Pigtails or a Buzz

A few weeks ago I had my ultrasound. I have had 3 ultra sounds in my life now and I vividly remember every single one of them. To me the ultrasound is one of the most special days of my life. I get to meet my child. I get to witness the incredible miracle of life in progress. I am validated that I am indeed pregnant and not just crazy in the head. Oh it is just miraculous. What a beautiful day.

Way back when, when I told Anna we were having a baby, she said to me, " Mom do we know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"No", I explained to her that the baby was only as big as her pinky finger. As her little brain processed the information, she looked at me and said, "Oh I get it, we have to wait till the baby gets enough hair and then we will be able to see if it is a boy or a girl!!!"

Exactly Anna. Girls come with out with pigtails and bows; boys come with buzzes and gel.

I explained to her that in a few months {from then} I get to go to the Doctor and they use a special magic wand to find out if the baby is a boy or girl. The day she came home from Bear Lake {I came home the day before} I had the ultra sound.

When she got home there was a huge wrapped box in the front room. I told her that inside of that box it would tell us if the baby was a boy or girl. Seriously it was better than Christmas. The excitement and joy on her face was priceless. It was pure torture for her to wait until Adam got home from work. Oh but it was worth the wait!!!

Quinn was a little distracted by the camera power cord. Obviously way more cool than a new a giant present.

A new sister.

We are SOOO excited to meet this new little girl that will join or family sometime around December 1st. Right now I am about 22 weeks {I think! time is flying by with this one!} I am feeling great! It took a lot longer this time around to graduate from the vomiting stage. My children are so programed to "bless mommy that she feels better" in their prayers, I am trying to redirect their blessings! I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that in some way he trusts me with yet another one of his precious little children. We are so blessed!!!

Bear Lake

Last week my family headed up to Bear Lake. We rented this beautiful cabin for three days. My children were in heaven. In fact Quinn had a hard time with "cabin" and it was later changed, by him, to "heaven". He always wanted to go back to "heaven".

Quinn is fascinated with mowing lawns. He mowed the lawn day and night and loved every minute.

One day was spent at the lake/ in the lake. Other than the obnoxious wind, we had a perfect day. The boys went wake boarding and wave running. I played with the kids on the beach.

We will probably never grow up. Fun toy at the park, it could probably be pretty dangerous for kids though.

All of us before the football game. The kids and I went to get fries while they baked in the heat.

Thank you Mom and Dad for a fantastic trip. We all loved it!

4th Of July

I love the 4th of July. I'm not sure what it is, maybe patriotism, the parades, the parties, the food, or the fireworks whatever it is, I love it all! Early that morning the kids and I headed up to SL for the annual parade. The kids worked hard on decorating their bikes (which I forgot to photograph). They both had little baskets filled with candy to throw to the kids. Despite this picture, we were really excited!

We stopped at Josh's house to gather the crew and walked over to the parade. Ever since I started feeling a little better (morning sickness) I have had the crafting itch. It started with this little outfit for Anna. For some reason I love dressing her up for the 4th. So the tradition continues.

the 3 amigos. If I didn't know better, I would say Anna and Josh pass for siblings.

Grandma Janet

Later that evening everyone came down to our house for a BBQ and fireworks. Yummy food and great company.

My handsome Personal Chef

Once it got dark we headed over to the Pleasant Grove fireworks. Seriously I would choose those fireworks over Stadium of Fire. For some reason they always have some mishap with the fireworks and send half of the crowd running for cover. This year was no exception. Luckily for us we weren't directly in the line of fire but it was definitely exciting.

Where is the Baby Hiding?

Is it in Anna's tummy?...

Is it in Quinn's tummy?...

Or is it in Mommy's tummy?....

I'll let you decide!!!

Hooter-Hider "Toot"torial

This month two of my sister-in-laws had two beautiful baby girls. Lila and Elizabeth...so exciting. So in lou of their arrivals I got to sewing...hooter-hiders that is. I have had two babies and this little invention was not around in my days of nursing but boy do I plan on using one in the future.

to start out you will need:

3/4 yard of fabric for outer (brown polka dot) Cut 27"x 38" rectangle

3/4 yard of fabric for lining (pink polka dot) Cut 27" x 38" rectangle

6"x 22" rectangle

5"x 20" rectangle of pellon interfacing

6"x 5" rectangle

5"x4" rectangle of pellon interfacing

7inch square of terrycloth

Two D-rings (I bought mine at Jo-Ann's)

15 Inches of boning (mine was the 1/4" thickness)

Iron your Interfacing to the long strap.

**You may want to make adjustments to the width of your straps according to your width of the D rings that you purchase

Iron on the pellon to the small rectangle strap and then Iron in half.

Pin both of your straps right sides together and sew.

On the smaller strap, you will only need to sew a straight seam down the long open end. No need to sew the edges for now. *However the long strap, you should sew one of the ends closed; pivot and sew along the open side. Once you are finished sewing, turn right-side out and press. Set aside for later.

Next take your two large rectangles. Right sides together serge or sew along the perimeter leaving about 4-6 inches to turn it right side out.

Once you turn it right side out press the seams. Then you are going to iron/fold/ and pin the edges up. I folded about 1/2 inch all the way around. I love the contrasting of fabric here!

Once you have all your sides pinned down we are going to pin everything else in place. First comes the boning. Which ever side you want to be the top... find the middle and tuck your boning in to the crease. Pin it under. Be sure that when you pin your boning in it looks like smile rather than a frown. You want to be able to peek, not show!

Next comes the straps. On the smaller rectangle strap, slide both of your D rings on to the middle. I decided to sew them down, it is not necessary to do though.

I just figured it would help keep the rings in place. Notice the edges are still raw...

On either side of your boning, tuck/pin a strap. I know my sister is right handed so I opted for the rings to be on the left. You want the straps to be snug against the boning to keep them in place. Of course you will pin the "raw" edge of the strap in the crease! *As a side note, I ran a small straight stitch around the long strap with contrasting thread just to add a little bit more character!

The last part before the last part: Fold your terry cloth in half (like a triangle) and tuck/pin it into one of the corners on the bottom.

Leave the Long side of the triangle open (so you can tuck your hand in it to wipe your little one's mouth) Sew all the way around your rectangle. I sewed it twice around the perimeter just for added strength about 1/4inch width.

And you just made yourself your very own Hooter-Hider

Happy Nursing!

p.s. Alissa if you happen to see this post, this little beauty is headed to you!