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It's almost fall, my favorite time of year. Others get spring-fever, I get fall-fever. When the school busses start to roll I get energized (and no, this has nothing to do with my kids going to school because they're too young to for that just yet). I start cleaning, organizing, redecorating, and making things. Maybe this is in preparation for the long hard winter we get down here in south Louisiana. Yeah, right! Fall marks the beginning of the year for me, not January. I guess it has some correlation with the school year, I dunno. I think it has more to do with preparing to spend more time at home indoors with the shorter days and the upcoming holidays. This is such an exciting time!
A few things that I'd like to make this fall:
* Mantle scarf for Halloween/Fall
* Halloween decorations for table top and front door
* A lap quilt
A few things I'd like to do this fall:
* Have friends over (we always talk about it, but never do it)
* Have a football party for an away game (Go Tigers!)
* Go to the pumpkin patch to pick our own pumpkins
* Cook lots of yummy meals
Despite the extreme heat we've been experiencing lately, I've already started burning my pumpkin spice candles. I am soooo ready for fall!
Yay! I finished my aprons. You'll have to excuse the dorky picture of us, but Matt wasn't interested in taking another one. I made these using some bargain bin fabric from my stash that Lily helped me pick out some time ago. I thought the black& white polka dot and white print would be really cute as simple flower appliques. I was going to try out a fanct stitch to attach the flowers, but simplicity won out. I took the easy road and used store bought bias binding to for the edges of the aprons as well as the ties. My only complaint about the aprons is that I made the waist too low for both of us. If I make this type of apron again I'll have to raise the waist a few inches. Plus, this style isn't too flattering for those of us well endowed up top. Oh well, live and learn. Overall I'm pleased with my first attempt at apron making ;)
Saturday wasn't so great. I woke with sinus pain, so I took some stupid sinus medicine. Big mistake. Not only did it knock me out (even the non-drowsy does it to me), but it made me feel like crap. On top of that I was a total grump. I did manage to finish my and Lily's aprons, so that was an accomplishment. I wanted to use a fancy stitch to applique the flowers on to the aprons, so I pulled out a book my grandma gave me, The Encyclopedia of Stitchery . There was some cool stuff in there, but I ended up using a regular old stitch. I think the fabrics were too busy for anything fancy. I promise I'll get pictures up soon. For some reason I ended up staying up until 1 am. Soon after I went to bed Lily woke up. She was in a total tizzy because the sponge curlers we put in her hair before bed were falling out. I tried to tell her that it was no big deal, but she then had a total meltdown. I have never seen her like that. It was NUTS!! I eventually got all the curlers out of her hair, which she didn't want me to do. After finally getting her to bed around 2:30 am she woke up again around 4 am because a big thunder storm rolled through. Needless to say, none of us got much sleep that night.
Sunday morning we all slept in. I didn't even get dressed until lunch time and I never fixed my hair. It's nice to do that every once in a while. It was rainy and gloomy all day, so it was the perfect day to do that. Lily woke up in a good mood and was disappointed that we weren't going to church. She must be possessed. The big accomplishment of the day is that I got the table out of my bedroom.
I thought that the table would be too big in my living room, but it isn't so bad. There's no hurry to make it smaller. In fact, I may never make it smaller, just use it like it is. Yeah, I still need to do some accessorizing, but it's fine for now. Matt also finished painting the bathroom. Now he needs to put down the shoe molding, then it will all be done (for the most part - there's always something else that needs doing).
The weekend is over, the work week ahead is near. I need to get to bed. Good night.
You'll have to bear with me, I'm feeling a bit sentimental at the moment. Here are my kids (the ones I don't talk about much). How did I get so lucky? I am amazed that I have two beautiful, healthy children when only 5 years ago I thought that I'd never be able to have kids of my own. Before I had Lily I had 3 miscarriages. They were devastating. I felt like such a failure. I couldn't understand how people so easily got pregnant and stayed pregnant. I was big ole misfit. Numerous tests were done, but nothing was found wrong. I finally gave up. Instead of praying that I could get pregnant and carry to term I prayed that I could become a mom, no matter how. I finally accepted that I may not be able to have kids of my own. Then I got pregnant for the 4th time. It was a rough time. As usual, I started bleeding in the first trimester. I was put on bedrest for about a month until I made it to the second trimester. After that everything was fine. In May 2001 I gave birth to a whopping 10 lb 2 oz baby girl we named Lily. I remember the sense of peace that came over me after she was born. I couldn't believe that I was actually somebody's mother. Though it took a while for us to know each other, mothering her came naturally to me. I'm not really a 'kid' person, so this was a surprise to me. As soon as Lily was born I knew that I wanted to do it again. When Lily was about 15 months old I got pregnant again. My due date was her 2nd birthday. That ended up being my 4th miscarriage. I didn't take that loss as hard. Having Lily and knowing that I can have a baby made all the difference in the world to me. Once I got the okay from my OB we started trying again. We were having a tough time. I finally went on clomid ( I used clomid for Lily's conception) to help me along. After a few months of no luck with being on super high dosages we decided to take a break before we decided on our next path. At the consult appointment with my OB we decided that I'd have an IUI (intra uterine insemination) on my next cycle. She joked that I may not need it because I could be pregnant at that very moment. "Yeah, right" I said. That was on a Friday and I tested positive the following Monday. That pregnancy was relatively easy, except that I was diagnosed with asthma and gestational diabetes. Due to my history we scheduled a c-section at 38.5 weeks. Alex was born weighing in at 9 lbs 6 oz in June 2004. What a sweet little boy he is! I am now a mother to two wonderful children. Yes, at times they make me want to pull my hair out and bang my head against a wall, but I couldn't have asked for more perfect children. I am truly blessed.
Today I got a glimpse of how my life would be if I were to stay home. I must admit that it went much better than I expected. I got more accomplished house-wise than I thought, but hardly anything cafty done. When I decided to stay home this morning my first thought was that I'd get to finish my Tie one On aprons, but that didn't happen. Instead I got to spend some quality time with my kids and take a much needed afternoon nap. Yeah, I think I could get used to this.
Here's my little ballerina using her new bag. Yes, that's frosted pink lip gloss she's wearing. Heathen mother that I am, I allowed my little girl to wear make up to her Christian dance school. It was the only bribe I could come up with to make her go. Oh, the horror!
No major changes have taken place. I think things are better because I'm making them better. I know that I need to have a creative outlet. When I don't I get very unhappy. I think that was a big part of my unhappiness. Since I started this blog I have made it a point to get crafty. I like when I have a new project to talk about. It gives me that sense of accomplishment I so long for and rarely get through my day job. So for now the day job stays, routines with the kids are established, and my craft time starts after the kids go to bed. Yeah, this will work...for now.
