Well, we are here at 36 weeks and going on strong. Didn’t think I’d last this long. Good news is, babies are getting the eviction notice next Wednesday since they are slightly larger than they should be. Baby B is now head down, so depending on how they look this week, I may not have to get a c-section. Next belly shot may be the last!

Do stripes make me look large?

Somebody asked me if I was sure I wasn’t having triplets yesterday. That’s just rude people. But my favorite is last Sunday, when a little boy came up to me and asked me if I was pregnant. haha! Boy am I ever!

I had an awesome alphabet themed baby shower put on by my friends last week. It was amazing having so many friends together in one room. I have a great book collection for the nursery now! I feel very loved! Sadly I forgot my camera and don’t have a single picture from that night. :(

The nursery is almost done. Still waiting to hang stuff on the walls, and for Joann’s to get something in stock so I can finish the second bumper. Here’s the latest completed project:

AMH Scrappy Nap Pillow

With the amount of scraps leftover from the quilt I made, I could seriously make 5 of these pillows. Still trying to decide if I should put a button in the middle or no?

If I look tired it’s because its close to midnight here. Fernando’s been busy installing recessed lighting in the nursery and we’ve been going to bed way too late recently.

The weeks are flying by and we are trying to quickly wrap things up in the nursery. I got fed up with the bumpers 3/4 of the way through and decided to start a new quilt to take my mind off of things. Do you remember this post? Well, I was going through my stack of quilts and decided that both babies need their own Baby Life quilt, so I whipped up another one. Quickest quilt ever.

Pattern courtesy of V and Co. at Moda Bake Shop

I saw this video on Buymodernbaby blog and thought it was cute.

Cuz I’m posting a very scary picture…

32 weeks

I’m a little shocked by this picture. I didn’t think I was this big :(

Anybody know of ways to flip a breech baby? Cuz baby B is feet first dang it and the flashlight trick is not working!

On another note, I wanted to post about the crib skirts I made:

I followed this tutorial, although a tutorial really isn’t necessary. All you do is measure the length of the sides of the crib and how long you want your skirt to be.  Hem the pieces, and sew them to a rectangular piece of fabric (in this case I used my leftover curtain liner) and you’re done. Quickest project I ever did. The fabric is Premier Prints Waverly in charcoal.

The Curtains

For the curtains I used Premier Prints yellow zig zag fabric. I just love a good chevron! I basically wanted this fabric in every color. Thanks Fabric.com!

To make lined grommet curtains, I used this tutorial then followed the manufacturers instructions on the back of the grommet package. The hardest part was by far measuring out the distance between the grommets. I didn’t realize how much fabric is necessary to make curtains. To make four panels at 85 inches, it took 11 yards of fabric! It came out to be $36 a panel, which isn’t Ikea cheap, but isn’t Restoration Hardware expensive either. It is pretty easy to find a Fabric.com coupon code online, so you can save money there (wish I discovered that sooner).

Just gotta sew two crib bumpers then I’m done. But dreading dreading dreading…

Several months ago (February I think) I posted about the start of Sixth Time’s the Charm quilt by AMH in her Handmade Beginnings book. Well, I just barely finished it a couple of weeks ago. It took me that long. Originally I had planned on making two of them, but there was a typo in the book and I couldn’t figure out how to cut out the hexagon with my lame math skills. Luckily I stumbled upon this blog post from somebody who had the same problem. In the comments form, Anna Marie posted the correction to the pattern. Not only did this pattern hurt my brain, but it produced way more scraps than I could ever use. And you know me and scraps…I keep every itty bitty piece.

I absolutely love how this quilt turned out. But I will never make it again.

Instead, poor baby #2 gets this strip quilt that I whipped up in two days.

Fernando is back, after spending almost a month in Nigeria. Which is partly why I’ve been so terrible posting lately.  I’m just loving having him home! He had flowers on the table with dinner waiting when I came home from work that day.  It was heaven. Then we spent the whole weekend together just the two of us-walking to the park, sitting on a bench eating ice cream (my favorite thing to do lately), attending our first Houston Dynamo soccer game, shopping, and going to the movies-Rio (not my favorite animation, but still cute). Since he was away for our 3rd anniversary, he brought me home the Rosetta Stone language learning software so I could learn Spanish.  I’ve been wanting this for a while now.  So far it’s really easy to understand, and fun.

While in Nigeria, Fernando decided that he would like to train for a triathalon. He’s really been into working out lately.  This all started when he dropped 10lbs with the HCG diet which was a great motivator.  There’s a sprint triathalon coming up in August that he’s planning on doing.  Hopefully he doesn’t get heat stroke. Since our bikes got stolen, we’ve been toying with the idea of getting road bikes.  Thankfully, we have some super nice friends who are going away for the summer who decided to lend us their totally awesome road bikes to use.

Although I doubt I will get my booty on a bike anytime soon…

week 16

Week 14 hit and my nausea was cured! I feel like a whole new person.  The problem is I’m very limited in what clothes I can wear now. Everything is going good. I may or may not have felt something move inside. I can’t be sure these days. So many strange sensations going on.

I recently discovered fiber reactive dyes for dyeing fabric.  They are 100% way better than Rit dyes.  I get mine from Dharma Trading. They have bright bold colors and don’t bleed or fade.  I’ve been having so much fun with dying onesies and burp cloths.

(sorry about the iphone pics)

This past weekend we went to our new favorite beach- Surfside. There was a lot more sea weed this time around, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal.  The sand was super soft and the water was the perfect temperature.  We flew kites, soaked up the sun, and played in the sand.  We were sure to re apply SPF 50 every two hours or so, but alas, I was fried. Fernando too.  I guess our fair skin isn’t ready for summer yet…

Why was it so hard to find decent Valentines decorations this year? Even Hobby Lobby disappointed me.

Thanks to The Idea Room, I was able to make my own out of Styrofoam, felt, and party streamers.

Tutorial found here

The Idea Room’s Valentines Topiary Tutorial

Fernando asked what I was making and I said, “A topiary tree”.  He was like, “What’s a topiary?” I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking in my head, ‘um, where were you in the 90′s?’

Did you notice The Work and The Glory series in the background of her photos at the Idea Room?

It reminds me of this article about Mormon housewife blogs and their subtle widgets of temples and Families are Forever slogans. Speaking of which, that is my temple picture in the background.  haha.

The Idea Room’s Heart Felt wreath Tutorial

I will definitely be making more of these, maybe in a round shape and non-Valentinesy color. Easy Peasy.

On a side note, I’ve been making more ties. I happened to stumble upon a JoAnn’s that was closing and had everything on clearance.  I bought a bunch of gingham and seersucker colors that will make perfect ties.

I was so excited that someone is already doing this on etsy

Her shop is called Babybystevie and she sells gorgeous ties made from seersucker, houndstooth, polka-dots, gingham, and other cute cottons.

Seriously cute right?

There’s also Bubalooandco which has seriously cute designer print ties for sale like these:

Why am I telling you this? Because I cannot do an Etsy store of my own.  At least not while I am still working full time.

For now, everything I make is to keep or to give away.

I have a hard enough time keeping this blog updated as it is. I have yet to master the skill of multitasking.

I want to encourage you to get your own craft on.  This is beginner level sewing. Better yet, buy this pattern from the Butterflytree and make your own!

A quick preview of the next project. This one is proving to be extremely tedious!

First of all, I gotta show you some of my fabric stash from my trip!

Lots of designer prints, flannel, a few zippers, linens, and even some knits (although I don’t know if I dare)

I bought my first PDF pattern online from the Butterfly Tree shop at Etsy. I’ve been wanting to make little boy ties for a long time, but couldn’t find the right skinny tie style.  This pattern rocked! There are several patterns included from age 0-12 yrs.  The ones I made are adjustable from age 0 to 2 yrs. Velcro and reversible!

I got my hands on Anna Maria Horner’s book, Handmade Beginnings

That quilt in the background…that’s why I wanted this book in the first place.  I started that project this weekend. Lets just say it’s a lot of cutting.

The book has adorable pictures.  I don’t know what’s cuter, that baby’s face or the jacket?

I attempted my own Baby-in-the-Hood Jacket. Size fits 3-6 months.

It’s lined with soft yellow polka dot flannel.

Remember those hexagons my MIL busted out during conference? Guess who got hand stitched potholders for Christmas?

Pardon my use of cell phone pictures.

Here’s a reversible toddler apron I made for my new niece. I also have an adult hostess apron I made a few months ago in the same fabric.

It’s been a while since I’ve made baby kimono shoes.

I almost forgot how.

Perfect for Valentines Day don’t ya think?

A friend of mine asked me to make her a small bag, something to hold a couple of diapers and wipes, since she has graduated from the diaper bag, and doesn’t want her diapers loose in her purse.  I did a little research.  The best way to find them online is by searching Diapee Wipee or diaper wipes bag on etsy. There are several styles out there. I preferred the clutch style.

There is a pin on the back of the flower, so it can be taken off.

This one was inspired by my buttercup bag I made a while ago, from Made by Rae, who has some new seriously cute tutorials. And I totally copied the fabric selection from a clutch I fell in love with on etsy.

Unfortunately I don’t have any diapers or wipes cases to model with these bags, but Google it and you’ll get the idea.

Look familiar? I used the gathered clutch tutorial from Noodlehead, only made it a bit bigger.

I had a five day weekend last week. Thanks to a scheduled hysteroscopy. I have a new love = general anesthesia. Fourth time this year. Best night sleep I ever had. Anyway, I’m now working with the Houston Fertility Institute to figure out why all the miscarriages. They took a camera to the inside of my uterus and had a look around, and good news, they found something! Supposedly, I was born with a big scar inside my uterus and it was giving me a 40-50% chance of miscarrying. So they removed it. Hopefully that was the ticket!

Okay, on to the bibs…I really, really needed to sew something; more importantly, use my scraps which were getting a little out of hand. I have a problem with keeping every itty bitty piece of fabric…thinking someday I may use it.

I realized that I really need to work on my purple stash

Here are my fav’s

I’m hoping they fit a baby.  I don’t even have a doll to try them out on…

I went to the Houston Quilt Festival yesterday. I have been looking forward to this event all year. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.  I was thinking more booths would have sold fabric.  And the prices increased this year too.  $2.69 for a fat quarter? What a strange price. I will stick to buying fabric online.

We were off for the weekend with tickets to the BYU/TCU football game. Even though BYU was going to lose, we decided that it had been way too long since we had seen a college game, and we were still going to have fun.

But before we got there, we had to see what all the fuss was about and check out Buc-ee’s in Madisonville. I thought to myself: it must be quite the store if people are wearing their t-shirts and they have billboards over 100 miles away from the nearest store.

What did we think? It’s worth the hype. Holy mega convenience store! They have the most amazing snacks and food that anyone could ever want on a road trip.  Endless varieties of trail mix, beaver nuggets, candy, Icee’s, kolaches, homemade bread, fudge, chocolate covered nuts, you name it.  They have over 30 varieties of their own jerky which you can order by the pound, including deer and elk and other game.  Then they have a bakery with brownies, kolaches, and yummy sugar cookies.  They have real food like pulled pork sandwiches and fajitas, and other grilled options, banana cream pie, cheese and meat samplers, and you get the point.  The bathrooms are huge and super clean.  They sell Texas memorabilia, dutch ovens, smokers, and a building next door with outdoor cabin furniture. What a welcoming site on the road!

Once we made it to Dallas we ate downtown at a yummy Thai restaurant, right by House of Blues, and walked around to the American Airlines stadium.  Which was pretty fun since Dallas has a way better night life than Houston.  People are actually walking around downtown. And the AA stadium has mega huge TV’s in the courtyard.  We stayed at the Residence Inn in Dallas.  Close proximity to the yummy fabric store, City Craft!

Here’s the loot:

Enchino cameras and glasses! I’ve been dying to get my hands on this line for months but couldn’t justify paying $18/yd. I think half yards will do…for now.

Michael Miller and Alexander Henry

Castle Peeps

I finally started a collection of Kona solids

I was amazed that City Craft still had the whole collection of Hope Valley!

The owner of the store gave me some helpful info about starting a shop and said that there is a shop in the Heights called Sew Crafty! I drove halfway across town today only to find out that they are closed on Mondays. :(

Next door to City Craft is a shop called Paper & Chocolate. Intrigued by the combination, we decided to venture in. And found this:

Fran’s chocolate! My absolute favorite chocolate. Made in Seattle. Fran’s gray salt thins are the perfect end to a delicious meal. Unfortunately they melted in my purse at the football game…but they can still be salvaged!

The grey salt caramels are also heavenly

The store had some cute personalized stationary/ gift paper and cute journals.

Next up: Fort Worth

We loved Fort Worth and the cool architecture.

Every day they have a historical cattle drive and they walk the cattle through the street.  Unfortunately we missed it.

Kids could get pictures taken on longhorns, they had a mechanical bull, and yummy places to eat.  Plenty of saloons and  western stores. We ran into some friends from our ward who were also going to the game.

We wished we could have stayed longer, but the game was starting!!!

It took us FOREVER to find a place to park and we were very grumpy, but we made it.

There were BYU fans everywhere, in our fan section, and intermingled in the stands. Unfortunately we were facing the sun the whole game and got sunburned. We lost, but still had a fun time.

We went to the state fair in Dallas and met up with Fernando’s friends, Wynnter and Jason.  Jason was all about trying the fried concoctions. Ever wondered what deep fried butter, chocolate, coke, and cookie dough tastes like?

The winners: fried butter and fried cookie dough were yummy.  The coke was lame since it was all absorbed into the batter.

Of course we had to have roasted corn

We ventured into the car show where they had a giant foosball table.  Too bad it was taken over by kids.

The only ride we made it on was the ferris wheel. I got super scared at the top and had to gaze into Fernando’s eyes to distract myself.  I don’t like heights!

The next day we got to take the VIP tour of the Cowboy’s stadium

The building is so huge, we couldn’t fit it all within our lens. And we were parked across the street!

The tour is a must if you get the chance.  We got to see the owners suite, various suites and lounges, all of the locker rooms, and you get to go on the field and throw the football around. The tour guide explains a lot of the symbols in the architecture and the art, and neat facts.

wow, what a gorgeous building. Over 3,000 flat screens! That’s a record.

pretending I’m a Cowboy fan

Two free pictures were included with our tour.  I had to include it since its the only one of us together. Our scanner won’t scan so I had to take a photo of the picture

The cheerleader’s locker room was a lot more interesting than the Cowboy’s.  Even I thought so.  I thought there would have been pictures of the players, but there wasn’t any.

He didn’t want to do it. Haha. Doesn’t he look awkward?

The mega Mitsubishi. Guess who took this one…well, it wasn’t me.

While in Arlington, we ate lunch at Piranha Killer Sushi. Such good food! Sadly we ate it all before we thought to take a picture. Amazing yakisoba chicken and Forget About It crawfish sushi rolls. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

We also checked out some sweet neighborhoods in a city called Highland Park, close to Dallas, designed by the guy who started Beverly Hills

This mansion is more like a palace. We Zillowed it at $28 million.

yet another picture of myself.  Can you tell who had the camera this weekend?

The surrounding houses were not quite so huge, but still very massive

I couldn’t fit the whole house in the picture with my iPhone camera

On our way back to Houston, we had to stop by Wahoo’s Fish Taco in the Woodlands.  The first one in the Houston area! (You people in Austin are lucky, you have 3!)

Good California memories, although Ferd said it wasn’t the same since he wasn’t by the beach and wearing board shorts.