What is my special number?

I found the idea for this on a blog that I stalk here. Maybe I will start hosting a link party once a week---let's just see how this first one goes.

My special number right now could be seen as 2 or even 3. It will hopefully grow in years to come so I am not quite sure what my exact number is.

Number one happened within weeks of us getting married. I felt nothing. I wasn't sick, I never showed, and I felt none of the other symptoms as I did with my second and third pregnancies. On June 20th, 2007, I started spotting and called my doctor. They told me not to worry much but to go home and be on bedrest for the day. I met my husband at home and I cried for hours. I knew I was losing my baby. That night, I couldn't stay in the house any longer so we went to my parents for a BBQ they were having with my brother-in-law's family. About halfway through, I went in to the bathroom and my nightmare had come true. I had miscarried at 11 weeks. I quietly went into my parents room and cried. I wont go into more details but I was humiliated when I called my doctor to tell him. That was an infuriating phone call. It took me weeks to feel ok again and I often wondered if I would ever carry a baby full term (a dramatic thought but one that I'm sure any woman would feel after miscarrying before having any other children).

Number two was so special. I had experiences between the miscarriage and this pregnancy that helped me grow in so many ways. She happened that August and was born the next May, one day before her daddy's birthday. I was sick. I felt everything. The nausea was horrible and I had to wear sea bands and take anti-nausea meds to keep anything down. I was sick until about 28 weeks and ironically, at 30 weeks, I was put on bedrest (so 2 weeks of "easiness" the whole pregnancy) for Preeclampsia and stayed on bedrest until 36 weeks, when our beautiful Petey was born via emergency c section. She was a teeny little thing but came full of spunk and sass. We love our special number two.

Number three was a breeze. He happened around Christmas in 2008 and joined our family the next October, exactly a week before my birthday. I felt it but not the same as with Petey. I was never sick and never had any problems. I worked up until the day he was born and planned to have a VBAC but that was the only plan that didn't work, Our handsome little man was born via planned-last-minute-c-section at 39 weeks and was only a pound bigger than his tiny sister had been. He was a dream baby and has always been a happy kid (except for recently when he learned how to throw full blown temper tantrums).

Numbers four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten are still awaiting their time on earth...just kidding. Seriously, I'm kidding.
I am not quite sure what God has in store for our family but I believe that three is not our number. I will be sure to let you know when I feel the right number and then I will make a special post of my very special number.

So what is YOUR special number?

Remember to link up to my post with a post from your own blog (link up by clicking on the link below that says "You are next...click here". It will tell you what to do from there) instead of leaving me a comment (or do both). :) I would love to read your story.

***This link party will close on Sunday, December 5th, 2010***

Monday Madness

If you'll allow me to do a "Weekend Madness" post this week, you will actually get to see some pictures---because I didn't take a single picture today.

Why?

Because one of us is on breathing treatments, the other 2 are sick with sore throats/coughs, and Boss is busy with school. Our house isnt doing too well right now so blogs and picture taking were put on the back burner.

But today, I am here to tell you why I couldn't blog all weekend.

What did Petey and Spidey get to do for the first time last week?

Fly on an airplane!
Where did we go for Thanksgiving?

Snowy, Beautiful, Freezing Alaska!

Why did we go to Alaska?

Because the ASU Sun Devil Basketball team rocks and we love them that much. Seriously. My dad loves them and has taken us to away games on various occasions.

What did I feel like doing today?

Exactly what Petey did during our layover on the way home. Sleep! I lost so much sleep on the flights since they were during the night and I could NOT for the life of me get comfortable on the airplane (maybe because I had 22 pounds of baby attached to the front of me). Seriously---we left to come home after the game on Saturday and I didn't go to sleep until Sunday morning at 6am during a layover.

So there is my Monday/Weekend Madness. Spidey got sick right before we left for home and now we are all sick. The only thing we did today was go to the doctor for my baby boy to get a Decadron shot. Poor little guy...that shot bruises and hurts like crazy. But luckily, he is already doing better because of it!

Hope your Monday Madness was great!

And that's how Suze sees it!

Cork Screw Bows and Leaf Garland

Since the leaf garland tutorial is so easy peasy, I thought I would combine another fun tutorial in there for those of you with little girlies.

Things you will need for the leaf garland:

• fake leaves (I got mine in the $1 section at Target)
• needle and thread

First, I strung each leaf onto the thread, sticking the needle through the leaf in two places so that it fans out and doesn't go sideways.

Then just keep stringing until you have the length that you want. I didn't put my leaves in a pattern but just strung them on randomly.

And then I strung them across under my "GIVE" letters.

Now onto the cork screw bow tutorial. I have loved making these for my daughter!

Things you will need for cork screw bows:

• ribbon (preferably 1/4 in wide)
• metal skewers (I used metal chopsticks...anything oven safe is fine)
• bobby pins or clips (also something oven safe)
• thread
• hot glue gun
• scissors
• alligator clip
• oven

First you want to preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Then start by clipping the ribbon at the top of the metal skewer and wrapping it around the skewer. I wrapped my first few really tight and they were too tight. The second time I did it, I wrapped in an even spiral and they turned out a lot cuter. Cut off the ribbon at the bottom and clip it to the skewer.

Put your ribbon skewers on a pan and put them in the oven for 20 minutes.

When you take them out, let them cool completely before unwrapping them from the skewers.

I cut mine into thirds before making them into a bow. They were each about 3 inches long.

Then line them up, put a piece of string in the center and tie the middle. They will pop out and go every which way which is what makes these bows so cute. I also tied a piece of ribbon in the center to hide the white thread that I used.

Attach it to your alligator clip and you are all set.

And that's how Suze crafts it!

Monday Madness

What was my favorite part of our weekend?

Seeing Papa M snuggle up in his 10 foot long caterpillar watching a movie with his favorite 2 yr old granddaughters.
Who won the messy face award in our house today?

The same winner as every day. :)

What did we bake today?

Technically, we turned the oven to "bake" so we "baked" some cookies. Petey wanted turkey cookies so we bought these and whipped them up in 10 minutes. :)

What made me sad today?

Looking back at this picture I took of Spidey today and realizing that I cant hardly call him my Chubs anymore.

What did I accomplish today?

I finally made the garland for my "GIVE" letters. Tutorial to come.

What are we doing with the couch?

Oh just stocking up for our Arizona winter, of cours---or maybe there is something else. I'll let you know next Monday. :)

What did Petey do after The Real Boss told her not to?

Tried to brush her knotted hair, therefore getting the brush stuck.

What is Spidey's newest trick?

I found him doing this today and was laughing so hard. He breathes out his nose as hard as he can while he does it. I spent a good 5 minutes trying to get him to stop but then just realized that the saying is true. Boys will be boys. :)

I hope your Monday was full of crazy, good madness just as ours was. Happy Thanksgiving! I don't think you'll hear from me til after then so have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Arm Warmers

Do you remember these cute leg warmers I made for Petey for her awesome Halloween costume? They now serve two purpose. Leg warmers---and arm warmers. I found the idea HERE and just knew I had to try them out but we were in a hurry to get to the park so I used a pair I had already sewn into leg warmers and just cut tiny holes for Petey's thumbs. The thumb hole is her favorite part about them. :)

These are perfect for our Arizona winter weather during the day. It gets cool but not freezing so we usually wear light sweaters but I think you'll be seeing a lot more of these on my girly. The only thing I did differently than the tutorial was that Petey's arms are shorter (and actually her legs too, since we originally made these into leg warmers) so I cut the socks right after the heel.

By the way, I apologize for missing Flashback Friday. Did you even notice? :) I'll be missing it this week too with all of the Thanksgiving festivities but possibly it will start back up in December.

And that's how Suze sews it.

Altering a dress shirt

I bought a really cute shirt (technically a dress but too short for my liking so I usually pair it with jeans or leggings) about 6 months ago without trying it on. Brave, I know. I never do that. But it was unusually cheap and I didnt have time to try it on (nor did I have the patience with 2 kids tagging along). I got home and was excited to try it on but was sad when I found out it was extremely tight on my chest.
You see, I do not have a small chest---quite the opposite, actually, so sometimes it's hard for me to find clothes that fit right.
That's where sewing comes in.
I altered my dress and it fits a lot better now! Curious as to how?

Here is the dress. Isnt it cute and sunshiney?
I started by cutting the chest part at the seams so I had 2 pieces. Make sure to keep them attached to the straps so you dont have to worry about sewing that again when you're done.

I found a piece of brown fabric and pinned the edges, with right sides facing each other. I sewed along the line, removing the pins as I went.

Next, I needed to round out the triangles so that the part attaching to the sides of the dress was smaller (because adding the brown meant extra fabric attaching to the side of the dress).

Then, I just pinned the chest parts to the brown fabric, right sides together, and sewed in a straight line and I was done!

I think it looks pretty cute! Still a bit snug but tons better than it was before.

And that's how Suze sews it!

No Sew Fabric Flower

I've seen this done more than once and it was months ago so I don't have a link for credit and I probably didn't do it exactly the way it was originally posted.

I love all things flowered. I love making fabric flowers, felt flowers, bow flowers, etc so I knew I needed to try this one out and see if I liked it.

Start out with a strip of fabric. Mine was approx 4 inches wide and maybe 18 inches long (the length will vary, depending on how thick you want your flower).
Fold the piece of fabric in half and pin it where the edges meet.
Cut slits in the fabric on the folded edge approx 1/2 inch apart.

Tie a knot in one end of the fabric. You can do this before or after you've cut the slits. It wont make much of a difference.

Place a dab of hot glue on the knot and start wrapping your fabric around the knot, placing dots of glue where they need to be to hold the fabric in place.

This is what the bottom will look like as you are wrapping it.

That is really all there is to it. This is my flower all finished and fluffy. I really like the way it turned out.

The back view of the flower.

And what did I do with my flower? Well, I made myself a Moby Wrap almost a year ago and have loved using it but I could never find the middle of the fabric to wrap it evenly. So I made some cute flowers and glued them to the middle of my wrap. Now everytime I go to wrap it, it gets wrapped evenly! Happy momma, happy baby.

Off the subject of fabric flowers, I also hemmed my moby wrap because it was starting to fray and I added another 3 feet to it. Why? Because soon we will be on a plane and I plan on carrying my son in my Moby---but I cant sit for 10 hours with a knot tied right in my back. So I added more fabric and now my Moby ties in the front!

Excuse the cheesy smile, I was trying to get my chubber boy to smile big for the camera.

And that's how Suze crafts it.

Pinching Pennies

Tonight, I went shopping. Not my normal shopping but still shopping.

Normal shopping used to consist of spending large amounts of money on things I want because I can---or could. Normal shopping was Pre-Budget Days.

Now we are Post-Budget Days and I am a smarter person. Really, I am. Ask my husband. He doesn't have to witness me coming home with $100 worth of items we wont ever need and watching our bank account depleat.

I use various websites/books to help me become a more savvy shopper/budgeter.

I heart CVS is a good one. I love using Extra Care Bucks and buying items, only to find money returned to me. Sometimes I even make money...seriously. Go check out that website if you have a CVS nearby.

Money Saving Mom is also a favorite. She tells me what good deals are happening and helps me find what coupons I can use to get the best deals.

We occasionally listen to Davey Ramsey and we own his book. If you need help budgeting, it is worth the money and right now it is on sale for $10! Dave Ramsey has some very important key factors, like using cash for most purchases. We do that so that when the money is gone, it's gone. This has been a HUGE help and has made most of the difference in how I shop. I used to check out at a store, not know how much money was going to be put on my card. It just never mattered...because I knew I had enough money. Now, when I go to the store, I have to add up each item to see if I'm spending over the amount of cash we've allowed. This makes me a smarter shopper...because I am constantly picking things up and wondering if we really need it or if I really want it and then deciding whether to buy it. I used to just throw stuff in the cart and not take a second glance. (as you can see by the size of this paragraph, Dave Ramsey has been our biggest help and is the best tip I can give to a person wanting to save money and budget better)

So tonight I went shopping. I spent $22, got $18 worth of items that were necessity and $4 worth of items that I wanted. Another reason I love Dave Ramsey. He is reasonable. In his budget guidelines, he has put places for eating out and date nights. But we changed our eating out money to money we get to spend by ourselves each month. So I can eat out or I can choose to craft or save up my money each month and buy something I want.

So four of my dollars went towards my kids this month---because next week, we will be on a 10 hour plane ride and I needed some dollar bin items (Thank you, Target!) to occupy my little girl. Please pray that it works and that my kids dont have a scream fest during the plan ride. Ten hours long...

I am no expert but if you need any more tips or help with saving money, I am just a comment away. And if I don't know the answer, I have a genius sister who will. And though she lives in China and cant really use any of her expert tips right now, she can always share them with you so that you can use them.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Monday Madness

Welcome to my Monday Madness. Today was---busy, exhausting, happy, productive, lazy.

What was staring me down today?

The evil dishes. I took the weekend off from doing them and this is what I got in return. And yes, the dishwasher was fully loaded and running at this time. I washed the rest of the dishes by hand because I couldn't stare at them any longer.


What change did we make in our home?



Petey is back in the crib after a month of being in her big girl bed. 6:30 mornings just werent doing it for me and refusing to take naps wasn't doing it for her---so we're back in the crib and loving our new-old routine. It's not a bad thing in my eyes and it wasnt a punishment for her (she actually thought it was a "new bed" again and was way excited to sleep in it...apparently she has memory loss from a month ago), it's just better right now. She did great in the big girl bed and we'll get back there someday.

Who was orange today?



Well, Spidey, of course. The boy was in an orange shirt, he has an orange nose (due to all the veggies we feed him...isn't that funny?), and he had sweet potatoes all over his face.

What did I accomplish today?

A baby shower gift for a friend of mine. Her baby girl is going to look adorable in these bows.

What was my theme treat?

Apparently, marshmellows, though I didn't realize it until the end of the day. I sat down and drank hot chocolate after the kids went down for a nap---because I can---and because I needed it. I had a horrible headache today and have been overly exhausted lately.

And we made rice krispie treats to take to my parents house for FHE.

What made me smile today?

My brother requesting to hold my son. Spidey was squirming and pushing away from him and Wilbur-force was getting worried that he was going to fall. They finally both stayed still long enough for a cute picture.

How was your Monday?

And that's how Suze sees it.

Flashback Friday

Meet [one of ] my best friend[s].

My brother, Wilbur-force, is one of the coolest kids you will ever meet. I have known this kid for 13 years---yes, he is 13 years old---but I didn't meet him as a newborn. Because he is just special that way.
Wilbur-force wasn't like his other 5 siblings (all girls). We all came out of our mom's tummy. Wilbur-force was picked. If you ask him where he came from, he'll say, "Under a rock." or "From a strange world." because he has aquired my sarcasm and humor.
He reminds me of me.
I have heard probably 100 times that he looks like me---and yet, we share no genes.
Wilbur-force and I shared a bedroom for many years---because I was just that lucky.
Wilbur-force conquered (and I do mean conquered) a stroke when he was born. He has to work hard every day to use the left side of his body. But he does it. Because Wilbur-force is strong.
Wilbur-force has always loved me unconditionally. When things were rough in high school, he was always there at the end of the day to give me a kiss. When I moved out of my house, I broke his heart. When I came back, he was happier than I've ever seen. I know I affected him and though I'll always regret that, it makes me love him even more to know that he never gave up on me.
When I got married, Wilbur-force was probably a foot shorter than me. He is now 4 1/2 inches taller.

I know you wish he was your brother. But he's mine. And he always will be. As of 12 years ago on Halloween, Wilbur-force is a part of our family for eternity.

I think we got the luckier end of the deal.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Tutorial Tuesday

Today I got brave.
Petey has a dress (that she now wears as a shirt) that I absolutely love---all except for one thing. The sleeves have always been way too tight. And not just because she is 2 1/2 and wearing a size 12 mo dress. They were tight when she was 12 months old wearing the dress too.
So today I decided that I would fix the sleeves and make her shirt/dress more comfortable to wear.

This is what the sleeves looked like before I did anything to them.
I thought about cutting the sleeves to get the elastic out but I'm glad I didnt. I picked the seam and took the elastic out instead. That way, the sleeves would stay the same length.

I folded the raw edges back up and sewed the sleeve exactly on the seam where it had been.

I am lazy. You probably know that. I had white thread in the machine and decided not to change it (because I hate changing the thread and bobbin). I figured white thread would be cute and outline the sleeves a bit.

Well, next time, I'll change the thread. :) But that's ok. They still look pretty good.

Petey dressed herself a couple of weeks ago and this is exactly the outfit she put on. I actually loved the orange tank top over the red dress so now I usually put the two together. Who would've thought my 2 yr old would be teaching me fashion tips? :)

And that's how Suze sews it.

Monday Madness

What did we learn today?

Petey and Cousin learned about the letter 'A'. We sang a song about 'A', played some games, and glued pompom balls to a letter 'A' for each of them to have. Later in the day, my girly made me so proud when she came and pointed to my shirt and said, "Mom, there's an 'A' on your shirt." And she was right! Ive been slacking on Tot School and wanted to started it back up so we started today and all week, we will be focusing on the letter 'A'.
What was a precious moment today?

Spidey and Cousin cuddling on the princess couch, watching a movie. I have no idea what my son is doing in the picture but it's the best one I got.

What was I thankful for today?

Two kids with the cutest curly hair. I love their hair right after baths when it's going all over the place.

What looked adorable today?

My kids in footed sleeper pajamas. I LOVE them---and can you believe Petey fits into her size 18mo footed pj's from last Christmas and they're actually a bit loose? Seriously!

Footed pajames are the best!

Did you have an eventful Monday? Comment if you stop by. I'd love to hear how your Monday was.

And that's how Suze sees it.