Twenty-Four Weeks

(my, the time is just flying by!)

The Baby: Little Sprout is the length of an ear of corn now and weighing over a whole pound. That means she gained about four ounces in the past week! (we will not discuss how much weight her mother put on in the past week). Her brain and lungs are continuing to develop and get stronger. This child is not really a kicker as much as she is a roller. At night, it feels like all she does is roll back and forth in my tummy. I can actually see her movement because it is so intense. Something tells me this little girl is going to come out rarin' to go!

Me: Just where did all that second trimester energy go? I have felt more tired in the last few days than I have in a long time. On Sunday, I made the mistake of wearing heels with ankle straps to church. I worked in children's church - meaning a lot of standing - and by the time we got home, my ankles were so swollen that the Nerd had to help me get the shoes off my feet. Today, my wonderful mother-in-law came over for a few hours to help out and cleaned house while watching the kiddos so I could get in a glorious nap.

Siblings: The Beast has been "practicing" putting a diaper on his Elmo doll so that he will be ready to help out with his little sister. :)

The Plans: I scored some more diapers for Little Sprout with an awesome deal I found on Amazon.com. Yesterday a tiny crocheted hat with interchangeable flowers arrived from Cute Kid Couture for the little one. She is going to be one stylin' little girl! Also, I finally finished my reversible nursing cover.(tutorial here) It was the most complicated sewing project I've taken on in a while, but I love the results!

There is boning in the top seam of the cover so I can still peek at baby and make any adjustments if necessary.

Its reversibility will help me not get bored, but more importantly, I will always have a clean side to use! :)

All these baby projects are getting me pretty excited about the arrival of Little Sprout. We still have a few months yet, and in just a week I will be busy with the start of school.

Hmmm. . .I do have a little of these pretty fabrics left. Something tells me Little Sprout is going to get a matching hair bow!

Creative Endeavors

I've been in a bit of a creative haze lately. As in, I am bookmarking DIY projects like crazy and planning out an insane amount of crafty things to complete before Little Sprout arrives. Last week was particularly productive in the creative arena.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I really wanted to try this flip-flop makeover. I found an old pair of flip flops that were ready to throw out two seasons ago, and with a little matching fabric, I transformed them into these cute ruffly T-strap sandals.

The Drama Queen saw my "new" sandals and wanted a pair for herself. She had no pair of flip flops (we tend to go the Crocs route for the littles around here) so off we went to Old Navy to score a cheap pair of the current favorite color - yellow. She chose some leftover Amy Butler fabric from my stash for her ruffly straps. I had enough left over to make her a matching belt. (the poor girl cannot keep a pair of jeans or skirt up without one!) Even at age five, though, she struggles to keep flip flops on her feet when she walks. I think it's because little kids don't have a deep enough crevasse between their big toe and second toe. Anyway, today I am going to sew on little elastic straps on the back to help those cuties stay on her feet!

The Drama Queen's best friend is at our house every day - so naturally she needed a pair too. We couldn't find her size at Old Navy, but my favorite store Target filled our need with a fun pair of pink flip flops. Little J. ended up choosing a fabric that matched the purse the girls had made in our "home ec" class, and I think they turned out super adorable. :)

On Friday, I was blessed to have my mother-in-law take all the kiddos for the day. I need a hair band to push my hair out of my face but couldn't find one that went with my outfit. Still in "I can sew" mode, I decided to make my own. I think it turned out rather well. The big flower was in part inspired by the ruffles I sewed on all those flip flops. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of each step of the process - so a tutorial will have to wait for a little while. I like it so much though that I am going to make it in a few more fabrics - hence an opportunity for tutorial photos.

The project currently on the table is a nursing cover for Little Sprout. I originally was going to make a very simple one, but once I saw the tutorial for this reversible cover, I was hooked. It is almost finished! Here is a sneak peek at the fabrics I chose.

We'll see how long these creative juices last. . .

Twenty-One Weeks

(this week I am puppeteering at our church's vacation Bible school, so Sailor Sam had to make an appearance in the photo)

The Baby: She is definitely growing - she now weighs about 3/4 of a pound and is the length of a carrot. She is also quite the acrobat and enjoys keeping Momma up at night with her antics.

Me: I absolutely feel very pregnant at this point, although I know I have a long way to go yet! Each night at VBS, I've been standing on a platform and making Sailor Sam talk and interact with the kids for over two hours. When I get home, I am exhausted and pretty much fall right into bed. Still, despite some of the discomforts, I am thoroughly enjoying feeling baby girl kick and somersault inside me.

The Siblings: All three talk to her a lot. The Beast has a special "telephone" he uses to communicate with Little Sprout. He pretends to hold up a phone, will say "Hello, Baby", and then ask her a question, such as "Do you want to go to McDonalds today?" He usually ends the conversation with "Bye, Baby, talk to you next week!" It is pretty much the most adorable thing I have ever seen. He has also decided that the baby should be named "Annie" and now refers to her as such.

The Plans: I am looking into making my own nursing cover. In the past, I have done the "baby blanket tossed over my shoulder"; but this time around I would really like a proper cover. I found some tutorials that appear to be easy enough to match my sewing skills, but we'll see. I also toyed with the idea of making a diaper bag, since those have long disappeared or gotten destroyed at our house. But I am really not certain I could pull off the kind of bag I want. I did some exploring on Etsy and found some cute ones I really like. They are bookmarked for future purchase. :) Little Sprout will be getting some Etsy goodness soon - I ordered her one of these adorable hats.

Hmmm. . .now let's go see if I can convince all three offspring to take an early nap. . .