 5 eggs? I'm just wondering. 

Craig declared this week the start of a new diet for all, because he's trying to counteract my attempts to kill everyone with fat and sugar. 

hmph.  Just wanted to have a little fun before I die. (name that movie!) 

the new normal.

last week we went to long beach so connor and fletcher could take a lagoon class that is offered once a month for homeschool kids.  they got magnifiers and binoculars and then the teacher (whose name I have forgotten and whose awesomeness I never will) asked the kids what they wanted to do. 

"go across the bridge" yells fletcher.

"okay! we'll go across the bridge!" 

"study birds through the binoculars" yells connor

"great idea! we'll do that too!" 

and on it went until everyone was satisfied, and then off they went to explore. Nancy went with them across the bridge since fletcher does not swim and there were no rails on part of it. (thanks, kiddo) 

so far, I am very pleased with our decision to homeschool connor.   this week he has been studying ancient greece, the maya and aztec civilizations and the human bone system. besides the math and spelling and composition he has each day.  and he's having fun! it's not taking us as long as his 6 hour school day, and he has no homework. 

AND this is where I express my undying gratitude to Staci, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, STACI!!) for hooking me up with other homeschool moms in the area, telling me about all the park days and fun classes going on, and putting up with me while I cancel plans over and over because of rain and sickness. I have really, really appreciated it. 

the one drawback has been that I forgot how quiet the apartment was for those 6 hours.... but fletcher is certainly happier to have his brother home when he gets back from preschool. because apparently I was terribly boring.

no.

yes.
NO.  (okay so this is an extreme shot. her hair is super-cute curly when it's treated right, but this shot served our purposes)  :)

yes! she had never had her hair straightened before and it was way fun to play with. 
I am now wishing that I had my own pair of peep toe shoes.... after we got back from shopping and I was thinking of cute stuff I wanted to buy for myself someday when I'm not quite so belly-heavy craig said, "No more talking about shopping! No more!" 

he's getting nervous. 

Dear Nanette;

so, it's been a month. you've been gone a month. Via email, phone, and Skype we've done a moderately good job of keeping in touch.  I can picture your house, although it's hard to picture you guys living in it. 

I can picture the weather there, and the terrain, and the trees.  (it helps to have been there before).   You'll have to do a better job at blogging though, or emailing photos.  And making lists of all the things you did each day and what you bought and what's for dinner..... 

well. maybe not that many details...

for awhile, I tossed around the idea of taking a photo of these 3 palm trees every day and posting it, so you could see what the weather was like here. (honestly, not so much to rub it in, I'm just a weather geek that way).  But most days it's just like the picture above. sometimes it's bluer. 

except this day - the day before our last storm:

it was cloudy. and I couldn't get the 3 palm trees, because someone parked in my way.  the jerk.

  

my belly is this big now. I told connor to take a photo.  this is the second one he took, because the first one was focused.... a little bit north of the bump. "erm, Con? we want to focus on the belly here, not the boobs."  

he hates it when I say that word.  he gets all embarrassed. "sorry mom, I'll try again."  He snapped the photo, pressed 'play' to see how it turned out, and handed over the camera with this apology - 

"I tried not to get your boobs in this one mom, but they're just right there."

now, for a girl who basically has none when she is not pregnant or nursing, this was not an unwelcome observation.  I let him play an extra day of video games for that comment last week. and promised to stop saying the b-word in front of him.  (although I slipped a few days later and was treated to a "mo-om.." in disgusted tones. whoops.  sorry.) he has since learned the term "mammary glands" from his science lesson on mammals.  he thinks it's fantastic. it makes me feel like a cow.  

"moo." 

Anyway - it's been a month! kind of a boring month on this side - much more going on up north with you guys; what with unpacking and getting settled and all that.  We all got sick, we all got better. Started homeschool. 

Nancy comes tomorrow- which I'm sure will spark a flurry of makeover posts. Poor kid. She just has no idea what I'm going to do to her... I expect a couple of weeks full of "shut up and try this on." "shut up and let me try this with your hair." "I don't care if you don't like it, it's cute." 

I wonder who will get sick of the bossiness first, Nancy or Craig?  

Miss you- 

Kristen

breakfast, anyone? 

hey now. judge not, people. 

i promise i had a bowl of cereal and part of a banana afterward.  

i just really, really needed the chocolate....

day 2.

a couple of friends stop by to help finish the cake. we hang a banner. i feel like i might actually be almost healthy again. fletcher spends the day in either his power rangers costume or his black spiderman costume.  he shows off all the new tricks he can do now that he's 5. (there is much summersaulting)

The 5th birthday - day 1

he always manages to drag his birthday out for nearly a week.  it must be his superpower. 

day 1 has been the party at school.  22 kids who all love cake.  awesome.

 we got a cake from costco - because they make the best of course - but he had to pick the most hideous design... 

I'm pretty sure that the thank-you hugs are his favorite part.  he just gets this smile. 

almost human.

i finally dragged myself to the doctor yesterday morning after 8 days of being sick sick sick. (which, to say, is not as severely as I thought I was) some surprises:

1. Pregnant women can take Robitussin. I wish I had known that last week.

2. Codeine is a cough suppressant. Also apparently it's the safest one for pregnant women.

3. Codeine is total crap.  it suppresses your cough by sucking every available ounce of fluid out of your body.  I think I drank 10 glasses of water last night. (all. night. long) But then it didn't clear my sinuses and, being unable to clear them, simply dried all the snot into cement so I couldn't breathe. 

so a $20 copay and a $10 pharmacy charge so I could have yet another miserable night and no I don't really care how whiny I sound thank you very much.  every time I cough I feel like the bones in my face are going to explode. the netti pot isn't even a match for these sinuses of death. 

the end. 

oh man.  ho boy. what do I do now? i have found the woman who was born to be my fairy godmother. who was born to be the other me in my other life. we even have the same name! 

(except, she does spell it improperly)

Her blog is HERE. and it is full of photos like this: 

i might die of bliss. 

you know, since this cold didn't manage to do me in. 

i know i already raved about it on my other blog, but this one gets more attention and i would not be doing my duty if i did not spread the wealth.

this miniseries is scrumptious.  if you're a jane austen fan, it's probably right up your alley. if you are female, it's probably right up your alley.  also, richard armitage is way more awesome in this than in that stupid robin hood series.  

"ack, my eyes! he's too awesome!" 

and you know, if anyone were wondering what to get kristen for her birthday this year...

new bean bag.  made it from a vintage italian duvet that I got at a yard sale for a whopping $5. 

oh yeah.

my 5 year old model shows off its size:

it's about the same size as the patchwork one I made for the Harry Potter room a couple of years ago: 

fletch and I have been sick all week. now it sounds like the other two are about to succumb.  (don't tell our dinner guests)

earlier this week:

ME:  sweetie, come here so mommy can hold you.

F: why?

ME: because snuggling helps people to get better faster.

F: ... really?

ME: yep. proven fact.

so we spend all morning cozied up together.  later on that day, as I putter around the apartment, he reaches up to me from his perch on the bean bag, 

"Mom, come here! You are making me sick!"

apparently not snuggling will actually make a person worse. 

This is Toby

he is my BIL's family's dog. and he has nothing whatsoever to do with this post. 

I just think he's cute.  

there's been just nothing to post about lately - we've all been busy getting this homeschool thing together (lessons were online today. they start the curriculum from the beginning of the year so we blasted through 11 Math lessons this morning and I expect we'll do about the same for the next week or so), and preparing for my sister's arrival in a couple of weeks. 

by the wayside are being put: Fletch's 5th birthday and the arrival of our 3rd baby.  I just don't have time to worry about that stuff right now! but the Fletch will have a party at school so hopefully that will satisfy him.  and I'm counting on things calming down in a few weeks so I can spend the few weeks beyond that actually thinking about having another kid. 

*shudder*

I found a new blog to enjoy. Some ridiculous super mom in texas. she posted a Cheesecake Pie recipe the other day because apparently last friday was National Pie Day.  So of course I made one, last night. And now it's 1:40 in the afternoon and the entire. pie. is. gone.  The boy's ate about a quarter of it, in my defense.  Now I have to make an entire new one before Craig gets home so he won't know that I already ate it all!!! 

Another blog I like comes from another Kelly (different spelling though) in Utah and her latest post was inspiring in a different way.  (as in, a non-food-consuming way) She wants to make 31 newborn kits for her own 31st birthday celebration this year. Which I think is awesome and I'm totally going to join in.  The Humanitarian Aid guidelines are linked from her blog and she's willing to do a lot of the work herself if people just want to donate materials. 

I suggest you check it out. (the link is in red above)

Happy Week!

i can't, but maybe you can - 

just because I have no girls to shop for, doesn't mean I can't send you all to THIS awesome etsy shop for browsing love. *sigh*  Happy shopping! 

homeschool.

so, we're doing it. we're going back. the kid's been asking all school year and we've decided to give it a try. it is going to be crazy - next month my sister comes to stay for 4 months, the month after that I'm having another baby. and I've been trying really hard to get an online shop going on etsy. 

my youngest is staying in preschool.  because he wants to, and the social is good for him. 

can I do it? sure. 

is this spring going to possibly be the hardest and craziest I have ever lived through? probably. 

brace yourselves for complaints galore. wish me luck. say some prayers. 

thanks.

not that I'm complaining, but it has ben hot this week in Los Angeles, and my 3rd trimester was a bad time for this to happen.

see, in the past i've had this problem. 

and it's happening again. 

(don't tell my husband)

the problem is, when I'm pregnant (and nursing for that matter) I seem to have this crazy need for ice cream. I ate a lot of it during my first pregnancy. I didn't realize how much until years later when I mentioned something to my husband about going to the creamery every day for a shake.  

"wait, but you had a bowl every night, too! you never told me you got a shake every day!" 

well apparently I didn't think it was important at the time. 

of course it could be a major contributor to why I gained 50 lbs during each of my first two pregnancies. (um, yikes.)

I've only gained something like 12 lbs so far this time. A fact of which I have been inordinately proud. 

Until this week. When it got so hot. And I've found myself wanting (and having, mind you) a bowl of ice cream after every. single. meal. 

it's a good thing I've made this new budget. at least I won't be allowing myself to run down to Baskin Robbins or Cold Stone every day when I feel like it.  maybe I'll still be able to keep myself from gaining 38 more pounds in the next 9 weeks.

mmmm -  Cold Stone......

you all know what this is, right? 

well, possibly my mom doesn't - because when she was pregnant with my sister the doctor said, "Don't eat breakfast, and then eat a King Size Snickers bar at 11 and come in an hour later so we can take your blood." 

which is like, so not fair. 

the stuff doesn't taste that bad, really. it's just hard to keep the stuff down - my tummy din't like it so much. 

but now it's done! yay! 

my husband had the busiest of days yesterday. moved a fridge, switched the door on the fridge to open on the other side, chopped up our christmas tree, watched a movie with the boys, went to work for 5 hours, and read to me (well mostly the baby in my belly) until I fell asleep. 

Me? I just did fun stuff:

got this batik fabric from Mom this summer. a friend of hers had gone to Indonesia and picked up a ton of sarongs/wraps in these lovely fabrics and I got to pick one out. I've planned to make pillows out of it for 6 months. 

they're finally done! pillow forms went on sale last week and I snatched a few. It feels good to be getting some things off my to-do list. Especially since this year is looking a little bit crazy...

1. Ordered pizza last night and did not get root beer.  Pizza did not taste as good. 

2. Not sure it is a good idea to suck on a helium balloon when one is pregnant. Sure was funny, though...

Feels like a Monday today.  

Our bathroom sink backed up 2 days ago and has been spitting up sludgey water since. Most of the time I have been able to empty the basin with a pitcher before it overflows but today saw two major spills and I had to wash about 6 towels this afternoon.  

Maintenance guys have come every day this week, unable to fix the problem. Finally today they called in the big guns who, at ten minutes to five, have still not shown up...

But amidst all this mess, I've been crafty!

I have been promising Robin an apron for a looooooong time now and finally today I sat down and sewed one up from some nice heavy fabric I bought at that JoAnn place (which place I am becoming more and more disgusted with).  I made up a pattern, and had to reverse-sew a few seams as a result, but it was fun practice and it turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself. 

Emily is also doing another challenge this year:

I love her journaling challenges. Journaling is possibly one of my most favorite things, ever, and her challenges make me expand my horizons quite a bit.  Art and scrapbooking are kindof outside my natural habitat, so to speak, and these little cards give me a chance to stretch, without having to make a big huge project. (that was a lot of commas, I completely apologize)

The journal challenge we did in '07 is my favorite journal of all time. It's so fun to go back and look at what I was thinking and feeling and how I expressed myself through the year. I'm excited to do it again!