14 Months

I haven't done a pure-Jared post in a while, so I thought I'd share some of his newest accomplishments and pictures. I know I say this a lot, but I can't believe how fast the time has gone. I look at newborns at church and the store and wonder if my boy was really ever that small. He's turning more and more into a little boy (not baby) each day. Here he is (sporting his new shirt, by the way):

• He's now an official walker--- he has been for a while, but now he hardly ever crawls. The last couple of weeks at church I've had to chase after him so he doesn't leave Relief Society without me.
• He also talks all the time. Obviously, he knows 'ball;' he also knows cup, count (as in Count Von Count from Sesame Street), dog, cat, eye, Dada and Mama. Others are not so clear, such as: piper=diaper, 'ck'= drink/chicken/monkey, pa=pool (we've been there a lot lately), and BaBa = baby/belly/belly button/bath or big bird.
• He still eats anything and everything---except peas. I think this contributes to his size---people are shocked when we say he's 14 months old. It doesn't surprise me though; the only 12 month size he wears now are his shorts and that won't last much longer.
  
• He's still loves to read. Some of his favorites include his Sesame Street books (what can I say, he's a fan), Little book about Jesus, First Animals, and Around the House (pictured).
  
• He's starting to understand simple commands and our daily routines. The other day I told him to give me his cup so I can fill it up and he did so, following me all the way to the kitchen baby gate. He also knows what it means to change his diaper, take a bath, find his books and toys, watch Phineas & Ferb or Sesame Street, and go outside to the car/pool. It's actually quite adorable.
• UNTIL he throws fits when he doesn't get what he wants. He already throws his body down, curves his back and makes crazy 'sad' faces. Most of the time, we talk him down; occasionally he'll have to sit restricted for a minute or so--- and oh boy, he doesn't like that.
  
• He's insanely stubborn. Along with the fits and understanding us---he knows what 'no' means but yet, when he's fixated on an object or getting into something he's not supposed to he'll go after it numerous time even after I've said 'no' for the tenth time.
  
• He loves to climb. This is not new, but some of things he climbs on are like our bar height dining room chairs or into his jeep or the computer chair or attempting to fit his fat legs on the bookshelf or standing on the ottoman or his race car to get to the dvds. Basically, he's figured out that climbing can be a means to get somewhere. He keeps me on my toes.
  

He also loves the water and going outside, but that's another post!

Oh---and it stinks that he's already figured out how to take off outlet covers---at least it's not his diaper--- yet.

Half-Blood Prince

Finally---the day is here---and we're not seeing it until THURSDAY!!! At least we get to see it. In preparation, I re-read HBP and I'm almost done with Deathly Hallows. We've also been taking the last few nights to watch the previous movies. It's been fun revisiting the magical world and talking with Greg about J.K.'s clever foreshadowing. In honor of all the Muggles and Magical folk waiting patiently in line tonight or seeing the movie in the next few days here's a clip released yesterday--- I'm so excited.

Enjoy this week full of All-Star baseball and wizards!

Great Present

Our builder just called to tell us that our blueprints have arrived and now we'll begin the construction process starting with our first meeting on FRIDAY!

So, sooner rather than later this empty lot will have a lot of activity on it!

What a great birthday present! As for birthday celebrations, when Gweg gets home we're going out for dinner, swimming as a family, and then having friends over for cake and games---my favorite summer activities. Then, on Thursday we're going on a date to see the new Harry Potter movie (so unbelievably excited)---and I'm still having a hard time believing I'm 25--- oh well--- just means that life keeps going. :)

T-Shirt Bonanza!

Jared had a few plain white tees hanging around and I got a pack of white onesies for 'little girl' (what she'll be know as until her birth), so I decided to try a craft I discovered while looking for projects called Freezer Paper stenciling.

Basically, all you do is buy some freezer paper (nothing else---I only found it at Wal-Mart), fabric or acrylic paint and brushes. Then you make your own design, use the computer to find one, or both then draw/print it onto the non-waxy side of the paper. Cut it out with an exacto knife, iron-on your shirt and PAINT! The only real challenge lies with cutting and the difficultly of your pattern. I made two for each of the kids; little girl's on top and Jared's on the bottom:


I did not find a stencil for any of these, but I did search for the images I wanted. Jared's shirts were more difficult, but I made about one a day, so I didn't overwhelm myself. I had a couple of toddler shirts left over, so I made these from this website:

The guitar was tricky and I still have to freezer paper a saying onto it, but I can't wait to put it on Jared! All in all it was a t-shirt kind of week. Now, to whip out some burp cloths and other things! :)

Our Fourth

We had a great Fourth; the only things missing were pictures and fireworks. Pictures because, well, I honestly forgot to take the camera out of my purse; I'll blame that one on 'pregnancy brain.' Fireworks... well...Let me explain... (name that movie)

Highlights included:

• The ward flag ceremony/breakfast. We had lots fun; the Cub Scouts presented the flag and we had breakfast tacos. Afterwards, Greg and Jared ran around the playground like gang-busters and I am slowing remembering more faces and names (it only took 5 months). About 930 it was starting to get a wee-bit warmer so we went home to cool off.
• For the barbeque part of the day, we were invited over to Greg's co-workers for games and lunch. Jared, again, loved running around the extra room and even took a nap in his pack-n-play. Lots of laughs were had and I even met fellow die-hard Cards fans! Whoot-yeah!
• Then, we rounded off the evening by an early-evening dip in the swimming pool. This is the hidden gem in Texas: swimming at dusk. It was still hot enough to swim, but the sun was down enough so that we didn't have to put sunscreen on and the water was the perfect temperature from baking in the sun all day. Jared spent most of the time is his floatie circle which he got with his birthday money; he loved having the freedom to float to Mama or Daddy; he even started his typical splashing after awhile.
  

By the time we were done with the pool, Jared was done for the day. We were going to go watch fireworks (because that's my favorite part) but, alas, my baby was exhausted. So, we watched Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar sing at Washington D.C.'s show before Jared passed out on Gweg. We didn't have our own fireworks because of two reasons: A---we live in an apartment complex and would have been ratted out and B---SA had gone over a month without rain so the ground was super-duper dry so it was extra-dangerous and 'banned.'

Overall, it was a nice day; we are very grateful to have the freedoms we have and live in a land which celebrates it! (By the way, I vow to get pictures next year!)

Ball

He is very much into mimicking now.

New Creations

This week I probably tackled my hardest projects since Jared's halloween costume. Lots of blood, sweat, tears, and precious free time went into making these two things. Are they perfect? No way, but I think I did pretty good for my first original design and bag.

















First, I made my own diaper caddy. We have a similar caddy by Skip-bo that works great, but there was no room for the bum cream and diaper duckie (both changing essentials), so I went about designing my own and this is what came from it. I love the look and it feels so good to be using something I made, however, it's a little bulky and the fabric sags from the weight of the changing essentials. If I were to do this pattern again to give to someone I'd definitely use a heavier fabric and/or interfacing. I also have another idea floating in my head for the storage issue, but I'll wait a while before I tackle another original design (it's hard). Even though it's hard, I was excited that I was capable of doing it!

Second, after eight months of trying to find the right diaper bag, I finally found one and I L-O-V-E. However, since Jared has hit the toddler phase, I've needed to carry less and less around for him (pretty much--food, drink, toy, diapers---and that doesn't take up as much room as you think). So, to pass the months between now and when 'Baby Girl' is born I made myself an early birthday present--- another purse! :) I got the pattern here; I did make the bag a few inches bigger all around because I was going for a medium-sized bag. Again, this is not perfect; I messed up the pleats, but I only used my seem ripper once, and I made it so it's completely ME! It also gives me practice for other bag-ish patterns. I already took it look this afternoon for its maiden voyage on my arm and I still had a hard time believing I made it!

If anything this week of projects has taught me is that I'm better than I think at sewing because it's all about practice!