Sewing and Gift for Baby

I've been thinking about this lately. About a year ago, I gained this love for sewing. I think it's in my blood or something. My mom's a sewer, sister's a sewer, but I never thought I was too. Growing up, my mom taught my sister how to sew, I remember, she taught Lauren how to sew a skort. (Skort's were all the craze back then.) I was always a little bit jealous, but never really had the attention span or the patience to sit and learn how to sew. So, instead if ever I needed something sewn, I would ask mom or Lauren to do it for me.

Well, back to the story, I FINALLY gained the patience to sew (around a year ago). I think it was because I live over 600 miles away from mom and Lauren and can't really ask them to sew something for me anymore. I decided that I wanted to make an apron for myself, and one for Justin's mom for Mother's Day (last year). I figured I would start with something a bit easier, so I decided to make Lauren's 2 kids (Hailey and Kayden) blankets. I borrowed Justin's sister-in-law's machine and whipped out the blankets... easy. Then it was onto the hard things, the aprons, where I didn't understand half of the directions. I ended up having to call my mom and ask for help about 10 times before I even started sewing! After probably 3 days, I finished my first masterpiece, Justin's mom's apron. I wouldn't say it was the greatest creation, but it was awesome for my first REAL project.

Now, I'm starting to get the "sewing itch" again. I want to make this "little Lancaster" a quilt. I mean, if I could make 2 aprons without any substantial help (anyone else sewing it for me) than I can probably make a quilt. Here are a few of my problems: 1. I don't have a sewing machine of my own, 2. I don't really have the time to quilt, and 3. we don't know the sex of the baby (I'm not going to make a unisex quilt). So, now, how to fix my problems? I'm thinking maybe while I am in California in June, for my little bro's high school graduation, I can convince my mom to take me fabric shopping and we can figure out this quilt thing together. And, I'm hoping that as far as the sewing machine thing (or lack there of) goes, I'm really hoping I can borrow Justin's sister-in-law's again, since I FINALLY figured out how to use it and re-thread it! hahaha!

Anywho, that is my rant for the night... I want to make a gift for "little Lancaster" and I would love for that gift to be a quilt.

Also, on the gift subject, the baby has got some ADORABLE gifts so far, a CUTE "deer camouflage" bib from Grandma Misty, and 2 rubber duckies from Grandma (Justin's mom) one is a cheerleader ducky and the other is a football player ducky... suits us, right? It sounds little, but these gifts are so cute and we can't wait for "little Lancaster" to be here and enjoy all of these gifts and the people that love him/her.

I'm 23!

So, I had my birthday yesterday. It's kind of weird that I'm 23. It's not like it's a big birthday or anything, but, it's weird, it's my first birthday as a married woman, my only birthday pregnant (thank God!), and my first of many birthdays that I feel OLD!

We started celebrating my birthday on Friday, I went shopping with Justin's mom and got some awesome way cute new maternity clothes. Then, I went out to lunch with Justin and some of his work friends. Later that afternoon, Justin's mom invited me to go to the movies with her and Justin's sis in law, Careen. We went and saw "Water for Elephants", it was so good! I honestly wasn't looking forward to seeing it, I was just going because I was invited. But, the movie was awesome, I loved it! That night, we went to a poker party with Justin's work buddies, we both lost all of our money, but we had so much fun.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day relaxing at home. Then went to our friend's daughter's first birthday. It was a nice day of relaxing and spending time with Justin. It was a nice birthday and glad I got to have an entire weekend to celebrate and relax.

Today is Easter, and I LOVE Easter, especially when it is around my birthday. It reminds me, even more than normal, that Jesus atoned and died for ME. I mean, yes, He did for everyone else too, but it just reminds me even more that it is also for me too.

Chicken Enchiladas... DELICIOUS for me, not so much for baby... bummer!

So, I have had this craving for about the last week or two. This craving has been for chicken enchiladas. Mmmm... they're so delicious. They're chicken enchiladas made with green sauce mixed with cream of chicken soup. OMG, I had never had them before until I started dating Justin, and his mom made them. And now, that is one of the only enchiladas I ever want anymore.

So, anyway, I made some last night, cuz I was craving them so bad. And, I ate one, just ONE! About 10 minutes after I ate that one (basically by the time it actually got down to my stomach and the baby) I could feel the baby moving around and giving me the worst upset stomach. I'm really bummed that the baby didn't like the enchiladas, cuz I love them. Maybe I'll start doing what my friends at work tell me to do, eat it anyways cuz I can't let this little person start running my life already.

Somebody tell me what to do. Should I give up my chicken enchiladas until after the baby's born or just say heck with it and eat them regardless of whether the baby likes them or not?

Sleep or Lack There Of

So, I have noticed over the past week or so, my sleep habits have changed entirely since my "first trimester". I am still getting my 8 hours of sleep (thank God), but that's it! Most of you may be thinking, you're so lucky you get a full 8 hours of sleep. But, I feel jipped! Up until about a week or so ago, I did not feel fully rested unless I had between 10 and 12 hours of sleep. Even before I was pregnant, I LOVED to sleep in and get between 8 and 10 hours of sleep. But not anymore, and it totally sucks! Now, I get my exact 8, no more.

I'm not sure if this is because my body and baby are telling me that I only NEED 8 hours of sleep, and it's preparing me for even more lack of sleep or if it is because the sun likes to shine in my bedroom window now. Yes, the sun has always shone in my bedroom window, but during my entire first trimester, Justin hung up blankets over the window to make it like a cave in our room (he's amazing that man). He wanted to help me with my migraines and that was pretty much the only way how. You may be wondering, why are they not there anymore? Well, there was a small list of things I asked Justin to do while I was gone on my trip to California, and that was one of them. I was thinking, the blankets hanging there are NOT aesthetically pleasing and my first trimester migraines are over, and I was able to sleep in before without them being there.

So, I have asked Justin to rehang the blankets for me this weekend, because I'm tired of not being able to sleep in at all, and I persuaded him that it would be easier for him to sleep in on weekends as well. I'm tired of waking up with 6:30 with Justin when he gets up for work, and not being able to go back to sleep. I don't leave for work for another 3 1/2 hours later (when I'm working a day shift), so why not sleep for another 2 hours or so?

Doctor's Appt #2- 14 weeks

Yesterday, I had my second "baby doctor's" appointment. It was actually really a great appointment. There wasn't anything special about this appointment, no ultrasound, we didn't find out the sex, but, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat and the baby kick twice.

The doctor asked if I have been able to feel any movement yet, and I haven't been able to. So, it made Justin and I both so happy when we heard the baby kick on the doplar ultrasound. After the first kick, I looked over at Justin and he had the biggest smile on his face.

We go back on May 9th and will find out the sex of the baby. Justin is hoping for a boy, but I really don't care, as long as the baby is healthy. After hearing the kicks, Justin is sure that it's a boy, but we'll see.

Patch

Yesterday, Justin and I had to make a very hard decision and do something that was not easy for us. We had to make the decision to take Patch, our wonderful dog, to be put down.

Patch was Justin's dog. Justin got him when he was 16 as a reward for good behavior and good grades. Patch was a half black lab/half chow mix. Patch was one of the best dogs. He was great with all of Justin's nieces and nephews, would even let them ride him around when they were little. He was an amazing guard dog (even though he bit the UPS guy, around Christmas). I became very close to Patch this last summer while I lived at Justin's parents house (where Patch lived). He became my dog, I cared for him as if he had always been my dog.

The reason we decided we had to put him down was because Patch's hips have been going out for years. It is a common thing for that to happen in labs. A year ago, just after Justin and I started dating, we had discussed that the time would come when he needed to decide that it was time. All winter, Patch struggled with his hips and being able to even stand up, due to the cold affecting his hips even worse. Whenever I would go over, he would still approach me with a stick and always wanted to play fetch. Well, on Friday, Justin and I both went over to his parents house and we realized that Patch's hips have gotten much worse, just in the past few days. We decided that we needed to take him in the next day.

When we got to Justin's parents house yesterday, Patch just laid on the floor of the garage (his usual place) until I got out of the car. When Justin got out of the car, he just laid there, and then he saw me and hopped up (the fastest I've seen him get up in a long time) grabbed a stick and walked over with it to me. It made me laugh that even the day that we had to take him to be put down, he was still coming over to me with a stick to play fetch. I threw the stick up in the air and Patch caught it in his mouth. We let Justin's niece and nephews and his sister in law say their goodbyes to him, then we loaded him up into the mustang.

On the ride over to the humane society, Patch cried the whole way there. He had to have known what was coming. He finally stopped crying when Justin put his arm around him and told him it was going to be ok. When we pulled into the parking lot and Justin got out of the car, to go fill out the paperwork inside, I was left sitting in the car with Patch. This was a little bit of a chore, because Patch started climbing all over the car, and barking very loudly. Justin came back outside and Patch calmed down again. We got out of the car, took him inside, and he went in fine. The lady inside told us we could take a few minutes to say goodbye to him, so we took him back outside, both of us crying and said our goodbyes. Then, trying to take him back inside was another chore. Patch broke the leash off of the tag it was clipped to, he didn't run, he just stood there and looked at us like, ooops. Then, he did it again to the second tag we clipped it to. Once again he just stood there and looked at us. We finally got him back inside, the lady replaced his collar with a type of rope to take him back with. We took the collar, and we left. Both of us crying.

I will never forget Patch. He was my first dog, and he was such a good dog and cared about us so much.

I thought this was supposed to be spring?

So, as many of you know, I LOVE winter. I love the snow, the cold, bundling up in cute clothes, going sledding, the whole shebang. This winter was no exception, I loved it. Even though for half of the winter I couldn't go sledding or really play in the snow (due to being pregnant), I still loved this winter. Well, last week was officially the first day of spring, I think. (It was either last week or the week before.) Either way, it's supposed to be spring. I was excited for this new change of seasons. Excited that I would be able to go outside without NEEDING a sweatshirt or a jacket. Excited that I could start leaving my windows open during the day and even at night and not freeze to death. I was very excited for all of these changes.

Well, on Friday, I think it was the first day I actually embraced all of these changes. Mainly because most of the other days I was working and couldn't really embrace them yet. But, also because it was such a beautiful day. The weather was in the high 60s - low 70s, the sun was shining, it was beautiful! I even took some laundry to Justin's parents house to put on the line (which I haven't done since we lived there).

Then yesterday, Saturday, it was a little bit overcast, but still wonderful weather. Justin and I rode in the mustang with the top down, and I wasn't cold at all. The temperature was in the mid 70s, very nice. Well, yesterday evening, while I was at work, the weather decided to say "screw you" to everyone who was loving the warmth and sun and decided to start raining. I was ok with the rain, sad that the nice spring weather was gone, but not too upset with the rain. The only thing I was upset about was that I had gone to work without bringing a sweatshirt or jacket, and I would have to walk to my truck and back up to my apartment in the pouring down rain and get soaking wet. Luckily, once I got to the apartment parking lot, I looked in the back seat (like Justin had told me to) and I found one of his work hooded sweatshirts and I threw it on and ran into the apartment. Well, without fail, not even an hour after I got home, Justin and I look outside and it's no longer raining, it's SNOWING! Seriously, I think that Mother Nature is laughing at all of who LOVED the "spring weather".

It is now almost 10:00 on Sunday morning, it is still snowing (and it snowed all night), and we got a good 4-6 inches of snow. As much as I LOVE winter and snow, I was so ready for this to be over. I guess this will teach me to love spring weather in Utah, it doesn't stay for long. Guess I get one more day of use out of my snow boots.