Additional Jesus

Christmas

2012-01-07T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, we are all over Christmas, aren't we? It's Jan. 7, after all. But I haven't posted in a while and thought I'd better give you a very important update on what Brock got for Christmas so you can all stop holding your breath.

First up were these really cool talking dinos. They talk to each other!

This was the first gift he opened. I loved his reaction. First he's like, "What's this stupid box covered in paper?" Then we start tearing the paper off ...

Then there's the excited dino reax

And the dino used as vaccum

I got him an Alphaberry, which has lots of buttons with the letters of the alphabet on them and a small screen. It also reads the letters to him. He immediately thought it was his own cell phone and nearly had a heart attack.

He also got a tool bench, but he's not that interested in that. Like father, like son, I guess.

I later regretted not bothering to wash or style my hair because I look atrocious in most of the Christmas photos. I was too busy worrying about getting a turkey dinner on the table. This photo was the least offensive.

Brock's aunt and grandma got him a Cars big wheel. It doesn't even matter that he can't reach the pedals. It has an awesome dashboard that makes lots of noises, so just sitting on it is the bomb.

Christmas is immediately followed by Mark's birthday.

Mark's friend came over and his son and Brock were in serious agreement about something or another:

All in all a merry holiday season here.

Let's be serious

2011-12-20T20:06:00.001-07:00

Normally, Additional Jesus is not the place for serious talk. Or good pictures. Even the ones I steal off the web suck. But today I have something to say. Some of it's my opinion, some is from experience. People will disagree, and that's OK. If you do, just be polite about it.

I'm a newspaper journalist, and I feel strongly about newspapers. Partially because it's my livelihood (and my husband's), but also because they have always meant something to me.

As most people probably know, newspapers are struggling immensely right now. They have been especially hard-hit in the recession because they are supported nearly entirely by advertising revenue. The measly 50 cents you pay for a copy is not really what keeps your local newspaper afloat. When businesses struggle, advertising drops, newspapers shrink and some of them go under. Our nation has lost many newspapers over the past few years.

Most newspapers have an online presence. Mine, the Albuquerque Journal, has long been a pay site. You get it free with your subscription, or you can pay for an online only subscription. We have been lambasted for that, but more and more newspapers are starting to use or consider a paywall for their content. Results have been mixed, admittedly.

People get up in arms over the idea of paying for news coverage. Why? Is there an obligation for news organizations to provide everything for free? If the print side (or TV side) is faring well, then maybe a paper can afford to subsidize a website. But articles like this one suggest the imminent death of print journalism and at the same time criticize the concept of expecting people to pay for the news online.

Newspapers are a business, folks. They can't provide quality reporting, writing, photography, design and editing without money. And while people are quick to dismiss journalists as biased, unless you've worked in a newsroom, you have no idea how much time is spent discussing fairness and balance. You have no idea how often stories are held so we can make sure every detail is right and that every side has a chance to comment. You also may not realize that one minute we're answering a phone call with someone screaming about how liberal we are, and the next caller is angry about how conservative we are.

Online advertising has not paid off for us. It doesn't bring the same kind of revenue as print advertisements.

So who will provide your news? There is always the TV network news with its 10 second coverage of stories. Or the 'round-the-clock cable networks. You're paying for that news, by the way, with your cable service, although those networks depend on advertising. The point being, you don't get cable news for free -- you have to pay for something.

Do you think you can rely on neighborhood bloggers to provide reliable journalism? I'm sure some/many have integrity, but who do they have to answer to? What is the true motivation behind a community activist running a blog? Can you trust that an effort has been made to be unbiased? And if they are providing "news" for free, how are they making a living? So they have a day job, and now you're relying on a local blogger who is just doing a bit of reporting for fun on the side. And this is how you want to get your information? Further, without any real clout, just how much can be accomplished? Government agencies and others figuratively (and perhaps literally) slam the door in journalists' faces all the time. If you don't have the clout, readership and financial backing to do something about it, what will you accomplish?

I'm certainly not saying that all bloggers lack integrity or seriousness, but I hate to see this as the new standard in news reporting. I don't think people are really thinking hard about what their local newspaper really does for them, whether they buy it or not. When the biggest newspaper in the state does in-depth investigative reporting, people get nervous. Unethical behaviors in government get revealed. Changes get made. People get prosecuted. Taxpayers stop getting ripped off, at least in that particular instance.

Do you think that a neighborhood blogger will have the clout to dig things up, get people to talk, open up a big case? Do they have laywers who can step in when government agencies illegally refuse to share public documents? What about when someone accused them of libel? Do you understand what will happen when you don't have newspapers to make things happen? Are you really going to rely on 25 second TV news reports to make people accountable?

On a human interest front, we have countless stories of people in desperate trouble getting much-needed aid from the community after being featured in the paper. Abused women who have fled with their children and are homeless, jobless and carless are gifted vehicles and other help. Babies dying of brain tumors (you can't see that if you're not a subscriber. Quit yer whining. That's my friend's baby) get much-needed financial help with medical bills. Decades old mysteries are unearthed and solved. These are all real stories from the Albuquerque Journal. People's lives have changed because of publicity.

If you're a looney or a drunk, who will you call in the middle of the night with weird, random questions if the newspaper isn't there anymore? If you're not a looney but can't figure out those crazy internets, who will you call to find out how to contact this place or that place? You'd have to learn to use a phone book. I'm joking here, but seriously, people call us when they can't get anywhere with the government or the police on a problem, and that opens up doors for them.

I know the younger generations take newspapers for granted, but I hope everyone will really stop to think what will happen if they go. They aren't all just going to turn into online publications and give you the news for free. Quality journalism costs money, and although journalists are used to living on peanuts, peanuts cost money, too. Sure, without printing, production costs will go down. But regardless of how things play out, expect to pay for your news if you want to get it from a quality institution, and don't expect it to be as comprehensive. Don't expect 60-inch investigative pieces; the staff left probably won't have time for those. Community news will pay the price.

Hey, ya'll. This blog is not typically a bummer. So please, go forth and have a Merry Christmas. Sometimes, maybe you could stop and pick up a newspaper. Smell the ink and enjoy the pages. Wrap up some ornaments in it after the holidays. Enjoy it while you can!

Christmas house of horrors

2011-12-19T16:35:00.001-07:00

You know those houses in magazines or on everyone else's blogs that look really beautiful at Christmas time? Well, not our house. My husband's motto is "The tackier the better." But, it's not really his motto because he doesn't think it's tacky.

I wanted to share a few of my annoyances. First up is the bride and groom. Mark has a Christmas Village, which conveniently becomes a Winter Village after Christmas when it's February and I want him to take it down. "It's not a CHRISTMAS village. It's a WINTER village, so it can stay up through March."

One year, I wanted to be supportive of his love for gaudy holiday decor, and, really, the ~~Christmas~~Winter village isn't that bad, so I bought him this bride and groom. It was to represent us and our true love. And he quickly banished them from his village. BANISHED THEM!!! Why, you ask? Well, because they aren't wearing coats and it's winter, so that's TOTALLY UNREALISTIC.

Above, they are standing by the paper towels because Mark is allowing me to look at them but they can't go near the village.

My ass they can't.

But he has a point about the village being realistic. I mean, don't most places have gigantic pine cones that are the size of a cow?

Doesn't everyone eat gingerbread cookies half as big as their own bodies?

Aren't all of our doors half as tall as we are, or roughly the size of a gingerbread cookie? Aren't they? Aren't they?

So, yes, I do think the romantic couple have a place here. No they don't have coats because maybe they are going to take wedding photos and the bride couldn't find a cute furry stole to put over her gown. I have, of course, added the bride and groom to the village and we shall see how long it takes him to notice that I have ruined everything.

**UPDATE before I even posted!!! I went to take a picture of the lovebirds, because these pics have been sitting on my camera for a while. They are gone! Gone, people. I'm busted, and it almost feels even worse that he didn't say anything.**

So, now I'd like to talk about Evil Santa.

He's got the creepiest face, and I don't think Mark is particularly attached to him, but I'm scared of him. I'm genuinely frightened of him. I don't think you can get the vibes I get from him when you're just viewing on the computer. He's scary. He's Chuckylicious. He's going to murder me if I try to throw him away. He will keep reappearing in odd places after I put him in the trash bin outside. He will torment me and then he will kill me, so I just lovingly place him on the tree each year. Last year after Christmas, he ended up in a clear bin of ornaments, somehow facing out right where I could see him all year, just staring at me in the garage. *shudder*

"Nothing says Christmas like Muhammad Ali!" Those are the words I utter each Christmas as I pull out what is now my favorite ornament. But what is better than good ol' Cassius Clay on the tree?

Good ol' Cassius Clay in the ~~Christmas~~Winter village! Oh, Mark's gonna be pissed! It will be awesome.

So, just for fun, here are a few short videos of the more annoying Christmas decorations we've got around the house. Funny, my dad and stepmom can be thanked for most of these. Therefore, I have specifically banned any new annoying decorations this year. To which my stepmom replied, "But if Mark sees anything over here that he wants, I can't say no!" At which point I started discreetly yet desperately looking around their house for things I needed to stuff under a couch cushion.

If you want the full effect of this one, please turn up your speakers as loud as they will go.

I had another video, but it mysteriously disappeared.

One thing our decor DOES have going for it, though, is our beautiful 12 foot Christmas tree. Although it's a pain to set up, it IS pretty awesome. And one thing that I love about it is that all the ornaments are, for the most part, different. It's not one of those trees where all of the ornaments are, say, red and gold balls. The ornaments are wonderful because each one is a special little treasure, many with special memories to go with them.

It's hard to even get a picture of the whole tree because it's so tall. As the years have passed, the built-in lights have failed, but we just add our own. And the ornaments on the bottom are not so well-distributed because one wee elf takes them off and then they just get stuck back on wherever is convenient.

I have been sitting on this post for days because I just didn't have an ending. I still don't. But it's got to end anyway. Goodbye. And Merry Christmas.

Brock's quiet book

2011-12-08T19:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Amy (Chickenbone Jones) emailed me one day with a link to a quiet book and said it looks like something I could make. I replied that there was no way I'd be spending my time on something like that.

Then, I made one.

A quiet book is a cloth book full of activities for small children. I should take a moment to apologize for my terrible photos. It's a part of reading the Additional Jesus blog. Sorry. Just is.

Brock loves animals, and he quickly learned the pig snort sound. He now makes that sound whenever he sees any kind of animal. Or families.

So I put a pig on the cover. One thing I should admit right now is that I was pretty gung-ho about this project at the outset, but I quickly lost interest. I was also going to applique his name on the front, but ...

The ellipses ... kinda how this project went ... starts off bold and then sorta peters off ...

By the way, as a copy editor, I insist that all ellipses consist of three, and no more than three, dots, and that there is a space on either side of them.

Open the cover, and this is the first page. I made my pages go all the way across and then attached them by putting them wrong-sides together and stitching with a zigzag stitch. Then I used pinking shears to trim them. Once I had my pages, I put them together and stitched down the center. That green in the middle at the bottom is part of the other side of that page, which makes up the last page. I didn't do a very good job of making sure it didn't extend past the center. Oops.

I initially planned to do this in a nicer fashion, but ... ellipsis again ...

This page has balloons. Brock loves balloons. I swear that one time he said balloon, even though he really doesn't say much of anything. These balloons snap on. I used that snap tape that you can buy by the yard and clipped off one at a time. I also added a present with a ribbon he can practice tying. Someday. Not now. Not even close. For the balloon ribbons, I used rickrack and ribbons, and I added a string of pom-poms at top for textile fun.

The bird is pretty simple. I just appliqued a circle on, adding the beak, legs and tail feathers as I got to those parts so that they would be caught inside the stitching. It held the feathers surprisingly well. I took another wad of feathers and sewed them on as a wing. Then I glued a googly eye on with hot glue.

The next page is a pond scene and a robot.

The water has little slits cut out for the puppets to slide into. They are $1 finger puppets I found at Michael's. I glued them to popsicle sticks to make them easier for little hands and keep them from falling out and getting lost. The grass and pond are made of felt and the trees at the top I found in the scrapbooking section at Michael's. The goose is a button.

The big robot is made of felt with little washer things I found in the garage attached here and there. I used wire to make a thingie for them to slide on, and although this might seem a little questionable, I put tons of wire in the back and wound and wound and wound it so that it can't come loose and the washers shouldn't be accessible. I sewed more washers on for eyes and buttons for decorations. The other robot I found at Hobby Lobby. He seems to prefer it to the one I worked really hard on.

The last page is a dinosaur and some grazing sheep.

The dinosaur is padded and has a zipper in his tummy. There are leaves hidden inside, an undigested treasure trove. I was initially going to put little people, but I decided to make him a vegetarian instead because I thought that might be a bit creepy. Plus, although I'm not so good at history, I'm pretty sure people didn't exist when dinos did. And this book is accurate if nothing.

The other side of the page has green felt for the grass, cut with pinking shears. The sheep are also made from felt, but I glued cotton balls on top for texture. I had a little white picket fence from Hobby Lobby that I was going to stitch on so he'd have something to open and close, but it just wasn't working out.

The sun and tree are also made of felt. I put farm animal buttons in the tree instead of fruit. Wouldn't it be fun if you could just go pick a piglet right out of a tree? What if it were ready to eat? Like you just take a bite and it is crispy bacon?

The back of the book is the pig's butt. For the little tail, I bought one of those foam visors at Hobby Lobby for $1. I cut the coil cord off and made a hole and stuck it through.

It was pretty labor intensive. And mine isn't even very good. If you plan to make a quiet book, I recommend using Pinterest to find lots of great ideas and planning your pages in advance. Then go to the craft store with a plan. But also be open to new ideas and keep your eyes peeled (yuck) for cool things you could add in. Also, this won't be as cheap as you're thinking. All those $1 items seem to add up.

Good luck!

Santy Claus

2011-12-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

First I was all, "I gotta take Brock to see ol' Santy Claus!"
Then I found out how much it cost to get pictures with Santy Claus. Then I complained on Facebook, like anyone cared. But then someone sent me a link to a Groupon for $11. It was at the mall across town, but worth the savings.

Mark wants everyone to know that he spent a long time styling Brock's hair into a cute little feathered 'do. And even though that would normally not be considered stylish, it's super cute on Brock.

Unfortunately, you can't tell he has cute hair in this picture.

You could tell Santa definitely preferred hugging little Brocky over the horde of fat teens who followed him.

Bobbin organization heaven

2011-12-07T17:53:00.000-07:00

These things are awesome! I found them on a blog where someone was selling them on etsy for a small fortune. But I found the same brand elsewhere for much, much cheaper. Just google and you can find them in bulk. They are called Handi-Bobs.

Basically, you snap the bobbin in, secure the end of the thread, if desired, and then snap the whole thing into the end of the thread that matches it. You always have neat bobbins and the bobbin and thread are kept together.

Kitty Egg Crayons

2011-12-02T12:26:00.000-07:00

Kitty Egg Crayons are adorable and perfect for chubby hands. Made by Kitty Baby Love on etsy.com, a new eco-friendly soy formula is being developed. The couple who makes them is seeking seed money, and you can check out that campaign here. I would love to get some of these for my son, who is just learning to draw.

25% off burp cloth sets!

2011-11-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

There are barfing babies all over the world right now who are soiling mom's shirt. Their faces have nothing soft and luxurious to rest upon. It's not right.

I have a few burp cloth sets in my etsy shop. I'm ready to just clear out my inventory and make space in my tiny storage area.

Everything is 25% off! Enter code BABYLOVE at checkout. Great, inexpensive, cute Christmas gift for a new mom and baby!

Double sided, made of flannel and flannel/cotton chenille. They are soft and absorbent.

If my description doesn't sell you on it, surely my fine photography will! This is what I have left and I won't be making any more. I'm closing up shop (again).

Thanksgiving. I am thankful for this monkey in a boy suit.

2011-11-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

Turkey day was Daddyless around here. Mark had to go out of town on business Thursday morning. We had dinner at my mom's with my in-laws joining us.

Brock got GQ with a too-big vest and shirt.

Notice that I combed his hair to the side, but it won't stay that way.

I think that Brock is a robot because he doesn't eat food. I don't even know how he survives.

With his grandmas, my mom above and Mark's below.

At one point, I was telling a story about an automated voice on my answering machine and mimicked it. Boy did Brock think that was hilarious. So we all kept doing it, of course.

Tiny tots gone wild

2011-11-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

We had a little playdate Sunday, many of us escaping Sunday football. Mark was out of town, so I had a football-free zone. We made little pizzas and let the kiddos run about.

All of these ladies except one I have known since we were pregnant. Our kids range from 13 months to 20 months.

It looked like a toy explosion.

Olivia has the most lovely lips, if I only could take a proper picture! She is the oldest of the kids.

Emery is a doll. He and his mom always look like fashion plates. He's younger than Brock by 2 months, but is much bigger.

Brock said, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm classy too!" as he nommed on a ball.

Brock loves the ladies. "Hey, baby. They must be missing an angel in heaven ..."

It was a great time catching up with friends and letting the kids have some fun.

Furniture giveaway in Albuquerque, N.M.

2011-11-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

I got an email through my blog about a giveaway for children's furniture. It's only for Albuquerque-area residents. Basically, this company works with Costco and sometimes people return brand-new furniture to Costco but they can't really re-sell it. This company, Epoch Design, doesn't want to have to pay to ship it back to them or come pick it up, so sometimes they just do a giveaway.

If you enter, you have to be able to arrange pickup very quickly. Please see their blog post for more details.

Evan Wolfe

2011-11-08T22:45:00.001-07:00

This is Evan Wolfe. I know him. He is 9 months old, and he is fighting very hard for his life against a brain tumor. It's malignant and nasty and has already rendered him blind and deaf, hopefully temporarily. But he's a brave little boy and he keeps trying.

It's a rare tumor that's not very treatable. His only real chance was a controversial option of a FDA clinical trial through the Burzynski Clinic in Houston. It's really expensive and not very much of his medical care has been covered by insurance.

If you're a parent, you know you'd do anything to save your child's life. But this family will drown in these medical bills.

That's why I'm trying to make people aware of his story and lead you to a website where you can donate as little as $10. I say that because I'm broke and can't afford to donate to causes very often. If you're broke, you can probably still spare $10. If you're not broke, you can probably spare more. If all you can do is forward his link to someone else, please do. If you can blog about him, even better.

Here is his website.

Please pass the word on. It may save this little angel's life.

Tiny boy in a big Halloween world

2011-11-01T11:50:00.000-06:00

Remember how Brock cried about wearing his costume? Well, once he got around all the kids and the fun, he totally didn't care! I had to work Halloween night, but Mark took Brock to Mall-o-Ween at the mall and he had a blast. He looks so tiny wandering around there. He got a lot of attention. I was a bit disappointed in how the wings worked out, but I guess it doesn't matter.

Information on the costume can be found here.

We're all winners. Except my husband

2011-10-30T23:49:00.001-06:00

You! Don't you harrumph at my second place. Second place is not so bad. It's not every day that the least-ambitious journalist has a statewide award plop in her lap. A 1970s-looking plaquard, to be more specific. It's not every day that one wins an award for doing 2.3 seconds of (headline) writing while the reporter next to her gets a similar award for writing an in-depth investigative piece that single-handedly saved mankind or some shit.

Indeed, it's not every day you get a free, bland, mini-sized meal at a hotel along with a $7.50 glass of wine that tastes like equine urine. Nor is it every day that your arrogant, multi-award winning, journalist husband has to be your Plus-1 because he did not win an award.

So second place, I'll take it. It's like to be the only award I ever win, besides some lame "World's Best Mom" certificate my son may draw up with some crayons when he's 5. Only I won't think it's lame. I'll think it's awesome. And I'll clutch it to my chest as I cry when he tells me he hates me when he's 13.

Wait -- it seems I did win an in-house excellence award one time years ago. I got a free dinner worth $75 wherever I wanted to go. Only nobody ever bothered to tell me, so it just didn't ring of the same excitement when I got a call from the newsroom secretary asking if I was ever planning to use it. And I'm like, "huh?" And she's like, "Oh ... didn't anyone tell you that you won like a year ago?"

Now, I may be off duty right now, but since we're talking about my job, the copy editor in me would like to say that I fully disagree with using a double, unhyphenated last name upon second reference. Me, I would most certainly have had that say only Smith. But since it makes my Plus-1 feel slighted that I kept my maiden name, that's just one more NANNY NANNY! to add to this story.

And a giraffe was born

2011-10-27T17:49:00.000-06:00

... reallllly slowly. It was a long and drawn out labor that lasted over a year and a half. But here he is. A big, heavy, yellow, squishy friend for Brock.

I started making this sucker in March 2010 when I was pregnant. I got the torso and part of the head done during the last few months of my most miserable pregnancy.

The pattern called for 11 spots, but I really felt like that was asking too much.

After all this time, I was so close to being finished. No way I was making and sewing on five more spots. Six seemed sufficient.

Brock pretended to like it for all of half a second, and somehow I caught that on camera.

I filled the bottoms of the feet and the bottom of the torso with dried beans. Later, I wondered if they might rot at some point.

All those pom-poms. I gave in and bought a pom-pom maker because people were raving about them on Ravelry. I guess it was simple enough. But ... well, see below.

I interrupt this project review to share my wee boy Brock, 15 months going on 5 years old.

So it took him less than 2 minutes from the time I finished photographing it (which was 2 minutes after I finished making it) to rip off one of the pom-poms and destroy it. Here are the remnants. I don't even know how to feel. I wasn't mad. I wasn't really sad. Just defeated.

It's still pretty cute though, and maybe it just needs to sit on a high shelf for a while till this little monkey boy is ready to play nice.

This project is from "Itty-Bitty Toys." I made a Wrap-Me-Up Puppy from it, too.

Whooo whooo hates being an owl?

2011-10-24T19:13:00.003-06:00

Something tells me that when kids across the nation are excitedly donning their costumes on Halloween, Brock will be battling us to the bitter end. I finished his owl costume, which included this knitted hat and wings from Martha Stewart. Kid hates hats. Hates them! What was I thinking? I guess I was thinking that this would be a warm costume and that he'd enjoy wearing his owl hat all winter. Woe is me.

My first post about this hat can be found here.

Tutorial: How to make a toddler sleeper sack with foot holes

2011-10-20T21:42:00.002-06:00

Even though my son is 15 months old and considered out of the direct line of fire for SIDS, I'm still nervous about having thick blankets in his crib. Also, he kicks them right off. Last year, we used regular sleeper sacks, but he outgrew them for this year. Plus, this active toddler needed his feet free.

Unfortunately, I do not have $20 a pop for the store-bought ones. I whipped up this pattern and tutorial, did some smart shopping at Joann Fabrics and made these for very little. I got my fleece on sale for $3.99 a yard, bought a zipper and some black ribbed knit. Since the ribbing for the knit runs crosswise, you end up with a length of it. So I bought black and made sure all of my three fleece fabrics would go with that one piece of ribbed knit.

Here is just one example of my fantastic photography skills. You'll be treated to many more throughout this tutorial.

Supplies, 1 sleeper sack:

1 yard of fleece

1 18" zipper that coordinates

2 pieces of ribbed knit that are at least 7" wide and 4" tall

Obvious things like pins, thread, sewing machine, scissors

Tips:

Use a 1/2" seam allowance, except where noted.

Fleece is easier to sew with a longer stitch length. My machine goes from 0-4 and I found that 3 worked nicely. Normally I sew on 2.

One thing I forgot to mark on the pattern was the grainline. Grainline is parallel to the straight edges (front edge and center back).

Finished measurements (I made this for a 15-month-old of average size):

Center front length, neckline to crotch - 21"
Center back length, neckline to crotch - 23"
Length in front from bottom of leg band to shoulder - 27"
Width from shoulder edge to shoulder edge - 15"

Pattern:

Like many downloadable, print-yourself patterns, you will print this on several (12) pieces of regular paper and then tape them together according to the markings. I am not very high-tech at making the pattern -- I just drew it, no computer. To make it print correctly, the pages have a border. You'll cut off at each of the border lines and tape the pattern together at the letters and marks. I have also numbered the pages. Here is a layout of the pages taped together:

After taping your pages together to form the entire pattern pieces, cut them out.

I know I'm not an expert pattern maker. I just did the best I could to throw something together. No doubt many of you can come up with a better way to put it together or improve the pattern, so feel free to make changes as you go!

Print these PDF pattern pieces. Sorry that they are all separate. Let me know if you have trouble with any of them. There is a 1" square gauge on one of the pieces so you can be sure they printed correctly.

NOTE: People had trouble with these PDFs when they were Google docs. I have changed them to Scribd files. They should work now, but if you can't open them, email me and I will send them via email from the originals. See the contact button at the top.

Pattern piece 1 Pattern piece 2 Pattern piece 3 Pattern piece 4
Pattern piece 5 Pattern piece 6 Pattern piece 7 Pattern piece 8
Pattern piece 9 Pattern piece 10 Pattern piece 11 Pattern piece 12

Cutting layout:

This is the cutting layout. It's pretty basic. The back is cut on the fold and you cut two of the front piece.
For the ribbing, you need two pieces 4"x7". I had trouble using words to describe how the ribbing should be oriented, so I made you a really helpful drawing. I'm not kidding when I say that the only things I can do in Photoshop are draw lines and add text.

Instructions:

Take one of your front pieces and your zipper. You might like to press your zipper a little to smooth it out. Lay your zipper next to your front edge, lining the top of the zipper tape with the top of the straight edge. Make a mark just above the zipper stop (I also made a mark on the pattern piece that you can use). That's where the arrow pointing up is. From that point down, sew the two front pieces together, right-sides together. You will add the zipper in the next step.

Pin your zipper right-sides together with one of your front pieces. Since it's face-down in the picture below, I'm working with the side of the zipper tape that's closest to the edge of the fabric.

Here is a zoomed-out view.

Using your zipper foot, sew your zipper to the fabric. I realized later that I was doing this sort of the way you'd insert an invisible zipper, even though this is a regular zipper. It worked just fine. I'm not sure why I did it this way. If you prefer the standard way, that's just fine.

Flip your zipper around so that you can see how pretty it will look. OK, that's enough.

Now lay this piece right-sides together on your other front piece and align the other side of your zipper tape to the front edge of that piece. It's hard to see in the picture below. Sorry about that.

Sew the other side of the zipper tape to the second front piece. Turn your whole front piece over and press. It will look like the picture below. In this picture, I'm top-stitching to secure the area around the zipper and prettify it.

Now you'll sew your shoulder seams. Place this newly finished front piece right-sides together with the back piece and sew along the top of the shoulders.

I chose to trim my seams with pinking shears. Most fleeces won't really ravel or shed, but some do. This one doesn't, but I thought it would be nice to reduce bulk and make the seams look neater.

Next, sew along either side of the sack. With right-sides together, pin and sew from bottom of the armhole to the foot opening. Use a 1/2" seam allowance, but as you round the curve to the edge of the foot opening, reduce your seam allowance to 3/8". I should have done a better job on this part of the pattern, but this will allow for a roomier foot opening. It's probably no big deal if you go ahead and use a 1/2" allowance, though.
In the photo below, the flat area on the right is the foot opening. The pinned area is the side of the sack.

Now sew the area between the foot openings, shown pinned together below. (In other words, you are not looking at the neck opening below. The sack is upside down in this picture.) Sew between the openings as described above, 3/8" right by the openings, merging into 1/2" in the rest of the seam. Sorry if that's confusing. If it is, then just do 1/2" from start to finish. I'm sure the leg holes will still be roomy enough.

I'm switching fabrics on you now. For the neck opening and the armholes, simply turn under a little bit of fabric and stitch. Like I said, fleece doesn't ravel and usually doesn't shed, so you shouldn't need to hide the edge of it inside a seam or anything. Just one turn and stitch is sufficient.

Now we'll add the cuffs to the foot holes. First step is on the right in the picture below. Fold your cuff in half with right-sides together and sew along the 4" side. Leave it this way and then fold in half with wrong-sides together so you get the object on the left in the photo below. The raw edges are at the bottom and the top is a folded edge.

Make sure your sleep sack is right-side out. Place the cuff over the foot opening, aligning all raw edges. Pin and stitch. You can do smaller than a 1/2" seam allowance if you like. Maybe 3/8".

Flip the cuff down and repeat on the other side.

If you're lucky, you'll have a cute little helper to get in your way. If you don't have a cute little helper, this project can probably be whipped up in an hour or so.

Diane Kimono Dress fix

2011-09-25T12:17:00.003-06:00

A few days ago, I posted about my Diane Kimono Dress from Serendipity Studio. You can read my pattern review and the problems that I had here.

I had intended to make an above-the-knee dress with contrast on the bottom, but I messed it up royally. It was pretty unflattering.
Here is the hideous before:

For one thing, the dress is bunched up and I just look terrible. I was feeling pretty dejected when I saw this picture.
I had to do something about that unflattering skirt, but I didn't have it in me to spend more money on it and redo the bottom. I had serged the seams already. I decided to give up on the dress concept and go for a tunic I could wear with jeans. I simply cut off some of the bottom band and rehemmed it.

Here is the after:

Oh, do I like this so much more! Much more flattering as a top. I wish I'd had this all summer! Now it's going to go and get cold on me. Eventually. For now, it's still in the 80s in Albuquerque.

The fabric is Joel Dewberry's Aviary II, which I also used to make my mom's quilt (in another colorway).

Yarn dyeing supplies for sale

2011-09-22T22:29:00.000-06:00

I'm selling a big lot of yarn dyeing supplies and undyed yarn. Lots of info can be found here.

The Diane Kimono Dress and a bad modeling session

2011-09-22T16:29:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: I have fixed this dress. See this post.

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You know what it's like to sew when you have a toddler? It means that you grab a moment when you can, you're always rushing through and you don't have time to really stop and think about what you're doing. At least, that's how it is for me because I should really be working instead. And so mistakes happen.

I decided to try the Diane Kimono Dress by Serendipity Studio. It's one basic dress with lots of length and trim options. To be honest, most of the options seemed a bit frumpy to me, but I did like the shorter version in the straight skirt (bottom right in photos below), and I thought it would be cute with tights and boots or with leggings, maybe a fitted long-sleeved tee underneath for winter.

One reason I picked this dress was because my butt is a little what I call "sticky-outy" right now and I'm also sway-backed, so I'm not really liking how dresses look on me right now. I thought the relaxed fit of this dress would be nice.

The fabric is Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2, which I got at Hip Stitch. The fabulous Suzanne suggested I use the lighter one for the main fabric and the darker for the trim. I was initially thinking the opposite, and I really like it this way. Thanks for the consultation, Suzanne.

By the way, have I mentioned that I invented the concept of yellow and gray being stylish right now? Yeah, I liked it several years ago, before everyone else did. I made these horrid socks out of yellow and gray and then decided I hated it. But now I like it again.

I have a few things to say: First, this might not be so flattering. I think in this photo, I really needed to adjust the dress and pull it down a bit. It seems bunched under my bust. Who decides to haul a kid around and do this and that before modeling for a picture and not even adjust the dress? Second, I made a mess of the bottom of the skirt. More on that below in my pattern review.

PATTERN REVIEW for Serendipity Studio's Diane Kimono Dress:

I know what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to sit down with your new pattern and read all of the instructions start to finish. I rarely do this. I was cutting my fabric out and I got rather confused about how to cut out the skirt. There are a whole bunch of options between a full skirt, straight skirt, tiered skirt, long skirt, short skirt, skirts with contrast on the bottom in any number of width, etc. But there aren't all of those options in the pattern. The cutting instructions gave no information about how to do the contrast fabric, so at first I just cut off one of the tiers and used that to cut my contrast fabric for the bottom and the top part of the skirt that was remaining I used for my main fabric.

Of course, later I realized I had this funky curved edge on the top of my contrast piece/bottom of my tunic that was going to form a very odd bottom. That's because the hem is curved and that's what I was working with instead of a straight line. I'm sure this is making no sense to you right now, but suffice it to say that I ended up hacking and cutting and praying I'd get something I could fit in. So the bottom part of my skirt is obviously rather strange. The bottom trim is too wide and cuts across me in a weird place. And it's too short.
I later found the instructions for cutting the bottom trim and the sleeve trim -- it was way toward the middle of the pattern instructions. I found this odd, since don't you usually cut everything out at the beginning? It also saved the cutting instructions for the tie until you got to that part. I would have appreciated if the pattern had a note in the cutting section referring you to these parts. It would have saved me some trouble on the skirt.
Also, the instructions for the armhole binding were lacking. It was something I figured out on my own, but I found the instructions really confusing there, too.

Now I'm wondering if I should buy some new fabric for the upper skirt and do that part over, lengthening it. I could still use the same bottom band shown here.

Bieberfied

2011-09-18T19:38:00.000-06:00

I thought I remembered being the mother of a baby. But it seems like there is no baby 'round here. He is a little boy now, and he's rocking the Bieber look. Sorta.

Yes, Daddy has hair envy and likes to spend time blow-drying and gelling Brock's hair.

Brock is 14 months old. He runs around like a pro. Well, actually, he falls down at least once every minute. I attribute much of this to the fact that he carries a receiving blanket everywhere he goes like Linus. This is a relatively new thing since I now allow him to have one in his bed when he sleeps. When he starts to fuss, I hand him the blanket, he pops his thumb in his mouth, and it's whimper, whimper ... breathe, breathe ... calm, calmmmm ... everything is better.

He also drags it on the floor and trips on it constantly. He doesn't really speak at all yet, other than "dad" "hi" and "hey." Mostly he points and says "Ss" if he wants something. I recall back to when my brother started to talk and then regressed, deciding it was easier to have your entire vocabulary be grunts and make everyone else decipher them. A few times it seems Brock has said "dat?" when he heard something that made him curious.

He has become the world's worst eater. We're down to fruit, lunch meat and oatmeal, mostly. Put something in his mouth he doesn't want, and he pushes it right back out down onto his shirt. The rest goes on the floor. Since I am also an irritatingly picky eater, I try to keep my patience.

He's also been picking up colds a lot (twice in a month) and teething his molars, so things have been a little rough. He's a trooper, though. No more play places where all the babies lick all of the items!

"Who" hates owls? Me? Hmmm

2011-09-10T13:00:00.001-06:00

I've always been a bit frightened of owls. They are creepy to me. Especially barn owls. But for some reason, despite the shudder factor, owls are unbelievably cute in cartoon form. My son's infant carrier, stroller and high chair are the Little Hoot print from Graco.

It wasn't until I was knitting up this hat for Brock's Halloween costume that I remembered my ~~feelings of terror~~ lack of fondness for owls. This hat, though, is not scary. And I'm sure Brock will make a very appealing owl.

The pattern can be found for free at Hammer & Thread.

For those on Ravelry, my project can be found here.

This project was cheap, quick and pretty easy, if you read directions. I made mistakes because I didn't read directions carefully enough.

It's much cuter on a baby's head, so I'll share some pictures of that later. I'm going to make him the wings out of felt. Brock is in a hat-refusal stage, so if I can just get a few pictures out of this, I'll be thrilled.

2011-09-09T13:35:00.000-06:00

Last month, my brother and his family came from Maine for a very rare trip. We had to do more than our fair share of photos. Of course, our parents are divorced, so we ended up with two photoshoots.
This first one is done by my friend Sonya Cogan of Sonya Cogan Photography. I really like how the reeds look behind us and all of the color. She can also be found on Facebook.

These pictures are with my family, my brother's family and my mom.

All of us together

A couple of my mom with her grandkids. Brock is the only one she gets to see regularly.

Below are a bunch of Mark, Brock and me. Brock was sick and not his usual jovial self. He wanted to suck his thumb the entire time. Then there were the ants biting us...

The following pictures were taken with my dad and stepmom's side of the family. They involve my Dad and Vi, my stepsister Carlene, my stepsister Josette's kids (she had a delayed flight and didn't make it to the pictures), my brother and his family and the three of us. I don't know the photographer's name.

Dad and Vi with all of their grandkids, above.

The whole family, except my stepsister Josette, who had a delayed flight. Her kids are in the pic, though.

Mark, Brock and me.

The three of us with my dad and Vi.

This one is sweet!

Daddy and Brock

Ryan, Charity and their kids. (My bro)

All the grandkids, ages 1-19

Fix a torn sheet, ghetto style

2011-08-25T18:22:00.001-06:00

Six years ago, we got a nice pair of sheets for our wedding. Somehow, we have reached a point where they are our only sheets, and we are broke because the stock market has gone to hell and our entire future is up in smoke. OK, so I'm only pretending to be as freaked out as my husband is. But he kept bugging me to fix the sheets, and I really didn't know what he expected me to do with them since the tear is right in the middle.

Because I hate mending jobs, I suggested we have a "gift party" for ourselves and tell people where we are registered. But he thought that was tacky. Hmmph. So off to the sewing room while the baby naps.

I'm pretty sure nobody else on Earth wants sheets that look like this, but I'll post my tutorial anyway.

I decided that there was no invisible way to fix these, so I'd just find a way to keep them from tearing even more. I grabbed a few leftover squares from my Dream On Charm Pack (from which I made this quilt).

The squares were just the right size, so I didn't have to cut them. If you are using regular pieces of fabric, just use pinking shears to get a zigzaggy edge.

I needed to apply one on each side lined up just right, so I used quilt basting spray to temporarily attach one. Then I used a fabric marker to mark the corners, knowing that I'd be able to see the marks from the other side.

Then I flipped it over and used basting spray to attach the other square. This stuff isn't all that strong. It allows you to peel off and reposition if you want. I didn't want my squares to shift, so I added pins.

Then I did a wide but short zigzag stitch all the way around, almost like an applique. I actually stitched just inside the edge of the patches, but you could go right over the edge if you like.

And that's it! Hopefully, no more fingers will get caught on the hole and rip it further. Ghetto? Hells yes. But that's how we roll.

Bandelier, post-fire

2011-08-25T18:04:00.001-06:00

We took a day trip up to the mountains to visit Bandelier National Monument here in New Mexico. The region was devastated by wildfire a few months ago. Much of the park was still closed, but we visited a few trails that were open. We took the scenic route up there, and it was interesting to see how the fire torched some areas and left others right in the middle of them completely untouched.

Then we stopped for pizza in a little town called White Rock. Brock was having a good time!

After this, we headed home. Brock barfed on himself and cried hysterically till we got him some fresh air and a new shirt. Then I hopped in back with him and it was a party all the way home.

Kinda trippin'

2011-08-20T11:50:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago, our music writer at the paper asked my husband if he'd cover a Toby Keith concert for him. I'm not a big country fan, but we got a couple of tickets and headed down. And, frankly, if I'm going to listen to country, Toby Keith is all right. I also ended up liking Montgomery Gentry, the opening act. The show was at Journal Pavilion in Albuquerque (now called "The Hard Rock Casino Albuquerque Presents The Pavilion," which I still just call Journal Pavilion because I'm so sure I'm going to say all of that).

OK, so at some point they had a break early on and someone else took the stage. We were told they were filming something, but I didn't really pay attention to what. It was just a little annoying because the area in which we were seated was blocked off in the aisles and we couldn't come or go. We were close to the front.

Colin Farrell and Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart."

Fast forward a few years and we finally got around to seeing "Crazy Heart," the Oscar-winning film starring Jeff Bridges, Colin Farrell and Maggie Gyllenhall. We were aware that it was filmed in New Mexico. And there was a concert scene where we said, "Oh, that must be Journal Pavilion!" Later, it had a thank you in the credits for Toby Keith and Montgomery Gentry and it dawned on me that this must have been what they were filming during the concert we were at. And since we were pretty close to the front, I thought that maybe we could be seen in the footage, but upon closer inspection, we could not.

Somehow I missed the announcement that that was Colin Farrell on stage (Mark remembers it, but didn't understand what was going on). If only I'd known, I swear I would have thrown my underwear at him or something. Phooey! Oh, yeah, and Jeff Bridges is pretty cool, too.

I thought I should post a little bit about this film, because it's a really good one. And I've written in the past about how movies always make New Mexico look really bad. I wouldn't say this one made us look like anything dagnab special, but it doesn't make us look like inbred cannibals either. Bonus!

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P.S. More "Nuevo Mexico: It's not what you think" posts can be found here.

Cake winner!

2011-08-19T21:39:00.002-06:00

The winner of the free bundt cakes for a year from Nothing Bundt Cakes was Steph.

There were a total of 21 comments, but two were repeats from people clarifying who they were, so I subtracted those from the total and did not count them in counting to the 18th comment.

Steph has been emailed and has 48 hours to respond or I'll draw a new winner!

Free cakes for a year!

2011-08-12T14:49:00.004-06:00

Sorry, all. This is for local peeps only. If you live in Albuquerque, N.M., (or surrounding areas) read on!

Nothing Bundt Cakes is opening a branch here. Forget the cupcakes craze. I don't even like cupcakes, do you? No, bundt cakes are better. Perhaps it's the hole in the middle or the little ridges that make for perfect portioning. Maybe it's the fact that bundt cakes are usually drizzled in icing instead of drowning in frosting.

Nothing Bundt Cakes takes an old favorite and updates it with contemporary decorations. They are great for parties or surprising someone with a special treat. Selections range from single-serving Bundtlets to bundts that serve 18 to tiered cakes. There are cakes for all occasions.

I don't get anything for writing about this. I'm doing it for YOU! (But if I pick up a few followers who like to read about big-eyed babies named Brock, sewing and other various crafts, well, that would be awesome!) You, dear readers, can win a year's supply of cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes! That is one Bundtlet cake a month for one year. It's the perfect way to indulge without giving an entire cake the smackdown and having to pull out the fat jeans.

The new shop is opening in the shopping center at Wyoming and Academy, where Whole Foods is.

Grand opening celebrations include:

Wednesday, Aug. 17

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. – Ribbon-cutting with the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce

Friday, Aug. 19

9 a.m. to 6 p.m. – Animal Humane of Albuquerque Day, with 20 percent of all proceeds benefit the organization

Saturday, Aug. 20

10 a.m. – First 50 customers to make a purchase receive free cake for a year (one free Bundtlet per month for 12 months)

Noon to 3 p.m. – Family Fun event featuring balloon art and face painting for the kids and benefiting Animal Humane of Albuquerque

On to the giveaway, then! In order to win free cakes for a year, all you have to do is leave a comment below on this post. Make sure you leave an email address or that your comment is linked to a blogger account with an email address available. Otherwise, I can't reach you! If you're someone I know through Facebook, that's good enough. Just make clear who you are and I'll contact you that way.

I'm sorry to say that this is only open to people in the Albuquerque area, because that's the only place this prize is redeemable. I will draw a winner on Friday, Aug. 19. I will post the winner on my blog, but if for some reason I can't reach you by email or get no response, I will draw a new winner 48 hours later. If the winner is for some reason out of state, I will draw someone new.

2011-08-04T18:37:00.001-06:00

My brother and his family are in town from Maine. Maine to New Mexico. That's a long, expensive trip, so it's a rare one. We went to the zoo yesterday and had some fun. Brock had never met his cousins before, so he was thrilled. He had the time of his life rough-housing with them.


Left to right, Niece Julia, SIL Charity, brother Ryan, me in a doofy hat and my step-niece Ana

My sweet niece Julia

Ready to dodge monkey poo.

Brother Ryan and niece Julia.

Dorky hat AND a dorky smile! Go me! Oh, and my shirt ripped about 4 seconds before this shot, so I'm sort of pissed because I JUST GOT IT.

My nephew Hunter

Splash area for the kids. It was sooo hot, this felt great.

Playing nice for a minute.

The kids loved chasing peacocks. The peacocks, not so much.

My brother and my niece, Julia.

Brock running right in front of a lady in a motorized chair.

Quilters mega-giveaway bonanza!

2011-08-01T16:54:00.001-06:00

There's a big ol' giveaway -- like weeks of them -- for wannabe quilters going on over at Stash Manicure. You have to jump through a few hoops, but some sewer pals might like to check it out! There are also non-wannabe quilter giveaways and lots of visitor posts.

The Pleat Week

2011-08-01T16:30:00.000-06:00

Join in at See Kate Sew in 7 days. Because who doesn't need to make better pleats?

Partying like a true Brock Star

2011-07-31T19:08:00.002-06:00

On Friday, my dad and stepmom retired. Yay for them! On Saturday, we partied.

Brock grew weary of sitting peacefully, and the dance floor was empty, so we set him free. He wobbled and tottered all about with his hands in the air, sometimes one of them splayed across his face as though he simply couldn't believe something.

Then he took off for the band. He discovered their maracas and said, to nobody in particular, "Don't mind if I doooooo!" in a voice that sounded strangely similar to Homer Simpson's. And off he ran, right through the stage and all of the instrument cords.

Yep, that's my kid. The one running loose and getting underfoot. The one stealing instruments and the show. Nope. He doesn't take after shy Mommy. He's more like Daddy, who is always happy to be on TV or radio.

He would toddle toward someone with the world's biggest smile on his face, and they'd open their arms to greet him, and at the last second, he'd swerve. DENIED. Little tease with the big eyes.

With grandpa:

I do have some video, shot on someone else's camera, so maybe I'll eventually get it. And we'll have some pictures soon of the whole shindig.

In other news, my brother and his family are coming all the way from Maine this week to visit. I have never met my youngest niece, and none of them have met Brock. It's a family reunion I am so excited for!

Random Brockiness

2011-07-24T17:00:00.004-06:00

I realize that I really haven't had an update about Brock's development. I'm sure everyone is just dying to know. Brock is 12 months old.

Mobility
Brock is walking, but not very far. He walks along in a hilarious manner with his hands above his head. Then he loses his balance, falls and starts crawling without missing a beat. I'd say he started walking right around his first birthday. He was cruising very well before that.

Eating
We are trying to phase out the bottles. Eating is sort of hit-and-miss. Some days he stuffs his face with table foods and shuns baby foods. Others are the opposite. It's scary not having bottles to rely on. So far, if he wakes up too early, he still gets a bottle and goes back to sleep. He also gets a bottle before bed and sometimes one during the day if he seems to be having a bottle meltdown.

I think the key is not letting him get too hungry and feeding him frequently. But it sure is a lot more time consuming coming up with a balanced diet he is capable of eating, and the actual act of eating it can take a while. I sure do sweep the kitchen floor more in one day than I used to in a month. Wish I was kidding.

I don't know why this bottle thing is so hard for me. I wanted to feed him bottles till he was 18. Easy to pack his lunch that way! I guess it will be nice not washing all those Dr. Brown's parts, but I'm still not sure how to handle 5 a.m. hungry wake-ups.

I tried introducing a sippy (soft and hard spouts) at 9 months, but he wasn't ready and didn't get it. I tried again later and he managed to figure out the soft spouts, but he still doesn't get to tip the cup back. I have found the straw sippies are the best for us. I started with the Playtex trainer and he got it right away. I bought several of those. And lost several before learning to move the trash farther from his high chair. Now he gets milk in his straw sippy throughout the day as much as possible.

Talking
Brock is very vocal, but he's still not really saying any words that I'm aware of. He seems to say Daddy but not Mommy. And sometimes when I ask him a question he seems to say "yeah." But I'm really doubting it. And a few times after I say "no," he seems to say "no," too. Which reminds me to use more variety when I "scold" him. So he's not talking much, but he did get compliments on his nice handwriting on his birthday thank you cards, so I guess I can be proud of that.

Playing
Brocktopus would rather get into mischief and mess with anything but his toys. He got so many toys for his birthday, but naturally anything important or dangerous is much more interesting. Sometimes he just crawls around looking desperately for something to knock to the floor with a dash of naughtiness. He does enjoy his little pool and getting out the backyard, but it's sort of hard when he's not walking that well and he doesn't like crawling on the grass. Plus, I have to prevent him from eating rocks, hummingbird poops and old birthday cake he finds in the grass from when he sent his slice overboard.

Amy Butler Lounge Pants

2011-07-24T10:21:00.003-06:00

I bought the fabric for this project at Hip Stitch months ago and then had no time to actually make them. I wanted them for summer usage, but I wore them for about an hour last night and was so hot I couldn't bear it. I always wear pants to bed, but these just have a ton of fabric, I guess. They are big and wide and long.

They are from Amy Butler's "In Stitches" book. So far, they are the only project I've tried from the book. When Brock was about 8 months old, I suddenly felt ready to sew again and I went a little crazy buying cute sewing books and fabric. Then I felt exceedingly overwhelmed because I do not much like having projects piling up and staring me in the face.

I left them a little long, and with the grass, they just kind of hung up. So I am standing tippy-toes to let them hang nicely for the pictures.

I think my pants look a little dumpier than other people's versions, but maybe I needed to make them smaller.

The book appears to have contrast fabric at the bottom in the photo, but I think it's actually just trim that's sewn on top. There are no instructions for contrast fabric. It's obviously easy to figure out, but when I first tried them on before doing the waistband, I thought I had made them suitable for a giant.

But after I sewed up the waist, they were just about perfect. I just needed a slightly larger hem than the instructions suggested.

I ended up adding elastic to the waist in addition to the drawstring. I just find it more comfortable that way.

Instead of using my sewing machine, I serged the pants together. Then I switched to the sewing machine for the buttonholes, waistband, hems and drawstring.

I think one reason I put this project off for so long is that although the pattern book comes with the pattern pieces, it only comes with partial pieces for this project. You have to then attach long pieces of paper and extend the legs to where you want them. I had bought contrast fabric for the bottoms and did lots of calculations when doing my patterns. Calculations and guessing, really. But for me, those are sort of one in the same.

I made a size medium. They fit, but I think a small would have been better. I am 5'4" and still have some baby weight to lose, so I went a size up. Here are my calculations for the leg lengths with contrast fabric, if it helps save anyone else some time:

I added 19-3/4" to each leg piece. This is your main fabric.
The contrast fabric pieces were the width of the leg pattern pieces and 8" long. I used a half-inch seam allowance to attach the two pieces, using the serger, then I did the rest of the pants.

This pattern is really easy to complete after you get the pattern finished up and the fabric cut. But until it cools off here, or the humidity lessens up and lets my swamp cooler work better, I won't be doing much lounging in these.

A very blustery photoshoot

2011-07-23T21:10:00.003-06:00

My friend Sonya Cogan of Sonya Cogan Photography took Brock's one-year pictures. At first, we were so pleased that it was overcast because the lighting was great. But a few minutes in, a big windstorm kicked up. And a windstorm on Albuquerque's West Side means plenty of dirt.

So we didn't get to finish our session, but here are some that we managed from this round.

Asymmetrical folds skirt

2011-07-17T17:58:00.003-06:00

Because I haven't had many posts on here lately featuring sewing projects, I thought I'd do a cross-post this week from my other blog.

I found this skirt on interweavestore.com. I always thought it would be really inconvenient to have to download, print and assemble a pattern. It was 47 pages worth, but I simply uploaded to FedEx Office and paid $5 to have it printed. It wasn't even that much trouble to tape together the pages and then cut out the pieces.

I did have some fitting problems around the waist. I think some back darts would help a lot on this garment.

I made some easy changes to improve the hem, which can be found on my other blog post here, along with fabric information.

Overall, this was a quick and easy summer skirt project.

Brocktopus turned 1!

2011-07-17T16:45:00.003-06:00

It's hard to believe my baby boy is pretty much a toddler now. We had a huge bash on Saturday, and the dude partied hardy. Despite a house and yard packed to the brim with guests, Brock never panicked and had a blast playing. Here are some pictures:

Just before the party, me and Brock.

Nani and Grandpa brought balloons.

The spread. Doing cold foods (we also had deli sandwiches) really simplified things.

Babies loved chillin' at the pool. Brock is the one in the water.
Incidentally, the children LOVED croquet. They saw the set and dove right in. I thought they'd be like, "what the hell is that antiquated game that doesn't involve a screen?" Nope, not at all.

My grandma got to come! She's been pretty house-bound since breaking both hips and lives in a group home now.

He wore his birthday hat for about 10 seconds and a "1" onesie from Target.

Cake! My mom made some wonderful cupcakes and this cake.

You've gotta have milk with your chocolate cake. In case you're wondering, the best place to set your milk cup is directly in your cake. Repeatedly. Until you've thrown your cake on the ground. Then throw your cup on top of the cake like a little pill.

He put a strawberry on my white shorts at the beginning of the party. By this point, I also had chocolate cake on them.

That Clifford. He's a red dog, indeed.

Mark wore an outfit that matched mine just to embarrass me.

One of Brock's favorite presents was a kitty keyboard that does all kinds of cool things. One of my favorite features is that you can choose the sound the keys make, like banjo, bells, piano and MEOW! The keys meow when you play them. And there are a bunch of built in songs about cats, too. It's awesome.

All that partying requires a boy to kick back and relax with Dad.

Walking (sort of) and talking (sort of)

2011-06-24T20:20:00.003-06:00

Little Brocky, where has my fat baby gone? He sat on his ample tush for so long, and then BOOM, he took off and never stopped moving again, except to sleep (which he does like a pro).

The rolls of fat on his sumo thighs have melted away. I think I'm going to try this weight loss routine. Crawl, pull self up, sit down, crawl, pull self up, cruise, repeat infinitely.

Here's a video of him trying to balance without holding on, and just maybe a mini-step:

And one of him yakking away:

Brock's birthday party is just weeks away. I'm excited and shocked all at the same time. My co-worker made these a-w-e-s-o-m-e invitations for me:

And some Brocktopus pics:

Lonely singer/songwriter:

52-card pickup:

Eating rocks:

Happy boy:

Well, he's all grown up.

2011-06-04T21:10:00.003-06:00

Brock took his time enjoying just being a bump on a log. But now, the shackles have been released, and the Tiny Tornado has been unleashed.

Brock is on the move. He's been on the move since the day he turned 10 months, I just don't blog often enough. It was like, nothing ... nothing ... nothing ... crawl/stand/pull up/cruise-all-at-once.

This kid is so much fun. He's always happy. He's good-natured. He's all smiles and silly sounds (uh, no "mama" yet, but swear to God, he said "Albuquerque" a bunch of times the other night. Probably can't spell it yet, though). He sleeps like a dream, har har. Seriously, kid sleeps 11-12 straight hours at night, then takes two 2-2.5 hour naps in the day.

He's an amazing little angel, and I can't believe I was so blessed to have this particular baby land in my belleh.

Brock will be 11 months old on the 13th. Can you believe it's time to plan his birthday!?!!?

Here's a little video of him shaking his booty.

Food-a-plenty lunch bag tutorial « Warehouse Fabrics Inc Blog

2011-06-04T21:07:00.000-06:00

Food-a-plenty lunch bag tutorial « Warehouse Fabrics Inc Blog

Another gum graft

2011-05-20T10:50:00.002-06:00

Ugh. I had to have gum surgery again yesterday. This is the second one in two years, and the third in my life. I have to say that the lead-up is pretty much the worst part. My periodontist (Dr. Richard Verderame in Rio Rancho, N.M.) is pretty awesome.

The problem is that I have very thin gums, probably due to genetics. They have to be shored up so that I don't lose my teeth eventually. So they take tissue from the palate of the mouth and transplant it to the thin or receded site. It's a longer recovery than many oral procedures have, because it's rather delicate. But I just don't know how this guy does such it so that I don't have pain afterwards. I mean, if I went and bit into a hamburger, it would hurt and cause all sorts of damage, but I feel pretty good.

Lucky for you, I'll spare you any photos with this post.

Brock doesn't know boundaries

2011-05-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

We went to the zoo the other day with some other moms and babies (uh, a few years ago I would have never imagined I'd be the type of person going on play-date outings.)

Whenever Brock meets another baby, he is delighted. He goes crazy touching and grabbing. Poor Maya felt a little accosted, I think.

Then the next day, he met another baby girl and Mark says at first they were happy to meet and touched hands and stuff, but then Brock again got a little aggressive and made her cry.

Folks, lock up your daughters.

A Mother's Day quilt

2011-05-10T10:01:00.002-06:00

I made my mom a quilt for Mother's Day. Actually, I made my mom two quilts, but the first one was really ugly, so I started over.

This is the good one. I got the idea from Film in the Fridge.

It's the Rectangle Squared block pattern.

I used Joel Dewberry's Aviary 2 fabrics - one pack of fat quarters. I believe there were eight of them. I sashed it with white.

I used one of the Aviary fabrics, the purple one with the birds, for the backing. I didn't have quite enough, so I pieced it with scraps. I like the effect better than an all-one-fabric backing anyway.

And, finally, I stippled it. I love the texture of stippling, so I almost always use that form of quilting on my projects.

Here's the quilt top I originally made. The pattern was Oh, Fransson's Mixtape pattern (although this link is to an updated version of the pattern), and I was so proud that I selected a dozen fabrics to go together. Only, they didn't. And my sashing choice was just awful, it turns out. Oh, and I made tons of cutting and sewing mistakes, so it was quite wonky.

Brockamania

2011-04-22T09:21:00.003-06:00

I put a sewing project below, so I feel I'm entitled to post a few proud mama pictures of my little Brockster. He's 9 months and a week old.

He's a wonderful, happy little boy with really cute hair.

He's not to eager to get mobile. Well, I think he wants to, but he gets frustrated and doesn't want to try too hard. That sounds kind of like me with most things.

(acorn storage)

Boy does this kid smile!

I can't believe he's going to be a year in just a few months. Unbelievable!

Cut-chenille blanket

2011-04-22T08:55:00.004-06:00

I recently came across this beautiful blanket and its tutorial. I thought to myself: "I only have two part-time jobs, a baby and a home to care for. I'm so bored that I should totally do this."

It's not really a cheap project, or a fast one. That's because you need a yard of quilters cotton and three yards of flannel.

I started with these fabrics. I am not one for peace signs, but I knew you couldn't see them in the end result, and I like that they had the chartreuse color.

The basic idea is that you layer all of these together, channel quilt every 1/2 inch and then cut through only the flannel.

Then you bind and wash. The washing fluffs and frays the flannel into beautiful chenille. See the lovely tutorial at Aesthetic Nest for more detail on the how-to. Hers was so beautiful, I had to try it. I thought it would be a fairly easy project, but it did take quite a lot of work, so I don't think I'd do another.

Instead of doing a square, I left mine as a rectangle to utilize more of my fabric. I'm glad I did, because it was pretty wonky by the time I finished all the channel stitching, and I had to cut off quite a bit to square it up.

Although I loved Aesthetic Nest's beautiful satin binding, I decided to go with a cotton in a chartreuse that matched the blanket. I'm loving the effect.

As much as I want to stare at this forever, I have decided to give it to Amy "Chickenbone Jones," who is having her second baby in June (I think! I know a lot of pregnant people right now and I'm starting to lose track of due dates.)

I hope Amy doesn't see this, but if she does, it will be there eventually. I am pretty lazy about visiting the post office. She doesn't know the sex of her baby, but I think this blanket would be fine for either a girl or a boy, despite it being blue.

Just for fun, here's the quilt I made for Mia, her first.

Grandma update

2011-03-29T20:05:00.003-06:00

Just a quick update on my grandma (previous pots can be found here and here): I mentioned that she was really out of it mentally. I feared she'd never return to the grandma I knew. But after some medication, she's much better. She knows who we are, and she speaks English again. And she LOVES her quilt, which makes me so happy!

Playing tag

2011-03-29T17:11:00.003-06:00

Baby tag blankets are a quick and easy project, and they are a nice way to use up scraps.

The only thing is, the ribbon can get pricey if you don't have scraps of that on hand. And I never seem to have the right colors.

I am making shopping cart covers for me and a friend, and I used leftover scraps from that for this project.

The back is fleece. I used different colored, sized and textured ribbons, along with rick-rack. I made it small for little hands to handle.

He seems to like it.

I remember when I was little and would take a nap and my mom would sew up a present for me.

Puzzling

2011-03-28T14:19:00.006-06:00

I came across this website where I guess you can make an online puzzle out of an image and then put it together on the computer. Well, lo and behold, one of the puzzle options is a picture of a purse I made and hand embroidered.

(click)

Only the site isn't really working for me. I just thought it rather odd because I never knew these puzzles existed until last night, then I happened across this quite by accident, not looking for puzzles. Just weird.

This is it on the top right. Oh, and the pot holders below that are mine, too.

Grandma's quilt

2011-03-25T14:48:00.003-06:00

I told you all recently that my 89-year-old grandma fell and broke her hip. Until then, she was in excellent health and lived independently. She was still mostly herself through the hospital and rehab stay, then went to stay with my uncle. Apparently, she got some sort of sundowner's issue at night and was very difficult to deal with. This week, she got out of bed (she wasn't supposed to walk on her own) and fell in the middle of the night. She fractured her femur, ended up in surgery and back in the hospital. At that point, her mind kind of went. She has expressed that she's ready to die and she has reverted to mostly speaking Spanish and not really knowing what is going on. It's pretty awful.

In the meantime, I had decided to make this quilt for her. Unfortunately, now that it's done, I'm not sure she'll understand who I am or that I made it for her. But I do hope that it will brighten her days, few as they may be, at the rehab center. It is unlikely she will ever live away from professional care again.

Anyway, sorry for the downer story, but here's the quilt. I used one Moda Dream On Charm Pack for the front, sashed with yellow. I had a second charm pack and used four squares of that one, one at each corner. And I bought one yard of fabric for the green border, which is from the same line.

I do worry that the yellow sort of washes out the squares, but yellow is my favorite color. As far as I'm concerned, the world can't be too bright and cheery.

For the back, I decided to do something pretty (not just a solid fabric) because I had that second Charm Pack. So I did some lines and used white around them. The white shows off the squares a little better. I used a bright green for the binding.

I stippled this quilt, because I love the texture that it gives. Then I washed it to get an even nicer, puckery texture.

Too small for his britches

2011-03-23T13:10:00.003-06:00

I recently went a little bonkers sewing baby pants. Actually, these pants from "Simple Sewing for Baby" are really quick and easy. They are one size, though, and too big yet for Brock at 8 months.

I got all of these cute fabrics from Hip Stitch, an Albuquerque fabric boutique and sewing lounge that is altogether awesome.

I added rick rack to the bottoms as a cute touch, and I think it made them 10 times more adorable.

This book is full of easy and cute ideas. I think some of them will make great gifts, too!

It felt good to put a dent in my to-do list. I went a little overboard planning projects that I don't have time for!

On another note, I'm almost done with the quilt I'm making for my Grandma. Unfortunately, she fell again the other day and broke another bone. She isn't doing well and I fear I may not finish it in time to give to her, but I'm hoping for the best.

Who is this young man?

2011-03-21T13:07:00.002-06:00

And where has my baby gone? He's 8 months and a week, but in some of these pictures he looks like a little boy instead of a baby.

New and improved!

2011-03-11T20:53:00.002-07:00

Hi everyone! After a good year and a half of neglect, I have updated my blog a little bit.

I have added "pages" up at the top for easy access to some of my favorite things. Many of those topics also remain on the sidebar for the time being. I think the saddest part is that there aren't comments on the pages, as opposed to posts, so where will the religious nuts leave their brave, anonymous hate messages to me?

One of the pages has my sewing/needlework projects. It's a time consuming process, so I have only managed to make it back through 2009. I'll add the ones before that eventually.

Anyway, I hope this makes Additional Jesus so exciting that you can't wait to check back for more! I should also add that I have been on a roll when it comes to crafting. During my pregnancy and Brock's early months, I just didn't have time or motivation. But now, well, LOOK OUT!

A wee quilt for my wee boy

2011-03-10T10:35:00.003-07:00

I recently mentioned that I was visiting Emily's blog and spotted her cute kid's quilt made from Moda charm packs. It made me miss quilting, and it seemed like a quick and easy project that I was willing to take on.

I grabbed a couple of Max & Whiskers charm packs from Basic Grey for Moda and ordered 1-1/2 yards of one of the fabrics for the backing. I used 1/2 yard of another fabric for the binding, though that was cutting it close.

Here is the front:

Here is the back:

Close up of some of the fabrics. No, my corners don't always line up, but I try really hard.

I had an embroidered quilt tag made by esty.com seller From the Heart Creations. She was great about working with me to create a label that fit his full name.

This got me excited about quilting. I've already started on another charm pack quilt, this one with sashing. It's using the Dream On collection and has a vintage sheets feel to it. I'm already on my way with that one, so I'll have pics soon. I'm not sure who it's for yet. I guess I'll see how big it turns out and decide if it's a baby quilt or a lap quilt.

Bad hair days

2011-02-24T10:50:00.004-07:00

It seems that on Additional Jesus, when it rains posts, it pours posts. I guess that's not bad after the drought this blog has been suffering. I get a few minutes and get to writing.

So, Brock is well-known for his crazy hair. He's got quite a puff on his head. Or, he did. I thought it was getting a bit out of hand, so I wanted to get his hair cut.

But Mark thought that was a waste of money. So when I was at work one night, he cut it himself. How hard can it be, right? You just cut straight across the bangs, right? And it looks good, right?

Um. Oops.

He looked super-dorky, you guys. I noticed it the next day when I got up. I couldn't stop laughing at him. It was crooked and had long pieces that were missed entirely. Oh, Lordy. I tried to fix it up, and for the most part did.

This is after a little work, but still dorky:

It doesn't look like my kid to me!!

But a little mousse and a comb, and he's stylin.

And fat. Did I mention FAT? I'm so proud. He gets those thighs from me!

That's Brock at 7 months.

A gift for my Brocky Boy

2011-02-24T10:43:00.004-07:00

I was visiting Emily's blog, So Much for My Plans, and saw this adorable quilt that she made. I hope she doesn't mind that I posted it here.

It appeals to me because my sewing time is limited and it's just made with a charm pack, or pre-cut squares. No cutting = saving a lot of time. It's simple and beautiful. And I'm a copy cat, so I'm making one for Brock as a gift, maybe for his first birthday.

I'm using the Max & Whiskers collection from Moda.

I'll keep you posted! I'm excitedly watching the mailbox for my fabrics.

The new American Idol: Mark?

2011-02-24T10:37:00.003-07:00

Yes, we are unabashed American Idol fans. I told myself I was done with it, though. After all the judge swaps, I wasn't sure I'd like it. Plus, it is so many hours a week of watching time, I felt I wouldn't have time with the baby and working evenings three nights a week.

But here I am.

There's a kid named Robbie Rosen, and every time I see him, I say, "Mark! It's you when you were younger!"

So, here you go. See for yourself.

My new-but-really-old Singer

2011-02-11T10:08:00.003-07:00

I have a new family member to introduce you to! It's my new Singer, which is older than I am.

I got it from eBay Singerman12, who fully refurbishes and tests the machines he sells. It's adorable and tiny and extremely heavy. That's because it is made of all metal, in a they-sure-don't-make-'em-like-the-used-to kind of way.

It's an industrial strength machine, which means it can handle thick, heavy fabric in a way my Kenmore can't.

It's basic. It can only do a straight stitch. It came with lots of presser feet to do gathering, piping, zippers, etc., but no zig-zag, overcast or blind hem. But that's fine, because I can use my Kenmore for that. I was having some trouble doing free-motion quilting because the fabric was catching on the face plate. Then I noticed the metal was all chewed up, I guess from the needle striking it. The sewing machine repair shop said it was from sewing too-heavy fabric and forcing it through, thus bending the needle slightly out of whack.

Now I can get my Kenmore fixed up and use my Singer for heavy-duty work!

My Grandma

2011-02-11T09:58:00.003-07:00

My grandma is going to be 90 this summer. She's always been healthy as a horse. My grandpa, that was a whole 'nother story. He had everything wrong with him, and maybe the fact that my grandma had to do everything and take care of everyone is what kept her strong and healthy.

She still lives alone and takes care of herself.

Until Tuesday evening, when she went outside to do something. She fell and cut up her head, and she broke her hip and pelvis several times. It was freezing out, and just after dark.

What did she do? She crawled. She could only use one leg. And did I mention she's about to turn 90? That's right. For a 90-year-old to crawl any distance at all would be hard. To do it with multiple bone breaks, the use of only one leg and a head wound, well, I can't even imagine.

But she's a tough cookie, and after some time out in the cold night, she made it into her house and called for help.

She's doing surprisingly well. She's alert and already had surgery and is doing physical therapy. She's in good spirits. Of course, we don't know what this means for her future or if she'll be able to recover enough to go home and live alone again. But I thank God that she had the strength to get inside. She would have likely frozen to death out there.

Brain sucking

2011-02-06T21:57:00.002-07:00

I haven't posted many craft items lately, so I figured it was time. I hadn't knitted since I was pregnant, but my niece requested this hat, and it was a nice, quick knit.

It's a Chain Chomp from Super Mario Bros.

She's 10, but I needed a model, and Brock didn't mind having his head munched for a minute.

Pattern can be found here.

And here is what a Chain Chomp looks like:

Hope you like your naked guys soft and squishy!

2011-02-06T21:53:00.003-07:00

I love the shamelessness of a nekkid baby! They love being that way and feel no embarrassment. It's beautiful.

Brock is almost 7 months old. He's sitting up strong and also standing strong, but only if I hold him.

He seems to be having a lot of cozy play-in-jammies kind of days lately with the freezing weather!

Well, tomorrow (Monday) is my birthday! I'm 37. What the heck?!

Mr. Brock turns 6 months old

2011-01-15T21:51:00.003-07:00

What happened to my baby? He's 6 months old already. When I look at the back of his neck, I see a little boy's neck. Not a baby's! OK, so I'm insane.

He's getting nice and fat ...

He's so amazing. It's so fun now that he's interactive, alert and interested in his world. I know he's been that way for a while, but I don't get on and blog very often. He was a little difficult the first few months -- very fussy. But now, he's just a fabulous little boy.

He still doesn't roll over much. He sometimes goes back to belly, but he can't roll the other way and he gets really upset about being on his belly. For a long time, he slept a good 12-13 straight hours. But then he got a cold and ever since he's been waking around 4 or 5 a.m. for a feeding. I'm sort of eager for that to end, but then again, he goes right back down and then we sleep for quite a while, so I'm actually getting more sleep than when he started his day at 7 or so.

I'm only working 3 evenings a week outside the home right now, but I'm still doing the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog, so I'm very busy! I'm really grateful for that opportunity to earn money from home. I also manage their social networking (Facebook, twitter and flickr) and put together the newsletter.

Still breast-feeding, and that's going pretty good now. For a little while, I was having a lot of pain and discomfort, but I'm feeling better and think I can keep at it! We just started solids last week, and that's loads of messy fun.

He can also sit up like a big boy, but can flop over at any moment.

Brock loves his baths. LOVES THEM!!! He likes to get real stiff and hold his arms down at his sides while kicking off the bottom of his tub. He looks like he's doing Lord of the Dance. All the while, he has a very serious expression. Here, he's hiding his wee-wee from the pervs out there.

For now, I just enjoy cuddling my little angel as much as I can.

Overdressed snowmen

2010-12-16T12:20:00.003-07:00

In a world of terrorist threats, crashing economies, joblessness, hunger, AIDS ... why aren't we asking the important questions?

Like, for example, why, if snowmen are made of snow, do they try to dress warmly? Wouldn't that, you know, make them melt? And therefore cease to exist more quickly? Shouldn't they be wearing as little clothing as possible? Maybe a swimsuit if they are concerned about decency?

Take, for instance, this guy, who is holding a sign praying for snow. Maybe he wouldn't need it to snow if he weren't wearing a damn snowsuit:

Then I got to looking around my house as we were decorating for Christmas and saw a recurring problem here. I believe it can mostly be attributed to snowmen having snow for brains. Here it is, guys: heat = too warm = bad for snow.

Oh, I'm sure I can find plenty more around this place, what with my husband's obsession with Christmas decorating, but I think you get the picture.

Christmas baby

2010-12-12T09:31:00.003-07:00

Once again, I have not been blogging. Personal crafting is on the back burner right now, but here are a few Christmas pics of Brock, who is 5 months old.
He got his first tooth on Thanksgiving day and his second tooth today! He's sitting on his own just a bit. He had rolled over back to front a few times around a month ago, but he quickly stopped after realizing he was ending up in his least favorite position -- on his tummy.

Goodbye, Roady

2010-11-16T11:13:00.003-07:00

Today at 7 a.m. Roadcat Jane died of natural causes. We were going to have her put to sleep today anyway, and I'm glad she was spared that (and so were we). If you recall, her sister, Suggs, died 3 months ago, just weeks after Brock was born. It's been a crazy few months of joy and sadness. (Here's the Farewell, Suggs post)

Here are a few pictures of our sweet 17-year-old kitty:

Falling babies

2010-11-11T20:43:00.000-07:00

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Time flies when you're busy as heck

2010-11-05T15:50:00.003-06:00

Well, Brock is almost 4 months old. He's turning into an amazing little boy. He "talks" like crazy and is very interested in his surroundings. He is trying his darndest to sit up by himself but still needs a little help. And he's loving his toys now. His hands are also quite fascinating, and tasty, too, it seems.

My friend Sonya Cogan of Sonya Cogan Photography shot a few pics yesterday. I have only gotten my paws on a couple, but I'll share them with you.

Meanwhile, here are a few of mine over the past month or so:

Nursing cover tutorial

2010-10-08T20:04:00.005-06:00

This is easily the most simple thing you'll ever sew. Even if you don't know how to sew, if you can get your hands on a machine, you can do this.

I have a similar nursing cover that costs $32 and is sewn sloppily. This will cost you a couple of dollars. And, uh, I must say that mine is done much more nicely.

You'll need:
1 yard of fabric
15" long piece of boning
two D-rings

I usually prefer things lined, but in this case, I wanted something lightweight. That's because my poor baby can get awfully sweaty and warm under a cover. I want this to be lightweight and breathable.

This cover utilizes boning to keep the top popped away from your chest slightly. This is a major help in allowing you to see and position baby. I'm making this one to use while pumping at work.

First, you need a 25"x35" rectangle. It is wider than it is tall, so if your fabric is directional, like mine, then keep that in mind.

You also need two pieces for the straps, along with two D-rings for the buckle. The strap pieces measure 4"x25" and 4"x7".

Finish the sides of your cover by folding over 1/4" and pressing. Then fold over another 1/4" and sew.

Finish the bottom by doing the same, but with 1/2" folds.

Make the straps. On the long strap, fold over one edge about 1/4" and press.

Then fold the whole strap in half lengthwise and press.

Open it up and press each raw edge toward the middle, all the way down.

Now, fold it back in half where you first pressed it. Your raw edges are encased.

Sew along the open edge.

Then top stitch on the other edge, for prettiness.

Make the other strap (the short one) in the same manner, except don't worry about folding over one short end (the first step).
After sewing, thread the strap through the D-rings and place raw ends together. Sew close to D-rings to secure them.

Start making your casing for the boning at the top by folding over a large hem of about 1", then another 1". Press.
Measure 7" from either edge of the cover and mark. This is your strap placement. Stick the raw edge of each strap under the folded hem so that the straps are on the wrong side of the fabric, pointing down.
Insert the boning in the casing between the straps. Pin and then sew all the way across. Make sure the boning curves such that the nursing cover will push away from your chest.

After sewing across, turn your straps upward and sew close to the edge to secure them in that position.

Then thread long strap through buckle. You're finished!

11 weeks old

2010-09-28T09:57:00.000-06:00

Anybody out there?

2010-09-22T15:53:00.004-06:00

Hello ... hello ... hello ... hello ...

I haven't posted in a long time, so I'm sure nobody even visits this blog anymore! I've been so busy with my son, who is already 10 weeks old!!, that I haven't thought much of blogging.

I can't believe how much time it takes to care for a baby. My son was not colicky, but he was quite fussy nonetheless. It took me two long months to realize that he needed some sort of structure to his day. After reading "The Baby Whisperer," I decided it was high time to put him on an "eat, play, sleep" schedule throughout the day. I guess it seems pretty no-duh to a lot of people, but it took me a while.

The thing is, he was exhausted but never napped. I guess I kind of figured if he was tired, he'd go to sleep. What else does he have to do? But, no, not really. So we've been working on getting him to nap (in his crib, no less) and it's going OK. Today he's done two of his three naps without too much argument. The later in the day it gets, the harder it is to get him down for a nap, and he gets awfully grumpy in the evenings.

On the plus side, he is sleeping through the night. And I do mean through the night. Not that 6-hour crap they call sleeping through the night. Lately, he often goes from 8 p.m. to 6:30 or 7 a.m. without waking. There were a few nights in there where he got me up at 2:30, but it seems he was having a growth spurt then.

As the weeks pass, things get easier. It definitely got better when he could start being entertained by things, and therefore could spend some time on a play mat or sit in his bouncer and watch me do things in the kitchen. Once that was possible, a lot less screaming took place and I could get more done. I can also get more done now that he naps regularly.

I hung in there with the breast-feeding, and that's going great. It gets so much easier as time goes on, and I'm so glad I didn't give up. I am not too rigid about it. I'm not one of those people who refuse to give my child formula ever. Sometimes if I'm out and about, he gets a bottle of formula. Sometimes a bottle of breast milk. Whatev.

I'm starting back to work in 10 days. I can't believe my three months are almost up. I will hate to leave him for that many hours, even though he'll be with either his father or grandparents. The thing that makes me really sad is that he'll go to bed at 8 p.m. and I won't get home until hours later, so once I leave him for the day, I won't see him until he wakes me up the next morning. I can't even hug him when I get home! That is, I won't hug him. I most surely won't be waking him up!

p.s. when they learn to smile, nothing beats that!!!

Look at us! Look at us!

2010-08-13T15:13:00.002-06:00

What's that? You want to see lots and lots of pictures of my family? You're in luck!

I wanted our wedding photographer shoot some pics of Brock, but we found ourselves in a budget crunch. Mark then pointed out that since we work at a newspaper, we know plenty of photographers. One of them, a new father himself, offered to take some newborn pics for a very good price.

At the time, Brock was being a bit of a pill. He was either sleeping or screaming the whole time. So we were pretty surprised when we actually got some good ones.

Here are some of them:

Brock loves practicing holding his head up and looking around. He's getting pretty good at it, even at a month old.
He also likes tummy time and pushing off with his legs. If you put him on his belly and put your hands on his feet, he'll push off and scoot himself around. He gets pretty excited about it. He also practices walking when Mark holds him in a standing position. Pretty funny how badly they want to move around even at a few weeks old!

Brocky boy

2010-08-03T17:03:00.003-06:00

So ... motherhood. It's keeping me busy. Really busy.

I have had no shortage of moments where I have felt inferior or unqualified. But I think that's normal. Right?

The first 10 days or so were just awful. Worse than I expected. Although I had no physical problems breast-feeding -- it actually went surprisingly well for us -- the fact that I was the only one feeding him, and had to do so every two hours around the clock, was killing me.

You see, it's normal for babies to lose a little weight right after birth, due to fluid loss. But lots of babies get jaundiced and lose too much. That happened to Brock. When he was 3 days old, we were ordered to supplement his diet with formula. That's because my milk still hadn't come in, which is normal. I was told to pump frequently in order to get the milk going, breast-feed him the colostrum that I had at the time and supplement with formula. I didn't know that lots of babies have this issue. I thought he was going to die and I cried all day. I was exhausted from spending half an hour breast-feeding, 10 minutes supplementing and 15 minutes pumping out of each two-hour period. Whenever I'd finally finish, it was nearly time to feed him again. And one of the side effects of jaundice is that they are sleepy and don't want to wake up and eat. But to clear out the jaundice, they need to eat a lot and poop and pee a lot. So, you see, it's a vicious cycle. I was terribly stressed out about getting him to eat a lot, but he simply didn't want to eat that often.

That night, Mark's friend's wife came over. She's a lactation consultant and she was helping me make sure that I was feeding right. I think she knew I was a distraught, postpartum mother, and felt sorry for me. Brock was latching on well and my milk was starting to arrive. She urged me to take him to the lactation center at the hospital I gave birth at so that they could check his weight before and after a feeding and see how much he was getting.

The next day I called them and they seemed annoyed by me because my milk shouldn't necessarily be in anyway. But, again, a tearful, terrified postpartum mom can melt hearts, apparently, so she told me if I got there in an hour, I could have his weight checked, but that she had an appointment and couldn't do more than that. She was booked all day.

I rushed across town. On the way out the door, I realized I'd never learned how to collapse the stroller. I had no time to figure it out and Mark and I were in a panic. I knew if I was late, I was out of luck. We finally figured it out and loaded it up. I was going to the hospital and there was no way I could carry the car seat that far. When I got the stroller out, one wheel was twisted and locked, and I didn't know what I was doing so I had a hell of a time pushing that darn thing into the hospital. Then someone helped me figure it out. What a loser.

First thing, Brock was weighed, and he'd gained 3 ounces in a day! So that was a relief. And her appointment never showed, so I got to do a whole feeding/lactation consultation. One thing that having a baby stripped me of was my modesty. I don't know how many people have seen my boobs lately. Brock was a champion feeder, and may I say pooper/farter, too, and I was very pleased with the consultation.

That was Friday, and by Monday's doctor's appointment, he was nice and fat. The doctor told me to relax a little, and now that my milk was flowing, I decided to let Brock decide when he was hungry, more or less. That has made my life much better, and he has definitely porked up nicely.

But the hardest part of breast-feeding was just having to do it so often and being the only one who can, so I was sort of falling apart for lack of sleep. One night, Mark insisted that he feed him formula for a late-night feeding and that I sleep for a bit. I got six hours of sleep in a row! And that changed my life. That became our new routine. I feed him around 10 p.m. and then go to bed, and Mark feeds him the next one around 1 a.m. and then goes to bed. I take over from there. It really helps. And once my milk got going, I was able to have enough pumped for most of his bottle feedings. He's been great about changing from breast milk to formula and breast to bottle.

I'm now thinking about weaning him to formula, but I don't think I'm quite ready. There were times I wanted to give up, but I know it's best for him to have my milk. There are really pluses and minuses to each, but most of the pluses for formula are about my convenience. Selfish me. But for now, I'm just making sure he stays familiar with formula with a feeding here and there, and then I guess when I'm ready I'll start cutting out a feeding here and there until my milk supply drops. I wish I could say I am one of those moms who will breast-feed for a year, but I don't think I am. I like the bonding of the whole thing, but then again, when he bottle feeds, he looks at my face and interacts with me more. And I love that, too. So we'll see how long I can keep it up.

Breast-feeding pros: better for baby; he gets sick less; always fresh and convenient and free!; less air taken in, so happier baby

Breast-feeding cons: harder to get away for any period of time; takes a lot longer than bottle feeding, like 1/2 hour vs. 7 minutes; always worrying about timing feeds and/or pumping; I'd really like my smaller boobs back and to stop leaking. I can't fit in a lot of my old shirts.

Formula pros: stays full longer, so fewer feedings. That's nice at night!; don't have to worry about feeding in public; easy to prepare.

Formula cons: not as good for baby as breast milk; needs sanitized water; takes a few minutes to prepare a bottle (same with expressed breast milk, though), which seems like forever when a baby is screaming bloody murder.

He's growing like crazy and already has outgrown lots of his outfits. And he's quite a character, making lots of silly faces. He looks just like his dad at first glance, but I see my cheek dimples, nose indentions and lips on him. But he and dad even share mannerisms, which is bizarre.

By the way, sometimes we think he resembles E.T. I wonder if it's because during labor Mark and I had this E.T. phone home moment:

(and no, I'm not one of those women who look good in their labor/post-labor pictures.)

Farewell, Suggs

2010-08-03T16:12:00.003-06:00

On Sunday, I said goodbye to my cat. I have had both of my cats for 17 years, and Suggs was always the one I thought would live the longest.

A few months ago, though, she started having trouble with her bowels. She would strain and strain and little to nothing would happen. We were going out of town and her regular vet was booked for a while, so we saw someone else at the clinic. After forking out a chunk of change, her blood work came back looking great and we got no diagnosis. She took some antibiotics just in case, but they didn't do anything.

Meanwhile, she was constantly having small "accidents" on the floor all over the house. At first, it made us mad, but we eventually saw that she was quite ill. It became especially apparent after I had her shaved because she wasn't grooming and got matted. We couldn't believe how skinny our pudgy Suggs had become.

As time went on, poor Suggs lost everything that mattered to her. First went her bedroom, which was turned into a nursery. She was always one for "safety zones," and she was distraught when hers went away. After she was shaved, her sister shunned her. And when I was very pregnant, I was often annoyed by her when she became clingy and wanted to crawl on me. Then I came home with the baby and was so overwhelmed and distracted that I just didn't deal with her at all. Thank goodness Mark was there to care for the cats. But her loud yowling and her constant need to eat (part of her illness) and her clinginess just stressed me out.

And I know that makes me an awful person.

In the end, she started running into walls and getting stuck in corners. She'd jump up on a chair, but miss by a mile. She clearly couldn't see well, or something was affecting her brain. We knew we had to make a tough decision.

I felt terrible about things, so I made it a point to really apologize to her and make it up to her. I invited her onto my lap when I was nursing and gave her tons of love. I told her I was sorry for everything. And I hope she forgives me.

Her last day was a beautiful day. Her regular vet came to our house Sunday afternoon. We had spent the day outside, enjoying the yard and the weather. She sat under her favorite bush, which I'll never understand because it looks like the most uncomfortable place in the yard.

We sat with her and petted her, and Mark made her a feast for her last meal. We took a zillion pictures and held her as she passed away.

Afterward, we placed her in a box -- what cat doesn't love boxes?! -- with a towel, blanket, a can of her favorite food, toy mice and flowers. She looked so at peace, and better than she had in a long time.

Mark dug a hole and we buried her, and then we planted a crape myrtle in her memory.

Rest in peace, Suggs. We'll really miss you.

Alright, the nitty-gritty

2010-07-20T11:43:00.005-06:00

I told you that I had my baby, Brock, last week on July 13. He was born at 12:02 a.m., on his due date. I was trying so hard to push him out on July 12, but I missed by a few minutes. I'm not sure why I cared. Maybe it gave me a goal for the whole thing to be over with!

I thought I'd share my story while I have a spare 5 minutes. I know some of you are pregnant, and I don't intend to make this any kind of horror story, so don't fear. I am just sharing my experience, and want to whisper this in your ears: take the epidural!!

So, on Sunday, July 11, I started feeling some contractions. But they were really minor and easy to deal with. I went about my day feeling giddy and thinking, "this isn't so bad." I had been having painless Braxton-Hicks contractions and menstrual-like cramps for weeks, but not painful contractions I could actually time. Sometime that afternoon, it all just petered out. I was disappointed and hoped it still meant that it would happen soon and I wouldn't go late and be induced. I figured it was a good sign.

The next day, I got up about 7:30 to feed my cats, who were annoying me. I went back to bed and started feeling contractions again. This time they were darn painful. But they were spaced out. A few hours later, I decided to get up and eat. Each contraction had me pausing, doubled over and breathing through them. I had expected them to start more slowly and gently, for some reason, and then work their way up. Incidentally (grossness alert), I never saw any sign of mucous plug or bloody show.

I decided to shower while they were still far enough apart that I could handle it OK. I'm sure glad I did. I then got back into bed and started recording/timing contractions. They hurt terribly. I couldn't talk through them or listen to someone else. I stayed there for hours, fearing I'd have to wait a really long time like that before they were close enough together to go to the hospital. Thankfully, they were about 2 minutes long. So all I needed was for them to get a bit closer together.

Here's another TMI moment: I went to pee a few times and there was a gush of fresh blood. Not like a tiny bit on the TP, but a lot. So I sort of freaked out and called the doctor's office. The nurse didn't sound particularly reassuring about the blood and after asking me about the contractions decided I was close enough and told me she'd let them know I was on my way.

Mark loaded up the car frantically, somehow forgetting all of the stuff I packed for the baby and some other things I had deemed important. In the end, most of it was unnecessary. (I will say that I'm glad I took some [dark-colored] nursing pajamas and a nursing sleep bra. I would have hated to wear the hospital gown the whole time, even though I was not in the hospital long.) The ride to the hospital seemed endless. I could not walk well at this point, so I was wheeled up to labor and delivery and placed in triage. I was upset because I kept feeling blood coming out, but they left me there for quite awhile like I was not in the midst of the scariest and most painful event of my life.

At this point, the only word in my vocabulary was the F-word. Over and over and over again. I fear it may be Brock's first word. It was kind of funny that that was all I could say. The contractions seemed to never end, and they really did hurt more than I expected. Finally, they got me into a labor room and apologized for taking so long.

They offered me some sort of narcotic through my IV, which was probably one of those things I'd read other people criticizing on the pregnancy forums, but at that point I did not care what they gave me, as long as it took the edge off. The drug started with a Ph or an F sound, though I don't recall what it was. It made me feel goooood. I was sort of dizzy and in la-la land for a while.

Eventually, maybe around 4 or so, the anesthesiologist came and gave me my epidural. He said that it went in better than any he'd given before. Maybe he says that to everyone. But I did still feel contractions on the left side, and I had tremendous pain up in my rib cage on the left, where the baby seemed to have shoved himself.

A nurse came and "topped" off my epidural and I got sweet relief at last! I actually went 100% numb from the rib cage down. You could have stabbed my legs and I wouldn't have felt it at all. I could not wiggle my toes anymore. It was disconcerting, but I figured it was better than many more hours of what I had been feeling. I kept asking the nurse if she was sure I'd ever be able to use my legs again.

Eventually, around 7 the doctor on call came in as her shift was ending and broke my bag of waters and checked the dilation. It was pretty good, I think 8 cm. Eventually, I was found to be fully dilated, but I still had zero feeling. They wanted me to be able to at least feel the pressure so I could push, but I was not regaining feeling and they decided to proceed. My labor nurse was wonderful. If you don't have a great labor nurse, I'm not sure how you'd get through that!

My nurse set up a bar on the end of the bed and tied a bed sheet to it for me to hold onto. She held one leg and Mark held the other and then when the machine showed I was having a contraction, she'd tell me to push. I couldn't feel a thing, so I'd just push blindly and she'd tell me by watching if I was pushing in the right area. Very weird.

When the doctor on call got there, we did this a little longer and out came Brock! Mark worked so hard on my labor. He certainly wasn't just holding my hand. He was sore for days from holding the dead weight of my leg (maybe I gained a bit too much weight?) and helping me push. It would have taken ages longer to deliver if not for him.

Now, about Mark: He's way squeamish. I don't blame him; I'm the same way. Earlier, when I'd asked about him cutting the umbilical cord, he was horrified that someone would even ask him that. During the labor, when the nurse would recline me flat, my blood pressure would drop and I'd get really nauseated. At one point, between pushes, I started vomiting. Mark tried to hold a bucket there, but vomiting while flat on your back with your legs in the air is not easy. Needless to say, it kind of got everywhere. I started panicking and crying when I couldn't breathe. I'm pretty sure I inhaled quite a bit of it because I was coughing a nasty cough for a few days.

After that, Mark felt emboldened. He figured, he took the barf, he could take the rest of it. He wasn't freaked out to look at the baby as he crowned or watch the doctor stitch me up (level 2 tear, wasn't too bothersome). He even took interest in the placenta, which is actually very interesting. Mark decided it just looked like liver or something you could eat. And, actually, some people do.

At this point, as you can imagine, I was in heaven. It was finally over, and I had a beautiful, healthy baby boy. After nine months of worrying about your baby, seeing him in the flesh and knowing he's OK is such an amazing feeling.

Unfortunately, my legs didn't work for hours more. I had to be taken to my regular room on a gurney instead of using a wheelchair. But I can walk now just fine, so no worries.

I think of friends who had no pain meds, and I'm pretty amazed. Either I'm wimpy or they are incredibly strong. Or they had some totally different contractions. But I'm really glad that I personally went the medicated route. I think it made my birthing experience a million times better. I know some people want to feel the whole thing because they feel they get more out of it that way, but it wasn't for me.

As for the aftermath, I really didn't have much discomfort, ahem, "down there." I did for a few days, but it went away quickly. I never needed pain meds that were offered to me, and the numbing spray was unnecessary. I had planned to do sitz baths, but I honestly never had time once I got home. I healed up quickly and it never bothered me much.

I was a little surprised by the pooch that was left after the birth, but it's going down pretty quickly. I also haven't looked in the mirror much (I've only gotten dressed and left the house twice since), but then saw that I had actually lost most of the fat I gained. I'd look pretty much normal if not for the stretched out belly, which isn't fat anyway, and the ginormous boobs that came with breast-feeding.

A few more things I want to share:
If you hang out on pregnancy forums, you'll see a lot of judgmental moms out there. People who have decided to oppose everything from vaccines to epidurals. And if you don't know what you're doing, you feel like you need to make a fuss about things, too, or you're a bad mom for just going with the flow.

I found that flexibility is key. I took the meds offered to me because I needed them. And I wasn't going to feel bad. I don't believe they'd really give me that narcotic if it was a danger to my baby.

I was made to feel it's a terrible thing to allow your baby to be taken from your room at any time. They automatically weigh and measure the baby in your presence, after some bonding time. But I refused to send him to the nursery when I was falling apart and hadn't slept in ages. Mark couldn't understand it, but I'd allowed these "forum" people to make me feel terrible about that. At one point I thought I'd drop him from exhaustion at 3 a.m. but he was screaming nonstop. I was crying, too, and called the nurse to help me figure out what to do. She came and said that she has newborn testing to do, anyway, and that she could do it now and give me a little break. I didn't want to, and she said, "You're not a bad mom for letting him go to the nursery. 10 other moms have called in the last hour looking for a little chance to sleep." I still cried because I sent my newborn son away because he was crying and I wanted to sleep. I felt so selfish, but now I wish I'd taken advantage a bit more because I'm still so exhausted!

Well, I've used up my luxury time here, so I'm going to wrap it up for today. I will write more soon about the first week and what it was like for me.

Baby Brock

2010-07-17T04:12:00.004-06:00

Hi everyone! I've been such a bore lately that I'm sure nobody reads my blog anymore anyway, but I wanted to announce the birth of my son earlier this week.

Brock Emanuel
7 lbs, 4 oz
20 inches long

Everything went great. He's perfect and I had no complications or need for induction. I will tell more about my experience later, since I'm pretty much exhausted and have to sleep any chance I get.

I was able to get some rest today and tonight and feel much better. My husband's shift ended and the baby actually went to sleep in his crib. He had been cluster feeding this evening, so when my shift started, I realized he was kind of on a longer break. I still got up to check that he was OK and found myself with a spare few moments to catch you all up.

There are a few of you who are also pregnant. I have little Internet time for the next few weeks, but I'll definitely be catching up on how you're doing and hope you are well!

What pregnancy has taught me

2010-07-04T12:42:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm nine days from B-Day! Of course, he may come sooner or later, but I can't believe it's so close.

I'm very tired lately. The smallest errand really takes it out of me. Right about now, I'm so glad to have a job where I sit all day. I only have to get through this week and then I can take it easy and await the birth of my firstborn.

I just got a small burst of energy and dusted my bedroom and vacuumed upstairs, and now I am afraid I'm going to crash. Thus, I will make this snappy and get in the shower before that happens!

I will not lie. Pregnancy has been much harder on my body than I expected. Is this because I'm 36? Or is it just the way it is for everyone? I don't know. It seems to be that way for everyone.

The end of pregnancy has involved a lot of waddling and pelvic pain for me. The baby has dropped really low -- past the zero station to the 1 station. He's primed for take off! My doctor says that is good for delivery and pushing. I'm not dilated much; I've been at 1/2 cm for a while now. I'm about 60% effaced. My cervix is also still at the back, and I guess it has to shift for birth. These things don't really point to any particular birthing date, as any of them can change very quickly.

I also have had some mighty puffy feet in the last few weeks. And there's some nerve that baby presses on sometimes that sends shooting misery down the inside of my right leg. The pressure on the pubic bone also sends some shooting pains throughout my private regions. It's hard to wear pants because the bottom of my belly literally stops a couple of inches above my crotch. So most of my maternity shirts do not reach long enough to cover my tummy.

The plus side is that my entire wardrobe fits in half of a laundry basket and I don't have to bother putting my clothes away.

I've had a lot of ailments to complain about, but I'd like to point out a few things I'm thankful I didn't have:

Carpel tunnel in my wrists
Mask of pregnancy (I do have two small spots, but nothing that has taken over my face or anything)
Vomiting or extended morning sickness
Extensive weight gain (I've gained the full 30 pounds that was recommended, but not more)

I know there are more, but I can't think of them right now.

Now, on to what I've learned from pregnancy:
I'm so much stronger than I thought. I can take so much more than I expected. Women are strong ... much stronger than men! Really, I'd like to see them do this. Before, when I had an ailment, I visited the medicine cabinet. I've learned that I can take just about any misery without any kind of medicinal aid, though I thank God for Maalox. The nighttime acid reflux can get pretty vicious toward the end. Finally, mothers really do have a right to say, "... after all I've done for you!!!" This is just the beginning of sacrifices I will make for my son, and gladly!

Fine. Here's your picture.

2010-06-23T12:27:00.001-06:00

By popular demand, a picture of me at 37 weeks' pregnant.

And I didn't even crop out my face.

3-1/2 weeks to go

2010-06-19T22:45:00.003-06:00

I simply cannot believe I'm so close to having this bebe! I'm completely ready and not the least bit scared. I think I may get a bit freaked out when I actually enter the hospital, because hospitals just don't impart a good feeling in you. Maybe that's the appeal of home births for some people. I don't think I realized this until I went on a tour of the maternity areas today.

The thing I like about my hospital is that it's very mother/baby friendly. It's pretty much automatic that you're expected to room with your baby. You'd have to go out of your way to have it kept in the nursery. It's pretty much automatic that you're to breast-feed, too. I mean, it's your choice, but I had heard other people talk about nurses formula feeding babies without permission, and I guess that won't be an issue where I'm going. It's also very partner-friendly, encouraging fathers to play their really important part in everything. I like that they give you skin-to-skin contact with baby for the first hour of life. All these things were important to me, but I thought I'd have to request them.

As for how I'm feeling:
Remember the severe mid-back pain I whined about all of the time? Well, for whatever reason, that disappeared. It seemed to coincide with when the baby moved into the right side of my belly. I don't know why he likes hanging out with his head shoved into my pelvic bone, but I sure do feel better.

On the negative side, my feet and ankles started swelling something awful. And now that it's so hot, I feel compelled to cover up with long pants instead of wearing breezy dresses. It's a dignity thing. It's easy to tell me not to care, but I do care. I have very few ways in which I can feel like a decent-looking human being. Therefore, I do what I can. A pedicure, eyebrow wax, makeup, style my hair. Shave my legs, you know. I still look like a cow, but at least I TRY to be pretty. Sometimes I try to hide all of the bad stuff with inappropriately fancy jewelry. I'm not sure if it's foolin' anyone.

I'm totally prepared for the baby, as far as supplies and the nursery go. And mentally and physically, too. Actually, I have not done my Kegel exercises or my perineum massages, and I'll probably pay for that eventually, but I'm just coasting along for a few weeks, looking forward to some time off of work and meeting my precious son. I also haven't picked a pediatrician. Maybe I should do that sometime soon. Sleep has already become rather difficult, so maybe I'll be a little prepared for exhaustion on some level. I'm totally ready to be able to move -- dying to go for a walk! My pelvis hurts with each step I take, so it's really frustrating.

I'll leave you with my cankles/puffy feet. Oh, they get much worse than this. I got to take a nap today, so my earlier swelling went down and then I started over. But at least my toenails are pretty!

Nursery is finished

2010-06-10T22:13:00.003-06:00

I've finally finished the baby's room. I'm only 4-1/2 weeks away from my due date, you know!

I've shown you the fabrics before:

Step right in ...

These are the cheapo shelves I once tried to paint with regular paint. Up close, they look just awful. But they came in handy.

I selected the crib online, and did a terrible job of matching the wood to my existing furniture. Too much trouble to send back, though.

The crib will turn into a toddler bed and then a full-size bed.

The mobile was custom made by etsy seller Buggalove. I hand-embroidered the dinosaurs in the frames.

I sewed all of the bedding and such from fabrics I got at Warehouse Fabrics Inc. You can see them here, here, here and here. I used Vogue 7245 pattern, which I wouldn't recommend. The instructions were awful and the techniques lacking.

This is a toy holder.

The bumpers are a little loose fitting and need some more work if I choose to use them.

A little hamper, a rocking horse that was handed down to me by a co-worker and a photo holder that I made.

I later decided to whip up this pleated valance for the window. It did a lot for the room, really, and was easy to make. I made a tutorial here.

I ended up ordering the cheapest glider chair I could find at Target, and it is really quite comfy! I made the quilt and diaper holder, too.

The dresser from my guest bedroom set stayed in the room and will double as a changing table.

(My cat really likes the changing pad for a bed.)

JackKnits on etsy.com custom made these dinosaurs for me, and the colors really matched well.

Now I just need to get the bags packed!

Oh, and go into labor and stuff.

Suggs

2010-06-10T12:33:00.005-06:00

First with the funny. My cat, Suggs, is 17. She isn't grooming well and as she started to shed for the summer, her fur got very matted. And so I decided to have her shaved.

Here is a before picture:

Here is an after picture:

Are your LOLing? Are you ROTFLing? I knew it. Poor thing looks ridiculous and Roady (the other cat) hissed at her for days. She seems so pathetic.

On a less comical note, she was always a "fat cat." She has lost a lot of weight, and we could tell by picking her up. The vet wasn't worried because she was overweight before. But now that I see her naked, she looks like she's on death's doorstep.

She's also having a lot of trouble in the **ahem** litter box department. We thought she was severely constipated from all the straining she was doing and the very little that was coming out.

The vet said it was quite the opposite -- she had diarrhea. I don't see how one can mistake the two, but he felt and said there was no back-up inside. So she took some medicine for a week and ate special food for the tummy.

And neither did a thing. She seems to be in pain and she is having "accidents" around the house that aren't doing a lot of good for my marriage since my husband is very upset about living like that.

**edited to add: She had bloodwork done and everything checked out great. There didn't appear to be any problems at all. The vet said next step is X-rays, but he doubted they'd show anything. After that, he said, would be exploratory surgery, which we aren't willing to put her through. She is not having issues with peeing, just "number 2."**

We both think she has something really wrong, but we aren't sure if it's time to put her down. Frankly, we aren't going to put her through treatments for something like cancer, or surgery for that matter, at her age. But she's still eating and drinking and often seems pretty happy, so it's really a hard situation. Any advice?

Baby shower!

2010-05-31T12:32:00.002-06:00

Saturday was my baby shower, and it was lots of fun. At least, it was fun for me. It had a great turnout. I felt so touched that so many people came. And their generosity was amazing. They helped us out so much.

My mom hosted it at her house with the help of my in-laws. Here are me and my mom. I'm just shy of 34 weeks here.

Yeah, I didn't realize how much weight I'd gained till I saw my flabby arms in these photos. My arms are usually among my best parts.

They made an amazing spread of food, and the house looked beautiful.

Holy cow, that's a lot of gifts!

I got some great ones. I loved the Sleep Sheep, which is a portable white noise machine that you can hang on your baby's car seat to keep him sleeping while out and about.

A bunch of co-workers went in together and made me this amazing basket full of essentials!

And if baby gets to be too naughty, I can float him down the Rio Grande in this Moses basket!

My baby daddy stopped by for a quick hello and felt a bit awkward.

And one last random picture, my swing. I wanted a fairly compact one to save on space. This one's portable.

You would not even believe how much clothes this baby has! We are very blessed to have such caring friends and family!

Right around the corner -- 33 weeks

2010-05-27T13:40:00.003-06:00

I have just been swamped lately, but I wanted to stop in and say that I'm 6.5 weeks from baby time, and I am doing well. My belly is huge, and I started gaining real weight, as in fat, a while back, so I'm feeling a bit pudgy. But I shouldn't have too much to lose in actual fat weight.

I've had no strange cravings. My only cravings are sugary foods and pizza, especially from Venezia's Pizzeria. I can't get enough of that stuff. Thus the fat. This lady at work says she craved ... wait for it ... vegetables. Damn her.

We have one more ultrasound next week (week 34). That's been planned for some time, but four visits ago the baby measured (using a tape measure and my belly) right on target. Then three visits ago he was 2 weeks big. Two visits ago, she didn't measure for some reason. And this week he was 2 weeks small, which has my baby daddy worried that his son will grow up to be a shrimp. I'm not too worried, though. There can be many reasons for those measurements and my doctor did not seem concerned. They'll check on his growth and amniotic fluid next week.

I'm just getting the room ready. My baby shower is Saturday, and I'm both excited and nervous, because fun as it sounds, I always get a little shy being the center of attention like that!

Chickens on a wine bottle!

2010-05-19T16:22:00.002-06:00

My friend Amy, of the famous Chickenbone Jones blog, is in the final round of a very important contest to get her dog's portrait on a wine bottle. It's a special present for her husband for Father's Day. They also have a new baby (who is cute as the dickens), so it's a big Father's Day for him!

She commissioned an artist to draw their dog, who recently sustained a paralyzing injury that required back surgery and a slow recovery (he's walking again!). Then she passed Round 1 of voting. Now she needs your vote to get her dog on the actual bottle.

This takes about 2 seconds and there's no funny business. You don't have to enter any personal information or anything.

Just go to this link, check out Chickens, click vote and choose #57. Hit the button and you've done a great thing! Chickens deserves it after all he's been through! And I really want a bottle of that wine (for after I'm no longer pregnant, of course).

Thanks!

Latest projects

2010-05-16T11:51:00.003-06:00

I'm running a bit late right now to my first-time mothers Meetup.com group, which is actually really useful and fun.

I just wanted to share a few recent projects for the other blog I do. Click the photos to visit the posts.

Gardening apron

Diaper bag with interior divider

How to make a pillow using a pillow form and zipper

Also, I forgot to tell you that we did a $50 fabric giveaway. I'll try to remember to announce that over here next time, but please visit the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog to see how you can follow on Facebook and Twitter to get these kinds of updates.

10 weeks and counting!

2010-05-02T21:32:00.003-06:00

I haven't been posting much lately, especially about the pregnancy. With all of my early complaining, I'm sure nobody is particularly heartbroken about that. I have no photos for this post, so I apologize for the loooooonnng, texty post.

I just hit the 30 week point -- that's out of 40 weeks total. Of course, he could arrive a little earlier, or even a little later. There's no pop-up timer like on a turkey.

I have been generally uncomfortable throughout the last 7.5 months, but thankfully it's just discomfort, and not any kind of serious problems with my baby or me.

So what has it been like to be pregnant?

FIRST TRIMESTER

I found out I was pregnant at five weeks, which is really three weeks, since they start counting at the first day of your last period, not at conception. I thought, "Well, at least no morning sickness!" Then I read that it actually usually starts around week 6. And it did, right on time. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones. Mine only lasted about three weeks and never involved any puking.

On the other hand, around the same time I developed serious food aversions, which are quite common. Somehow, though, it's distinctly different from the nausea of morning sickness. It's just a serious disgust of certain foods, for me, mainly, vegetables. Even thinking about broccoli, normally a food I'm fond of, made vomit rise in my throat. Later, vegetables started seeming less awful, but things like chicken and other meat started to be disgusting to me. Conveniently, fried chicken and hamburgers never seemed gross. As it turns out, these are very common food aversions.

Aside from that, I found that my blood sugar seemed quite unstable. Without warning, I'd start to feel kind of ill. I had to have something in my purse at all times for a quick bite.

I don't recall the exact timeline, but maybe around week 8 I started getting really severe headaches. I've always been plagued by headaches, but I'm accustomed to popping a (mostly over-the-counter) pill when need be. When you're pregnant, you can really only have regular strength Tylenol. My doctor said if it got really bad, I could have Midrin, a prescription that I already have on hand. I found that I could never bring myself to take it. I was just too scared. That first trimester is when everything is developing, and I had to take my first lessons on sacrifice as a mother.

Those headaches were among the most severe I've ever known, and they lasted for days and days. I'd never had headaches that lasted that long. Tylenol was about as effective as Tic-Tacs, so I quit even bothering with it most of the time. I was incredibly sick. But somehow I rode out several months of those, and every day I wondered how I made it through. There were times that I had horrible thoughts about the pregnancy, and then I'd feel just awful for thinking them.

Those were my major ailments. On top of those I had unbelievable exhaustion; breasts that tripled in size practically overnight and hurt incredibly until about week 14 and many other things that can be found in this whiny post: Things that suck about pregnancy.

SECOND TRIMESTER

Ahhh. The second trimester. This is usually considered the best time of pregnancy because many of your first trimester ailments ease up, you're looking a little pregnant, but a lot of the discomforts that come later are still in the distance.

Boy did I feel better. My headaches cleared up and most of my food aversions did, too. But I had a lack of appetite through week 20 or 22. The plus side was that I barely gained any weight up until this point. I really disliked food and ate enough to nourish myself and my baby, but had no desire to eat anything extra.

By week 24, all food aversions were gone. I loved food! I still wasn't particularly hungry -- no more so than I was before I was pregnant, but at least food sounded good. I was no longer fatigued, and I found out that a condition I had, placenta previa, had cleared up. That's when the placenta covers the cervix/birth canal. It can cause bleeding and other problems, so you're basically on some degree of activity restrictions -- like no exercise. If you start to bleed, you could be taken out of work and put on home or hospital bed rest. I found out at 24 weeks that as my uterus grew, the placenta moved on over to a safer location. Yay! From that point on, I just got to be a normal pregnant woman.

I was eager to exercise, but I found that starting at 24 weeks' pregnant wasn't so easy. Just walking around the block was incredibly hard. I had some extra weight, of course, even if it wasn't much fat. My blood volume will increase by 45 to 50 percent by the end of the pregnancy, and as lung capacity decreases, more oxygen is still needing to be processed, so it's just darn hard to exercise if you haven't been doing it all along. My blood pressure has also been very low, like 85/50, so sometimes I'd get dizzy.

I also found that if I didn't get enough protein with breakfast, I'd get really sick shortly thereafter. That led me to this helpful pregnancy breakfast, since I wasn't too big on a meaty start to my day.

THIRD TRIMESTER

I was sort of shocked when I found myself in the third trimester. It all seemed to be happening so fast! I was definitely glad, though. Somewhere toward the end of the second trimester, I developed really severe back pain. Not lower back pain, like you'd expect, but mid-back pain. I still have it. It's so much worse when I sit. As a matter of fact, I can generally stand and walk as much as I want and feel no back pain. From time to time, my lower back, way down by my tailbone, starts up and I get really stiff when I move about. But usually it's just the sitting that gets me. That's also what I do at work all day. Sit. I had to give up my regular chair for a kneeling chair, and if not for that, I don't know how I could continue at my job. It still hurts in the kneeling chair, but it's much more tolerable.

I also have several belly/back support braces that help a lot, too. I try to get to the chiropractor once a week, and my insurance allows me a 30-minute massage with that. My mom sent me to her physical therapist, who told me my pelvis is misaligned. But no amount of exercises or adjustments seems to get it to stay in place. I guess my body is just changing too much, and there's a lot of extra weight in the front.

One thing that happens in pregnancy is that your ligaments loosen, so your joints are less stable. In addition to that, your pubic bone also can start to separate at the cartilage in the center. This is to make room for baby, and I may say that it doesn't feel too good. (Up above, I accidentally wrote "public" bone. I work for a newspaper, and I think one of my biggest fears is accidentally writing the word "pubic" in a headline instead of "public," so my fingers have major trouble writing it without the "L.")

I am a little (lot) tired of the hair thing. First off, where is my long, thick lustrous pregnancy hair? It's exactly the same, but with more broken wispies around the face that must be glued down each day. But the body! It's like you get a fine peach fuzz all over the place. I feel like a damn werewolf sometimes. I haven't even bothered with my normal waxing, because it can't put a dent in this mess, and I can't afford to wax head to toe.

A few weeks ago, I started to get more hungry. I have not had any strange cravings, but boy do I LOVE sugar. Love it. I have to force myself to get some veggies and nutrients in my body for the sake of the baby.

He's been very active all along, but now that he's big (should be close to 3 pounds and 15 inches, I think) I can really feel him moving in ripples across my belly. It's strange feeling, but it comforts me to know he's alive in there. My husband sometimes feels my belly while I sleep and wonders how I can sleep at all with all that movement going on. Sometimes it weirds him out a little. The other day, I saw a bulge come out, stay a moment, and recede. I guess he was stretching a leg or something. It's funny to look down and see my belly wiggling about through no effort of my own.

So that leaves me at week 30. I feel pretty good, except for the back pain. But it's funny how something that makes you so miserable can eventually start to seem less noticeable. Ten weeks is not long, and before I know it, he'll be here!

14 months later ... a finished quilt!

2010-04-20T12:13:00.006-06:00

Over a year ago, I posted several blog posts expressing my excitement to make this clothesline quilt from Oh, Fransson. I searched high and low for vintage linens in thrift and antique shops, even online.

Then I got started. Then it quickly stalled. I don't know why. I think part of it was that cutting up old sheets and pillowcases is not as easy as cutting crisp, smooth fabric off of a bolt. So I had a bit of a hard time.

Then I found that sewing old fabrics together accurately wasn't as easy as sewing new fabrics together accurately. Some were really worn, some were crisp.

Well, I finally finished it! And I do love it, even if it's not perfect.

It's interesting how the texture comes out so much more when you don't use the flash. But you also can't see the fabrics as well, so I did photos each way.

The back is nine different vintage fabrics -- I like the orange ones the best

I'm so glad to have the project completed. It's been sitting around my sewing room cluttering everything up for over a year. Now I have a pretty quilt instead of a mess!

How to make a PDF out of your pattern

2010-04-18T13:37:00.007-06:00

As some of you know, I do a blog for Warehouse Fabrics Inc.

One of the things I do is provide tutorials for different projects, some of which require a pattern for download. At first, I had a heck of a time figuring out how to scan in a pattern and make a PDF file out of it that prints to scale. I needed the pieces to be printable on regular computer paper, and taped together if need be to form the full-size pattern piece. But, try as I might, it always shrank the pattern from scale.

My smart dad, T-shirt Face, informed me that one problem was that I was drawing the pattern pieces all the way to the paper edge, and that it won't ever work that way because you can't print to the paper edge, so you need a border. Because of that, it was shrinking my pattern to fit within a page with borders.

Here is how I finally figured out how to do it (with help from a tutorial on BurdaFashion's site, but many of you may not have access to that, and I had a terrible time finding it).

1. Take a piece of computer printer paper and make a square border around it measuring 6-5/8 x 10-1/32 inches. I drew mine on with a ruler, but if you're nice and computer literate, you can probably do this on the computer. Make a bunch of copies of this page (I have a four-in-one printer, so I can do this at home). To give you an example, the apron I'm doing in this post took 15 sheets of paper.

2. The next step is to tape together one giant piece of paper from all of these little ones. The pain in the butt part is that, for now, we don't want to deal with those borders. So fold the pages in on those lines. This will provide a continuous drawing area.
NOTE: You should have already created your pattern pieces on other paper. Now you're just redrawing them for the purpose of scanning them in and making a downloadable PDF for the Internet.

3. Turn over and tape from the underside.

4. Continue in this manner until you have a big piece.

5. Lay out your pattern pieces and see if you can make them fit. If, as in my example, there is just one small area that needs an extension, just add a piece there. It doesn't all have to be a huge square.

I'll add another on the bottom right where that apron tie is sticking off the page.

6. Trace all of your pattern pieces on. For square items, it's sometimes easier to just get a ruler and redraw than it is to trace with a nice line. Whatever is easiest. You'll definitely gain an appreciation for having pattern pieces cut on the fold. It makes them much smaller.

7. Label your pieces well. I start with the top left sheet of paper and go row by row labeling each sheet by number (above). I label each pattern piece with the name of the piece and how many to cut. But since most pieces will continue over several taped-together sheets of paper, you must mark where they join. I do this by drawing two lines across the paper joins and labeling each side with a letter. That way the person putting it together knows where to join the papers. If you have "half" pieces that are cut on the fold, be sure to make this clear.

8. Carefully take apart your pages. I recommend pressing them with a dry iron to smooth them a bit. (This pic is before ironing.)

9. Now it's time to scan them in. I have a scanner that doesn't work well with Windows Vista, so I can't just put the paper in and hit "scan." I have to open the printer's program and click scan there, as shown below.

NOTE: Click the following screen captures to get bigger images

10. Next, I get this box. I choose "save to file" and select "Photoshop Elements." I don't have real Photoshop, but this does the job.

11. After my piece scans, I get this box. It will give me dotted lines that I can adjust. It usually tries to frame the border I drew on the page, but I want it to be as close to 8-1/2 x 11 as possible, so I move the lines out. You can see the measurement of the page at the right. Then I click "finish."

12. After I click "finish," I get this screen telling me it's scanning to Photoshop Elements.

13. Now Photoshop opens and there's my scan. Now I'm going to save it as a PDF. I'll do this by clicking "file," "print."

14. If you get this error message that says "This image is larger than the paper's printable size," don't worry. Just ignore it. DO NOT click "scale to fit media."

15. Choose your printer as Primo PDF. I guess I should back up here. If you don't have a PDF program, you can download this free one here.

16. This screen pops up, and I just click "Create PDF" without changing any settings.

17. It'll bring up a save box, and you should rename it because it will give some unwieldy name for your file, and you'll probably never find it again.

And that's all there is to it! Just repeat these steps for each page. I recommend that on one page you do a 1-inch scale so that people can check to be sure it printed at the correct size.

TIP: Usually after it scans the page, it asks if I'd like to scan another (BTW, I'm scanning as photo, not a document). I click no because I want to see the process through for each one and not scan them all and then try to go back and reopen each and finish the process.

Cutie-patootie purse

2010-04-18T12:41:00.004-06:00

A while back, I picked up this Japanese-inspired fabric from Hip Stitch.

I saved the one with mushrooms to make a romper for my baby boy. I had a yard of each but didn't know what to do with the others. Being pregnant, I'm not very inspired to sew clothing for me right now. Anything I make will only fit for 12 more weeks, if I don't outgrow it before then.

So I fell back on my old standby: a bag, of course!

This is my tie-top pattern, which I will feature on the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog in September. I know that's a long time away, but I'm planning far in advance with the baby coming and everything.

Instead of using a magnetic snap inside of the top of the bag, I decided to do a tab closure with magnetic snap.

Edited to update: I have a tutorial for this bag on the Warehouse Fabrics Inc. blog.