the sky is pink

No baby, yet ... BUT : Today was Mason's first official day of preschool. He has been dying to go back since his ice cream party last week. Since it has been pouring rain since last night, our traditional outside school picture had to be taken indoors. He's so proud of himself! And he found his name all by himself (even if there were only 2 names left on the table). And I received a grand surprise today in the mail. A lovely gift from the lovely Linda . A beautiful and very soft chenille and flannel blanket (with fire engines and police cars) for the new baby. A set of her gorgeous quilted cards , which I'm afraid I'll be too stingy to give away :-). And two children's aprons for Spenser and Mason. Mason has not taken it off since it arrived and has been running around the house in quite a happy dance. Everything is beautifully made and includes many decorative stitches! (Some of which I have on my machine but have never used! Now I can follow her example!) Than...

Friday night, some friends (Sandy and Christy ) threw a baby shower for me. It was very nice, despite the rainy weather from Ernesto. (You may not want to look at Christy's blog, because there are some pictures of me and I'm looking awfully huge! Thanks, Christy! ) Here is a picture of Christy trying to get Kim to look into the camera. Even though Kim won't show her face in this picture, you've seen her before on my blog ... riding her Harley. Saturday morning, I finished the skirt. I went with majority rule and used both orange and fuschia and I'm happy that I did. And on Saturday, we went into the attic in search of boy baby clothes, baby carseat, swing, and toddler bed (for Spenser). Spenser seemed thrilled with her bed at first. At first . Within seconds of leaving her room, she started crying for us and tried to escape. We found her a little while later behind her door (we have a second entrance into her room, as her room is adjoining to ours, so she wasn...

The PJ bottoms (previously two WIPs) are finally finished! These bottoms were having problems . Actually, it wasn't the PJs ... it was me. Christy finally took a look at them at Mason's birthday party and realized that the waist wasn't matching up because I pinned the legs together perpendicularly! They were at a 90 degree angle from one another! Duh! I'm very happy to have used her brain to figure it out! My first two pairs of Bitty Booties . I still have yet to embellish them. These are so freaking cute I can't believe I haven't made them sooner! Some fabric triangles for a " bunting ." We don't call them buntings in the U.S. (maybe a banner ?), but I love calling it a bunting. (A bunting in the U.S. is a baby's snowsuit.) And another skirt (Simplicity 5505) for after the baby using one of the thrifted sheets from Wednesday. I used the hem of the sheet as the hem of the skirt. All I needed to do after cutting out the ...

A little sewing table. This is an old wooden table that used to have a drop-down sewing machine. It has been covered in lime green contact paper, that my boys called "green Band-Aids." The drawer is fake. This will go in my "sewing room" (which is now the sunroom/toy room) after the basement is completed for the new toy room. Price: free at the Recycling Center's Swap Shop A solid wooden dresser, painted off-white. This will be painted with a fresh coat of white paint and be used for the new baby. It is on the porch because Joe was using Lysol to spray down the insides of the drawers. And the tag on the back shows it was made in Baltimore. Price: free at the Recycling Center's Swap Shop. An old knitting/crochet booklet of afghans (from 1980); a children's book of "More Things To Make and Do;" and a little book called "George Washington's Breakfast" from the 70's. Price: free at the Recycling Center's Swap Shop...

Yesterday morning Mason (middle) went to preschool for an ice-cream party. There was a puppet show, duck-duck-goose game, bean bag game, and a parachute/ball game. Jack (right) joined us, as he doesn't return to Kindergarten until next Tuesday. Spenser participated a little. She was afraid of the flying balls, so she stood back to observe. And here is Spenser trying to put on her bathing suit. Silly little girl. And a child-size embroidered tote for a special, little, 3-year-old girl whose birthday was Monday. What was inside the tote? An "official" US Army hat, which she wanted and liked more than the tote. And my pregnancy update: Today was my OB appointment. I am still 1 cm. (I never dilate more than that unless I am in labor for several hours. The first part goes slow. The end goes quickly.) I lost a pound! And the baby is still head down! Yeah! Joe is home today. He had to work late one night last week (or the week before ?) and they gave him the day off today! V...

Today is the first day of school for Taylor, Carter, and Jack. While I do miss them a little , I'm also happy they are gone. The past few weeks have been wild and hairy at my house as summer break was winding down. I think we need a little break. And with only Mason and Spenser home today, the house is very peaceful and quiet! Jack is starting all-day Kindergarten. This is new to my family, as it was just phased into the school districts. With Kindergarten, Jack will only go today for evaluations, and then will return full-time next week after Labor Day. On Friday night (before Joe made it home from New Jersey), I started to have some contractions. Maybe about 7-10 total. The first one took me by surprise and it wasn't until I had a few more that I realized what they were. (Yes, even women who have been through childbirth 5 times can question it.) At first I thought the baby was moving in a weird way because I suddenly felt a lot of pressure and then had to pee reall...

Today is Mason's 4th birthday. He was born at 4:38 p.m., and weighed only 7 lbs., 1.5 oz. (my smallest by far!). Everything about Mason has been a surprise. I was pretty pregnant before I realized I was pregnant. Thanks to nursing, I hadn't had my period since before I had gotten pregnant with Jack (early 2000). When the hospital finally decided to admit me as a patient and give me a room, I was only 4 cm. Mason was born 48 minutes later. The doctor almost didn't make it in time. He was golfing. Mason was born with red sores on his hands. The nurses said they were "sucking marks," and he was sucking his hands while he was in utero. Here's a live shot: This is Mason and I shortly after his birth. As you can see, he's still sucking that little hand! And this is Mason the day we were being released from the hospital. We waited and waited and waited (hours!) for the doctor to show up to sign the discharge papers, only to realize he had signed them the day bef...

I finished three more party favor bags last night (after the kids were in bed) for Mason's party tomorrow. (I had started making bags for 2 girls the other night, but they called back to say they couldn't make it. I figure I'll finish those when I have more time...) And I finished this giant-sized crochet antique bib. It's in sage green, which I was really drawn to at the store. I started this bib while camping last weekend. It is really large. Although, it reminds me of something my great-uncle used to wear to cover up his tracheotomy. I made a few mistakes while crocheting it. I skipped a special stitch in one of the upper rows that is supposed to have tufts (or those little round "bubbles"), so it is plain instead. I crocheted it from this free pattern . (I was supposed to pick up my bib crochet book from Heidi on Friday before we left but she called me to say she lost it. I really can't think about that right now because it has me very sad.) And then...

Here are the "boy" version of the party favor bags for Mason's birthday party on Saturday. Mason loves, loves, loves Superman, so I tried to use "Superman" colors. Until I ran out of red bias tape. Luckily, the two with blue drawstrings are for my two oldest sons. I have a few girl bags to do. They are fuschia with light pink names. The names are embroidered, they just haven't been sewn yet. And Christy talked me into lining them. So, they are all lined with muslin. (About halfway through I was wishing I hadn't!) These will be filled with school supplies (crayons, colored pencils, small tablets) and maybe a little candy or some snacks. I haven't decided that part yet. And here are Joe and Spenser last night in their Army habiliments .

After my last pregnancy photo , I thought I should share what I really look like (from an angle). I'm a lot larger than the head-on shot looks! See: I even wore the same outfit so there would be no more illusions! (I think I "smoothed" out my shirt too much in the second photo, so it looks weird between my breasts and my stomach. They are separate!!!!) Anyway, I went to see the doctor today. My regular doctor never showed up (he was in the O.R. and his staff was really upset with him because he had patients and wasn't supposed to be in the hospital). I saw one of his associates. The baby is still head down (yeah!!!). I am still 1 cm dilated. And my cervix is still thick and long. I gained 2 lbs. since Friday morning. Hmmm. I don't know if I agree with that, but, oh well. I have now gained 35 pounds, which is the most I have gained for any pregnancy. And I'm a pound from my all-time highest weight (which was when I was pregnant with Carter, I th...

A little " lunch money purse " for Spenser. She loves it. When I sewed the button on, she said, "Ohhhhh. Ohhhhh. Ohhhhh." She puts it around her neck. Chews on it. Finally, a project she loves! It was very simple to crochet. I actually did it while sitting around the campfire. It's baaaaaack ! My new sewing machine arrived Friday afternoon, right before we left for camping. I didn't have time to get it out until Monday night. I had to test it right away. Here I am embroidering some fabric for the drawstring party favor bags for Mason's birthday party on Saturday! ** And a little creepy camping story. When we arrived at the cabin, Joe discovered that we had transported a live mouse in our camping stove box (which we keep in our chicken coop). I'm surprised it didn't try to escape after Joe carried the box from the chicken coop to the car (and it sat next to the car for a little bit until he loaded up everything!). Luckily for everyone (me!) tha...

Update: Pictures added !! **I still can't post my sonogram picture. Blogger won't let me!!!** Friday morning I went to see my OB. My baby was still in breech position (as he has been for over a month). His head, however, had shifted from under my right ribs to under my left ribs. I was measuring only 32 weeks, instead of the 35 I should have been. Because of his position and my uterus size, she wanted me to have a sonogram soon (and to check on the placenta position). I had dilated to 1 cm (which I never, ever do until I'm almost in labor), but my cervix was still thick and long because the baby's head was not down to push on it. She said the baby's position is "unstable" and that I should see her associate, who has a good track record of "turning" babies into position. She also said that they would probably induce 1-2 weeks early, but they would not turn the baby until that time because of the positional instability. So, I went for my sonogr...

Here are some pj bottoms that I started before my sewing machine croaked (a former WIP). Something has gone awry. Despite the fact that this is the same pattern that I used for the other two , capri-length pj bottoms, the waist is not matching up ... at all ... by a few inches. These are supposed to be full-length (33" inseam, see, I told you I had long legs!) and the legs are fine. I used a thrifted sheet and the hem of the sheet for the hem of the pants. These will have to wait until my friend, Christy, can help diagnose the problem and come up with a solution. (I have a limited amount of sheet left ...) And until I get my new machine. This weekend we are going "camping." Don't gasp. I know you're thinking I'm nuts to go camping when I'm so pregnant. Truth be told, we have reserved a deluxe cabin, complete with kitchenette and bathroom!!!! (and of course, air-conditioning!!) So, I'm packing up some crochet stuff in my tote and some embroidery th...