Peekaboo Bonnet for Eva

I saw the Peekaboo Bonnet pattern over at Made By Rae while I was pregnant with Eva and fell in love with it.  I told my husband if we had a girl I was buying that pattern and I would make her a dozen of those cute little bonnets.


Well, we had a girl and I promptly bought the pattern.  I let it sit on my kitchen table for a good week and a half completely intimidated.  I had never worked with piping and my ruffling and binding skills leave a lot to be desired.


I kept reading reviews for the pattern and of course everyone said how easy and quick the pattern was but I still didn't believe them so I let the pattern sit....stupid me.


Finally a couple days before my family reunion, which was to be held outside at the end of June can we say HOT.  I knew Eva needed that bonnet to protect her little head and keep the sun out of her eyes so I kicked my butt in gear and decided to just start sewing and see what I came up with.

Is this not the cutest little bonnet EVER!

I love it and I want to make 23 more.  My husband says it looks Amish and he's not a fan, I told him I don't care I'm making one in every color of the rainbow and a few extras after that.

And let me tell you this pattern was super easy.  After my pieces were cut out, because I did that on a separate day, it took me all of a naptime to finish it.  And if you have ever read my blog before you know naptimes in this house are never very long.  The only thing is I don't consider mine reversible because I machine stitched the center strip instead of hand stitching like Rae recommended, so the seam on the inside was very visible.  It doesn't look so bad that I couldn't reverse it if I wanted I just prefer to not see the seam. 

I've gotten so many compliments on it and Eva is the cutest little girl ever in it.  Sometimes I put it on her just so I can marvel at how adorable it is, and she is in it.

Hospital Bag Must Haves

I think every woman has a different list of items they feel is necessary in their hospital bag for when they give birth.  I didn't have a clue my first time around and relied on friends and family members for tips.  Some items they suggested I ended up using, others I found pointless to have.  I also had a whole separate bag packed for Grant with a whole lot of stuff I never even pulled out.






So I thought I'd share what is going in my bag the second time around.  The items I feel like are necessary as I have no desire to pack a bunch of crap I won't need.  All that does is make more work for me unpacking it later.






1. flip flops- you must have these for the shower.  I'm sure the janitorial staff does a great job cleaning showers but I still don't want my bare feet in the same shower that dozens of other people have used.  I bought mine at the end of the season last year for $1.  I have no intentions of bringing them back home with me since I bought them specifically for the hospital.  They will get pitched before leaving, less for me to unpack at home.


2. Travel size shampoo/conditioner/body wash/deodorant-  no reason to have large bottles of these items and if you have no use for them once you're home, just pitch these with the flip flops before leaving the hospital.  Normally I'm not one to waste but I figure after I've been through childbirth I feel like I have the right to waste a little if I want.


3. Nipple Cream- I had a difficult time breastfeeding Grant and while in the hospital they will provide you with sample packets of nipple cream but you will go through it like crazy.  The nurses do their best but sometimes it takes awhile to get more when you run out so I wanted to make sure I had my own this time around.


4. Vaseline in a tube- If you're going to have your little boy circumcised they will advise you to use Vaseline on the area to keep urine from aggravating it.  Once again they can give you packets of this while you are there but if you're like me you will use a crap load every time you change his little diaper to keep him as comfortable and pain free as possible.  Therefore you will go through those packets super quick and it could take longer than you'd like to get more if you're in the middle of a diaper change.


5. Travel size antibacterial gel: There will be plenty of this on the walls all over the hospital but you want to have this at arms length while you're there.  You could be in pain from a C-section or just sore from natural childbirth but either way you don't want to have to get up and walk across the room every time you need a quick hand cleaning.


6. Travel Lotion-  with all the handwashing and sanitizing you are going to be doing, you're hands will dry out pretty quick.  Lotion will help.


7. Nursing cover-  With all the people coming and going to visit you, you will want something to cover yourself if you're going to be nursing your little one.


8. Mini Loafa for showering- I bought a package of these at the Dollar tree when I put together a hospital kit for my cousin.  Now I'm glad I did because I prefer using a loafa rather than the super thin hospital wash cloths they provide for you. 


9. Pajamas- This is a comfort item because the hospital will provide gowns for you to wear but who wants to be stuck in those ugly things for 2 days with everyone you know coming to see you and your new little one and taking pictures.  I was fortunate enough to receive a really nice set of nursing ones for Christmas and I ended up making my own hospital gown, but any comfy pajamas will do.


10. Granny panties- yep you read that right.  The hospital will provide mesh ones, use these while you're there but you will need a pair of your own to wear home.  Don't take your nice ones take the ones you don't care if they get stained and you have to throw them away.   Last thing you want is to ruin your favorite pair.


11. Nursing bras- if you have sleep nursing bras take those because you will want to be as comfortable as possible but any nursing bras will work.






Now for your little ones bag.




When I packed a bag for Grant I packed burp cloths, receiving blankets, multiple outfits, hats, socks, and so many other things I thought I might need.  I used very few of the items I packed.  Here's what I'm packing this time around..


1. Outfit-Don't go nuts with the outfits because it's really not necessary.  One for leaving the hospital and one for pictures if you want it different than his/her take home outfit.


2. 1 Receiving blanket:  This isn't necessary as the hospital will provide ones for you to use while you are there but I like having one in a cute print so I'm taking one of my own, but only one.


And that's it for the little one.  The hospital provides most items you will need, so keep that in mind.
 

My Labor Day Story

I have always loved hearing other women's labor stories so I thought I'd share mine.  Yes I have been a little absent from the blog for about a month and that is all due to my little one making her way into this world.  The story is one reason why I don't like induction, ok I have quite a few reasons why I don't like induction but one of them is I want to have a story.  Something other than, "I went to the hospital at such and such time, they hooked me up to an IV and baby was born so many hours later".  No, I want something a little different, a little more interesting to tell my kids when they get older. 

Years from now this is the story my daughter will hear:

The night I went into labor I had been at my Mom's.  I still had a few days until my due date and had been to the doctor the day before, she was going to strip my membranes in the hope that I would go into labor sooner but once she checked me she said she couldn't because she was afraid she'd end up breaking my water instead.  I was 4 1/2 cm dilated and 75 % effaced, this is pretty typical of the end of my pregnancies.  With Grant I was 4cm dilated for a week before he was born so I was pretty sure I still had quite a few days left before this one would arrive.  I thought that day would probably be the last time Grant would be able to play at Grammy's before the baby came since the rest of the week would be busy with other errands. 

There were no real signs the baby would be coming except I thought I'd lost my mucus plug earlier that morning, still I was in denial.We got home a little after 9pm, and Grant and I went to bed a little before 11.  I'd been having Braxton Hicks contractions that were progressively worse for a few days but nothing consistent and not really painful just uncomfortable.  I had them so often I ignored them most of the time.  I was almost asleep and thought I was having a couple Braxton's when I realized I had been tensing up with the last 2 and actually had to tell myself to relax.  Braxton's never made me tense up before so I timed a couple of them, 11 minutes apart.  It was 11:33pm.

I went downstairs and continued to time them, I had a couple 11 minutes apart then a couple 6 minutes apart.  I called my Mom and told her I thought I was in labor but wasn't having really consistent contractions and just to stay tuned, it was 12:24am.  I considered them not consistent because I was only having a couple the same amount of time apart then the time between them would decrease by quite a few minutes.  This was a stupid assumption of mine.  I called my husband at 12:26am and told him I was in labor, he asked if I'd called my mom to come over and take me to the hospital and why I hadn't called him earlier.  I told him I'd only been having contractions for an hour and I probably had hours and hours of labor left.  He reminded me I was already 4 1/2 cm dilated and I reminded him I was 4 cm with Grant and had 9hours of labor with him.

I called my mom shortly after that because the contractions were getting pretty painful and told her she should probably make her way over, the contractions were 4-5minutes apart, it was 12:47am.  I still didn't have my bag completely packed, because I figured I had a few days to go so I was walking through the apartment packing the last few items I thought I'd need. 

Once my mom and step dad arrived my contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart. I was still under the impression I had plenty of time.  My mom was rushing, grabbing bags and getting to the car and I remember thinking, we seriously have hours to go there's no need to rush.  I had a contraction right before we walked out the door and made it to the end of the side walk and had another.  This should have been my clue, I did not have hours of labor ahead of me.  You would think I'd be a little smarter since I've been through this before.  It was 1:17am.

We got to the hospital, got checked in, weighed, and vitals taken.  As the nurse was wheeling me to a room she told another nurse she was pretty sure I was in labor so she was taking me to a large room.  All I could think was, duh I'm in labor why else do you think I'd be here at 1 in the morning.  I'm not one to make multiple trips to the hospital in false labor.  When I go in it's the real deal.

I changed into a gown, and another nurse came in to check me.  She said, "yep you're at 8-9cm".  My response was "holy crap!".  I thought I was probably at 6cm but never did I dream I was nearly ready to deliver.  Immediately a slew of nurses were coming in and out of my room with the baby warmer, trays of instruments, stacks of papers to go over and sign, etc.  My husband finally arrived, my doctor broke my water, contractions came one on top of the other without much rest in between.  They hurt, like no other.  I didn't have an epidural with my son so I knew what to expect as far as pain went but it's almost like your mind is in denial until you're actually in labor.  I remember thinking why the heck do I not get epidurals, it must be so nice not to feel any of this.

My doctor asked if I felt like I could push, I said I probably could but didn't have as strong urge.  She said she'd wait for me to tell her when I was ready, then she walked out of the room.  It was probably 30 seconds to a minute later, even though it seemed much longer than that when I had a contraction with the strongest urge to push I'd ever felt.  I told the nurse, "I need to push", she said "sorry honey you have to breathe through this one the doctor isn't in here".  If any of you have not had an epidural and had that contraction with the urge to push, you know your body takes over and you can't not push.  I tried to breathe but my body kept pushing anyway.  It was horrible.  My husband kept saying "breathe", I kept saying "I can't" and would push again.  All I could think was, this baby's coming out whether there's a doctor in this room or not.  That was the longest contraction of my life. 

My doctor came in during that contraction but I was still told to breathe through it as they finished doing whatever they felt they needed to do, I was busy so I don't have a clue what she was doing.  That contraction finally ended and my doctor said, "wow that one lasted like 2 minutes", that was the longest 2 minutes of my life.  I didn't even know contractions could last that long.  I was exhausted.  My doctor was doing what's called a perineal message, which is done to stretch the perineum and help prevent tearing.  I'm sure this was a good thing for her to do but to me it felt like she was pushing the baby back in, there was so much pressure I couldn't relax enough to get a good push.  My doctor kept telling my to relax my bottom and I kept saying "I can't".  Finally she looked at me and said "if you relax this baby will be out with your next contraction".  That's all I needed to hear.  The only thing going through my mind was "I want this baby out of me!".  So I took a few breaths and relaxed the best I could.  The next contraction came and I pushed 2 counts of 10 like it was the last thing I was going to do in my life and my baby was here.

The doctor: "It's a girl!"

I was convinced I was going to have a boy so my husband said, "you were wrong, you got your girl".

I was still a little in denial, even looking at her, I couldn't believe I had my girl.  I would have been perfectly happy with a little boy but since my husband said from the beginning this was probably our last baby I thought it would be nice to have one of each.  Of course as soon as she was here I looked at my husband and said, "yea we are done, I'm not doing this again.  Holy crap that hurt!" haha he laughed.


I was so relieved she was here, the pain was over, and so happy I had a beautiful healthy baby girl, I started tearing up.  I remember Grant's labor and delivery but I didn't remember it being that painful during the delivery part, and he was 10oz bigger than her.  I said it after Grant and I say the same now, even with all the pain I would have another one without an epidural.  I know most women prefer the more pain free route, and I honestly can't blame them, having a baby hurts more than anything you will feel in your life.  That being said, I didn't have to worry about headaches and neck pain from the epidural like my cousin did after having her baby, I could get up and move immediately after both my babies were born, and other than typical pain and exhaustion from giving birth I felt great.  It's not the right decision for every woman but for me it's the only way to go.

Eva was born at 2:35am, less than an hour after we arrived at the hospital, and was 8lbs 15oz and 20.5 inches long. I had no concept of time once we got to the hospital and I thought it was so much later than it actually was.  When I asked what time she was born and I realized it was less than an hour after we arrived I was shocked.  I thought we had been there so much longer.

I had said from the beginning of my pregnancy I was hoping for a quick labor and delivery.  Never dreaming of one as short as 3 hours.  I was thinking 5-6 hours would be great, 3 hours wasn't even a thought in my mind.  I told my husband if we were crazy enough to have another baby I would be terrified of not even making it to the hospital.  I'd have to go in with the first contraction I felt.

Now a month later Eva is waking up every 3-4 hours at night and after a few days of her not getting to sleep until 6 and 7 am she's finally starting to get on a bedtime schedule.  I look at her sweet face and think "yea I'd have another one."  My husband still says we are done, I say we will see.

Postpartum Freezer Pads : Preparing for Baby

I've been doing my best to try and have everything I could possibly have to make postpartum a little easier on my body and heal as quickly as possible.  Since this is my 2nd little one and my body went through so much with Grant I figure I might have a leg up on what I need to have prepared. 

When I had Grant I had a perineal tear (pretty standard for most women), a urethral tear (longest heal time ever!), horrible hemorrhoids, and extremely sore nipples.



If that's too much information for you I apologize, I'm just trying to keep things real here.

So far I've made soothing breast pads to keep in the freezer for the sore nipples along with having a stash of nipple cream.  With some goodies ready for the ta-tas I figured I needed to start searching for something for my other region. I started googling, because what else would I do when searching for ideas, and came across freezer pads, or "padsicles".



Most of the tutorials I found used alcohol free Witch Hazel, Aloe gel, sanitary pads, and lavender essential oil.  When I went to the store I could not find any Witch Hazel that didn't have at least 14% alcohol and I really didn't want to order it online.  Had I done my research earlier I wouldn't have been concerned about getting it sent to me before I actually went into labor, but that's the procrastinator in me.



So the other night I stayed up til 12:30 in the morning searching to see if anyone had used the Witch Hazel with alcohol and found this tutorial.  My mom was afraid the alcohol content would dry out my skin down there but multiple people said they didn't have any issues with it.  I decided to trust this and use Witch Hazel I found at Meijer for $3.44.



I bought aloe gel at target for $3.94, does anyone else think this is sky high pricing for aloe?  Maybe I should have shopped around.



Oh well.



I actually read you could just use the aloe gel on a pad and freeze it for a little relief if you can't find Witch Hazel or the lavender essential oil.



The one thing I left out was the lavender essential oil.  I scanned the stores for it and couldn't find any sign of it.  I'm sure it helps but I wasn't about to pay $10 for a small bottle plus another $5+ for shipping to order it online.  There were other women on different blogs I came across that didn't use it and still had good results, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Here's everything I used:

I took each pad and unwrapped it leaving the plastic on the back.  Then I took the aloe and just squirted some all down the center.  I didn't want to use my fingers or anything to smear the aloe around for fear of germs.  The last thing I want is an infection in that area.  So instead I used the pad itself and just folded the top down and smeared it around then repeated that with the bottom half of the pad.  Then I took a tablespoon measuring spoon and poured about 1/2T Witch Hazel all over the pad.  I didn't want to "soak" the pad in the Witch Hazel, I just wanted it to be damp.  You could use more if you wanted.

Then I folded the pad back up just like it was before I opened it and wrapped it in foil.  All the blogs I read said they didn't have any issues with the pads being frozen together so I figured I shouldn't have to worry either. 

I only made 7 of these so far because I want to see how well they work before making a boat load of them.  I put all mine in a gallon sized freezer bag labeled "Lisa's postpartum", just so my husband wouldn't think it was some kind of food and open them.

 With the bottles of aloe and Witch Hazel I bought there is more than enough to make loads of these if they work well.

All the reviews on pads like these were great so I'm really hoping they work well for me too.  I'll report back after I get some use out of them.

You know your at the end of your pregnancy when.....

You know you're at the end of your pregnancy when......

You have to get a little momentum going in order to get off the couch.

You have to scoot your ever growing behind to the end of the couch and use your arms to push off the back of the couch in order to get off the same couch.  So much work just to get up.

You wake up all hours of the night for no apparent reason and can't for the life of you get back to sleep.

You need no less than 6 pillows surrounding you and holding up your belly while you sleep.

Sleeping on your back makes you feel like you can no longer breathe and you sleep on your sides so much they actually get sore throughout the night.

You have acid reflux....horrible, never ending, doesn't matter what you eat, acid reflux.

Every time you get up you make a small groaning noise because your body literally hurts from the weight of your belly.

Your thighs ache all day because this baby is sitting right between them getting ready for it's debut.

Every weird ache you get you are saying a silent prayer it is the beginning of labor.

You pull a muscle, or multiple muscles, in your belly because you rolled over at night and had no support under your belly.

You wonder if your stomach stretches another inch if it's possible for it to actually burst.

The act of getting dressed makes you out of breath.

Bending over is a chore and requires some strategy.

Even your large maternity clothes are slowly starting to no longer fit.

Going to the store makes you exhausted and in serious need of a nap.

The sheer act of standing up makes you feel like you will pee your pants before you make it to the bathroom.

You use the restroom only to stand up, fix your pants and shirt, and have the overwhelming sensation you have to pee again.

Your belly is constantly hitting the counter and "in the way" while you're cooking.

You accidentally almost knock your 3 year old over with your belly because you have no real concept of how far it actually sticks out.

Your toddler constantly looks at your belly and says, "mama your belly's big!"

Your sister says "Lisa you're looking pretty humongous today", and doesn't think you should be offended by it.

You welcome the horrendous pain of childbirth so you can not only finally see your little one but so you also no longer have to be pregnant.  You are that uncomfortable

DIY Soothing Breast Pads

I've been trying to round up some DIY's that will make the recovery period after birth a little less painful and uncomfortable.  Since breastfeeding difficulties was one of my big issues with Grant and the pain of sore nipples is horrendous, I want to make sure I have everything I can to make it less painful and an easier transition.  I noticed soothing gel breast pads that go in the freezer at the stores and wondered if there was a way to make a version of them myself, because for 1 pair they were 12.99 which is crazy to me.  plus plastic gel pads just didn't seem like they would be all that comfortable on sore tender nipples.

When I googled it I found this website and thought they would be perfect, not to mention simple to make.  It reminded me of the Boo Boo Bear ice pack I made for the kids.

I made mine out of the softest flannel I had in my stash and rice I had in my pantry.  The tutorial said to make them 6inches but that seemed huge to me so I did mine 5inches and used a bowl as a pattern.

I used a water soluble quilting pen to make the 1 inch circle in the center and stitched around it.  You can see the blue markings in this pic:

 A damp cloth wiped over the markings erases them.

  The tutorial I found only had the 1 inch center stitched and around the outside but I was afraid all the rice would pile in the bottom of the pad and be bulky.  So instead I made 4 straight line stitches to divide the circle into 4 quadrants.  Then I filled each one with rice.  Since I haven't used these yet I can't speak to how well they do or don't work but I'm optimistic.  These will be in my freezer ready for when I come home.

They were really easy and quick to make so I figure if they work great I can make a couple more to always have a set in the freezer.

If you know of someone who is pregnant and going to be breastfeeding these would be great in a breastfeeding gift basket or along with a baby shower gift, or even with the gift your taking to the hospital after the baby's born.

DIY Maternity Hospital Gown

I am super excited about this post, for a few reasons but one of them being I didn't actually think I was going to get this project finished. 


I made my own hospital gown using this pattern.  I've had this on my to-do list since early fall.  Of course I had planned on making it way back then but fall is too busy a time to add projects I can technically put off until after the New Year.  So I procrastinated like I always do, but this past weekend I finally made it in to Hobby Lobby in the hopes of them having the perfect fabric on clearance.


They didn't have the fabric I envisioned but I really like what I found.  I'm normally more of a blue kinda girl and that's what I wanted but I found this chocolate brown with teal polka dots for $3 a yard and thought it would probably work better.  I thought the dark color would be good considering it could possibly get a little messy, the brown will hide some of that if necessary.  I ended up buying 3 yards in case I needed to add length to the gown.  I also bought 2 packages of double fold bias tape and 1 spool (3yds) of 1 inch ribbon.  Of course I used coupons for the bias tape and ribbon and the total for my gown ended up being $13 and some change.  Not bad considering the ones online are $40 or more.

Here it is without the ribbon tie.

The ribbon isn't necessary but it makes me feel less of a huge whale waddling around.  Plus it adds a cuteness factor to it.

I used Velcro on the shoulders instead of snaps like some other bloggers.  My only reason for this is I had Velcro in my stash and I knew I could sew it on quicker than attaching snaps.  Plus I really think Velcro will be easier to attach with one hand after nursing, rather than trying to re-snap a bunch of snaps. 

I also liked the look of the ribbon around the waist or on top of my belly whichever way you wanna put it, so I added 2 small belt loops one on either side of the gown to hold it in place.  I didn't notice anyone else adding this little detail but when I thought of having the ribbon I wanted to make sure if it came untied it wouldn't just fall to the floor.  As I will probably be distracted I don't want to keep track of a ribbon.

The pattern and original directions didn't call for bias tape but I saw this blog and really liked the looks of it.  I however am not great with bias tape and probably didn't do mine right.  Actually I know I didn't but hey, I gave it my best shot and I'm not complaining with the results.  One day I'm gonna learn how to put it on right.

The directions on the pattern confused me a little.  None of the other blogs I read had any problem with them so I'm gonna assume it's a combination of my lack of brain function after a full day with a 3 year old and 2 year old and pregnancy brain on top of that.  I followed the parts I could and was winging the rest but it's seriously so simple that even winging it was easy.

The pattern called for a button on each shoulder next to the neck line.  I thought this was probably pointless so wasn't going to add them.  Then when I finished the gown I realized they actually did serve a purpose.  If you try to leave them out this is what your gown will look like. 

Even after realizing this I still didn't want to do buttons so I added an extra piece of Velcro.  I didn't want any part of the gown to be cumbersome when trying to nurse my little one.

I didn't add the pocket to the top for a heart monitor since I thought it was probably unnecessary for labor and delivery. 

I wanted to make sure my backside was completely covered while making trips to the restroom and such, since I know from experience it's difficult to hold the back of your gown, the IV pole, and walk to the restroom all at the same time during labor.  So instead of cutting the fabric following the left and right back pattern pieces.  I instead did 2 left side pieces and positioned the ribbons accordingly.

I only did a 1/2 inch hem around the bottom and didn't end up adding any extra length and this came to just below the knees and I'm about 5ft 7inches.  I'm ok with this length as I didn't want anything really long to have to mess with during delivery and exams.  In a few of the blogs I looked at  they added length because they felt like this length was too short.  If your on the fence go ahead and add a few inches because it's easier to take away extra than to add more at the end.

While brown still isn't my favorite color, I'm thrilled with my gown.  I love the fact that I won't have to wear one of the dingy white gowns the hospital provides.  I love that I can use this when I get home as a nursing nightgown if I want so it's not just a one time use, not that it still wouldn't be worth it.

Here is the backside of the gown.  I still need to trim the ribbon a little  but other than that, it's ready to go in my hospital bag!

I just wish now that I had seen this pattern back when I knew a bunch of people having babies so I could make them one.  They really are easy to put together and would make a really fantastic baby shower gift, especially for a 2nd or 3rd time mom as they usually already have most of the baby stuff covered and could use some mommy pampering.

Hopefully it won't be too long before I will have pictures of my gown in action with my little one in my arms!

Baby Bibs:Preparing for Baby

The other day I was thinking of basic baby stuff I will still need when he/she arrives.  Most items I have, especially for a boy, but if this one's a girl I know there will need to be some shopping done.  I thought about going out and buying some  items like bibs, receiving blankets, etc. in gender neutrals but have you taken a look at gender neutral stuff recently.  Pretty much you can only get items in yellow, gray, and occasionally green, and the prints are almost always ducks or elephants.  While I don't have anything against those colors or even ducks or elephants, if I have a little girl I know I will want all the pink and purple with flowers, polka dots, and frills. 


So my solution was to raid my fabric stash and make enough of these items with some of my own gender neutral prints to get us by in the first few weeks.   I found 3 prints I liked and cut 2 bibs each using neutral flannel fabric for the backing.  I found the pattern I used here.  I liked that these fastened on the side instead of in the back.  Grant had a very chubby neck and Velcro bibs often left imprints in his skin.  These are not super thick but with as much slobbering as babies do they will get changed frequently anyway.  I didn't like thick ones on Grant until he started eating baby food, so I think these will work great in the early months.

I figured if the baby's a girl I will add some fabric flowers and ruffles to make them ultra girly.  If a boy is coming my way then I'm all set.

Nursing Cover Clip

I had a friend make me a nursing cover for when Grant arrived with the boning and everything.  I honestly wasn't really a fan of the boning.  It made it difficult to fold and pack in my bag, and I didn't feel completely covered when I used it so this time around I was looking for something different.  I wanted something that was easy to pack and didn't take up much room in my diaper bag.

I searched online for different options and the one I liked the best was a nursing clip you could use with any blanket to make it a nursing cover.  This would be easy to keep one in the car, in my purse, diaper bag or even my pocket.  I like to travel light when it comes to baby stuff these days.  I think most of us always have a receiving blanket in our car or bag and this clip would easily turn that into a cover.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pics during the process of making this, I know I know I'm a slacker.  I apologize profusely. I'll try to walk you through it as it's super simple.

I cut my fabric 4 inches wide by 22 inches long.  Measure the length you want yours as you  may need a little more or less. Then I folded it in half lengthwise and pressed it to create a center fold.  Unfold it and take the one side and fold it to the center fold, press.  Do the same with the opposite side.  Then fold it in half (using the center fold you already pressed in  the beginning).  Fold your unfinished ends towards the inside so they won't show and straight stitch all the way down .

Then just loop each end through a suspender clip and stitch it down like shown below.

Hopefully that wasn't too confusing because they really are simple to make and really quick too.  I want to make a few of them to keep in different places so I'm never without and it's one less thing I will have to remember to always pack in the diaper bag.
This is one more item that would go great in a hospital kit for a new mom or baby shower gift if you know the mom is going to be breastfeeding.

DIY Hospital Slipper Socks

I've slowly been gathering items for my hospital bag.  I feel like I have plenty of time left so I've been procrastinating like crazy.  I didn't use slippers much in the hospital when I had Grant, instead I just wore socks.  They tend to be a little slippery on the tile floor in most hospitals and the last thing you want to have to worry about is slipping and falling after you've given birth.

I looked for slipper socks at a couple stores and was surprised to find them pretty expensive, or at least to me they were, but then again I'm pretty cheap when it comes to such things.  I thought about scrapping the idea of having them in my hospital bag just so I didn't need to buy them, then I thought "why not make some myself?".

So I dug out some puff paint and a couple pair of socks.

Flatten the bottoms of the socks.

Please ignore the fact these have stains on them, I swear they are clean, just old.

Then make some designs with your puff paint.  I did circles and dots in 2 different colors.  Then just let them completely dry. 

Now you have a super easy and way more affordable pair, or two, of hospital slip proof socks.  This would be great to put in a hospital kit for a new mom as a baby shower gift, except spring for a new pair of socks instead of raiding your own sock drawer, haha.

Pregnancy and the Waddle

Everyone told me, when I was pregnant with Grant, that I would know when I was getting close to the end because he would drop.  I asked these people how I would know when he dropped and their response was, it will feel like his head is sitting right between your legs.  I remember thinking on my due date that this little boy was never going to come out because he hadn't even dropped yet.  I never felt him in my pelvis, never felt like his head was sitting between my legs, never felt pressure from him being low in my pelvis.  Not until I was actually in labor which happened the day after my due date.  Because he never dropped, I never waddled.  I worked up until the day before he was born, 40 hours a week in a doctor's office seeing around 70 patients a day.  I walked from the parking lot to the office which I swear seemed like half a mile and up 2 flights of stairs.  I rarely took the elevator because in all honesty every day I was walking in (in my final pregnancy weeks) I was saying silent prayers that walking like this would cause my water to break so I wouldn't have to go in to work, haha.  Needless to say my water never broke until the doctor broke it for me at 7cm.


Fast forward to this pregnancy and I feel the waddle coming on.  There is no doubt in my mind this baby has dropped.  I feel it burrowing it's head into my pelvis like it's trying to find it's way out regardless of me being in labor or not.  Sometimes I'm walking and I feel like the baby suddenly dropped a couple inches more and that's when the waddle starts.  While I realize this is a good sign, it means the end is coming and I'll get to meet my little one soon, it's freakin uncomfortable and I don't like to waddle.  It makes me feel like I'm huge!  Of course, maybe I am and I'm just telling myself I'm not to make me feel better.


 My stomach has stretched so much that my belly button actually hurts when my pants rub against it.  Did you know that could happen?


Am I the only one who didn't?


I actually almost knocked Grant over the other day with my big belly, hahaha.  I'm actually laughing out loud while I type this because he gave me such a dirty look for invading his space.  I of course apologized after I stopped laughing but I seriously can't gage where my stomach is most of the time.  Maybe my whole body is in denial about how big it is, haha.


I keep reminding myself the end is getting closer every day, and while there is not one single part of me that's looking forward to the pain that is labor, I'm sooooo ready to hold my little one and find out if Grant has a brother or sister.


I'm counting down.

DIY Reusable Nursing Pads

With baby's impending arrival I've been trying to get a little prepared with some DIY's that will end up saving me money.  I've had reusable nursing pads on my to-do list since summer.  Why I put it off until the end is beyond me but I guess that's just my way.  I found quite a few different tutorials and everyone had different ways they thought worked the best. 

After reading a bunch of them I decided to make mine my own way using some pointers from other blogs.  I used 3 different kinds of fabric, flannel, fleece, and PUL.  I also used cotton batting as the inside layer in all of them.  Some people used multiple layers of flannel instead of the batting but I was too lazy to dig through my stash for that much flannel and cut that many circles. 


Some blogs used fleece as the waterproof layer on the outside, other's used PUL.  I happened to have both so I made some of each.

 Since I haven't used them yet I can't say if one or the other works better but I like the feel of the fleece over the PUL.  I wasn't going for perfection with these since, let's face it, no one but me is actually going to see them.  So I didn't make sure the edges were finished

 

and I didn't match up the thread color with the fabrics either. They will serve their purpose regardless.

At first I didn't plan on making them contoured, just round.  I used a disposable nursing pad as a pattern so I would know what size I needed.  I cut 3 layers of fabric for each pad, a layer of fleece or PUL, a layer of flannel, and a layer of cotton batting.  Make sure your batting it 100% cotton and not a polyester, the cotton works better for absorbancy and looks better.  Stack these 3 layers with the cotton batting as the center layer.

Pin them together.  Notice mine don't exactly match up all the way around.  This is the beauty of these pads is perfection is unnecessary.  You will be trimming around the seam later, so your edges don't have to match up.

Stitch once around using a 1/4inch seam allowance using a straight stitch.  Then go around again with a zigzag or if you have a serger you can use that to finish the edges.  This will add stability and make your pads last longer.  Remember these are going to get lots of use and washed a lot too, you want them to hold up well through all that.

Once you have finished your edges cut around your zigzag stitch, making sure to cut close to it but not cutting through your stitching.

Now straight stitch a cross pattern

I didn't get a picture of the cross stitch before I added the pleats above so pretend they aren't there and you're just looking at the straight stitches.

After I made the first pad round and tried it in my nursing bra I realized it bunched up a little more than I liked so I needed to add some pleats, or darts, or whatever they are called, to make them contoured.

Once I put those in they fit perfectly.  The first few I made with pleats I didn't sew them down and they looked like this when I was finished.

After trying them on I thought you might be able to see them sticking up through my more form fitting shirts so I did a few like this:

Notice the pleats are stitched down.

They turned out perfect as far as fit, size, and you couldn't see anything through my shirts so I made all the rest with the pleats stitched down.

One thing I love about these is there's no crinkling of fabric like the disposable ones.  I truly hated that sound.  And these are really soft against my skin which I think will be great, especially in the beginning with soreness.

I made about 13 pair and plan on making a few more.  I really want enough to wear 1 through the day and 1 pair at night.  I didn't actually ever have a problem with leaking when I nursed Grant.  I never leaked one time and kind of felt like I was wasting my disposable nursing pads because they never had anything on them.  I've been told by numerous other mom's who've nursed that this isn't normal haha.  I think because Grant never latched on right my milk flow never got to be enough to make me leak.  Either way this time I'm prepared and I love knowing I don't have to stock up on disposable pads.  Those things can become costly really fast.  If I remember they were about $6 a box when Grant was an infant and if you tend to leak I'm sure you can go through them quickly.  When you're buying diapers, wipes, and nursing pads your bank account can take a hit fast, do yourself a favor and make some of these.  I probably made 6 pair within an hour once I got on a roll and figured out exactly what worked for me.  That's not too shabby in my opinion.  Not to mention if you know someone who's having a baby and going to be nursing these would make a great baby shower gift.

DIY Face Cleaning Pads:Preparing for Baby

There were a few things I wish I had in my hospital bag after I had Grant and I promised myself this time around I would have everything I wanted/needed.  One of those things were face wipes/pads.  It didn't even dawn on me to have these last time until I had been up since 1:54am, was in the hospital after 9 hours of labor and visitors started coming in.  That's when I thought, "man I wish I could quickly wash my face and freshen up".

Now I could have easily went to the store and bought some face wipes, but what fun would that be, right?  So instead I googled making my own and found loads of tutorials and blogs for the wipes but I wanted something small and easy to carry with me.  I also wanted more of a facial cleanser not really just a makeup remover, I found this blog and was super excited it was exactly what I was looking for.  She used baby wash, I think, but I wanted to use my face wash I use in the shower instead.

1T vinegar

1T rubbing alcohol

1T face cleanser

1cup distilled water

cotton rounds

-mix all ingredients in a jar and shake.  Put cotton rounds in a container and add enough of the cleanser solution to moisten them.  Don't do like I did and overly soak them because you will just end up dumping the excess out, and you won't want to be wasteful like me.

I stored mine in a small plastic container with a lid.  If you have an old facial cleanser container that would work even better but I didn't so this was my solution.

These are super convenient and work great.  They don't dry out your face, just leave your skin feeling nice and clean.

DIY Cloth Wipes

I made cloth wipes when Grant was a baby and used them frequently.  When we moved to Ohio they got lost in the move so I made a trip to Walmart and bought a package of cheap washcloths ($4 for 18 if I remember right) and used those, both kinds worked great.  My husband finds cloth wipes disgusting and pointless as he says, "a box of wipes costs like a dollar Lisa, I think we can afford that".  For me its not about whether or not we can actually afford it, it's the fact that if I don't have to buy it and I can make something that can be used again and again, then why not?  Even if I'm only saving a dollar here and there, that's a dollar that can be used for something else.  And if I'm already using cloth diapers, which I did with Grant and plan to use again with this new baby, using cloth wipes isn't any extra work.  You just throw the diaper and wipe in the wash instead of in the trash.  Plus I really like not having to rely on store bought items, no running to Walmart at 9 o'clock at night because I didn't realize we were almost out of wipes.  It's a great feeling.

It dawned on me the other day I needed a new stock of cloth wipes, so I raided my fabric stash and searched for any flannel I could use to make some.  I made these a little bigger than the ones I made years ago and made sure to hem them so they wouldn't fray.  I measured squares 8x8inches and used 2 for each wipe.  I put right sides together, stitched around all 4 sides leaving an opening for turning.  Then turned them right side out and zigzag stitched around all for sides for durability.  You could easily use one 8x8inch square and just hem it around all four sides.  That's what I did before with Grant's wipes but I plan on using these for a couple years (until potty training time) and I wanted them to be thick and durable.

I ended up making about 12 wipes out of the scraps I found and I'm sure I'll end up making more over time but this will at least get me started.  The first few weeks at home after the baby's born I use disposable everything, it's just easier when your trying to get used to a new routine and adjust to the lack of sleep etc. etc. 

This is a great way to use up flannel scraps and save a little money as well.  With Grant (when he was 1-2years old) I was only using a 1 package of disposable diapers a month and 1 container of wipes about every month to month and a half, that is when I wasn't making my own disposable wipes.  Can you tell I'm big on doing things myself instead of buying them?

DIY Handmade Receiving Blankets

When I found out I was pregnant I immediately had a mental list of things I wanted to make.  Most of those items were things I found store bought versions to be useless when Grant was a baby.  Grant was a big baby, over 9lbs, and I found infant towels and receiving blankets to be too small to wrap my little guy up.  I remember using 2 and 3 towels to completely wrap my squirmy little one up after a bath, and I couldn't swaddle him in most receiving blankets because they didn't fit properly either.

I vowed I would not buy either of these items from the stores because it would probably be a waste of our money.  So when Black Friday rolled around this past year I bought 4 yards of gender neutral flannel that was on sale for $1.74/yd. 

I made these two blankets like I made cloth napkins from this site.  If I had a serger it would have taken a whole lot less time.  Unfortunately I don't own one yet so my way takes a little bit longer but for anyone else who doesn't have a serger this way of hemming the blankets makes it so they don't fray.


I didn't take the time to even up all my edges and square them off, mainly because I'm lazy.  I didn't want these blankets to take any more time than necessary since it took me so long to get the fabric out and get started anyways.  I'm not looking for perfection in a blanket like this but if I were giving it as a baby shower gift I would square it all off making it even .  The only thing I noticed about not squaring the edges was the corners don't square perfectly like you see below:

 and when you fold them up all the edges don't match up perfectly. 

Again this doesn't bother me but if it does you, you may want to take the few extra minutes to even your edges out.

Getting this project underway makes me want to start on my other baby projects and I can't wait to wrap my new little one up in one of these.

Western Baby Shower Project Preview

I've wanted to do a baby shower for my cousin for years, so I was super excited when she told me she was pregnant.  For the first time I actually asked the guest of honor what theme she wanted.  She requested a western/country theme.  I showed the invites here.  I'm trying to keep things simple yet cute, not only because I think that's what she will appreciate but also because I'm getting more uncomfortably pregnant by the day and my little guy is having surgery 2 days before the shower.  So big projects or any project that takes  a lot of time was out of the question. 

I think I came up with some really cute and cost effective solutions, cuz you know I'm all about cost effectiveness.  My goal is to stick with my usual party/shower budget of $50 and so far I've lucked out with some of my decorations.  My sister is getting married in August and is having a country themed wedding so I borrowed mason jars and burlap table runners from her.

I don't have everything finished yet and my dining room table is covered in baby shower projects but I thought I'd give a little preview of all the goodies I've been working on the last couple weeks, plus this way I can explain how I made the projects and my shower post can be mainly pictures of everything put together.

As with any party or shower I scoured the internet for ideas and found some amazing western/country baby showers out there.  I got loads of inspiration and I can't wait for my cousin to see everything put together.
Actually I can't wait to see everything put together.

Centerpieces:

I purchased a bush of fake daisies from Hobby Lobby at 50% off for $4.50.  There were 12 daisies in the bush.  I used 2 quart size mason jars I already had in my cabinet, wrapped them with twine (purchased at Wal-mart for $1.47 a roll) and tied a piece of paisley print fabric around them.  I bought a yard of  the fabric at Hobby Lobby at 30% off for $6.29/yd.   I used this fabric for different touches throughout the decorations to tie everything together.


Mini Tissue Poms:
Originally I knew I was going to use poms to decorate but had planned on making large ones.  Once I got to looking at the ceiling space and how low they would have to hang I realized they would end up being in the way while people were standing or walking through the dining room.  Instead I bought 3 packages of tissue paper in red, blue, and brown for $0.99 each and cut them down the center fold to make 2 mini poms from each color.  Not only are they cute and I get the same effect I was going for when I thought of using the large poms, but I get double the amount of them for the same price, $3.


Name Canvas:

I saw a couple showers with something similar to this, here and here.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to do something similar.  I went back and forth on whether I wanted to use a frame, a piece of wood, plain ol' fabric, or canvas.  I ended up choosing the canvas because it was the easiest and most cost effective choice.  I bought an 11x14 canvas from Hobby Lobby for $5.99 that was a package of 2.  I plan on letting Grant paint on the other one.  I used the paisley fabric I purchased and hot glued it around the back making sure to pull it tight and smooth.  Then I just took rope (bought at Wal-mart for $4.97 a roll) and started gluing it to the fabric covered canvas to spell the baby's name, Reed.  I have to say I'm really glad they chose a short name because I don't think I would have been able to fit a long one on the canvas. 


Food Signs:

I like having signs for the food at parties, especially if there's something that's not completely obvious.  I hate going to a party and guessing at what each food item is, crossing my fingers it's something I like when I'm putting it on my plate.  While most of my food was easy to tell what it was,  I wanted everyone to know what type of pasta salad and sliders I made so they wouldn't have to wonder.  I used a font a downloaded from dafont.com and printed them from a word document onto white cardstock.  I taped them to scrapbook paper I bought at Hobby Lobby ($0.29 each at 50% off).  They are nothing fancy or special but serve their purchase and add a little something to the food counter.


Wreath:

The wreath isn't finished yet but I've hat this Styrofoam wreath form in my cabinet for over a year with intentions of making a yarn wreath that I've never finished, go figure.  I thought it would be a cute addition to the decorations and covered it in burlap I had in my stash and strips of the paisley fabric I bought for the shower.  I'm planning on adding a small pennant banner on the top with the baby's name or the word cowboy.

Mason Jar glasses:

Years ago I saw a wedding online that used Mason jars to drink from and have had it in my mind every since that some day I was going to use that idea at a shower.  Of course nowadays it's nothing original and I've seen it all over the internet, but I was super excited to use them for this baby shower just the same.  I wanted to keep them simple so I just cut strips of paisley print fabric and tied them with a knot around each glass.  These will sit next to the glass drinking dispensers I'm filling with homemade strawberry lemonade, sweet tea, and water.

Wishing Tree Tags:

It took me forever to decide on doing a wishing tree.  No one in my family is big on games at showers or activities in general.  They prefer to eat and visit with one another, which is fine with me, I just want to make sure my cousin has something to take home as a memento.  I printed the tags on white cardstock, used my cricut to cut them into a shape I liked, then used red burlap printed scrapbook paper cut 1/4inch larger as the backing.  I attached them with glue dots.  I punched a hole in the top and tied twine to each one so they will hang nicely on the branches.


Framed Quotes and Photos:

I saw this quote here, and thought it was beautiful so I decided to make my own version of it using fonts I downloaded from dafont.com, and changing the colors to match my theme.  I used a frame I already had.  I made a 4x6 print of one of my cousin's ultrasound photos and used a frame I already had using a burlap print scrapbook paper as the matting.  I always love seeing ultrasound pictures at baby showers.

The baby shower is getting close now, only a few days to go, and I can't wait for it to be here.  I think anyone who's done a party knows that feeling.  Once you've planned for so long, crafted, and have in your mind how you want everything to look, you get really anxious for the party to be here so all your hard work will be paid off.

Western Baby Shower Invitations

My cousin is pregnant and due almost exactly 2 weeks before me.  This is her 3rd and her other 2 are already in school so quite an age gap between them.  I told her years ago if she ever decided to have a 3rd I wanted to be the one to do her baby shower.  Little did I know we both would wind up pregnant at exactly the same time.  I still offered to do her shower because I'm one of those crazy weird people that enjoys doing them.

She is having a boy and requested a western/country themed shower. As I usually do I scoured the internet for ideas and bounced back and forth on colors and images up until the holidays hit and then it all hit the back burner and now the shower is a week  away and I'm seriously needing to craft for this party.

The difference between this baby shower and the others I've done is 1. its right smack after Christmas which puts a kink in finances and 2. I'm having a baby too which puts a kink my energy to craft and throw such a party.  That being said I'm still excited to be doing it and have come up with some ways to make things easier and more cost effective for myself.


I chose blue and red for the colors.  I went back and forth on the this forever and it really was the most difficult part of the shower for me to nail down and make a decision.  There are so many color combinations I love but in the end I thought blue and red would be the easiest for me to find and match up in fabric, ribbon, and scrapbook paper.  I'm really trying to go for western simplicity with this shower, not only to make things a little easier for myself but also because I think a lot of times people (me included) can go overboard with decorations and such.  I tend to over think things and having the mentality of simplicity helps me keep things in check.



As always. I'm made the invites.  I figured out months ago what I wanted them to look like and used blank cards already in my stash.  I found the rocking horse image online, saved it into my images, opened it in Microsoft paint, then erased the wording and printed them in a Microsoft works word document. 

I used my cricut and the Accent Essentials cartridge to cut the images out into a circle shape, then cut another circle 1/4 inch larger circle in blue and red (because I ran out of blue paper) to go behind the rocking horse image and to add a little bit more color.  I had originally wanted 1/2 inch red gingham ribbon but I procrastinated, then a snow storm hit, then the flu hit, then Hobby Lobby was closed.  I ended up having to go to Joann's which of course they were out of the 1/2inch and I was forced to get the 1/4inch ribbon.  It still worked fine but I really wanted something a little wider.  Oh well, I guess no one else will know the difference.  I attached the ribbon, scrapbook paper circle, and rocking horse image with glue dots.

I have had this post ready for about a week now except for a photos but for whatever reason blogger isn't letting me upload my second one and I'm a little tired of trying.  So there is no photo of the inside of the invite. I printed the invitation info on white cardstock using font's from dafont.com.  I downloaded 2 different ones I thought looked western.  I used my cricut and the Don Juan cartridge to cut them out then used glue dots to stick them to the inside of the cards.

The inside read: A little cowboy is on the way
                           Let's celebrate before the big day
                           Join us for a baby shower honoring
                             (enter guest of honor name)
                             (enter party details of time, place, etc)

Other than the size of ribbon these turned out exactly as I wanted.  I was going for simplicity which I think I found and I'm so relieved they are finished and mailed. 


Now on to the other projects on my list.