Diaper Bag Set

Okay so I ordered a custom made diaper bag from a woman who owns her own home sewing business on Etsy but she couldn't get it to me until Riley was almost a month old so I canceled that and set out on a what to be a very long, strenuous, taxing adventure of making my own diaper bag and matching accessories. I had never made a bag before or made anything from a paper pattern so it was a first time for both. It took me a month! A MONTH!!! I would get so stressed out, quit, and not touch it for days.  Plus I was going through postpartum depression at the time and sewing was the last thing I wanted to do but I really needed my diaper bag done. Here is the final product. My husband thinks I should make them to sell but I am pretty sure it will be a very long while until I even look at my sewing machine again.

Udder Cover

I am less then two weeks away from my due date and slowly but surly getting everything done. I could go in to labor at any time and I still don't have my hospital bag packed. Time is flying by, I just can't believe it. This week I was able to finally get my Udder cover done. Don't you just love the name of it, haha. I am doing a cow print theme for my diaper bag so I made my cover cow print with a green lining since I am trying to stick to a green theme for baby anyways. Since I have no energy and time is just running out, I decided to have my diaper bag made for me and I would make the accessories for it myself. But since I am so close, I may not get it until after He is born. Sort of a bummer but we will see what happens.

Rag Quilt

I really wanted to make baby boy his first blanket. I searched and searched for a good tutorial on how to make one online but didn't find anything that jumped out at me. Then I looked on Pinterest and found one for a rag quilt. I feel in love and had to make it asap. I didn't know how long this quilt was going to take me since I have never made one so I wanted to get started right away. I must say I am really impressed with myself. I did not mess up once. There was no sewing the wrong sides together or cutting anything to the wrong size. Plus it only took me three days. I am pretty happy with the results. Hubby saw it and is now begging for me to make us one to cuddle up in for movie nights and things. I may have to surprise him once I have everything else made for baby and have the time to put in to another quilt.

Keeping Busy

I have been trying my best to stay busy these last few weeks. Time goes by so slow when my husband is at school. I took a knitting class at Joann Fabrics, and then decided that Sewing is something that I really want to get good at before the end of the year so I am taking a online class with Craftsy. If you don't know what Craftsy is all about and you want to learn to sew, knit or any sort of craft, you have to check it out. I did a class with the instructor Diana Rupp and between the class and her book, I have learned so much. Nothing has taught me more about sewing then the Sew Everything Workshop book. I love it. Its a beginners must have. My first project was a pillow with french seams for our recliner and I am now working on a skirt. yes! A SKIRT! I never thought I would be able to go past cat beds and other square easy to sew things.. but here I am constructing clothes. I am really excited and learning to sew has been such a goal of mine. I am feeling pretty accomplished.

Soon I will be making, and showing off, some baby things that I will have made. But first we have to find out if we are having a baby boy or girl. Its a real bummer because we could find out right now through an ultrasound but the soonest the ultrasound techs could get us in is middle of October. I will be about 25 weeks along. We really don't want to wait that long so I am going to ask my doctor during our monthly check up tomorrow if there is any way we could get a peek and see if she can see the gender. She may not be able to, but its worth it to ask.

I am now 18 weeks along and my energy has really picked back up. Thank the Lord. Can you believe I will be half way done with this pregnancy in two weeks?! Just crazy but amazing. I am fully back to maintaining my home without help from hubby. But he still tries to help out and I am so grateful for him. He is loving being a daddy-to-be. He talks to the belly bump and loves to touch it. He tells the baby stories at night and always makes sure every craving is fulfilled. Its so sweet. Being pregnant and having this experience is probably is most amazing thing that could happen to a women.

My cravings as of lately have included Dunkin Donuts, Quiznos, and anything Pumpkin flavored. I am really excited for the Fall season and starting to really get into the season's flavors. Starbucks makes the best Pumpkin latte, so I am eagerly waiting for that to come out.
We also took a photo of the belly at 18 weeks. Can you see any change? Hubby says he can but I was expecting more of a dramatic change then this in three weeks. But I know the growth starts to slow down right about this time so I bet its perfectly normal.. just paranoid and always want reassurance that baby is perfectly healthy.

More news and updates on baby soon.

John Deere Apron

Took me three days but I wanted it to be perfect! What do you think? I absolutely love it. It has a cute chic look with a country side for this Idahoan girl. It was my first time gathering fabric for the skirt part of the apron and wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. The skirt sort of balloons out a little so it doesn't help my figure at all but its not like I am going outside with it on.

like the bow?

Paw Christmas Stockings

I finally made homemade Christmas stockings for the kids and this is Bunkers first stocking.. and first CHRISTMAS! I wanted them to be perfect so it took me two days to make these stockings. I am pretty proud of myself. I would say that my sewing is improving. Steve saw them and he was completely impressed. He loves them. I was going to make them really colorful and cute, but making them to the color of their fur is so much more personalized.

Inside. Green with cute little candy canes.

While I was sewing the stockings up, Bunker decided it would be fun to jump on to my shoulders. He is so little and sweet as a button.

Cat Beds

I went through some unpacked boxes and finally found my sewing machine. Part of our bedroom has become our storage area since we are trying to fit a pretty large two bedroom home (from Germany) into this one bedroom smaller apartment. We still have quite a few boxes to go through. Another thing I found in the boxes was a bag of trash. The Army Housing Dept was not kidding when they said "the movers will pack EVERYTHING!"
But I did find my sewing machine. I love to sew although I am still learning. I have been practicing a lot since I got it set up again and I wanted to share my progress. Here is the bed I made for Tubbles. She loves it. After seven months of living in our new city, I just learned where Joann Fabrics was. How sad is that?

An ACU Dog Bone ornament I made for practice. I am selling it on Etsy. It not perfect but it was good practice.

I decided sewing is definitely something I want to do to take up as a business. But it will take money so until I take the plunge, I am just practicing and learning new techniques. I am looking for a part time job so I can work and slowly start my sewing business at the same time as well as being a homemaker. I think I have too many ambitions and trying to do it all at once has been pretty overwhelming.

Crafts with Tubbles

..It never works out. She is a toddler in a cat's body. I was trying to thread the needle in my sewing machine and get everything ready to make a coin purse and she had other plans. I had to lock her out of the room while I was actually sewing because I could just see her getting her paw up there and giving me a heart attack.

Thinking.. Thinking..

ATTACK!

A little uneven with the strips but I got it done and made.

A Dogs Purpose

I have been reading! I kept hearing about this great book called A Dog's Purpose. I have been reading it for about three days now and almost done with it. It sure is a page turner. It gives you a real inside look into a dogs mind and how they see things through their eyes! It is a must read. I can't seem to put the darn thing down and I am not much of a reader at all. Such a good book. Very interested to see how it ends.
  Last night I did manage to put it down for a few hours to go bowling with Army SGT Brian Moore (Steve's NCO-Non Commissioned Officer) and his wife Kerri. They are expecting their second baby to be born this week (It's a GIRL!) and I will be watching their toddler, Peyton, when the time comes. Can't wait to meet baby Baylor.
  While bowling, we all bet on McDonald's McFlurries. We played a few games and we all ended up winning  at one point so we all went to McDonalds after wards. Fun night!
  I know a few posts ago, I said that Steve started school with CTC, but for some reason he didn't get enrolled right. It has been such a mess... I don't know of he is going to be able to finish, or start for the matter, the classes he needs to be accepted in to the Nursing program at Penn State University. Guess we will all have to sit and wait to see how this all plays out.

Let me introduce to you my new camera! I dropped my Cannon and since then, it hasn't been acting the same. It is my first "rugged" camera, which means it is waterproof, shockproof, sand proof, and dust proof. It also has many settings including Panoramic and underwater... and GPS. Yes, I bought a camera with a GPS. I love it.

Fujifilm FinePix XP30.. all mine!

I love color so I was extra happy when I saw they had an assortment of colors to choose from.

I first learned about this camera from the Backpackers Magazine that Steve picked up from the Shoppette. Another really cool thing that was in the magazine was a 500 dollar gift card to RedStar WorldWear, a new brand that just came out with a line of fashionable sturdy Sport sunglasses and watches. We thought it was too good to be true so we went to the site and picked out two sunglasses each (this brand is not cheap) and Steve also picked out a good quality watch and all we had to pay was 100.00. What a great deal. They are in beginning stages of the Brand and all they want is feed back on the products.
  Someone stole Steve's Oakley sunglasses I got him for Christmas so this was prefect timing. It will be a few weeks until we get them in the mail.

As I am writing this, I got a call from my husband saying he is bringing Kerri and Brian's daughter, Peyton, over for me to watch and that Kerri was at the hair salon when she passed out and started seizing, and now is at the local German hospital. I am very worried about her. She could be getting induced today if the baby is in danger. The Baby is a different blood type so Kerri's body thinks it is an infection and trying to kill it. Kerri has had to get an Iron IV everyday for the last couple of weeks.  Praying she is okay and the baby is still strong and healthy.

OH, I almost forgot, I am learning to Sew! I made my first wallet about a week ago! I was pretty proud my myself! Pretty cute, right?

Continue on, or move on?!

While I still lived in Spokane when Steve was still deployed, I decided to start school online. The Government paid for it since I am a Military spouse. -All Active Duty Military spouses get $6,000 to put towards school. So I looked in to different online schools and decided on the best paying career that I could get from a $6,000 tuition. I decided on Medical coding/billing at New Horizons Computer Learning Center located in Jacksonville (NHCLC). It was a very irresponsible thing to do since I wasn't really committed to that profession. I just loved the thought of school.
  I soon decided after I started that this really wasn't what I wanted to do. But it was to late to take it back. I used all my tuition up and dropped out. Billing and Coding just wasn't for me. When I was still looking in to a career and schools I was also interested in ABC (Animal Behavioral College).  I am a HUGE animal lover and now I am wishing I did that instead. I really do believe a career with animals is right for me. I am really kicking myself.
  Well, anyways, I got an email from my teacher/counselor today saying I have until March to get all my stuff in to still get it done. But now I am really debating if I should start my classes over and just do it. I would just say "why not" but I don't know if two and a half months is enough and even if it was enough to finish, I really hate it and don't enjoy studying it at all, so whats the point?!
  Right now, I am looking in to maybe going to school for photography or maybe something to do with animals such as a trainer or Veterinary Assistant. I don't know but I guess I'll let you know when I figure it out. I do know I want to go back to school but I just don't know for what yet..
  Another option I am pondering is start a at home business. I did have one where I sold Military Pride Aprons online.. kinda of a made-to-order deal but it only went on for a month then I moved to Germany and never really got it back up again. I have a great sewing machine and embroidery machine so that's another option. I guess I have a lot of thinking to do and decisions to make.

Apron I made for myself.