Monday, January 30, 2012

laura's first birthday

Remember sweet baby Laura's miraculous entry into this world? I talked about it here. It's been a year- can you even believe it? The time has flown by!

I was contacted in October by Kim's MIL to make something special for Laura's first birthday.


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So I made her some Sleepover Pals using the leftover scraps from the quilt I made her.



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Cute hu?



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Oh how I love this collection. That singing bird kills me every time I look at it!



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I made the girls differently than the ones I have made in the past. The ballish arms and buns are not only a pain to sew, but they just aren't sturdy enough for years of play. So I just did pigtails and no arms.



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Sweet dreams little ones!



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Of course, I also made Laura a doll of her. Kim has wanted me to make one for forever- so I decided to surprise them!



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Rickrack ribbon is SO MUCH EASIER to work with than rickrack. I love it!



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I totally didn't realize it until Kim pointed it out- but the doll perfectly coordinates with the shower Nan and I threw for Kim last spring! Haha. I was being very picky about the color choices- it took me awhile to decide on these. Funny.



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I will remember this day for the rest of my life. The suspense was killing me- all of us- to see whether or not Laura would breathe on her own when born. When her grandpa called me and told me that she was here and she was screaming, I felt such joy! I picked Linus up and twirled him around- and told him that his sister was here! (remember I was watching Linus while Kim gave birth at the hospital)



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And here she is! Saying Gimme my doll mama!!!



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And kisses...



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Another perfect friendship. I'm so happy to have these photos- it's like the last step of making a doll- seeing the little girl happily holding her. 

Friday, January 20, 2012

fitted



This post may be a little TMI for some of you, but I think you should know that shopping for a bra at Nordstrom is the BEST way to buy one!

I needed some new ones, so badly. But I REALLY didn't want to go to Victoria's Secret like I usually do.  I had read on a blog about how wonderful it was to buy a nursing bra there- so I figured buying regular ones would be great too.

You do have to get half naked to get fit which is kinda weird- but she was so professional I don't think she actually saw me naked. Turns out I am now a C. Yes, I am a C cup. I never, ever thought that I would ever be a C unless I got a boob job, and I never ever want to do that, so I think it's pretty rad- considering I was a nearly A to an A most of my life.

I got two- a black one and a light pink one- and I spent less than I would have at the other place. I didn't even have to tell her my price range, she just picked the lower priced ones first. And it only took 20 minutes. I also got some of these comfy lounge-around-the-house type bras, and I love them! I feel so much better about my body- it's amazing what the right size bra will do for your confidence!


I will definitely be bra shopping at Nordstrom from now on!

(image found via pinterest)

Monday, January 16, 2012

happy birthday mom!

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I made this purse for my mom for her birthday.

We found the pattern while we were fabric shopping during Thanksgiving, and my mom mentioned that she wanted one for her birthday so I obliged.



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We also found this wonderful tweedy fabric- but it's really just printed flannel. So easy to work with!



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I've made many a purse in my day, and this one is by far the cutest and most functional. Just look at the fancy magnetic snap!

I have been trying to make myself the perfect purse forever. So many, many, terrible, ugly, and ridiculous mistakes that you will never ever see. So it's very nice to finally make one that's not only blog worthy, but birthday present for mom worthy.


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We also found these cute little "P.S. I love you" tags, so I had to put one inside.



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And! I did my very first zipper pocket! If you don't look too close, its looks pretty good. But it's got some puckers that I don't know how to fix.

Now I just need to make one for me!

(The pattern is called the Victory Bag, and it's by Indygo Junction.)

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

life after the LEEP

First I want to say that I got the pathology results back, and they got it all out! And no cancer! Yea!

From about 4 days post-op until last week, I had seemingly random junk leaking out of me that had me freaking out about every other trip to the bathroom. Your period? Blood clots? THAT IS NOTHING. LEEP leak is abhorrent, totally freaky, and uh, it smells terrible. I can't believe I just admitted all of that on the internet. BUT. In the spirit of being honest about this whole deal, because my doctor was not, and so hopefully this may help someone in the future, I'm telling the truth.

After freaking out a few times, I googled the shit out of "discharge after a LEEP" and after reading more medical sites that simply say that after having a LEEP you will spot like a normal period- after digging around and cursing the liars, I found a forum full of ladies giving the nitty gritty out to each other in support. And it was exactly what I was looking for, the truth.

Now, I won't go into detail- you may think I have already, but I have not. I don't want you to lose your lunch. But I will say that as far as the average comment went, I was somewhere in the middle. I definitely did not have it as bad as some of the women, and if I did I probably would have taken myself to the ER because the shit they were saying was CRAZY. (I figured that if more than 5 women had the same symptoms than that deserved an average.)

And the pain. Oh, the pain. I took vicodin for 5 days. Then I ran out. And I panicked. And I thought about getting it refilled. But it made me so foggy, so emotional, so not myself, that I didn't want to take it anymore. So I braved it and just took ibuprofen. It took a whole WEEK for me to kick that vicodin out of my brain. I seriously couldn't do ANYTHING while on it- no sewing, no reading, nothing that required brain activity. I watched TV for a week and a half. I was SO bored! (normally I watch TV all the time, but I am usually also sewing, stuffing, embroidering, blogging or reading while I am watching listening.)

I had to continually take ibuprofen until a few days ago. Just walking up and down the stairs more than 3 times a day made me hurt, and start bleeding again. And lifting the laundry basket. I felt pathetic. But obviously it takes your cervix a long time to heal after having a large chunk removed, with nothing to hold it together, no stitches or bandages.

I still have until the 24th, my next dr appt. to see if everything has healed properly. So the next step is a pap every 6 months. 

I am dying to get back to "normal" life. Having this all happen right in the thick of the holidays and the new year has just been crazy. But I am SO grateful that it's over- it's out, it's not cancer, I'm ok!

Hopefully, this will be the last post about this horrible subject. And I really, really wish that the medical profession would be honest about it. I can google other medical problems and get detailed symptoms, what to expect afterwards and so on. It seems so strange to me that nobody is straight up, especially since the after effects can be so scary and honestly, strange.

Friday, January 6, 2012

dreaming of gemstones...

Remember this post from last year? It's where I first fell in love with and decided that I NEED a chaceldony ring someday. But it was like $1000. Eessh. Too spendy.

Since then, I have found quite a few on etsy for a lot less, that I like better. So I'm gonna bore you with some shiny photos while I dream a bit...

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Starting with my current favorite. I might just pounce on it- but it's not white gold. So it's not quite perfect. 


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Truly a gorgeous stone. Such a pretty color!



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Coming in second is this one set in silver. Silver is too soft, I have killed all my silver rings. Also, the stone is too light. But it's still gorgeous!




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This one is so unique, and more casual than the others.





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This one has a little more sparkle, I'd like to stack this with some other colors to get more of a chunky look.




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I've also found these druzy rings- I love the rough cut! 




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I actually like the gold with this one.




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And finally, this mosaic ring. I love the simplicity, but I think I would get all kinds of crap stuck in the grooves. 



What is it about the new year and me lusting after shiny jewelry? 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

birthday wishes

My 32nd birthday was perfect.

Danny surprised me by staying home from work, and we slept in. Rolling over and cuddling with your husband is the best way to wake up, ever. I decided to forgo the beach and the ice cream sundae and stay in bed. We chatted and lounged, then lazily got up, dressed, and headed to lunch.

We walked to one of favorite neighborhood cafes- Just for You.

After lunch, we walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous for birthday ice cream. In addition to all the cookies and peanut brittle they normally have, they had "puffs"- giant rectangles of fresh marshmallow on top of a layer of caramel, and swirled with caramel. I grabbed two. And got some ice cream. :)


It was almost time for my facial appointment, so Danny walked me there. (The spa is right between our place and the ice cream parlor. Yes, I planned it that way. I'm lazy, remember?)

So the facial. Was amazing. She really took her time accessing my skin and making recommendations as she went. She also did a lash tint, which was hard for me to sit still for, but totally worth it. Since moving here, my skin has become unruly, breaking out, not responding to my usual routine. I haven't been able to wear makeup- at all. So a lash tint was a must.

She did "extractions" which means she totally picked all of my blackheads. SO AWESOME! She warned me that it might hurt, so I told her how I make my husband pick my back zits and back zits effing HURT, so not to worry. She laughed and said "Now that's love right there. You got a good one." Oh yes I do!

My unruly face is part of the reason for splurging on the facial. The other part was that it was my birthday damnit, and facials are heavenly.

I left a much lighter person, with very messy hair and a new outlook for my skin. Apparently it's very dry. That's why it's so oily- I keep attacking the oil which is making everything worse. So I need to go  downtown, and buy myself a good creamy moisturizer.

My mom sent me some gorgeous michael miller flannel fabric and a pattern for a simple baby blanket that we saw when we went fabric shopping when we were there for Thanksgiving. It inspired me to get back to sewing- I hadn't been able to sew the whole week after my LEEP because of those stupid painkillers I was taking. I was hoping on getting a ton of sewing done while sitting around, but it never happened.

Monday, January 2, 2012

what I've up too...

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I customized a super soft, gorgeous recycled sari cloth baby blanket with embroidery.



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A custom doll for Misty.



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A custom doll for Lea Mim.

And, you can read all about them on my ragamuffin blog!