Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Pregnancy Comparison #2
(Click on the picture to view it larger)Well, I remember with Kylee, this ivory shirt didn't fit me anymore, which is why I had that purple one on. Well I must carry my boys a bit similar since I can still wear the shirt with baby boy.
It's funny that my belly is distinctly different in every photo though! I think I'm definitely smallest with this one in comparison to his siblings!
24 Weeks
Anyway, 24 weeks. This little man does quite the flips and rolls at time. I'm a little apprehensive for the third trimester considering he is only about a pound right now. I hope he doesn't cause too much pain!
I need January here, pronto. He has me craving anything sweet and unhealthy, and with it being Christmastime, it doesn't help at all!
Hunter got to feel him kick for the first time! That was exciting. Except now Hunter thinks he's big enough to come out, but we still have a bit to go. ;)
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Handsome Man
So ever since Kylee has been born, Hunter has shown an interest in girly things. Mom and Kylee get to wear skirts, dresses, hair bows, etc.
Then one day when Hunter filled his hair with flowers and hair bows, I decided it was time to find some boy things for him, that were just that - just for boys.
Since mom and Kylee get dressed up on Sundays in skirts and dresses, I decided to start with the same thing with him. He had a couple sweater vests I put him it, but I still wanted something more.
I've been searching everywhere for neck ties for him but couldn't find anything I liked that I was willing to pay the cost for. Then I thought, "There's got to be a tutorial for making neck ties for boys at home." And of course, there was! The one I found starts with a man's tie and then you alter it. Well since I had such an amazing sense of style when I was a teen and wore my dad's ties as belts, and because I don't get rid of anything, I had a tie to start. And guess what? My dad is so awesome because he doesn't get rid of anything either, and one of his ties I had is from the 80s and is really thin. So all I had to do to make it fit Hunter was shorten it and repair the end.
So Sunday for church, he sported his first neck tie. Isn't he handsome?!
I mentioned the tutorial to a friend at church who ended up giving me over a dozen ties that he doesn't wear that I'll be making into more ties for Hunter. I'm so excited!
I was at the store buying Hunter's oxford shirt and I found this for baby boy for $2.80.
My boys will be so cute together!
Then one day when Hunter filled his hair with flowers and hair bows, I decided it was time to find some boy things for him, that were just that - just for boys.
Since mom and Kylee get dressed up on Sundays in skirts and dresses, I decided to start with the same thing with him. He had a couple sweater vests I put him it, but I still wanted something more.
I've been searching everywhere for neck ties for him but couldn't find anything I liked that I was willing to pay the cost for. Then I thought, "There's got to be a tutorial for making neck ties for boys at home." And of course, there was! The one I found starts with a man's tie and then you alter it. Well since I had such an amazing sense of style when I was a teen and wore my dad's ties as belts, and because I don't get rid of anything, I had a tie to start. And guess what? My dad is so awesome because he doesn't get rid of anything either, and one of his ties I had is from the 80s and is really thin. So all I had to do to make it fit Hunter was shorten it and repair the end.
So Sunday for church, he sported his first neck tie. Isn't he handsome?!
I mentioned the tutorial to a friend at church who ended up giving me over a dozen ties that he doesn't wear that I'll be making into more ties for Hunter. I'm so excited!I was at the store buying Hunter's oxford shirt and I found this for baby boy for $2.80.
My boys will be so cute together!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
How to Make a Fake Pregnant Belly
Now I know what you're thinking...yes, I'm already pregnant. However, the person that played Mary for our Christmas Cantata is not! I was in charge of making it look like she was.
After considering lots of different ideas and consulting with a master costume-maker (thank you for your help, Andrew!) I decided a stuffed pillow would be best.
I started with stretchy polyester that I had laying around. It was a royal purple, but I knew it would be covered up, so color didn't matter.
First, I cut a piece of fabric about 12-13" wide, and I turned the fabric so that if I pulled it on the sides, it wouldn't stretch. The length wasn't really important at first, so I left it about 2' long.
Next, I blew up a beach ball about halfway to serve as stuffing while I pinned. Since I already have a 5 month pregnant belly, my poor husband had to keep stuffing the beach ball under his shirt to see if it made him look 9 months pregnant, haha. Needless to say, he wouldn't let me get a picture of that.
After I got it to be a good size, I set it on top of my cut fabric.
Next, I draped another piece of fabric over the ball, making sure it was turned 90 degrees from the other piece of fabric so that if I pulled the sides, it WOULD stretch. Then, I pulled the fabric tight on the sides so the beach ball would flatten on the bottom and pinned the sides in a straight line to my bottom piece.
Next, I pinned the bottom corners in pleats to work around the curves of the ball, like this:
Then I did the same thing to the other side, and pinned a straight line at the bottom. Like this:
I then sewed the U shape on my sewing machine. Here is what the underside looked like with the flat piece of fabric. No pleats, just flat:
And here's the top side with the pleats:
Next, I left the beach ball out of it, and pinned pleats around the top part of curves, but made them smaller than the bottom, since this would be the top of the belly. I made sure to leave the top open for stuffing it. I then trimmed the excess fabric around the edges.
I used fiberfil for stuffing, and did the same thing as the beach ball...my husband had to keep putting it under his shirt while we adjusted the size.
Sorry it's not a great picture, but here's the finished pillow.
You can tell it's a bit lumpy from the fiberfil but it wasn't a problem, because she wore it under a BellaBand like this so it could be easily slipped in and out:
I already had the BellaBand, which I got at Target for about $20, but it's just a tube of spandex. It could be easily recreated.
She wore a maternity tank over the belly which helped smooth out any last lumps, and then here's the finished product:
Doesn't it look great?!
After considering lots of different ideas and consulting with a master costume-maker (thank you for your help, Andrew!) I decided a stuffed pillow would be best.
I started with stretchy polyester that I had laying around. It was a royal purple, but I knew it would be covered up, so color didn't matter.
First, I cut a piece of fabric about 12-13" wide, and I turned the fabric so that if I pulled it on the sides, it wouldn't stretch. The length wasn't really important at first, so I left it about 2' long.
Next, I blew up a beach ball about halfway to serve as stuffing while I pinned. Since I already have a 5 month pregnant belly, my poor husband had to keep stuffing the beach ball under his shirt to see if it made him look 9 months pregnant, haha. Needless to say, he wouldn't let me get a picture of that.
After I got it to be a good size, I set it on top of my cut fabric.
Next, I draped another piece of fabric over the ball, making sure it was turned 90 degrees from the other piece of fabric so that if I pulled the sides, it WOULD stretch. Then, I pulled the fabric tight on the sides so the beach ball would flatten on the bottom and pinned the sides in a straight line to my bottom piece.
Next, I pinned the bottom corners in pleats to work around the curves of the ball, like this:
Then I did the same thing to the other side, and pinned a straight line at the bottom. Like this:
I then sewed the U shape on my sewing machine. Here is what the underside looked like with the flat piece of fabric. No pleats, just flat:
And here's the top side with the pleats:
Next, I left the beach ball out of it, and pinned pleats around the top part of curves, but made them smaller than the bottom, since this would be the top of the belly. I made sure to leave the top open for stuffing it. I then trimmed the excess fabric around the edges.I used fiberfil for stuffing, and did the same thing as the beach ball...my husband had to keep putting it under his shirt while we adjusted the size.
Sorry it's not a great picture, but here's the finished pillow.
You can tell it's a bit lumpy from the fiberfil but it wasn't a problem, because she wore it under a BellaBand like this so it could be easily slipped in and out:
I already had the BellaBand, which I got at Target for about $20, but it's just a tube of spandex. It could be easily recreated.
She wore a maternity tank over the belly which helped smooth out any last lumps, and then here's the finished product:
Doesn't it look great?!
Friday, December 16, 2011
23 Weeks
Ok, I feel huge!
Whenever I look at my belly lately, that's all I think. It looks so big to me.
Here's the belly pic of the week.
Greg took it right before I left for church for our AWANA Christmas party. I'm not sure whats up with my camera, but my tank is a Christmas green color. I finished my outfit with these:
When I came out of the bedroom from getting dressed, Hunter looked at me and said, "Why are you wearing that?" LOL!
Oh well. I liked it. ;)
Not much to report this week though. Things are still going well, thank the Lord!
Whenever I look at my belly lately, that's all I think. It looks so big to me.
Here's the belly pic of the week.
Greg took it right before I left for church for our AWANA Christmas party. I'm not sure whats up with my camera, but my tank is a Christmas green color. I finished my outfit with these:
When I came out of the bedroom from getting dressed, Hunter looked at me and said, "Why are you wearing that?" LOL!Oh well. I liked it. ;)
Not much to report this week though. Things are still going well, thank the Lord!
Provisions
With Christmas right around the corner, things have been extremely tight financially.
Greg and I have been wrestling with what to do about Christmas, because we grew up with good Christmases, and would like to be able to bless our children in the same way.
Ever since we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace last fall, we haven't used a single credit card. God has been so good and met all of our needs. For over a year, all of our bills have been paid without using credit. He even moved us down here without them!
Unfortunately for us, not many people go to get their cars fixed in December. That translates to low paychecks for us since Greg is paid on commission.
Last paycheck, we didn't even have enough money for groceries. We started talking about the possibility of using a credit card just to get some groceries, and then use it for Christmas too, since we didn't have money for that. We knew we could just pay it off in a couple months when our tax return came.
Friday night, I had to run to Walmart for some medication, so Greg told me to take the credit card and buy some stuff for the kids.
On my way to the store, I had a mental battle the whole time. I knew God had provided every single paycheck for us for over year. He had been faithful. Yet my flesh wanted so bad to just use to credit card and buy the kids some gifts.
When I got to Walmart, I just walked around the store. I looked at toys, and even found some I would have liked to buy for Hunter and Kylee. But I just had this guilt while I was there. I felt like it was a sin to even have the credit card on me! It was crazy. In the end, I purchased only the medicine and went home.
When I got home, I told Greg that I just couldn't do it. Not only did I not want to break our streak of not using them, but I just felt like God was telling me everything would be ok. Food would be provided, and even though some gifts under the tree for the kids isn't a necessity, I felt like He was saying He would provide that too. I didn't know how, but I was going to trust that He would.
Saturday morning at 8:30am, we got a ring on our doorbell. I was changing Kylee's diaper so Greg went to go answer it. A moment later, he came back with this in his hand.
Inside of it was $100 cash.
We don't know who it's from. We saw a girl running to get into her car, but didn't recognize her or the vehicle.
We do know that God provided through someone being very generous to us. That $100 put much needed food on our table, and even provided some gifts for our babies.
I keep thanking God for meeting our needs even when we don't see how it's possible.
And to whoever gave us the $100, if you're reading this, THANK YOU. Gregory and I appreciate it more than you know.
Philippians 4:19
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Greg and I have been wrestling with what to do about Christmas, because we grew up with good Christmases, and would like to be able to bless our children in the same way.
Ever since we took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace last fall, we haven't used a single credit card. God has been so good and met all of our needs. For over a year, all of our bills have been paid without using credit. He even moved us down here without them!
Unfortunately for us, not many people go to get their cars fixed in December. That translates to low paychecks for us since Greg is paid on commission.
Last paycheck, we didn't even have enough money for groceries. We started talking about the possibility of using a credit card just to get some groceries, and then use it for Christmas too, since we didn't have money for that. We knew we could just pay it off in a couple months when our tax return came.
Friday night, I had to run to Walmart for some medication, so Greg told me to take the credit card and buy some stuff for the kids.
On my way to the store, I had a mental battle the whole time. I knew God had provided every single paycheck for us for over year. He had been faithful. Yet my flesh wanted so bad to just use to credit card and buy the kids some gifts.
When I got to Walmart, I just walked around the store. I looked at toys, and even found some I would have liked to buy for Hunter and Kylee. But I just had this guilt while I was there. I felt like it was a sin to even have the credit card on me! It was crazy. In the end, I purchased only the medicine and went home.
When I got home, I told Greg that I just couldn't do it. Not only did I not want to break our streak of not using them, but I just felt like God was telling me everything would be ok. Food would be provided, and even though some gifts under the tree for the kids isn't a necessity, I felt like He was saying He would provide that too. I didn't know how, but I was going to trust that He would.
Saturday morning at 8:30am, we got a ring on our doorbell. I was changing Kylee's diaper so Greg went to go answer it. A moment later, he came back with this in his hand.
Inside of it was $100 cash.
We don't know who it's from. We saw a girl running to get into her car, but didn't recognize her or the vehicle.
We do know that God provided through someone being very generous to us. That $100 put much needed food on our table, and even provided some gifts for our babies.
I keep thanking God for meeting our needs even when we don't see how it's possible.
And to whoever gave us the $100, if you're reading this, THANK YOU. Gregory and I appreciate it more than you know.
Philippians 4:19
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
