William's blocks

William has these Duplo blocks that he got one year for his birthday. He makes all kinds of creative things with them. He's made Thomas the train, other un-named trains, animals-his favorite to make is a giraffe, and other things that he would have to explain to you since I don't really understand their functions. I wish I had captured some of his more imaginative creations, but I'm sure there will be more opportunities. For now, here are some of his recent works.



Can you tell what it is? I'll give you a clue: he's obsessed with a certain "Man of Steel." There were several incarnations of this character during the course of a couple days. He happened to build it right where our hallway meets our living room, so it kept getting kicked.

Here's what he did today.


These may be a little harder to figure out, but stems from another of William's current obsesions. Words. He has been playing games from the PBS show, "Word World," online and loves to "build" words. I didn't ask what this word is, but I think it is also related to Superman. He asked if "Krypton" started with a big "K" or a little "k" this morning, so I suspect that is what he was trying to spell.

Edit: William saw my post and said it's the word "Kryptonite," which would explain the "i," "t" at the end.

Pregnancy Update

I had another midwife appointment yesterday! There's not too much to report, but everything seems to be going well. We listened to the heartbeat for a while. Leonora got to push the power button on the doppler. The baby kept moving around and even kicked the doppler a couple times! I've been feeling the baby move a lot more often lately. That has been nice-although, I'm hopeing that this one doesn't kick me in the ribs like William did toward the end! That was not so nice. I've gained a little more weight than I would like, but not bad. I'm trying to keep that under control since I was still overweight when I got pregnant. I've gained about half the weight I'd like and I'm not quite halfway through. So I'm slightly ahead of schedule. I think my only hope is not to go two weeks overdue this time! I am also measuring right where I should be as far as the baby's size, so things are looking good!

Okay, I think I'm done rambling! :)

One more...

Here's one other thing that I did in those couple days that I didn't work on Leonora's dress.



It's a burp cloth. I made it from some flanel scraps that I had and a flat terry cloth diaper. It's loosely based on this one that was given to me by my relief society when Leonora was born. They are nice and big! Mine ended up being slightly longer, but about the same width.



First, I sewed the two pieces together. Nothing fancy, just a straight stitch to hold it in place while I crocheted.


Then I crocheted around the edge! It's functional and pretty! :)

Another sewing project

I made a dress for Leonora. I've been working on it for about a week and a half. It's a little more complicated than things I've made before, and once again, I had no supervision. Anyway, I found this pattern in a bunch that my mom has. It's an older one, and I have to wonder if it's something my grandma bought. It's been used before, and was missing pretty much all the peices besides the ones I used, but those are what I wanted anyway, so it worked out.

Cute pattern, huh? Here are some pictures of the project in progress. I think I stopped here for a couple days, because I realized I don't have a zipper foot. I was trying to figure out how to sew a zipper without one. In the meantime, I took some pictures! Here's the front of the dress.

And here's the back.

Here's the zipper. Pins are my friend-most of the time... It looks much prettier pinned on than the finished product. It took me a couple tries. Oh, well. I dont' think I'll be doing anymore zippers without the propper foot.

And here's the finished product! Leonora was happy to finally have her dress. She had been watching me make it.

Once again, a far from perfect, but I'm learning! And Leonora likes it!

Getting closer to that 100%

Well, I was finally able to talk to the genetic couselor today and got good news! I don't have the CF gene and the risk of Downs is very low! There is still a possiblility of some kind of blockage, so we will still get the ultrasound in October, but this rules out the most likely of complications. Yay! Hopefully the ultrasound will bring similar results!

Announcing...

I've been putting off making this announcement for a while, but have decided it's time. Yes, it's true, I'm pregnant. The baby is due mid-January, which puts me at about 17 weeks.

I wanted to wait until I was 100% sure of everything being okay with the baby before announcing things. We've done more testing this time than with any of our other pregnancies. We have been hoping for reassurance. It's hard not to worry about something being wrong, even though we are not at any higher risk because of Renee's issues. Most of our ultra sounds and other testing have been reassuring. The most recent one was a little less so.

We had an ultrasound Monday that showed something called "bright bowel." Most of the time, it is nothing and goes away on it's own. However, there is a risk of there being something seriously wrong. It could be Cystic Fibrosis, Downs Syndrom, or some other blockage in the baby's bowels.

The doctor says we are "90% in the clear," so we are hopeful that we fall into the nothing catagory, but are getting some extra testing in case we don't. I got a blood draw to check for CF and Downs. If I carry the gene for CF, then Aaron will be tested as well. Both parents have to have the gene in order for the child to have it. We will also have another ultra sound in October to see if it has gone away on it's own. I'll be 27 weeks at that appointment. Hopefully then our 90% will move up to the 100% that we want.

Sick

Hmm... blogger doesn't like me today. They couldn't "proccess that request" to publish my post, so I'm writing this for the second time. It's really too bad. It was almost a clever post, but it probably won't be now.

Anyway, I'm sick. I don't like being sick. I think it's a sinus thing. Ugh. I hate being sick.

Everyone feel sorry for me for a minute...

...

...

Okay, you can stop now. Resume your normal activities.

Thanks.

Look what I made!

This is the first thing I've made without any supervision! :) It's a wrap skirt. I found some tutorials online for making one without a pattern and used some fabric that's been sitting in storage in my mom's basement. If you saw it up close, it would be obvious that an amature made it, but overall, I think it turned out pretty good!

Leonora counts

Okay, she's not the most accurate counter ever, but it's cute! For some reason, she never remembers 5. 1 and 10 are hit and miss.

Penelope

Last night Aaron and I watched the movie Penelope. It was a cute fun movie. It won't go down in history for any special achievements or anything, but it was a cute story. This is how I felt about it most of the way through the movie. The end seemed more special though. I realized that it wasn't just a cute love story about a girl with a funny face. It's about learning to love yourself-regardless of what anyone else thinks or says. It's about makeing choices, facing your fears, and believing in yourself.

Today, tabloids flaunt pictures of skinny girls, and sometimes in the same issue critisize various women for being too fat and others for being too skinny. Women are made fun of for imperfections in thier appearence, but if a well known woman feels bad enough about her appearence to go through cosmetic surgery, or looses excess weight, that is splashed across newsstands as well. Nothing seems to escape thier scrutiny.

In todays world, I think we need tales like Penelope to remind us that we all have our own natural beauty. We all have our own natural strengths. Our features are part of who we are-regardless of how we came by them. When we learn to love ourselves with all the imperfections we have, we are freed from society's judgements. We don't need to change who we are to look nice.

I can't say that I am perfect at this. I often critisize my own looks. Some of these things-like being more in shape-are things I can and should change, while other's are things I just need to accept. I am so grateful for a husband who thinks I'm beautiful despite my flaws! I hope I can teach my kids to love themselves and others for who they are-inside and out.

Memories

Okay, I've had a few friends post this on thier blogs, and thought it might be fun!

1. As you comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.