Getting my Craft On

I am not sure if it is some kind of hormonal imbalance, or my cheap nature, but I have felt the urge to craft lately. This is completely foreign to me since prior to pregnancy I had no desire or ability to create crafty smart looking things. There have been times where I have attempted "crafting" only to find myself completely frustrated and with a finished product looking quite inferior to my original vision or intent. I think these experiences made me timid to the craft world and I was OK with that.

However, times are tough in today's world and there are so many beautiful baby girl things out there I am just not willing to spend an arm and a leg on. What other choice to I have then but to make them myself? Hence my attempt to re-enter the world of arts and crafts.

My first project I shared...the wall art for Julianne's room. Pictures HERE Verdict: Success! With a new confidence I began to think of other things I could make instead of buy and my eyes were opened. First on the docket: Baby Legs (if you don't know what I am talking about see http://www.babylegs.com/)

These are the adorable leg warmers that are all over now allowing mommies everywhere to keep their baby's legs warm without having to pull pants on and off. The official Baby Legs brand wants $10-$15 per pair for these. To me that seems a bit steep for a glorified sock. Solution: make them myself. This really is no secret as there are tons of tutorials online. I used this one: Leggies Tutorial

Basically it entailed buying girls knee high socks (I got these for $2 each at Target) cutting off the heel and toe, then a little bit of sewing. I don't have a machine so I sewed them by hand...really even that was simple though.

Here is a different pair in the finished state. Verdict: Success! At least, I am pretty proud of them. It was so easy and I saved $13! I will have to take more pictures once our girl is in them. I am so excited to see these on her chubby legs.

My next craft venture: baby headbands. I will report back here with my results.

Nathalie

34 weeks and starting to feel pregnant

I am now 34 weeks pregnant and beginning to understand why pregnant woman complain. Truly I feel pretty good given the honeydew melon sized baby in my belly. I am still walking at least 3 times per week and sleeping well aside from the frequent bathroom trips. For this I am grateful, there are just some discomforts now that I feel the need to mention if only for my own documentation and reflection later.

The main issue I have been having is a sharp jabbing pain in my left rib. No one told me about this common ailment but I have to say it is terrible. Pretty much any time I attempt to bend over (which I try to avoid if possible), laugh, or sometimes for no reason at all, I feel as though I am being stabbed in the chest. My doctor told me that since I am on the petite side, it is common for the uterus to expand up under the rib cage and basically try to separate them! Nice....oh and that it should feel better once the baby drops. I then asked when to expect the baby to drop...she said it is different for everyone. So I am trying to cope and joyfully awaiting the day this little girl makes her journey southward.

Everything in respect to the stabbing rib pain is relatively minor and humorous. Up until now I have not been inhibited by my belly and have been able to carry on with life and my normal activities. Now however, I am finding daily tasks to be a bit more difficult to accomplish. For example, putting my socks and shoes on is something I have always taken for granted. Of recent it requires some major energy and contortionism to achieve. Shaving my legs and any type of toe care/maintenance I would also put in this category.

I will end this post with a story. On Sunday Andrew and I attended church and were asked to sit in a row that is partially blocked by a large column. I had to move the chair in front of the column a bit to get to my seat but didn't think a lot of it. At the end of the service it was time to take communion and leave reverently or stay and pray. Andrew and I elected the first option and attempted to exit the row. Unfortunately for me, there was now a man in the chair I have previously moved blocking the column who was spending some time with the Lord. Everyone else in our row was able to exit without a problem, but as you can see from the picture above, I have a little extra girth right now and was not able to fit through! I tried to get on my tip toes and turn but my belly just would not fit. My other growing problem was the 10 people behind me also trying to leave who were wondering who was holding up the line! I could feel my face flushing and that I was creating a scene by continuing to attempt to get my body through the opening. Finally, I resolved that I had no choice but to ask the man praying to please move so that I could get out! He was very understanding and as quickly as possible extracted myself from the row. By this time I was beginning to sweat and I could feel the redness in my cheeks growing as I tried to avoid eye contact with the onlookers. I am sure I got a fair amount of glances of pity combined with an effort not to laugh. Looking back it is pretty funny but in the moment I was totally mortified.

And that my friends is 34 weeks....

Nathalie

Christmas at the McClish House

Amongst all of the baby preparations we are doing around the house, Andrew and I somehow made some time to decorate for Christmas. I love this part of the year. We are partial to real Christmas trees and enjoy the process of going to the tree lot, picking out just the right one after much consideration and debate, then taking it home to trim. I think many find this a hassle but to us it is one of the best parts about the season.

Fortunately we also agree on how a tree should be decorated. I am not sure I could have married a guy who insisted we have colored lights on our tree. No offense if you do colored lights at your house, I think those trees are pretty too. However, Andrew and I both grew up with simple white lights and it just feels right to us. We love the simplicity and I am so glad we agree! Andrew does the lights and I do the ribbons then we hang the ornaments together. Perfect....

This picture did not come out as well as I like...but I think you get the idea. The other thing that is great about real trees is all of the extra bows left over after trimming the bottom. I use these on the mantle and they look pretty (IMO) and smell wonderful. Also, after Christmas I can throw them out and don't have to find a place to store yards of garland. Next year we will  have 3 stockings....just can't believe that still!

Since I am now officially on restricted travel (my OB doesn't like her patients leaving town after 32 weeks), Andrew's parents came to see us this weekend. Pat has been sewing some special things for the nursery that she brought and we worked on. They turned out beautiful and I love that Julianne's room is full of things specially made for her. I will have more pics on this soon, but here are some from our time with the McClishs.

While they were here they treated us to tickets to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan. Every year they have tons of ice brought in and these Chinese sculptures come to create beautiful works of art out of ice. This year the theme was Peanuts or Charlie Brown's Christmas. Here we are waiting in one of the lines to get in to see the ice.

Once we got through the lines they gave us parkas to wear since they must keep the ice at 9 degrees. Fortunately they one that fit over my belly.

It was very neat and I was impressed with the artistry as well as the emphasis that was kept on Christ throughout the exhibit.

My favorite sculpture of all was the final room we walked in....an incredible ice nativity. This picture does not do it justice. It was truly breathtaking and surprising since I didn't expect the exhibit to be Christ focused at all.


More on pregnancy and how the nursery is coming together soon. I am really enjoying getting things set up in there for our baby girl!

Nathalie