Quilted Coasters

I just finished these coasters to send as a simple wedding gift. They were quick and relatively easy, and gave me a chance to practice binding, which I had never done before. (and that is why I'm not showing any pictures of my hash job on the back of them :))

Bathroom Fun

Other than taking baths themselves, bathrooms are filled with a plethora of activities for a 1 1/2 year old. Take a look:

The Toilet 

The Sink

these pictures are just of him brushing his teeth; however, the sink can be used to wet all sorts of stuff: bobby pins, pompoms, phil's deodorant, and boxes and boxes of q-tips

The Potty Chair

when taking these pictures, i lifted the lid to find it stuffed with toilet paper. as i started pulling it out, i found other treasures stashed at the bottom: a pair of my socks and some measuring spoons

the entire contents of the potty chair

***i took these pictures a few days ago. as of today, the only thing filling the potty chair was pee :) and he filled it up twice :) :)

The Controversy

Hey, what's with the two ultrasound pics, you ask?

Oh. Just a little teaser to spark a debate.

The first: a definitive, 95% positive ultrasound of a baby boy.
The second: a definitive, 95% positive ultrasound of a baby girl.

The controversy: Same Baby. Our Baby!

What?! For 12 weeks, we've been relying on the results of the first, which we had done, for a not-so-inexpensive price, at an ultrasound clinic while we were in Utah over the summer (Nicole, you might want to rethink your recent results and get a second opinion - I think it was the same clinic :)). We had no reason to doubt the qualified ultrasound tech's findings, and so we've been going along secure in the knowledge that Gabe would soon have a brother with whom he could share everything: clothes, bedroom, toys, girlfriends (j/k :))

Then, today, my doctor was ultrasounding me for something else when he asked: "And, you're having a..."

"A boy."

He started scanning around for a look to confirm.

Silence.

"Hmmmm..."

More silence.

"Well..."

Then, he launched into an explanation of the turtle vs. hamburger analogy and tried to point out what he was seeing in the ultrasound.

"If you hadn't told me it was a boy," he said, "I would have definitely said it was a girl. But................ (here he keeps scanning, keeps looking)........it looks like you just might have a surprise."

So, people it looks like we're having a Surprise!

If you are skilled in the arts of the ultrasound and can accurately read the two above, I'd love to hear your input. The second picture is not very good, though, so good luck. I couldn't figure out how to scan on our printer, so I took a picture of the pictures.

And, for all of you who did not know that we're expecting...well, we are. But, no, we don't know if it's a boy or girl ;)

Flower Pillow

I finished this yesterday. I got the idea from this website. Phil said it's the only flower thing that we can have in our bedroom. :)

Chores

I'm pleased to announce that we just might be raising a tidy son.  Maybe. Gabe surprises me every few weeks with a new cleaning/organizing skill that he just picks up on his own.  In the past this has included, pulling the kitchen towels out of the clean laundry basket and shoving them in their correct drawers, picking up my clothes left haphazardly on my bedroom floor and attempting to put them in the dresser drawers. When the drawers didn't shut nicely, he would take the clothes back out and set them on top of the desk. Recently, his chores include sweeping and unloading the dishwasher. 

Whenever I get out the broom, Gabe takes it from me and goes straight to the kitchen where he tries to sweep the floor while simultaneously shaking out the rug. Then, he gives up and grabs the dustpan which he holds, while I shovel piles onto it.  Then, very carefully, he stands up, trying not to spill any of the dirt, and dumps it in the garbage. 

As soon as Gabe hears the dishwasher open, he comes running...to help me unload the silverware. I have learned that I can't load the dishwasher while he is awake; otherwise, I get a drawer full of dirty forks and spoons. One day a few weeks ago, he just started taking the clean silverware out of the dishwasher and proceeded to put them in the drawer where they belong.  Not only did he know where the silverware went, but he sorted the measuring spoons out from the normal silverware and then put them in their respective drawer. Good boy. This is a picture of his handiwork :)

Also, I tried to get a picture of Gabe in his new handsome Sunday clothes.  This was the best I could get. And then the tantrum started. Then timeout. Then a nap. Then another tantrum. Then dinner = clothes off. Then popsicles outside stained his pants, which had already been soaked through with pee. Then bath. So, no, the Sunday clothes weren't going back on just for a photo shoot. Maybe I'll get a better shot next Sunday. Just know that he looked pretty good.

Nyan Cat

Phil introduced me (and Gabe) to the famous youtube video called Nyan Cat today. Click here if you too are ignorant of this outrageously popular and horribly stupid and annoying video that has become a widespread sensation online.

When Phil started playing it and turned his laptop around so I could see, I just rolled my eyes and started begging him to turn it off. Not Gabe. We started and stopped the video for him about six different times (all with the same shocked and excited reaction) before we finally decided to get out the video camera.

So, for all of you who would like to see Gabe on steriods as a result of Nyan Cat, play the video below.

Quiet Book: The Reveal

Back around Christmas, a friend here in Kirksville and I thought it would be fun to make our boys quiet books. I ordered the pattern online here and we started working on it after the holiday break. Eight long months later...

Ta dah! It's done! Whew!

I had no idea what an undertaking it would be when I started. It was a pain sometimes, and now that I'm done, I realize there were a number of things I would've done differently, but it helped me learn some of the ins and outs of the sewing world, and I had a ton of fun putting it together.  I call it my quiet book, and Gabe is only allowed to touch it once we've cleaned his hands and removed all sharp or messy objects from the area.  He is still too young for a lot of it, but he loves putting money in the piggy bank and taking all of the carrots out and stuffing them in various places around the house (i.e. the dvd player).

So, would you like a tour?

yes. yes you would.

The Piggy Bank

get $$$ out of the wallet, drop it in the hole at the top, and it falls through the pig's underbelly

Carrots

match numbered carrots with their corresponding pockets

Button Flowers

easy: button the flowers to their stems

The Old Woman and the Shoe

Tie the shoelance

Noah's Ark

this ark was not in the pattern, but was my own design. the animals came from a free downloaded pattern i found here

Eye Spy

these squares are magnetized and have corresponding magnetic squares that you match up together

Clown and Balloons

balloons are snapped into place

Robots!

this one was purely my own design. the head/arms/legs for three different robots are velcroed into the space ship. it's like mr. potato head, only with robots. ps. this took forever. and i had to change my machine's needle three times.

Pirate/Treasure Hunt

map to the treasure. treasure chest which will soon hold jewels ( i couldn't find any gold coins or jewels at our dollar store). and a message in a bottle that you can pull in and out.

Beehive

little pompom bees (yet to be made, since our walmart doesn't sell the right size/color of pompoms) are inside the hive, waiting to be velcroed to the page.

And that's it! Now, I can get along with all the project to-dos on my ever-growing list.