Thursday, April 14, 2011

spring, why dost thou torture me?

This is what we woke up to this morning:

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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

And this is what I came home to this evening:

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Snow's melted, but the whipping wind makes it cold. And difficult to walk outside.

See those trees on the other side of the street? I swear at least ten times a year that those trees are going to blow over. But they never do.

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Spring supposedly sprung (sprang?) several weeks ago... could've fooled me. Weather in Colorado is consistently inconsistent. I could count on stuff in Florida: hot, humid, sometimes rainy. In Colorado, the forecast doesn't mean anything. It changes every five minutes.

We have a field trip to a farm scheduled for Tuesday. I'm really, really nervous about the weather!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

the nursery {painting} and baby update {23 weeks}

We've started on the baby's nursery! Well, my husband, mom, and stepdad started on the nursery. I got kicked out because of primer and paint fumes.

We have three bedrooms in our home... our bedroom, the guest room, and what we lovingly call the "crap" room... half craft room, half office, half storage, half junk. We decided to make the crap room the new guest room and the "old" guest room is now the baby's room.

Last Friday night Hubby switched the rooms and cleaned out the new nursery. This picture is from before we moved in... the walls were a deep blue with some sort of white or gray sponge painting over it.

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Saturday, my mother and stepfather came up to help paint and install the chair rail. We chose pink for the top and a tan for the bottom, with the chair rail being higher than average at about 55 inches. We dubbed it the "chin rail". Guess whose chin it's at? Yep. Mine. I'm short.

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Painting went really fast, considering they had to prime it and paint two colors. The chair (chin) rail went up Sunday morning. It looks great!

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And Big Bunny is ready to greet Baby!

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We ordered the crib and dresser, and they should come in the next week or so. I also picked up a cute piece of artwork that incorporates the alphabet and I'm working on a couple of projects that will go up on the walls. Hurray!

Now for the update:
Baby is kicking like crazy! She's moving all around and doing somersaults in my belly.

I've been feeling really good... my energy is back, which is good because as the end of the school year approaches I'm going to need it!

My craving for milkshakes and cereal has diminished. I had gained four pounds at my last doctor's appointment three weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure one was Baby and the other three were milkshakes. :)

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You know what's funny? Every time the baby kicks, I yell for Hubby to run over and put his hand on my belly so he can feel too. Problem is, she stops kicking! Poor Hubby, he hasn't been able to feel her yet.

My stomach looks HUGE to me when I look down and see it sticking out, but in pictures it doesn't look that big. Some people at work who didn't know I was pregnant were tiptoeing around, asking other people so they didn't offend me in case I was just getting fat, lol.

Monday, April 4, 2011

spring break wrap up

This past week was my Spring Break. I didn't know how much I was looking forward to it until it was actually here! I spent the week quilting, crocheting, relaxing, napping, lunching with friends, and thrifting. Doesn't that sound lovely? (It was!)

Anyway, I set myself a deadline of finishing the two baby quilts I had started, as well as working on my quilt along quilt (I am so embarrassed that I haven't finished it yet, I'm not even going to link to the old posts about this quilt!) and any other projects I could find that were unfinished. Trust me, there are plenty stashed around the house.

I'm very proud to say that I accomplished my goal! Both baby quilts are done and with their intended recipients. I also got over my fear of free motion quilting with these quilts, and decided to abandon the straight line quilting I started with my quilt along quilt in favor of the free motion quilting. That's going slowly, but well.

This is the first quilt I finished. I used Eden by Lila Tueller for Moda:

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(backed with pink minky dot)

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And for the second quilt, I used It's a Hoot by Momo for Moda, and backed it more fabric from the same line:

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I'm loving both quilts, and I love even more that I actually finished them!

One thing I've contiually debated since I began quilting... do I pre-wash the quilt before I give it? I'm torn over this. I haven't pre-washed any of the quilts I've given so far.

I also used my machine to bind both quilts, and it was so easy! Finishing by hand is easy, too, but takes so much longer to do.

Friday, April 1, 2011

guest posting today!

What a fabulous way to end my Spring Break... I'm guest posting over at sewtakeahike today! Head on over for tips about quilting with minky. If you've just arrived from Penny's blog, welcome! Browse around and leave some comment love, and happy Friday to you all!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

another retreat!

I am SO excited! I've signed up for another quilt retreat in April! You may remember my first one in November, taught by Amanda Jean of crazymomquilts. She talked about quilting with a free motion foot and a walking foot.

This one is being taught by Penny of sewtakeahike... she's also in the Quilt Guild I joined recently. She's going to talk about paper piecing blocks, basic block design, and advanced block design. Hop on over to her blog... she has so many fun blocks!

Of course, the retreat will be at the Inn at City Park... a lovely place! And, Tara's cooking! Mmmmm.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

crocheted hexagons

I've brought my hexagon mania over from sewing and into crochet. I found a quick little pattern for hexies and am cranking them out as quickly as possible.

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I decided to use them to make a blanket for my daughter-to-be... (Wow... I'm getting goosebumps typing that!)

What I need now is an invisible way to join them... since each hexagon is a different color, whipstitching them together will show too much. Any ideas?

Sunday, March 27, 2011

{baby update} 21 weeks

Technically I won't be 21 weeks until Tuesday, but I really can't wait that long. Last Friday Hubby and I went in for our second trimester ultrasound, which proved very uncomfortable as I needed a full blader and the technician was pushing down on my abdomen pretty hard. Plus, Baby didn't enjoy the process at all and actually flipped over to avoid the tech! I think it was the fetal equivalent of giving the finger, haha!

What we saw was absolutely amazing. Remember what Baby looked like when I was 9 weeks along?
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Well, this is what Baby looks like now...

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It just blows me away.

But wait! I haven't told you the best part! We know what we're having! But, I can't tell you.

Just kidding. That's mean. I wouldn't yank your chain like that.

Well, maybe just a little. :)

Are you ready?

For the record, I would have been happy with either gender. What I really want is to be mommy to a healthy baby, and so far that appears to be the case! Yay!

Okay, I guess that's enough chain-yanking. You've probably scrolled down anyway.

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Yay! It's such a relief to know... now I can commence further planning for the nursery and such. I'm already working on a crocheted baby blanket, and will definitely make a quilt for her!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

{baby update} 19 weeks

I figured it was time to post a baby update! I'm sure you all are riveted. :)

Size of baby: a small chicken breast. All of the size comparisons in What to Expect When You're Expecting use food. Weird but true.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I've lost 4 pounds since December. Also weird, but true. Especially since my belly has definitely expanded.

Clothes: Maternity pants and shirts to maximize the belly!

Gender: Ultrasound is scheduled for March 25th. Ten days! (Not that I'm counting, lol.)

Movement: Flutters in the beginning of last week, more solid movements later on. Sometimes it feels like Baby is doing jumping jacks in my belly. Especially when I'm sitting down.

What I miss: Diet Coke. Deli meat. Bleu cheese. Ahhh, bleu cheese, how I miss you!

Cravings: Chocolate milkshakes. I've had six in the last week alone. Also, cereal. Doesn't matter what kind!

Interesting to note: I slipped and fell on the stairs on Saturday. I've got a huge purple bruise on my rear. Baby is okay... we went to the emergency room to make sure. I was pretty freaked out!

Also, if I think too hard about how Baby's moving in my tummy, I start to get a little weirded out and feel like an alien experiment. I mean, there's a HUMAN GROWING INSIDE ME!! Unreal. So I try not to think about it, just enjoy the feeling.*

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*Sorry for the blurry photo.

Friday, March 11, 2011

cupcakes

I have a classroom aide this year, in the afternoons. She does small groups, interventions, and testing. She's a great person, and she does an awesome job. I love her!

Wednesday was her birthday, and I brought in cupcakes for the kids to celebrate her birthday. I also wanted to give her a little something, so I crocheted a cupcake.

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Not useful or practical, but oh, so cute! And actually, it can be used as a pin cushion, so it can be practical if she wants!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

cravings, hexagons and the nook

Hi friends! Sorry for the long absence. A lot has been going on, and precious little of it involves crafting. Growing a baby is HARD! Two more weeks until we find out what we're having. I'm sporting a small baby bump that I try to enhance as much as possible, so that I'll look pregnant and not just chunky. :)

Also, I think I've figured out my cravings... cereal (doesn't matter what kind) and chocolate milk shakes. Mmmmmm... I want a milk shake right now! I wonder if Hubby will stop and get me one on his way home from work?

A tiny bit of sewing has been happening... a couple of weeks ago we had a Modern Quilt Guild meeting, and Penny showed us how to piece hexagons. I made the cutest flower! I came home with  more hexagons, a bit of gorgeous fabric, and a hankering for MORE!

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I finally tracked down an acrylic hex cutting template and I'm thinking I might do either a mug rug or a baby quilt with hexagons.

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Switching to my third tangent of this post, (I can do that, I'm pregnant) (okay, I do that anyway) I got a nook last month and I LOVE IT! I was really nervous about buying an e-reader... I love the feel of holding a traditional book in my hand and was having a hard time with the idea of giving up the kinesthetic experience. Turns out it's really not that big of a deal... I also like that I don't have to connect the thing to my laptop to download my books, it's got wireless internet so I can do it automatically. Which is a good and bad thing, because I've already spent a ton of money on books. By the way, I'm not getting compensation for this, blah blah blah.

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My only complaint is that in almost all of the e-books I've downloaded, there are a bunch of typos. It's so frustrating! I really think these things should be edited as well as a regular book and I hate seeing so many mistakes in the text.