Sewing mama!

So I just have to show off what I have been doing over the last month. I don't know why I've become obsessed with sewing all of a sudden but at least its been a productive craze for me. If you told me 3 years ago I'd be really into sewing I would've laughed in your face, and then I'd whisk my Coach bag over my shoulder as I walked away! But I've really had a lot of fun sewing with friends and I'm planning on starting a sewing blog with all that we do in our sewing group. Yes, I've organized a sewing group and we do super cute projects! I guess I still have a week of waiting...we'll see if I'm motivated enough to start another blog!


Boppy cover with zipper!


Onesies I appliqued

My 5 Birdie Slings- This one I made for Tiffany


The 5 diaper bags I've made- I made another black one for Mandy

The Waiting Game

Yes I know, I'm bad at blogging. Right now I'm a little preoccupied with playing the "waiting game". Sounds a bit boring but I've managed to keep myself busy. I have one week left until D-day and I'm finally reaching the point where I've had enough. I'm ready to have this baby... out of me at least. I've sewed my way through the last month of pregnancy and now I'm done. My feet are swollen, my back hurts and I keep having random contractions that I know don't mean anything but fool me every time! Well here's a run down of whats been going on the last two months....

• I got my braces off!
• I stopped working!
• Dave finished his second year!
• I've made 5 diaper bags and 5 birdie slings (birdie sling=purse)
• I've had a blast hanging out with friends and doing whatever I want!

Ok, some pictures:

Gag! And this was the best one out of 40- yuck!


Last lunch with the Oakland working girls, I'll miss you guys!


What Dave did most of finals week!

I'm about to lay an egg

Nesting....

Well it has been way too long and really, I have no excuse. I've actually been preoccupied with making ridiculous amounts of baby stuff. I guess nesting is one of those things where you're supposed to be in some cleaning frenzy but considering that's my normal state, I've taken it up a notch. I'll keep this short since I'm about to make a boppy cover (boppy is a nursing pillow for those of you who don't know). I know you can buy them at the store but I couldn't find a cover good enough so yeah, I'm making it!

I'll start off with a nice huge pregnant picture: So far I've only received one twin comment, there's still time...

So this was my first project, hair clips. Thanks to my talented friend Melanie I got hooked on making these.

Then I went to wipes cases (thanks again Melanie), and yes, I need two of them. I also made this block quilt to go with Oakley's crib set.

Then I just had to knit her a baby blanket and I learned how to make burp cloths.

So then I was onto flannel baby blankets- I've made 13 of them. (The missing ones are gifts). And I still have four more in the works! Thanks goes to Meridith on this one.

Last but definitely not least is my new diaper bag. My talented friend Amy made a super cute one and I just had to too!

This is not the end of the madness. Oh no, I've got plans for a boppy cover, diaper stacker, another knitted blanket, another crib sheet (I've made one of those too- thanks Libby) and at least one more diaper bag. I'm also planning on learning to make appliques on onesies, baby booties, bibs and a baby wipes case holder. I've got 7 weeks left and I'm going to make the best of it! Well at least I'll make the most stuff.

26 & 26!

Well for those of you who forgot or didn't know, yesterday was my Birthday:) I'm now 26 years old, closer to 30 than 20! Anyway, I had to work but besides that it was a fun day. I'm also 26 (almost 27) weeks pregnant. So to celebrate, I'm gifting you with a picture of my huge belly. Go ahead, laugh, I do everyday. I'm getting so huge and I still have 3 months to go! I'm going to look like I swallowed a basketball by the end. Oh well, its all worth it right?! Also here's a picture of Oakley at 19 weeks. (I think she has Dave's nose.)

My solitary confinement from the web

Almost four weeks ago my favorite pet, Lucy, decided to knock over our cable Internet box and there by ruin my life for the past month. I don't know how she managed it but in one swipe of her paw, she destroyed our cable modem and my will to live (okay, a little dramatic). We didn't have time to find a replacement in the few days before heading up to New York for Christmas since our house was completely torn apart while we were trying to refinish our floors. After we returned home to the same disaster, we were too busy trying to put our house together to find a replacement. Once we finally had the time to look for a new modem, we realized our idea that it would be a cheap $15 replacement was a little off. The modems we saw in the 5 different stores were all around $65-$70 and our on little budget, that was just out of the question. In our attempt to save money we finally ordered a cheap replacement from eBay. This was only managed by using a computer at Best Buy while receiving many suspicious looks from the employees. We finally received our new modem yesterday and discovered that somehow our wireless modem also bit the dust. So despite the inconvenience of having to sit on the floor of the nursery we're painting to plug into the web, I'm happy to once again be connected to the world. When I was trying to come up with a title for this blog I stumbled upon the definition of solitary confinement and felt it suited my feelings exactly...
Solitary Confinement is a punishment or special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is denied contact with any other persons, it has also been called a form of torture.

Friday Night I went with some friends to see the movie Marley and Me. I highly recommend it, especially if you have dogs. While watching the movie I found myself reminiscing about all the wonderful experiences I've had with my lab, Lucy. I'd thought I would share some of the magical moments we've had in the last two and a half years of having Lucy in our home.

• The time Lucy ran over to our next door neighbors house, knocked their 2-year-old to the pavement and peed in their entryway. They moved shortly after that!
• The time Lucy peed on our friends love sac.
• The many times Lucy peed on our own love sac, and especially the two times she did it right above Dave's head!
  
• The time we had to rush home from my Grandparents house on July 4th to pay a $300 vet visit after Lucy had gotten extremely sick from eating cat food and too much rawhide.
• The time Lucy and an entire bottle of my antibiotics (yes, including the bottle). If you ever have to make a dog vomit, just use one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide and they'll be puking all day!
• The two pairs of my rainbow flips flops she ate ($50 a pair, that's a $100 chew toy.)
• The time she got an anal glad infection and we had to again pay a $200 emergency vet visit.
  
• The time we she puked on my very expensive coach purse in the moving truck.
• The time she broke out into little blood blisters all over her body in the moving truck to Pittsburgh and again we went to the vet and had to pay only $100 that time.
• The many, many ears infections we've had to treat her for.
• The three times animal control has shown up to our house because our neighbors complained about our dog barking too much.
• The three rugs, wooden chair and many kitchen towels she eaten.
• The many many times (including yesterday) shes eaten her food too fast and puked it up on my rug.
  
• The many times she's knocked over the trash can. Notice all our trash cans and laundry basket now have lids.
  
• Dave's flip flops, shoes, and hats she's destroyed.
  
• The time she ate her own dog bed and her own dog dishes.
• The time she opened the fridge and ate a whole Kielbasi.
• And last but not least, all the black hair she sheds which can be found anywhere from my cereal bowl to stuck in my clean clothes.

All the same, I know that deep down somewhere, I still love my dog.

The results are in.......

So Dave and I took a nice little trip to get my momentous ultrasound this week and got some very good news. My placenta previa has gone away, the baby looks perfectly healthy and ITS A GIRL!!! So your vote really did count! Ha ha! Well I really thought I had some type of mother's intuition, I was convinced I was having a boy. I'm very happy to be wrong!
We've already decided on a name Oakley Kay Pringle. I came up with the name one day after Dave was talking about a bench instructor at school with the last name Oakley. It just clicked for both of us. Anyway, I'm including some preggo shots for Harmony even though I'm a little opposed to having my picture taken right now because of the braces.



And here are some cute shots of the girls. I'm a little nervous that Cleo is going to have some serious jealousy issues when the baby comes. She spends her time cuddling up to me every minute she can, its so cute!

A Night to Remember....

A new America emerged last night after a moment that we will remember for the rest of our lives. The crowd spoke and history answered. As Lyndon Johnson famously said “We shall overcome” and we finally have. I’m not here to say this is a historic moment because a black man became president, but because we now belong to a country where racism has faded to the point where a black man can be elected president. Many of us are too young to remember the days of civil rights and Martin Luther King Jr. but, in our time racism has exposed its ugly face. I still remember hearing about my brother’s friend. He was good student who stayed out of trouble. He was an African-American who lived close by in a suburban neighborhood. He was the victim of a viscous hate crime where he was attacked by two white boys who knew nothing about him besides the fact he was black. I was shocked! I had always lived in a diverse area that I thought was devoid of racism. But still in my own hometown, to a family friend, racism reared its ugly face. Today I woke up more proud to be an American than I can ever remember. There are few moments in our lives that will deeply imprint in our hearts that cannot be forgotten. Last night we experienced one of those moments, a moment where all Americans truly became equal. I whole-heartedly support our president elect and not because of the color of his skin, but for the integrity and intelligence that he exudes. I believe he is the best man for this job. I believe in the America he has inspired.

Obama's victory speech

No negative comments please.