Making Progress

I had this *great* idea to add stripes on the walls of Pitter’s/baby’s new room thinking that this would be much easier than painting the whole room. Well it was definitely not easier, but I have to say I do love it!

Thankfully I had some great advice from some of my Facebook friends on how to get great stripes without “bleeding”. Good thing they watch HGTV! It was a lot of prep, but I had almost no bleeding through the tape which made touch-ups super easy!

The trick was to paint the base coat color on the edges of the tape, let them dry and then paint the stripes. It took me 10 times as long to put up the tape and paint the base coat as it did just to do the stripes, but the walls are so textured that I know without all that it would have been a disaster!

It took 2 full rolls of tape to get all of the stripes done, but I ended up having lots of leftover paint. Next time (if I ever decide that I need another 5 day project) I would probably just buy the sample size paint cans instead of a full quart of each color. I guess I can always use the extra paint for shelves or something later…

I’m so pleased with how it turned out! For a while I debated even hanging anything up on the walls as not to distract from the stripes, but I am going to keep it simple and only keep one print and three metal vintage airplanes that we have. They used to be in J’s bathroom when he was a little boy, so I thought that would be pretty cool to have in the room now. That and the crib bedding I have is vintage airplanes as well, so it works out great!

I know Pitter Patter was hoping for something more along the lines of a Spiderman or Star Wars room, but for now he’s happy just to have his room back at all! I’m now feeling a little more prepared for the arrival of “The Captain” (which is what my FIL has already nicknamed him). The baby clothes are all washed and put away, diapers and wipes are ready to be used, and the room is 95% ready. I need to sew a simple valance for each window and then I’m done!

My nesting instincts must have finally kicked in as I have also cleaned out the girl’s room and closet as well. As soon as J and I get their new closet shelves in, their room will be all pretty and clutter free. Of course that won’t last long after they get home, but it sure looks great right now!

Okay, I have to go get wet with a little boy. At 108 degrees it’s finally hot enough for me to swim now too…

 

Almost There…

Thank goodness for that! I’m now 36 weeks and 4 days according to my ‘baby counter’. Only24 more days to go. (hopefully less if my Dr. is still willing to induce)

I keep waiting for the real nesting to kick in. I felt it at the beginning of the pregnancy, but now all I feel is sore and tired. We had just moved to AZ when I was this far along with Pitter and I couldn’t keep still at all! I painted the kitchen and master bathroom in our rental house, sewed a whole crib set and still felt like doing more. J and I did manage to get some shelves put in the baby’s closet over the weekend, but the stripes I have planned for the walls haven’t even been started yet.

Maybe it’s that I’m a little older now, or maybe it’s this desert heat getting to me, but I am ready to be DONE! I think J is ready for me to be done too. I don’t know how he has put up with my whining about sore ribs, or twitchy legs, or puffy fingers and feet. I know my hands don’t look too bad in this picture, but my ring is usually a little loose and for the last 2 weeks I haven’t been able to take it off. At all. It’s stuck there until this baby comes!

My sister and in-laws have my girls in Utah for a few weeks so they wouldn’t be bored here with me getting ready for baby, so I really need to take advantage of that time and get some work done. Hopefully the panic I will feel the last week before I’m due will be enough motivation to get everything all finished up. Admittedly, until this last month I’ve still been in denial about having a baby at all, so maybe that’s the reason I’ve been dragging my feet. Just last week I broke down and bought my first case of diapers. You would think just looking in the mirror would be all the convincing I would need, but apparently not.

Okay, I’m done venting about how miserable I am and how jealous I get when I see anyone running. I promise this is the last time I will whine about feet in my ribs or my nightly heartburn. I won’t complain about how strange my belly button looks right now and how crazy it makes me when everyone (meaning my kids) wants to rub it because it’s so “soft”. No more mention of how I can’t fall asleep without 3 or 4 extra pillows all around me supporting all of my protruding parts, and even when I do fall asleep I have to get up in the middle of the night to “go” and then have to work really hard to fall asleep again.

In all seriousness, please know that I am very excited for this new baby boy and I do know how lucky we are to be having a baby while others out there struggle. I can’t wait to see his cute face and I won’t mind the sleepless nights when I have someone sweet and little to wake up to. (well, maybe I will) But all this uncomfortableness and pain IS worth it and soon I’ll be back to whining about something else. Promise!

 

My First UFO Sighting…

Last night as Pitter, J and I were walking to the park, a neighbor pointed out this UFO to us. He had been watching it for an hour and said it was just sitting in the sky and hadn’t moved. It looked like a really bright star to us, and we were definitely intrigued by it.

We continued watching it from the park and instead of getting brighter with the sun going down it actually got dimmer and then disappeared. Though I found this video of what it most likely was, I like to imagine all of the possibilities of what it could have been instead. Life’s more exciting when you use your imagination…

Happy Friday and weekend everyone!

 

Break Time

Sorry about the lack of updates lately, but I was busy tying up loose ends before my annual pilgrimage to the city of Salt. This year, sadly, I will not be staying my usual 6 weeks. J is very pleased about the fact that he will not be left to fend for himself all summer, and the girls are also very pleased that they get to stay in Utah 3 weeks longer than their parents. Apparently there are a few people here who don’t think that 2 weeks is enough time to play with and spoil my kids. (you all know who you are!)

We are now officially on vacation and my only plans are to enjoy the cooler weather and catch up with family and friends. But I am staying with my sister, so it is very likely that there will also be some shopping and some craftiness going on as well. Maybe we’ll make some more of these:

This is a fun book idea that I got from a neighbor a while ago. There is a page for each month of the year to keep track of birthdays, anniversarys, or any other special occasion that you like. The cool part though is that there is a pocket on each page to hold the cards that you make or buy ahead for said events. Great idea, right?! When I make another one, I’ll be sure to add a tutorial for you all to use to make your own. For now, I did upload the pictures of each page to my flickr account to help those who want to give it a try.

Also, I would like to upload all of the pictures of everyone’s aprons from my apron swap. If you have your apron, please take a picture of you (or your daughter, friend, etc.) and email it to me so we can see all of the cute creations. And if you haven’t yet received your apron, please let me know that as well!

Well, it’s time to get offline again and plant some flowers with the kids. Since J is with me on this trip, I’m not sure I can get him to be a guest blogger…but I’ll try. I always love to see what he has to say!

I’ll also be checking in on blogs as often as I can, but please accept my apology if I don’t comment. I still have another week and a half of vacation and blogging is not on the list of family “to do’s”, but I’ll be back to the heat of AZ soon enough and stuck indoors again in no time! However, today is planting flowers day, so I must go get my hands dirty.

Happy summer everyone!

 

Flashback Friday *birthday style*

This is my hunky husband 13 years ago on Maui. He was carving both of our initials in this control box that we found on a hike called “swinging bridges”. We had only been dating about one month at the time this picture was taken, but obviously he knew even back then that we were going to be a permanent thing…

Oh…isn’t he so cute? This trip seems like yesterday and I have a really hard time believing that this was 1996! Wow, time flies. Speaking of time flying, today is J’s birthday! He is now as old as me. My kids love to remind me that I’m 6 months older than him. Aren’t they great that way?

We were barely 20 when we met, so I really do feel that J and I have done the bulk of our “growing up” together. We have come a long way in the last 13 years and I wouldn’t change any of it! It’s been wonderful to spend my adulthood side by side with my best friend.

Thank you J for being a great husband, father and entertainer! We all love you and hope you have a great birthday!

 

Love Passed Down

I had a wonderful day yesterday which means that I didn’t lift a finger besides getting my girls and myself ready for church. J made all my favorite foods for dinner including crab legs and steamed artichokes (yum!) and we ended the evening with some star-gazing in the backyard. All in all a really nice mellow day. It only could have been better if our own moms were here with us.

All day I kept thinking about all that I have learned the last 8 years and although J thinks that being a great parent  just comes naturally, I know better. I really didn’t think when I was younger that I would have any kids, let alone 4, so when I found myself in this mom role, I became an observer of those who I thought were doing a great job.

I was very studious watching my sister as well as my neighbors and friends interact with their kids (especially the ones with teenagers). I asked tons of questions and the advice I would hear over and over was to teach them at a very young age confidence by encouraging  their dreams and interests,  to help them gain independence through responsibilities, and that kids do need and actually like structure and discipline. Hopefully these theories pan out for me. Eventually I’ll find out!

I feel so blessed to know so many great women and mothers. I still watch and listen and learn more and more every day. I’m also so lucky to have a great mom who instilled so many great values in my life, even though I think that sometimes she regretted how strong-willed and independent I could be!

She is such a great Nana to my kids and I love that she can make any normal, everyday thing feel magical. My kids love spending time with her getting messy in the garden, feeding the animals across the street and playing night time games outside with her. She is still so young at heart and I love that she has no problem being just as silly and crazy as her grand-kids.

My mother-in-law has also done an incredible job in raising her kids as well. I am convinced that there is no one who gives more selflessly than her! She taught my husband to be strong, yet sensitive and I love who he is and it all has to do with the relationship he had and continues to have with his parents.

My kids know that Grandma will drop anything and everything to play a game with them, or make “icky stuff” and if they mention they need something (you know really need, like a new toy) she is sure to make it happen. They love to spend time at her house in the room she has created just for them, full of craft supplies and all of their favorite things.

Being a parent is not always the easiest or funnest thing, but it is the most rewarding job I have ever had or will ever have. I know I wouldn’t like it half as much if I didn’t have a husband who worked so hard at being a great dad, as well as parents and in-laws (and countless family and friends) who are willing to help me when I need a break. I am wise enough to know that I can’t do it alone.

I know that somewhere along the way I will screw up with my kids. That’s just life and it’s bound to happen. But I hope no matter what, they will always feel and know how much I love them and that I’m always doing the best that I know how to. Just like my mom did, just like J’s mom did, and just like their moms did…

 

Spinning

There’s no question I picked the right name for this blog.

I’m so ready for a break right now. Like a real one where I can sit by a pool in the shade (it’s already 100 degrees here) sipping some yummy, fruity, frozen tropical tasting concoction and just be. That’s all. Not read, not think, maybe sleep, but have nowhere to go and no deadline for something or other looming in my future.

That’s what I should have told J I wanted for Mother’s Day, instead I think I spouted something like “I don’t know, an oil change in my car and a few hours without the kids to clean a little and maybe take a nap?” …pathetic! Obviously the sun, heat and pregnancy has cost me the few braincells I had left!

It’s time for another girl’s getaway here again…

Not this weekend though.  No, I’ll be sleeping in a tent and making smores with my little girl scouts. I know it will be fun and the girls are all looking forward to it, but I can’t help it if I’ll be laying in my sleeping bag planning my little imaginary getaway while trying not to think of the next few crazy-busy weeks ahead.

But soon. Soon I will have a short break…

 

Chewbacca Stops By

What does a sweet 7 year old big sister do for her Star Wars lovin’ brother on his 3rd birthday? She dresses up like a wookiee of course! If you can see his face through the fur you can see just how happy he was about this.

*Thanks to M’s little friend for the idea and the costume!*

 

Almost Apron Time!

A quick reminder for all of you who signed up for the Spring Apron swap, we are three days away from shipping day! I am SO excited to see your aprons, so if you have received yours, please send me a picture of you in it! I have uploaded a couple of pictures to my kspin flickr page of aprons that the makers have sent me, but so far that’s all I have.

Today I am sewing my apron and can’t wait to see how it turns out! I have had it cut out for a few weeks now and I have looked over the pattern enough that I *think* I know how to do it. This is my first attempt at using a pattern, so I’ll let you know how it goes. I love the material that I picked. Here is a sneak peek…

The more I look at it, the more I love it. I think I want to decorate a room with these same colors now. Now I just have to decide which room…

I got my apron a couple of weeks ago and Yay! it’s pink!

It’s so not flattering right now (and may not ever be with that gigantic heart), but my kids love it and remind me to wear it when we are making cookies or doing messy kitchen products. It was a hit with my Girl Scouts as well, so it might actually get a lot of wear. (I can make fun because it was my mom that ended up with my name and she laughed when I put it on too!)

I know. The picture quality is horrible. I will make sure and upload a new version as soon as I have one. Here is another view of the apron. I really love the heart pockets. I may have to try that on another apron sometime.

I hope you are all having as much fun with this as I am! If it all works out, this might just turn into an annual event. Okay, I’m off to get sewing.  Happy apron swapping everyone!

 

29 Weeks

It’s been a fun/busy/crazy week and I have more posts on the way, but I wanted to do a quick belly update before I get into regular blog fodder. I can’t believe that 5 more weeks have gone by so quickly…

Thanks to big “M” for the photo. Not too bad for a 7 year old with a broken camera!