Changes... How many can one take?

The baby, he changes daily. He learns something new like nodding his head in answer to a question or climbing up and down the stairs. In just one more month he will be a year old. Gosh that went fast.

Changing to a new job for my loving husband. It has a learning curve. Don't they always? Sure he's done maintenance before, but each supervisor has their own way of handling things. The only way to find that out is to learn them. This change also brought on a change of scenery. A change of space for my family. We have to live on site in a "town home" of sorts. It's smaller. I like to think of it as more cozy. yeah.... cozy... It's in an apartment complex so we share a wall. That's interesting. I've only ever shared a wall with another family one other time. Changing schools for the kids. Abby had a uniform last year but won't this year. I hope the schools are decent. A change of Wards. This was very hard for me. It's the first time in a long time I've felt like I belonged. Not that one really needs to "belong" but it does make you feel special.

Change from childhood to young womanhood. Abby turned 12 this year. She is no longer in Primary. She's old enough now that she's moved on to Young Womens. I have very fond memories of the Young Womens program. She got to go to camp and bond with the girls in our old ward which made it hard for her to leave too. I can't believe that my little girl is growing up.

I also got to attend the Temple this month. And as every faithful LDS member knows it also brings about some changes as well. I loved it though. The temple is so beautiful and peaceful. I could go and just sit there all.day.long.

It has been a busy many months and has brought lots of changes. The dictionary has this to say about the word change: To cause to be different. I think it's safe to say that change can be good, and it can also be hard. I think we've experienced a little of it all.

Change. That's all for a while please. I don't want any more change.

Blogging gone mobile... uh oh...

Finished SweetPod!

jakefrontcarry
Originally uploaded by fastknita

I've only had the pattern since December when Jessica released it. :-/ I love it so much! It's very comfortable and ridiculously easy to flip him onto my back with out taking him out of the carrier. I was able to switch him from my front to my back IN COSTCO while talking to another mom about how cool my carrier was. She stopped me to ask what kind of "model" it was and explained that they were flying in the next week and it looked mighty handy. She was really surprised when I told her that I made it. :-D Thank you so much for a well built, extremely useful pattern Jessica!

Bloggity, Crafty Sort of Mood

It seems, at least, that it's the way I've been. Maybe it's because I'm pretty sure my husband is tired of listening to me. Today some of my friends and I had a sewing craft day planned. Well those plans were foiled for me because of sick children. However I just crafted from home. I got my fabric for my carrier that I've been wanting to make since December in the mail this afternoon so I quickly washed it then set to using it. :) I'm not going to spoil it by posting pictures just yet. Be sure to check in later for some action pics.

A Crafting We Will Go!

My latest obsession is Waldorf Dolls. Mostly because I love the way they look but they are crazy expensive. I have a little girl that loves to mommy every thing. She would love a doll like this. My pocket book said: "No way can you afford one!" so off I set researching for the things that I liked about them and how I could make one.

Well she still needs hair and facial features but I'm pretty pleased with the way she came out. :) She has a perfect fitting dolly diaper too. I have plans to make her a few more so that she has a "stash" of them for her little baby. I also plan to make her a carrier of some sort so that she can carry her new baby every where, and some clothes.

Daddy is getting involved too. Tonight I mentioned to him that I really thought this little baby could use a cradle so that she could be tucked in for naps. I could be wrong but I *think* I saw a spark in his eyes.



Stay tuned! This is going to be one heck of a birthday gift!

Easter Already?

How'd that happen? Oh geeze, I swear the older I get the quicker life seems to move. :-/ Oh well... So Easter is almost upon us and I'm trying to figure out what to do for Easter baskets for my kids. Normally I make them some sort of bag. This year mom may be copping out. I considered making them some Capri Sun Bags but we would have to suck down about three cases today before lunch so that I could make them for our ward's Easter Egg hunt. For some reason or another I don't think THAT is going to happen. Well crafty mom may just have to pull out last years bags. Hmm... wonder where they are...

Goodbye Christmas...

Hello New Year! It's been a pretty good start so far. Kids back in school, hubby back at work. What a year we had! Baby, birthdays, holidays. Lots of good memories! One of my resolutions is to be more on top of making posts here. Sure life gets in the way sometimes but I need to make notes about our family. After all that is why I started this blog anyway. :)

Hope your holiday was wonderful! Many Blessings!

XO
~Jess

These are a few of my favorite things...

Sweet boy smiles:


Snuggling and knitting by the fire:


CHRISTmas Decorations:


And snow:


What a beautiful Birthday! I was born the best time of the year!

Life in the baby lane

I love him. I love being a mom. It's just hard to get much done sometimes. He's the sweetest little boy though. Currently he's sitting on my lap enjoying life, kicking his feet and waving his hands. It's really hard to believe that he's already almost 2 months! Where does the time go? They grow so very fast.

Baby baby !

We welcomed Jacob into our family and home on Sunday August 30th at 12:25 PM. He came just MINUTES after arriving at the hospital! He was a healthy 10 lbs. 7 oz. and all of his brothers and sisters are so glad to have him and fawn over him. They often will ask to hold him and get disappointed when I tell them no that he's eating or sleeping. I promise he won't always eat or sleep... :)

It's been almost 2 weeks and for the most part I feel like I've healed really well. We didn't have any pain medication during the birth. For that matter I didn't even get an IV. There just wasn't time. I gave birth in my tee shirt instead of a gown! Unfortunately for my wonderful husband neither of us realized I was that close to giving birth and he didn't make it into the room until I was cutting Jake's cord. I think he was slightly disappointed to have missed it but he's totally loving snuggling Jake.

I found my camera this morning so hopefully I can get some updated pictures of him. For now here is the one we took of him in his car seat on the day we came home.

Another long little while

It's been a while again. I have to admit I'm a lazy blogger. LOL! The past month I've spent in front of my sewing machine making all kinds of fun stuff. I have a few things that I totally adore.

Baby Jacob now has a full 2 dozen diapers for pooping and peeing in. :) I love using my cloth diapers. These will be no exception! They came out totally cool!

We also have matching wetbag sets for the diaper bag and wipes that should last us a while. He has matching clothing sets and I even managed to squeeze in a few things for the older kids. Will got lots of things this time because he just didn't have much. He's grown so much from last summer and didn't have shorts or shirts that really fit him anymore.

I'm sure I haven't seen the end of my sewing for a while. There is still so much to be done! My kids need PJ's and I could use a few shirts... Abby could also use a few more pairs of shorts! But at least I can take a short breath and know that I don't have to worry about getting stuff done for the baby.

We also had family photos done just before Memorial day. The turned out beautiful! I'm so very happy with them. Without making this post super super long and posting all of my favorites I'll leave it with just the one family picture that I adore. :)

Knitting...

I've been doing lots of this lately. LOTS. I've been crafting in general a lot really.

Preparing for a baby is always something that has been a little fun for me. Since I've learned how to knit it's become even more fun. I really enjoy knitting. It's a productive hobby. I love how the fabric grows under my hands. I love the yarn and watching how the colors unfold into a project. It's almost always a surprise. :)

The longies I just finished for Jacob are by far one of my favorite pairs that I have ever knit. EVER! The cabled owls were a ton of fun to do. I could count down to how many I had left. It really keeps me going.

This can also be a bad thing. LOL! My poor, poor house was neglected since Friday. I have some "make up" work to do for sure!

Well they were worth it! I can't wait until Baby Jake gets to wear them. Though it will probably be way into fall/winter and we are barely into spring. :-/

Lots more to do. I have more sewing to get done for him. Lots of diapers to make! I think I might start on that tomorrow AFTER my house is clean. :)

Blogity blog update

Ok, so it's been a while. We moved mid February into a house better suited for my growing family. We finally have a yard that the kids can play in where I won't have to worry about them... much at least. :)

I've had an ultrasound. I'm currently 22 weeks and 2 days. Definitely having a baby boy. He didn't leave much of a guess. LOL! We found that I have an anterior placenta which explains why I'm just now beginning to feel my active baby move around.

I've got loads of sewing and knitting to do and some already done. I promise to come back and update my blog when I get more of it done. I have about 36ish diapers to make for this kiddlet so I guess I'd better get started soon. I don't want to have too much to do in the heat of the summer. :P

Hang in there... I'll be back hopefully in the next few days.

Sour mood...

I'm just in a foul mood. I've had a child with an "unexplained" headache all week and another that woke up at 3 with a fever. I'm still in the middle of a move and I can't do jack because of my sick kids. Problem is... we have people from church coming over on Saturday morning to help move the rest of our stuff. What to do... if said kid was old enough I would leave his butt at home to deal with it on his own in his bed but he's not.

Hubby is working such long hours and it makes it even harder to get ANYTHING done. That's all... just in a sour mood. :P

Ugh!

It's really hard when pregnancy hormones get the best of me. I'm especially tired today too so that's not helping. :-P I have so much work to get done. I have lots at the old house still to prepare and pack. Not to mention all of the cleaning to do. It definitely doesn't help that it's grey outside. It totally had dampened my mood.

I'm totally loving my new house though. It would be so nice just to get rid of the rest of our stuff and become the minimalist. LOL!

I finally have a doctors appointment on Thursday. It will be my first one. The kids will all get to go with me and we are also having an ultrasound. I'm secretly (well ok not "secretly") hoping that we will be able to find out the gender. That would make my knitting and sewing so much easier. :)

'til later. :)

Binding a diaper cover

I posted this to my Cloth diaper group but I'm putting it here too for others to see.

I did this cover using the Very Baby Side Snapping cover pattern. (I guess they have discontinued it so you could easily substitute the New Conceptions Quick Snap Cover.) You could do this on any cover but I've found it easiest on covers with straight edges vs. the round corners of the Very Baby Snug Wrap or New Conceptions Quick Wrap.

I've straightened the edges of the cover pattern to accommodate this type of binding.



I cut two pieces of PUL for the inside and outside of the cover.



Carefully stitching close to the edge (no wider than 1/4") stitch all the way around the cover so it doesn't shift.



Mark your elastic anchor points for reference.



Using a three step zig zag and 1/4" elastic, stitch your elastic on from anchor point to anchor point.



Do this at each elastic anchor section all the way around the cover making sure to put it right on the edge so it's easy to bind.



(I forgot to take a picture of this part but you will cut your PUL binding strips 2" wide across the 60" width of the PUL. You will need two of the strips for the size L cover.)

Next you will fold your "bias" into the binder foot and load it. My binder foot is a snap on making it much easier to snap on and off. I find it easiest to snap off and on each time I load it.



Starting with the front or back of the cover, slip your cover in between the slot in the bias foot sandwiching it between the top and bottom of the binding in the foot. (We are going to be stitching the front back and leg areas first.)



Sewing with a straight stitch, stitch to the elastic. Once to the elastic you can stop and take a break for a second. You will want to stretch your PUL binding slightly and stretch your cover so the elastic isn't gathering it and continue sewing.



Make sure to get the elastic all the way into the middle of the binding so it won't stitch the elastic again when you are stitching the binding on.



Stitch to the end and then you can stop and take it off of your foot.



Clip the edge of the binding all the way to your diaper cut so that it's flush.



Continue doing the legs and back or front clipping right next to the diaper cut after you finish.



Next we bind the sides. You will want to leave the end pieces of your binding long enough to fold over to the back when we finish the cover. A little tip: If you already have your binding stitching perfectly don't stop after each side. Just simply slip the next side in and keep stitching. This is one less "load of the binding" that you have to do.



All finished binding. Now you can see the tails on the side. Don't worry we are going to take care of those. :)



Turn them to the back side and carefully stitch it down and clip it close to the stitching.



All that's left is to mark and add your snaps.





Here is what our finished product looks like on.


These are very similar to the Mother Ease Air flow covers and I LOVE them. :)

If you made it through the whole tutorial and have questions please let me know. I bought my bias foot on Ebay for $14.

Diapers! Diapers!

I got 4 dozen BRAND NEW regular size prefold diapers for a STEAL! Thanks so much Monique! *MUAH* I also got 3 dozen infant diapers for the bean as well.

Alas, the prefolds in all their washed up fluffy glory...

Number 5?!

Yep. Well at least that's the way it looks.

If all goes well we should have an August baby. :) Cliff and I had talked about having 1 more but we weren't exactly completely ready for it. Ready or not... Heavenly Father has a way of doing things on his time.

I've been trying hard not to get stressed out about things. Baby won't need much that we can't provide for at least the first year.

In other news, I think Will has finally weaned. We started out with him just going to sleep without booboo, then he quit getting it when we got out of bed in the morning, and then we went all day without. Last night he slept completely through without waking to nurse. So when he woke this morning and wanted to nurse I told him no. Simple as that. He cried for a minute and then went back to sleep for another half an hour. I think it was just time to be done. It got to the point where he wouldn't just snuggle with out having booboo, and now he sits on my lap happily and watches TV with me. :)

Well I'm going to try to get some pictures of Christmas morning. The older two are going with their Grandparents for tonight and into tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can work it all out so that the kids can all open gifts together.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Crafting

Oh man am I tired. :P I did a bag for Miss Abby last night! I think she's going to love it.

I did yet another for Hannah with some cool Tinker Bell fabric with the fairies on it that are in the new Tinker Bell Movie.





















I also did some fun Scrabble Tile Pendants. They aren't quite done because they need bails on them for necklace.




And last (for tonight anyway) but not least Christmas Eve PJ pants for Mikey.

I was tagged!

My friend Erika tagged me so I guess it's my turn. :)

Here's how it works:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random things about me:

1. I'm a sucker for Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
2. I'm not a very good house keeper (crafty not tidy)
3. I love looking at projects that other people do because I can't seem to find cool stuff on my own. :P
4. I'm a phone person and spend a lot of time on it. *blush*
5. I'm also an internet junkie.
6. I love doing embroidery on my machine!

Now to tag six people in no specific order:

Monique
Jocele
Jessica
Heidi
Laurie
And Stacy