Randomness

Just to start off with something to make you smile: Anabelle's super cute 4th of July outfit.

 Now, on to the latest sewing adventure...

 I got this black shirt at target for $2.00 a few weeks ago.  The shirt is a size too big, and I bought it with the intention of turning it into a maternity shirt (although I still don't really need it).  And round of applause please, the project didn't take me months to begin :)  So, since I forgot to take a before pic of the shirt, just imagine a plain old Target or Old Navy shirt.

 So, what did I do?  I rouched the sides, meaning that I gathered the fabric along the side seams of the shirt.  I've seen several maternity shirts like this as well as a tutorial or two on how to do it.  It was really pretty simple.  Ok, so the first thing I did was actually take in the side seams from about the bottom of my chest up through the sleeves.  This was not a necessary step, but I hate when shirts are all bunchy through the armpit area and don't fit properly (and since the shirt was too large, it needed to be done).  Okay, so I ended up taking it in about 1 1/2 to 2 inches on each side and narrowed the sleaves so they would be slimmer.  The result: a bit of a longer sleeve that still hugs my arms.  I like it.


 How did I do the rouching/gathering?  I took a piece of 1/4 in. wide elastic, stretched and pinned it along the side seam of the shirt, and sewed down the middle of the elastic to secure it in place.  Not very difficult at all. I'm sure I will be doing this again.  In fact I bought a $2.00 white shirt just like it.  I will be sure to post pics while I'm wearing it later on to show you all.

Here is a more close-up picture of the rouching.  Now, whenever my belly decides to grow and needs more room, I have a shirt to accommodate it :)

Now, on to the belly photos...

Taken at about 16 weeks

17 1/2 weeks

 and 19 weeks, taken this past Friday.  I'm finally showing just a little bit!!

 In other news, we have our 20-week ultrasound on Thursday the 14th.  Hooray!  And hopefully we find out what we will be having.  We can hardly wait.  I feel the baby moving around several times during the day, and have been feeling movements for about 3 weeks now.  Mike has even felt the baby move a couple of times.  It's so fun and seems so much more real when I can feel our baby moving, and it is definitely one of the most amazing feelings a woman can have (in my opinion).  We are so happy to have another baby joining our family in just under 5 more months!

Mike took me out to celebrate my birthday on Friday.  Actual b-day isn't until this coming Tuesday, but since he's in school and has to get to bed early every night, we celebrated over the weekend.  He took me on a Dinner Cruise.  It was so fun!
Here we are standing on the upper deck of the cruise boat.  And as you can see, we got to dress up a little bit for the evening.

 And here we are sitting at our table.  We were seated at a table with another couple, who were very nice and fun to talk to.  Mike and the other guy, as it turned out, both LOVE to talk about sports, so that kept the conversations pretty lively and constant. The food was delicious, too.  The food began with some very good herbed bread with butter and drinks.  I had lemonade, which btw, was some of the best lemonade I've ever had.  I really should have asked what kind it was ;) We then had she-crab soup, a yummy salad, and our choice of 5 entrees.  I ordered the fresh catch of the night, which was salmon, and oh boy was it tasty! Best salmon I've had in years.  Mike ordered the prime rib.  Both were served with garlic mashed potatoes and seasoned green beans.  Yum Yum Yum.  Everything was delicious and we finished all of our food.  Then we shared a slice of cheesecake.  Needless to say, I was very full by the end of the evening.

The evening finished up with music and dancing.  The dancing was a lot of fun and pretty entertaining as we watched a few groups of older women filling up the dance floor enjoying their girls' night out.  Mike and I danced a few slow songs (as any of you who know my dancing skills understand that I avoid public dancing as much as possible).  Anyway, a huge thanks to my wonderful hubby for the fabulous birthday gift!  I love you.