The girls night project

* disclaimer* I did not come up with this idea on my own. I borrowed and modified from some websites.

I hosted girls night this month. I don't usually have people over to my house. It's small, it's laid out funny, it's pretty far away from most of my other friends homes, and I've been in law school for the past few years of my life, so housekeeping took a backseat.

Anyhow, I had the idea to make a craft and here are the bright wreaths we made. This is mine, but everyone made their own, and it was really neat to see how each one was different. I should have taken pictures of everyone's finished products.

Step One: I cut burlap into 2 inch strips that were wrapped around a wreath form and secured with hot glue. It took about 3 strips to completely cover a 10 inch foam wreath (which I purchased from the Dollar Tree for $1 a piece! Score!).


Step two: I got all the odd sized fabric straps I had and cut them into various sized circles. They don't have to be perfect in shape or size. Some were 2 inches in diameter, some were 1 inch, some were 1/2 inch, it didn't matter you needed an assortment.

Step three: I arranged the scrap circles on top of each other and pierced through them with a straight pin. This will secure it to your fully covered plain burlap wreath. The pin should not stick through, unless you get too close to the bottom of the wreath. I used pinking shears to add a little variety as well as folded up some of the circles into triangles to change it up a bit. Try not to over think it too much, just play with the scraps. Some girls twisted their circles and they looked really cute. Another friend of mine (who happens to be an art teacher) crinkled and bunched all of hers up and left none of the circles flat. It was super cute too! Tie a ribbon around it to hang it by and presto, your done.
One of the girls mentioned she was inspired to make a Fourth of July wreath for her house now. I totally like this idea (seeing that I have about 5 left over prepared plain ones). I'm now on the look out for some bigger wreaths that could be hung on the front door.

Under 10 weeks!

30 weeks

Margaux and I are getting bigger and bigger every week now. She really wiggles in there now, and sometimes the way it feels makes me a little sick to my stomach for a second. The aches have started to pop up occasionally. Sometimes in my back, sometimes in my feet or knees, but they go away. I've also noticed a bit of puffiness in my feet on certain days, but not all day everyday. Usually if its hot, or humid and I'm out walking around a lot.

There is all kinds of good news lately.

First- I passed the 3 hour glucose tolerance test!!! No gestational diabetes for me and Magoo (one of her nicknames that Matt and I have been using alot). I was VERY relieved. Before I got pregnant I was not a fan of needles due to a bad experience, but the pregnancy has definitely cured me of that. I'm seriously fine with having my blood drawn now.

Second- She is going to have a lot of friends! Some of her friends are already here, and some will be joining her in a few months. Quite a few friends are also expecting. Congratulations to all my friends and their families. May we all have healthy babies!

Bad news- Hans the fat cat has learned not only how to get in the crib, but discovered the awesomeness of the bouncy seat. I opened her room up for a few minutes last night and walked in to find him in her crib, in her bouncy seat that I had tried to hide from him in there. He was laid up under the dangle-y things just looking at me with a face of complete comfort.

Channeling my domestic skills

So a friend of mine, commented that she was sure I had made a lot of cute things for Margaux. GULP! Well… I really hadn't done a whole lot, I made her a quilt, and some burp cloths, but that was about it. So I got to work on some of the things I knew I wanted to do.

Here is her first pillow case dress. Coordinating bloomers to come.

And here is a little decorating project.

My mother-in-law bought these adorable letters, but they just looked so small on the wall. So I had the idea to frame them and make them more substantial.

I had three 12 in x 12 in ¼ inch oak boards cut, and sanded down the rough edges. Then I applied Mod Podge to the board with a cheap-O brush and placed a piece of pretty scrapbook paper on the board. I used a plastic putty knife to press out any wrinkles or bubbles.

I trimmed any over hang from the scrapbook paper. Then I had my wonderful husband cut twelve, 12 inch pieces of trim with mitered edges to make a frame around the outside. Then I glued down the pieces of trim with Tightbond glue (held in place by clothes pins).

Lastly I used the Tightbond to glue down the cute wooden letters. And attached hangers to the back.

Wah-La! Mommy is done and tickled pink with the finished product. One project down, many more to go (Including a girls night craft project).

Enough with the rain already!

So Tennessee has been hit pretty hard with serious rainfall for two days. We live on top of a really big hill, so we haven't had any problems, but the creek and bridge at the bottom of the hill apparently took quite a beating.

It looks like an earthquake hit, the way the huge pieces of asphalt just cracked right up and moved.

Welcome to the third trimester

We are now at 28 weeks Margaux and I.

28 weeks

*side note- I seriously need to get my point and shoot camera fixed!

Her room is coming together really well. In fact, if I'm ever able to get through the mess that is still lingering from the hardwood floor job to my sewing machine, I can get some of the final touches in place. It is taking me forever to get all that put back, because I'm weeding through and saying goodbye to a lot of things in the process.

We had a check up last week and we are doing well, Margaux and I. I warned my doctor that Margaux would probably kick her little heart rate monitor when she pushed on my belly with it. She did. She has gotten where she will nudge back if you push on my belly. If she's awake that is.

My sugar test was a little high, so this Thursday I go for the glucose tolerance test. I'm not thrilled about it, but my doctor thinks it will more than likely come back negative for gestational diabetes. My sugar level was only slightly past the cut off.

This past weekend I got out all the little outfits we've bought and that have been handed down. Girl is totally set with clothes. She has a few newborn outfits and lots of 0-3 and 3-6 month onesies. And many people have told me that pants aren't really necessary for summer babies. Just on the occasional chilly evening. But she does have pants. She also has about a dozen sleep sacks. . Like I said, she's got a lot. Of course I've bought a few things, because they were just too cute to leave without. And a friend who has two daughters, one with a July birthday and one that will be a year old in June, totally hooked us up (and I really appreciate it).

6-9 mth winter clothes ready to space bag

Matt is about to burst with anticipation. He is currently reading "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" to Margaux at bedtime so she can get familiar with his voice. He's really sweet. My mother gave me a large book with the whole collection of stories and the wonderful illustrations. Time really is moving right along. It won't be just Matt and I for much longer.

It's hard not to catch

Margaux fever is spreading around our house as well as our friends and family. It's hard not to come down with a case of it. My best friend from High School has it and blessed us with a box of the cutest things EVER! Here are some of the cute little things that her and her Husband picked out for our little girl.

Thank you Monica and Jay! She's going to look so cute in all of it!

developments

Well, I'm now a little over 26 weeks pregnant and we have less than 100 days until baby Margaux's due date. As you can see the belly is getting bigger and bigger by the day now. When I lay down I can see my belly jump when she punches or kicks and I can also see it protrude and morph shape as she presses against it from the inside. The second picture is taken on the same day, but after I got dressed for work. I thought it would be good to have one with my face in the picture. Its funny how different outfits make the belly look different.
You can also tell we have started working on her room. I love it. very clean and calm. we have a hodgepodge of furniture and none of it matches, but I don't care at all. A friend gave me the crib and I love it. I also have the dresser from my room when I was little, a dresser that is being changed into a changing table, and a cabinet that is being modified into an armoire type thing. I'll post pictures when I'm closer to being finished. But I've made a promise to myself that I'm not going to start on any more baby projects till I get the house back in order from the hardwood floor project. Otherwise, I'll start 10 new projects and not have one done.

I registered for baby stuff last week. I wasn't sure I was even going to register for anything, but people told me I should. Most of my friends know more about what items are good to have than I do. So I mostly registered for necessities, diapers, bottles, pacifiers and nursing related items. Oh, and some extra crib sheets (I've been told you'll want extras) but some how I managed to scan a pot holder while I was looking for a friends wedding gift on the same trip. Funny, I kept trying to purposely scan desitin and saline, but it wouldn't let me. Now target won't let me sign on online and take it off. So if anyone looks up my registry, sorry about the random pot holder. I'm sure its beautiful and great, I have no idea what it looks like.