Think you have something planned?

Think again.

We are SUPPOSED to be in Kauai right now. We aren't.

Yet.

Christmas Eve morning I woke up and started getting ready and started to have some pain - about where my cyst supposedly is. I sat down and hoped it would just go away in a minute. We were supposed to leave within in the hour for Hawaii!

After a few minutes I was curled up on the bed in pain, I could barely talk. Zach helped me finished getting dressed, my dad gave me a blessing and those two rushed me to the hospital. My mom stayed here with Naomi. She was soooo sweet. She

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

So I'm still here, just been busy with all things "family." We've been in Utah since Tuesday and it SNOWED! Tons. We got in my parents hot tub while it snowed big fat, fluffy snowflakes. Naomi thought that was the coolest. She kept on eating the accumulating snow off the side of the hot tub! The next day I played in the snow with Naomi and my nephew Matthew until we were all too cold to play anymore. Naomi's been hanging out with all her little boy cousins and it's a little bit rougher than she's used to but she's hanging in there:) Yesterday she got to hold baby Henry, Erica and Dave's little one. She didn't want to let go of him, it was soooo sweet. She kept telling him sweetly "no crying" when he fussed and then patted his head and tummy and stroked his cheeks. I just hope she's that excited about our new baby when he gets here:)
I'll post pictures as soon as I figure out the easiest way to load them onto my parents computer.
And also, tomorrow we are leaving for Hawaii! I'll be thinking about all of you here in the cold while I hang out on the beach.
Have a Very Merry Christmas!

Baby Jesus?

Naomi was playing in the kitchen with her Little People Christmas Story nativity while I got breakfast ready for us. Cereal and milk and blueberries on top:)
I told her to go climb into her chair so we could eat. Then she said THE cutest thing I've ever heard her say!
She had the little baby Jesus in both hands up by her cheek in a little hug and asked me:
"Baby Jesus come to breakfast too?"
I started laughing it was so sweet, and she used 6 words all together! It was just the funniest little question. I of course said yes and he joined us at the table, watching Naomi eat her chex and blueberries.

Festive Chocolate Bark

Festive Chocolate Bark

1 C shelled pistachios (1/2 lb in shell) salted & roasted
12 oz semisweet chocolate, chips or bar broken into small pieces
8 oz white chocolate, chips or bar broken into small pieces
¾ C dried, sweetened cranberries

-Melt the semisweet chocolate in microwave for 1-2 minutes until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. When some lumps remain, remove from microwave and stir until smooth. Melt the white chocolate following the same directions in a separate bowl.
-In a small bowl, combine nuts and cranberries.
-Stir ½ of the nut-berry mixture into the semisweet chocolate.
-Using a rubber spatula, spread the mixture about ½ thick onto a large lightly greased cookie sheet.
-It will not fill the whole pan.
-Drop the white chocolate by spoonfuls over the dark. With a spoon or butter knife, swirl the chocolates together to create a marbled effect.
-Sprinkle the remaining nut-berry mixture over the top of chocolate.
-Refrigerate the bark for about 1 hour or until firm, then break into pieces. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.
-Bark can get soft/melty at room temp, keep refrigerated.
ENJOY!

This is one of my (relativly new) favorite holiday goody recipe. A friend gave me the recipe a few years ago. It's simple, easy to make, hard to ruin, and DELICIOUS!

Random Things

This has been a busy last week and this week will be even busier! It's mostly good busy stuff, things I am happy to be doing, it just seems to all fall on the same week. Could be because I'm leaving next week for Utah.

Naomi and I are flying out on Tuesday and Zach will be coming next Friday after his last final. Just his luck to have a final on the very last day possible.

I put Naomi's hair up in pigtails, it was too cute to not take a picture of. She likes having her hair done and it makes her look sooo much older! But I'm all for letting it go wild for now too, for as long as I can get away with not having to pull her hair up/back the better. That would be the ONE benifit of having a super-bald baby.

Last week was our ward Christmas party, it was fun, and good food of course. Naomi pushed her way up to see Santa Claus. I'm proud of her for getting in there with all the big kids! She was totally stone-faced for the picture. We stopped to see Santa at the mall today too. She was thrilled to sit next to him and tell him about things. I'm glad she's not afraid of him, it makes it all a little more fun.

Naomi played the piano a little too after the party, it's her new favorite thing. Hopefully one day soon we will own a piano!

In these pictures I'm 25 weeks pregnant, nearly 26. I have almost exactly 3 months left. This pregnancy seems to be flying by lately! I'm not sure I'm going to be ready for this baby so soon!

And one more fun thing. I bought Naomi some water color paints and we tried them out for the first time. She loved, loved, loved it. The water bowl was by far the best part. Her paper ended up soaking and all kinda grayish green. So did all the paints. She's a budding Picasso! We'll have to work on the get the paint onto the paper thing. And she only tasted the paint once. I guess that was enough to convince her I was right, it's yucky.

That's all for now, I'm off to do some laundry!

OH, one more thing I wanted to mention. Yahoo has groups as you all may know but the coolest ones by far are the FreeCycle groups. Check out yahoo.com or Google 'freecycle' to see if you can find your local group. It's like craigslist but all free. I'm in love.

Faith In America

Zach and I are Mitt Romney supporters. We have been following his campaign closely and last Thursday Mitt delivered a speech addressing how faith, specifically how his faith would influince his leadership. But that was not the half of it. He did a fantastic job. I was very impressed and I don't think he could have said it any better. (pause music on player below before pushing play.)

Edited to add: um. Couldn't get the video to post, so here's the link!
http://mitt-tv.mittromney.com/?showid=718280

Is she cute or what!

I picked up Naomi's portraits from JC Penney today and they turned out super cute. I scanned them and played with color a little and cropped too. The photographer must have been new because she was struggling with centering the pictures!

I think Naomi looks adorable if I do say so myself. I just had to share her cute new pics!

(don't you just love her little curls! I need to "do" her hair more often!)

SNOW!

It snowed today!!!! This is the first snow of the season and the first one Naomi can probably remember. She LOVED it. We had appointments and other things all morning so she had to wait all day to go out and play in it but it was worth the wait:)

First thing she did was eat it, of course. I think children are hard-wired to eat snow.

I tried to show her that some snow is "yucky" and told her only the "white" snow is ok. We'll see how long it takes to learn that lesson!

She helped me build a "Frosty Snowman!" It turned out cute- although I couldn't find any pebbles for buttons or eyes!

Out where we were playing there is a big Holly TREE. It looked so pretty with it's green leaves, bright red berries and now snow!

Snowpants....check, boots....check.

"Ready go, outside, 2 minutes" That is what Naomi says when she wants to go outside. I guess I tell her "in two minutes, ok?" a little too often.

Tasting and eating the snow.....

mmmmm, yummy.

"Frosty Snowman!"

Ok, Ok. Here's a "belly" shot.

This one's for Erica.

After this I swear I'm going to talk about something else other than pregnancy!

I'm 24 weeks and change in this picture. And I know my hair is just lovely:)

My goal is to take a new pregnant profile picture every other week until the end of this pregnancy. I only took a few with Naomi, right at the end. Now I'm thinking it would have been fun to compare as I go.

This pregnancy has been different for a few marked reasons:

I was sick much sooner and a little longer.

I started "showing" earlier.

I have heartburn!

I can stomach meat.

I sometimes forget what week I'm in of pregnancy.

People keep telling me "good luck" when they hear I'm having a boy.......

I am much calmer about being pregnant:)

The results are in...

The Baby Boy Name Poll was a close one!
Jeffrey Gordon pulled ahead as the early leader, but Andrew Zachary and Boston Zachary were close on his heels.
Aaron Jeffrey and James Gordon both had great potential going into the race but just didn't preform as critics had expected.
In the final moments it looked like Jeffrey Gordon would be the winner by a large margin when Andrew Zachary made a run for the lead!
In the end Jeffrey Gordon won by a close margin of just ONE vote!

Here are the final stats:

Jeffrey Gordon had 33% with 20 votes
Boston Zachary at 32% with 19 votes
Andrew Zachary at 23% with 14 votes
Aaron Jeffrey at 5% with 3 votes
James Gordon at 5% with 3 votes

Thanks for your input so far!!! I am adding a new name to the top two from round 1 for the final poll.
Round 2- is up and running until "Patricks" due date- 3/17/08

24 weeks, not 22

I had a second ultrasound yesterday and my baby boy measured "big" enough that the doctor there decided that "the first thing we are going to do is change your dates." I can hardly believe that I am actually off but it could be and probably obviously is. So my NEW due date is March 17th, 2008!!! I'm not complaining at all. This is good news, except for the fact that I couldn't figure out the right date on my own!!!
"Baby Boy" is doing great, just big I guess! Since his new due date is St. Patrick's Day, I decided that until we can decide on a name I'm going to nickname him "Patrick."
Speaking of, the name poll is over tomorrow! I'm thinking about doing a "round 2." Zach thought of a new name that would be pretty cool. I'm going to take the top two and add this new name. Thanks for all your votes! I have to admit I'm surprised a little at the results so far:)

*Warning, possible TMI*

This appointment was actually with a perinatal specialist because at my first ultrasound the tech found a large complex cyst on my right ovary. My OB referred me to the Perinatal place for a follow-up and further examination. I have a second visit scheduled with them in a few weeks and also to see a urologist to examine the cyst too. Soooo I'm just waiting around to see what all the doctors seem to think, about whether or not it's something that needs surgery, to be removed or just monitoring for the rest of the pregnancy. And if anyone is curious, the cyst is about 10cm, yeah, that's pretty big for cysts. Also, if any of you have ever had cysts, let me know what your doctor did/or didn't do.

Well that's the only news I had! As un-fun as it is, it's been taking up time and thoughts!!!

I guess on another note, more fun, is that Naomi is really starting to talk a lot! She's even making little sentences! Some of my favorite lately include:

"Peas, mmmm, yummy! Eat it up!!!"
"More cheeto's peeze!"
"It's Nomi's, Mommy's, Daddy's tree, yeah." Talking about our Christmas tree:)
"Drink of water, drink of water!"

You have to imagine a not quite right pronunciation with most words here of course:)

Sushi for me

Naomi's first time eating Sushi! It was just a California roll but she loved it. She called it "ice" when she first saw the rolls sitting in the tray, the white rice covered cubes looked like ice to her!

I cut one up and she let Zach feed it to her with chopsticks. Of course she had to have a turn with the sticks too, until we confiscated them before she poked her eye out!

Honestly, it was hard for me to share even just one roll. I'm glad she liked it! But really, what's not to like:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Naomi (what else do I have to write about?)

So I'll just say that I wrote a post earlier today, uploaded photos and finally hit "publish" and then Blogger gave me some error message, and sorry, post you just wrote has vanished. Argh.

I had a few fun things about what Naomi and I have been doing so I'll try to not be ornery about it and post again.

I have a new trick for any lazy moms out there! Next time your kid wants to blow bubbles just hold the bubble wand over the heater vent! It was fantastic:) Bubbles were everywhere and of course Naomi loved it! Seriously. How do I think of such lame things that I am really going to do again!

I took a few pictures of Naomi last night in just her diaper because I have about 5 total from her whole life of her in just her diaper. I have no idea why, I mean she's in her diaper only plenty of times..... Anyway, she and Zach were playing "chase" as she calls it! Basically Naomi runs, Zach catches her and then tickle tortures her. Repeat. she LOVES it. I'm just so glad it's a "daddy" game because it seriously wears me out, she's fast ya know.


Naomi has a little friend Abby. These two are totally funny together. They feed off each others adrenalin. Cassie (Abby's mom) and I met at the mall today and for a while the girls just ran ahead of us. It was hilarious, Naomi was laughing and yelling and occasionally screaming as they ran. They almost got run over just a couple times:) We ate lunch at the food court and by the end of the meal both girls were standing on their chairs dancing to the music, just jamming out like little spaz's. (spelling?)


We also went to see Santa Claus while we were at the mall. Naomi was happy to see him, but kind of liked the giant snowman decoration a little better. She even sat on Santa's lap and let the elf people take a picture- which was horrible, she was halfway to a blink and the sales lady kept saying how she looked like "an absolute angel." No thanks, especially not for $25. I couldn't take a picture with my own camera either. But whatever.

I asked Naomi if she could tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas, no response, and then I asked her what does Santa Claus say? Her response was this:

"Christmas, presents, Nomi, Christmastime, HO, HO, HO!, presents, TRAIN, OHTAY!" Not actually a sentence but quite the list! Thomas the Train is a big hit right now at our house.

I'm getting excited for Christmas, I'm thinking I'm going to get the Christmas decorations out Monday, why wait!

Ick

I seem to have caught something nasty a few days ago. I was SICK. And I think it was about 1000 times worse because I'm pregnant. I'm pretty much 100% recovered now but, wow I was sooo sick on Tuesday! Wednesday I was just sleeping all day recuperating and today I feel really good. So yeah, being sick like that was actually worse than "morning sickness" because there was absolutely nothing I could do or eat to feel better at all and it totally wasted my body. Zapped all the life right out of me! I'd rather give birth than be sick like that again. Naomi had something similar the weekend before but MUCH more mild and Zach seems fine. Of course:) He's practically never sick.
Ok, enough complaining but I hate being sick. I actually got the flu shot about a week and a half ago, lot a good that did me!

Tutus!

Naomi has two tutus that she absolutely adores. I made them for her after learning how from a friend and using instructions on a very helpful website. This site shows using a slip knot instead of a double knot, either is good.

They are fun to make and require NO SEWING:)

I used thin (about 1/8") elastic and just tied the ends together. You cut your tulle in strips that are double the length you want the tutu to be. Naomi's were 2 feet to start, making the tutu about a foot long. You simply measure your elastic for how big the waist should be, make it snug since it's elastic and will stretch. Cut your tulle in strips, about 4-6" wide and tie the tulle in a double knot onto the elastic. Each end from your knots you tied should be equal lengths, hanging down to make the skit of the tutu. I sometimes used a couple strips of of tulle per knot, layering 2-3 of different colors and then tying them together onto the elastic to make the skirt fuller or more colorful.

You can buy tulle by the yard at WalMart sewing dpt. or JoAnn's has tulle in 6" wide spools, which makes it really easy:) Buy a lot, like maybe 5 yards for a fluffy tutu, use less as you go if you want. Tulle can be pretty cheap if you catch it on sale. I got mine for about $1-$2/yard. And get a few different colors that you want to use together. I used a most of a 20 yard spool for Naomi's pink tutu. (There's less total tulle on spool than "by the yard" fabric, obviously, since it's only 6" wide.)

Slingn' it

I put Naomi in her sling last night while I was cooking. I haven't been using it since she's been, well, running! But I worked out really great, I slid her from my hip around to my back so I had both arms totally free.

She's a little on the heavy side for extended wearing but I think the general rule of thumb is that you can wear a kid in the sling until about 35 lbs, if they'll let you put them in it:)

This was my first sling, I made it when Naomi had just turned one and she LOVED it then. She would bring it to me for me to put on. I wish I had made it earlier when she wasn't walking, that's when it would have been really useful, especially around the house.

Anyway, go make a sling:)

Make your own baby sling!

I've always wanted to do a "tutorial" of sorts on this blog but I've never really felt like I had much to offer. But lately I've been helping and showing others how to make baby slings. And I'm no expert on sewing, on the contrary, so that is why I decided to post this. If I can do this, then you can too. All you really need is a sewing machine or access to one, thread and of course fabric to make your sling.

1. Buy 2 yards of fabric.

I've used thicker "waverly" and "cotton duck" fabrics and I've used corduroy, that's more of a medium fabric and also regular "quilting" fabric which is thinner. Some instructions I've read have recommended using the thick fabrics or doubling the quilting type for a strong enough sling. I think it's not going to make a big difference, the thinner will hold just fine. Just find some fabric you love and buy 2 yards!
~Buy 1/8 yard of batting if you want to make padding for older babies/toddlers using the hip carry position. (see #15 below)
2. Unfold your fabric and CUT it length-wise to be 22 inches wide. So you have a piece of fabric 22 inches by 2 yards. (you will have two identical pieces actually but will only be using one.)
Usually this is just about half of the total fabric. The other half that you won't be using is enough to make a whole 2nd sling. So, save for later or make one for a friend!


3. Fold your fabric in half so it is wide, "hamburger" style if you will:) Have the cute edges to your right.



4. Now fold your fabric up so it is narrow, "hot dog" style this time. the four corners of your fabric will be in the top right hand corner.


5. Measure yourself in the front only from shoulder to hip.

The is basically where your sling will sit, measure to the place on your hip where you would like the sling to hit. My measurement is about 25 inches. It's not a big deal to be SO exact on this. Just get a good idea of how big around you need your sling.

6. Mark that measurement across the top of your "sling" from the left top corner to X number of inches. I use a pin as a marker.
7. Now measure across the bottom of the "sling" your original top measurement (25 for me) and then add 3 inches, (25 + 3 = 28). Mark this with a pin or fabric marker or pen, whatever you have:)



You now have two measurements at the top and bottom of your fabric that are 3 inches difference.

8. Now CUT (ahhh wait, wait. Make SURE you have your CUT edges to the right of your marked measurements and the UNcut part of the fabric is on the far left side, where your measurements start.)

Ok, now CUT your fabric from "25" inches to "28" inches making a rounded half smile cut.



9. Unfold your fabric down so you now have a full smile, rounded edge.



10. Now comes the sewing:) Sew the rounded edge ends together at about 1/4" in.
(SEE #15 and #20 for "idea" to start with sewing the edges before this seam.)


11. Turn your SLING inside out and flatten out the edge you just sewed. You are going to "encase" the seam you just made by sewing at about 1/2" in. The edges that are now inside the sling will be sewn inside your new seam.


12. Now open your sling and you will now sew the seam you just made down. It sticks up, you just fold it down to one side and sew it flat. (Be sure you you "opened" up the sling so you are sewing this down to only one layer of the fabric!)


That is called a French Seam!


14. Now make a 1/4" seam around the edge of one side of the whole sling, either side- it doesn't matter.

Some people like to iron or pin before they sew their seam but I think it's just as easy to just fold as I go.


15. On the other side of the sling you can either do the same thing and make a 1/4" seam and be done! OR you can make a wide 2" or so seam/pocket so you can put padding in for an older babies/toddlers legs. The padding is nice for them because of the position you carry them, the hip carry, their legs stick out the bottom of the sling and the padding cushions their little thighs.
Personally I think the padding is nice but not necessary. I have made and used both and Naomi didn't seem to have a preference:)
So to make the padding pocket/seam you need to realize that I am NOT an expert at this sewing thing and am yet to have my seam turn out perfect. Because the fabric is a rounded edge (from the french seam) it makes for imperfectness on my part when I sew this final edge. Some of you may have ideas or the solution, maybe I should sew the sides before I make the french seam. I'll have to try that next time.
16. Ok, so I fold the edge of my fabric about 1/4" and then fold it out about 2 inches or so. So your rough edge is folded over but you have enough space to stuff padding in a minute.
17. Tack the fabric down at the french seam to hold in place.


18. Measure out about 3" to one side of that center seam and sew your wide seam down, leaving an unsewn portion between where you started and the part you tacked to the french seam.

19. Sew all the way around, keeping the seam about 2" wide.


20. Once you near the center seam (french seam) stop about 3 inches short of it.

This is where I run into trouble:) I have "extra" fabric on the back side since it's a curved seam and I just make a "pleat" with the extra at the center seam. I pinned it so I knew where I would sew it, (the first picture). It's not perfect but it's fine and it doesn't look bad, I just need to figure out how to avoid that. Like I said above, maybe I should do these edges first, and then the french seam.



21. Measure about 8" from the center seam. Sew a straight line stitch across your 2" seam, closing off the seam at that point. Do this on each side.


22. Now find a spatula or wooden dowel or maybe even broom stick handle for stuffing the padding in.


23. Stuff batting in on each side from the center openings to the closure stitches you just made until it feels soft, firm enough and not lumpy. I filled mine to about the opening from where I was stuffing, so about 3" each side from the center seam.



24. Sew the padding pocket closed with another straight stitch across your 2" seam.



You should have two padding pockets to either side of the french seam and just the openings on each side of the center there to sew up!
25. Finish your 2" seam to the center on each side. Remember that I had to tuck my extra fabric under the center seam on one side. So if you do to don't feel bad:)
26. Viola! You are DONE. You have successfully made a baby sling and they are SOOO easy to use!



This particular sling I made for my (awesome) sister-in-law Erica who just had her 3rd baby boy!!!! Henry George Low. I hope she likes it!
Here are some links to sites that show ways to wear them and also the instructions that I based mine off of.
They sell some really cute slings but they are priced from $40-$60's. Hotslings has a sale going one and a few sings are $28-$30's. Making one like mine costs about $5-$10, depending on how expensive your fabric is (and that you only use 1/2 of it to make one sling, one yard.)
Granted theirs are "perfect" :) and they come in some neat fabrics, they often have a pocket on the outside, and some are reversable and/or organic! (Yes, you can buy organic baby clothing too.) So they have a nicer product so they charge a lot but I think it's really A LOT to pay. So I make them:)
http://www.mykarmababy.com/pages/BabySlingPattern.php
http://www.mykarmababy.com/pages/AllKarma.php
http://www.mykarmababy.com/pages/instructions.php
http://www.hotslings.com/
http://www.hotslings.com/s.nl/it.I/id.5/.f