Still Waiting!

I am in serious "kill time" mode. Baby Micah is teasing me, all the signs of impending labour are here, but no serious action. I am trying not to go stir crazy. I know, I know, he'll come in just the right time. In the meantime, you get more blogs because I keep making more things.

This cutie (Micah's toy lion, as Abby calls it) has been on my list to try for years. I finally thought, I could whip that baby up in no time. Never mind that I made a huge mistake and started over, but that's what happens when you're as distracted as I am these days. In the end this version turned out pretty cute and I'm happy with it. The tutorial can be found here and the face inspiration here. I also added a cat jingle ball toy to make a subtle rattle out of it.

P.S. Hi Gran! Mom says that she's been sending you my blog posts. I hope you enjoy them. Love you.

Nesting Again

So, I think I've got the nesting bug again. I am tired, but there's lots of little things I'm trying to get done/ready before Micah arrives. Truth be told, though, part of me is just trying to pass the time. I want him to come soon!!! Well, I did a little last minute sewing for my own little. I didn't do a lot of this kind of thing for Malachi, but I felt like I wanted to do some baby sewing for my own little one again. I have an outfit for Micah to come home in (waiting to take his picture in it before I show it to you), but I wanted to make a little hat and some baby shoes, too. Love how they turned out.

I haven't made of pair of these for quite some time. I used this pattern/tutorial again. I forgot how finicky parts of these are to sew, but they sure make cute booties!

Click here, here, here or here if you want to see some shoes I've made in the past. Click here if you want to see more baby hats (I've made more than I've taken pictures of).

The hat tutorial can be found here or you can use this one (I've used it, too). This is a great go-to gift for a quick gift. I actually picked up a couple of thrift store t-shirts for $1.25 (total) because I was looking for a specific blue. I have some other fabric to make some warmer ones, that I will whip up... likely after Micah's arrival. I will want to measure his little head to be sure they fit.

A Quick Crafty Check-in

I whipped up another dolly this week for a new baby girl. Just like the last one, this one is printed at 175% and a bit smaller that Abby's dolly. Abby insisted that I take a picture of both dollies together, too. Pattern/Tutorial courtesy of the Black Apple.

Summer Fun List 2012

Well, we've begun our new Summer Fun List! Just like last year, this is not a list of "must do's", but of "could do's". It just gives us a springboard of ideas to make the most of the season. You can read about last year's Summer Fun List here, here, here, here or here. Some of this year's items are repeats, some are new and some are ones we never got to last summer. We're looking forward to it all!

(click to enlarge)

prayer furnace - have a baby (due in 2 weeks) - wet cement (make our mark) - formal take-out (get dressed up and go for fast food) - movies in the park (Assiniboine Park Movie Nights) - 5 Winnipeg Landmarks (to be determined) - Assiniboine Park Train - Children's Museum - Winnipeg Zoo - living room campout - boat tour - midnight 7-11 run - sidewalk chalk - climb trees - surprise ice cream runs - fly a kite - finish picnic blanket (I really need some time to sew) - craft time - walk a dog - water fight - backyard campout - beach day - family pictures (Twila, we'll be calling you!) - dance in the rain - outdoor movie night - road trip (Sister's wedding in Calgary!) - mini golf - home recording studio (we have the equipment to make home recording and we want to do this with the littles) - fireworks - baseball game - late night storm watch - wiener roast - go for gelato - Kildonan Park pool day - walk 5 bridges - finger painting - research a country we'd like to visit - Nemo 3D (in theatres soon) - Tinkertown - Boonstra's Farm

Checkin' In

Well, we're only 2.5 weeks away from baby Micah's expected arrival. This is by far the fastest, busiest and most pleasant pregnancy I've experienced. I am quite tired these days and the heat gets to me pretty quick, but we're almost there. I even think baby 'dropped' last night, though I'm second guessing that this morning. Anyway, let's get to it!

• Mother's Day! It was a great day. David took us out on family adventures to the Forks, which included a boat tour (the river air was sooooo refreshing!), a visit to the candy train and a visit with a horse. Then we picked up KFC on the way home that we ate in the yard (read: no dishes or kitchen to clean up). It was a delightful day! I didn't bring the camera... aw, nuts! I asked David to take a picture with the littles yesterday to make up for it. I love my bare topped littles!

• 37.5 weeks and I asked David to take some belly shots. I don't really have any for Micah's baby book. We took a couple with the intention of taking more later in the day, but never got to it, so here's what we've got for now. If baby surprises us early, then at least I have these. I'm squinting pretty good, but oh well. Ugh! I need a haircut!

• Oh, and those are my new glasses (click on picture to enlarge). I lost my glasses out of my bag last Saturday. I was wearing my new prescription sunglasses and the case must have fallen out...grrr! That was a rough day. David was so great about it and kept telling me to let it go, it's not the end of the world. Well, I ordered a new pair from Zenni Optical for $28.50 (included shipping) and they arrived at 1:00 pm on Tuesday! That's still crazy to me considering they come from China! I still haven't received my ring that I ordered a month ago from the states.

• We got a jump on our summer list yesterday (we haven't even made one for this year yet, but fly a kite was on last year's list and we never got to it). So, we got a kite and took it out. Abigail insisted we sing "Let's Go Fly A Kite" from Mary Poppins - her lyrics are very cute. I tried to take a video of her singing, but it was so windy that you can't really hear her. Best $3.50 spent.

• David freed me up to take the afternoon to myself yesterday. I went to the mall and bought Micah a sleeper to come home from the hospital in. Then I went for a half leg wax and a pedicure here. Two spa services that are extremely helpful when you can barely see your toes, let alone reach them. I am such a cheapskate though, and feel rather bad about how much it cost. I do love my pretty toes and I feel a little bit more ready for Micah to make his arrival.

• Got to go on a date last night - so great! I love date nights. We went to go see the Avengers (we get our movie tickets through airmiles - anyone else do that?). This is the second time we've seen the Avengers, but the first time, we were so close to the screen (read: full theatre) that we could barely see the action. Anyway, it was fun to go out with my David!
• Today is "Mt. Washmore" (aka laundry) day. I have at least 4 loads to do. I wash my linens every few weeks and this is the week.
• Crazy warm weather here in Winnipeg! 29 degrees for the last two days! It's been amazing and the best news... we're not cooking inside our house! We haven't even turned on the air conditioner yet!!! Such a huge thing after the last four summers in our old oven, I mean apartment.
• I made myself a packing list for the hospital. I'm a list girl, in case you didn't know. It really occurred to me how soon Micah could come and so now I'm in get ready mode. Feeling a bit better prepared (getting my laundry caught up will help, too).

 

A Little Super Hero Action

Saw this idea on Pinterest just in time for a little birthday boy. Abby was happy to model it for me. I need to make some for my littles now, as Malachi was devastated when I put it away (in fact, he can't even handle looking at these pictures without getting upset and crying for the mask). Cape tutorial here and mask tutorial/pattern here. Hope the birthday boy enjoys it as much as my littles do!

 

Checkin' In

Happy May! Loving the mix of sun and rain that we've had lately. It smells delicious outside! I thought I'd pop in and share a few things:

• My bracelet arrived! It's beautiful and the packaging was delightful and it came so much quicker than I expected. Hooray! Check out Etsy shop Three Little Pixies if you're looking for a great custom jewelry piece and great customer service.

• I've been craving fresh flowers for my house. Is that a real craving? Anyway, my husband so graciously let me indulge in a spring bouquet yesterday. I pulled it a part to make three separate arrangements for different places in my house. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't throw out a single flower. Often when purchasing a generic bouquet I don't like something in it and don't re-use it, but this time it all worked and they were all in great shape. I love having fresh flowers in the house!

• Abigail has been displaying her creativity lately. Here's her outdoor decoration. Each flower was very carefully placed, sometimes the whole row would need to separate or shift to make room for a certain flower and then lined up again meticulously. I loved watching her at work. Abigail was so proud of her decorating.

• Oh, on a final note, a few of these pictures were edited on PicMonkey. Have you checked it out yet? It's a great free online editing program.

A Birthday Check In

Well, once again I've been blown away by the generosity and love shown to me over my birthday. My goodness! I am a blessed woman! It started with early birthday gifts that I got to choose and order online. David bought me these great prescription sunglasses from Zenni Optical. They took a total of 4 days from the day I ordered them to delivery at our door... from CHINA! Crazy. I really like have sunglasses again.

(added grey sunglass tint)

Then I ordered two custom pieces of jewelry. Thanks to generous cash gifts from both sets of parents. First the next ring in my family ring stack. It happens to be David's birthstone (a 4mm square citrine) on the narrow twig band from Olive Bungalow. I love this website and I am so glad to be getting my next ring. I hope to order the mini stack ring with the three little's birthstones on one ring this fall. I don't expect to see the ring for another few weeks as last time it took about a month to get. I think it sits at the US/CANADA border for quite some time for whatever reason. It gives me something to look forward to.

(looks similar to the second ring from the top in this stack only the stone is a bit larger)

Next I ordered a custom bracelet with my children's names stamped on it from Etsy shop Three Little Pixies. Since we know we're having another boy and have chosen his name, I didn't mind ordering this one before Micah's arrival. The ring obviously needed to wait because I don't know which month he will be born in yet. I love supporting handcrafters and I love jewelry, so this was a win win. Again, I don't expect to see it for some time, but another thing to look forward to.

(obviously Abigail, Malachi and Micah are the names that will be on my bracelet)

David really wanted to throw me a party and we were excited to find out that the movie the Artist was supposed to be released on DVD the day before my birthday. We're kinda known for our movie themed parties and David had some great ideas to go with the movie. Well, they changed the release date until June (I think) and spoiled David's plans. He was so disapointed. I told him that I didn't really want to plan anything (March had been crazy) and why don't we just go out on a nice date. David called from work telling me that he arranged for friends of ours to babysit our littles so we could go out to dinner on my birthday. I got to choose where we were going, but we'd need to be home by 7:30, because our friends had an 8:00 appointment. Dinner sounded (and was) wonderful! We went to Mongo's. I chose that restaurant, because it's not a place I would bring my littles until they're older. I liked the idea of having a sitter and not needing to worry about a child friendly restaurant. David got off work early. Our friends came and sat down to eat their supper that they brought while my littles ate their KD. Off we went. It was great. I really enjoyed myself. We went window shopping for a little while and a small drive with some Tim Hortons.

We got home right at 7:30 (didn't want to make our friends late) and found a house full of my friends surprising me for my birthday. David managed to arrange a great surprise party for me. He did a great job!

(I didn't actually take any pictures, but a friend emailed this one to me. This isn't a whole group shot, just those who happened to be in the kitchen at the time)

David called up my friend Donna and wanted to order custom baking for my party. He wanted to hire her, but she insisted on making it my present... and a lovely talented gift it truly was. You can read all about the details on her blog Peek-A-Boo Window. I did "steal" her pics to show you here, though.

So many people in on the surprise! So many lovely gifts (it would take a week to "show" you them all), so many people showing me their love and support! It was lovely. I even had a few gifts and wishes given to me on the following Sunday from those who regretfully couldn't make it to my party. Part of the fun has just begun as I have some gift cards to spend, too. SPOILED! Yup, I sure am.

Not that this has anything to do with my birthday, but I did manage to sneak in some sewing last week (my Dorcus is back from her "spa" treatment). Here's a custom Mei Tai. I used a combination of this tutorial from Jan Andrea on the Web and an old pattern that is no longer online. It turned out pretty nice and is already in use by this cutie: