hello 31!

apparently 31 comes with some surprises.
i ran to the mall this evening (kidless! woohoo! well, sort of kidless, i guess!) to get the rest of my birthday present. i had requested some new makeup, thinking i could get a few fun eye shadows & some lip gloss, so i'll have something to throw on when i'm feeling a little rough after a "newborn night"! so as the girl starts doing my powder, i look in the mirror & see WRINKLES! LOTS of WRINKLES - right @ the corners of my eyes!!! where did those come from????! omg, & there's a major line right in the middle of my forehead. seriously, what??!
after i took a few deep breaths, i asked for a different powder & we finally found one that @ least didn't accentuate the wrinkles. i guess it was lighter or something - maybe it was for more "mature women"!! :(. what in the world??
so i guess 31 + this pregnancy has totally made my skin dry, well & it's also winter... do i need to use vaseline or something?? d - doesn't your mom use preparation h??!!! (ooops! am i revealing her secrets on the internet??!). i've been banking on having my mom's skin (not many wrinkles @ 50+), but it looks like i was wrong. it's a rough world out there...

the good news is, i did get some fun new eye shadows - even a light purple! woohoo! i've gotta wear something fun to take away from the wrinkles :) haha!!

i also...

made this fun little outfit for baby girl...

i've fallen in love with chenille - that's the fuzzy, white fabric i used here. it's so fun & soft. i want to make a bib to match this, but i'm trying to make myself work on finishing her bedding rather than start another project! i've learned something about myself - i LOVE to be able to start & finish a project in, preferabley ONE sitting, but at least in a day. it's so hard to tackle something (like her dust ruffle!) that i know will take a few days to finish! i guess it's the whole instant gratification thing.

i'm thinking about putting this design in the shop - maybe after i get back on my feet (though if you're interested, let me know - i can probably get you one). it's simple & fun & easier to do than most of my other designs. easier = less time = less expensive, so that's nice!!

so, 20 days until d-day. i can't believe it. i'm feeling

H U G E & T I R E D & H U N G R Y!

not surprising, but very true.

clint & i are going back & forth on baby girl's name. we thought we had it for sure, but about 2 wks ago we started feeling uncertain, & now we just can't decide between 2 names. part of me would love to wait until she's actually here to decide, but folks, if i'm as out of it this time as i was last time - it'll be awhile before i would trust myself with something like naming a child!!!! we're hoping the right name just makes itself clear :) i'll keep you posted...

hope you're enjoying this wednesday.

i...

made a hoodie towel for hudson last week.

he liked it (though couldn't be bothered to actually look @ the camera for a photograph. elmo needed to be watched & popcorn eaten)...
i need a picture of him in it after the bath - too cute!!
here's the bath mitt to match...

i love bath mitts, by the way - much easier, i think.

and one for baby girl...

i was experimenting with a cute way to try & display them if i wanted to sell them. for baby girl, i made wash cloths - that was before i figured out how to do the mitts.

fun stuff :)

i love the idea of these for gifts. what else can you give that can be used from birth all the way to 3-4 yrs old?! thrifty!

ps: went to the dr today - everything looking good! yaaaaay! hello 36 wks!

i...

love the way hudson's room color turned out!!

(paint job & armoire by clint)

now to hang up the curtains tonight...

i...

feel that in your last month of pregnancy you should be able to eat as much chocolate as you want without any consequences.

is that too much to ask?

crap, part two

today wasn't any better. can you believe that? and i don't even have a good picture to show for it today :(!!!
i had to spend the whole of my only childless morning getting my hair done (which DESPERATELY needed to be done, TRUST ME! i've been waiting weeks longer than i should have to go so that it would be done & stay looking decent until i can get back after the baby), only to have my hairdresser tell me the color just isn't taking as it usually does due to my hormones (???!!!??!!!! #**%#@!!!!!!!!). then i got to pay the exorbitant amount of money that getting your hair done costs these days & walk out wanting to cry. hormones are wrecking my life!
and hudson was acting stinky again, throwing fits @ many a turn.
and clint's car needs a $1000 repair. (the worst part being that the whole car is barely worth $1000)
so with all of this & a few other later incidents (like you know, it hitting me again that hudson's big boy bed isn't finished, his walls aren't painted, his quilt not finished...), i was ready to melt away. AWAY!
feeling sorry for yourself feels good for a little while, you know? and then you think about something like Haiti & you then feel even worse than when you started!
so i did that whole thing - i felt sorry for myself. really sorry. & then i felt horrible for feeling sorry, which really didn't help. then i just let myself feel frustrated, because that's just how i felt!
THEN i started to take some deep breaths & tried to relax. i thought about what i needed to learn & what god's bringing me in the midst of this situation.
& THEN i started thinking about all the things i'm so very thankful for (like being alive, for one! forget hair color!) & that's when i started to feel better. (though i'm still a little concerned when i pass a mirror!)
i also thought about what kind thing i could do for myself, as i was feeling so stressed. i think we often forget to take care of ourselves, you know? i decided doing a little sewing & eating a little chocolate would do wonders (& i was right!).
except it turned into a lot of chocolate.
but that's okay :)


(& for those of you still worried about my hair, we decided to wash it a few times & see what happens - usually it lightens a good deal, so i'm hoping that's the case this time, even with the hormones! then i'll just have to go back if i'm still not happy. thanks for caring! haha! )

crap

if i were sesame street, i'd choose this as my word of the day.
i've felt super tired all day & low on patience & hudson has felt uber cranky all day & high on tantrums.
rough combo.
he literally cried for 20 minutes because i took my jacket off & he wanted it "ON!". mmhmmm. yeah. and that was just one of his episodes.
whew.
THEN this super fun craft project i just KNEW would turn out soooo adorable turned out soooo not! i hate when that happens!!
i had seen THIS tutorial for making your own wreath with acorns & thought it was so cute, but then i saw THIS one & thought - okay, yeah, i could really do that, since i'd just have to buy a bag of lima beans & not collect acorns. i swear i saw another tutorial on some site for a hot pink lima bean wreath, too.
anyway so i stayed up waaaaaay too late last night hot glue-ing limas (and my poor fingers together - OUCH!). i thought it was going to look cute until i got out the pink spray paint this afternoon. and yeah, it didn't exactly "come together" as i was planning. somehow it just ended up looking like... well, spray-painted-lima-beans-hot-glued-on-styrofoam.
here it is in the trash can...

there was just no hope for it.

BUMMER.

so, now i'm off to make dinner & hope that turns out okay :) one plus of this whole situation? when i went to get the lima beans, i remembered to get that curry paste i had forgotten to buy last week, so we can finally have the yummy curry tonight!

four weeks left!!

tonight i got off the couch to make dinner.
yes, i did!
and i even took pictures to prove it...

(lemon artichoke pesto)

mmhmmm. see?!! i was going to make indian curry, but realized i forgot to pick up one small ingredient - the curry paste. ooops ;)

mom was here this past week & we worked it trying to get a million & one things done/sewn for baby girl (who will be here in about FOUR weeks, can you believe it???! i cannot.). we didn't get it all done, but we never do - our list is always too long!! & i've felt even more slow & tired & BIG this week, for some reason.
i do feel much better nesting-wise, though. hudson's curtains (complete with blackout lining - YES!) are up & i just have to finish one little part of baby girl's bumper + do the simple dust ruffle (easiest part). the curtains are all cut out & my blessed mother took them home to finish. i promise to get pics when it's all done!! nothing is in the nursery yet because hudson is still in there awaiting his big boy bed.

by the way, he's doing great in the toddler bed (crib converted). whenever we put him down to sleep, he always says "mommy, i not get out of my bed!". YES, son!! that's right & THANK YOU ever so much for the gift you're giving your poor, tired, pregnant mommy for not getting out of the bed!! & i know your poor, tired, "husband-to-a-pregnant-woman" daddy is thankful, too :)

i must take this opportunity to give a shout out to that man. bless him - he has endured :) he continually takes the lion's share of parenting hudson when he can, so i can rest my weary belly! he even left to get me a coke in the middle of american idol the other night when my fish oil pills made me suddenly burp up the worst taste ever (ickkkk!) & i HAD to have a coke to wash it down! and he always lets me catch a few extra winks in the morning, when he can. i am so very thankful for you, c.

i was going to type out the recipe for this pesto for you, but suddenly i'm tired! and i'm trying to conserve my energy to get a few loads of laundry done tonight. but if you're interested, let me know & i'll see if i can get it to you. it's one of my fav yum/easy ones & it's great to freeze, too.

(and ps: christy, this update is partially for you, though you DO realize the last time YOU posted was january 5th, right??!!!!!! you better get to it, too!)

ringing in the new year

well, here we are - it's january 2nd. amazing.
4 days until my sister's birthday.
21 days until mine.
26 days until my mom's.
yep, we're all january babies - isn't that funny?

i always feel unprepared for january - it seems to sneak in so quickly, right after the holidays! boom - it's a new year. wow.

and this new year promises new changes for us as we anxiously await the birth of #2. can't believe it really! and hudson turns 3 in this new year - wow! it's true, time does fly...

we rang in this new year as we have for the past 3 years with our good friends patrick & jen. alot of eating, alot of lounging, football watching & reading, oh & a little shopping - a perfect way to celebrate :)
here are our only pictures (too busy lounging to take any more pics, i guess.)

this is hudson "helping" make a caramel cake - mmmmmm.

we're also ringing in the new year with a little change for the little guy. right now, hudson is "helping" daddy transform his crib to a toddler bed. exciting stuff! we're a little leary of this whole no crib thing, as hudson has become quite the night owl - staying up until 11pm & even later lately! he's been happy in the crib, reading (by moonlight), talking, or singing (angels we have heard in high is his favorite lately. you know, "gloooooooooria...") but i'm a little concerned about what's going to happen when he realizes he can get out of the toddler bed. we shall see... for now i'm enjoying the sounds of his excitement as he helps daddy with the tools :) it's amazing how much they want to "help" @ this age. getting to help do just about anything is a major thrill to him - so cute.

and so i better get back to my grocery list. i'm looking to stock up on some good/easy (slow cooker, possibly) recipes that will be good for when the babe comes, too. i'll share my findings.

right now, i'm checking out this one.