Mother's Day Bookmarks

I kept intending to blog about this fun craft idea, and I just kept forgetting!  For Mother's Day, I made 3 sets of book marks (one for me, one for my mom, and one for Kevin's mom).  I saw the idea in a recent Family Fun magazine.  It seemed easy enough and I knew I'd use them so that was a good enough reason for me to make them! :) 

I tried to get the kids excited about doing a "photo shoot".  The examples in the magazine had the kids hold their hands about their head so it would look like they were holding on to the tassel.  I ended up getting a good photo of each of them, had 4 copies of each made (I had an extra just in case I made a mistake cutting).  I printed the pictures on a standard 4x6 photo, but you could do a 5x7 if you wanted a bigger book mark.  Cut out the kids pictures and laminate them.  I had the laminating done at Staples.  All 6 pictures fit on one sheet (I could have fit 8) and I think it was between $2-$3.  They did it right infront of me so I didn't have to wait for them.

When I got home I cut the image out of the laminating and then punched a hole in their hands.  I just made a homemade tassel from yarn I already had.  Super easy project that was very affordable - and everyone seems to LOVE them!

No More Yubbie

I had been dreading the day that I took away Allie's paci, or "yubbie", as she calls it.  About the time she turned one, I only let her have one at nap time and bed time.  Hayden just gave his up on his own at 13 months, but Allie was very very attached.  I decided last week was the week!  We had a busy Memorial Day weekend, but that next Tuesday, I rounded all of them up and put them in the top of her closet.  The first day during nap time went better than I planned.  She asked for her yubbies, I told her no more yubbies b/c she's a big girl now - she fussed probably 10 minutes then went right to sleep.  Her normal naps are about 2 hours and this one lasted just over an hour.  I was slightly afraid for bedtime.... we went through the same drill as nap time - she asked, I said no.  Again, after about 10 minutes, she went right to sleep.  I went to bed early that night preparing myself for a long night.  Allie woke me up at 5:30am (which is about 90 mins earlier than she normally wakes up), but I couldn't believe she slept all night!  The following days weren't any harder.   Tuesday (one week later) was the first nap time and bed time she laid right down with out a peep.  All these months I'd been dreading this were for nothing! 

I'm hoping her front teeth straighten out a little bit and her little lisp gets better too!

Only When I'm Pregnant - 24 Weeks

Goodbye second trimester!  I've really enjoyed the last 12 weeks of pregnancy.  Overall I felt great, slept great, had exciting doctor's appointments - and my oh my the time has flown by!  I'm already thinking ahead to the birth - what will be different, will the baby look like Hayden or Allie, will "it" be a girl or boy.  I still haven't felt the rush to kick Allie out of her room and get the baby's room ready, although Allie is really excited and ready to move into Hayden's room.  Maybe when I reach the 30's (meaning weeks) I'll get things in gear. 

As of yesterday, I am up 23lbs.  Could be better, could be worse.  I remember how upset I was about the weight I gained with Hayden - and I was a little upset too when pregnant with Allie - but I've lost all the weight I gained both times, so I keep reminding myself it's only temporary.

I've been going absolutely crazy for caramel corn.  I have my glucose test today and my doctor advised me not to over due the sugar a few days prior to the test........ so I've eaten just about everything in sight to get my mind off caramel corn, but it's not working.  Momma wants caramel corn!  You'd think I'd plan on making it today, but I found a recipe for a giant chocolate chip cookie that is supposed to taste similar to Great American Cookies cookie cakes, so me and the kids are trying that tonight.  (If it's worthy of sharing the recipe, I absolutely will!)

Still dealing with some sciatic pain (usually in the mornings and evenings).  My uterus is the size of a soccer ball this week!  That's getting pretty big!  The baby weighs over a pound and from head to rear is about 12 inches long - no wonder I can feel these kicks a lot more!  OH, and Kevin felt the baby move for the first time Saturday night.  That's always fun for the both of us :)

Thrifting

Hello, Thrifting.  I have missed you. 

I bought 2 pair of jeans - the light pair are for post pregnancy, the dark pair are for when I lose the baby weight!

The light jeans are Gap Long & Lean jeans (My Favorite jeans ever), and the dark are called Truck Jeans.  Both retail for @ $70 and I paid $5 a pair!  Love it!

I found this super cute North Face sweater that I'm hoping I can wear this winter.  The sleeves are extra long and it looks like it's never been worn.  I was marked down from $5 to $2.  I think yes!

This was by far my favorite find.  As I've said, I'm wanting to make the baby's bedding.  My plan is to use red and blue as the main nursery colors and if it's a girl add pink touches and if it's a boy add navy blue.  I had looked at crib bumper patterns and I knew that would be the biggest sewing challenge I faced.  Then, I found this Pottery Barn Kids bumper that will match perfectly for $5!  Looks brand spakin' new!  I couldn't pass it up!!!

Who is ready to go thrifting?!  I am!!!!  Can't wait to see what I find on my next trip out!

Baby Shower

I'm sure this is old news to most of you, but my sister, mom, and myself hosted a baby shower for my sister in law, Tabitha, on Memorial Day weekend.  My sister took care of invites, games and banners, my mom did the food and got the table decorations and prizes (along with a bunch of other little details), and my only job was the cupcakes and to do the speaking at the shower.  I was happy with how the cupcakes turned out (and tasted, I purposely stopped counting how many I ate).  The room looked girly and beautiful, and I think everyone that came had a good time!  Here are some pics...

The cupcakes (chocolate/strawberry/white) iced in pink butter cream with a chocolate covered pretzel branch for the owls (which I purchased on Etsy!)

The table settings - my mom made the owl sugar cookies!

The room @ the Newburgh Library

My SIL Tabitha, my brother Tyler, and my niece Addison.

Me & my mom

The food table before the punch was ready :)

Only When I'm Pregnant - 23 Weeks

Nesting has overtaken me!  Every free minute I have, I'm thinking of ways to reorganize and planning what's the next thing I need to clean.  Kevin is probably getting fed up with all my ideas, but they really are good suggestions!  A lot of the "suggestions" just require him to build something or fix something... we still have 17 weeks or so to get it all done :)

I'm throwing around the idea of making Baby #3's bedding.  I found some patterns that don't look too overly complicated.  I know I've never really sewn anything, so this may seem like a bigger challenge than I think.  I'm going to go price some material this week and pick out some colors.  I know it will be cheaper to make it than buy it, so that's my motivation!

Chocolate and Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri's from Cheeseburger in Paradise are my only big cravings this week.  Looking forward to next week when I have another doctor's appointment!  (And hopefully a new computer so I can stay more up to date with my blog!)

Souvenirs

We brought home some fun things from our trip!  Here's a quick look at the goods!

Matching Bass Pro shirts for everyone, Destin shirts for the kids, jewelry and scarves for me, a new purse, fudge, an ornament for our Christmas tree, and Kevin got two signs for the "man cave".   Kevin also got a new pair of Nike shoes from the outlet but I forgot to include them in the picture!

Go Karts - FL Edition

Kevin decided he wanted to take Hayden to race go karts while we were in Florida.  Kevin took Hayden once and I took him the second time.  Hayden liked riding with his daddy better than his mommy because I  kept going too fast! 

The track

Off they go!

Down the hill...

Mommy's turn :)

 Allie was too little for the go karts, but she was much happier riding the horse!!!

Random FL Pics

There were a couple days on the beach that we had to deal with lots of seaweed!  It was crazy that the next day it was all gone!

Not sure what kind of pose this is from Allie...

We walked past this lake everyday going to the beach. 

Kevin asked me if he should wear these pants with that shirt.  He was being 100% serious.  I'm so glad he has me to dress him!  Oh my!

 Little photo shoot with Allie in the condo :) 

Sheriff's truck patrolling the beach!  I'd like to have THAT job!

I thought Hayden and I both needed our picture next to the "HD DRIVE" since we are both "HD"!

We found this "Welcome to Destin" sign while driving around.

Wish we would have spent more time checking out the harbor. 

Kilwins

Our favorite stop on our whole trip was Kilwin's!  We went there three times during the course of the week!  Their ice cream is a-maz-ing!  They have displays full of chocolate covered everything, a dozen different types of fudge, and caramel apples topped several different ways!  It wasn't cheap, but it was so good it didn't matter!!!  Kevin got the same ol' boring vanilla ice cream every time we went.  The kids both got vanilla too (must take after their daddy)!  I got the chocolate ice cream the first trip.  The second trip I tried the salted caramel ice cream and it was so so so good.  I ended up getting it again on our last trip (along with a box full of fudge for the ride home)!

The kids ice cream came with 2 eyes on top :)

To sweeten the experience, on our first trip there, we were sitting at one of the only tables inside looking at pictures of their moose mascot with customers.  I was floored to see someone in one of the pictures I recognized!!!

It was my sister and her husband and her brother in law!  I called her when we left to tell her she was famous, and she didn't know her picture was hanging up there.  It was a neat surprise :)