More projects :)

Finding time to sew during the day still proves nearly impossible.  Mike has been so wonderful as to play with Anabelle in the afternoons and leave me alone to sew for a little while.  Over the past week or two, I have accomplished a few new fun projects.  The first one was the completion of maternity pants.  Well, adapting a pair of jeans into maternity jeans. I used an old black shirt to make the waistband.

Since I apparently forgot to take pics how I used the shirt, imagine cutting a horizontal line across the shirt to cut it in half just a few inches below the armpits.  That bottom tube that is left will be folded inside itself and sewn into the waistband of a pair of jeans.

So, I took this pair of jeans (that I love), but are just too low rise for me to wear comfortable after having a c-section, and I cut off the waistband, like so:

 I then placed the tube around the jeans so the seams lined up and sewed it in.  Flip it up and you are finished!

 This is how they look.  The fabric from the shirt kind of stretched out throughout the day, so I had to keep pulling my pants up over and over, which was kind of annoying.  If I try this project again, I'll use different material.

Now, this next photo, is not only a belly photo of me at about 27 1/2 weeks, but I also re-made the shirt :)

 I took a Downeast basics shirt I have that I really like, but the bottom lacy stuff was totally ruined.  After washing it even a few times, the elastics came out all over the place and looked terrible.  I've been plotting a refashion for this shirt for several months, and finally decided on one!
So, to start, I removed that horrible-looking lace band along the bottom.

 Done.

 Then, I cut a strip of black stretchy fabric (I think it's polyester, but I'm not sure because it was a remnant-75% off!).  I sewed the ends together to make a big tube and folded it into itself just like the one for the pants.

 I placed it upside down around the perimeter of the shirt with raw edges together, pinned it in place, and sewed.

 After sewing, I folded the tube back down, and now I have an extended contrasting waistband :)
The shirt needed a little something more, so using that same black polyester, I sewed a bunched flower together and sewed it onto the shirt.

 I really like how it turned out.

Now, on to the baby boy (nope, he doesn't have a name yet) projects!!

An, if I do say so myself, AWESOME beanie/newborn hat for the little guy.

 I made it out of a brown stretchy knit, using another baby hat as my pattern.  I wanted to get creative with it somehow, not just making a boring plain brown hat.  The only other stretchy fabric I currently have are some small bits of ribbing I used to make Ani's towel bibs with.  I cut strips of the ribbing in different widths and zig-zagged them onto the hat, then sewed it together.  I love it!

 And then, some shoes.  I made a few pairs of these when Ani was a baby.  I really do not have much boy fabric at all, so this was about it.  I really need to get some more.  But here is what I came up with.

 The middle strip is brown flannel that will fray like a rag quilt when washed and dried.

Yay, yay!  Having this baby boy here to put these cute shoes and hat on will be fantastic.

Hangin' Out

Announcement:

Anabelle is potty-trained!!!!!!!  Wahoo! I feel like I should throw a party.  We have been working on this off and on for the past year.  She would be very interested and want to go potty on the toilet for a few weeks, and then want nothing to do with it.  Then a month or two later, we would go through the same thing all over again.  It was coming to the point where I knew she could be trained, but she was still going in her diaper because she knew she could get away with it.  So one day, Mike and I decided to just put underwear on her and let her learn that way.  She did surprisingly well.  The first couple of days, she had a few accidents, at least one or two a day.  I can count only 2 pooping in her underwear incidents (thank goodness, that is nasty to clean up!).  It has been a few weeks now, and she only had one accident last week, and it was at the beginning of the week.  It's awesome!  She even does great in public.  She still wears pull-ups at night, but keeps them dry most nights.  I'm so happy that we've accomplished this before our new baby will be here :) That was my goal.  Good job Anabelle!  And if I may, good job Mommy! (And Daddy, too).

Now, on to the pictures.

Our little cutie, posing by the tree.

 Cheese!

 Ani likes to build "fires".  We gather sticks from our yard, break them into small pieces, and arrange them into fires.  She LOVES it.  At times, we have several small fires all over our front and back yards.  Sometimes, like in this picture, we even roast marshmallows over the fire.  Can you see the marshmallows on our sticks? :)

 I love her!

 She loves to wear Daddy's cover

 This photo is from when we went downtown a few weeks ago and walked all over, then let Ani cool down in the pineapple fountain at Waterfront Park.  She loved it, and we had a lot of fun.

Sewing projects

Although it sometimes takes me a while, I have finally completed a few more sewing projects!!! Hooray :)  Completing these projects is so fulfilling; I love it.

The first was a shopping cart cover that my sister-in-law Emaly asked me to make for her.  It's for our adorable nephew Ty.  Making the cover was kind of a complicated process, with quite a bit of alterations, after a some-what failed prototype.  But I am more than pleased to announce that I have completed and mailed it off to her in Utah :)  She picked out the fabric, a soft white minky for one side and a solid brown for the other side.  Here are some pictures of my little Ani modeling usage of the finished product.

One minor note to make.  After taking these pictures, I inserted my own buckle and strap to hook around the cart to keep it in place.  Now she doesn't have to use the almost-always-nasty-or-broken store buckles.

A sippy-cup or water-bottle holder to the right of Anabelle.  2 separate toy loops along the front to keep shopping time entertaining and fun for the little guy. 

 Elastic around the perimeter to hold it around the edges of the cart.

 And a velcro strap to secure the front piece around the handle

 Brown bias-tape to finish off the edges.

 And a handy bag to carry it all in.  I hope she likes it!!!

The next project I made is one I have been wanting to try for quite a while.  A taggie blanket for our little guy, coming in December.  This is the first real quilting I have done by myself, which was kind of fun (maybe because it was only a 1' by 1' square).  Obviously it isn't perfect, but oh well.  I combined 2 separate flannel patterns, some fleece (the cute animal blocks), and some cream-colored swirl patterned minky.

 The different textures of soft fabrics coupled with the ribbon tags all around the edges should be very interesting and stimulating for a baby.  I hope he likes it.  Oh, and the opposite side is a solid piece of the cream minky.

Well, there you have it, I have finally completed some more projects.  A few others I have made lately, that I don't have pictures of include several sets of burp rags (flannel patterns on each side with an absorbent cotton batting in between). Stay tuned...I plan to complete several more projects in the upcoming months.  That is, if Ani ever decides to nap during the day or I can find some other time to do it.

Happy 4 Years!!!

I know I'm a bit late in posting, but last Thursday (the 18th) was our 4-year Anniversary!  We have had a wild and adventurous 4 years at that, and we are so happy to be together and have experienced it with each other.  We celebrated by going on a BBQ and Blues cruise.  It was a dinner cruise around the Charleston Harbor with a BBQ buffet by one of the best BBQ places around here, Hometown BBQ.  We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed seeing and experiencing more of the beautiful area we live in.  Here's a look back to 4 years ago:
Our engagement photo

 On our wedding day :)

I love you Mike!  Happy 4 years together and forever to go :)

Lewis happenings

Anabelle loves to dance with us :)

This belly pic was taken at about 20-21 weeks.

 And then I forgot to take one for a few weeks.  Maybe this way, you can see some progress.  I am currently 24 weeks, and I believe, visibly pregnant.  :)  Even a stranger at the grocery store noticed this week and congratulated me.  Wahoo!

And if you didn't notice the major hair change, here it is in greater detail...

I began to get bored with my hair.  South Carolina is so stinkin' hot that it was pretty unbearable to wear my hair down since it had gotten so long.  It also took forever to blow dry and turned out frizzy and crazy if I didn't round brush it dry.  Wearing it up much gives me headaches, so I was at a loss.  I decided to cut it and go back to my favorite haircut ever...the a-line.  I've also been contemplating dyeing my hair dark for quite a while.  Mike (and a few good friends) convinced me it was a good idea and that I wouldn't look completely foolish.  So, a wonderful woman in my ward cut and colored it for me this week.  I'm pretty happy with it.  I still surprise myself every morning when I look in the mirror because I forgot overnight what I had done.  So, without further ado, here are the before and after photos: 

Anabelle has still been as fun and crazy as ever, increasing her vocabulary daily and always surprising us with phrases and stories that she uses.  Recent ones include "Are you serious?!", "Don't worry about it", and "Ayuda me! Ayuda me!" (from Go Diego Go).

Sorry about the picture quality, but she LOVES to have her fingernails and toenails painted.  She now chooses 2 separate colors each time so we can alternate on each nail.  This week, we painted polka dots, and she loves them!

Our handsome boy

Here are some photos of our handsome little boy.  We can't wait to meet him.  Isn't he adorable?!

We were even able to have some of the ultrasound done in 4D.  I've never had this before.  It's amazing!

He looks healthy and wonderful, all around. Such a blessing! He weighs approximately 1 lb. 1 oz. Wahoo!  21 weeks 3 days along.  Past the half way point.  Time to start preparing for is arrival...  :)