The Montague Family

Craftiness

2011-12-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

I found this idea on Pinterest and it looked like this:

Pretty, right? But I never thought in a million years that I'd find an awesome frame like this. So I began brainstorming about taking a regular frame and padding it and upholstering it and what not. Anyway, it started getting more complex than I wanted so I just waited.

Fast forward a few weeks to say, two days ago. Madre and I took a girls trip to JoAnn fabric in Williamsburg and swung by the DAV thrift store on our way home. I found this awesome black frame that I should've taken a picture of before I fixed it all up. I was just too excited to spray paint though and forgot.

Anyway, Black wire framed mirror($4.98) + gold-ish spray paint($3.47) + lace trim(1.10) + Tacky Glue(0.59)= New Awesome Jewelry holder.

I probably should've taken a picture with it a little less crowded with my jewelry but, again, I was so excited to get it out of the shoe box that it's been in since we moved to VA.

I love Crafty, DIY projects. Thank you, Pinterest.

Stitch, Quilt, Sew

2011-12-05T16:44:00.001-08:00

So I started this announcement for Keith months before he was born and there is really NO excuse why it took me so long to finish but a couple weeks ago I finally finished it. I like it a lot and REALLY like the frame with it....especially since Michael's gave me a really really good price on it :)

$35 on sale for 50% off takes it to $17.50 then another 25% off of that with a coupon = $13.13 = Win for me!

This is another project that I started months ago and should've finished....although it wasn't entirely my fault that it was unfinished as I was waiting for the PERFECT border and binding fabric to be purchased and shipped to me....as this is a quilt I made for a friend's son, using his outgrown T-shirts. I think it came out pretty fantastic for my first t-shirt quilt. Especially since I had no idea what I was doing at first.

I learned a lot with it and she's asked me to do two more for her other kids so I guess she liked it too :)

And here is my little Keithie-Cheeks modeling my latest completion from the craft room.

I bought the monkey fabric originally with the intention of making them all matching shorts but when I found a banana print to go with it, I wanted to do something else. This McCall's pattern was the perfect fit. So for a fraction of the cost of buying one of these covers, I made my own. And had fun doing it too!

It's not perfect but no one will notice the blips but me. And it serves it's purpose completely.

I have lots more projects lined up so I better get going.

We're doing well, here in VA and with this beautiful 66 degree day on December 5, 2011, I'm so glad I'm here and not freezing my bum off out west. Love ya'll!

Big RULER!

2011-11-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

So I found this idea on Pinterest which was apparently taken from a discontinued Pottery Barn Kids item. I made this life sized ruler to measure my kids on. We had a height measurement wall in our house growing up and my kids are getting to that point when I'd like to do this. But as a military family we are pretty much nomadic so I wanted something we can take with us. This completely fits the bill. And, although the stain turned out a bit darker than I anticipated, I'm really happy with my larger than life ruler.

Sam put the big hole in the top of it, which I thought was pretty clever since every ruler has one! I think we are going to try and make the hanging mechanism look like a giant nail head too. I can't wait to get my little monkeys measured on here.

Washington DC Temple Trip

2011-11-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday we had the opportunity to take a bus trip up to Washington DC with a bunch of soldiers and the senior missionaries. It was a really long day but very well worth the trip. We stopped first at the DC Temple.

Next we stopped at Arlington National Cemetery and witnessed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. What a special place!! I love cemeteries. Sam commented on how all of the fallen soldiers' tombstones look like they are standing at attention.

Our final destination for the day was the National Mall. We made several stops there. First, The Lincoln Memorial.

Look at these handsome boys!!!

As we walked through the Mall we made sure to visit our fallen comrades of the Vietnam War. I just love this shot of Connor walking along the wall.

And here is my handsome hubby and I reflected in the wall.

Oh Look! It's mommy and the boys! A rare opportunity these days to get to be in the pictures with my monkeys.

These pictures are dedicated to my dad. They are all taken in the Air and Space Museum touching the Moonrock right at the entrance of the museum. See following picture, taken June 1994. Don't laugh. Then the next one, taken June 2004. And in continuing the tradition....All of my boys are touching the moonrock in November 2011.

And then, right before we got back on the bus we got to have our picture taken on the steps of the Capitol building.Notice how we're the only ones on the steps? Only those in uniform(and families) are allowed on the steps at the moment. Pretty nifty.

So in a nutshell, this was our trip. We had a really good time and even though we were all feeling a bit under the weather, I'm glad we went.

5 months old

2011-10-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

So Keith turned five months old about a week ago and I haven't taken a picture of him until today. But here it is. I love his "deer in headlights" look while watching The Lion King with big brother, Bear. Hehehehe!!

Other updates on Keith...
-he's rolling over both ways
-he's starting to make raspberries (So cute!)
-he's starting to eat solid foods...doesn't love them yet but it's progress.
-he's very ticklish. Especially his ribs and neck.
-he's found his voice and loves talking/yelling at his toys.
-his eyes have turned blue...officially blue, not baby gray/blue.
-he can get up on all fours when he's on his belly and I give him about another month or so before he's crawling. Now to find a gate for the stairs...

I just love this little monkey.

Because two thumbs are better than one.

2011-09-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

I know. I know. I've been gone FOR-EV-ER. My sincerest apologies. However, I have three FANTASTIC excuses. Their names are Connor, Bear and Keith.

This post is about Keith though. This video was just too flippin cute not to post. Take a look.

While the video is uploading.... I'll include some of our latest news.

In bullet form -Sam graduated BCT(Basic Combat Training) at the beginning of August
     Not in         -While we visited him there he told me he wanted me to move to VA with him for AIT
chronologic    -My house is currently in boxes in preparation for my move to Virginia.
       order        -Bear has been potty training himself and doing a pretty darn good job at it.
                        -Connor has learned how to spell and write his own name.
                        -I have learned how to sew my own clothes and am having a blast exploring the world of patterns(stay tuned for some really cute homemade Halloween costumes).
                        -Keith is not even close to sleeping through the night due to the teething regiment he's working on. But he's a happy, healthy little boy so I don't complain.

I'm sure I've missed some very important events but it's late, I'm tired and all three of my boys are zonked so I'm gonna go knit and purl a little bit before hitting the couch myself. Yep, the boys have my bed since their mattresses are already packed. Goodnight Moon.

I was right...

2011-06-25T07:31:00.000-07:00

In my last post I mentioned that things will get busier and boy, was that the case.

Connor started school and absolutely loves it. I went back to work and really enjoy it. Madre is coming in on Tuesday this week. Plus, I've gotten some business for My Quilting Corner and I'm about to wrap that up in a little while.

I got a phone call from Sam on Fathers Day. It was wonderful. We talked for almost a full hour before we both needed to head off to church and then after church we were able to talk for another 40 minutes. It was so nice to have the time to catch up a bit. He's doing well and enjoying many of the training exercises.

His branch provides an email service for his soldiers so I get an email from him every Sunday and he is able to receive one from me as well. I think it's the COOLEST service.

As of Thursday, Sam had been gone a month and I think we are doing pretty well. At least now, I know that we'll all survive.

I'm sure there is more to update but the real thing I couldn't wait to post was this AWESOME video I got of Keith's big smiles on his six week birthday. I wish I had a way to show Sam before graduation. Unfortunately, I don't.

Update: PFC Montague

2011-06-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

I got a 13 minute phone call from Sam on Sunday. It was such a relief to hear his voice!!! I couldn't help but cry as soon as I saw that it was him on my Caller ID(and several times throughout the call)

He sounded really good. A little sick, but not depressed or regretful about our decision. He was proud to tell me that he'd already written me two letters before he called too. That was fun to hear. I was really worried that I wouldn't get very many letters at all.

I received the letters yesterday! There was even one for Connor, complete with a drawing of a helicopter with Daddy in it and Mommy, Keith, Connor and Bear watching him fly it. Connor has hung the picture right under his light switch so he sees it often.

So we are about a week and a half into our 10 week initial separation and all parties seem to be doing well. I keep Xing days off on the calendar. It gave me a foolish kind of pleasure to flip the calendar to June this morning. That means I have almost exactly 2 months until I leave to see him for his graduation. And things will start to pick up as far as us at home staying busy this month. Connor starts school, I go back to work, Madre comes for a visit and at the end of July, a family reunion in Roosevelt. OFF WE GO!!!!

Grandfatherly Advice

2011-05-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

My sweet grandparents came up from Provo today for a visit and brought a few things with them. One of which was lunch! Woot! Woot! for KFC and PIZZA HUT all in one afternoon. Plus, my Papa Chuck also brought up with him LOADS of his family history photos. We were going to try and get them scanned in on his computer but we weren't really able to get that accomplished. So instead, I just got to hear a bunch of stories about different people in my family history.

As he was leaving, he asked if I "keep a journal" because someday I'm going to want to write down my life story and it would be a whole lot easier to remember if I write the important things down now or right when they happen. So his Grandfatherly Advice was to keep one.

When I mentioned that I "blog" our family events, I don't think he really understood what that meant. But I like to think of this blog as my "journal of events, hobbies and other happenings" in our family's life.

So in response to this advice, I thought I should blog about what my sweet little boys and I have been doing over the past week while Daddy has been at Basic Training.
Sunday: made it to Sacrament Meeting, had the whole family together for a few hours before Sam gave each of us Fathers Blessings and we dropped him off in Salt Lake.
Monday: Totally took it easy and lounged around the house, heard from Sam a few times as he flew to Missouri and arrived at Reception.
Tuesday: Went to IKEA with Gramma Bee and all three munchkins....what an adventure!
Wednesday: Walked with Gramma Montague in the morning, spent the afternoon clearing out and organizing my craft room so it's usable again.
Thursday: went to JoAnn Fabric before dropping Gramma Bee off at the airport
Friday: Lazy day around the house, did a little gardening though.
Saturday: got a visit from Gramma Sally and Papa Chuck, got a formal postcard from Sam saying that I should get a good address for him within this next week, went to a friend's wife's book signing with all the munchkins, updated the blog and now....to get dinner on the table.

Thanks for the advice Papa!

Keith's birth pictures

2011-05-20T17:18:00.000-07:00

As Promised.....More Pictures....Gramma Bee with the newest Montague boy

Before his first bath....

After his first bath....sporting his awesome homemade hat.

Connor and Bear get introduced...

Our first Family of Five shot...

Three generations of Montague men

Mama and Keith

Going home!

Daddy's Little Peanut

Gramma's Little Peanut

Awwwww

Keith Asher Montague

2011-05-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

He's arrived! Yay! I didn't have to be induced to get him here on time! Double Yay!! He waited for my mom to get here! Triple Yay!!! I only had to push once, maybe twice, to get him out! Quadruple Yay!!!!

Anyone want the whole story?

Sunday May 8: False labor begins and is rather intense at some points but never evens out into regular intervals.

Monday May 9: False labor wanes a bit as I go to work, picks up a little bit when I come home.

Tuesday May 10: False labor is pretty much gone, I go to work and continue to pray that my mom arrives on Wednesday night before this baby does.

Wednesday May 11: Braxton Hicks contractions all day but nothing really notable. Head to my midwife and find out that I'm 3cm dilated and 40% effaced. Get a nice visit with some friends and then off to the airport to pick up Mom. YAY!! She's here!

Thursday May 12: Walk a mile to the library and back: Ready to get this baby OUT!! Did some gardening with Mom and the boys. Start getting some more contractions a bit stronger but nothing really starts happening until dinner time. Meanwhile, Sam tells his boss that this is his last day at work before going into the Army. They have known for months so it really wasn't a surprise. In fact, they already cleared off his desk when he came in for work today. On Sam's way home from work, I tell him that I think the baby is coming tonight. Maybe it's just a gut feeling....or maybe it was the back pain that started coming with the irregular contractions.

When Sam gets home, my contractions start picking up in strength and speed. I lost my mucus plug around 6pm. Woot Woot! Bring on those contractions!

We start arranging everything for the boys to stay overnight and whatnot. Of course, after dinner, the contractions totally eased up and the boys are staying put for bed. After we put the boys down, we decided to go for a walk to try and get things going again. After talking with the neighbors for an hour, we go back home.

So I come in, flip on some Glee, and realize that my contractions are getting stronger as I'm watching it. Around 930pm they really start to get intense. Not exactly regular though. They ranged from 10 minutes apart to 3 min apart. But they were definitely getting stronger and I knew that I was going to have a baby before I went to sleep for the night.

We called Sam's parents around 1030pm to let them know that we needed them to come in and sleep here with the boys for the night. Around 11pm, I hop in the shower, in preparation for going to the hospital. Sam's parents come around 1130 and by about midnight we are on our way to Salt Lake Regional. I'm faithfully listening to my Hypnobabies tracks on my iPhone and mom is timing my contractions on Sam's watch. It was a relatively comfortable 45 min drive to the hospital as my contractions were about 7-9 minutes apart.

Once I got out of the car though, they came on so much faster. I had about 4 contractions from the emergency room to the labor and delivery desk. We got our room at about 1am and the nurse checked me at 115am. I was dilated to 4.5cm a 100% effaced. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I knew I wasn't getting sent home :) They monitored me and the baby from about 1am-120am and said that they'd come back in about an hour to check on me.

I asked for a birthing ball and the nurse put a pad over it "just in case" my water decided to break on it's own. (Side note: I've never had this happen with either Connor or Bear's birth.)

Once we were left to ourselves, I got on the birthing ball and the contractions continued to intensify.

Sam is the best birth partner. He found the PERFECT place on my back to push through each contraction. It was awesome!

At 145am my water broke all over the birthing ball, down my legs and into my slippers.....awesome, just awesome. Once my water is broken, baby is never far behind. Well, same thing here.

We all starting yelling when my water broke so my sweet nurse Sandra came in, checked me....7cm dilated...and ran quickly to call my midwife and log the time. That's when the real screaming started....no sooner had they gotten me semi-cleaned up from mass liquid leakage, I felt the urge to push. Sandra basically drops what she's doing, and yells for assistance as my midwife, is not arrived yet.....she got called like 2 min earlier.

About 1 and a half pushes later, Keith Asher Montague is out and in my arms. He was born at 150am. My midwife arrived at 157am. My nurse smiles sweetly at her and says, "Well, we saved the placenta for you to deliver." There was a bit of laughter at that.

Although it was super fast, it was a great birth and I'm so grateful that we left for the hospital when we did.

After having Keith home for a couple days, we love him more and more. He's great at nursing and actually nurses surprisingly fast for an infant of 4 days old. Connor and Bear both love their little brother and always want to help and touch his soft hands and head.

Bear pretty much refuses to call him Keith and only refers to him as "my brudder". Very comical.

More pictures to come.

Final Belly Shot

2011-05-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

Since I have every intention of having this baby before the end of the week, I thought I should log one final belly shot picture. All together now..... awwwwww!

I think my arms have gained more mass than most other parts of me(excluding belly obviously!) Anyone know any good arm exercises for a stay at home mom of three boys? Spanking, you say!? hmmmmm.....tempting....... :)

A Crocheter who....knits?

2011-05-03T09:22:00.000-07:00

I can vividly remember my Great Grandma Helene teaching me to crochet in front of the Christmas tree when I was younger than 8 years old. And I've made several crocheted items. A couple afghans, scarves, hats, doilies, etc. However, as I did some of the last couple projects, my wrist started to pop as I did it. Not exactly comfortable...

So I pretty much stopped that type of crafting and moved into other needle crafts such as cross stitching which doesn't require so much wrist action. I'd never considered knitting though....until....one day, I came across a Sock knitting book at the library, brought it home and decided I needed to give it a try. I had no idea where to start until I found out that a friend of mine, Phoebe, is a knitting expert....seriously, you should see her creations.

Anyway, she volunteered to teach me and so I showed up with a skein of yarn and lots of excitement.

Phoebe mentioned while I was there for my first class a site called www.ravelry.com

It's like Facebook for knitters and crocheters. How ridiculous is it that I'd never even heard of it!? Anyway, this site is SO FUN!!! It has tons of free patterns and the best search filters ever that allow you to find EXACTLY what you are looking for. From needle/hook size to yarn weight and difficulty level. So I went home, found an easy scarf pattern I wanted to try and got going on it.

And I'm still working on it but what I really want to do....is socks, remember? So I figured a hat would be a good start but not quite as complex as a pair of socks.

Well, with all the mistakes and imperfections in it, I still LOVE how it turned out. Plus, my wrist doesn't bother me AT ALL when I'm knitting! It's so nice to work with yarn again.

Plus, I can't wait to put it on my new little ones head in the next 2 WEEKS!!!! I mean, can you believe it? He's almost here!

Moab 2011

2011-04-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

What better way to get back in the swing of blogging than with a BIG vacation post with lots of pictures, right?

RIGHT!!! I knew you were with me :)

So Sam spent months planning this trip to Moab and I sincerely hope that I wasn't too much of a drag for him to enjoy it. We normally camp when we go....well, that was out of the question for me this go-round. So we compromised and stayed in a cabin at a campground. I should've taken a picture of it. For "roughin it", it was AWESOME! Electricity, Heat, A/C, mini fridge, cable TV, firepit, patio, bunk beds and to top it all off, bathrooms on-site and close. I think Sam's idea of camping is forever changed. We had a BLAST!

After an 8.5 hour road trip(Yes, I realize that's WAY longer than it should take) we made it to Moab at 1130pm and snuggled into our little cabin. We slept in the next morning but Sam was chomping at the bit to get on the trails, so we headed to Metal Masher. Sounds relaxing right?

Rocks. YES!!!

Great pic of my handsome hubby in front of Picture Frame Arch.

Climbing Hummer Hill. Seriously, SO STEEP.

At the summit of Hummer Hill. I wasn't even going to attempt it.

Taking a Fruit Snack break on the trail. Seriously, those things are the best bribe ever.

If I'd said, "Fruit Snacks" I could've gotten a smile, I guarantee it.

Our campground had a great playground complete with sandbox, sand toys, and playhouse.

PEEK A BOO!

Our one and only family shot. This rock bench was so awesome.

Doing some cave exploring....

ROCK CHUCKER!!!

Getting up it was super fun for both of us. Me from the sidelines, spotting. Sam in "Bruce" Too bad we didn't realize that we had to come back down until we'd already made it up. SO SCARY!

Don't laugh when you see the video: I'm pregnant.

We wouldn't let the kids out at this point. They didn't understand why and were really upset about it.

On Thursday, Uncle Cris, Patrick, Connor and Daddy went on the Kane Creek Trail.

Saturday was the last day of crawling and this obstacle is called The Wedgy. From the picture it doesn't look like much but that ditch is pretty impressive when you are driving through it.

Storytime ritual at bed time. I've grown such an appreciation for reading with my boys. They learn so much through books. They also have started to love reading articles out of The Friend as their "scripture study." What a JOY!!

We forgot the camera charger so we didn't go crazy with taking tons of pictures. One event that was rather significant and undocumented was that we got to spend some time with Sam's oldest sister, Emily and her family. She has three kids and they all get along really well with our rugrats. We spent a few evenings in the pool and Connor just turned blue having so much fun :) Bear is less of a water lover but still didn't want to get out when the time came.

As we were packing up, Bear decided to skydive out of the back window of the Suburban onto the gravel. An ER visit and 2 stitches later, we were finally on the road home.

We decided we'd brave the shorter, steeper route on the way home and boy! were we glad we did. We left around noon and made it to Gramma and Grampa's house in time for a yummy spaghetti dinner!

Deeper Thoughts

2011-03-03T22:23:00.000-08:00

Normally my rants on here are relatively shallow in nature....our comings and goings and such, which is good and normal, I suppose. However, for some reason, well, lots of reasons actually, I've been really reflective lately on what my larger responsibilities are in life.

A talk by Julie B Beck was recommended to me and it really has put a few things into perspective for me so I figured I'd share what I got out of it.

The talk is titled, "A Lioness at the Gate." Intriguing, right? Oh it was given at BYU Womens' Conference, if you want to go find it for yourself, which I highly recommend.

Because I can, in no way say it better than she did, here's a quote that I loved,

"...Women are like lionesses at the gate of the home. Whatever happens in that home and family happens because she cares about it and it matters to her. She guards that gate, and things matter to that family if they matter to her."

She goes on to give examples of getting tithing paid, sacrament meeting attended, temple work completed and missions of children served.

As I was thinking about it, I started realizing that she gave some great examples of things that may or may not be important to women/mothers in each home. And with this I started to think about where my focus has been, and where my focus should be.

She goes on to say,

"Sisters, you are each like the lioness at the gate. This means that there has to be some prioritizing. I was taught years ago that when our priorities are out of order, we lose power. If we need power and influence to carry out our mission, then our priorities have to be straight."

I don't know if anyone else feels this way, but I have previously found it extremely easy to sit down and in one or two sittings start and finish a novel but found it very difficult to find 10 minutes to sit down and read my scriptures....especially since I became a mom.

She commented on the way that she outlines her priorities and also notes that it will vary for everyone. But she breaks her priorities down like this: The Essential Things, The Necessary Things, The Nice-To-Do Things.

Essential Things as she outlines are things that MUST be taken care of, and if they are not taken care of by me then the blessings of eternal life won't be mine nor will they be my family's.

-Reading the Scriptures

-Prayer

-Sacrament Meeting

-Repentence

-Going to the Temple

-Sharing the Gospel

-Sharing my testimony

-Service

Necessary Things are things that are necessary to create an environment or climate where the Spirit of the Lord would be.

-Homemaking(cleaning, organizing)

-Cooking meals and having them together as a family

-Becoming Self-Reliant

-Getting out of Debt

-Be Happy

-Spending undistracted(word?) time with my children

Nice-To-Do Things are obviously things that are recreational in nature and won't guide us back to our Heavenly Father.

-Quilting

-Crocheting

-Cross-stitching

-Reading

-Facebooking

-Games

Now, this is just my list. Obviously, yours may be different.

The last challenge that she gave REALLY REALLY touched me.

Because I struggle with scripture study, I've been looking for some kind of manual to read along with so that I could really study what I was reading rather than just reading it and waiting for something to jump off the pages at me. You are probably thinking, hello? what about Sunday school manuals? Well, I wanted something a little bit more than that, I guess I can't explain what exactly I wanted.

Anyway, I feel like the Lord was speaking directly to me when she says this,

"I have a little exercise for those of you who want something specific to do in your scripture study. Get a new little copy of the Book of Mormon. In the front of it, open to a blank page and write three questions: Who am I? What are my responsibilities in the house of Israel? How do I fulfill my responsibilities? As you read and study, you will find some blank pages in the back. You can add Post-It notes if you like. Start writing your answers in the back as you read, and you will have a journey of discovery about who you are. It doesn't matter how long this study takes. Take one month, take ten years, and discover who you are. When you finish studying those questions in the Book of Mormon, study them in the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Old Testament. The Lord knows who you are. He knows what your responsibilities are and how you can fulfill them. Power and strength will come to you as you understand who you are in the Lord's kingdom."

I'm filled with gratitude for the things I'm beginning to learn as I start my scripture study with this focus. And I'm grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows my struggles and my strengths, who can guide me when I feel like I'm floundering, and who can humble me when my priorities become misaligned.

I don't know if this made sense to anyone but it feels good to get it out. So thanks for being patient.....or just skipping this entry entirely:)

Finished!

2011-02-21T09:12:00.000-08:00

I was kind of debating whether or not I was going to post finished pictures of the quilt because, honestly, all of the pictures so far pretty much look the same.

I mean, it's hard to see the details of what was actually done with each progression....I'm going to have to work on that.

However, when my sweet hubby told me he wanted to take my quilt to work, to show it off to his co-workers, and then, took pictures of where it's being displayed in his office, I just couldn't resist.

Why would it matter that he took it to work, you may ask?

Well, Sam works at the largest quilting machine manufacturer in the country. And his co-workers are some of the best quilters in the country. And his office is decorated with quilts from all over the country.

So he's seen some AMAZING quilts and I'm really flattered that he thinks mine is worth bringing in to work and showing them....even with all it's imperfections.

Thanks hunnie! You gave me the warm fuzzies!

Quilted!

2011-02-11T13:03:00.000-08:00

Here it is! I decided to quilt in swirls because there are swirls in the main brown fabric in the border. All that is left to do now is the binding! So exciting!

Connor's ABC's

2011-02-11T06:56:00.000-08:00

This is the second time he did it. The first was a little better but I didn't have my camera ready. And I'm actually really shocked that he let me record it at all. Tres cool!

My Big Boy is growing up so fast!

Quilt with Border

2011-02-03T09:11:00.001-08:00

It's not perfect but I really like it. I did just a slightly puffed border so that it pops out a little bit more but not the same thickness as the puffed squares. Next comes the backing, batting and quilting.

Jell-O

2011-02-03T09:08:00.000-08:00

Funny video of Bear.....

I'm not exactly sure what he's doing to it at the end. Blowing it? Kissing it?

The squares are completed!

2011-01-31T07:47:00.000-08:00

So here it is....so far, so good. I ended up with two crinkly flaps...you can't really see them in this picture because they blend in with the squares. I think if I did this exact blanket again, I would get an orange fabric and do the flaps in that.

I like the contrast of the ribbon in it and there are three of those ribbon loops. I added one because I liked the orange in it so much:)

Now, onto the puff border...and then sewing the back together before quilting. I really hope the quilting turns out well. Anyone have any ideas for what pattern I should quilt into the squares?

I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

Another Quilt Update

2011-01-29T21:35:00.000-08:00

We had some drama yesterday with the sewing machine, but because my husband ROCKS, he stayed up until two in the morning fixing it so I could do some sewing today.

I got all of my horizontal strips sewn together complete with one of the crinkly items and one of the ribbon additions. I think there will be at least two more ribbons because I love the orange accent so much and one, maybe two more crinklies, because it turned out better than I imagined.

Don't the interspersed puffs look cool?!

Maybe you can't see them that well in this picture, lets try another angle....

It's 11pm now and I'm just dying to start getting this thing all sewn together. Eh, Sam's not ready for bed yet.....off I go!

Just Because.....

2011-01-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

...I'm goofy, and can't help being ridiculously excited about this project.

Here's my stack of squares....

And here's a sneak peak of what it will, sort of, look like when I get it all sewn together.

Cool, right!?

Okay, I'm done......for now:)

New Quilt

2011-01-25T22:14:00.000-08:00

My favorite quilt is one that my Madre(step-mom) made me for my high school graduation. It's technically called a Biscuit Quilt. But more commonly referred to as a Puff Quilt. It's made of tiny little pillows sewn together in a quilt form.....like this.

A friend of mine showed me this tutorial and I just fell in love with the colors she chose but had no reason to make one at the time. So about 10 months later, I'm having another baby boy and picked out a baby announcement to make. What do you know?! Without even planning it, it matches all of those colors. Really! I swear! I didn't even think about it at the time. I just liked it.

This is what it will look like. With my little guys name in it, of course.

Anyway, now I had a reason to make this awesome quilt but I decided to make some changes to it. Firstly, it's not going to be ALL puffs. Just about 25% or so will be puffs. Then, I wanted to add some cool textury(is that a word?) parts to it, to make it a little more of an activity mat, more than an actual blanket. If you are drawing a blank....I'm thinking crinkly paper, ribbons and velcro. Things babies like to play with and chew on during tummy time.

So with all these ideas flying around(literally, I was up for 2 hours one night thinking of the possibilities) I headed to the fabric store and came out with these fantastic options.

Heidi with honeybearlane.com went with a more orange tone and the store I went to didn't have quite the color orange I was looking for so I decided the yellow/gold color would work just as well. Plus, I discovered a bonus when I got home....the yellow I came home with is the exact color of the wall the crib will be on in the boys room.

I started cutting my fabric tonight after an hour of really getting my plans nailed down. So stay tuned as I figure out if my idea is going to work or not. It could be a total bomb. But it might be absolutely adorable. Yay for crafty creativity!

Geisha Beauty

2011-01-25T22:13:00.000-08:00

Here she is! Completed! It only took me a year.

Connor update

2011-01-21T13:26:00.000-08:00

I feel like it's been awhile since I posted just about my big boy, Connor. And my brother took some AMAZING pictures of him while he was here last weekend so I have a great excuse.

Connor is growing up so much. He's becoming more and more reliable if I ask him to do something. He's got an incredible grasp on humor and makes us laugh daily. He's also creating stories and games on his own. He can say his prayers by himself and will even guide Bear through saying one as well.

He loves playing with Legos and builds new things with them all the time.

He's learning how to share and take turns with Bear(this can still be a challenge but it's getting so much easier). He has discovered a new love of having Mom scratch his back.

He loves playing CandyLand with anyone who will submit.

This just happened to be Uncle Josh's turn to get creamed:)

He has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches everyday for lunch. We add variety to the side dish, like crackers, carrots, oranges etc. It doesn't matter what kind of bread its on either. White or wheat is fine by him. The jelly, however, can't be Apricot or Peach(which, of course, is what I canned this past year).

His newest best friend is his "girl dog", Fertti. They love snuggling together. Connor will frequently bring his blanket out of his room to where Fertti is sleeping, wrap her up in it and then get under it himself.

Connor has gotten very modest when changing his clothes. I have to turn around or leave the room. However, during bathtime....he's having too much fun to worry about privacy:) He also gets dressed all by himself every morning without me asking him. He's normally dressed before I am and always before Bear is.

He also loves curling his tongue and loves that Mom can do it too.

He loves to giggle and will go out of his way to make you laugh too. He's always pointing out things that are silly.

He can't wait for preschool to start this summer. And is starting to recognize the letters in his name.

He is a ray of sunshine in my life everyday and I'm so grateful for him. He is turning into such a fun and pleasant little boy.

Kitchen Ceiling Remodel

2011-01-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

So here is a before and after shot of what we got accomplished this weekend. Obviously we're not completely finished but all of the big, labor intensive, messy stuff, is done!

Thanks Josh for helping Sam and Thanks Pam for helping me with the kids! I'm so glad you were here to help!

Emotions

2011-01-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

In the last 24 hours I have felt SO many different emotions and I'm kind of starting to get a handle on them....I think.

Rather than go through what has happened step by step. I think I'll just cover what happened with each emotion.

Happiness: The Army had a job that Sam wants open up! YAY! It literally is a miracle.

Nervousness: We have to make a split second decision as to whether we want to take it and there are so many variables. He decides to take it and now we are in a whirlwind of things to get done in the next week before he can swear in. Did we make the right choice? Or should we have waited a little longer for something that fit EXACTLY right?

Sadness: His ship date for Basic is exactly 2 weeks before my baby's due date....that means he won't be there for the birth(unless by some other miracle we can convince the Army to let him postpone basic). So if he's not there for the birth, that means I need to do SO much more planning on my own to get this kid out by myself. Sam has been a fantastic birth partner and I know he will be sad not to be there.

Worry: In Basic, the communication between him and I will be extremely limited. How long will he go before I can get word to him that his newest son has been born? Oh yeah, and how the heck am I supposed to name this kid without him there? For both Connor and Bear, we've picked out our 3 or 4 favorite names beforehand and then he pretty much relied on the Spirit to help him pick the final name once the baby was actually born. Well, that scenario isn't exactly possible if A) he's not there and B)I may not even be able to talk to him or show him pictures until snail mail arrives at his location. And I'm sure they won't let me leave the hospital until I've picked a name.

Awe: Our Heavenly Father is so amazing. He can set the most amazing chain of events up in your life and you have no idea where you are going until you get there. We have been so incredibly blessed. If we hadn't moved into this exact location at the exact time that we did. I don't think that the Army would EVER have been an option for our family. But wow! Heavenly Father absolutely knows what he's doing.

Gratitude: For supportive family and friends who are willing to step in and help me be a single mom while Sam gets through the training and first chaotic months of Army life. For Heavenly Father knowing what is best for me better than I do. And for a husband who is willing to do the hard thing because he believes in it and it will make our lives better in the long run.

Laughter: I also had a midwife appointment yesterday and this was the first time I'd seen her since I found out that this little one is a boy. Well, upon telling her and her looking at the report....there was a couple slight discrepencies in what I was told vs. what the report told her. One of which was that the report said "probably female"

AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! WHAT!????!!!!????!!!???

Okay, breathe, just breathe.....

So they called over to the hospital to make sure that the report wasn't actually for someone else and that it was being read correctly. YES, everything was right. And it looks like a girl.

So they proceeded to ask if I had a few minutes and could go over to get a quick ultrasound done(the hospital is right across the street from my midwife's office).

HECK YEAH! I'm on my way! My midwife says as I'm walking out, "Will you call us and let us know? This is our kind of soap opera!"

Luckily, I didn't get my hopes up. I know what a "winker" looks like and I was sure I saw one.

I was right. This is DEFINITELY a little boy that we're having. But wow, wouldn't that have been crazy? To think you are having a boy and then you pop the kid out and it's a girl, which is what you were hoping for? But your husband isn't there and you don't have any girl names picked out!?

Well, I got a good laugh out of the whole thing.

So now, in the wake of all these emotions I'm feeling surprisingly calm. I know we are making good decisions and that Heavenly Father is blessing us with his guidance.

Oh and with the second ultrasound, we were able to get a profile of the little dude. So for those of you who are proficient in ultrasound reading....here he is!

Asymmetry

2011-01-08T15:24:00.000-08:00

I saw some really fantastic asymmetrical wall art on my friend Sarah's blog and wanted to try some of my own. Lets just say that asymmetry is not my forte. I'm much more of a symmetrical person. So first I put up the vinyl and then I just put nails in the wall. What came out of it is definitely not symmetrical and definitely not wall art either. But it works for me.

What do you think?

I tried to get a close up so you could read the saying. It says "Our Family: A circle of strength and love founded in faith...joined in love...kept by God."

I found this at the adorable little Homebodies store in Tooele. It also had another little part to the saying that I cut off so I can put it in another part of the house....stay tuned:)

This was my first attempt at vinyl and I think I'm addicted.

ASVAB

2011-01-07T15:24:00.000-08:00

Sam finally dug his heels in and took the aptitude test that you need to take to qualify for the military. The average on the test is normally between 42-45 percent. My studly husband pulled out a 76!!!!!!

There is more good news: With this great score, he qualifies for any of the jobs that he would want.

The not so good news: They don't have any of his preferred jobs available at the moment.

So what happens next? We wait....and wait....and wait....until something opens up. Because something is bound to open up, right?

So for now, we stay here, he enjoys his work at HandiQuilter and makes the most out of every day. I stay home and continue making this house into what I want it to be. Little by little, we're getting there.

The next project: Undoing then Redoing the ceiling in the kitchen. Right now it's a drop ceiling and we're having some electrical issues with the lights. So the drop ceiling will be coming out, the messiness above it will be removed and fixed. Drywall will go up and new light fixtures mounted. Sounds simple right?!

Well, maybe not, but I'm looking forward to it. Because once the ceiling is redone, I can paint in there!

Snow Bunnies...er...and Puppies

2011-01-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

We've gotten a ton of snow this year and both of the boys are old enough to enjoy it. So this week I took the boys out during the day while daddy was at work and we played in the snow.

Plus, the puppies just love being out there with us.

Although I didn't get any pictures of our New Years Day festivities...we all went sledding for the first time and had a ball doing so. Bear got a couple face full's of snow and wasn't so thrilled with that but otherwise, loved it. The powder snow out here is just awesome!

Prego on Christmas Eve

2011-01-01T14:13:00.001-08:00

This is my pooch on Christmas Eve. I'm 19 weeks in this picture. I've been rather lazy with pictures this go-round...afterall, you've all seen me pregnant, right? Nothing new.

New Years Assessment

2011-01-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Saw this and thought it was a great way to do your resolutions. Rather than focus so much on your goals, look also at what you've accomplished.

Start with a self assessment of the ending year - Here are the questions to ask yourself.

Reflect on the past year and think of 10 major accomplishments, successes, areas of progress or positive events that occurred for you during 2010 (Business or Personal).

What are some of the best decisions you made in 2010? What made them good decisions?

What are some of the biggest risks you took in 2010? How did taking these risks serve you?

List 3 people who had a positive impact on your life in 2010. What did they do and how did it benefit you?

What important lessons or principles did you learn during 2010? What makes them valuable for you?

List 3 areas in which you have grown during 2010. How does this development serve you?

What are your 5 most significant goals in the coming year?

This should start your goal setting process for 2011!

Closing out 2010

2010-12-31T16:48:00.001-08:00

Well, I've been absolutely horrid at keeping this up to date recently but I figured I should make a proper ending to 2010.

First off....the best picture from Christmas this year...

Haha! They don't look excited at all do they!? This was Christmas Eve after opening their new PJ's.

We finally took a year and had Christmas at home with Sam's parents. Besides having Connor wake all of us up around 630am, which I understand isn't too early for some, it was an amazing Christmas.

We were all spoiled and are very grateful for all that we have been blessed with. And ultimately, grateful for our Savior who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can live in this amazing world with the ability to return to our Father in Heaven.

So, in 2010, we bought our first house. Brought home our first, and second puppies. Got a 10% raise at work(Way to go, Sam!). Found out we are expecting our third baby boy. Visited Albany and NYC. Hosted both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Sent Sam back to school. And made a tentative decision to attempt sending him into the military(more news to come with that later!).

I think we've had both a busy and wonderful year. In fact, I'm not sure how 2011 will top it, but I have high hopes!

Halloween

2010-11-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

This year was a little different than years past. First of all, Sam was out of town for the whole weekend...for work, of all things! Secondly, I obviously had the responsibility of doing the costumes and trick or treating gig pretty much solo. And thirdly, our ward's Primary program was held on Halloween Sunday and it was my first time being involved in the production of it...CRAZY! Not to mention that it was my birthday too and I couldn't find the camera all weekend.

It's kind of a bad weekend to be without a camera and I was kind of freaking out about it. Luckily, a friend let us borrow her daughter's and my phone got a couple okay ones as well.

This is my cute Spiderman #1. Spiderman #2 was being difficult and wouldn't let me get a picture of him. So this is the best I got....

And here are our awesome Jack-O-Lanterns....

As I was having a blast carving these and wondering why they were so easy to carve this year, I realized that I probably haven't carved one since maybe early high school and it was a lot harder then.....

How on earth did I get such cute kids!? Okay, I know, Sam's pretty cute too.

The finished products...

And to top off the weekend, my sweet friend Heather made a "Tropical Landslide" birthday cake for me and surprised me with it. It was the best.

I should've taken a picture of all the loot the boys came home with but I was too soaked and tired to worry about such nonsense at the time.

Oh yeah, soaked.....it POURED for almost all of the trick or treating hours. Yipee!

And that was our Halloween weekend in a nutshell.

Book Recommendation

2010-10-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

I remember first hearing Dr. Laura on the radio when I was in college....probably 2002/2003, somewhere in there. I'd never heard of her until my boyfriend at the time flipped her on. And at that point in my life I just didn't understand her at ALL!

However, more recently, I would be in the car often when her program was on and listened to her show relatively regularly. She had some really logical and conservative opinions that I could completely relate to. Albeit there are things that she says which I don't agree with, but for the most part, she's right on.

I started noticing that when speaking with women who were having trouble in their marriage relationships, she always talked about her book, "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands".

Immediately, the title invokes curiosity. And more than that, could this one book really help so many different problems in marriage? Sam and I work really well together and rarely argue, but what good wife isn't always looking for ways to make "her man" happier and her marriage stronger? So I started inquiring about it at the library and such....probably 6 months later, I finally get my hands on a copy.

It turns out to be FANTASTIC!!!!!!! In a little over 175 pages, Dr. Laura completely opened my eyes to the male psyche and gave me some GREAT little things that I can do to strengthen my marriage, none of which require extravagance or even anything that I shouldn't already be doing.

So, if anyone is looking for a great read that you might get a bit more than a great story out of.....this is it.

And if you do decide to read it....afterwards, go find a photograph from a science book of the hormone estrogen and then one for testosterone. If that doesn't explain things, I don't know what else could:)

Happy Reading!

Fun and Exciting Announcement...

2010-10-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

I'll let my boys tell you though.....