Ready and Waiting

After my 37 week appointment last week, I have felt like my body was progressing faster than it did with the girls and started to think that maybe we needed to get things done because he was coming sooner rather than later!  Well, after another appointment today, where there's been virtually NO change, I think we're back on track for "who knows when this baby is ever coming".  And it was 106 degrees yesterday.  104 today.  And I'm dying in my house at 77.  

Well, at any rate, the car seat canopy and the burp cloths are done, the spare room is pretty much ready for my mom to get here, and the bag of activities for the girls to do while I'm at the hospital is put together.  I guess I should pack my hospital bag and probably write my lesson for Relief Society this Sunday since I'm now pretty sure that I'll be in church.  Maybe I should clean my house too -- although that one just hurts so we'll see.  But I think we're pretty much as ready as we'll ever be at this point!!

A Baby Shower for He Who Has Not Been Named

I have incredible friends!!  With all the joking about Lloyd Voldemort and He Who Has Not Been Named, my friends Trulee and Lisa decided to throw a Harry Potter themed baby shower for me.  They did an absolutely fantastic job!!

The food was all "authentic" to the theme:

My friend Lisa went to Harry Potter world about a month or two ago and got some ideas -- and some Bernie Bott's every flavor beans (on the right)!!!  I had cinnamon, bubble gum, pepper, and a few that I'm not sure I want to identify because they were pretty bad . . . 

The love potion was so clever -- a few drops of red food coloring in the cup (which no one noticed really) and then add 7-Up or Sprite and it turns pink!   Lisa also made Butterbear -- cream soda with caramel flavoring and whipped cream on top.  She says it's pretty darn close to the real thing and it was good!

 Trulee made the sugar mice and the chocolate frogs.

 Hillary did these awesome cupcakes.  The hats are chocolate covered Bugles on top of cookies and they were chocolate with lemon curd filling which turned out really really good (at least to me!).

Another friend brought crackers and cheese and a veggie platter and a bowl of pickles!  I tell you it was the perfect baby shower for a pregnant woman!

 I don't know if you can really see the shirt (well, I know with the size of my belly you can see the shirt -- question is, can you see what's on it?).  Chopper and I at the last minute made a fun Harry Potter shirt out of one of his.  The Hello name tag on the front says "He who has not been named" and the back says "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."  Yeah, we're nerds -- but it was fun to "dress up" a little!!

Once everyone arrived we were sorted into our houses!  Lisa made up cards with each house name and we pulled them out of a hat.  I am not kidding when I say I pulled Slytherin!!!  Then each house came up with what the baby will look like using parts cut from magazines and named each one.  So our new names to consider (all with Lloyd as the middle name) are Sly (from Slytherin house), James (from Gryffindor -- who was Harry Potter's dad by the way), Dyoll (from Ravenclaw -- don't ask -- Lloyd backwards), and Malckom (Hufflepuff -- it uses all the initials already in our family apparently).  Chopper hasn't seen them yet, we'll see what he thinks but it was a fun game!!

We ate, we talked, I opened presents!  My friends were very generous with the diapers and the clothes and the cute blankets and animals but I just had to show these two because they blew me away.  I've seen these diaper creations online but never actually in person.  And when I've seen them I've thought that must be so hard to make!!!  Well I must have some talented friends because one did a diaper cake:

And another did a diaper motorcycle!  Oh, excuse me -- a diaper chopper!!!  Very appropriate and VERY cute!

I have some friends hopefully sending me some more pictures but really it was a lot of fun and I felt very very loved.  3 weeks now and counting until he's here!!  Well, hopefully at least -- this week is supposed to be our first week of 100 degree weather and since it's finally here (it's been mild so far -- only in the 90s), it will stay 100 degrees until at least September so I'm definitely ready for this little man to come into the world!

Happy Father's Day!

Do you even need to be told how we celebrated Father's Day around here?  You may remember a certain birthday/Father's Day present that had not been properly initiated yet . . . well after a few minor modifications -- 

None of which I really understand (sorry Chopper), he took the new smoker for a spin yesterday!

Ah yes, 8 hours of smoking a pork roast for pulled pork sandwiches and of course the requisite rack of ribs. And they were so good!!  Pair it with watermelon, corn on the cob, banana pudding -- we feasted!!!

We had to teach Abby how to eat corn on the cob -- this was her first experience!!  She handled it like a champ -- I think those final 4 teeth coming in really helped actually.

Megan loves corn on the cob herself.  That and watermelon disappeared before anything else was even touched -- even the chips!!

Ahh, the ribs.  Chopper would want me to point out to you that beautiful smoke ring but since I'm not really sure what that is, I'll just tell you!  Hey, all I care about is that the meat was tender (fell off the bone), the flavor was good (his sauce was perfectly tangy with a hint of sweetness and good spicy kick) and there was plenty to go around.  And then to come back for seconds later.  Yum.

Chopper deserves it.  He's really picked up where I've slacked off these past couple of weeks and I'm really grateful for that.  He is a wonderful father and the girls adore him -- partly evidenced by the fact that they go to him when they wake up in the middle of the night (which I don't mind at all!) and I'm grateful to be married to him and have him with me for up and coming child #3!!

On another note, as I continue to try to prepare for #3, I saw this idea on a sewing blog and thought Megan would love it.  I simplified it way down and just did some basic flannel shapes and a flannel board and voila!

 Tangrams!  I think that's what they're called.  I really should get a set with more shapes than squares and triangles but for now, Megan loves to build her castles with fabric.

 And Abby loves to build her . . . whatever that is.  She loves to do whatever Megan does really. 

 Last but not least, we finally hired someone to take out our hideous corner bushes.  I'm not sure if we'll plant there or leave it the way it is.  Maybe I can get Chopper to put in a Crepe Myrtle tree.  But for now, these holes in the ground are really quite lovely since we hated the other things.

36 Weeks and No Progress

This is not surprising.  In fact, he hasn't even dropped yet.  Since my doctor is going on vacation right after my due date, we're all hopeful that things will progress a little earlier than they have with the girls.  Hopeful but not really positive.  At least I'm not!  I've mostly decided against induction but there is a little nagging part of me that says I want my doctor.  And I'm running out of time -- slowly though.  I'm ambling out of time is what it feels like!!

One thing has progressed though -- I've hit my 40 pound mark by putting on 6 pounds in the last 3 weeks!!  I blame the pastries that I've been craving -- cakes, cookies, cannolis, etc.  And Chopper has been very compliant.  I just have no self-control!!

Abby the Disaster Child

The last time my mom was here, she couldn't get over Abby's disregard for mess and tendency to create disaster.  I suppose that it's particularly obvious since Megan is the COMPLETE opposite and is very careful and clean.

So just to give you a taste:

Today we got home from Costco and I had meat that needed to be divided and frozen.  So of course once my hands are covered in pork goo (ewwww), I look over and Abby is in the pantry, eating and dumping flour.  And she doesn't listen.  At all.  Once I remove her from the pantry, she immediately goes into the living room and starts eating Megan's sponge dinosaurs -- the ones that you "grow" out of the capsules in hot water?  Yeah.  So I remove her from that situation.  I finish with the meat, walk back into the living room, and her mouth is in that shape that usually means there's something inside -- and yes, she's nearly 2 and a half!  So I ask her, Abby, what's in your mouth?  Word for word she says to me, "ummmm, my teef!!"

Cheeky little girl.

She crawls into the magazine rack, gets stuck, and then chews on the legs when she finally gets out, strings string from my sewing machine all over the office and she just walked in and handed me the remote from the tv with the back open and a battery in her mouth.  She got in big trouble for that one actually because of the danger.

Everyone talks about that phase where babies put everything in their mouths and then explore their world as they get mobile.  I think she's supposed to be past that by now -- but apparently she isn't.  I'm doing more baby proofing now than I think I've ever done!!!  And it looks like I need to take it a step further even.

On the Bookshelf

I've been participating in a monthly book club that's been a lot of fun.  It's been a very LONG time since I actually discussed a book!  And of course, we don't always stick to the book . . . but that's part of the fun.

June was my month and so we read Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities which I hadn't read in a long long time.  Once you get into the language and get past the initial setting up of the story it's really a fabulous book.  But I also had to share the treats for the night because I had too much fun doing French and English foods.

For French foods we just had baguette, sparkling grape juice (no wine of course, but we HAD to get close because of all the wine and blood in the book), and several different french cheeses.  By the way, Raclette -- stinky cheese.  Don't buy it and don't, by any means, open it!  It was terrible!  But the others were fine, bleu cheese, Brie (I love Brie) and Comte swiss.  Very good.  Oh and we had fruit.  And then for the British side, I made a Victoria Sponge Cake!!  And it turned out pretty good!

It's a pretty simple cake to make (if you can get an Americanized recipe -- I couldn't even read the British ones!).  Very basic ingredients and you just mix for a long time to infuse the batter with air.  Just make sure you use parchment paper in the bottom of the cake pans.  At the last minute I didn't have any and it was very hard to get the cake out -- we broke it into several pieces actually.  Then fill with jam and cream (optional), top with some powdered sugar and voila!!  I might have to go eat the last piece actually since I'm thinking about it . . . 

This is just cute -- Abby has taken to walking around the house in her towel after her bath.  She has to find everyone and tell them she's a baby burrito.  

Oh and my girls are obsessed with a book right now called How To Raise a Dinosaur by Natasha Wing.

It's a cute book with really cute illustrations but I tell you they are obsessed with two parts: the one where you see the dinosaur bones (inside the dinosaur not like a skeleton) and the part where the kid has to pick up the poop with a tractor.  Kids are kids I guess!!

Good News

Actually I need to start with a warning that this post is about bodily functions, so if you're not interested, DON'T READ IT!!

Ok so the good news is that Megan's bloodwork all came back normal -- no celiac's disease, no thyroid conditions, and I can't remember what else they tested for.  Those were the big 2 that I was curious about.

Also good news, since we've had Megan on the Miralax (4 tsp. a day! for the past almost 2 weeks) she has started to use the actual toilet again.  Apparently as things have softened up she has overcome some of her fear.  We still have the occasional accident but for the most part, we are headed in the right direction.  Whew!!  The doctor has asked me to keep her on the Miralax for another 2 weeks and then we have a follow-up appointment to talk about our continuing strategy.

I'm glad but also wondering why her system is this way?  Is it purely diet?  Is there something else there that makes her sluggish?  I'm not sure what our next plan of action will be but for now we're celebrating the little triumphs!  Which at this point, are big triumphs!!

Impulse Buying

I am a truly terrible impulse buyer.  If it's a good deal or really cute, I just can't resist!  And it's particularly terrible with fabric.  In fact, I told Chopper that I either need to own a quilt shop or work in a quilt shop so that I can be surrounded by adorable and wonderful fabric without having the need to purchase it and take it home with me.  

So case in point: last November when I went to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, I tried to limit my purchasing to fabric (partly because you can get books and patterns, etc. on Amazon much cheaper anyway).  But I did relent on this Playtime pattern and ruler by Kariepatch Designs.  Not because I NEED another playmat, but because it is so darn cute!  It has these 3-dimensional ties that you can attach toys to.

Then on Mother's Day, I went to one of my favorite quilting stores and happened to see this fabric made up into a pillow and fell.in.love.  It's called "Just Hanging" by Alexander Henry and you can find it online for sure.  But it's one of those prints that I just did NOT want to cut into.  

So instead, I used it as a panel with the tie blocks around the border and voila!!!

How adorable is that?????

 A close up of how the ties work.

 And this amazing fabric -- and my wonky quilting -- I'm really an impatient quilter to be honest.

The back of the quilt -- I went a little more modern with this one and added a pieced center with the leftover triangles from the tie blocks but also to extend the polka-dot print.

 The girls of course had to give it a whirl.  Hopefully they'll be in a sharing mood when this little one needs his tummy time.  And I'm hoping that the bright colors and the fun toys will do it -- Megan in particular hated tummy time and so we tried to be more consistent with Abby.  I think it worked.  At any rate, he'll have an adorable quilt to look at!!!

6 Weeks and Panicking

I'm not kidding.  Six weeks left and I suddenly have this sense of impending doom.

Well, that may be a LITTLE strong.  But not much.

I don't know.  Maybe it's knowing I'll be outnumbered at home.  Maybe it's knowing the distinct personalities of Megan and Abby and thinking "what's coming next"?  Maybe it's remembering how that first 6 weeks is exhausting and realizing that I'm already tired -- and again, I repeat, why isn't it that you spend the 9 months of pregnancy with a hormone that makes you sleep blissfully well????

Whatever it is, I feel compelled to get EVERYTHING done because I know that it will be a while after the baby's born before I get ANYTHING done.  So that means making Chopper help me with the little projects that I want to accomplish in the next 6 weeks so that I have time for some bigger projects -- like another quilt.  I know, I know, Voldemort already has a quilt -- this is just a play mat quilt but it is going to be SOOOOO cute when it's done.

And that's one of the things that makes me excited for this little boy on his way.  I've got tons of little, adorable projects I want to finish that won't mean anything to him but are fun and motivating for me.  Example: one of our big projects was to rearrange our bedroom.  We know he'll be in there with us for a little while (and maybe a long while the way things are going) so we moved all our furniture around to make room for the crib and a small set of plastic drawers.  And then I couldn't resist putting it all together -- even though I'll have to wash it all closer to due date.  But it just makes me happy!

Don't you love it?  The dog mobile I found on clearance at Target -- it was one of those things that I knew we probably wouldn't use a ton but I couldn't resist.  And it was on CLEARANCE!  I picked up some boy crib sheets for cheap cheap at a yard sale ages ago (you know, just in case) and the quilt has been waiting for a baby boy for years as well.  The teething bumper, now that's new.  I found the idea on Pinterest and had a moment of "why didn't I think of this before?"  It's quilted as well and super cute with bits and pieces of boy fabrics I hadn't used yet.  And it very nicely covers up the gouge marks that Abby very lovingly carved into the crib for us!  Hopefully it will do the same for this little guy.

I've also done a few flannel blankets and a very ingenious changing pad (that was not my ingenious idea though) and yet, I still feel a little frantic!  But excited.  And scared.  And worried.  And tired (have I mentioned that one yet:?).  And hopeful.  And READY!!!!