Just Because I Suck, Doesn't Mean I'll Stop

Last weekend I convinced Adrian to take me to Hobby Lobby, which is like the 9th ring of hell for him, so I could pick out some fabric and ribbon to practice embellishments.

I picked up some cheap tees and pants at Target ($4 for jeans!), but when I got home I felt way too overwhelmed and intimidated to even get started. Adrian gave me some great advice. He encouraged me to start with the project I was least excited about, so that if it didn't turn out well I wouldn't feel so bad.

I started working on a Thanksgiving outfit. And I'm glad I started with Thanksgiving because I was pretty disappointed with how it turned out, and I would have been crushed if I had ruined a Halloween outfit.

It's not so bad that I won't let her wear it, but it's definitely over-busy and not well laid out. I am learning as I go.

Here is the "finished project" before I began stitching things on. Everything was attached mostly through iron on adhesive.



When Isabella saw it, she yelled "CUTE!!" and insisted on wearing it. I had a hard time convincing her to take the outfit off. I guess if she likes it, that's the most important thing!

She is really into clothes now. Funny for a 2 year old.





I think it needs something more near the collar or on the shoulder for a more balanced look. I dunno. At least it's only a Thanksgiving outfit. I will probably try to do a better Turkey Day outfit before then anyways. We usually do hand-print turkey tees with the kids' "thankful list" on the back, so I might just want to do a pair of Thanksgiving jeans.

We also took the kids to Toys 'R Us on Saturday, and it just so happened that Jeffrey was there:



Here's Orian enjoying some new toys:



Yesterday I decorated for Halloween. I was surprised by how much work it felt like, heh. I went through our Halloween box and threw away broken stuff and then put together a freebie box of decor and craft stuff we wouldn't use to post on CL.

I am trying to practice restraint and not buy a lot of new Halloween decorations. I really love Halloween and Target has the coolest stuff. I did buy a tablecloth and some dishtowels a couple weeks ago, but I am going to try not to buy anything else.

I need a string of orange lights to finish up the stair railing, and I will get that since it's only a couple bucks, but other than that, I'm going to use what I have.

Here's the new tablecloth:



Me using what I have, haha:



Cool new dishtowels:



I would love to do more outdoor decorating, but that's $$, so nope. Not happening. Isabella has her costume, Xavier is doing a mad scientist theme that will cost next to nothing, and Orian wants to be Anakin (Annakin?) Skywalker, which is like $40!

I have been watching on ebay but I don't think we're going to find it much cheaper. What is happening to the price of Halloween costumes? Seriously, 40 bucks?!?!

40 bucks times 4 kids = $160! Not happening. We have to nip this trend in the bud! I don't know whether to relent and get him the costume and maybe have him sell some toys to defray the cost or make him pick something else or help him try to make an Anakin costume with cheaper materials. Ugh.

Ok, I've got to get ready for my doctor's appointment. I really, really don't want to know how much I weigh. It's going to be a bad day. But I knew that already when Isabella was unwrapping tampons while I was taking a bath this morning. Awesome.

First Attempt at Embellishment

After seeing some really cute ribbon-embellished toddler and infant jeans on ebay, I have wanted to try to make some myself. I'm not particularly crafty, and I can't sew (even by hand) for anything.

I did a practice outfit before I go out and buy ribbon and other items to start really playing.

I had an old denim 6-12 Gap jumper that Isabella never wore much because it seemed so plain. I figured I wouldn't lose anything by playing around with it.

I don't have a lot of things on hand to use. I had a spool of rainbow ribbon left over from back when I was excited about making hair-bows, LOL. I just used that to play around.

Adrian thinks it's super cute, but I am not thrilled. In my defense, though, it was a) my first time trying, b) I rushed through it, c) Isabella was up my butt most of the time, and d) I escaped to the garage to do the last bit, including painting, and it was DARK in there.

I learned that the no-sew tape works GREAT for putting ribbon accents on denim (left over from when mom no-sewed my curtains), that I need good lighting and patience to paint, and also that I need to work more on layout and plot it out before starting a project.

I also need to work on my hand sewing skills. Or ask someone to teach me. Because I seriously don't know what I'm doing. The enthusiasm is there, but the skill and technique are lacking.

Before:



After:



The ribbon on the side is where the outfit ties together (it's a wrap-around dress). I just cut off the ratty shoe-lace type string that was there and replaced it with the rainbow ribbon. Better would have been a thinner ribbon, but I didn't have that.

Not the cutest thing anyone ever "made", haha, but I'm not discouraged enough to keep me from trying again.

Beating Kids in Public

We were watching Katt Williams' special last night (The Pimp Chronicles, I think?) and I really liked this part:

(Warning, STRONG language.)



Love it!

My Obesity, in Numbers and Photos

I have a t-shirt that reads, "I'm not fat, I'm knocked up". That is only partially true.

I AM knocked up. I'm also fat. But if someone sees me wearing that t-shirt and assumes that it's all pregnancy-related, that's totally cool with me. Unfortunately, I got really fat before I got pregnant.

I was fat before I got pregnant with Isabella, lost weight after having her and was down to a reasonable size, then I shot back up to fatsville before becoming pregnant again.

The whole, "you're not fat, you're pregnant!" thing is nice, but in my case...NOT true.

I lost a few lbs with m/s but rapidly gained it all back when I started feeling better. Since then, I have not bothered weighing myself. It just causes me anxiety.

Unfortunately, I *know* I'm gaining a ton, and I'll tell you how I know this:

PANTIES.

Anything with leg holes that don't have stretch are too tight and feel like they'll cut my legs off if I wear them. I am down to 3 pairs of oh-so-comfortable maternity panties, and inappropriate things made from far too little fabric that are held together by forgivingly stretchy strings.

Even my XL cotton boyshorts are too small. Stretchy lace boyshorts...no go. Everything rolls down below my belly and only covers a small portion of butt, and not in a sexy way. More in a I'm-torturing-my-undergarments sort of way.

Here's why my maternity panties feel so good:



I measured my belly today at my widest point. 45 inches. YES, 45 inches. I'm only 24 weeks (5 months completed, in the middle of my sixth month). I have a loooong way to grow.



I look much fatter from the front, which is why I didn't take a picture of the front-view. My arm circumference is ridiculous. I didn't measure, but a visual inspection tells me I'm not Victoria Beckham.

I've got flabby calves and apparently my thighs are beyond the normal expectations of the manufacturers of XL underwear.

I could try not to gain so much weight, but I don't think I'll be doing that. So I guess I'll be shopping for 1X panties in the near future.

Pics of Xavier's New 7 Billion Dollar Glasses

Xavier's glasses came in yesterday afternoon. I think, despite his initial worries, he is really enjoying them. Of course, that could just be because they are new. He could hate them in a few weeks.

I think they look really nice on him, but they do need to be adjusted a little bit.





He is looking so grown up!

Wonder when Orian's turn for glasses will come?

Flo-wees!

Yesterday Isabella and I made Nature Bracelets.

This was a big hit with her and I highly recommend it as an activity for any toddler. It's practically free, uses things you have on hand, and poses great learning opportunities.

To make the bracelet, you take a long piece of scotch tape and attach it around your toddler's wrist with the sticky side out. The sizing needs to correspond with your toddler's wrist because if it's too loose it will fall off, and if it's too tight it will annoy her.

Next, you take a little nature walk and find interesting leaves, sticks, flower petals, etc. and attach them to the tape.

We just played in the backyard since there aren't leaves falling here yet. We picked some grass, and used a few leaves we did find, and lots of flowers from trees that are right against our fence.

Isabella LOVED it! She played for a long time with her "flo-wees". I think when we visit the panhandle for Thanksgiving we will do this activity again with the fall foliage.







When we finished collecting for our bracelets, Isabella had fun pulling the items off and hiding them in different spots, especially the hidden compartment on her Barbie trike. She would say, "Where flo-wee?" and then open the lid and shout "a-dah!"

In other news, Orian is being tested for TAG today, on the recommendation of his teacher. He started choir yesterday, and if he ends up in TAG, he's going to be a very busy guy this year! Xavier is in a TAG class this year and he has a crazy amount of homework. Fun stuff, but a lot of work!

Markers, Poop, and Glasses...in that order

Friday Isabella and I decided to do a little toddler craft. Well, I decided. But she agreed.

The craft is this: you use markers to draw and scribble on coffee filters, then use paint brushes (or a spray bottle) and water to saturate the coffee filter. The colors will blend and make nice, soft patterns.

The best part is, Isabella LOVES markers, as evidenced by the television set, shelf, UBFunkey toys, clothing, and many other items I've had to clean marker out of (tip: rubbing alcohol will get permanent marker off of almost anything). I was happy to let her indulge her passion for markers.





And the finished product:



We came inside later for a diaper change and so I could get her marked-up clothes in the wash (I did have the foresight to use washable markers!). I took off her clothes and she took that as her signal to whip off her diaper.

It was like slow motion. Before I could get to her, she had taken the diaper off, walked it to the trash can, and tossed it in. Unfortunately, she left a trail of carnage from her departure point all the way to the trash can.

And, *barf*, there were identifiable sun-dried tomato pieces in her...ummm...leavings. I have been having some major cravings for sun-dried tomatoes, and couldn't get enough of them. Yeah, not so much now.

I did manage to get her, her clothes, and her doody trail cleaned up without further incident. I did imagine how horrific that could have been with a newborn in tow. Things are going to get very interesting this Spring.

Yesterday the boys and I had eye exams in the morning. Isabella wore her ON kitty Halloween top and the Guess skirt I got for a steal ($5!) from Macys.com. Didn't she look so cute?



The eye appointments went smoothly, but we found out Xavier is near-sighted and needs glasses. He had an eye exam right before school started as part of his physical but it wasn't nearly as in-depth. He was pretty disappointed.

He's about the same age I was, and the same age Adrian was, when we first started having to wear glasses. I am hoping he will be amazed by how much clearer his vision is with glasses.

I was in the middle of my exam when they took him to look at glasses, which was a disappointment because I knew he needed consoling. Unfortunately, Adrian had taken Isabella to run some errands while we had our exams.

When I was able to join Xavier he had chosen the glasses he liked. He was still unhappy about wearing glasses. He thinks glasses are for "nerds", and he does already have some problems with social-type stuff at school. Poor guy.

The lady who assisted us was c-r-a-z-y. She was a little too syrupy in her pep talk with him and pretty much just assumed that her opinion and thoughts carried more weight than what I could say to him, so she directed the conversation.

She told Xavier that her son had to get glasses at age 11 and that he was very sad about it too. So sad, he had to go to the hospital.

Orian pipes up, "Why did he have to go to the hospital?"

"He was so sad he stopped talking."

Thanks, lady. That's reassuring. Great anecdote.

I had Xavier try on a few more pairs of glasses just to be sure he was getting what he wanted, but in the end, he liked the glasses he had picked out previously best, and they do look really nice on them. He has a good face for glasses and I think he will look really handsome.

I remember my first pair of glasses. They were bargain basement and big and brown and plastic, with big, thick lenses. I remember hoping to accidentally break them. I really thought it would help soften the blow and boost his confidence if Xavier choose the glasses that he liked and that made him feel like he looked good.

Unfortunately, those great-looking, kid-friendly, hard-to-destroy Disney brand glasses come with a nearly $300 price tag. The recommended lenses were the *something* kind that are scratch resistant and nice and thin @ $130. The frames were $140.

I think glasses, like everything else, have gone up in price. But it's worth it if these make him feel more comfortable about wearing glasses.

They won't be ready until Tuesday, but pictures of Xavier in his new eyewear will be forthcoming. He really did pick out a nice looking pair.