Sewing Projects!

I spent the first few days here in Henderson tying up loose ends with my TA job.  I'm still doing that really, but now it's just the final projects.  The last big project is about done.  This week I've finally been able to really relax and do a few things I want to do.  And what are those things?  Sewing!  I've been waiting to get down here to work on a bunch of projects for the baby that I didn't have time to do during the semester.  The last two days I have made two car seat covers, two receiving blankets, two covers for my boppy pillow, and I still plan to pretty up some cloth diaper burp cloths. I would like to make a baby carrier as well, but I'm waiting for my parents to bring the pattern down next week on their way down to Arizona.  I conveniently forgot it among the rush to get out the door last week. Oh, and I'm going to try my hand at a cute moccasin pattern Tori made and put on her blog.  That will be so fun too.

My projects all turned out so well!  I haven't really been able to sew anything for a very long time and I forgot how much I enjoy it.  I'm mostly done now and I totally wish I weren't.

Anyway, onto the projects.  The first two are my boppy covers.  The green polka dot one is out of minky.  It was a beast to sew right, but it works perfectly on the pillow and I love it.  I wanted to do a second one just because, so I used cotton to make it, and it didn't work nearly as well.  It will be fine as a backup, but since it doesn't stretch, it doesn't fit nearly as well.  The material is adorable though.  Those bugs are so cute!

 These are the two receiving blankets I made.  They're flannel and different material on either side.  The red material is actually cars.  Kind of hard to see, but so cute.  The blue on is trains.  The yellow side is yellow with brown animals and the green is just a random pattern that Bill found and both of us really like.  They're so soft and they were ridiculously easy to make.  I found a blog post online where a lady put ric rac around the outside edge, and that was super cute.  I might have to do that for a gift sometime. 

 These might be my favorite of the projects I did.  Two covers for our car seat.  You can buy these things on Etsy for anywhere between $40-$50.  I can't believe how expensive they are.  They are SO easy to make.  The first one is hands down my favorite.  I love the colors!  The turquoise fabric has green turtles all over it and then I just love the lime green on the flip side.  I just used velcro for the straps and it works perfectly.  Suzanne was nice enough to let me use some of her fabric for this, so it was free except for the velcro.  Yay for that!

 This bug fabric was Suzanne's as well.  Since it's winter, I wanted to make another cover that is warmer, so the bug fabric is cotton, but the blue fabric is corduroy.  Hopefully that will keep the wind off a bit better.  Bill and I picked up the corduroy for less than $10.  Such a good deal for this very useful little cover. 

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 And last but not least, our super cute car seat.  I absolutely love the hounds tooth pattern  and the green trim is fantastic.  I can't wait to have a baby to put in this next month!  My guess date is one month from today.  Yay!  I'm getting more and more uncomfortable as the days go by.  It's nice to be on vacation though so that I can do things at my own tempo.  This vacation is fantastic.  I haven't had so much time off in a row in a long time and it is just really nice.  Hopefully I'll be rested and ready for the crazy marathon of a semester by the time we get back to Utah on the 3rd.  Here's hoping!

December Happenings

December has been a blur.  Blogging has definitely taken a backseat to everything else going on.  Finishing up final projects, grading projects for the class I TA for, and finals took every last second I had for the first half of the month.  I haven't stayed up so late in years working on school projects or grading.  Thank heavens the projects and finals are over.  I am still grading final papers for my class but that is not nearly as big a project as all the others. 

Bill and I managed to get most everything done and we were out the door to come down to Las Vegas at 7PM on the 15th.  Talk about cutting it close.  We wanted to drive down that day, but it's a 6-hour drive, so we weren't sure we'd finish everything in time to leave that day.  I ended up taking three finals that day to make it happen, one of them as we drove down to Henderson.  It was pretty crazy, but we made it through.  We arrived in Henderson safe and sound at 12:15AM and just crashed.  It feels so good to be away from school and relaxing.

The Monday before we left we did manage to get in a trip up to Temple Square.  I always love doing that.  The lights were gorgeous as always.

Also, a new picture of my ever growing belly.

I haven't gotten much bigger lately, which is a plus.  He's growing well.  I did have a bit of a hiccup the day before we left when I went to my midwives appointment.  The little guy has a bit of an uneven heart rate, which is not unusual before they are born, but my dad has major heart issues that he has had since birth, so anytime any of us kids have any problems or our children do, the doctors always take major precautions to make sure everything is well and good.  I ended up over at the hospital for 2 or 3 hours getting a non-stress test and an ultrasound.  Good news?  He is moving like crazy ALL the time and looks healthy all around except for the slight uneven heart beat.  I did get to see him again in the ultrasound and he's cute as ever.  Can't wait to meet him in a month!  I do have to do a non stress test weekly now just to make sure he's good, but he seems to be developing just fine.  That chunk of time was what triggered me taking three finals the next day, but I was glad to find out he is healthy, so the time was worth it.

That gets me to Henderson.  I've been doing some fun stuff here, but I'll put that in a separate post.  Suffice it to say I am so happy to be on vacation finally and am thoroughly enjoying the few weeks off from school. 

Cleared for Travel!

At my midwife's appointment yesterday I got cleared to travel over Christmas!  Two weeks or so from today Bill and I will be heading down to Henderson for several blissful weeks of vacation doing absolutely nothing but hanging out with family, eating good food, and playing in general. I can't wait!  I don't really want to contemplate the sheer enormity of the list of things I need to do between now and then.  I vaguely can't imagine how I'll have enough time to fit all the hours of work and projects in, but it has to happen, so it will. :)  Yay for Christmas and vacation and family and all the good things that happen this time of year!