Thursday, August 26, 2010

The Finished Projects!!

I have been using my "down time" to tackle a few sewing projects. My first big project was making a new high chair cover to replace the old one that falling apart, to say the least.


 I figured since I could handle that I could handle a few more smaller projects no problem. So here are my finished products... some took a little bit longer than others due to being at the mercy of the pay check to buy supplies.



 Here is Olivia trying on her new dress for the first time... I think she makes a pretty cute little model... what do you think?!




Yay! She likes it! That bow is going to give me some grief though... I am going to be constantly retying it... oh well all in the name of fashion.


Dani

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Recent Happenings

These last few weeks have been so daunting ... I feel I have been exhausted constantly and completely unmotivated and incapable to get enough done around the house. That being said... I have actually accomplished a few things and am so greatful for the energy I do have that has allowed me to get the things done that I have needed to.

We were able to get our house exterminated, finally, to get rid of the crazy amounts of fleas we have been dealing with. After months and months of dealing with them and the countless hours a week to try and make a dent in their presence in our home ... I just could not keep up with them anymore. I guess at 8 months pregnant vacuuming, sweeping and mopping three floors/levels and every room in your house three times a week is a little excessive. But I am glad that it is done and I plan on having them out one more time before the baby is born just to be safe... I mean I did pay for their services after all!

Other happeneings are we finally sold our darn pool!! Our back yard looks huge in comparrison to what it did... who knew having a pool smack dab in the middle of your yard would make it appear so small lol?! We were initially just going to give the darn thing away and have someone come take it apart and haul it away but I posted it Craigslist for 300.00 and after dozens and dozens of emails and phone calls finally found someone who was serious about buying. Him and his wife came over... handed me 300 bucks then took out his tools and started taking it apart. Oh it was glorious to watch that darn thing leave. Way too much work for my liking.


My long awaited Navy Housing Garage Sale was this weekend and it was the cherry on top! Last year I outfitted Olivia for the first 9 months of her life with clothes and other fun things I was able to score at the yard sale... this time I was able to get all the way out to 24 months! I spent about 40 bucks and was able to pick up a years worth of clothing for Olivia, a dozen or so outfits for Evelyn, Electronic/learning toys for Olivia, two bags of soft learning toys for Evelyn, a baby monitor, lamp for the girls' room and foam floor puzzle pieces to cover the girls' bedroom floor.

All of my finds minus the foam puzzle pieces

All of the 18 month clothes sprawled out... definitely the largest pile of clothes!

 I have also been tackling my sewing projects... finally. I was able to finish Olivias dress, some burp cloths and binkie leash for a friends baby shower as well as a few taggie toys. The taggie toys are in the middle, the burp cloths and binkie leash on the right and Olivias dress (that I wanted to finish for her birthday... oops!) on the left. All I need to do for her dress is buy a wide ribbon for the neck and it is complete and ready to wear! YAY!
 

And what is a blog update without pictures of the LivieBug?! She has 6 teeth and has just cut two more on top giving her a grand total of 8 TEETH!!! Crazy to think how big she is getting and how fast this is all happening. Just just got over her first real cold... she was sick for about a week. She had a fever for two days, runny nose, water eyes, cough and just over did not feel well. She was extremely cuddly the first couple of days but after maybe the third day of not feeling well she turned into LivieMonster... and yeah you know those now 8 teeth?! She used them to bite my shoulder for no real reason. She was resting her head on my shoulder as I was walking around and she started to fuss... then bit down. Once she realized what she did hurt her mommy she felt bad, laid her head back down on my shoulder and gave me a hug. Who ever says babies dont know what they are doing ... doesnt have one of their own, either that or they just dont pay enough attention.





Olivia is now back to her normal giggly self and making these last couple weeks of my pregnancy both bitter and sweet. It is tough chasing after an active and VERY strong 1 year old while  you are 8 months pregnant and have a limit to the number of times you can bend over in a day but it is sweet to have someone who loves you so much and finds your hugs to be the greatest thing in the world. She may have her moments where she is a daddy's girl but there is no mistaking... this little girl really LOVES her mommy... sometimes a little too much, if that is possible. lol. 

I just cant wait to no longer be pregnant so I can actually enjoy the joys of motherhood instead of them being overshadowed by nausea, headaches, heartburn, hormones, fatigue and dont forget the aches and pains that come with pregnancy.

Dani

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Happy Birthday Papa!!!

Boy my dad is sure truckin up there in age...


He is by far one of the best dads a girl could ask for! Thank you Papa for all of the love, support and kind words of wisdom that you have graciously given me and now my growing family over the years. Love you bunches and bunches...

Your little sweetheart,
Dani

Thursday, August 5, 2010

My First REAL Sewing Project...

So a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a high chair re-purposing tutorial (here) and thought to myself... well that would save me a TON of money. Instead of tossing out the hand me down high chair we were given by a good friend of ours before Olivia was born I could just make a  new cover for it!


Before:
(This high chair was in MUCH better shape before Olivia got her hands on it.. like the duct tape?!)


After:
(All in all everything took me about 4-5 hours to complete from deconstructing the old cover to make a template from to adding the finishing touches)


I have a few projects I am planning on tackling next... a few baby gifts for some expecting friends, adding some length to our living room curtains, a skirt for Olivia, coordinating quilts and pillows for the girls, replacing the cover/seat for the bouncer we were given from another friend of ours and finally... finishing that darn pillow case dress that I started making for Olivia well before her birthday. 

What projects have you been up to?!

Danielle

Monday, August 2, 2010

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Olivia... A Year in Photos...

When Olivia was first born I knew right away that I wanted to make sure she was well photographed through out her life and most importantly through her first year of life... some of these pictures I have posted before... a few however have never made it past my pictures file on our laptop. There are no words that can describe mine and Ryan's love for Olivia... so there for there are no words written past the first picture.

Watch Olivia Mae grow from the first sonogram to her First Birthday. (You can even see how Ryan and I have changed in the last year as well... Enjoy! )











































Dani