Hello December

I can't believe I only have 25 more days to finish my Christmas present list. I've already started my list and I'm actually planning on making something for all the little kids we celebrate with, rather than forgetting about them until the morning we are scheduled to head over for New Year's. I hate it when people consistently get things for my baby and I fail to return the favor. I also hate buying things for kids when I don't know them well enough to get things they will enjoy. But this year, I'm crafty enough to make something useful even if it won't be the most loved toy EVER.

I'm not making the pillow cases for the kids but I love how quick and easy these baby pillow cases are. Perfect for a new baby! I'd make full size ones but I will need a lot more fabric than what I have on hand.

Cyber Monday Sale

Monday after a holiday is ALWAYS the worst. I'm spending my morning cleaning my filthy house and doing some laundry before I start work at noon. But in honor of Cyber Monday, I decided to do a sale in my shop! Etsy just created Coupon Codes so all you have to do is enter BOOYAH into the box and you get 15% off everything! I'll keep the code valid until tomorrow at 12. I hope you have a stress free Monday!

Shop Notes

Kleenex cover

Make up brush roll. Perfect for travel and ADORABLE Alice in Wonderland fabric.

Coasters. Don't you love the blenders?

Reversible Puffs tissue box cover. I love this Rocket ship fabric AND it's organic.

You can see them all in the shop.

Black Friday

I went to bed at midnight last night and my alarm went off at 3:45 AM. I got ready in five minutes from the stack of clothes I set out before bed, grabbed my new Starbucks re-usable mug and got in the car. I felt pretty out of it when I got on the road but luckily my co-shopper had her car warmed up and ready to go.

We got to Target around 5 AM, snagging a good parking spot and the last cart in the cart bay. There were tons of people in line but very few wandering around. I've never been shopping on a Black Friday, so I was really disappointed to find out that only certain things are one sale and almost everything else is full price. I did find a good deal on some Cars cars for Jacob, a steal for $20 when you consider that one Car retails for $4.99 and I got 9 of them! I also did an impulse for CS's present but I know he's going to like it! I found an adorable set of pajamas for me but I was a big dummy and didn't check the size and ended up with an XL. TOO BIG! So I have to take them back and I know I won't get the super cute pair I want so I have to settle for something less cute. Biggest blunder of the day!

The rest of the day was fine, although places started to get busy as the morning passed. Our longest wait time was at Eddie Baeur, of all places!

We got home around 1 and Jacob and I took a nap on the couch together. I have no plans to go next year, although I'm bummed that I did not manage to get any 500 thread count sheets for $20.

Tomorrow morning I am going to update my Etsy shop with a few new things, I hope you like them!

Thankful!

Every year, CS's family asks everyone to say five things they are thankful for after we have dinner. Last year, things between me and his family were frustrating at best and I was not very thankful for much of anything besides my mom and Jacob.

This year has been insane, really. It's been full of good and bad, but I'm happy that the good is outweighing the bad. I am so blessed. So below are my five things that I am thankful for this year.

1- My wonderful job. I went looking for a job at the last possible minute. I hardly even looked, honestly. My mom mentioned it to one person and she told me to call so I did and I never thought I could be so blessed to work. I am passionate about this company, the things we do and the people I work with. I love that I get to work from home, even when I get a little stir crazy. I was sure I would not work when I had Jacob but now I am so glad that I can do both.

2- Jacob. He is growing up to be an awesome kid. We have our share of tantrums and spankings but all the other things do does outweigh those naughty times. I love that he's learning to talk. He loves to read books and watch Scooby Doo. A year ago, he couldn't sleep in his crib for more than an hour and now he goes to bed alone and wakes up in the morning, calling for me. I miss the baby but I love what he's becoming.

3- Chris. He makes me laugh and he always stops what he's doing to read Jacob a story. He's made a great effort to change his internal clock from staying up all night to going to bed with me and it's a great change in our relationship. I love that CS and Jacob go get breakfast in the morning or take a trip to Canon in the afternoon while I work to have lunch together. We are finally functioning like a family and it's awesome.

4- My mom. We go over every Tuesday night for dinner and Glee. Hunter comes and Jacob gets to love on Memma. She always cooks for me and we sit around and watch Glee until they start singing and then we dance with Jacob. She has been a great investor of my Etsy shop and I really appreciate that.

5- My church. I try not to proclaim faith and God too much because I know it can turn people off. I do believe that my life is so blessed because of God and I am happy to find a church that I can go every Sunday and learn something new. I've been a believer my whole life but I've never really grown in it and I'm trying to change that. To me, I am blessed by God and I am thankful that I have the ability to proclaim that without fearing for my life. I'm also grateful that I have enough to provide for my child as well as give to those in need. No one in this world should go hungry and I am so sad to hear of children that are starving. If you are interesting, I fully endorse Convoy of Hope

Year to Date

One year ago, this was me and my baby. I thought he was getting so big.

Turns out I was wrong. He's SO big now.

It's just going to get worse, isn't it?

Sallie Mae Can Bite Me

I've worked for the past two days and I'm pretty sure my eyeballs were about to fall out at the end of each day. I am still not sure I can see clearly when I look around too quickly. Everywhere else I have worked was had me at a desk for most of the day, but none have had me so tied to the desk when I'm working. I'm just not used to spending 9 hours in front of a computer screen, and it's not like I can do my job in the other room. Not that I'm complaining, more like I don't understand how people can go to work for 8 hours a day, everyday, without terrible suffering. I suppose you become accustomed. Obviously, I've never tried to write a novel either.

I had a mini crisis today when I went to pay my student loans and discovered that they had gone up again for the third month in a row. I keep calling to change my payment and it's different every month. Apparently, I've used up all my time for repaying with interest only so I'm supposed to be paying on the full amount. I asked one person I spoke to today if there were any other options for lowering my payment and this is what she said "You could make a lump sum payment and lower your monthly payments."

I am not kidding. I told her I couldn't make an large one time payment as I do not have any money. If I had a stash of cash stored away, I wouldn't be calling to lower my payments. I would be PAYING MY BILL.

I hate to be a little bit judgemental but I really hate the fact that Sallie Mae outsources all their calls to another country, India, I believe. No one really knows what is going on, as I spoke to three people before I found out what was going on and when I called a 4th time, the man I spoke with managed to change my loans to a lower payment. I have no doubt that they will be at the same rate next month so I know I can't keep doing this forever. But I will probably enroll in two classes next semester so I can buy myself some time. We can't afford my student loans at the full amount if CS doesn't have a job. It's frustrating that I have run out of options. I want to pay my loans but how can I on a part time salary? I don't want to pay thousands of dollars in interest either. It's a terrible system.

I wish that my college had been honest about the cost of paying back tuition. I wish they would have sat down and explained it to me when I went in every semester to work out my finacial aid. I should have had more grants and scholarships. I should have gone to a college I could afford. I know it will work out but I really hate the time in between.

Jacobese

Jacob is at the age when he says things that are so awesome and if we don't write them down, we will never remember half of them. I'm having mini panic attacks over the fact that we almost never record him and I know I'm going to be sad to not have his little voice to listen to when he's grown. I guess this is a good reason to invest in a Flip camera, right?

Fik it! (Fix it)

Memma ( Emma)

Dapper (diaper)

Sthcooby Doo

fpeet (feet)

Queen (McQueen)

Street! (Sesame Street)

He is obsessed with the movie Cars and even more in awe of Scooby Doo, thanks to weekends at Gramma's with Jayden. He likes to play outside with the "kids" and his best friend is a little girl named Kendra (Chendra). He would prefer to go to sleep in our bed but he can usually sleep in his crib the whole night. He pretends to sneeze and says "thank you, welcome" when you give him something. He loves Lady Gaga's Bad Romance and asks for Gaga every time go somewhere.

Having a toddler is awesome.

Posin'

My boy likes to be silly. He doesn't pose very well for pictures, but he can yell "CHEESE" every time I hold it up.

He can also give the best kisses. Ever.

But then he starts looking for his "booboos" and the game usually ends there. Somehow, Jacob doesn't get that No means NO when it comes to pawing at my shirt for his most beloved objects.

Yeah, we might have nursed for too long!

What are your Saturday night plans? My involve sewing up some coasters while CS plays XBox and Jacob watches Scooby Doo on the laptop. Ah, simple domesticity.

Ouch

I got the final Guardasil shot today and that vaccine is the MOST.PAINFUL shot I've ever had. I can handle the prick, but there is a horrible burning sensation that lasts for a few minutes afterwards. I don't really think it's something that 9 year olds should get. 16 year olds, sure!

However, I think it also gave me a headache tonight and I'm having a hard time functioning. CS was gone for most of the day, fighting the fire that popped up this afternoon. Jacob doesn't understand when I tell him that my head hurts and I can't run around and watch him "zoom!"

I also found out that my weight between last year and this year is the same, which I guess is a good thing. Last year, I was working out five days a week, and now I do three, maybe four. I certainly feel trimmer than last year but I'm still more Saggy Baggy Elephant than svelte Jillian Michaels. I'm just not ready to give up all the foods I enjoy. Like chocolate and cookies and cheese.

Quilt Update

So when I said that I thought I had a lot of strips for the quilt, I wasn't kidding.

Obviously, I am not quite ready to be making quilt patterns. I made it way too long and not wide enough. I actually had another batch of strips I wanted to use for pillow cases but I decided to add them to the side of the quilt. The only problem with that is they do not have white in between them, so it's a bit different on one side but I think I'm alright with that. Now all I need is another three yards of batting, and I'm ready to quilt.

I think we are going to be quite warm and toasty this winter. I'm using a cotton and bamboo batting, I love how light and soft it feels. I hope it makes the quilt a little more pliable.

Off the Wagon

I pretty much fell of the NaBloPoMo wagon this year. Completely spaced my mind yesterday. It didn't help that I worked from 12 to 5 and CS didn't come home from the hospital until midnight. That was not part of the plan. I was not very happy.

But I did make a lovely beef stew in the crock pot. A friend of mine mentioned how much she liked making meals in the crock pot and I have to agree. So little mess! Prep and cook time is minimal since the pot cooks for you. I need a good chicken recipe though, all mine are for beef. Although I do have plans for a pork roast to be turned into pulled pork sandwiches.

Jacb has put himself on a terrible schedule. He wakes up at 8:30 but he doesn't want to nap until 4 which means he's up until 11 PM. Is it horrible. So this morning, he woke up at 7:30 and he will go down for a nap by 2 so I can have an evening of baby free time after 10. Sorry kid. I like you but I like to relax at 11, not pull your cars out from behind the couch.

I finally used my Groupon for a photo book from Shutterfly. I had intentions of making it for CS's parents but I decided to make it for Jacob. I am somewhat of a lazy mom when it comes to make prints and putting them in albums but making books is a great way to preserve the best photos of the year and keep them in one place. I may start a yearly tradition of making books for each year as a gift to Jacob. Last year, I gave it to my mom but I got two of the same and kept the other one. If only I could have saved it until December, I could have taken Christmas photos! But the coupon expired on the 22nd so I have to use it now!

This makes a good cover photo, yes?

Shop Notes

I made this circle scarf out of some super soft jersey I got at JoAnn's. I can't get the true color of the purple, but this is pretty close.

This is a flax and lavender filled eye sachet. I love the feeling of flax and it smells amazing.

Potholders! I wasn't sure how to bind them so I used bias tape and it worked out quite well. I have a few more I need to finish, hopefully this week.

You can see the other things I've listed here.

Patterns

I made the first version this bag a few months ago at a little sewing get together that Randi held. I just used some fabric from Walmart along with a few scraps I had in my stash. I liked it but it wasn't really bright enough for me. (Black and white, with pink inside.)

So when I got this striped medium weight fabric from Ikea, I knew I should make a bag. I wasn't sure what I could match with it though.

Luckily, Randi was around to help point me to some fabric that would match and I love the results. This time around, I made the front pocket taller and turned it into three pockets instead of two. I can put my phone in one, keys in one and a sippy cup in one.

I wish I would have made a big pocket in the inside, instead of two small ones, since I'd love a space to keep my wallet secure.

I'm having terrible trouble with my pictures coming out true to life with this winter light. Blue tones look terrible. But baby pictures still look good, even though I used the flash.

Computers Hate Me

Specifically my work computer hates me. I had a crashed hard drive a few weeks ago and when we finally got that fixed, the connection between my computer and the warehouse computer stopped working after 10 days.

Why does it hate me! I play Pandora for it all the time, I let it sleep at night! Maybe it needs some porn, although I think that tends to attract problems, if I have things straight. I just heard it beep in the other room and it's supposed to be shut down, how is this possible!

I suppose I will head off the the post office instead. I've sold two things on Etsy this week! I made a bunch of these this week, they are so easy!

Just Like Dad

Sitting just like his daddy, watching thSCOOBieee!

Babywearing

A while ago, a few friends from high school asked me to make mei tai carriers for their newborn babies. I had a jersey tie-on when Jacob was little but I wish I would have made one of these. My mom was always talking about how much she lived her metal backpack carrier when we were little and while I never wore the one she found for me at the thrift store, I wish I had one of these!


Jacob loved being in this, though I doubt he would stay in one for long. I was really worried about how to put it together but it was rather simple, as long as I thought my moves out in advance. I'm rarely good at that, so I'm happy they came out so well. I'd love to make one with a minky lining, I think it would be very snuggly for winter.

The fabric is a great Alice and Wonderland Japanese fabric that I want to buy by the yard but it's $14 so I have to restrain myself.

Babies Need Stuff

Things I wish I knew before I had a baby:

You will get too many coats. I hung up Jacob's coats today and he has more coats than there are days to wear them. I have not bought him a single one.

People will give you baby wash, lotion, baby oil, warming gel baby oil, diaper rash balm in obscure brands that you will never use. Especially if you have a baby with sensitive skin!

Receiving blankets are another popular item and I have yet to find a use for most of mine. I made curtains out of two but I have another dozen or so that I never used.

I am sure I have been guilty of buying blankets, toiletries, and other items that everyone else thinks a new mom needs. I've yet to come up with a perfect solution. Handmade items are always well received (well, not always as I have a knitted "boot" in pink and blue that I have never set out) and good art for a baby's room is a great idea. I'm trying to decorate Jacob's walls and I wish I had something special to put up for him. It might be time to go browse Etsy!

Cousins!

Jacob has pretty much abandoned me and CS this weekend in favor of spending time with Jayden. He's doing and saying everything she can. It's terribly cute.

Last night, Jayden was moaning in the backseat of the car about her tummy hurting, so Jacob starts saying "tummy...huuuurt." They were both fine. But I did give Jayden a plastic bag just in case.

I have tons of cousins on my dad's side of the family. Over twenty kids, at least. On my mom's side, we have four. Two of them live in the Midwest so we saw them very rarely. And the other two are are much younger than me, so playing with them wasn't as fun. Jayden is a lot older than Jacob but they are so cute together. She's really come a long way from the mean only grandchild to a very patient cousin. I only wish that Carter could be here to play as well. I think Jacob is doomed to being the much older cousin on CS's side of the family and I don't see anyone else having a baby soon on my side of the family.

Sorry, Jacob. You will never know the craziness of summering with 20 cousins.

Life After...

This morning, I scanned Netflix on the XBox and I found an old Looney Tunes movie and put it on for Jacob. After Jacob saw the part with the Roadrunner and Wiley E. Coyote, he started running around the house, saying "beep beep...pshhhew!"

Having a kid is awesome.

This evening, he threw himself to the ground in a fit over not wanting to hold my hand in the middle of the street as we left Noodles & Co.

Having a bratty toddler with an independent streak 4 million miles long, not so awesome.

Little Boy Blue

Baby quilts are very fun to make! I wish it was as quick to make a full size quilt as a baby one so maybe I could put my stack of quilt strips together and have a new quilt for winter this weekend.

I based this one around Alexander Henry's 2D Zoo. I originally planned to do the whole thing with the quilted boxes but it looked way to busy so I made the boxes be a border and added some white in the middle. I had terrible trouble with my free motion quilting, I finally switched needles and things were a lot smoother. However, I left the feed dogs up the whole time so that might have been why my thread kept breaking! Live and learn.

I tried to take these photos in the evening, without flash, and all the pictures of the full quilt came out too dark. But I really love the binding on this. Stripes are so fun to use for binding up a quilt! I'm going to make Jacob a quilt just like this one, as soon as I finish up all my other projects.

How Do You Like It?

I got a new coffee mug at church this week. We had a guest speaker on Sunday and while he spoke, he showed up how he makes pottery on a wheel. It was really amazing to watch! I took pottery classes when I was in high school and I was able to make a few really cool pieces. I would love to be able to do that again, but I don't know of anyone in town who offers studio time for something like that. So since I can't make my own cups, I thought I would buy one of his to help support his ministry and look pretty on my desk. I drink at least a cup of tea a day now that it's chilly out. Although today was really nice and I wish I could have spend more time outside!

Anyways, back to my new cup. I don't think I can microwave it and I rarely ever fill the teapot up with water for tea. I should but it's so much quicker to hit a few buttons. So I decided to drag the coffeemaker from the closet and brew a (half) pot of coffee. I am also out of coffee filters so I use a paper towel. It's classy up in here! I like sugar in the raw with my tea, and no I do not like to substitute white sugar. I would be one of those annoying people at a coffee shop asking for sugar in the raw from the barista if they were out. A friend of mine told me that sugar in the raw people are the most obnoxious about it when she worked at Starbucks.

Action shot! Oooooo. I had to take two, actually.

Then I pour in cream, something that most "true" coffee people think is all kinds of wrong. I can drink coffee with just sugar but I need it to be a very dark roast and preferably Starbucks brand. I only learned to like it that way because a friend of mine drank hers with just sugar and the only milk she had was 1% (also, I cannot drink milk that is less than 2%, gross!) and it's like adding milky water to coffee.

So I like my coffee sweet and full of cream. How about you?

Preparing

I've heard that you need to start stocking your Etsy store in November. The other day, I spent an couple of hours cutting out pieces for things I think I can sell for Christmas presents.

Cutting is always the most work and it's going to be really nice when I get time to sit down and sew. Hopefully everything will come together easily. I have a few sets of potholders and I'm wondering what the best way to sew on the bias tape will be. Make my own or buy some?

Don't you love this toaster fabric? It just screamed "Kitchen" to me so I had to get some. You can get some here!

IKEA

A friend of mine from college offered to pick up some fabric from Ikea for me in exchange for an apron.

I fell in love with the stripes when Dana from Made did a tutorial on a Chevron pillow with the same yellow stripes. I want to use the navy one for pillows with a nautical theme.

I added a baby for scale. The Ikea website is terrible with showing scale. I assumed that this pattern was a lot smaller. I thought I was getting fabric with lots of starbursts, not just one very large burst. I am not sure what I can do with this. I'm thinking it might look cool as a messenger bag but I'd have to cut carefully.

I saw these trees on Extreme Home Makeover tonight. They used them for curtains and I loved it! This fabric was on sale for $1.99 and I wish I could have gotten 4 yards instead of just one. Anyone want to go to Ikea for me?

This is going to be used as a backing for a baby quilt at some point. Or a lap quilt. I don't want to cut it!

So my stash of Ikea fabrics is quite lovely. I really need to work up some patterns to use it up.

November 1

I'm going to try and participate in NaBloPoMo again. Maybe I can put a twist on it and make something new everyday. I do have a lot of sewing to do before Thanksgiving. I'm trying to stock the store in anticipation of the holiday.

This weekend, we went to a different pumpkin farm. They had a corn maze, which I have never done before. It's fun but I think it would be more fun on a huge farm in Kansas, where you had to really try to get out.

Halloween was a bit lackluster this year. Jacob refused to wear the cape I made so he could be a superhero. I put him in a Cars theme jacket and told CS that Jacob was a Pit Crew. We went downtown for the Trick or Treat Street around 6 and found that most people were out of candy. But the people that did have candy were very generous! Afterwards, we walked up and down our street and he got some more candy. Unfortunately, Jacob ate some of that candy and was a little fireball of energy for the next two hours. Technically, I missed this because I fell asleep while watching Iron Man 2 at CS's parent's house. But Jacob kept trying to bounce on my head so it wasn't a good nap.