JCPenney Outlet

With my first pregnancy I bought almost all of my maternity clothes from JCPenney outlet. It was nice because they were inexpensive, so I didn't feel as bad about getting several different pieces. This time around the outlet store just hasn't had much in the way of maternity clothes. If you shop online, it's pretty equivalent to Motherhood Maternity prices, so I didn't see much point there.

Well today I hit pay dirt. I haven't really needed much in the way of maternity clothes, but it is nice to feel cute while pregnant. I decided to give JCPenney Outlet another shot. Before hand though I checked out the online store to see if they had any sales going on. They had a free shipping deal and a few things on sale. Well I went to the Outlet and found two of the same shirts I had seen on the website for way less money. One shirt was on sale for $24.99 online and I got it for $7.99 in store. The second shirt was $19.99 online and $7.99 in store. That's a savings of $30. SWEET! It would have been even more drastic if they weren't having a sale online.

Hooray for cute new clothes and good deals!

YouTube greatest hits

Over the course of Joshua's life I have posted about 14 videos up on YouTube to share with family, friends and the world. Well this video in particular has gotten pretty popular, so I thought I would post it here, so everyone can enjoy little Joshua crying right after he was born. It has been watched over 11,000 times and it gets about 100 views a day. I think that is AMAZING!!



If you would rather go to YouTube to watch the video, this is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BArLP18pgk8

Bug Barrettes

Oh how I do love making new crafts. I decided that I needed some bows/barrettes for my neato bow holder. I hit the interweb and came up with some great free tutorials on how to make bows. I've only tried these bug ones so far, but I think they are uber-cute. Click Read More to see the slideshow. . .



I included a picture of the back of the purple butterflies so you can see how I attached them to the clip.

I need to find a model for my hairbows. Little Mister isn't all that great a candidate. Morgan probably won't have enough hair until she is about 2 to wear any of these, but they are so fun to make.
I also thought I would include the links to the two really awesome websites I have found so far.
The Ribbons Retreat
Girly Things - Free Hair Bow Instructions

Family fun Sunday

Sunday morning I woke up feeling really bad. Maybe all the fun from Saturday, I'm not sure. My sweet husband called me a Primary substitute and I fell back asleep until about 10am. Then about 11:30 am my body decided it was time for another two hour nap. Being pregnant is a lot of hard work, I tell you.

Click the Read More link to hear all about the rest of the day and see the awesome pictures.


Joshua woke up from his nap with the cutest bedhead ever, so we just had to document it.



Then we decided to take up Ryan's mothers gracious offer to feed us Sunday dinner. It was delicious! Plus you can't complain about someone else feeding you and Joshua having lots of entertainment. After dinner Grandma Becky took Joshua and Capper outside to play in the sandbox. What a great time they had. They got absolutely filthy though, so the bath that followed only made sense.



Don't worry, anyone that asked for copies of the pictures will get their hard copies too!

Carousel Saturday

We had a busy weekend and took lots of pictures. Here they are from Saturday.


First we have Samantha and Joshua riding the Carousel at the mall. Little Mister has never been on a carousel before so he was a little unsure, but at least he didn't cry.
After the mall we all went out to dinner and then back to Grandma and Grandpa's to play for awhile. Samantha was so excited we came over because that meant she didn't have to go to bed yet.



While we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Ryan asked Samantha's if panties go on your head. She said yes and then started modeling them for us. Too funny!

Hairbow Holder YAY!!

Here is my latest craft adaptation. My sister got a cute hairbow holder for my niece for her birthday. I took a look at it and said, I can do that! I was especially interested in doing it for less than the $35 it cost to buy.

If you want all the gory details and tons of pictures, click the Read More link below. I'm not kidding about LOTS of details!
Here is a photo of my inspiration and the finish product, just for a teaser.




Here's the slideshow with captions of pretty much every step I took. It was actually a lot of fun taking pictures along each step.




Now for the fun part, the cost break down. I'll break it down at full price, then with what I paid using sales/coupons.
Wood sign - $1.99
Metal Handle - $1.99
Mod Podge - $0.70 ($7.00 for the bottle, assuming I used 10%, which I probably used less.)
Scrapbook paper for background- $0.50
Ribbon for handles - $1.60 (4 spools @ $2 each, using 20% of each spool.)
Ribbon to hang bows on - $1.09 ( $3.29 for spool, used 33% of spool.)
Letters- (I used supplies I already had, so I'm not going to add that in.)
TOTAL: $7.87

I'll highlight the sales/coupon price in red so you can see where there is a difference.
Wood sign - $1.99
Metal Handle - $1.99
Mod Podge - $0.42 (40% off coupon)
Scrapbook paper for background- $0.25 (Paper 50% off at Hobby Lobby)
Ribbon for handles - $0.80 (Ribbon 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby)
Ribbon to hang bows on - $0.65 (40% off coupon)
Letters- (I used supplies I already had, so I'm not going to add that in.)
TOTAL: $6.10 That is about 82% OFF OF the $35 RETAIL. YAY!
If I had known from the beginning exactly what supplies I needed, I could have spent even less by utilizing more/different coupons.

If you have made it this far and are interested in making your own, let me know if you have any questions about where I got the supplies/materials or anything else.
Also if you would rather just buy your own, I can get you the link to the original website.

It's STILL a girl!!

Ultrasound #2 was today and things went pretty well. The perinatologist will go over the pictures and give the results to my Doctor. However the tech that did the ultrasound said that I was measuring appropriately and she didn't see anything that wasn't supposed to be there.

We do have a some pictures that they sent home with us but I don't think I am going to post them. One is of our baby girl's female bits, which would just be a little weird. The rest are of the face, but it is hard to make out and slightly creepy since it's just the outline of a little skull.

One cool thing from the ultrasound is that while they were taking the pictures of the face you could see the baby moving her mouth around. That was pretty cool.

One uncool thing from the ultrasound is that the tech decided she wanted me to use the restroom partway through the exam. No big deal except that as I was still putting myself back together she opened the exam room door and just had it standing open. Ummm hello? I don't think the whole office needs to see me wiping goo off my belly with my pants half down.

I am very glad the perinatologist visit is over and things seem to be going well.


Oh and happy 50th post to me!! May there be many more to follow.

I {heart} Hobby Lobby

I love to shop, including just looking around. Well yesterday I found a new and wonderful crafty destination, Hobby Lobby. It's not a new store, but there is only one in AZ and it is Avondale. My visiting teaching appointment got cancelled at the last minute yesterday morning, so Little Mister and I decided to take a field trip out there.

It was like a crafter's Disneyland. I think a lot of my delight came from the fact that it's new to me. They also have a much wider selection than Michael's and Joann, at least in the craft categories that interest me. They had so many products I had never seen before. I also liked that their sales items were 50% off instead of Joann's usual 40% off. They also had a coupon posted on their website for 40% off one item. This was nice because you didn't have to be a part of their mailing list to get this coupon.

I was specifically looking for an unfinished wood sign with wire/metal swirlies coming out of the top. (Not very easy to visualize I realize.) They didn't have that, but they did have an impressive stock of open scrapbook paper and ribbon selection, which I needed for my current project. Both of the latter were 50% off. More on the latest craft project when I finish it. (hopefully tomorrow.)

Ryan thinks my new discovery is great because there is a Best Buy in the same parking lot. Talk about a win:win:win situation.

If you ever are in need of some new crafty inspiration I am so ready for another trip to Hobby Lobby. I'll even drive!

Sew much fun

Well I finally got around to trying that Stuffed Ball pattern I found on RookieMoms. Actually I got the pattern from here. The pattern is to make a tag ball like little babies love so much. I plan on trying out a version with tags, I just wanted to get down sewing the thing first. It's actually a bit trickier than I originally thought. The soccer ball is a pretty big disaster when you look up close, but heck a 19 month old isn't going to care.
The second attempt went much smoother with a bit more forethought and marking.

I'll try adding the "tags" next and perhaps enlarging it a bit. It's only has about a 4 inch diameter right now. Of course I will ever try to acheive the perfect sphere.

Sleeping J'dub

On Sunday mornings, we have to wake J'dub up early so he can take an early nap, and we can get to church on time. This morning hubby decided he'd bring the camera with him to capture how cute our little man is when he is sleeping. These are in the order that they were taken. The first few look like he might be stretching, but that is how he was sleeping.

Baby #2 update

It's been a while since I've said much about the pregnancy, so here is what is going on.

I'm 24 weeks pregnant(on Tuesday), which means no more sleeping on my back. :( I'm feeling the baby move all the time and Ryan has also been able to feel the baby move.

I get a weekly email about the baby's development, so here are some general things going on.
- The baby is now 11 inches long and weighs 1¼ to 1½ pounds.
- Taste buds are also developing, and the lungs are becoming more developed and complex. (Hubby thinks this must be where my recent cravings have come from.)

We have our level 2 ultrasound this Friday, so it will be nice to see the baby again and make sure everything is going well.
At my next Dr appointment we I will do a standard glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes. The Doctor also said we will probably schedule the C-section. Come the beginning on August we should know the exact date the baby will be born. A little weird to think of that.

We have 99% decided on the name Morgan Fox. For anyone who might not know, those are both family names on my side. This naming process went much more smoothly than the first time around. It's been great. We've been hesitant to start referring to the baby as Morgan, just in case this second ultrasound pops up with some extra anatomy a little baby girl shouldn't have.

Anytime you are curious about how far along I am, there is a pregnancy counter on the top of the blog which says how far along I am and how many days are left.

Email Subscriptions

I'm working on a way for people to subscribe to the blog via email, so they don't have to worry about checking the actual website to see what we are up to.

Over on the right hand side of the page, there is a link to subscribe via email. Click that link, enter your email address and you are well on your way. You will receive an email requesting you to verify that you really want to subscribe to the blog. Follow the instructions in that email and you are officially subscribed.

You will get one email per day if I have posted anything new, or no email if I am slacking.

If you have any feedback for me about this whole subscription thing. Let me know!

Swimming in Grandma's Pool

Grandma got an awesome kid pool on clearance for $10. J'dub and Samantha had a blast playing together and swimming.
Click on the link below to see the slideshow.

Headbands

Here is a picture of the headbands I made my sister Cedar for her birthday. I made two for her and two for Samantha. Here they are modeling the black and white polka dot pattern. I also made these pink retro type headbands as well. I didn't get any pictures of the headband itself, but here is the material. I like it so much, I think I'll have to make a headband for myself.


The pattern for the headband pattern came from: http://www.heatherbaileydesign.com/Headband.html

Little man's vocabulary

Sometimes it doesn't seem like J'dub talks very much, so I thought I would make a list of all things he says. The list is longer than I thought it would be.

• EDIT: Thank you (oops, I forgot his first words on the list)
• EDIT: Bless you. He just started saying that in the last few days. He says it like he is imitating your sneeze, so you get a very emphatic BLESS you.
  
• Mama
• Da (for Daddy)
• No
• Yes (Only sometimes)
  
• Uh-Oh
• Whoa
• Beep Beep (when opening doors, it means get out of the way, the door is opening)
• Whee! (that's what you say when you push anything with wheels around)
  
• Pee Pee - for diaper changes or anatomy
• Pablo - (That means I want to watch Backyardigans. The first line in the opening is, "Hi My name is Pablo.")
• Go, Go. Another Backyardigans reference for the Race Around the World episode
• "ish" - For fish, that one is hit and miss
• Juice
• Cheese (sometimes he says it. Sounds a bit like Juice)
• Shoes
• Ball
  
• Papa (I've only heard him use it once or twice, but he was referring to Grandpa)
• Woof, woof (dogs)
• Hi - but he will only say it when he is talking on one of his play phones.
  

Those aren't necessarily the order in which he learned to say them. Just the order I remembered them in. I'll add more as I think of them.

Crafty ideas

The bug post had a lot to do with my Mom sending me an email teasing me that she already knew the stories and info I was putting in my blog. Well, I hadn't told her that particular gem, so I thought I had better post it.

On to other more interesting/random things.
- The crayon pouch I made was a big hit at the party. YAY for being crafty!
- Joann Etc is having a mondo sale this week/weekend. I can't wait. There have been a few things I have been eying that are now on sale.
- I think I have found my newest sewing projects. Baby booties. Check out these two links with patterns and pictures, (Courtesy of RookieMoms)

1. Martha Stewart Felt Baby Booties
   
2. Bitty Booties

- Another sewing project I would love to try is this stuffed ball, also found at RookieMoms. I love their website. If you are looking for a craft to do, just go to their Crafty category and there are like 76 entries. I'm not sure I'd classify them all as crafts, but still fun to read.

I HATE bugs!

Anyone who knows me very well knows I hate bugs, A LOT. To a pretty sad degree. Certain bugs, like scorpions, go in the extreme phobia category. Dead or alive, I hate bugs.

The past few days have put my bug tolerance to a test.

Story #1 -
On Thursday afternoon I woke up from a nap to see a bee crawling around on hubby's nightstand. Under ideal circumstances, I would leave the room, shove towels under the door so it can't escape the room, and call in back-up. However hubby is allergic to bee stings, therefore no back-up would be arriving EVER.

While I contemplate my options, the bee flew back behind the blinds trying to find it's own escape route. We have a window AC unit to supplement our central air, so I suspect that could have been the point of entry. Anywho, I would love for nothing more to smash said bee with a shoe, however I can't reach him now that he is behind the blinds. Raising the blinds is out of the question as the bee could escape the window area and then fly out of arms reach.

After minutes of watching the bee and pondering my next move, I decide it is an acceptable risk to open the window and see if the bee will fly out. No such luck, the bee gets hopelessly stuck between the window panes.

I'll skip the next few minutes of drama and get skip to the resolution. The bee dies in a pool of windex and is still hopelessly stuck between our window panes.

Story #2 -
This one is much less dramatic, but shows I am making progress in my bug disposal phobia.
I was sweeping the floor after J'dub got some kind of crumbs all over the floor. When I discovered a dead cockroach under the kitchen table. Standard protocol is to avoid said area until back-up can be called in to dispose of carcass. I decided instead to say, to heck with this craziness, I'm taking care of this myself. And I did. Yay for me!

Weekly update

Lots of random things are going on this week.
I had my monthly Doctor appointment this week and got to hear the baby's heartbeat. I love that. Everything is looking good so far according to the Doctor. She also said that at my next appointment, we will probably schedule the c-section. Whoa, that's crazy that we could know the birth-date of our sweet baby girl so soon.

We are also several steps closer to getting our synthetic grass. We are probably going with a company called Synlawn. They have an awesome website, showroom, and low pressure sales people. Hubby and I are going back on Saturday so he can see the samples and we can decide which "grass" we are going with. Even if we buy on Saturday, it will be another month before it is installed. Then J'dub will have a place to play in the backyard. Yay!!

Speaking of Saturday, it is also my Sister's b-day and niece Emily's b-day. (Happy 30th Cedar!) Emily is having a party on Saturday so that should be fun for J'dub. He's not acting like he feels very good, so hopefully we will be better by then. Maybe he's teething again. :(

Jumping Balloon Video

I have added the video of J'dub and Samantha in the jumping balloon.
Click Read More to see the video from my blog. Otherwise you can use the link below to view it at YouTube.
View Video at YouTube