Twins Tutu

I MUST make this tutu and headband. I found it when I was searching for baby girl MN Twins outfits and I think it's adorable!

Time for a craft afternoon. 

;)

Somebody said...

This poem was in the back of one of the books I've been readingl, and I thought it was sweet!

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you’ve had a baby…somebody doesn’t know that once you’re a mother, normal is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct…somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring…somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver’s license.

Somebody said if you’re a good mother, your child will “turn out good”…somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said good mothers never raise their voices…somebody never came out the backdoor just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor’s kitchen window.

Somebody said you don’t need an education to be a mother…somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first…somebody doesn’t have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books…somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of bring a mother is labor and delivery…somebody never watched her baby get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten or on a plane headed for military boot camp.

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back…somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married…somebody doesn’t know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother’s job is done when her last child leaves home…somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don’t need to tell her…somebody isn’t a mother.

Lion Taggie

This past week was our Spring Break and it was so nice to be able to get a couple things done at home along with a few other fun crafty things.
I went on a road trip with the pup up to Longville to visit my parents for a few days. While up there my mom and I started working on making some curtains for the baby's room. She was hard at work sewing and pleating the fabric and I wanted in on the fun too!

We fired up another one of her machines and I was reminded of some taggie (sp?) blankets and toys I had seen on Pintrest. Mom always has fabric around and I knew she had ribbon. So I came up with my own design. I decided to make a little lion where the tags around the outside would be the mane.
We found a cute face to embroider in the middle and then I just cut apart different ribbons and started sewing.
I think it turned out so cute! It has about a 6 inch diameter so it's more of a toy.
Here it is! Sorry it's sideways.

This is the back. 

Our pup Kaiah has already discovered the lion and was carrying it around with her tail wagging. I can see that this is going to be a problem in the future...

-Val

Needles, and Blood, and Gestational Diabetes... Oh my!

Pebbles, 

I was really worried about you today. 

I had my second gestational diabetes test. Which involved a LOT of needles and blood, I will tell you the details when you about about 13. After the variety of tests, I was called with the results, it turns out I have gestational diabetes. Immediately I thought, "What does that mean for the baby?" This question lead me to oodles of websites with oodles of information. I read many of the complications involved with GD including: high birth weight, increased trauma to shoulders during delivery due to large birth weight, hyperinsulinemia/ a large drop in blood sugar, breathing difficulties, possible diabetes later in life, etc... 

After reading those things I felt like I let you down. :( I felt like I should have been able to do something more. As I am realizing more and more... sometimes things just happen that are out of our control and we don't know why. 

Let me tell you that letting you down is NOT one of the things that I will ever be doing as long as I have something to say about it! 

So now... I will be going into the dietitian next week. Who happens to be a good friend from high school, talk about things happening for a reason. At the appointment I'll learn more about testing my blood sugar and getting on a strict low carb/sugar high protein/fiber diet to manage my/I guess our, blood sugar. 

For now, I have a lot of support from friends and family who have had GD. They are giving me some pointers and I continue to be SO relieved that these people are in our lives helping to keep you and I healthy. 

I absolutely LOVE you and will do whatever it takes to keep you healthy. 

As Auntie Jenn said... I will "make Gestational Diabetes my BITCH!" 

 *Yet another reason you won't read this until you are 13! 

Love, 

Mom 

A little bit of progress

We have been working on our bathroom shower for the last week and that has turned out great! I should post pics of that too.
In between making decisions and overseeing the bathroom reno. I was trying to stay out of Jason's way by putting up a few things in the baby's room. We still don't have furniture but plan to get that in the next month.
For now, I've just been working on crafty things for her room.

This is a picture of the wall straight ahead when you walk into the room. I found some looms and painted them different colors. I also found some fun colorful fabrics to put inside. They say that contrast is key for infants. They contrast well on the navy wall. I think I want to get a couple smaller ones to mix in with the others.

This is a picture of the new light fixture we put up. I think it adds a nice feminine touch to go with the navy walls. Jason put a dimmer on it and also changed the outlets so they would be child safe.  I really LOVE the light. :)  FYI: The window frame you can barely see below on the right is the same window on the left in the picture above. 

I painted this abstract pink masterpiece!!  I know... you all want one now but I'm going to be really busy with the baby. ;) It was a bit of a learning experience. The masking tape I used to mark off the white lines didn't keep the pink out so the white lines were not so crisp when I took off the tape. I had to do a few layers of white to sharpen the white lines up. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted and was a pretty cheap piece of artwork!

The poms hanging from the ceiling are hanging in the place where we will put the crib. I made a few different sizes and would like to make the cluster a little bigger on the left side. The poms were made with tissue paper and flower wire. I think I spent a total of 5 dollars on all of them. I'm going for the contrast of the navy and the pink. It's all coming together little by little. 

Things that should be coming soon: 

Rug

Crib

Dresser

Shelves in the empty corner you can see with the picture of the light fixture. 

Closet organizer

and more!

10 weeks left!! :)

-Val

30 Weeks

It's been a while!!
I figured I should send out an update.

How far along? 30 weeks

Maternity clothes? Definitely! Necessary, and so comfortable. I am going to start looking for a pair of shorts or a little above the knee jean skirt. It's getting warm outside!

Stretch marks? Nope. Still doing pretty well in this area. I can feel that my skin is absolutely stretching out though! My veins are so easy to see, I feel transparent!

Sleep? I've been sleeping pretty well. I wake up every night at least a couple times due to heartburn or having to use the bathroom but I'm usually able to go right back to sleep. 

Best moment this week: This week my mom and I started making curtains for the room and did a little shopping at a local second hand store up north near their place. We found a bunch of cute clothes including some baby jelly shoes! I also sewed together a taggie stuffed animal that I'm pretty proud of! I'll have to post pics of that. 

Miss Anything? I miss being able to eat whatever I want without having to worry about heartburn. I also miss my old shorts and summer shirts that won't fit over this baby belly! I miss my cute bras. They could make larger bras a little more fun and... inviting...  I feel like I'm putting the ladies in a straight jacket! haha 

Movement: Oh boy! She moves all the time. The other day, I thought that she did a ninja kick inside, either that or it was a good ol' 1, 2, punch!

Food cravings: Lots of fruit. McDonald's oatmeal with a big glass of milk hits the spot too!

Anything making you queasy or sick: I didn't pass the 1 hour gestational diabetes test so I had to take the 3 hour test and get my blood drawn 4 times in one morning. The directions were to fast for 12 hours but after the 3 hour test (which is closer to 4 hrs.) I hadn't eaten in 16 hours! Which normally a person would be hungry but this pregnant momma was having crazy hunger pains. I also started to get a little nauseous after only having that sugary drink in my stomach. I've been feeling pretty good otherwise. 

Have you started to show yet? Yep! You can tell. I don't think I waddle yet but I'm quite a bit bigger!

Gender: A little girl! aka: Pebbles (for now) We sometimes call her Seatha Seath as a joke!

Labor Signs: I don't think so. It sometimes gets tighter "down there" and feels a bit like a cramp but I wouldn't know the difference!

Belly Button in or out?  In, I had a pretty deep belly button to begin with. It might start to turn in the next couple weeks though. It's getting closer to the surface. 

Wedding rings on or off? On. Not too much, or any swelling yet really. 

Happy or Moody most of the time? Happy most of the time. I can be a little short at times. 

Looking forward to: More frequent visits to the doctor where we will get to hear the heart beat! We start going in every two weeks now. We are also signed up for a Baby's and Beyond class that is two Saturdays in the middle of April. It will be nice to meet a few people that are going through this for the first time like us.

Baby Songs

This week I am 26 weeks which means that Baby Seath can hear the sounds around me.
According to BabyCenter:

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other.

This means that baby can hear me sing! As most of you know, I LOVE music and have been singing before I could speak. So, I decided to make a playlist of my favorite songs to sing to baby on the way to work and home. I also decided to record a couple goodies so that if I am ever away once baby is born, she can still hear me. It's a little rough but here is one of the songs.

To make you feel my love- It's been done by Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, and recently Adele. 

*Turn off/Stop the player at the bottom of the page if you want to hear this song instead. 

It's pretty song all about devotion and love. :)

p.s. We are going shopping and registering today. I'll let you all know how that went tomorrow night!
-Val