Had to add this Picture

These pictures are of Daddy with an unhappy Alex. She is showing what we call the "Carmean frown"--This is Jim's mother's mother's maiden name. She does this OFTEN. She is not as deeply into the frown as usual....like if you try to take a cookie from her or ask her if she wants to go to bed....but is our best photo of it yet. This is also where the gap in the front two teeth comes from...the "carmean gap" that Jim also has. I think the only thing that Alex has from me so far is the shape of her eyes! Although Jim says she does whine just like I do.....but I don't whiiiiiinnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :)

Finally OUTSIDE, our Sunday Walk

The weather was finally agreeable for the last few days here in N. Indiana and we all went outside to enjoy it after our nap! We really haven't had many belly shots....At least not since the beginning of the year. We have one from our waterpark adventure in the beginning of Jan, but that was 2.5 months ago, and I guess I have grown a little...well, hopefully, HE is growing the most! :)

Anyways, I digress....

We have been trying to make sure that Alex has a little connection to the baby and we often talk to the baby and kiss the baby as you see in this picture! We also dance together with the baby. I shake my belly side to side to the music and she will too!


Alex loves to walk on her own now and hates to be in the stroller for walks. My mom has decided we will need to get a lease for her....and since she is such an independent little snot...I might need to for the walks in town with just her, Isaac, and myself. Out in public places....maybe not. If Jim is around, then DEFINATELY NOT! If the two of us can't handle the two of them, I don't think we have any place being wherever we are at!



Just a plain old side shot to show the belly. Isaac is really low, and pretty much has been the whole time. I had a few weeks of pain on my lower abdomen a month or so ago, then it went away. But now, I think he has just gotten too heavy!! I can barely roll over in bed anymore because it hurts moving those muscles to get me moving!

Doesn't it look like he should be coming out soon???!!! I think so!

Today is exactly 2 weeks till his due date, which is the exact day Alex came early. So I am rather hopeful.....but of course that means he won't be here until after his due date...March 25. At least we know his deadline...We will have a baby by the 29th. My OB will be leaving on the 30th, so we have our deadline. I am completely okay with this....considering I want him out NOW!





Here is Alex on the BIG Girl Swing at our local elementary school. She usually LOVES to swing on her own, but today, she just wanted to get on, then off, then on another one, then on to the other one!!!

This is a pretty good picture of the wool longies that I made for her out of the sweater from Salvation Army.

If you want to see more pictures of our little outing check out the web album here!

We had a good time and are looking forward to the next few days which are supposed to be just as nice....and even into the 60s on Tuesday before leaving us again!

Recent Stampin Up Creations

These are some cards I made for a class I gave to my Mom's Red Hat group....with the exception of the bunny card, I made that after the class in preparation for little "Isaac's" arrival...which is hopefully soon!

Supplies are all Stampin Up and are listed below:

Card: TREE
Paper: ivory, true thyme, buckaroo blue
Ink: buckaroo blue, black, versamark
Stamp sets: lovely as a tree, warmest regards, weathered
Accessories: true thyme stitched ribbon

Card: Pink Flower
Paper: Pixie Pink, Ivory, Gable Green
Ink: Pixie Pink, Versamark
Stamp sets: Heartfelt Thanks, Floral BG
Accessories: Pastels, Silver Cord and Brads


Card: Floral and Paisley
Paper: Almost Amethyst, white, black, apricot
Ink: white, black, almost Amethyst
Stamp sets:
Accessories: markers, holographic ep,

Card: Bunny
Paper: Black, white, cool carribean
Ink: cool carribean, black
Stamp sets: A new little someone
Accessories: White ribbon, pastels, watercolor brush

Salvation Army Wool Covers! :)

These are thee things I have made out of a nice $2 Merino wool cardigan from the Salvation Army find!

The wrap to the left is navy snaps and lined with the merino, but has a wool khaki skirt to help make it more "bulletproof" It is about a size nb or maybe a small...we will have to just check it out on Isaac when he arrives....please come quickly!!!! :) The snaps were a gift/trade from Jaye Jaye on my sewing diapers group...Thanks so much! They look great!


This is my first attempt to freehand some shorts to wear this summer for the babes. I hoped it would be the right size for Alex (19m) but I am thinking not now that I see them! :) I will have to see tomorrow when she wakes if I can even squeeze her in them w/o a fitted underneath! If not, the sizing will be perfect for a size small, which should be Isaac this summer. Anyways, it is from the two front panels of the cardigan, so the bottom of the shorts were already finished, and yes, those are real pockets on the side. Alex loves to put things in her pockets now that she has found them, so I was hoping she could wear these! She will probably end up putting things in her brother's pockets!! The top is not finished b/c I want to make sure the elastic will fit the right waist! :)



These are the sleeves of the sweater that I have made into longies for Alex. I am actually plan on making them into shorts since they are a nice light wool, great for the summer. I will add reinforcements with other wool scraps in the area that counts eventually. The top is, again, unfinished since I can't try it on the sleeping Alex! I should be able to get her to put them on tomorrow and put in the casing and elastic during nap time. Once that is done, I might try and find a cute top to match her new navy longies, and have her wear them out in public! Her other 2 longies are only for nights, but I would love to finally have a cute outfit that I MADE that she can wear in public without feeling shame!! :) I figure once the warm weather hits, I can just cut off the bottoms and make a cute little cuff at the legs and she will have her shorts! :)

Ebay diaper inners

Big Girl!

Yesterday my mom came over and helped me clean and sort baby clothes to get ready for the new life and well, just life in general. We got so much accomplished! Anyways, Mom invited Alex to go to the potty with her, and low and behold she sat on her potty and did pee!

I have been inviting her to try if she wants whenever I go now. She did leave some, about the size of a quarter. A few times she didn't want to sit there more than a second, but at least she is willing to sit on it now!

After three full days of missing Daddy is starting to show. She just kept wanting to come down out of bed and looking around the house.

She is finally down and quiet, so I hope I am able to get my scraping done during my fav shows...survivor and Grays! I have got the paper and am ready to attach. I figure I will get al that done and then add the embellishemnts and journaling and stamping and titles at a different time. Less things to do at once....or should I say, less things to drag out at once!

Building Blocks!!

Look at me build!!! Alex and Jim were playing with blocks and she stacked 8 high all by herself, and in the second picture she was going for 9! They did topple after the 9th was added, but quite an accomplishment for an 18 month old! Way to go baby girl!

SNOW Day with Daddy

Here are my pictures from my first ride on my sled with Daddy . Then a walk in the snow to the slide. I enjoyed standing up on my slide but didn't really enjoy the snow or the sled. Alex really doesn't like snow. She walked around the snow paths with Jim, but really didn't like it. This was the first time that she really walked on the snow though. Anyother time, she had always just stood at the door step waiting to be carried b/c she didn't like to get snow on her!

New Flannel Fitteds for Isaac

These are some diapers that I have cut out this week and will be making into fitteds for "Isaac" our yet to be born babe...due in five weeks...I am saying anywhere from 2-6 weeks, because that is our window for "normal" and not preterm labor.

They are going to be smalls in the Chloe Toes pattern. I am just waiting on my FOE to arrive before I sew them up.

The flannel I am using are recycled from Jim's flannel pants that he never wears anymore. I have only cut up one of the lightest color b/c that flannel is really wearing bad, and I figured it would be best to save that pair of pants for the newborn size as it isn't worn as long.

Picture of Me, Mom and Alex

Christmas Eve 2006

I am in the black with sleeves and long hair.
My Mom in sleeveless.
My baby Alex (17 months) on her lap with Elmo.

You can't see it, but I am prego...
That is why I have such a round face...
Sure...that is really the reason! :)

The Purple Wool LONGIES!

I know it is kinda dark, but here are my first longies, well, first ones that fit! :) I have since ditched the first effort, past saving!

Both longies are made from the same rich purple sweater, and only the first pict are made from the sleeves....and of course the first pict is the only one that actually fits right now. The other is MUCH TOO LONG, but if I am out of wool covers, she can wear them...just not long before bed. We can roll the cuffs, but they unroll so quickly since she is so active. I just can't stand to cut them off since she is going to be skinny with longer legs next winter...so they will be perfect!

I did actually felt this sweater slightly to begin with, but it didn't do much to it, so after I lanolized them, I just threw them in dryer and they are still fine. I hate to wait for air drying wool!!!

2nd Wool Cover Attempt

This was my second attempt at a Recycled Wool Cover, from a sweater, felted, then bound in FOE. Again, this one is too small to fit Alex, but hopefully will work with her brother to be!

My first FOE and Chloe Toes Diaper

This is my first attempt at a "pretty diaper" and as well, my first attempt at the Chloe Toes diaper pattern. It is a size large and although it fits Alex, it is SO BIG and baggy on her non butt. I have three total like this that will have to wait at least 6 months till she can really fill them out nicely. I do love the fit of this pattern, it is so nice!

1st Recycled wool Cover attempt

This was my first attempt at making a wool diaper cover. Not so good. As you can tell, without a pattern to at least *kinda* follow, it ends up in disaster. We will have to see if I can use it on the new guy when he gets here because it is too small for Alex now!

2,4,6,8 box

My first box, and it has a lid with ribbon handle. It is full of chocolate for my valentines exchange partner. Our cat Wally is in the background!

Cracked Glass Bookmark

This is a bookmark that I made for an Valentines Day exchange using the cracked glass technique. I think it turned out pretty nice.

Technique: stamp image how you want, take a versamark pad all over the image, directly to the paper from pad, cover with clear embossing powder and heat emboss. Continue to versamark and emboss until the embossing is thick, then let it cool, and bend the paper a few different ways, making the embossing "crack" The final touch is to add some creamy carmel ink sponged into the cracks to make them show up more!

Hope you like it!

Diaper Organization!!!

Today I went through all the diaper supplies and Sewing supplies I had and made a list of fabrics with no "specific" use in mind right now and projects that I need to work on. I have them all spread out on our formal couch right now. I have made a list of what I need to sew, if there is anything I need for that project and so forth. When Alex (my super cute 18 month old daughter) wakes up from her nap, I plan on going into Lowes and using up some of my GC from christmas to get some storage to organize the craziness on my couch! Those GC were to be used for an instant Hot Water Faucet, all christmas gifts, but we got one free from Jim's brother and SIL (Thanks Steve), but Jim used a ton of the GC for the supplies to get the thing hooked up. It is up and running, and Jim admits that it is a GREAT thing to have! He can have a coffee quickly anytime now...I think he has used it more than I have already! Anyways, once I get my sewing projects organized, I will have to organize how they will all fit into the front closet where I keep my sewing supplies! Maybe once I complete that I will post a picture to prove I got it done!

My first In Home Workshop Cards

These are two cards that I did at my first in home workshop. Since valentines day is almost here, I decided to be festive:

kraft, red, white papers
Olive You and Petite Patterns Stamp sets
Real red and black ink, olive and red markers
Slit punch, SU carmel gingham ribbon





I sold a bunch of the slit punches in this party. Everyone loved the ease of it and how it made the card look.









The next card is a more Spring time card, colors and being floral too. We did the Versamark "ghosting" technique on the flower.

Celery, amythest, blush and glossy SU papers
Watercolor Vine Jumbo wheel, Heartfelt Thanks Stamp Set
Versamark ink
Brayer, Mat Pack


In retrosect, I would say that using a different tool to show on this card would have been a good thing, maybe using a tool and brads instead of the mat pack to make the pierced corners. It looks nice, but it was difficult to do with a large group to make them feel successful.

The Ghosting technique was very successful and got alot of wows, I belive that most of the ladies felt successful and I did sell lots of versamark and a brayer because I was able to show their usefulness!

I have to work on making sure that I can make every tool a success in the customers hand, or they won't want to have one of their own! :)