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

Babymoon and other updates

Dear Blog-

I am sorry for the neglect...things have been busy and frankly I just haven't felt like updating you lately. Please forgive me...I still love you.

Nathalie

OK now that that is out of the way.....Andrew and I have been keeping busy lately. I really should start with telling you all about the beautiful baby shower we had at the beginning of November. I don't have any pics with me today from the event though so I will have to postpone my remarks from the evening to a later post.

For now, please enjoy some recent shots from our latest adventures and projects.

Adventure #1: A&M vs. Baylor football game. Location: Waco Texas

This is always a fun event for us since Andrew attended Texas A&M and I attended Baylor University. It was an exciting match up...well the first half was anyway. A&M came back in the 2nd half and ended up with the win. I was sad but it made for a more pleasant ride home with my Aggie.

Adventure #2: Colorado Babymoon and Thanksgiving  Location: Colorado

The week of Thanksgiving was spent in the lovely mountains of Colorado where I grew up and my family still lives. We saw deer, snow, and ate like kings (I am dreading my OB appointment tomorrow for fear I gained 12 pounds)! During our visit with my family Andrew and I took a couple of days for an official "babymoon". If you are not familiar with this term, it means one last hoorah before a couple becomes parents thus ending time alone forever. We got countless advice that one last trip "just the two of us" would not be regretted and cherished for years to come. We chose to visit the little town of Buena Vista Colorado and spent our time exploring and enjoying the mountains and time together. It was awesome.

Lovely river we walked along....

30 weeks on this day! It snowed while we were there which sadly covered the mountain views, but it was still really pretty!

I imagine this will be one of our last "just the two of us" photos....crazy!

Adventure #3: Nursery Art Project. Location: Julianne's room 

I have been slowly working on a few things for our girl's room. I found a tutorial online for this and thought it was such a great idea. My inspiration came from the quilt I had made for her and loving the fabrics that were used.

I love that it is unusual and custom made

Another view...I decided to order 3 of the fabrics in the quilt online and use it as artwork on the wall.

First I went to Hobby Lobby and chose some plain wooden frames in the size I desired. These cost me a total of $10 (made 3 frames)

Next I cut the fabric slightly larger than the frame

Then I ironed the cut piece..

gathered my supplies....not pictured here, but a husband is also nice to have around to operate the stapler while the wife holds the fabric tight

I started on one side pulling the fabric tight as I went and then did the same on the opposite end. Saved the corners for last....again...Andrew was very helpful for this part. Thanks babe!

For the corners I tried to wrap it like a gift. Seemed to work well....

 And Done! I am going to be changing the way they are hung...going for something more A-symmetrical I think. I didn't want to not show the finished product though. I am very pleased with how they turned out! Total cost: $25

I also now have some extra fabric to use for other things in the room as well. I don't really consider myself a crafty person, but this was so easy I would totally do it again or recommend others trying it.

Thus concludes this ridiculously long and random post. Thank you for reading....assuming you still are.

Nathalie

My Momma

I thought I would take this opportunity to write a post about my Mom. She lives in Colorado but surprised us this week with a visit! We literally came home Tuesday night after our childbirth class and she was in our living room with my sister (Maria was dog sitting for us). It is such a treat because I don't get to see her as much as I would like. We have been having fun this week hanging out.

Some fun facts about my mother:

1. She is petite and cute and always put together.

2. Both of her parents were born in Mexico but immigrated (legally I might add) to the states before she was born. I wrote an essay on my grandmother's challenging and inspirational journey to the US once and won a scholarship. It is an amazing story...and kind of off topic...I apologize

3. She speaks fluent Spanish, is very creative, makes excellent tamales, is a gifted Real Estate Agent.

4. She has decided Julianne will call her "Mamacita" "Cita" for short. I think it's perfect.

 This was her reaction to the news that she would be a grandmother. I wrote her a card from the baby and stuck a piece of rice on it to represent the baby's current size. She was excited to say the least....

5: My mother is not a fan of having her picture taken as you can see from the above image. I am not sure why this is as I have always thought she is such a pretty lady.

6. She is generous and has the gift of hospitality. She is constantly throwing parties and events in her home for her many friends.

I would have always told you that I love and appreciate my mom. However, as I go through this pregnancy I am beginning to realize that maybe I never understood how much she loves me. I love Julianne, but I am told I will love her unlike anything I have ever known once she is here. I cannot begin to understand that but am eager to experience it. I suspect how I relate to and love my mom will change as well. I think I may even feel bad I didn't appreciated her more. I suppose this is part of the joy a woman experiences when she becomes a grandmother, but the whole thing blows my mind. With that I will end this post.

Nathalie