Long time no talk!

Wow, anyone still out there? I really had no idea how much time and effort having 2 kids would take! Not to mention having a business! But I am back, and I will try to do better! :)

I ran across a promotion the other day for shutterfly where bloggers get 50 free cards! How awesome is that?!? Now if I can only get some nice pictures to add to ours, but that is besides the point! I love shutterfly for their great customer service, large selection and quick turn around! I have ordered Christmas cards in the past as well as photo books, mousepads and birthday cards and prints and they always turn our great! They have such an awesome selection that anyone can find something they love! My husband also loves Shutterfly because of their great prices! My mom also recently made my dad a book with all the pictures from their African safari in them for Christmas! Best of all is the great coupon codes that are always out there- that really helps make the things from Shutterfly affordable! I hope you will all go look at their selection of Christmas cards!

Choose something you love and go enter here to get your own 50 free cards today!

Have you seen this?

Having toddlers is like being at a frat party.....

This is too cute! Add your own in my comments section!

Wordless Wed

Wordless Wed

This is what I have been working on for a while now! :) Lol Our new little girl was born May 28 at 5:11 (15 days early) and weighed in at 8 pounds 8 ounces and 20 inches long! So 19 days earlier than her sister and a whole pound bigger! She is a little sweetheart and doing great! (Besides the fact she will be attached to billirubin lights for a few days :( )

Locks for Love

So on Wednesday I did something that I have been promising myself I would do for over a year now. Last year when we were at the Relay For Life fund raiser to benefit the American Cancer Society they had "locks for love" there to cut and collect hair for wigs for cancer patients. I had mentioned before that I wanted to do this, but I didnt have enough time to think it over and decided to pass then and promised I would do it this year!

SO as the year went on I thought about it a little bit, but never too seriosly. When I found out my baby would only be a month old, not to mention that we would not be living in the same town this summer, and that my family wanted to do an every-other-year relay I decided I better get serious and keep my promise. After being bugged and bugged by my sister and mom I finally decided to go ahead and do it. I was ready for a change, ready for summer, and my neice is in the "pull any hair near my hand" phase that I am so not looking forward to again....

So I walked in and my sister chopped off 13 inches of my hair! 13!!! Do you have any idea HOW MUCH hair that is?!?! It is alot! I am still not sure I am happy with my new do, I havnt had my hair this short since I was in 8th grade! But I am glad I can do my part to help someone in need!

Here are some much anticipated pictures.... please excuse the 36 1/2 week pregnant frumpy mom look! :)

BEFORE:
AFTER:

Car seat cover tutorial

I figured what better way to jump back into blogging than with a tutorial! I am doing a "mom and baby needs" swap on my diaper forum and was paired with a sweet mama expecting a new baby girl! I have been wanting to make myself a new carseat cover as well as a new tenty blanket thing like I have seen all the babes around town sporting on their car seats. So i figured I would try it out- cant be THAT hard right? RIGHT!

First I wanted to know how much fabric I would need- because my car seat is locked in the trailer and DH has the key! SO I found a couple of great tutorials and somewhat followed them. Car seat cover from receiving blanket
Detailed instructions

So I had pulled a couple of cute cuts out of my flannel stash and went right to work! I beleive these were both just 1 yard cuts- the tutorials I read said cut it 37 by 43 inches, and that is basically what I measured (even though a yard would be 36 by 42.... lol)

I put both my fabrics right sides together and folded it in half so I could round the corners. Cut the first 2 corners and then take the fabric you cut from that and place it over on the other side and cut it the same- This is my trick for getting the same curve, because I SUCK at cutting corners straight! Make sure to straighten up the cuts as you go so you dont have to "think" so much as you are sewing. (And to cut any salvages off)
Now you are ready to sew! Stitch all the way around the blanket- leaving at least 6 inches so you can turn it inside out! Now turn it inside out and you can iron it if you want to. (Im too lazy! :) ) Then you will want to top stitch. (Close the part where you turned it inside out first and make sure to catch all the pieces!) I just put my foot down against the edge and get a nice straight sewing line!
Now for the part that holds it on to the car seat! You can use fabric pieces with velcro, buttons or snaps, but if you are like me- you only got enough fabric to make the actual blanket! lol So I just used ribbon and will tie it in a bow onto the car seat handle! (perfect for a baby girl anyway!) I cut two pieces of ribbon each 22 inches long and I made sure to put fray check on the ends! (You can burn them!) I then measured 9 inches in and 17 inches from the top of my blanket and pinned the ribbon right there. I liked the tutorial that said to sew a rectangle- genious because then it has less stress on the ribbon! SO I did that!

Wallah! There you have it- the perfect car seat tent/cover! If DH comes home sometimes today I will try to get a picture of it on my seat! I hope the mama it is for loves it as much as I do! I think it turned out super fun!!

Wordless Wed

Yep, she thinks shes the boss! :)

blogging

I have no idea why it has become so hard for me to blog lately- could be the mountain of orders I am peeking out under, the 2 year old who always wants to "dance" and play "pwincess", the husband who needs rides to and from school because the $120 parking pass we bought only gives you 2 hours of parking at a time, or the fact that I am now 33 weeks pregnant and starting to freak out a bit about not getting anything done....

So is anyone still out there? I hope so! Sorry if I lost your interest, I promise I will try harder! :)

Not wordless Wed....

I love having a "pwincess!"

I am severely sorry for being so scarce. I have been SWAMPED! Every time I think I am almost caught up, I get another order! I LOVE it, but it makes things like blogging a little difficult. The main reason blogging is taking me more than a few seconds a day is because our internet is currently running at 2% capacity.... Yeah.... I finally got so fed up with the YEAR my computer will randomly go offline and need to be restarted and made DH call the provider. "Oh, looks like you are paying for the middle service and receiving 2% of your connection, you need a new modem box, but you have to pay for it." WHAT THE HECK?!?! You are telling me that being a customer for 3 years entitles us to a big. fat. nothing. Heck, dont you find it a bit ridiculous you are charging us full price for 2%? We should be paying for 2%... YUCK!

SO hopefully this will be fixed ASAP as apparently threatening to cancel may get you a new modem, but will NOT get you a discount because "you didnt call a year ago" Well, that is DH's fault, I asked him to! :) lol

Diapers, diapers, diapers....

This morning I sat down to work on an order for swim diapers, and I figured that since I would have my serger and machine out anyway I might as well get to work on making the new baby some more diapers (or have 15 when the baby comes... I dont think so!) So I already had diapers on my mind and was thinking about how happy I am that I hope to not buy a single disposable diaper for this new kid, and how much better cloth diapering is for the enviroment AND for the baby and the pocketbook!

SO when I sat down to check my facebook page I saw that someone had posted this article Pampers new dry max causes severe rashes I was a little bit intrigued because pampers were always the brand I bought when I would buy diapers, so I read it. WOW- I cannot even begin to tell you how sad I am for these babies and moms who are having to deal with incredible diaper rash problems just because the company changed the chemicals they use in creating the diapers. Yes, ChEmIcAlS... YUCK! Just another reason I am happy we use cloth and will be 100% exclusivley cloth with the new little one.

After I read this post I saw links for some more posts on Pampers on her site and this one caught my eye- Absurd Claims made by pampers another WOW....

So if you use disposables and ever want to take the plunge into cloth and see how amazing it can be for your baby, you, the enviroment and your pocket, please feel free to email me and I can help lead you in the right direction! I started using cloth because of monitary concerns, but I must say I will NEVER go back, no matter how much money we have! There are already enough chemicals out there getting on and into baby, there is no way I want to help that process along just so I dont have to change a diaper as often....

Cant catch a break...

Ever had an idea in your mind and then somehow, some way it could become a reality, but then it really cant? Yes, this is how I have felt both times I have done nursery's for my little ones. The first time around I spotted "baby ballerina by Daisy Kingdom" and I HAD to have it... but nope- it had been discontinued for years and people wanted $20 for a 6x6 inch square! So that was thrown out and I settled on something I never really liked.

This time around I had the perfect idea in my mind. I saw the "wanna be a cowboy" line by Riley Blake designs and I HAD to have it! PERFECT, could not have hand designed something better! But, I didnt have the cash on hand, so I waited until I did. I went to the store on Thursday and low and behold- the main fabric is sold out. So I buy 18 yards of cordinating fabrics and figure I can buy the main ones online. And I did! I was very excited! Until I got it, and it was cotton while all the rest of the fabric is flannel.... :( And guess what, Cant find it online! One of the fabrics is even discontinued for good! AHHHHHH!!!!

So I emailed every etsy shop that has even fat quarters of the line and tell them what I need in flannel. One by one they each emailed me back and let me know all they had was cotton. So at this point I am FREAKING OUT. I get online this afternoon just to check and I have an email from Kortnie of Quilt a Treasure . This SWEET and amazing shop owner told me she ewas sorry that she only had cottons, but she had seen the flannel's in the local quilt shop and would go over herself, purchase it for me, and mail it to me! Can you beleive it?!?!?! I cant! She may never know how much her kindness means to me and how many tears she stopped! Please go check out Kortnie's etsy shop, she has some darling things, and someone this amazing deserves to make some extra sales!!

Thoughtful Thursday

What did you want to be when you were growing up? How different is it from what you ARE doing?

I always wanted to be either a pediatrician or a veterinarian. The ped because I have ALWAYS loved little kids and babies. The vet, well im not really so sure! I have always liked animals, but I dont know why I wanted to be one!

Now I am just mommy and I love it! Obviously I have a few side businesses that I LOVE and as I got a bit older and more into the crafty part of life I knew I wanted to have my own store, either with fabrics and such or with baby items. Im well on my way! :)

Funny side note is that DH always wanted to be a pro football player or something- but dont all men! lol Now he is going to school to be a veterinarian! Funny how life turns out isnt it! Looks like I will end up having plenty of vet experience after all! :)

The joys....

Remember how I was complining the other day about having a tummy bug? Well I was certain my little one passed it on to me, that is until she woke up crying at 1 this morning and ran into my room yelling "potty, potty!" She smelled terrible and was very upset that she had had an accident. I changed my first messy diaper in 4 months and put her back to bed. She threw up about 20 minutes later and had also messed again.... poor little thing! I feel so bad for her! She ended up sleeping the rest of the night and is still in bed, I really hope she feels better today!

And as for me, I get to go to the dentist and get my cavities filled today- oh happy day.... NOT!

I guess on the bright side it can only really go up from there! lol

Happy Easter!

Wishing you and your families all a very happy Easter! I hope the Easter bunny found you, but I also hope you take a few minutes to remember to true meaning of Easter and the sacrifices made for each of us!

I will be spending my day with family, hunting eggs, eating and watching our churches "general conference" on tv. I hope you all have a wonderful day and get to spend it with those you love!

Yuck!

Ever had the tummy bug while pregnant? If not think of how much it hurts when someone is in bed rolling around and you are close to vomiting.... now put that person inside your stomach LOL So not fun! At least I got a day to lay around in bed....

Wordless Wed

The life of a farm kid...

Gosh guys, im sorry!

Life around here has been NUTS! It seems like I barely sit down and get something finished and I check my site and have another order to get done! :) I am LOVING this and having the time of my life making money doing what I love! Doesnt leave me much time for being online, blogging, or much else- but it gives me plenty of time to rest and put my feet up and lets face it, that seems to be my favorite hobby right now as I feel the new little one is completely taking over! :)

I debuted the gummy monster and the sock monkey the first of this month, and it is safe to say they are A HIT! And luckily I get better each pair I make, so that makes it even better! I love when people have their own ideas of how they want things to look, and I have made quite a few different colors of monsters in the past couple of weeks! If you are ever interested in seeing what I have gotten done and in the mail for the week you can go to payleyknitsandcrochet.blogspot.com and I am trying my best to keep up posting what I have sent out on there!

Another exciting thing happened this month business wise- I was accepted to Team EtsyKids as well as the Etsy Cloth Diaper team and have been busy trying to get in with the crowd! I am hoping this will become a little bit easier as I have also been appointed the membership review leader for Etsy Kids and will be getting a sneak peak at stores before they become members! So that is fun!

Ray Ray is getting SO big! She has recently discovered a love for all things "Pwincess" and loves to read princess stories and do her "princess dance" she is such a joy and I love every second I have with her! It helps she hasnt worn a diaper for 3 months now and is rocking the potty training thing! (She hasnt had a single accident for over 10 days!)

So that is what is going on here- sorry I havnt been around much, I hope to change that soon!

Wordless Wed

Simple pleasures of childhood! A rock and a plastic glove can keep them entertained for hours! :)

A reason I love spring!

Today I made the most wonderful fruit salad! Grapes, bananas, strawberries, oranges and pineapples! YUM! What do you like most about spring?

What did you do to celebrate spring?

We had such a fun weekend! We just hung around the house, watched movies, visited family and went for walks! The weather is finally SO nice, I LOVE it! So what did you do this weekend? Anything exciting and fun?

Here are some requested pictures of the swimsuit I made Ray Ray for our trip- I love how it turned out, and it fit her so cute!

See... I told you! :)

I told you I was just partially back.... We have been on spring break all week and without computer access for most of it. We went on a mini vacation and had a blast! Now DH is working and so is my MIL so here I sit... lol. I have LOTS of work to do this week, so im not complaining! And the weather?!?! My car said 82 when I got in yesterday! Now I know it was more like 68, but STILL! I am loving it!

My little one is having a ball playing outside and at the park and recently discovered she is terrified of ants.... Yep, she and daddy were laying in the dirt watching an ant hill and she got scared, stomped in the hill, climbed onto his back and refused to get down! Silly little girl!

Hope you are all enjoying the first signs of spring! :) I will be back home on Saturday or Monday and back to boring business as usual! Can you believe there are only 7 weeks left of the semester?!?! Summer here we come! :)

Im back... partially...

Well that giveaway was LOTS of fun! They have the cutest stuff! I missed blogging though! Not much has happened around here this week. It is midterm week at the school and DH has been there from 7 am (or earlier) until midnight every night this week! Then DD has been waking up around 6-6:30 each morning (usually she sleeps until 7:30 but with the morning getting light sooner she is all messed up!) So I have been getting less sleep than usual lol.

Tomorrow is an exciting day though, because it signals the first day of SPRING BREAK!!! WAHOO! We plan on heading to the zoo and then going to stay in a hotel for a couple of nights and then going to the inlaws for the rest of the week! To say DD is excited to go is an understatement. All I have heard all week, every time we get in the car is "zoo, monkeys, birds, turtles? Swimming?" lol, she knows we will be having fun! :)

So what have you guys been up to? Anything exciting? I hope to get a tutorial up soon, as soon as I come up with something LOL! I have been busy making DD swim suits like crazy! I have made her a 2 piece with a skirt and 3 little 1 pieces this week! SO much cuter and SOOOO much less expensive than buying them!

Hope you have a great weekend! Hope to see you all around soon! :)