Once a month isn't so bad...

Time flies doesn't it? September and October were a wild ride. State Fair, National Alpaca Day, Apple Festival, birthday parties, birthdays, choir and mission friends in full swing, volleyball, ballet, and I could go on. And then there's Facebook. Thanks, hubby.

Little man is 3 1/2 months old and getting so big.

Sissy loves ballet class. Bud is reading (If You Give a Moose a Muffin...).

Bed Rest Stinks

I've been on bed rest since last Thursday. My blood pressure is up. Not as bad as I've seen it, but it does spike up every so often. I spent a few hours in the hospital on Thursday while they monitored me. I was discharged with clear orders from the doctor, "BED REST". The nurse who cared for me suggested I go home and get everything done this weekend. Or more specifically, "tell everyone that is going to help you what you need done this weekend". I asked if she could write that on the discharge papers. Pretty good advice considering there was a chance they were going to deliver the baby that day.

I can work as long as I'm on my left side in bed. With only 4 days left until my official transition out of work, I think work is in good shape. I'm shadowing the person taking over for me during my leave these 4 days. I go back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon. We'll see where we go from there. As of now, I'm scheduled for July 25.


I have watched more t.v. online and more movies than I have in the past year. I've caught up on all of the magazines that have been piling up around here. I feel like I've surfed to the end of the internet. I'm posting away on my forums. I've even asked for the shredder to be brought up so I can shred some junk mail. (I'll have to remind Daddy about that!) I've pinned some burps for the baby. I pulled out all the burps I used for Bud and Sissy. Any burps not previously embellished are getting a little spiffing up. I will say that I don't enjoy cutting with scissors. I prefer my rotary cutter and ruler at my cutting table. Ah, my sewing machine... I do miss you. Yes, I realize it's only been 3 days.


Daddy made the weekly pilgrimage yesterday to the Farmer's Market for our CSA share. I was so excited they had watermelons! Man, that watermelon is tasty! The cabbage is slowing down (his favorite) as are the salad greens. The new potatoes and red skin potatoes are in. Tonight D is making roasted new potatoes. He got there around 10a so I'm sure he missed some goodies. I got an email today saying that green beans, butter beans, and edamame are coming soon. Woo hoo! Can't wait. I wonder if I can get D to the market on Thursday. My one Thursday trip really rocked. It helped that I got there when they opened.

I'm a guest blogger over at http://www.checkoutchicks.com/blog/ today. Check it out.

Oh, and if you have any ideas for entertainment during bed rest, I'm open to ideas.

Win a Babywearing Stash

Along for the Ride is based out of Charlottesville, VA. We (Polkatots and Whatnots) were a couple booths down from them at a Baby Expo in Richmond a couple years ago. They had a great selection of babywearing options. With Bud, I used a Snugli. With Sissy, I learned the wonders of the fleece pouch (www.kanagarookorner.com). With the little man on the way, I'm going to start with a hand made wrap. I'm sure we'll use the pouch as the weather begins to cool, but we are months away from cooler weather here. My sister and G-man are currently loving the Hotsling. I'm a big fan of babywearing. A friend on my mom's network alerted me to this awesome giveaway that Along for the Ride is running and I had to share.

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Clothing swap and pants for the little man...

I participated in a clothing swap this past Saturday. My closet was getting harder and harder to fit things in when I was trying to put clothes away. I knew there were some great pieces that someone would really enjoy. I pulled out quite a few items and managed to overflow a XL laundry basket. I had a large shopping bag full of shoes and purses as well. I headed to my friends house where I added my goodies to a large walk-in closet full of clothes arranged by size. Another friend who couldn't make it dropped off some maternity pants and shorts and the hostess had 2 huge tubs of maternity that I was welcome to borrow. With the clothes from my previous pregnancies and these new to me items, I certainly won't need to buy any maternity clothes! I've only bought 1 top this go round and I still manage to look stylish (enough!). Fortunately, I can mix and match some maternity and non-maternity in my wardrobe.
When everyone had finished their shopping, I headed into the closet to see what was left. I pulled out some of my items remaining and started "selling". Sometimes it's hard to picture something on when you see it on the hanger. I pulled items out and targeted them based on fit/size/style to the other ladies. I only came home with 5 pieces!

At the end, we still had a bunch in the closet. Everyone was going to stuff a few bags each to cart off to Goodwill. That's when I put on another lens. I spotted some long corduroy skirts and asked if anyone would be upset if they were refashioned. I could get a pair of pants or 2 out of the fabric for my little man on the way. I ended up with 3 long skirts to refashion. I'm going to go through my Burda magazines and Ottobre magazine and find some patterns. Then, I spotted some well worn t-shirts. I saw comfy knit pants. Someone else pulled out a halter top. I told my friend Tiffany that she should shirr the back and make it into a top for her 4 year old daughter. She laughed and said she'd take it back home (it was hers) and try it out. I found a couple more t-shirts to make into pants. I double-checked that it was okay to refashion. Everyone seemed fine with the idea, so I added them to my basket of goodies.

Sunday afternoon after church, lunch, and a nap, I slipped down to my sewing room and made these:

I took advantage of the hem that already existed which made these super speedy to put together.

The black and white stripe are supposed to be 6m and the red and navy are supposed to be 3m. Since I serged them, I probably didn't remove all of the seam allowance. I also left extra length since I didn't use the facing for the cuff. I wanted to be a little generous in the seat to accommodate a cloth diaper. I have a feeling these are more like 12m and 6m. I went ahead and put the elastic in keeping it and just sewed it to my estimated length. I will adjust when they are ready to be worn if need be. I have 2 more t-shirts to refashion. One shirt has great slits on the side that I want to preserve for the outside of the leg. The other has sleeves. I think I'll get a pair of pants and a pair of pj bottoms out of that one! Can't wait.