Hubby's birthday

We celebrated hubby's birthday last week.  Baby Chuck and I woke up early to head out to the store and prepare for his birthday, but we ran into a little bit of trouble along the way. 

(1)  It was very windy that day and I had several Marilyn Monroe-esque moments.  I think I flashed everyone in the parking lot.  Luckily, it was pretty empty and I was wearing a slip.

I ended up using two grocery bags to hold my dress down.

(2) Baby Chuck really wanted to get hubby a birthday balloon.  After deliberating for what seemed like hours and hours, we finally settled on a cute airplane shaped balloon.  I gave Baby Chuck the responsibility of bringing the balloon to the car.  As we left the store, a strong gust of wind blew and our airplane took flight.

It's probably somewhere over Lake Michigan by now, wishing birds and sea creatures a happy birthday.

(3) I like to pretend like I know what I'm doing in the kitchen. But, Ina Garten, I am not.  I tried following an online recipe for a gluten free chocolate cake.   The man in the video assured me that it would be simple, foolproof, and delicious.  I don't know what he was talking about.  Here's how my poor cake turned out.

It ended up being pretty tasty... and at least it didn't blow away!

Shoes Series 3: We've harnessed the power of ice!

If you're a follower of this blog, then you're already aware of our previous attempts to use ice to stretch shoes.  (Confused? Catch up by reading about our adventures here and then here.)
 

Figure 1:  Sandwich bags in shoes

After our initial setbacks, we put on our thinking caps.  And we thought.  And we thought some more.  What were we missing?  Why didn't it work? 

And then we took one final stab at the problem.  Instead of using shopping bags to hold the water, we used sandwich bags.  Although they held less water, they would (hopefully) allow the ice to expand in the right places. 





And you know what?  It worked!  Boy, was I surprised.  Honestly, I'm not sure why the shoes stretched this time and not the last two times.  Below, I've sketched out my best understanding of what happened on the molecular level: 

Figure 2: Arrows and dashed lines make this diagram authentically scientific.

I'm happy seeing hubby wearing some fine fitting shoes.... and knowing that we've harnessed the power of ice for good and not evil.

Will you try out this shoe stretching method?  Let me know of your results!

Baby teeth

Baby Chuck is currently teething.  We noticed the classic signs several weeks ago.  He was fussy, drooling, tugging at his ears, and biting toys.  Our suspicions were confirmed when these two pearly whites appeared not too long ago.

Since this is a pretty big developmental milestone, I figured I'd honor his accomplishment with a baby badge. 

Is it strange for a tooth to have a tooth?

And since I was drawing badges, I figured I'd also give him one to honor his foray into solids.

I'm not sure what this baby ate...

Thirsting for sunshine*

Sorry for the lack of posts.  The weather has been beautiful here.  Everyone is going a bit crazy and we're all trying our best to drink up the sunshine.  I'm especially hoping that the sun will give my pasty vampire skin a nice golden tan.

Hopefully you are enjoying good weather too!

I promise to reveal what happened to hubby's shoes and upload more posts next week.

Have a great weekend!

*Note:  This post's title was inspired by a four-year-old boy at church who said, "Mom, my body is thirsting for sunshine."

Sofa Series 3: Fabric arrival

After many days of internet searching,  I finally found a lovely green indoor/outdoor fabric that was cute, affordable, and easy to clean.  This past weekend, my 12 yards of upholstery fabric arrived in the mail.         

I can't help it.  I love doodling on boxes...

After oohing and ahhing for a bit, hubby and I brought it to our local vintage furniture shop.  I'm super excited to see what they do...  (Click here for the big reveal!)

New to our sofa adventure?  You can read about where we found our sofa and our decision to get it professionally reupholstered.

Tummy Times- 9

To see previous comics, click here

Tummy Times Comic -6

Happy New Year!

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Tummy Times Comic- 5

(Click on image to enlarge)

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Tummy Times Comic- 4

(Click on image to make it larger.)

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Tummy Times Comic- 3

 (Just click on the image to enlarge it.)

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Tummy Times Comic-2

Here's my Thanksgiving comic strip: 

(Just click on the image to enlarge it.)

By the way- HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!!!!

To see my first comic strip, click here

Tummy Times Comic- 1

Hanging out with Baby Chuck every day provides some humorous inspiration.  

(Sorry the image is so small.  Just click on it to read the details.) 

Me against the machine

Even though hubby and I purchased the sewing machine awhile back, I must admit something.

I've been too scared to use it.

Sure, I helped hubby tackle sewing projects, but I always took on the non-sewing roles. I created patterns, pinned fabric together, or cut cloth.  I never used the machine.  

Ack!  Make the scary machine go away!

Why was I so scared?  Well, with ten clumsy digits and one very sharp knife needle, I was afraid of sewing through my fingers.  Plus, I didn't care for all those new-fangled knobs and handles.  (Give me an old-fashioned needle and a spool of thread and I'm set.  Really.)  Lastly, using the sewing machine required me to move my hands and feet at the same time.  Eek.  I'm terribly uncoordinated.  Ask any of my gym teachers.  (On a semi-related note- I apologize to all previous gym teachers.  I didn't mean to hit you with the basketballs, tennis balls, footballs, kick balls, badminton birdies, or soccer balls.)  

As we waited for Baby Chuck Norris's arrival this past weekend (he's still not here), I realized something monumental:  Giving birth is way scarier than sewing on a machine.

Duh.

And with this very obvious realization the heavens opened and I became inspired to sew.  Using this set of directions I set to work sewing a nursing cover.  Although the directions said that the entire project could be completed in 30 minutes, it took me a tad bit longer (2.5 hours.)  But, I'm proud to say that after a lot of ironing, measuring, re-measuring, re-ironing, cursing (silently in my head), sewing, and re-sewing I did it!  Here's the final result of my labor:

I chose this fabric because the pattern reminded me of Charlie.

Ooooh!  What lovely boning and d-ring details!

Oooh!  Look at that terry cloth corner (to wipe Baby Chuck Norris's mouth).

And so, I'm proud to say yes, I can!  Yes! I defeated my fear of the sewing  machine.  Yes!  I still have all 10 fingers.  Yes! I know how to sew three pieces of rectangular cloth together!

Somebody's turning a multiple of 11...

3223 reunion

During college I lived in a large rickety house with some great friends.  I always look back fondly on those days with my "3223 gals" because we laughed so much, shared so much, grew so much, and threw such great dinner parties.  With everyone now scattered to the four corners of the earth, it's always a special treat to meet up and share what's happening in each others' lives.  This year four of us are meeting in Philly and skyping another gal in Thailand.

Good-bye Michigan.  Hello Philly and gals!

I wonder what Hubby and Charlie will be up to while I'm gone...

       

First Easter

Driving by the mall we saw plenty of signs announcing the arrival of the Easter Bunny.  Excited to have baby take part in this holiday tradition, hubby and I arranged an informal photo shoot at home.

Baby's first Easter photo

Yearly argument

Thoughts

Sometimes it seems like all I think about  is food- what I've eaten, what I'd like to eat, or what I'm actually going to eat.

Hmm, upon further reflection... perhaps this comic strip shows me endorsing cannibalism. Ick.

Almost here

Yesterday it was gray and rained all day.  At first I felt sad, but then hubby cheered me up.  At least it's not snowing! 

Oh Spring, I can't wait until you come back.

8:30 AM:  It's now snowing outside.Rats.

If I were an animal...

As I progress further along in this pregnancy, I'm starting to see some great similarities between myself and a familiar farm animal:  the cow.

Here are four reasons why I am similar to a cow.

1. Like the cow, I am a grazer. 

2. I also experience interesting digestive issues.

3. The cow and I are on the heavier end of the scale.

4. We both contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.