baby time

For the last few weeks, my doctor was increasingly monitoring our baby's growth. there were several signs of growth restriction that they were a little concerned about. my weight gain had stopped, the fluid levels were low, the placenta was showing abnormal calcification and then finally in the last week, our baby's weight and measurements were showing that he was having to compensate for these things. on tuesday after my ultrasound, our doctor advised that i be induced either that night or the next morning. we chose to go in on wednesday. after my initial freak-out that i didn't feel at All ready to have our baby  2 1/2 weeks early, andrew helped me get a grip and by wed. am i felt very much at peace and excited to meet our little guy. :)

still smiling while waiting for the pitocin to fully kick in...

and 6 hours later.....little Benjamin Andrew Schmidt was born

He weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 19inches long

I promise to post more pictures soon. :)

madeline

here's a picture of my little girl who is a devoted lover of luggage, accessories and babies...

"chevron" curtains complete

So...i would not have had a clue what "chevron" meant until i saw this post on MADE today. Afterward i felt pretty cool that i just happened to have hung my curtains with the very same "chevron" pattern that she featured without knowing how very cool they were. Amazing how one person i don't even know can bring such confirmation of coolness. :)

Anyway! here's a couple pictures:

Like i mentioned before, the fabric is made by Premier prints and bought from fabric.com.

Even though this was the 2nd pair of lined curtains i've sewn and the whole process did go much more quickly and definitely without as many headaches, i still see that i could never do it professionally...i just can't make myself measure and cut precisely or even close to precisely. There's just so much freedom in "winging" it that i don't think i could ever give that up... However, if i could get my super precise, ultra-organized, mathematical, analytical and detail-oriented husband to do all the measuring and cutting we might be on to something...

"God's Blue" :)

here's the after of the paint color!

Nursery Update- PAINT

When Andrew came home from his 4-day trip last week and looked in the baby's room he wondered if i had decided to do some kind of patch work quilt technique on the walls. I think i counted 10 different colors i tried and about 7 of those were variations on blue. i had bought several samples of colors i had seen in magazines or on blogs or just from paint swatches, my mom and sis had lent me some colors they had tried or had left-overs from and i even mixed 2 different shades of blue myself. Let me tell you, i was HATING paint by the time he got home. Finally i decided on one of my personally mixed colors, painted it on a piece of cardstock and took it to Lowes to color match. Andrew had very definitely warned against mixing my own color but as i didn't have any other ones i liked i took the risk and bought a gallon. Sure enough, Andrew was right to mistrust the whole process because the color in the can was a COMPLETELY different color from what i had mixed myself. We decided to use it anyway and....I LOVE it! So, I'm calling it "God's Blue" because evidently He knew He needed to stop the madness and just give me the color i needed before i went crazy. :)

Sorry i don't have an after picture of the paint color. Andrew took the camera to an airshow today...
But, here are a few more recent buys:

1. 1 gallon of paint w/ $5 rebate! - -------------------------------$20.00
2. curtain rod/ rings/ hooks from BBB w/ a $10 off coupon-------------- $30.00
3. lamp shade (the one i recovered) from Target------------------------$12.00
4. velcro, duckcloth, fusible interfacing for various projects-------------$9.00
5. Red polka dot fabric used partly for the lamp shade -----------------$8.00

Total: $ 79.00

lamp shade recovered

 Well, even though this weekend has been a bit of a bummer with Andrew on a trip, the kids and i sick and AND it being a holiday weekend, i decided to try and accomplish something for the baby's room during naptime today. I was actually really looking forward to this project because i was sure it would be super easy and produce quick and wonderful results...well, it wasn't terribly difficult but i maybe should have taken the time to read a tutorial online because it wasn't as easy and quick as i thought. But here are some pictures for ya.

Supplies needed: 1 lamp shade (found this one at Target on sale!, fabric, spray adhesive, hot glue gun and scissors.

1. Cut your fabric about 2 inches wider than your lamp shade. i failed to cut mine quite wide enough and it made it a little more difficult. Plus, a printed fabric i found is a bit trickier to keep the pattern straight.

2. Next shake your spray adhesive and then gradually spray it on lamp shade and apply fabric as you go.

3. This is where i ran into the most trouble. Since the shade is slightly tapered the fabric didn't lay flat and even. In order to get rid of the bunch in the middle i decided to cut the fabric and start a new piece. Make sure you try to avoid too much overlap since once a light bulb is on you'll be able to see the overlap very well (found this out after project!)

4. Line up your second piece of fabric as closely as you can, spray and continue to smooth your fabric down as you go. it helps to kind of pull on the sides to keep it even and flat.

5. Once you're done you can then trim off some excess fabric from the top and bottom. i left about a 1/2 inch all around.

6. With the hot glue gun,  apply a small amount of glue to the inner rim and under the lip of the shade and gradually fold and press the fabric over the edge and into the little lip of the shade. i made small cuts where the the metal frame work attached to the shade.

All done! Now i need to decide what color to spray the lamp pole.

the baby's room is......not finished

Well, August has officially come and gone... there are several reasons my goal of getting the baby's room done by the end of August was unsuccessful. Here are three:

These 2 innocent little cupcakes are probably the #1 reason. They have put everything i ever i thought i knew about parenting to the test...good grief, these girls can push boundaries and try my patience- especially at naptime and bedtime. I never thought i would have to employ so many different techniques to keep them in their room! But don't worry, they easily make up for it in their adorable sweetness other times of the day. :)

 Here's the second reason. 5 yr.olds have needs too- even if they are a little less complex like just needing "a HUGE underduck outside"

And lastly, although in many ways it doesn't feel real that we're going to have a new baby in about 5 weeks, i do feel the realness in my joints and back and lack of energy in general. :)

However, progress is being made! I think i might finish the curtains this week and i am hoping to choose a paint color this week as well!