Pretty Things

Dylan brought me back this notebook from New York. I think it's darling & special & so I never want to write in it. Why am I like that? I feel like nice things can only be used for special stuff.

Well, everyday is special & worthy of the nice things. So today I'm sketching out my quilt in my pretty little polka dot notebook from New York.

Caring For the Earth

Lately for family home evening we've been pulling a picture out of the Gospel Art Picture Kit & reading the back of it. Quick. Easy. Just long enough for Sadie. Last week we pulled out this picture of the earth & read the following:

"Because this world was created for our benefit, we enjoy many things on it, but we also have a responsibility to care for the earth and the people who live here with us. The Lord has taught us that 'the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare.' Our earthly blessings are great, but we all have stewardships that we will be held accountable for."

In caring for the earth, I have made a decision about what my next lifestyle change to help the environment will be.

Dylan & I have decided to eat less meat. Specifically red meat. We initially started this with the new year for health reasons alone. After reading up on it, I was really quite shocked at just how much our consumption of meat does play a part in the world around us.

The CIWF website is a great source of information. Very eye opening. A few points that stood out to me:

Human health: Alongside the increased consumption of animal fats are disturbing rates of obesity, heart disease and adult-onset diabetes. In order to reduce the risk from these diseases, all informed opinion now stresses the desirability of reduced consumption of animal products and increased intake of fresh fruit, vegetables and fibre-rich carbohydrates.

Environmental impact: The unsustainably large livestock population is having a devastating effect on our environment. A major contributor to global warming, livestock herds account for 10% of all greenhouse gases, including 25% of all methane emissions. In addition, the sheer volume of waste generated by the farm animal population, together with the excessive use of fertilisers to grow their feed, causes high levels of ammonia and nitrate pollution of land, water and air.

Global food security: Much of the earth’s arable land is now being used to grow feed crops for intensively farmed animals rather than for people.
Placing animal products at the centre of food policy greatly diminishes the possibility of feeding the world’s human population. Rather than using vast areas of land to grow crops for animal feed, more food can be obtained by using land to grow crops for direct human consumption.

eatlessmeat.org is also a great resource. The plan in our home is to eat red meat only once a week, and to try to have as many meatless meals as possible. So tonight's dinner of grilled cheese & tomato soup was a good choice!

If you have any good recipes that will support our new choice, feel free to send them along. We'd love the help.

Craft Apron

I've wanted to make myself one of these for a while now. Thought I would get it done before I start on my quilt. Last night when Sadie went to bed, I popped in some M. Ward albums on shuffle & got to work. I love that everything that I need while crafting will be right there on me. No more getting up & down for the essentials. Even though right now when I look down, I can't even see over my belly. I was happy to use some of the fabrics that Dylan got me for Christmas too.

I used a pattern for this that I found in the Dec/Jan issue of ReadyMade magazine. Let me know if you're interested in details & I can get you a copy of the article.

I've also been thinking about opening an Etsy shop. After making this last night, I thought these would be fun to put up in the shop. We'll see.

My Calendar is Cooler Than Yours

I really hate looking for a new calendar each year. This year I asked Dylan if he would design one for us. He finally got around to it & the finished product is now up on our wall, ready to use. I think it's SO COOL! I just took a couple of photos, he should have more of the whole thing up on his blog sometime soon.

I love being married to an artist!

A Few Thoughts on Creating

Many of you have left comments for me about how crafty I am & very nice compliments about my abilities & the things I create. I appreciate how that makes me feel. I do enjoy when I can find the time to see a project through that has been bouncing around in my head for a while. I do feel like the Lord has blessed me with talents, but I feel also that these talents have in no way been perfected. I have so much to work on. There are so many people that are better crafters than I. I feel mediocre.

One thing I have learned recently is to let go of the fear to create. Many, many, many times I have wanted to make something & would get all my supplies out just to sit & stare at them. I would want to make something cool & would be so afraid that it wouldn't turn out like I had pictured it in my mind that I'd just give up there before really even getting started.

Most times, the end result is not what I originally had in mind. This I have learned to be okay with. Usually I love the finished project just the same, if not more. The area that this most applies to is scrapbooking. I have a real desire for my pages to look a certain way & they never do. I'm still trying to find myself & my scrapbooking style, but I have loved what has come along the way. My pages lately have made me pretty happy.

I love sharing my stuff with you guys. Thanks for the encouraging words. I wish I had more time to play with crafty things....some day. For now I try to get just enough to make me feel happy & balanced.

And....I have chosen to go with a real soft, feminine look for the baby blanket. Here's a look at the fabrics that I picked out today. I really was thinking in my mind "grandma's tea set" for the fabric choices. Lots of girly florals here, which really has not been my style in the past, but I think will look really sweet for this quilt. I'm really excited about this one.



****ETA: Maybe I'll lose that blue fabric. The print is quite large in scale to the rest of them.

I Have a Secret to Share With You

In my lifetime I HAVE had a mullet...



I think that I am 8 years old in this picture...because I remember that was my Easter dress & I think I wore it on the day I was baptised. My mom has gotten a lot of crap over the years for giving me this hair style. Even though the reason the cut became necessary was because I cut a chunk off trying to get stuck gum out of my hair.

Another funny thing about this 'do was that my mom would still french braid my hair....just the back half.

Dylan gets a kick out of the dress too. So very 80's. So very pastel.

I look like a pretty happy girl....mullet & all.

I Love, Love, Love...

my little girl in pigtails.




I couldn't get her to stop watching Nemo to look at me for a picture.

We tried this hair style yesterday for the first time. I love it! She looks so much like a kid! I found it really hard to tell her "no" yesterday because she just looked so stinkin' cute.

And how about that t-shirt. $3.99 at Target. I picked up three of them. I really like the fit & the little bit of gathering at the neckline.

Careful Lifting

I went to an appointment yesterday where I received all these pregnancy magazines & samples & what not. Looking through the stuff I came across this picture that I seem to find very humorous. I don't know it it's the look on her face, or her overalls, or that to me it looks like she's getting into a poop position squat. I just laughed so hard at this.

I promise to come back later, if I have time & post something more meaningful.

And the Winner is.....

I'll be sending that flower pin out to you sista! This was a lot of fun. I'll have to do it again soon. And I'll have to get started on making myself one of those cute pins!

Inspired

I have been thinking a lot about a blanket/quilt I want to make for the new babe. I have been having a hard time getting it formulated in my mind. Haven't been sure of exactly what I want to do. I think I just came across something I love!

Just saw the photo above on the wise craft blog. Isn't it beautiful. I think I'm going to go with this design. Now I just need to figure out if I want soft, muted colors or bright, bold, not-so-baby looking but definitely cool colors. So hard to decide.


**I'll be choosing a winner for the flower pin a little later this afternoon. Who will it be? Who will it be?

Proof

of her existence...


All the princess dress-up clothes hanging up to dry. These things get more use & more wear & tear than her normal clothes.

We had a crazy day yesterday. Sadie was doing so well wearing her glasses. She wore them for over 2 hours straight. That, my friends, is amazing! We left the house to run few errands. Stopped at the dollar store to pick up a make-up kit for her. Decided that we're going to give her a couple pieces of it each day that she does well with her glasses. Yesterday she got the lipstick. I have to get a photo of her with it, she loves it so much. She puts it on & then says "I feel pretty, Mom."

Anyway, then to Albertsons to shop for groceries. I went to pull Sadie out of her car seat & noticed that she'd peed her pants. Didn't have anything with me to change her into so I threw my purse back in the van & shut the door so we could go home & change. Then, I realized that my keys were in my purse & the doors had locked. Dang it!!! Had to call a locksmith. It was much more traumatic for me than for Sadie. Seems like every time I leave the house these days something crazy happens.

200th Post!!!!!

Sometimes you have to pretend....like it's somebody's birthday. That's what we're doing around here with cake & ice cream! I couldn't wait until Feb. 11th. Too far away & it's been too long since I've had some. Don't you love it when the ice cream melts into the bottom of your cake? I do!

Also, we got through the third night of putting Sadie Jane to bed without me rocking her. Tonight there were much less tears & screaming than the two previous nights. I'm really happy for my big girl & really happy that I was tough enough to get through it as well. It's so hard for me to see my little one sad. Even if I know it's going to be good for her. I DO NOT want to raise children that are so attached to me in an unhealthy way....or me to them. So yay for Sadie!

Just wanted to share a couple things that are making me happy right now. AND....in honor of my 200th post, send me a comment about what's making you happy right now. I'll chose one name out of a hat to send this little beauty to. I think it would look adorable pinned to a tote bag, or anything really. It was a quick little craft that I just pulled together in no time. And I got to use one of my "new" vintage buttons! By the way you can find tutorial on how to make these here.

Yay! I'm so excited! This should be fun. I'll wait a few days before choosing a name. I love ya all! Have a happy, happy day!

New Specs...

For the whole family.



We were able to find some fake glasses for Dylan & I at Icing in the mall. We think we look kinda funny. Hoping it will help Sadie to wear her glasses more. It's given me a little more of an understanding of what she's going through too. It's so different & quite an adjustment to have something new & foreign right there in front of your eyes.

Yay for Me!

I survived my glucose screening test at the doctor's office today. I did it all by myself too! I am the worst at getting my blood drawn, but have learned how to get through it without my body going into shock & either fainting or vomiting. So the test results were good, except I was a little low on my iron. Guess I should be taking those prenatal vitamins. I'm the worst at that. They also gave me a list of foods that are high in iron, so I'll pay a little more attention to that.

I was starving after the test, so we went to Wendy's & I got a frosty with my meal as a little reward for all the stress I'd been through. Ha ha. Those of you that know me understand.

I'm starting another change in my lifestyle that will benefit the environment. I usually give Sadie her snacks in a little ziploc bag so she can carry it around. No more. She'll have them in a little snack bowl that can be rewashed & we'll bring down the number of baggies we're just throwing away. I know these are small steps, but that's how I'm going to get where I need to be.

And because it's hard for me to post without a photo....My little naked girl.

Sharing Some Love

I know it's a little early for this, but I had this craft idea in my mind & today Sadie & I executed it. So here's our Valentine's heart garland which is now hanging over our living room window. I'm quite happy with it. Happy with the time we got to spend together doing something & happy with the joy that it brought to Sadie. She has been staring up at it saying, "Sadie made that!". So cute. I hope that she does follow in her mom & dad's footsteps (and grandparents) and enjoys making things with her own two hands.

I've been feeling a little lost & frustrated with trying to get her to wear her glasses. Talked with an expert this morning, a mother of 8 children, my momma. She gave me the most wonderful & helpful ideas, so it's time to get to work on them. And, why on earth does it have to be this head-strong child that needs to wear glasses. Such a struggle, but we'll get through it. Caught her with them on yesterday, dancing on the table with her baby doll.


She said a funny thing last night that I didn't want to forget. She was wearing a princess dress & dancing around the living room & stopped to ask Dylan, "Me so moo-fi-ful, huh dad?" It's weird because she can say Beauty (like Beauty & the Beast) clear as day.

Speaking of funny things said, Dylan had one that got me. We were walking into Albertson's last week when this man with a moustache passed by us. Dylan then had to inform me that every time he sees a guy with a moustache he has to check if they're wearing a wedding ring. He just can't imagine them being married. Funny.

And, speaking of Dylan. He has completed his website & it's now live. Check it out here. And leave him some feedback about it here. I know he'd love that. He's worked so hard & I think his site is beyond awesome!

Glory Hallelujah!

We have water coming into our kitchen again. Yay!

That is all for now.

Do It Myself

I hear this all day long from Sadie. Yesterday when I did something she wanted to do on her own, she said to me in a stern voice, "No do it yourself! Do it myself!"

It has been very, very, very difficult to get her to wear her glasses.

She talks nonstop. She talked all through sacrament meeting last Sunday & she doesn't know how to whisper...or she chooses not to.

She is a crazy ball of energy. She runs & jumps & dances through the house all day long & then konks out at night. Or she falls asleep at the table eating an oreo, which she calls "daddy cookies", and then drools black oreo drool on her pillow when I move her to her bed.

She loves wearing her snow boots out. Part of me wishes that I was 2 years old & could get away with wearing princess, light-up snow boots out to run errands.

She is such a big girl. I can't believe that in just a few months she won't be the baby anymore. I know it will be a little while, until the baby is out of the newborn stage, but I'm excited for her to have a little playmate.

**Oh, I forgot to mention this before, A lot of you asked to know the baby names that we are considering. We decided this time not to share those....sorry! It will be a nice surprise though, since we all know it's a girl already. Plus we're not 100% sure yet.

Summer is Ready When You Are

I WISH!!!!!

Lying on the couch this morning, feeling so very cold & tired, I started longing for summer. Thinking about capris & sandals, going to the park, out for walks, bubbles & WARMTH. It was really, really depressing. Decided to get up & make the most of my day. Yesterday I didn't feel like doing anything....so I didn't. Those days are nice to follow up with a day packed full of activities & accomplishments.

Copying Amber's idea of a little photo log of my life right now. So here's my life today:

Our kitchen pipes are still frozen. Been washing my dishes by hand. I really hate doing chores, but I also hate having a dirty house. The kitchen & all floors were cleaned this morning.
Came into the kitchen and noticed Sadie's pink chair. It's usually in this spot & if not she's dragging it there. This is where she stands up at the counter to be my helper. It's alright. This is my life right now with her. She's always gotta be right there with me. It's hard when I don't have anything she can really help with. She's not a good watcher.
Found her in our room playing in the mirror. Singing & talking to herself in a crazy ponytail & pink dress.
We made some cookies today. Mom's Chocolate Chipper recipe but I added some oatmeal this time. We do that every now and then. Dylan likes it. I never know how much I add, this time the cookies came out way less flat than they normally do. Don't get me wrong though, I really love my flat cookies....like a lot.
Something I'm working on right now...making file folder games for Sadie. She calls them her puzzles. I checked out these books from my library. Making copies, coloring, laminating & cutting. She's really into these right now. I think they're great stimulation for her little brain & pretty cheap to make. Hoping to get quite a few made for her.

I Will Follow You Into the Dark

* Feeling a little uninspired. Coming off my craft high from over the holidays. I have a few projects in mind, just not feeling that push to start anything. Perhaps tonight I'll stay up late. I did go to bed last night at 8:30 afterall.

* My sister-in-law Caitlin has started a cookbook blog. She is a fantastic little cook. (why I always call her a "little cook" I have no idea. Perhaps because she's not as tall as me. Who knows.) Anyway, she is a pro in the kitchen. Check out her cookbook. We had her Green Ministrone Soup last week & it was yummy. Sadie even loved it....beans & spinach & all.

* A little inspired by Sadie's curly hair, I decided to try mine curly today. She told me that my hair was wrinkly.

* I went to the mailbox today even though it's a holiday.

Baby it's Cold Outside

So this is what weather.com says the temperature is right now. I don't know how correct this is. What I do know is it's dang cold out there.

Our kitchen pipes froze the other night & I haven't done dishes yet. Sorry for the disgusting picture but here's what I have to finally get down to dealing with today. Hauling water from the bathroom so I can wash this mess of dishes. The bummer of it is that the cold temps are supposed to hang around for a few more days & I don't think it will get warm enough for the pipes to unfreeze until the middle of next week. I hate this crap.

6 Months

I had Dylan take this picture of me today. I was wearing pajama pants & he made me change. I guess in my mind I thought he'd only take from the belly up.

I'm feeling huge, although I don't think I look that huge in the photo. Starting to feel the stretch on my sides. I think I'm starting to waddle a little when I walk & it's harder to get up from lying down.

This baby is a lot more active than Sadie was, or maybe I just can't remember. Sadie would have certain times of the day when she'd move around. Seems like this one is moving & kicking a lot more throughout the day....and night.

We have a couple names picked out that we really like. We're not going to attach one until we she's born & we can take a look at her.

Today's Mission & Make Believe

I'm on a mission today. To get a portrait of Sadie. Trying to get a nice photo of her & it's just not happening. I decided to give up when she said "Chase me. Chase me with the camera." Okay. All done. But this series of photos made me laugh.



She's taking her clothes off not because she has to go potty, but because she wants to put a dress on. She's saying "need a dress! need a dress!".

Oh, well. Glad I had my camera going even though I didn't get the picture I had hoped for.

So Sadie's on this thing where she loves to play make believe. All day today she has been calling me Shrek. She's Fiona & Maddy (our dog) is donkey. I'll call her by her real name & she'll point to herself & say, "No! This Fiona." We play along for the most part, but Dylan & I are both getting annoyed. We just want her to call us mom & dad again.

A Few Random Thoughts

Just sharing a layout I did last night. Felt like I wanted to get something made...decided to scrapbook. I've been trying to get my time down on making layouts. Trying not to think about things too hard & just doing it. I love that the pictures tell the story here.

I finally got Christmas all put away yesterday. Well over a week into January. Pretty sad. We were out of town though, so...you know. I was still pretty sad to take my tree down. Trying to figure out why I love that thing so much. I guess it's just because it's mine.

Thinking about starting a chore chart for Sadie. With things like: brush teeth, say prayers, pick up toys & wear glasses. Do you think 2 yrs. & 4 months old is too young for something like this?

My sister Heather posted last night about how she doesn't have many photos of herself. She decided that she's going to turn the camera over to somebody once a month for them to take a picture of her. I loved this reminder. I am not featured in our family snapshots very much at all. I'm going to try to do this as well. I need to be documented too. AND....I'll get a new pregnant shot soon. I have like no photos of when I was pregnant with Sadie. Told myself I'd be better this time. Haven't been doing very well with that.

Are you guys all feeling like you want to take a ton of stuff to DI like I am? It's the time of year, I know. I'll have to see what I can do.

Well, that's my randomness for today. Have a great day!

The Goods

Having some trouble with Blogger today. Couldn't get it to publish my words, but I've switched over to the new version & I think I'm good to go.

I know that Christmas is not all about gifts & I would be totally fine if I didn't receive anything for Christmas. But these are the gifts & purchases we made that are totally making me happy right now.

Dylan's gift to me this year was all these cool cuts of fabric from reprodepot.com. I LOVE them all! I just have to figure out what to make with them. Pretty exciting. Dyl does such an incredible job of finding gifts for me. Even though I always say that I don't know what I want. I love all these polka dots & I'm just in love with the pink fabric on top.

My stylish sister-in-law Jacqueline got me this brand new set of red pots & pans. They are gorgeous & way nicer & sturdier than the ones I received for our wedding almost 7 years ago. I'm so excited to get cooking with these. Thanks Jackie!

When we were in Colorado visiting the Adams we went shopping at an antique store in downtown Castle Rock where we found the following:

This little pipe cleaner santa claus kinda freaked me out when I first saw his face, then we couldn't stop laughing at him. Check out those pokey little legs. Too funny.

I was so excited about these vintage buttons. Bought 2 little bags. One in blues, one in ivory. These were just too fun to dump out and see what was stuffed in there. They are oh so pretty & make me way, way excited even though I don't know what I'll be doing with them yet.

And these great little bird hooks were only $3 a piece. We saw some almost exactly like these just a week earlier at Urban Outfitters. I don't even know how much they were charging for them. I picture these in the girls' room with little bags & aprons & such hanging from them.

For My True Love

Can you tell I missed blogging? Yet another post for today. I've been trying to wait until tomorrow, but I just can't get this out of my head. So.....here is my public love letter of sorts to Dylan.

5 Things I Love About R. Dylan Todd:

* He's fun! It's not normal for this one to be a downer, unless something is bothering him. I love that he is so fun-loving. Love that he likes comic books & robots & licorice & toys. Love that he doesn't want to ever completely lose the kid in him.

* Best mixtape/playlist maker. Dylan used to make me mixtapes when we were dating. Complete with handmade covers featuring his artwork. I love his love for music & how he keeps that present in our little corner of the world.

* He takes care of us. This guy works so hard to take care of our family...or as he would call us "his girls". We love him so much for that. Right now he is off unloading a semi-truck for a guy that he doesn't even know just because there is money involved & heaven know we can use it. Even though he just got off his shift from the GAP & hasn't been home yet. Even though he's been coming down with a cold.

* He's an artist! He sees the world with a creative eye. He feels the need to make stuff, to create stuff. I LOVE this about him. Love that he loves color & beauty & humor. All of this makes my life more beautiful & more happy.

* He's a looker. What can I say, my husband is a hottie! I'm still very attracted to him physically & imagine that I probably always will be.

"True love ain't that hard to find" - Ryan Adams

I won't put the next line of that song....hee hee. Anyway, I love you Dylan.....LOTS!

Holiday Recap Part 2

On our drive over to Colorado, we were driving through a mountain range. It was just getting dark. Sadie was so adorable. Looking for the moon. We'd see it & then it'd duck behind the mountains again. She had like a 45 minute game of peekaboo with the moon. She'd say "Where'd the moon go?" "Oh! There's my moon". We thought it was so cute. Dylan would look at me & make his little face that means "I love her so much".
Chanel took us to a restaurant in downtown Denver for lunch.
The girls had a chance to play in the snow. This was Sadie's first time in her snow gear. She had fun making snowballs & throwing them at their dog Moby.




And the toy that won. Sadie's favorite Christmas gift. This cute little Tinkerbell dress-up dress from her Aunt Jacqueline & Uncle Bryan. In this photo she's wearing it with a pair of her Aunt Shannon's heels.

Holiday Recap

Tradition in the Todd family is to go out looking at lights on Christmas Eve. While the family is gone, Santa comes to their house. They open all their gifts & do the whole shebang on Christmas Eve.
Sadie riding on the train with Grandpa Todd

This one makes me laugh. Dylan's face...too funny.
Dylan playing with his Holga
Sadie fell asleep in the car ride home from the lights & there was no waking her for gifts. No matter how much we wiggled her around, she was just a wet noodle. Christmas morning was so good. It was so quiet. Just me, Dyl, Sadie & my mom watching on. Sadie was SO SWEET. She'd say..."oooh" & "wooow" when she opened her presents. We'd say, "What is it?" & she'd say "sumpin's in here".