2010... What a year it will be!

Inspired by all the recent postings about New Year's Resolutions, I decided to document some goals myself. I don't particularly like New Year's resolutions, they rarely stick. On the other hand, I can see why people always make New Years Resolutions, it's a fresh start.

I want my goals to be obtainable. I also want my goals to enrich the quality of my life. Losing 50 pounds might help me feel better, but will it really help me make my life better? I decided to take a look at a few topics to see what I wanted to do this year:

• Health
• Finances
• Community/ Activity
• Relationships/ Home
  

We are going to have a new baby in the house this year, so I didn't want to get completely crazy with my goals. I can, however, think about the things I know I want to do.

Health
I have a baby due in April and I want to be able to keep up with him! I want to begin preparation for a marathon, I want to run a 5 k, I want to do a sprint triathlon. I set my goal here as mileage because I think this will help me keep better track. This year I will:

1. Run 75 miles
   
2. Bike 150 miles
3. Swim 75 miles

Finances
The hubby and I don't currently own the house we rent, but we would like to. So this year I will:

1. Work with the hubby to save for a down payment on the house

Community/ Activities
I want to be more involved in my community this year. I want to invest my time in things I want to do. This year I will:

1. Head the fourth quarter charity event at work for Children's Miracle Network
2. Start a (casual) yoga practice
   

Relationships/ Home
This is probably one of the most important areas for me. I really would like to have more people to interact with. I want to be a better wife. I definitely want to be a good mother. This year I will:

1. Be a better wifey to my hubby
2. Be a good mom and not scar the kid for life
   
3. Take better care of the chores in my home
   
4. Be more than a Face book friend
   

I don't want to stop looking at my goals for the year. I also don't want to be sad or annoyed if I find myself slipping away from these goals. I want to be happy that I have goals and that I have the opportunity to improve my life. Not everyone gets the chance to set goals or work towards them.

I also must remember that I have to make the choice each day to follow my goals. I need to decide if I want to walk towards the life I want, or if I want to stay where I am. Today, I choose to take my first step towards that life.

Wardrobe Refashion: A few things finished

I had a few WIPs that I finished up this week. I was so excited to have something to post, even if all of the items were totally easy!

I crocheted this baby blanket out of stash yarn my MIL had. I didn't know that we were having a baby boy when I started, but I love the stripes for either sex anyway. The green yarn is a 'shimmer' type of yarn that has the tiniest bit of sparkle, and the white is really more of an off white color. I still have enough yarn left over to knit a baby cap on my handy knitting loom and enough to try my hand at some baby booties.

I made the blanket by doing a simple double crochet. 72 stitches wide and 5 rows per stripe. So simple, I heart double crochet. Simple to do, but looks totally hard.

I also finished two pouch-style baby slings from some fabulous fabric I got at Jo Anns. The fabric is a sweatshirt type material and is fleece lined. I used this page to get some general direction. More specifically, I used the video on that page as a guideline. Easy Peasy.


Because I couldn't decide on a single sling type that I really liked, I decided to make a few different styles, so there will be a few more slings posted in the future :)

I also made something NOT for the baby :)

This scarf was made for my brother's girlfriend. Again, a double crochet and super easy. It's made from some leftover Homestyle yarn from Lion Brand. The yarn was in my grandma's stash and she didn't know what to do with it, so she gave it to me. It was kind of hard to work with, but it turned out cute.

And a close up detail of the stitches...

That's all I have for now. I hope to get a few more things done this week so I have another post. Viva Refashion!!!

The Kid- Introducing....

Ethan Jefferson B.

Our Bouncing Baby Boy!

I am sure I am up for "Worst Mother of the Year" for posting my baby's boy bits on the internet, but I wanted to share how I felt when we first saw this pic. (As a side note: Anyone know the rules about pics like this? Hoping this doesn't count as kiddie porn!)

As part of the big ultrasound we had, we did ask to find out the sex of the kid. I was convinced it was a girl, but we are having a baby boy! I am thrilled and much more comfortable with trucks and blue than I am with dolls and pink. I would have been happy either way, I am just excited that I finally get to be a mom! YAY!

As I mentioned in my last post, the ultrasound tech and the two docs were not able to see two parts of the kid. They were not able to get a clear picture of the heart, nor were they able to see the lip. They recommended that I come in a few weeks later for an additional ultrasound. Because I was the last appointment of the day, they were not able to schedule me then so I was asked to call back the next day. On the way home, the hubby and I discussed the reasons behind the ultrasound. I did some research on why those two areas were important to see and then decided to talk to my midwife. The hubby agreed that the second ultrasound didn't seem particularly necessary. The midwife confirmed that the ultrasound was just a reassurance, but was not required. Since everything else looked okay, she was okay with us skipping the follow up appointment.

Week 20-24 covered the week after Thanksgiving until the new year. The holidays were quite busy and I learned an important lesson about resting while pregnant. I was still quite tired when trying to accomplish too many tasks. I was also still having morning sickness. Everything else has been great aside from one thing.

I was at a weight of 180 pounds before I got pregnant. I was working on losing some of my weight, but not making much progress. I also started eating Gluten Free right before I got pregnant as well. The problem is that from the beginning of my pregnancy until week 24 I have only gained 2 pounds- TOTAL. My midwife took measurements and the ultrasound showed that I am right on track as far as growth, but we are not sure why I have not gained weight. Right now, it seems the kid is living off the stores I already had and is absorbing most of what I eat. I am consuming about 4000 calories a day, but have yet to gain any weight. My next appointment will include a glucose test to see if there are any problems there, but my midwife feels that I am pretty healthy and I must be doing okay because the kid is still growing. It has still been a puzzle, but if the kid is happy then I am happy! :)

I am settling into this pregnancy now with a bit more confidence and faith. I am not so scared anymore about it, especially since I started feeling movement. I am looking forward to meeting our little boy and can't wait until he gets here!

The Kid- 19 Weeks

So... At 19 weeks (the week of Thanksgiving) we went for the "Big" ultrasound, the one that tells you the sex of the baby and verifies if everything is 'normal'. I was undecided about whether to have the ultrasound or not, because I don't really see the need to make sure the kid is 'normal'. A lot of what I read said that many people get these ultrasounds and if something seems wrong, they terminate. The hubs and I discussed this and both agreed that termination was not an option, even if something was wrong. However, we were both insanely curious to see the sex of the baby, so we decided to go through with the ultrasound. One of the first pictures we got was the "Thumbs Up". It was the cutest thing to see the kid giving us the okay. I felt a huge relief when I could see the kid moving around, and I must say s/he does not really like the ultrasound. S/he was dodging everywhere!

The next pic that we got was the arm. There was also lots of other pictures in between and measurements and cool things that you could see. The ultrasound tech was very patient and explained what she was taking pictures of the whole time. Even when the kid was dodging her, she just kept moving around.

The next pic that the ultrasound tech gave us was a picture of the feet. So cute and tiny. I was glad to get that picture.

Although the tech spent quite a bit of time with us, she was not able to get a clear picture of all four chambers of the heart, nor was she able to see the lip. Once she had all the pictures she wanted, she gave us a few and then went to discuss with the doctor. We had two docs that came back (I think one was in residency) and they tried to get the last two pictures that they wanted. They were not able to either, the kid was totally being stubborn and would NOT turn over for them! They asked to schedule us for another appointment and we determined we would talk to the midwife about it. We couldn't decide if there was a real need to have a second ultrasound to see those two things.

We also received one more picture that showed the sex, but we decided that we wouldn't tell anyone else until Christmas. It was fun to keep the secret from everyone! All in all, the ultrasound was very interesting and fun to see and we were both glad that we decided to have the ultrasound done.

Next time: the sex of the baby, the decision about a follow up ultrasound, and weeks 20-24!

I am a Refashionista!

So I finally took the plunge!



I have been following Wardrobe Refashion for at least a year now. I am always in awe of the people who can take an object of clothing and completely change it into something new.

Now I know how to crochet and sew at a beginner level. My great-grandmother and my aunt taught me how to crochet when I was young but both of them are lefties. This makes following patterns a bit difficult because I am right-handed, and I crochet a bit backwards. My grandma bought me a sewing machine about ten years ago, but I am just barely becoming proficient at stitching straight seams :) My lovely Mother-In-Law has the biggest stash of fabric on the planet, and she totally feeds my crafty inclinations. Not to mention it is really nice when I can visit her stash to 'shop' for fabric I need for a project.

After a (very) long time of lurking and following WR, I finally sucked it up and decided to pledge for two months. I HATE shopping because I am very short (4'11") and usually pretty round (about a size 12). The difficulty in finding clothes to fit pregnant me has only become worse. I also have a hard time buying things for the little one and my pregnant self when I know that baby clothing and maternity clothing has such a short shelf life. Although I LOVE some of the things I see in the shops, I can't justify spending money on items that will only be worn a short amount of time. I hate buying stuff that is shoddily made, so my goal will be to make some of my own stuff. This might be made more difficult by the fact that I can't follow a pattern to save my life, I hate pinning, and I don't particularly care to sew anything more complicated than straight seams. Although I have high hopes for my sewing ability, I am also a realist. So we will see how this whole pledge thing goes. :)

And in order to make it OFFICIAL...

I, Crystal, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that I shall refashion, renovate, recycle pre-loved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed Crystal!