The Anxiety of Waiting for Kung- Fu Baby

Ugh! I have so much anxiety right now waiting for baby number 4. I know I still have a little less than 3 weeks away but I'm already getting all those feelings you get in the last week of pregnancy. I can't sleep because of all the contractions I'm having & the anxiety of the actual moment coming on really is making me crazy. I know what you're thinking- This is your 3rd baby in 4 years & you're still freaking out! Shouldn't you be use to it by now- I know I'm pathetic but every single baby is different. They have their own schedule & they come out in different ways. {you should know that I've never had a baby early- let alone on time}

Kaleb {10 days late} was a little scary- only because everyone ran in (after I just got comfy with my epidural) saying my blood pressure dropped & this baby had to come out. Luckily when they checked me I had dilated to a 10 & he was out within a 1/2 hr.

With Elsa {3 days late} everything seemed pretty good. I was induced sitting on the bed with pitocin & an epidural. Contractions were on- only she was brow first & wasn't dropping down- she just kept contracting into my tail bone- no matter how many people put their hands up inside me trying to help she wouldn't drop. I ended up having a C- section. ugh!

With Ida {{3 days late & first time with a midwife} all was good. I walked around for hours getting that little gal to drop & get ready to come out the birth canal. She was a champ & came out after 4 pushes. Easiest labor ever. {I had a vbac & yes an epidural} yay!

With Kung-Fu baby I have no idea what the outcome will be. I pray every night that I will be ready & know exactly that my contractions are real & not braxton hicks. (I feel like ballet has caused me to have a very high tolerance for pain which makes me extra nervous that I'm not feeling the right kind of contractions...) I know more stupid thoughts.

moving on----

There is nothing I like better than feeling this little guy move inside of me {except when I have to pee}. He's really is a little kung-fu artist. I video taped Ida when she was in me & thought there was no way I could miss out video taping this little guy. I hope this doesn't creep you out!

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone's celebrating their loved ones who have died for our country & your loved ones who have moved on to the heavens above.

I just wanted to share a few pictures from a church activity we did a couple of weeks ago. There is a woman in my church that spends $200 of her own money on bread & tuna & peanut butter & jelly & sandwich sacks to make 500 sandwiches once every month to help feed the homeless. She is an amazing woman without doing this. She raises 4 children on her own (her husband died of melanoma cancer over 4 years ago) while keeping a full time job as an Architect. I'm one of the leaders in Young Women's at my church & I decided this would be an amazing opportunity for the girls to learn about charity. We even asked them to donate their own money to help pay for the goods & they did so without a single complaint. BTW this was a 2 day project- making over 500 sandwiches on a Tuesday & passing out all the food on a Wednesday.

assembly line making tuna fish sandwiches

the leaders making the tuna fish- it took 18 of those huge cans- a massively huge bottle of mayo-

 & some mustard- my right arm had a really good work out...

all the peanut butter & tuna sandwiches

over 400 people waiting for food- other people brought soup & dessert & coffee 

all the lovely ladies

Style Love/ The Goodhood Store

Don't these pants from The Goodhood Store look amazingly comfortable? They also seem like a perfect pant for a postpartum boody.

           wood wood fiona pants  - perks & mini pam sad trousers          

** Please keep in mind that I in no way feel that this model is big in any way. The pants just look really roomy & cozy is all!

Making a Mini Skirt Not so Mini

I was at Old Navy the other day & found this mini skirt. While it's just a little too short for this old lady I couldn't pass up on the material- it's a light linen & looks kind of vintage & I couldn't pass up on the price {9.99 with 30% off} so I decided to buy 2 & sew them together to become a not so mini skirt anymore. I bought one in my size {or the size I hope to be once again after kung-fu baby pops out} for the top & one a size bigger for the bottom.

here are my 2 skirts- one is a size 8 & one is a size 10

start by taking your bigger/ bottom skirt apart- like if you have pockets on your skirt you may want to take them off

next cut the elastic off the top of the bottom skirt- i used scissors for this part- also take out the pleats if you have any {you'll want as much material as possible when sewing the 2 skirts together}

after I took the pleats out it was super wrinkled- so iron at this point if your material is wrinkled as well

to make sure the top of the material of the part you just cut the elastic off of is cut evenly- fold the skirt over in half so it's a little smaller- use your ruler & cut it straight- I find it easier to cut if you use a rotary cutter 

{if you don't own a rotary cutter & mat- go buy one NOW- it will change your life}

then open the material so you can make sure the center is straight- if it isn't just take your ruler & rotary cutter & straighten it out

surge or zig zag the top of the bottom skirt so it won't fray

when you're ready to pin the 2 pieces together you may have a bit more material than you thought- just  baste stitch the top of the material you just surged or zig zag stitched & pull to make a gather that will fit the length of the bottom of the top skirt 

 when pinning the 2 pieces together- start with matching the seams on both sides & then match the top of the smaller skirts hem to the top of your bottom piece. 

I chose to pin it together inside out because I thought it was easier to match them together

this is what it should look like after you pin it together on the other side

when sewing the 2 skirts together- follow the line that is already there- if you pinned it inside out- but are sewing from the other side- make sure you're very carful not to sew over the head of the pins

if you have some little holes in the material from taking the pockets off & the pleats out- just scratch the material carefully with your nail

Now go outside with your significant other- cuddle & listen to the U2 concert going on in the stadium 3 miles away & finally be ok with selling your tickets cause it really does sound like you're practically there!

** tutorial written last night.

Next wear it to the play date today that turned into a baby shower for kung- fu baby! {I really do have the best girlfriends ever}  i'll update this picture when I find someone to take a picture in it with a belly-less body- I picture it being worn high waisted- which is why I left it so long. For a shorter version you would just take a few inches off the top of the bottom skirt before sewing it together. 

I had to throw in a picture of the amazing presents I received- & my friends who are way too generous I can't even believe it!

victoria & nina

amy- only 5 more weeks! in the background-victoria & andelyne

karisa- holly- kristin- jessica- amy s- tia

* this is my first sewing tutorial- I hope it helps you out! ... 

New in the Shop

Head on over to my Etsy shop today- I've put some more toddler dresses & skirts in there!

size 2T- 6T

size 5T

size 12- 18 months

size 5T

size 4T

size 3T- extra long

** My Vanilla Pie Kids shop has joined my Elsa Bags Etsy shop due to it being way too much trouble  having 2 shops...

Sunny Day

We finally had a beautiful sunny day on Saturday which made me very grateful that my sister in law Ande called to invite us to go hiking up millcreek canyon- especially since Adam was going to be gone all day & I really had nothing planned. The weather last week was so sporadic- mostly rainy. We even had snow- huge fat  snow flakes like i've never seen before {wish I had pictures} it was both depressing & really cool.

Ida started out pretty pretty great hiking on her own- wouldn't even hold any of our hands- she's very independent

snack break 15 minutes into our hike- I love hiking with kids...

Aunt Ande & cousin Soleil

Ida on Uncle Ben- like I said she didn't last long- & the girls cousin dog Kingsley

I bought the sweat shirt Elsa has on for kung-fu baby but couldn't resist putting it on her- 

she looks pretty adorbs.

p.s. this is one of the only times you'll see Elsa in pants. she was dying to go hiking so she- for once-

 put on what I wanted her to wear with out a fight. oh 3 year olds.

luckily Ida's pretty light cause I think I may be carrying a 10 lbs baby

Magnum Yum!

Did you hear? You can now buy one of my favorite chocolate ice cream bars here in the USA- The Magnum bar!
Have you seen the adorable Rachel Bilson in the commercials on t.v. Oh how I wish I had hair like that!

* p.s. if you watch the commercial on the magnum link just look at rachel's hair & drool a little over the cute model boy- cause the rest is crap - especially the ballet one- avoid that one completely. 

Warm Vacations rule

We took our little family to Arizona to visit my sibs & some good friends over Spring Break. Usually we go in the dead of summer {which I love- cause we just live in our bathing suits} but since kung-fu baby will be entering the world then- we decided spring break would be just as great- minus the pools being way to cold for miss wimpy here...

I love going to Az. Staying with my sister Michele is always a blast & seeing my brother Eric & my other sister Lori & a few old besties is always a good time too. The day before we got to Michele's they had just bought 5 chickens. Her super husband Stuart made them a chicken coop earlier that week. They each named their chickens & became quite attached very quickly.

we called this the chicken show- after "swimming" we would sit on the lounge chairs letting the chickens run free- cage free chickens are all the rage after all!

see the vintage spindles in the front- michele told her husband he had to incorporate those no matter what. michele has phenomenal taste & knows exactly what she wants & her husband always does what he's told...

yes the one with no feathers looks like a turkey- that's my sister michele

they loved their mommy

after naps the girls lived in their bathing suits- feet only in the pool though- way too cold for us- kaleb got in but ended up getting swimmers ear when we got home- not fun

_______________________________________________________________________________
So after a few days of their dog tootsie totally ignoring anyone that was paying any attention to the chickens we found 4 out of 5 of them dead while running cage free. Sad thing is we were only a few feet away sitting by the pool. We didn't hear a thing. One of the chickens had come over by the pool so Michele asked her son to go get her so she didn't poo {chickens poo a LOT} on the pavement & when he went back by the cage he saw the massacre. What a sad sight to see! He was pretty devastated as were the rest of us. It's amazing how close you get to your pets in such a short time. {this is why we don't have any pets} needless to say Michele went onto craig's list & found some new chickens that very night.

Kaleb & his cousin with the new set of chickens- on Easter morn right before our 12+ hours trip back home {my moms in the corner- she flew back- smart lady}

the farmers who sold them the new chickens told them that if you give the chicks massages they would bond to them faster. it was amazing- the chickens would practically go into a coma loving the massage so much.

* note the girls are in tights for our trip home. we didn't want their toesies to get cold in the car.

One Month to Go!

Since my babies don't seem to want to enter the world when they are due- I probably really have a little more than a month left- but i'm crossing my fingers & toes that kung-fu baby can't wait to see me & the rest of the crew so bad that he'll come early- or at least on time...

this is me at 34 weeks {baby should be the size of a cantaloupe- haha i'm thinking more like a beach ball!} on mothers day at my moms house- she always makes us dinner on sundays so my girlfriend chris & I made dinner for her- super deep dark circles under both my eyes has left me to take my face out of the picture. They are pretty bad. So bad that one of the cashiers at the fabric store the other day asked me if I was really tired. I wasn't. I had just taken a 4 hour nap.

New Rings are Rad

I absolutely love my wedding ring. It's an antique cameo we bought from this great antique store downtown called Antoinettes Antique jewelry. Unfortunately the gold is coming off & leaving a rash on my finger.

Since right now isn't the right time to get the base re-made (have you seen the price of gold?)  I thought I would get something really inexpensive while we wait for gold to go down in price...  I've been looking for a while & finally found this on Etsy & I absolutely LOVE it. It's super feminine- tiny & so adorable.

see how tiny it is- I really love that about it

* sorry about the ugly hand but at least I didn't keep my mangled thumb in the picture. {I lost part of it in 2nd grade}