His First Half Birthday

Carson, you are six months old. 

Six. How is it even possible that we are already at the halfway point of your very first year? Or that six months from now, you will be one year old? I can't even fathom that! So instead, I will enjoy every moment of your sweet six months old self!

At six months old, you are exactly 17lbs 7oz and are about 26" long. In the past week, you have gained an ounce every day! What a big boy! You wear size 3 diapers, and 6-9 months clothing and both aren't even super roomy on you. You nurse 5-6 times a day. You are eating 2 solid meals a day...4 ounces of half fruit/half vegetables for lunch after your lunch time milk and cereal before bed.  

Your typical routine has become waking at 8:00am, nursing and going back to bed (rather unwillingly) until 8:30 or 9am, my preferred wake time for you. I like when you are content to stay in bed so that I can have my time in God's Word before you're up for the day...But usually you just fuss and cry until I come get you and then we finish my Bible reading together while you play on the couch next to me. For the past 9 days, minus one, you have been sleeping through the night. What a treat for Mommy! I keep waiting for it to be too good to be true, but for now, I am enjoying it so much! 

                 You like your exersaucer a lot, although I think you would be even more fond of it if it were a walker and you could go places in it! You are learning to sit up without being propped up and you love the freedom of sitting up on your own! You have fun playing with toys that crinkle or make noise. You like to play with your paci too and try to chew on it if I put it in your mouth when you aren't feeling the need to suck it. You like to look at books and be in charge of "holding it" and turning the pages. You still greatly dislike tummy time, although Daddy discovered that you like to look at the little round mirror from your play mat while you are on your tummy. You don't really roll over anymore. You only did that a few times when you were 4 months old. The only time you make an effort to push up when you're on your tummy is when you don't want to take a nap or when you are waking up and you hear the door to your room open. Then you push up and look over your shoulder to see if Mommy or Daddy is coming to get you. So sweet!

               You chew on everything right now. Your paci clip ribbon, your giraffe, your shorts when I take them off to change your diaper, your burp cloth, your books, your fingers, your taggy lovey, your bath towel, your blanket, my shoulder, and anything else you can get your mouth on! 

                You have such good hand-eye coordination now! You can easily grab things that you want on your first try (like Mommy's hair. Ouch!). Today, I posed you by the fridge with the refrigerator magnets saying "6 Months Old" and you kept grabbing at them and knocking them down! You wore Mommy out a little bit! You are such a sweet little smiley guy though. People often tell us how expressive you are and we agree! You smile, laugh, and make all sorts of cute faces. What a funny boy you are! You bring us so much joy! 

Happy 6 Months Birthday Carson!
Mommy and Daddy love you so much! 

After a 30+ week break from the blog world, I would like to introduce the newest member of our family:
Carson Davis ~ Born January 5, 2012.
 

    Much to my surprise, I went in for my normal 38.5 week doctor's visit and found I was 4-5 cm dilated, which in many cases means active labor! I had felt a little funny that morning and hadn't slept well the night before, so I hoped that meant progress and indeed it did! My doctor predicted he would see me again later that day and by 2:30pm, I was being admitted to the exciting Labor and Delivery unit with regular contractions. Just 6 hours later, our little one came into the world! 

                      Carson weighed 7lbs 1 oz... a tiny little bundle in our arms. 

1 month old with a lot of personality brewing already!

2 Months Old 

3 Months Old 

4 Months Old

5 Months Old 

Mommyhood has been a dream come true. Carson has so much personality and brings so much joy to our family. I look forward to sharing some of our stories and experiences with you in the upcoming months! 

DIY Up-Cycled Denim Baby Bibs

With our baby boy due to arrive in the seven to ten weeks, I've been looking for a few more ideas of things to make for him. While looking at Pinterest, I found a perfectly delightful idea from Kristena Derrick's blog "Thimbly Things" . In her post which is even more detailed than mine, she shared how to transform old worn out jeans into baby bibs.

 Like most people, my husband and I have several pairs of jeans with holes in non-repairable places that I've just kept around for a "someday" project. Today, I finally dug out a pair of my husband's jeans to try something new!
Using the pant legs, a knit, jersey, or flannel print, and a few embellishments, these bibs were simple and easy! I think they're completely adorable and they're really quite sturdy without any need for interfacing! 

To start this project, just use your favorite sized bib as a pattern. Trace the bib onto the denim pant leg and cut it out. Give it a quick iron if its wrinkled from sitting forgotten for so long! :) 

After cutting it out, decide on what type of embellishment you'd like to use. I just used some simple ribbons and rick rack. Pin it in place and use a zigzag stitch to hold it in place!

Wow! Look at the fun stitches that my sewing machine can do! 

For one bib, I used a red ribbon and 3 lines of decorative stitches. For the second bib, I used two different ribbons and rick rack, with one line of decorative stitches. 

After your embellishments have been added to the denim side of your bib, pin them together with pattern-sides together. It is easiest to use a full piece of fabric and cut off the excess after you've sewn the two pieces together. 

Leave a 3-4 inch opening to turn your bib right side out. I find it easiest to leave that opening at the bottom of your bib. After sewing the two pieces together, cut off the excess material and leave a 1/4 inch seam. Leave a 1/2-3/4 inch extra amount of fabric where you left the opening. It makes it so much easier to turn in and sew together! :) Trial and error has taught me that. 

Turn your bib right side out.... you're nearly done! Isn't it looking good?

Iron the bib to press out any wrinkles and give it a nice crisp look. As you top stitch your bib, make sure you've got spot where you left an opening pressed how you want it to stitch shut. 

As a final step, attach your velcro (or snap or button) to your bib... and voila! 

Two darling bibs with a fun decorative denim side....

And a super cute print side! Perfect drooling or feeding bibs. I love how these bibs are so sturdy because of the denim, and yet they're soft with the jersey knit firetruck print and the flannel woodland friends print. 

Can't wait for my little man to wear these! They're a practical item that can be as cute as you make it! I'll definitely be making a few more of these in larger and smaller sizes. I think they'll hold up really well and I love that I can use fabric and designs that I like instead of just using a simple bib from the store.

As a side note, I love that while I'm sewing, I get this view... 

Oh little baby boy... I am so excited to meet you! 

Grilling! one of my favorite parts of spring

Grilling is one of the yummiest parts of spring. Now, I had never grilled myself before last summer. My dad always grilled growing up. We never owned a grill till this past July... and when we got it, I decided I would learn to grill so when Rich wasn't available, I could get dinner started.

So far this spring, we've had grilled boneless skinless chicken thighs, Jamaican Jerk chicken breasts, and hamburgers. Yum!

 I made baked oven fries to go with our burgers...
Wash potatoes and slice into preferred fry size. The smaller you cut them, the faster they bake.
Rinse cut up potatoes. This rinses away starch and helps the fries to crisp better in the oven.

Place on baking tray (I line mine with foil for easy clean up!), drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and then bake at 400oF for 40 minutes or until crispy and browning. Turn fries halfway through cooking. Pretty healthy compared to fast food or frozen fries and very yummy!

 We haven't done grilled corn yet this season, but boy howdy, am I excited for that!!!

Grilling isn't too hard... I only singe hairs off my hand or arm every other time! :) 

And grilled food...whether fish, chicken, beef, or vegetables... are so much yummier when cooked outside!
Happy springtime to me!

This whole blog thing....

well, I haven't updated in nearly 2 months.

You know how when you haven't done something in a long time, you don't really know where you should start? Well that's me right now. I like to blog... But I haven't really been prioritizing it.

But this is a new day... and I'm going to aim for a post a week at least!! And really, this isn't an exciting post... but I needed to put something down to make it easier to start again!! :)

A random photo seems to be needed for this rather boring post....
I'll blog better next time people!
But until then, enjoy this little blast from the past....

Little 3 or 4 year old me....

Check the comments if you want to know how old I really was... I'm sure my mother will help me out! :) *(Thanks momma!)

Whoooo. Now that I broke the ice of not blogging, I feel like I can return without dread of not knowing where to begin!  See you soon!

Our February in Pictures

Sometimes, it is easier to tell our story with pictures. And because I'm doing so incredibly well at taking pictures due to my Project Life Scrapbook (one photo a day!), I have lots of pictures to share!

February started out a little rough at our house. I got the flu during the first week. Least favorite sickness ever. So I was down for 2.5 days. It was right before Winter Camp up at Spring Hill Camp in Michigan, and I didn't know if I was going to make it. But rather than stay home, I decided to make the trip and fortunately, I felt a lot better by Saturday and was so glad I went!

 Rich and I. Incredible feeling to actually get a group of 27 students and 6 leaders up to Michigan for a great weekend of great teaching, connection with students, and great fun!

 Here's our group that went. We love these people!

 February 11-12, we attended The Art of Marriage Conference  put together by Family Life

It was seriously such a great conference. And if you get the chance to go with your spouse at a church near you, GO! It was such a great time to connect with Rich, figure out ways we can grow closer in our marriage. And use our marriage to bring glory to God. It was so well put together and a great experience for the two of us, as well as 45 other couples at our church!

 Valentine's Day morning, I made chocolate chip waffles! I rarely make breakfast because we aren't big breakfast eaters here at our house... usually a granola bar is grabbed on the way out the door. So this was a special treat for us!

 My momma is so sweet! Click here to see her blog! She made this darling heart decoration for me for Valentine's Day. But it is so darling, I will keep it out for a while! :) I get my creative genes from her! :)

 Valentine's Day has always been weird for us because Rich or I have always worked. But this year, we were able to go out and celebrate on the actual day! We only waited at hour at Red Lobster and it was so worth it! :) And here are some of the sweet gifties we got for each other. I love the special chance to just show a little extra love to my best friend!
He got me a new nail polish color, a tiny box of chocolates, a happy red tulip plant that I can't wait to see bloom! And because they weren't in bloom yet, he got me a single rose. Which is so romantic. I love that man! I got him some chocolate and an Amazon gift card.

Our life gets a little busy some days, but I love where we are and even when our car won't start in the parking lot in downtown Plymouth like it did tonight .... and even when we get it home by a jump start only to have it not start again, I am thankful for this life that God has blessed us with. And can thank Him for our blessings. Like how the car was parked only a 10 minute walk from home so that we could walk home, instead of having it die up in Mishawaka last night!! :)

And that is our February so far, in pictures! :)

Since I haven't been here...

I thought I'd clue you in to what I've been doing with my time since 2011 began...

You see, I've been keeping quite busy. I may be a stay-at-home wife right now, but I rarely get bored when there are so many things to do each day! And since pictures tell these stories better than words, here's a peek at what has kept me away from Blogspot....

There are always dishes to do...

I've come up with some creative ways to eat mostly eggs, tuna, and bacon for protein for 5 days...

 I've mopped the wood floors, only for it to snow again and bring more salty snowy prints into the house...

I've been crafting and sewing almost daily... This is what happens when I attempt a few projects at once. Fortunately, it doesn't look this bad right now!

I've been packaging up orders and sending them off!

I've added some new items to my inventory at Dear Moments

And I've enjoyed serving with my husband, working with the Crossroads youth at least twice a week!

I love being a stay-at-home wife...!