Ruffles, bows, lace, pink, frills....

...We won't be using them. Haha. We are having another boy. My guess was that it would be a boy, so I wasn't surprised. The baby looks good, and is measuring only 4 days larger than expected, so we will be keeping our due date of April 28, 2010. I think BJ will figure out how to post our ultrasound pictures tonight. We haven't picked a name yet. We have a few that we both like, but haven't decided on one yet. We are excited that Gabe will have a little brother, and it will fun to watch them play together.

Is it a boy, or is it a girl?

We invite one and all to make their guesses in our poll on the right. We find out the gender of the baby on Thursday morning. Is it a boy? Or is it a girl? We're excited to find out what you all think (and feel free to make comments too on this post if you like). Have fun!

Gift ideas that won't strain your budget

I LOVE these sites- what cool ideas! I think some of these projects would make good stocking stuffers for kids. Many of them look really easy and fast to make. You just need paper, perhaps a few other supplies you probably have lying around the house, and a printer for some of the projects.
Fantastic Toys- freebies
Feed Your Soul- free printable art
Free animal sewing cards
The Toymaker- folding paper toys you can make yourself
Gift bags made from envelopes
Make your own gift bows
Let me know if you try any, and how it goes!

My take on the envelope gift bags:

 

 

 

Regular jeans to maternity jeans

http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_Make_Maternity_Jeans_Using_Regular_Jeans_an/

On second thought, I won't post pictures of my jeans now. It's just one of those awkward, I look really chubby- not quite pregnant pictures. Maybe later...

Anyway, thanks Alise for sending me the link to this project!

Gift Tags

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week and I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on many things I am grateful for. This week I have continued working on different Christmas projects and looking for more gift ideas, and have come across many great resources on some really cool blogs. I thought I would share some of them in a post or two.
Check out these cute gift tags that you can print:


http://www.lindalumdebono.blogspot.com (Top right of the page)
http://nobitingwolfie.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-youre-it.html
http://www.lollychops.com/ (A favorite of mine)
http://littlepaperdog.blogspot.com/2008/07/big-four-zero.html
http://limegardenias.blogspot.com/2009/11/peppermint-tags-for-you.html
http://aprintaday.blogspot.com/2009/05/downloads-tags-stickers-and-notepad.html
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/3125/list_45_1.html
http://thepaperseed.com/?p=213
http://tipnut.com/wrap-up/

I have printed several of these with great results! I especially like how some of them look printed on brown craft paper, or various colors of cardstock.

Our little buddy

So Gabriel has been developing quickly lately. His ability to communicate, while still behind the curve is coming along. He uses a mix of words and signs to communicate with us. He uses more signs than words, but the words he now uses are "Dadda" which may mean either Mom or Dad, "Jesus" said with a strong slur. He used to say "kiss" but hasn't for a while. The signs he has learned are "mom", "dad", "more", "drink", "eat", and most recently "bath". It has been fun to watch him learn and grow. He imitates many things we do. I was snapping to some music a few days ago, and ever since, Gabe has been trying to snap when he hears music. Our most sure-fire way of getting him to take a bite of anything is to get his attention, and very deliberately eat the same item, as it is fed to him. He is very much a toddler, in that he loves to toddle everywhere. He has gotten much better at walking, but frequently does not pay attention to his surroundings, and consequently trips and falls. He walk, runs, and goes backward, all while paying no attention to where he's going. It's amazing he doesn't have more bruises than he does. He's been more healthy lately than he was a few months ago, but all the same he seems to be constantly fighting something. He's had a cold for what seems like a month, and had an upset stomach randomly a couple of nights ago. He loves books. He's just flips through their pages and likes to look at their pictures, and feel them if they have textures in them.

I am so excited for Christmas!!!!

I have been listening to Christmas music all week. And loving it. It has helped me get into the spirit of Christmas as I make highly secret Christmas gifts. :D My family has a tradition of drawing names for Christmas where the giver is to put together a gift for the receiver preferably using their talents or catering to the talents of the receiver. There isn't a rule against spending money per se, but it must be a "gift of the heart". Anyway, I drew Marissa this year, so I have been busy (and having lots of fun) making *something* for her. Planning and working on gifts for others makes the Christmas season so exciting! Marissa and I are also working on a super secret Christmas project together. It is going to be so exciting to give! I can't say what it is or who it is for, but we are really excited about how it is turning out so far! I will definitely be posting pictures after Christmas!
I am a little stumped on what I could make for the men & boys (old and young) in my life. I am not opposed to spending money, but I am really having fun making stuff. The requirements are that it has to be useful and not junky. No trinkets. I have a few ideas, but none that are particularly striking my fancy at the moment. Any suggestions?

16 Months Old

Cute boy! Gabe is at such a fun age. He is very mobile, getting into everything. He is very aware of what is going on around him. He knows when we are getting ready to leave, and he makes sure you know that he wants to come along! He has been very affectionate lately. As he runs around playing with toys, he runs back to me every few minutes to hug and/or kiss me if I'm sitting on the floor, or lay his head on my knee if I'm on the couch. He does the actions to the "Eensy Weensy Spider" song, as well as "Open, Shut Them". He still doesn't say "Mama" or "Dada" (except for sometimes he signs them) but he says something that sounds a LOT like "Jesus" when he points to a picture of Jesus, which is always accompanied by big smiles. Gabriel likes to talk on the phone, whether he's just pretending, or Grandma or Grandpa or someone else is talking to him. He usually doesn't say anything back, just grins from ear to ear. I have seen Gabe "reading" books upside down several times this past week or two, pointing to words and pictures, and babbling. He has had a bad cold and cough since about Halloween that he is just starting to get over. He has been such a trouper, a really happy boy despite not feeling well. The most interesting things in our house to Gabe right now are the window blinds, the amplifier for the speakers in our living room, and the toilet paper dispensers, plus anything else that is dangerous, messy, or off limits. We keep the TV area gated off right now, as well as the entrance to the kitchen, which Gabe is not really a fan of. The toilet paper dispensers in our bathrooms also have no toilet paper on them currently, since if it is in reach, it will end up all over the bathroom floor. Haha. We have been reaching new levels of babyproofing as Gabe gets more curious and mobile. I'm sure it will only continue as he gets taller, learns to climb, open cabinets, etc. Today I saw something silvery glinting in his hand as he was running around, and after initially dismissing it, I decided I had better check it out. It was BJ's wedding ring! That could have had a sad/frustrating/confusing ending. I don't know why he decided to go pick that up, but I had to laugh out loud when I saw what it was. Good thing he didn't swallow it. Gabe has been trying hard to use a fork and spoon lately. Usually I help him, but he really likes feeding himself. Since he has had ALL of his teeth for a few months now, he eats pretty much everything we eat, with a few exceptions. Gabriel continues to be in general a happy, energetic boy who loves to laugh, and I love it! Now if only I can have enough energy to keep up with him!

Halloween

This Halloween was kind of fun, because we got to dress Gabe up and he kinda liked it! As I was making his costume, I would periodically try it on him to see how it fit and what alterations I needed to make. Gabe really seemed to like wearing it, and he even cried a couple of times when I took the costume off him to keep working on it. I'm not sure how much he understood of what was going on, but he loved looking at himself in the mirror in his costume and saying "fff-fff-fff" (woof woof). He was also pretty fascinated that people would put things in his trick or treat bag. He got to take a couple bites of his first candy bar, which he thought was pretty amazing, judging from the faces and sounds he made while eating it. We took Gabe to our ward's Trunk-or-Treat party and to BJ's office to trick or treat at all the cubicles. It was fun because everyone was dressed up- some pretty elaborately- and Gabe was somewhat bewildered by it. He did get the hang of picking up candy and putting it in his bag. We dressed him up again on Halloween night although we did not take him outside. We had Marissa and Richard over along with some other friends, Max and Rebecca, to carve pumpkins, eat treats, and watch Ghostbusters. Anyway, we thought Gabe was the cutest little puppy ever to trot (ok, so we tend to be a little biased in these things), so here are some pictures.

Craft Day

Marissa and I have been getting together about once a week to do a crafty-homey type thing. This project was the result of Marissa wanting to make something in the "home decor" department. We thought letter blocks were cute, but didn't have any wooden blocks. We ended up downloading a paper folding box template and making our non-cubical cubes out of cardboard. (Not recommended, for time management purposes) Then we covered them in paper- black and white scrapbook paper on one set, and brown craft paper on the other. It's all held together with generous amounts of Mod Podge. I love the contrast of the red letters on the black and white. I used wrapping paper to make the letters on the Christmas block set. We traced around enlarged letters from a font we liked on the computer so the letters would match (I don't consider myself an artist in that department at all). Anyway, despite being fairly time consuming (mostly assembling all the little boxes) we had fun putting this project together.

Sweater Love

I love sweaters, but I always have a few that aren't "quite right". It's easy to give many sweaters a style makeover to make them more wearable.
I had fun experimenting with turning pull-over sweaters into cardigan-style sweaters.

My sister and I added some interest to a boring, plain sweater just by sewing on some ribbon and a few buttons. Sorry, I forgot to take "before" pictures of the next couple!


Similarly, this sweater wasn't working for Marissa because the sleeves were an awkward length- too long for 3/4 sleeves, too short for long sleeves. So we decided to go short!

I have a few other ideas for sweater refashioning, which I have yet to try. If they work out, maybe I will post more pictures.

Long Time

Yep, it has been a long time since I posted. A lot has happened in the past month or two. I will try to catch up.
Here are some albums and videos that I meant to post when Gabe turned 15 months old. Now he is nearly 16 months. Wah.





This video is from about a month or so ago, when he was really starting to walk around more. Now he is much more stable and just running all around the house, following me from room to room.

My mom came to visit about 2 weeks ago. We had her stay with us the 5 days she was here, and we had a good time! I was terrible about taking pictures, although I got a few. Some of the things we did were: Go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal, make applesauce, lots of baking, visiting my Grandma Christensen, driving up Hobble Creek Canyon and taking pictures, barbecuing, and lots of visiting.


Probably the main reason that I haven't posted in a while is that I haven't been feeling too energetic lately because... I'm pregnant with Baby #2! I am due April 28. I have been very fatigued but the nausea is really starting to decrease. Thank goodness. I am definitely showing earlier than with my first pregnancy, although it is definitely the awkward stage where I just look chubby, not pregnant. Thus, no pictures yet. Haha.
Anyway, more to come on some of the other things I have been working on lately.

Time to blog again

Rochelle has been asking me to contribute to the blog again. I remember a time when I was doing much if not most of the writing, and I was the one trying to get Rochelle to write. My, times have changed. But I should be doing more of this. I should be recording history better, and journalling better. We've had a good month. My birthday came and went, and it was fun. We had a couple of different little get-togethers with people, and that's kinda the way I think I prefer it. I enjoy small groups instead of large crowds. I can focus more on the people I'm with instead of trying to say 'hi' to everyone, and bouncing from conversation to conversation. We went to Sam Hawk with Richard, Marissa, Charles, and Annette. I always thoroughly enjoy myself there. The food is great. And the company was splendid. And my parents treated us to a dinner at Teppanyaki. Eating there reminded Rochelle and I of a chance meeting we had had there before we started dating years ago. It's a funny story. I'm not going to take the time to post it here though. At least not right now. ;-) And Rochelle and I celebrated on our own some too. Rochelle decided that for my birthday that we could get a grill. I've always wanted one, but it hadn't always been feasible until recently. So now I'm 30, I have a wife, and son, and a grill. Isn't life grand? I tried it out, and promptly burnt the first thing I cooked on it. It seemed fitting and proper that I did. Traditional. Men around the country burn their meet on the grill and somehow love it all the same. I can now join in their ranks. Well... I could go on, but I've learned that if I blog too much in one post, the post won't get read, and I'm afraid I'm nearing or past that point already. But I will try to post again soon. I like to hear myself talk, and this seems as good of a forum for that as any.

BJ

Happy 30th Birthday BJ!

It's true: BJ has finished his 30th year of life. I am fortunate enough to have spent the last 5 years at his side, and look forward to many more years together.
I could wax profound here, but let me just say that I love you dearly BJ, and wish you the happiest of birthdays!
I will let BJ give the birthday synopsis if he so desires!

14 Months Old!

Well, the time sure does fly. This has been a fun month as we continually see more and more of Gabe's fun personality emerge. Here is his "bio" for the month:

Gabe LIKES: playing with his toys, unstacking and knocking things down, graham crackers, poking people's noses, playing "chase", exploring anything and everything- rooms with open doors, trying to open the toilet lid, opening and closing cupboards and drawers, climbing over obstacles, and watching people blow bubbles.


Gabe LOVES: Grapes, fruit, cheese, playing with Mommy and Daddy, playing peekaboo and pattycake by himself, having stories read to him and turning the pages, going outside, bath time, playing with real or pretend phones, remotes, etc., playing roll the ball and throw the ball (he has pretty good aim too), and kick the ball (with some help), looking at himself and others in the mirror, making people laugh, or gasp with "surprise".

Gabe does NOT like: eggs, nap time, nose wipes, sitting still for too long, being in confined spaces, strangers trying to hold him.

Gabe hasn't started walking independently, not that I think he couldn't, but he seems to be content with crawling (which he started late as well) or holding on to things as he walks. He will take a few steps, but then he "dives" toward whatever his goal is. We put some shoes on him, which may help, but we shall see!
Gabe is starting to communicate more with us, not so much by him speaking, but in gestures, grunts (!), and a few signs. He evidently understands a good deal of what we say to him. He will sometimes point to his mouth when he wants to eat, and clap his hands when he wants more of something. He looks at the picture of Jesus in his room when I say "Where is Jesus?" and he crawls toward me as fast as he can if I get my keys out and say "Let's go bye-bye." When I remind him to be gentle, he reaches out and strokes my hair as "gently" as he can. He gives kisses when asked to, and sometimes without being asked. This week as I have picked him up, he puts his arms around me and pats me on the back.
Gabe still takes a 1 hour morning nap, but I think we are about to phase the afternoon nap out; we end up with a lot of screaming and lately he is pretty happy to just keep playing- and then we put him down for bed an hour earlier, at 7pm. :D Gabe goes to bed pretty easily though, we lay him down while he is still awake, and although we sometimes hear him crying a little bit (like if he hears any loud noises) he usually goes right to sleep and doesn't wake up until 6:30- 7:30 in the morning.
We have had some concerns with Gabe's health this month. First, we were worried that Gabe might have a milk intolerance because he was throwing up for a week, so we took him off milk completely. We have started giving him cheese again and other things with milk, even making rice cereal with milk, and no problems so far, so we will see what happens with that. Then last week we all got pretty sick with congestion, aches, pains, slight fevers, etc. and Gabe started having difficulty breathing with wheezing so we took him in to the after hours clinic and got him started on breathing treatments, which we have been continuing at home, but with less frequency as he is getting better. Poor little guy is used to the mask on his face and just leaves it alone (for the most part) while we sing songs or read books. Then we found out he is getting another ear infection. Big surprise. The doctor really recommended that Gabe gets tubes put in his ears, so we may be doing that soon.
Gabe is really a pretty happy kid. We love him dearly and think the world of him, as parents do of their children. We have so much fun with him and are really enjoying watching his personality develop.

Happy September!

Every September, I feel that mix of sadness at summer coming to an end, and excitement about all things fall. Thinking of all the things that were on my summer- to- do list, and exploring all the possibilities of fun activities yet to try. I am excited for the leaves to change colors and the weather to cool down a bit. I can't help but imagine the smell of crayons, erasers, and freshly sharpened pencils (I might just take a little walk down the aisles at Office Depot for fun). It almost makes me long for school days again. Almost. September also reminds me of canning peaches, immunizations, eating tomatoes, and packing sack lunches with apples and peanut butter sandwiches on homemade bread (notice a food theme there?). But I digress.
With the beginning of September, I have scaled back my work hours a bit, so I am only working 8 hours a week now. It is nice to be able to spend more time with Gabriel. Speaking of Gabe, he is cutting his 13-16th teeth right now, two of which are molars. Poor kid. He also has a cold this morning. In addition, he has to sleep in his pack and play, because we took his crib back to Target last weekend (it was recalled) and we haven't had a chance to get a new crib for him yet.
On the docket for today: naps, sorting through piles and piles of papers, sewing some new pants for Gabe, possibly even making my bed. Ha.

Quilted travel jewelery case

I did a similar case a few months ago for a camera. I used the leftover fabric for this case, making it a little larger, adding a ribbon for easier carrying, and dividing the case so there were two pockets.

 

 

This is a quick and fun project. Visit my previous entry on making the case to see some links to a tutorial and some helpful tips.

Update on Gabe

Today we took Gabe to Primary Children's Hospital to see a craniofacial specialist, and good news: we were reassured that the ridge on his head will not get any worse, his brain development will not be poorly affected, and the ridge may even disappear as Gabe grows. We were pretty much expecting that, but wanted to hear it from someone who could tell us confidently that that was the case. So now we have our peace of mind and are able to lay our anxieties to rest. Yay!

Happy 5 Year Anniversary!

I would certainly be remiss if I did not mention that BJ and I just celebrated our 5th Anniversary. At the risk of sounding a little mushy, these past five years have been the happiest of my life, and I consider myself blessed to be married to such a fun, kind, witty, patient, cool, talented, smart guy. We have had so many wonderful times, and I still get excited thinking about what our future holds.
So last week we headed out to Oregon to stay with my family for a while. We went swimming (one of Gabe's favorite things to do), hiking to Multnomah Falls, BJ took Cara's senior pictures, and we went to the Portland LDS Temple where we were married. On our Anniversary, BJ and I left Gabe with my family and we drove out to the coast. We honeymooned at Cannon Beach after we were married, and decided we would go back on our 5th anniversary. This time we stayed at a cute, oddly-shaped Bed and Breakfast right on the Oceanfront in Seaside. We had a really nice time, eating at Camp 18 (a really cool restaurant on Highway 26) like we did on our first trip to the beach together, right before we got engaged. We enjoyed walking on the boardwalk and down the beach. It was kind of cool and stormy, just like it was on our honeymoon. We went into a couple of really cool toy shops and bought some fun games- Mancala, Pass the Pigs, and Banana Grams, which is like the game Syzygy, which I love. My family drove out to the beach the next day, bringing Gabe of course, and we headed to Indian Beach. Love that beach. The Oregon Coast is so picturesque! The weather warmed up quite a bit. Anyway, Gabe LOVED the ocean. He is definitely a water baby. We walked him down to the waves (the tiny ones) and jumped him over each one. He loved it. He didn't care that his legs were all cold he was just enthralled the whole time. He was not happy with us when we decided that he had had enough and it was time to go warm up. We ate at Camp 18 again (my family wanted to go)on our way back and had fun playing games at the table and watching Gabe's antics.
We had a great time in Oregon, and it was kind of hard to come back and get back in to work and more work.

Here is another web album from my dad with a few more pictures.

Man's Shirt to Woman's Shirt Tutorial

Here is my own take on the man's shirt to woman's shirt refashion that has been going around the online sewing/ crafting community lately. There are quite a few different styles out there. Clothing refashioning really appeals to me, especially pattern-less refashioning.
After some hesitation, I decided to share pictures I took along the way with commentary, tutorial- style. I am a little nervous to share; this is the first tutorial I have ever written for something that I made up. If there is anything that is unclear, please let me know and I will try to clarify.
Click on the album below if you would like to be able to see the instructions. They were too long to include in the slideshow here, but you can see them in the album itself. I appreciate any feedback on whether this format is useful for a tutorial, if anyone tries it.

Brief update

It's been another interesting week so far. We got news on Saturday that my dad had been in an ATV accident and was in the hospital, fortunately, he was discharged only a few hours later, with painful but minor injuries that will heal in time. To read his account of what happened, see this post. We are so grateful that he is alright.
Today Gabe went to the pediatrician to get his ears checked to see if he would need tubes. One ear had some fluid in it but neither ear was infected. Yay! We have not had any sickness or infection for a few weeks. (Knock on wood.)
We are looking forward to seeing my family in the near future, and celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. More on that to come.

Photos, photos, and more photos

Rochelle has asked me to post some of my favorite photos from recent activities, and so here it goes. Moving in chronological order, we'll start with Charles and Annette who graciously allowed me to take their pictures for their engagement and their bridals. It was a lot of fun... and they make a great couple. Here's a few of my favorites from those photo shoots.



This next slide show may be a little long, so you may just want to skim through it if you are short on time. Rochelle's mom asked me to take photos of their production "The Music Man". She was vocal music director for the show. The slide show is up for the benefit of the people who were in the show, and therefore every picture that turned out is posted here.



And last, but not least, are some pics I took of Gabe today while he was playing. It is getting much more difficult to take his picture since he is so mobile now. He doesn't stay put. When I get the camera out, he immediately starts crawling towards me, and climbing on me. And so many of these pictures are taken an arms length away. All the same, I really like how some of these turned out. Some of these really make me laugh.



Well, that's the end of the slide shows. Hope you enjoyed them.

What a week

It's been another busy/ good week. We went to the Orem Owlz baseball game on Monday with some friends of ours in our ward. I hadn't been to a baseball game since high school. We really enjoyed it and Gabe did really well too.

I made my first ever zucchini bread this week as well, from a great recipe I got from BJ's mom. YUM. (Thanks, Suzanne!) We even used some zucchini that we picked from our garden. I froze the rest of the zucchini we had for easy zucchini bread- making in the future. Oh, I got a bunch of flowers (Zinnias) from my garden too, which I love!

Another "highlight" of the week was taking our old white car in for what we hoped was a minor repair, and ending up having to pay nearly $700 to get it fixed. Boo. That was not news we were happy to receive.
On to more important things:
Gabe is 13 months old today. He started standing up by himself with no support several weeks ago, for just a few seconds at a time, and now he is able to stand for quite a bit longer. Last night he took three steps by himself toward me. It is so funny to watch him as he does this. He laughs and gasps, as if he is just thrilled that he is doing it by himself, but also a little scared. Besides walking, he is very mobile, crawling all over the place. He still frequently crawls with one knee down, and his other foot on the floor, if that makes sense. He loves to play roll the ball with us, and crawls after his ball as fast as he can to roll it back to us. One of his favorite toys is still the push cart/ walker thingy. He loves to push it down the hall at a run! When he runs into something and can't go forward anymore, he gets really upset and will sometimes scream until I come turn him around. I guess we will have to work on teaching him to turn himself around. Haha.

Last week he started teething again. He popped three teeth through all about at the same time, and one more is about to cut through. All on the bottom- 2 canines, and 2 molars. He has been remarkably cheerful.
Gabe has also finally consented to holding his own sippy cup while he drinks. For the longest time he would throw his arms behind him and make us hold the cup while he drank, but now he's got it all figured out, and he has even branched out to a couple of new kinds of sippy cups too, although the ones with the straws are his favorites.
One of the sweetest things Gabe does right now is if you tell him you love him or ask for a kiss, he will start smacking his lips, lean forward, and kiss you- sometimes with a smack, sometimes open- mouthed. Then he says "tiss, tiss, tiss." That is pretty much his only word that he says consistently that we understand the meaning for. He understands lots of words and responds to them, but he doesn't use much verbal language himself yet.
This seems to be an age of curiosity. He is in to anything and everything. It is stressful to me at times, as I am realizing I have some more baby- proofing to do, but I am loving watching him develop and learn. Like most babies, he is doing an in- depth, independent study of gravity. Haha.
I love this kid!


Thanks for letting me record this here- I know not everybody likes to read this kind of stuff, but for me, at least right now, it is how I am journaling Gabriel's growth and so it is important to me.

Baby Alert!

Someone should invent some sort of alarm that goes off when your child is about to get into something they shouldn't. I would buy one.
Gabe is only a year old, but he's at the stage where he is very curious, fairly mobile, and loves to put things in his mouth. Dangerous combination! It means that he needs fairly constant supervision. I am learning not to be lulled into a false sense of security when Gabe is quiet. A few times today I have looked up or around the corner after noticing that Gabe was being quieter than usual, only to find him getting into something he shouldn't. He knows it too, because he jumps when he sees me and puts the thing (whatever it is) down. Usually the "thing" I find is a piece of lint, carpet, kleenex (or what's left of it) or nasty old piece of food or dirt. How does he even find that stuff? Sometimes, though, I find him getting into my purse (why did I leave it on the floor again?), trying to chew on the power cord to BJ's computer or the vertical blinds on our sliding glass door, or reaching into the bathroom garbage. Why do these things hold such attraction to babies? I understand that they are curious and trying to learn about the world around them. I don't want to stifle that. Yet I want to keep Gabe safe and not let him get into things that are going to hurt him or make him sick.
Going outside is a whole different ballgame. Most kids love to be outside, but there isn't much out there that I am thrilled to see him put in his mouth. I've seen parents go to both extremes on this; some almost wont put their kids (babies/ toddlers) down when they go outside, others let their kids pick up, play with, and taste anything that isn't poop or poison.
My questions for you all are:
1. What are the strangest, funniest, icky-est things that your kids, siblings, nieces/ nephews etc. have tried to eat?
2. Did those kids eventually learn on their own not to put nasty things in their mouths, or did it take constant vigilance on the parent's part for the first several years of their lives?
3. Should babies be allowed to pick up, play with, and lick/chew anything that doesn't pose a threat to their safety, whether inside or outside?
Feel free to answer one or all of the questions!
Thanks in advance!

BJ and Rochelle in the 1980's

 

>Laughing<

 

Funny, funny, funny!
If you want to waste time, make your own at yearbookyourself.com I'm still laughing! I may have to post more of the pictures I did at a later date.

Back in the thick of things

We are back from a fun but quick trip to Oregon. My parents were kind enough to fly us out to see The Music Man performance which my mom directed the music for and my siblings at home performed in. While this musical is not necessarily my favorite musical, I enjoyed watching it immensely. The cast did a great job with their acting, singing, and dancing, and watching it in the outdoor theater was really enjoyable, despite the heat and humidity. (Man, I thought I would be enjoying 70-80* F weather in Oregon, not the 100+ damp degrees we suffered through if we walked outside!) Anyway, BJ took some photos that turned out really well. I am going to ask him to post them. He actually needs to post several sets of pictures he has taken recently.
Gabe did really well on the airplane both times, and he warmed right up to his grandparents, aunts and uncle. We enjoyed celebrating Gabe's and my birthdays, and visiting in general. We look forward to going back next month!
Now we are back in the middle of work. Luckily, we have been able to fit some fun things in this week. Last night we had a couple in our ward over to play games. Tonight after Gabe is in bed I will go to my yoga class at the church (fun for me, not so much for BJ). Tomorrow night is BJ's company party/BBQ up at the reservoir.
Next week promises to be just as exciting as I kick it off at a defensive driving class! (Just kidding. I'm not too excited about that. It is a requirement for all the county employees.) Anyway, pictures to come soon. Promise.

Baby Hooded Towels

If I have ever come to your baby shower, there is a good chance you received a hooded towel along with other baby goodies from me (Ok, I didn't do this every time, but several times I have). My mom showed me how to make these several years ago, and I've enjoyed making them ever since.

 

The above picture shows a hooded towel the way I was taught to make it- using a bath towel and a specially folded washrag. This is great for newborns. If you have a big headed baby (like me) who outgrows their hooded towel, you may want to try a different method, like the one shown next!

 

^This is one of my more recent hooded towels, made with half a hand towel instead of a washrag. You just cut the hand towel in half, fold and sew that raw edge to itself, match the seam you just sewed to the center of the long edge of the bath towel, pin, and sew. You can probably figure it out from the picture. You can see in the picture that I like to fold the decorative edge of the hand towel up before I sew it. This cuff is a nice detail, and also keeps the towel from flopping over baby's eyes. There is plenty of room for baby and toddler heads. There are other methods out there for hooded towels for older kids.

 

The ties that you see in some of the pictures is a recent idea I got from Martha Stewart- make the towel into a bath apron for yourself- handy when you don't want to be nearly as wet as the baby by the end of the bath! It also gets the towel into position so you can quickly lift baby out, onto your lap, and cover with the towel to keep as warm and toasty as possible.

 

My cute little guy after a bath!

A cute way to package the hooded towel that my mom taught me. Roll the sides of the towel in to the center, fold up, and tie. This creates a nice little pouch you can fill with bath goodies. Draw a face on a disposable diaper if you want, and put under the hood.

Another cute idea for packaging. This is just a washrag folded in half to be a triangle, then tightly rolled from the corner to the folded edge, then the roll is folded twice and tied with a ribbon. I think it is cute as it is to be a bath scrubber (it is washable as is, but you could undo it to wash it to be a little more sanitary, then redo it), but some people add all sorts of decoration, googly eyes etc. and use it as an ice holder for bumps and bruises- a "boo-boo bunny". You can google that if you want to see way more detailed tutorials on how to make.
My cutie again. I added ric rac as an easy embellishment on the hood.

Happy Birthday Rochelle

It's time for my monthly post here on the blog, and I would just like to devote this particular blog to my wonderful wife. Rochelle has been a blessing to me ever since I've first met her. Rochelle's birthday has special significance to us as well because it was also the day on which we became engaged. And I can honestly say that every year has been my happiest year yet. As this time of year comes around, and as we celebrate Rochelle's birthday, our engagement, and our anniversary, I think back to our first summer together. I say "together" but really, we didn't spend much time physically together that summer, but rather we spent a lot of time talking to each other on the phone, and sending emails back and forth. We got to know each other from a distance that summer. I remember that I had a hard time saying goodbye as we talked on the phone. At times I knew that it was time to go, but I just couldn't bring myself to saying goodbye or hanging up the phone until I was certain I had heard the "click" on the other end. That feeling has never gone away for me. Even now, as I leave work at the end of the day, I will often call Rochelle just to talk to her for the 15 minutes until I get home. Rochelle has always had a way of making me feel at home in her presence. She is a peace loving person, with a desire to please and help those around her. I am very grateful for Rochelle, and I love her more every day.

It's never easy for me to find voice for my feelings for those who are close to me, but it is especially so for Rochelle. Let me just say that I am grateful that God has sent this angel to be with me.

Happy Birthday Rochelle.

Results

Gabe's CT scan happened yesterday. They sedated him, which made him really loopy for a while afterwards, and did the scan which only took 5-7 minutes or so. He was also given versed, which is a drug which not only causes relaxation, but retrograde amnesia. So Gabe won't remember the 2-3 minutes before he got it (i.e. the IV insertion, which he was understandably not happy about) or anything about the scan or waking up. So that's good. The whole procedure happened very smoothly, and the pediatric sedation team along with the other personnel, child life specialist etc. were all very helpful and pleasant. The pediatric radiologist wasn't there during the scan so we were told that we would have to wait a few hours before our pediatrician could obtain the results.
I called the pediatrician late in the afternoon to remind him that the results would be available, and he called me back fairly promptly. He didn't give too much interpretation of the results, just what the radiologist found. His metopic suture is fused, which you actually could expect as early as 6-8 months of age (although There seems to be some conflicting information about that). However, you would not expect the craniostenosis (ridging) on that suture. The rest of Gabe's sutures are all normal, as is his brain- no squeezing, pinching, or anything concerning.
Thank goodness.
Because the ridging is still abnormal, the pediatrician wants to refer us to craniofacial specialists up in Salt Lake City.
My thoughts: Obviously the metopic suture closed a little bit prematurely, or it fused abnormally, causing the fairly mild ridging Gabe now has. It seems to me that at this point, it probably isn't going to get any worse, and any treatment would be mainly cosmetic. Part of me doesn't want to go to the specialist, perhaps for fear that we would find out that something really is wrong and he needs some sort of invasive, risky treatment. The other part of me needs to know exactly what is going on, and if there is anything we need to do, at least for peace of mind if nothing else. Of course we will take him in to get checked by the specialist. I don't know when that will be yet, but we will continue to give updates as we learn more information.
On a somewhat humorous note, all the stress of this week (from Gabe and otherwise) must be subconsciously affecting BJ and I (of course!) because this morning we each woke up from stressful but hilarious dreams. I dreamed that we had bought a large house, which had an area for a bonfire in the backyard. Lots of people came over and they lit a big bonfire, which started spewing coals and sparks everywhere, until the ground was covered in burning embers. I was the only one in my dream bothered by this. BJ woke up from a dream in which I had persuaded him that it would be really fun and exciting to participate in venomous snake racing (whatever that is- haha). In the dream BJ was holding the snake by its head to keep it from biting him as we were waiting for the race to start, and was using all his might to control it, but it kept wiggling, opening its mouth and baring its teeth, and trying to bite his hand. In the dream, I was not concerned about the snakes, apparently because I worked with snakes and other reptiles during my time at the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum (PS- none of those snakes were venomous).
BJ, you'll have to correct me if I got any of the details wrong.
Anyone an expert at dream interpretation?

This Week=

A busy week. Has been and will be.
Not that I mind terribly, it is just going to take some planning.
BJ and I work as usual, he full time, me part time (currently I am working 3 half- days each week for a grand total of 12 hours). Add in the usual stuff- taking care of Gabe, running errands, going visiting teaching, FHE with a couple in the ward, yoga class, seeing family, work inservice, doing laundry, chores, etc. Now add in the wedding of a close friend, with the reception and luncheon, BJ helping to plan the bachelor party, and having taken bridal pictures (a few days ago). That stuff is all pretty fun, pretty exciting, but it's not all. Later this week we are taking Gabe in to have a head CT scan. That's the part I'm not super excited for. I have been told the pediatric sedation team is supposed to take part, but I can't imagine that he would need more than a mild sedative to help him hold still. Still, a CT scan is a series of several X-ray images that give a cross- sectional view of whatever it is that needs to be examined. In Gabriel's case, his head. The concern is that there is a ridge on top of his skull that has become a bit larger. The top of his head should feel smooth, but there is a definite ridge. You can't see it because his hair covers it, but it is obvious when you feel it. It may be caused by the sutures (which allowed his skull to mold when he was born) closing prematurely- called craniosynostosis. Our thought (as well as the pediatrician's) is that while this is not normal, it is pretty mild as of yet. The purpose of the CT scan will be to determine if it is really craniosynostosis, and if any action needs to be taken. We are optimistic that everything will turn out all right. All the same, thinking about it is giving me a little bit of anxiety! Anyway, we will post an update on that when we have more information. Until then, we are just keeping on as usual, and maybe it's a good thing this week is so busy- maybe it will keep us from worrying too much.

Crocheted Dish Rags and Hand Towel

 

This was a simple if not quick project for me. It is a nice project to work on when you want to have your hands busy while doing something else that requires attention. I only picked up my crocheting while I was doing something else too, like watching movies, riding in the car (as a passenger!), watching my son play etc. Thus it took me quite some time to finish a little project. I used a half double crochet stitch, with a size F crochet hook, and just started with a chain as long as I thought I would like my dish rags. The hand towel I did the same, just twice as long. I added stripes or a border on some of them. The yarn is 100% cotton. The rags match my kitchen and I am excited to use them!

The promised photos

I thought we had pictures of Gabe eating some cake, but I guess we only took video of that. Enjoy the other pictures though.


In some ways the cake turned out better than I expected, and in some ways it was a big disappointment for me. The fondant worked great (however two days later, my arms are still sore from kneading it- it was a beast) and I like how it looked on the cake. The frosting design even turned out pretty well except for the space in the middle of the O that I forgot to color. :( The problem was applying it to the cake. I put the frosting in the freezer for a couple of hours and then tried to apply it to the cake and pull off the wax paper, but I didn't realize I needed to hurry and take it off while it was still frozen. Thus, I ended up having to choose between leaving the wax paper on and letting people take it off their own cake slices, or ripping it off and leaving an unappetizing mess of black and red goo. I chose to leave the paper on. The following day, I tried pulling off the paper again, and realized that the frosting had dried somewhat, and the wax paper came off easily without destroying the design. So if you ever decide to do this, consider doing it a day in advance. The fondant keeps the cake inside moist, so no worries about it drying out.
Here are the links I used to make the cake:
The frosting image: http://www.ehow.com/how_4596120_edible-cake-images.html
The fondant: http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm -I found this link to be very informative and helpful.
The Wilton buttercream frosting recipe and instructions: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing

Happy Happy Birthday Gabriel Dear!

We celebrated Gabriel's 1st birthday yesterday. The time has sure flown. My sweet little boy is cruising around the furniture, babbling, giving hugs and kisses, playing games like peekaboo, splashing and playing with toys in the bathtub, turning pages while I read books, and very intently observing everything that goes on. Other things he does or has gone through that are not as much fun but just part of growing up are mom-separation anxiety, tantrums, lots of colds/ coughs/ ear infections, throwing food and toys on the floor repeatedly, and nap resistance.
The day was a little hard because Gabe had an ear infection (which he started antibiotics for today) and didn't feel good. We tried to make it fun though. We had BJ's parents over for cake, ice cream, and presents. I literally spent hours on the cake, baking and leveling the cake, making (yes, making) fondant and rolling it out to cover the cake, and making and freezing a frosting UNO design to apply to the cake (more on that later). Gabe received several birthday messages over the phone from other family members. I think Gabe got a kick out of ripping the paper off his presents, but was very sidetracked by different toys, especially the bath toys from grandma and grandpa! He also didn't think much of eating cake with his fingers, but liked the ice cream. He also like the clean up, in the tub, with his new toys. I am going to add pictures of all of this when I round them up, but for now, that is the birthday summary.
We love our sweet sweet Gabriel!

Pictures, Video, Update

Here are some pictures we took a week or so ago at a park. The pictures of the three of us together were taken by BJ's dad, Ron. I think I want to frame one of the family pictures and put it up in our living room.


Next up is Gabriel at bath time. Oh how he loves the bath!


Also, here is a video from a couple weeks ago of Gabe's funny wooden- leg crawl. You can just mute the video so you don't have to hear my dorky commentary. ;)

From The wooden leg crawl

For other news, we have enjoyed visiting with Rhonda and the family this week. It was nice to be able to see everyone together a couple of different times, and take part in the festivities of the holiday with them. Gabe has been sick this week, so things have been a bit hard with him as he goes through an only-want-my-mommy phase, but it can't last forever, right? We really want him to feel better tomorrow, though, as he will be turning in to a little-big boy of one year of age!

Independence Day

 

Gabe and I watching the parade. He was such a good boy- just sat on my lap watching the floats, and eventually falling asleep.
We got other pictures yesterday, but I don't have them yet. I will post them when I get a chance.
I would like to say that I am truly gratful to live in a country where we enjoy so many freedoms and opportunities. I love America. I am thankful for all the men and women who have fought to protect our freedoms and rights. I am especially grateful for the freedom to practice my religion as my conscience dictates me to do. A big thanks to all our veterans, and especially those who gave their lives.
God bless the USA.

P.S.

Wow, sorry our blog keeps posting LinkedIn stuff. I have already deleted 2 different posts this morning. See BJ's previous post about accidentally inviting everyone in his address book (including our blog) to LinkedIn.

Quick and easy headband

This was a fairly quick project, and what I like about it most is that the headband actually stays on, and you don't have to sew elastic in it or anything- you use a scrunchy. Way cool.

 

 

 

The tutorial for this project can be found at bluebirdstudio.blogspot.com or by clicking here.

Video of Gabe playing Peekaboo

From Happy Father's Day

A few pictures from the past couple weeks

There is a video here (you will probably have to click on the album and actually go into the web album to see it) of one of the first times Gabe pulled himself up to stand all by himself, and pictures of him standing holding on with just one hand. Also, in some he is holding his rubber ducky- one of his very favorite toys right now. We have got this kid trained to grin for the camera!

Also today Gabe played peekaboo for the first time where he actually hid behind something and popped up after a couple seconds, over and over. It was so cute! We got some video of it, and I will try to post it after we get if off the camera.

Hiccups

Does anyone else out there feel like they might go crazy when they get the hiccups? Like when they don't go away and get progressively more violent?!
I do. The end.

Interesting Medical Study

I read an interesting article that I think pertains to any woman who may ever get pregnant in the future. A one (okay, two) sentence synopsis: We already know that taking 400-800 micrograms of folate before and during the first few weeks of pregnancy is instrumental in preventing neural tube defects in developing embryos. This observational analysis study shows a correlation between supplementing with folic acid for at least 1 year prior to conception and a 50-70% reduction in premature delivery rates.
Bottom Line: If you are planning on trying to get pregnant in the next year or two, start now with folic acid supplementation, and the chances of neural tube defect and preterm delivery will be significantly reduced.

-Bukowski, et al.

Read the full article here or a synopsis here.

LinkedIn

So, late last night I signed up on linkedin, a networking site that seems to be fairly useful, and without some of the annoyances of other common networking sites like facebook and myspace. However, in my tiredness, I unintentionally invited everyone in my address book to be linked to me. If that were just my friends, and family, and those of you reading this blog, I'd probably not care too much, but as it turns out, even this blog was in my address book, and so I invited my blog too! I also invited various labs at byu, help desks, support reps, sales reps, and all sorts of people I don't know at all. So... if you join linkedin, be careful, and don't browse drowsy!

Ugly mousepad no more

Since I love "Before" and "After" pictures so much, here are some for you:
Before:

 

After:

 

I have hated this eyesore of a mousepad for the last 5 years (I know, sad, huh? You would think that I would get a new one at some point- but no need now!). I found this cute and super easy craft on one of my favorite craft blogs, Make It and Love It. Click here to see the tutorial.

Pictures and goings-on

For the pictures, I am playing catch-up. Here are some albums from our trips visiting my family in Oregon, and BJ's grandparents in Arizona.






As for goings- on, Gabe just turned 11 months old. He is loving table food, not so much baby food any more. He still loves bath time and Cheerios and going outside. He has recently learned how to throw a tantrum- high pitched screaming and all. Mainly when it is time to go to sleep. Darn. We are trying to figure out something new to help him fall asleep by himself, but it seems like whatever we try, he just wants to be held or to sleep in our bed. Any suggestions? Gabe now walks across the room with the aid of his favorite toy- an activity walker, and pulls himself up to stand on anything stationary. He is a generally happy little guy, and we get a kick out of watching him grow and develop. He has had some chronic ear infections, but was just checked out by his pediatrician and everything was A-OK.

Today we are all recovering (and feeling much better) from the stomach flu. Isn't that the worst? I would just like to say that I love Ginger Ale and Jello.

First Haircut

These pictures are actually from two weeks ago. Here are some "before" pictures- What a head of hair! Definitely cute, but a little unmanageable.

 

With Grandpa and Grandma T and Dad

 

It suddenly hit me as he was eating in his high chair- this was to be the day! Almost without thinking I retrieved the scissors and comb, and starting trimming away before I even realized what I was doing!

 

 

Gabe didn't think too much of the actual trimming, but as you can see he was happy (or maybe just grateful) when it was over!

Off to AZ

We have been wanting to go to Arizona for a long time. My grandparents who live there have not yet had the opportunity of meeting Gabe and we felt that that was a shame. So we starting making plans for going, and when my parents heard we were thinking of going, they said they wanted to go too. So here we are in the car, all five of us, headed South. Gabe by far has the most luggage. We got a not so little pack and play for him to sleep in and play in while we are down there. We have set it up before just to see how it works but have never used it yet. We are now getting down into the St. George area and seeing all the red rock around us. We have been on the road for a little under 5 hours including a few breaks, and Gabe has done well so far, but we can tell he is getting fed up with being in his car seat. He doesn't seem to take very good naps in his seat and so he is getting kinda tired too. He has been growing so much lately it seems. Rochelle mentioned in his 10 month blog that he started to do an army crawl. He is still doing an army crawl, but he is getting much better at it, and now does it all the time. He will bat at a ball, crawl after it, and bat it again until it comes close to some other toy that distracts him. He likes books now, and has learned to turn the pages of a board book (with a little help). It's hard to tell for sure, but it really seems like he knows a few words now, and tries to say a couple. He says 'dada' fequently but also sometimes when I walk into the room he will look at me and say 'dada'. He also seems to know the word 'kiss' which he says more like 'diss'. He will give just about anyone a kiss with a little prompting. He doesn't seem to be afraid of strangers too much. As long as he is fully awake, and generally happy, he will go to anyone, which is nice because that makes it much easier for us to take him over to a baby sitter. He loves noses. He can point out your nose or mouth on your face if you ask him to. He also might decide to try and pull off your nose if you are not careful. He's full of personality, and loves to be entertained. If you play with him, and give him your full attention, he will be your best friend. He loves to be taken by his hands and walked around. While he doesn't really have much balance, he sure wants to learn how to walk. We recently bought a little toy that he can hold onto to help him keep his balance, but he will still need some help for a while. We get lots of complements on how beautiful he is, and especially his eyes. Rochelle's aunts couldn't believe how blue his eyes are. He likes to make growling noises, and will do so whenever he is happy. If you growl with him, he will growl back and forth with you for a long time. He is lots of fun to be around, and seems to charm people who meet him. Anyways, it will be good to take this little boy down to Arizona and introduce him to his great-grandparents. I'm sure he will love them, and they will love him. I'm also sure that he will love the pool. :-D

Quilted Camera Bag

 

Here is a project I made a while ago. I got the idea for this camera- protecting pouch from this blog: http://ayumills.blogspot.com/2008/04/how-to-make-super-simple-camera-case.html
Since I let my camera pretty much just float around in my purse, I thought this might help protect it a bit. With a few modifications- i.e. velcro instead of a button- I was pleased with the result, although it was my first real experience with bias tape, so parts look a little clumsy. However, I decided I love bias tape! I know some people have a hard time with bias tape, but let me share a little secret with you- a YouTube video I found a couple months ago called the "No swearing bias tape method"- check it out here.