Halloween and {37 Weeks}

I have to combo post so that I keep up! 🙂 Other than eating too much halloween candy lately (someone stop me before i turn into a butterfinger!) we are doing really well.

C was pretty pumped about getting candy, but not so much about the costume part (apparently, none of the teenagers in this area were excited about costumes either. I was very disappointed with my trick or treater turn out!). She was supposed to be “lady bug girl” from these books (which she loves). But, it was too cold for just a headband so she had on a ladybug hat instead. And she wouldn’t wear her tu tu. So she basically ended up looking like  her regular self + ladybug boots and cape. LOL. And I had to bribe her with chocolate to get the cape/wings on her!!  I’m pretty proud of the cape/wings I made! She’s not a fan of wearing regular wings (that you can buy, natch). So I found this tutorial on pinterest and whipped this up for C. I ❤ easy. (PS definitely did NOT take 2-3 hrs).

She loved her little pumpkin light. Best 1.39 I've spent!

Wing Shot!

And here’s my costume:

At 37 weeks pregnant, I’m as big as a house! My one regret is that i couldn’t figure out how to execute this sooner. If I had, I think it would’ve turned out even better! But I’m still proud of my pregnant costume. 🙂

Speaking of 37 weeks, here’s the latest bump picture!

I’m feeling pretty good. Tired. Achy. heartburn. insomnia. etc. But I mean, I really can’t complain!! (okay, i can and I do… but I shouldn’t!). I’m feeling “ready”. As in, I cannot wait to be done being pregnant! I think that some of that comes from the fact I already know how awesome it will be when the little guy is here.. I don’t have the first time mom worries that i had before… I worry some about how C will react of course, but mostly I know that D will fit in just fine! I just want it to happen already! And some of it comes from the fact that my friend has a 5 week old and I still have 3 weeks to go…It doesn’t seem right when we were pregnant together all along! LOL. And some of it is just from being generally uncomfortable.

At the same time, I keep thinking I really don’t know what’s about to hit me and maybe I ought not (wish) to rush it (especially since our car is STILL IN THE SHOP!).  I almost feel like I want to go into labor and have the baby so I won’t be uncomfortable anymore…. and I’m forgetting how life is going to change afterward! I don’t know if that makes sense. These thoughts swirl around in my mind all day and then i can’t get them out in a sensible way!

I had my 37 week appointment today. I was finally going to see a different MW in the practice, but I found myself feeling emotional over seeing someone new! Isn’t that crazy? So i switched at the last minute. And then my appointment time had to change at the last minute so B and C ended up coming with me! this was a good appointment for him to make since we are so close to the end! Turns out I am GBS+ this time, which is a bummer. I was hoping to labor at home for as long as possible… but since my last labor was *relatively* short (8-9hrs) they will want me to come in sooner to be sure to get at least one dose of antibiotics in!

So current prayer requests:

• for the birthing tub to be available
• for “my” MW to be on call when I’m in labor/giving birth
• that I’ll receive at least one dose of antibiotics before giving birth!
• that our car situation will be settled before the birth.

The rest of the appointment was excellent though. He’s still head down, heartbeat was good, measuring right on time! C was curious about everything, and after my exam we measured C’s belly, listened to her heart with the doppler, etc. It was super cute and she LOVED it. 🙂 And another point for “why I love my midwife”. 🙂

Interestingly, I’ve been having mild contractions every 4 minutes while I’ve been writing this. I can tell that these aren’t the “real thing”…yet. But maybe he’s getting more into position!

Come on out baby, we want to meet you! 🙂

 

((also, don’t you love my new header? My friend Amy at One Artsy Mama created it for me! Thanks, Amy!!))

A bunch of random October

I wonder if it’s because I’m expecting a baby NEXT month.. but I’m really finding that October may be one of my new favorite months. This is big coming from the gal who seriously LOVES summer. But I’ve really enjoyed this October and looking back I guess I’ve enjoyed the last few.

I keep trying to write organized posts about the different things going on, but really, if I do that it will never get done! And I’m on a time limit here! 🙂 So this will be a bit random, i think!

We’ve been doing a lot around the house (or, erm, paying people to do stuff), and I can’t remember how much I posted on here, so here’s some updates… We paved the driveway, painted the exterior, and repaired/restained our deck. We LOVE all the recent changes. Here’s a pic of my “fall stair decor” – you can see my homemade wreath and our new paint color in the background!

C and I went to the OBX again this year with my Dad, step-mom, Bro & Sister in law, niece and nephew.

enjoying the beautiful mornings 🙂

B missed out on all the fun this time around. C thoroughly enjoyed her time with her cousins and they are all pretty darn cute together! 🙂 She amazed me that she remembered where we went mini golfing (in June when we were there for Shani’s Wedding). It was fun to see her enjoy it with my Dad and step mom!

"I Dih it!"

We had A LOT of delays and annoying travel issues. Just what I needed when it was just C and I traveling alone. With a carryon and a stroller. LOL. But actually, she LOVES flying so much she made it easy on me to deal with the annoyances ! and we got to fly first class on one flight – a first for both she and me :).

not super reassuring to be handed this when you check into a hotel you have to stay in thanks to flight delays...

Thanks to all the delays and stuff, I was cutting it very close to making it back for my “sprinkle!” I am so glad to say that I did. Shani and Scott came up to visit us and we  had so much fun all together. I sadly only have this picture on my computer (Aly! I need the disc still… and whomever else took pictures!!) from the sprinkle for baby boy. But I am so thankful for all my friends who were able to attend, we had a great time and the place was super nice! 🙂

We went to Boston Common with Shani and Scott, (missing the swan boats yet again this year… next year we need to pay more attention to their schedule lol). I love them! I can’t wait for their next visit. 🙂

Make Way For Ducklings!

C uses my belly as an armrest a lot lately:

lots of tower building!

Just a few of my 36 week Maternity Shots that B took on Sunday. I’ll share more favorites later! 🙂 (and yes, apparently purple is the only color I think I look good in lately, I have 3 different shirts all this same purple color!)

Randomness done for tonight! 🙂 I should be going to bed, but we are caught up watching the world series! Gnite! 🙂

PS Don’t forget to “like” Smith Family Images on FB!

{recent projects} knit, staple, spray paint, crochet!

So I’ve finally picked up my hooks and needles again, and I’ve been busy! Friday-Tuesday I’ve made 3.5 hats, 2 “newborn sacks”, and finished a scarf that i’d been working on for F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  my hands are a bit tired today! I wanted to post some of my projects. Some I have to keep secret though!

Chicken Wire Memo Board

First, this is an older pinterest project that i want to share.. I’ve been trying to get a better picture of it (AKA use something other than my iphone) but i think i better just get it posted, so sorry for the crummy pic! I used this blog as my tutorial. My personal advice after making this? Make sure you unroll your chicken wire before stapling it to the frame. I would leave it for several days with books on top of it or something- the chicken wire was difficult to work with because it kept rolling. I spray painted an old frame, so this was a very cheap DIY!

It’s hanging in my kitchen and I love it. I hung some pictures, but if i need the room I can take those down-  I love having a spot to drop something important, but it still looks kinda cute, I think!

Lady Bug Hat

One of my weekend projects: I made this lady bug hat! I originally started out making something for baby boy, but it was turning out too big. No need to pull it out and start over when I already have a 2 year old head handy! I changed it to a lady bug hat!  This post was my inspiration, though I didn’t use her pattern because I already had a red hat half made.  I may do some editing to my antenna.. I like them, but it makes it so there is a “front/back” to the hat, and since the toddler often puts things on herself on her own now, she ends up with a hat quite askew. Wouldn’t be a problem antenaless.. Anywhoo, here’s the final product. Hopefully I’ll get some better pics eventually…but i can’t pass up the time to blog when I have it!

I'm thinking about saying cheese...

I hear stirrings from the girl, so I’ll end this for now! here’s one last picture of something I “made”…she makes me smile 🙂

2nd Birthday Projects

alright so I’m going to attempt to give credit to all the places where I got my ideas for C’s 2nd birthday…

Some of the final products didn’t get great close up pics, unfortunately. But hey, party day goes quickly! Can’t think of everything 🙂

A couple of things I don’t have links for… I’ll start with those!

Pin the Nose on the Elmo

Pin the Nose on the Elmo!

While this probably isn’t original, I came up with it on my own, as far as I can remember. My awesome husband actually executed this one for me! We googled an image of elmo (there’s about eleventy billion on google images) and he picked one to look at while he drew. He drew the face on a piece of poster board, first in pencil, then permanent marker. We used computer paper + construction paper for the eyes, and of course, left the nose blank. He then made a “template nose” using a cup/eyeballing it. He cut out enough noses for kids in attendance. I stuck double sided tape to the backs of the noses, and labeled each one with the kid’s initals so we’d know whose nose was the closest. No blindfolds are needed when doing this with the 2 and under crowd. Some kids wanted to pull noses off, rather than leave put them on. It’s all in fun! I LOVE how this came out!

Sesame Street Lamppost

Sesame Street Lamppost

The sesame street Lamppost was made from a pringles can. I covered it with a sheet of green foam & hot glued. I used double sided tape to secure a white balloon to the top for the “light”. The sign part I somewhat cheated- I blew up the wording from her invitation to make her name. (I was running out of time!) you could easily print letters and cut & glue them though. I looked at a picture & drew/cut out the sign shape out of construction paper. Then I just used a lot of tape to stick the sign to the pringles can. Cheap and EASY!  ((A theme you will notice with my crafts!)) This one I stole from a friend, but I don’t think she blogged about it, so no link.

Tissue Paper Letter/Number on Canvas

Inspired by this post at hostessblog.com, written by prudent baby.  This is one that I don’t have great pictures of. C’est la vie! They are in the background of this pic:

Here’s a better picture, but with a crummy camera 🙂

She uses fabric, I used wrapping paper (it was in the same aisle as the tissue paper and I was feeling lazy. 🙂 The good thing about using wrapping paper was that it was easy to remove from the canvas. The canvas looks brand new again post party and I already have another project pinned to use them! Yay for little waste!!

Her tutorial links to a how to make tissue flowers for a really cute garland. However, I must be slow but I couldn’t figure out how to make them her awesome way. So I just drew a flower on a stack of squares & cut out a flower shape.I also didn’t write my letter/number on the paper, I just eyeballed it. (I know, I know…I’m lucky this didn’t go horribly wrong!). My 2 actually looked like a “Z” for a bit, but I just kept adding flowers to round it out. 🙂

I also didn’t fold my flowers in the neat way she did. I just hot glued & smushed.

This led to some burned fingers (when does hot glue NOT lead to burned fingers…?) but I liked how quickly it went, so I suffered. 🙂

When I bought my canvas I didn’t realize it came with two in a pack,  so when i discovered that, i went ahead and made  a letter “c” to go with the “2”. I’m happy I did, they bookended my table nicely.

Tissue Paper Monogram Decoration/Photo Garland

This one I didn’t follow to closely, but I was inspired by this post at catch my party. Basically, if you want to make a nicer looking one than mine, I’d go to those links. 🙂 But mine is quicker! That’s me: quick, cheap, and easy. (wait…)

I used the left over flowers from the above tissue number/letters. I employed the same “smush  & hot glue” method. I cut my “c” out of foam board with a paring knife. It was very jagged and ugly, but fortunately you can’t tell once it was covered with flowers! (I have since invested in an exacto knife).

I originally had this hanging on my front door, but when I realized my door would just be open the whole time anyway, I moved it to the porch. I think it looked really nice with my photo garland.  I loved how this came out, though I wish I had a use for it post-party. Maybe next year I’ll make it in a more practical color 🙂

Taking photos of photos seemed pointless to the photographer of this house (B) so I don’t have a great picture of this. I was inspired by this post at i should be folding laundry (love her blog name!) Easy Peasy this one was. Again my awesome hubby actually did a lot of the leg work for me- picked the photos, picked them up from walgreens, and hole punched for me. What a guy. 🙂 I strung them with ribbon (which I had to tape together a few times, oops!) and hung them up. Last year I had photos of her framed over the year, but this was even easier, and I think it looked great!

Dorothy Centerpiece/ & The CAKE.

Finally, there was this centerpiece inspired by this post. A quick poll of my friends decided that living favors weren’t a good idea, so I made Dorothy be my centerpiece. C LOVED this, and was probably one of her favorite parts of the party (after cake). Sadly, Dorothy didn’t make it, but I’m thinking we may invest in a real fish tank and some goldfish soon, since it was such a hit!

My friend ended up decorating the cake for me because I got cold feet this year. We used M&Ms. Easy! The cake topper is from this etsy shop. I love it because now it can sit in her room as a keepsake from her 2nd Birthday!

Phew! that’s it. I think. If not, it doesn’t matter because my kid has watched WAY too much TV this morning in my desperate efforts to finally roll this post out. 🙂

{first} Pinterest Project!

So I’m due for a baby bump update but I am NOT feeling good about any pictures to share, so I’ll wait on that one!

Since I discovered Pinterest I have “pinned” 404 things over 18 boards. (as up to date as when I’m writing this anyway!) Many many many of these items are craft ideas or DIY projects that I want to do. However, pinning SO many things to remember and save means I may not EVER get around to doing all of them. However, I really want to try to actually DO some of these things, so I added a page to the blog where I put items that I have completed with links to pinterest/the blogs I found them from.

My first project (made in June, I’m behind on blogging:) was to make this wreath

that I can no longer find on MY pinboards (pinterest is still a bit buggy) but I am glad I found it so I can link to my inspiration. 🙂

There wasn’t a full tutorial, so I definitely winged this a bit.  I took some pictures along the way! This was cheap and easy! Full disclosure, I ran out of felt and hung it up anyway even though it never got fully finished. I had to move on to other projects! (doesn’t that sound just like me?) Her’s of course came out nicer, but I was on a timeline- I had birthday party projects to get to! 🙂

This is what I started with

I cut up little squares from 4 pieces of felt- I wasn’t very exact. Just tried to fold up the felt in the same size and cut!

Then I used quilters pins (though any pin would’ve worked) to push them into the wreath. I found that i needed to aim for the middle of the square, then push up kind of under the last layer of felt to get the flowery effect I was going for.

I did the blue section last (because I had run out of the red & white anyway!) This was only 2 pieces of felt.

And many pins later,

Ta-da!

((I really ought to take a picture of mine hanging outside!!))

Please let me know if you make one! the great thing about this is that you can do it with any colors and add any embellishments. I’m thinking of using a larger wreath form next time (i found this one to be a bit small looking on my door, so it’s hanging next to it) and adding more embellishments!

What do you think?