Things to do..

First! I have to tell you how excited I am. I'm soooo excited because 2 weeks from today we will be finding out if this little squirmy baby is a boy or girl! I really don't care either way as long as it's a very healthy happy baby.

And next I want to talk about this big project that I have.. When I moved in here with Adam he had a whole bedroom for these 2 cats that his ex girlfriend got and made Adam take (we have rehomed them with a wonderful lady).. Also it's been being used as a storage place, workout room and my craft room all in one. So needless to say it's a mess.. But that room is going to be the baby's room! So I need to get it all organized, cleaned out and baby ready! We're selling the exercise equipment but I have no idea what to do with my craft stuff. I'm hoping we can figure out a way to keep it in there for now. I wouldn't mind putting it in the garage but it'd be sooooo cold in the fall/winter so how would I do any crafts? Any ideas?

Here's some pics of what it currently looks like.. It's a little messier than usual because I've started pulling stuff out of the closet to get rid of or pack into the attic..

xoxo

Jenn

Tuesday Ten- 10 Beauty Products I Couldn't Live Without

I'm not very high maintenance but there are some things I can't live without! 

1. Shampoo/Conditioner.. I have to wash my hair at least every other day! I usually use Fructis, Aussie or Herbal Essence.

2. Rimmel Colorstay black eyeliner. I've tried a lot of different brands and this one really lasts the longest.

3. Even though I don't always paint my nails I have to put nail polish on the list because I do love when my nails are painted. (For Mother's Day I told my hubby that I'm going to go get a mani/pedi sans kid)

4. Nail polish remover.

5. Burt's Beeswax Chapstick!

6. Arbonne hand lotion, my mother in law bought my some for Christmas and I loooove it.

7. E.L.F. eyeshadow.. I love their eyeshadow because it doesn't wear off when I sweat or anything.

8. Something to keep my hair up, especially this summer when I'm gonna have a big ol' belly!

 9. Nail clippers. I haaate when I get a crack in my nail or something. I have to get rid of it immediately.

10. This isn't for me but for my curly haired Lyla! Leave-in conditioner.

So there you have it! I know, exciting isn't it?

Send Something Good

I'm participating in the Send Something Good Project with Gentri Lee, Kaitlyn and Kristy! And I think it sounds super fun! I'm writing this post to link up so that maybe the person who got me in the swap can learn a little about me.


So here is my list of 10 things about me:

1. I love nail polish!

2. Passion Tea Lemonade from Sbux is my favorite drink right now.

3. I love the outdoors.

4. Love to read.

5. My favorite colors are bright pink, black and gray.

6. I'm 15 weeks pregnant.

7. Choooccoooollaaatte

8. Pretty smelling lotions

9. My little girl, my horse of a bulldog and my hubby.

10. And I love anything pretty!!!

I hope this list helps my seeecreeet partner!! Now I must be off to get the little ready for her ballet class! Have a stupendous day!

xoxo

Jenn

Liebster Blog Award

The lovely Cathryn  chose my for this award. I love reading her growing blog so I was stoked when I got her email. The award is for up and coming blogs with under 200 followers which would be me! I am pretty excited that I have 103 followers right now though!

Rules:

1. Choose five up and coming blogs to give the award to. Must have less than 200 followers. 

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. 

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. List the blogs you gave the award to with links to their sites. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they have received the award. 

5. Share five random facts about yourself.

 My list of 5 bloggers is:

1. Nicki (my bff) @ Space and Reasons

2. My sweet friend Morland @ Sew Ronimo

3. The lovely Sara @ Seeing Purple Stars

4. Busy Mommy Tracie @ Alex, Tracie and the Wee Ones

5. And the sweet Southern girl, Annabelle @ The Carolina Country Girl

Five Facts About Me!

1. My favorite snack until I got pregnant was popcorn. Now it's veggies with ranch.

2. I absolutely hate doing laundry.

3. I can't swim.

4. I have watched almost every episode of Days of Our Lives since I was like 5!

5. My mom named me Jennifer Lee because she wanted me to be a country singer!

xoxo

Jenn

Wordless Wednesday- Easter Edition

Aunt Cindy helping her get an egg.

Can you see it?

Grandma's Easter bunny spoiled her.

Mommy Talk Tuesday..

So this is my first post for Mommy Talk Tuesday and I hope this one is okay with the host.. Today's topic is cloth diapers.



I had so wished I could cloth diaper with Lyla but the start up can be a little expensive, I was naive, I didn't know much about it.. etc etc. But I am going to with this baby I have cooking.. I have already bought 2 covers. I know that I will do prefolds and if I can get some AIO's for a good price I may get a few of them too. I think I've done quite a bit of research but if anyone who read this has any tips or advice please feel free to comment!

Covert Robin!

Hello I wanna Feel That Fire Readers!  I'm so glad to be hanging out with you for a few minutes today.  When I first found out that Jennifer was my Covert Robin partner, I went a blog stalking reading.  I decided right off what all of you already know:  This chick is awesome, and deserved an amazing gift.  I noticed 2 things:  1) She is learning how to sew, and 2) She wanted a frilly apron.  As a new-ish sewist myself, I knew I had to sew up a special apron for her.

Just a few weeks earlier, I had found this beauty in our local ARC:

It's perfect with its curved hemline, shaped body, and scalloped neckline.  But, the original is very... uhm, DESPERATE housewife.  It is so tiny that when I wear it, it only covers the middle third of my chest.  I knew I wanted to make this for Jennifer, but it was going to take some work.  I want to show you today how I used this apron as a template to make this apron:

The first thing you need to do when using an existing piece as a template is consider the construction.  The person who originally made the apron hand hemmed each and every scallop.  I quickly ruled this out.  Since I was using a lightweight fabric, I decided to face the entire neck piece.  I also knew I wanted to use the same fabric for bias binding around the neck, and that I wanted to do a simple pocket rather than the ornate one the first one had.  Lastly, I knew I wanted to add at least 3/4 of an inch to each seam for sizing.

Next, I grabbed some paper (I use shipping paper), and spread it out on a flat, even surface:

Pick one of your largest pattern pieces to start with.  These are usually the easiest to work with.  I started by drawing out the sides of the skirt:

Using a ruler or grid tool, measure out your desired distance from the existing skirt hem.  I measured out 3/4 of an inch.  I didn't add a seam allowance at this time, because I was afraid that I would lose the shape of the skirt if I was trying to draw an inch and a half out from my pattern piece, so I did this in 2 steps.    On the curves I made dots at different spots around the curve, and then freehand connected them together.

For sake of ease once each part of the pattern is drawn out, I label them with what they are, and how many I need to cut, just like a commercial pattern.

The neck piece was definitely a challenge for me.  I had never worked with scallops before.  I could tell that the original pattern called for the piece to be cut on the fold by how well the scallops matched up, so I did the same:

Just mark some spots along the curve and connect those dots!

You can tell the scallops are very uneven  If yours look ridiculous like these, you can even them out freehand.

Once all of your pattern pieces are done, you can cut them out and use them just like you would a regular pattern.  The great thing about making your own pattern, is you make it work for you!  There are a lot fewer rules with what has to be done.

Thanks again to Jen for having me here today!  I have really enjoyed getting to know her.  I would love to get to know you sometime too, you can find me here. 

14 wk update

How far along? 14wks2days

Total weight gain: I'm not sure. I only weigh myself at the dr.

Maternity clothes?  I wear some maternity shirts because they're longer and for some reason my pants won't stay up so the shirts cover my butt!
Stretch marks? nope

Sleep: I had someone give me a pregnancy pillow so that's helped a little but I still get pretty uncomfortable sometimes.

Best moment this week: This week has been hard.. I'm still exhausted and I've had major allergies.

Miss anything? energy!

Movement: Not yet

Food cravings: Fruits and veggies

Anything making you queasy or sick: tuna fish

Gender: Hopefully I'll find out in a few weeks.

Labor signs: way to early for that

Symptoms: exhausted, sore boobs, no sex drive

Belly button in or out? In!

Wedding rings on or off? On..And I have unlimited sizings so I hope to wear them the whole pregnancy.

Happy or moody most of the time: Moody probably..

Looking forward to: Finding out the sex and getting some energy back.

Thank You

Thank you friends for all your support, thoughts and prayers. On Tuesday morning we thought my father in law was going to have to have a triple bypass according to a surgeon. A couple hours later his heart doctor came to see him and he believes that Phil (Father in law) wouldn't have made it through that major of a surgery and just wanted to go in and put a stint in each of the arteries that were closed up. So he went in to the OR a few hours after that had it done and says he feels great. And he should get to come home today! But this really is his last chance.. He has got to quit smoking and lose some weight. So fingers crossed he does.

xoxo

Jenn

Prayers Please..

Please say a prayer for my father in law Phil.. He was admitted to the hospital last night for breathing and chest pains. They thought it was bronchitis, then pnuemonia and now they think it's his heart. He's had recurring heart problems. A few heart attacks, surgeries, a couple stints put in so this is kind of major to us and we can't lose that man..

So, for some total Friday randomness! Here goes..

I am so friggin sad that One Tree Hill has ended! I have seen every single episode, some of them multiple times. When a show ends that I was totally into I feel like I have to recover from it! I know, crazy. I've seen so many great show end; Beverly Hills 90210, 7th Heaven, One Tree Hill, Full House, My So-Called Life.. etc..I hate it. They should go on forever!

Lyla has ballet today. The first class went great, the second class she wouldn't do it at all (my sister said Lyla told her it was because there was a different teacher) last week we didn't have class due to spring break. I'm hoping she'll participate today. I was supposed to pay the second class but thankfully the owner said I could wait til this class to make my decision on whether or not to keep coming. My child is JUST LIKE ME! I was painfully shy when I was a kid, still am sometimes. The whole reason for putting her in the class was to make friends. So, fingers crossed!

We dyed eggs yesterday! My sister came over to help and eat dinner with us. We had so much fun I was totally wishing I had boiled more eggs! I'll probably do a whole Easter post on Monday so I'll include pics of the egg dyeing in that.

Pregnancy.. Some aspects are getting easier.. Some are getting harder. I'm a crazy balls of emotions sometimes. The other day I was watching the news and they were doing a clip on this local big dairy who won't be having their 50th annual Easter egg hunt because we've had so much rain that their fields are a swamp and I cried for like 10 mins! I've never even been to this Easter egg hunt! Sleeping is also starting to get difficult but I'm pretty sure that has a lot to do with Lyla sleeping in my bed and being a bed hog! And yay! Next Thursday will be the beginning of my second trimester. I was so worried I wouldn't get this far. I think I will have a cake to celebrate.

If you're still reading thanks for sticking around! 2 more followers and I'll be at 100!

xoxo

Jenn

Embrace the Camera

 

Guest Post- Kylie from LL&P

Hello lovely readers! I'm Kylie and I blog over at Living Loving & Photographing... also known as LL&P.  Today I'm going to give you the low down on the aperture and shutter speed.  They are very simple concepts, but they can be tricky to implement while shooting. Keep in mind that although most camera brands implement the same concepts, the numbering system is a bit different between them - and I shoot with a Nikon.  Let's start with shutter speed.

Things to remember:

1.  Shutter speed is measured in seconds (mostly fractions of seconds).

2.  Slow (or low) shutter speeds cause motion to blur.

3.  Fast (or high) shutter speeds cause motion to freeze.

4.  Slow shutter speeds are fun to play with if you have a tri-pod.  If the camera shakes during a slow shutter speed, the effects will not be great. 

5.  Fast shutter speeds are great for sports or taking photographs of kiddos on the move. 

Got it?  Let's move onto aperture...this one get's a bit more tricky. 

Things to remember: 

1.  Aperture is measured in "f-stops" (note the "f" before the number).

2.  The higher the f-stop, the lower the aperture and the less light that is able to pass through. (In other words, the higher the f-stop, the darker your photograph will turn out.)

3.  The lower the f-stop, the higher the aperture and the more light that is able to pass through. (In other words, the lower the f-stop, the brighter your photograph will turn out.)

4.  Aperture changes depth of field (the things that are in focus and out of focus within your photograph).

-The higher the f-stop, the more the depth of field increases. (In other words, more things in your photograph will be in focus.)

-The lower the f-stop, the more the depth of field decreases. (In other words, more things in your photograph will be out of focus or blurry.)

Whoa, that was a ton of information to take in.  I hope I didn't confuse you! These simple concepts need to be put into practice and studied very much in order to successfully use manual modes on your DSLR. 

Hope this helps! :)