Quilts, etc.

Well, I hoped to post pics of some quilts I made lately, but my pictures disappeared! I used my i-phone, loaded the photos on the computer, and -poof! They are gone. Not on my phone or computer. I'll just tell you about them, and hopefully I can figure out a way to get pictures.

So, after we came home from Stanford in October, I decided I wanted to make a quilt for the family we stayed with as a thank you. I bought the fabric, and then did nothing for about a month. Then I got excited about it again, and started working on it, thinking maybe I could have it done by Thanksgiving. Ha! Thanksgiving came and went and my new goal was Christmas, which passed with no quilt. Finally, the first week of January, I finished it. It was really adorable- muted blues, browns, cream, dusty rose, and deep burgundy. I did some appliqueing on it in kind of a raw-edge style, so once you wash it the edges get all frayed and soft.

I mailed it off, and then had the brilliant idea of making a quilt for my mom's birthday in -yikes- 2 weeks! I called my sisters with my harebrained idea, and they all pitched in to buy the materials for it. It didn't take too long to get the quilt top done, I think a week. Then the quilting began. Uuggh- the quilting. I divided the quilt (I think it was 55"x70") into 5 vertical sections. Three sections I did in a close, straight line quilting. The other two were done in a close, wavy stitch. It took soo long. I need the quilt done on a Saturday morning. It's Friday evening, and I still have two sections to quilt, and a binding to do, and dinner plans with my parents. So, we go to dinner, and on the way home we stop to buy more brown thread (I'm all out at this point). It's 8:05, and I try to run in to Hobby Lobby to get it. Well, they close at 8, and although they are still checking people out, and I know exactly where to get what I need, they won't let me. Great. SO I go to Wal Mart. They don't have any large spools of brown thread, only small. So I buy a ton (I don't want to run out again!), go home and start quilting. Immediately I realize the thread is a lot thicker, but it isn't too noticeable, and I'm desperate, so I keep plugging along. Three rows of quilting into it, I decide I should check the back of the quilt and make sure the tension of the thread is alright. Gasp! The back is a loopy mess! The thread is soo thick, it wont go through the fabric properly. I could have cried. It is now 9:30, all the other fabric stores are closed, so I try a different Wal Mart, 15 minutes away. They have plenty of thread, and I get what I need. I'm home by 10:15 pm and realize there is no way I will have this quilt ready for my sister to take to my mom at 10 am. SO I call her and let her know, and took some pics and sent them to her phone so she could at least show my mom what she will be getting.

I decided to start undoing all of my ugly stitches that night, and while I am sprawled on top of the quilt, i didn't pay attention to where I placed my arm, and stuck it right on top of a thick, long, lethal looking pin. It hurt soo much! Of course, Adam laughed at me, because he always steps on random pins I've left on the ground. Then I pulled down my sleeve and when he saw how much I was bleeding from it, he felt bad. At that point, I gave up for the night. By Wednesday, I was able to finish the quilt, and my sister took it to my mom. She absolutely loved it, which was good, because I was going to take it back if she didn't! I still have a bruise on my arm from that pin, a week and a half later!

The same day I finished the quilt, I had to make two quilt squares for a project I was working on with some neighbors. Of course it got done last minute, but they turned out very cute. Then, sick of quilting, I made an adorable valentines skirt for Taylor. Now, I'm working on finishing a quilt for her that I started while I was pregnant with Asher. This time, I'm going to pay to have it professionally quilted!

How to be a Parent (Or...What NOT to do)

Did you know that you can scare your child so badly that they pee their pants? Oh yes. In a bright spot of parenting today, I scared my three year old so much that he could no longer control himself. I am SO proud. (I hope you are picking up on my sarcasm here)

After having one of the worst nights sleep, and enduring three hours of church (at 9 am) in a zombie-like state, it was finally time to go home. So, Ash went down for a nap and the kids played while I made lunch and Adam watched TV. After lunch, Adam headed off to a meeting for church. The kids were playing, and Ash was still sleeping, so in a brilliant parenting move I decided to take a nap, also.

When I woke up an hour later, I decided I should probably be a responsible parent and see what damage the kids did to their rooms. And damage they did! Everything was taken off of Jon's walls, and all of his toys were out of their bins and all over the floor. Great. So, I have Jon and Tay come in. I decided to offer them popsicles in exchange for cleaning up quickly. (My thought process was this way they wouldn't whine about cleaning. I was wrong). Jon said "No" and ran off, and Tay starts explaining how she doesn't really want a popsicle anyway, and it's Jon room, so she shouldn't have to clean it. I snap. I yell for Jon to come back. Again. And again. Now I am furious. I grab him out of the guest room and lay into him about how I am The Mom, and he has to listen to me, and I'm sick of him running away and saying no, blah, blah, blah. All of this, of course, was said in my sweetest mothering tone of voice. (Ha!). And while I was yelling at him, he peed. Poor boy. Of course, I didn't realize it yet. I took him to his room, and he immediately asked for his blanket, and proceeded to cover his wet spot, then admitted to peeing. I was still mad, so I took his pants and undies off and made him clean his room without them. Once he was done, he put undies back on. And I felt really bad. I scared my little guy so much that he peed. Great.

So, next time you are upset with your little munchkins, and they are being really awful and you just want to scream at the top of your lungs, don't do what I did! Take a few deep breaths, step away if you have to, and remember how much you love them. Because making your kid pee sucks.

Well, I guess I haven't been great about updating my blog. Sorry! I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy.

Speaking of which, I had my ultrasound on the 4th. Just like my midwife suspected, I'm not as far along as my dates say I should be. My new due date is August 1st; I am 11.5 weeks pregnant. And that's alright with me! Now Ash and the baby will be only 15 months apart (instead of 14.5). Not a huge difference, but it matters to me! I am honestly terrified to have 4 kids. Excited for the baby, but #4! Yikes.

The kids have been enjoying all of the snow we have been receiving:

Taylor is still walking to and from school with the neighbors; they seem oblivious to the cold! I'm not, I'm enjoying staying bundled up inside as much as possible.

So far this month I've : Taken Ash and Jon to the Dr. (croup, ear infection, bronchitis-yay!), Had an ultrasound, had an appointment with my midwife, went out to dinner with my sis and her hubby, took Tay to a HopeKids craft night, took the kids to a HopeKids viewing of Tangled, finished a quilt, and almost finished another quilt. Plus I've been doing a few appraisals every week. Yes, we are busy. But other than those things, I have pretty much been home, trying to keep Ash away from germs.

I'm taking Asher to a pediatric urologist on the 20th to discuss having him circumcised. I would like to have it done before baby comes. Asher has been doing really well lately; he has 4(!) teeth, is crawling everywhere, almost sits up on his own, and is gaining weight! Yay! He had pretty much stalled in weight gain since his last surgery, hovering around fifteen pounds. But, now that we figured out his swallowing problem, he (at last check) was 16.5 pounds. WooHoo! He is starting to get little rolls now.

We are also training Asher to sleep through the night. We are just letting him cry it out. So, until he gets the hang of it, Adam and I are sleeping in the guestroom downstairs (I didn't realize how much I loved my new mattress until I started sleeping on the old one again!). Tonight will be our third night- I think tomorrow we'll sleep upstairs and see how he is doing. Cross our fingers he gets the hang of it fast!

Well, that is mostly us lately. Hope all is well for everyone!

Sick!

So, in my last post I mentioned that Ash is sick with a cold. I've been keeping an eye on it, and planned to see the pediatrician Monday. Then, I was talking to my sister this morning, and found out that a family member had sick kiddos at our Christmas get together, and on Monday she took them to the Dr. and found out that two of them have croup, and another has strep. I was not so thrilled to find this out. So, off I went to the insta care with the kids to make sure his cold is just a cold. (On a side note, insta-care with the kids and no hubby is not so fun. Fighting over chairs and books, yippee! But then they were so sweet- I left with the nurse to x-ray Ash's chest and when I came back, they were both sitting in their chairs and holding hands. It is amazing how a sucker can motivate good behavior!)

After giving the Dr. the low down on Asher's heart, and running through his symptons, the doc checked his ears- ear infection in the right ear. The chest x-ray showed haziness in his lungs, and he has a low grade fever and horrendous cough- croup. Yay! So, they gave him a dose of a steroid for the croup, and antibiotics for the ear. Hopefully all will be well in 3-4 days.

So... it looks like our family will be hibernating for the winter. I was hoping to not have to do this, but there will be no more get togethers with family this winter, and no more running errands with Ash. There are just too many germs out there, and he is too sensitive to them. If your kids are sick and you are going to be around us, please let us know. We love you all, but we don't want to risk hospitalizations with Ash so we can see people. You are more than welcome to visit us, so long as you and your family are healthy. Sorry, I hate to do this. It is not fun at all to stay cooped up, but we have to for our little guy. I hope everyone can understand.