a future pro?

Carter and Caitlyn earned a bowling trip and Wendy and I were finally able to take them. They had a lot of fun and I think we may have a future pro on our hands. (and maybe a trend setter with that awesome Spider Man bandaid on his forehead! Nelly may have thought it was cool to wear a band aid on his cheek--but he was way off. Carter has the style down.) I'm just sayin'...check it out for yourself on the video.

boys are cute too

I know it's going to be so fun to dress a baby girl but man if I was having another boy, I would for sure be keeping these onsies and not be giving them away! And I would be making a bunch more of the tie ones, tell me that isn't so cute!!

Finally it's done!

Remember when I was almost done with projects? Then I realized I had to switch rooms around for the baby. Sean was really excited about this. We took everything out of the workout room and turned half the garage into the new gym. Carter is now residing in his new room; he wanted to decorate with cars. I pretty much had everything on hand, revamped a few things, and bought only a couple of things for the room. The best news was that the room was already painted a grey/blue color so there was no need to repaint!!! I am pretty excited about how it turned out, but the best part is hearing Carter singing in his room "I love my new room, it's the best room ever, my mom made it for me, I love my new room, it's totally awesome."

Get ready for some pictures...

1. I had this picture of my dad, uncle, and great Uncle Johnny in New York in front of some old cars. I blew it up, printed it out, and painted a frame I already had red and there you have it.
2. Carter made sure I took a picture of his new garbage can. He throws everything away in it, even if we are in another room and he has something to throw away he runs to his room.
3. Sean bought this light while he was working/living in Louisiana last year. I painted it red to match the room.
4. Carter really wanted a clock in his room. My mom gave me one she had that was yellow. I painted it red and cut out the car pictures from scrap material and glued them on the clock. I also painted the picture frame below the clock to match.
5. I made the checkered banner for Carter's birthday party and it was the perfect length of one of the walls in his room. The curtains were the ones already in the room. I just glued on some Cars chipboard pieces that I already had to help tie them in.
6. Carter has been asking for his own quilt for awhile now, after watching me make some for his cousins. He loves his that I finally finished for him!
7. I used extra material/ribbon to create a picture board in the room.
8. When Sean and I got married we started collecting license plates from the places we traveled. Perfect for Carter's car room.
9. I bought the two middle signs from Hobby Lobby for 5 bucks, Sean brought the bigger signs home from work. Hensel Phelps is the company Sean works for.
10. My mom bought this trunk for me when I went to college--perfect for holding all of Carter's trucks.
11. A close-up of the quilt and the embroidery work on it.
12. This is my dresser from high school.
13. This might be my favorite part of the whole room. My mom found this Cars piece of material and I bought the wood from Home Depot for 4 bucks and made a frame for it, all by myself!! I bought the tool chest from a garage sale and keep toys in it.
14. The view from the doorway.

I heart my boys

Sean was able to have the WHOLE weekend off for the first time in a long time. So we took advantage of it and headed up north to the family cabin. I LOVED watching Carter fishing with his Daddy.

The results are in...

When the doctor told us what we are having, Carter said, "I was right!!!"



That's right folks, we're having a baby GIRL!!!

Cast your Vote!

We go to the doctor tomorrow to find out what we are having. Carter is still sure the baby is "Rose." I think it's a girl too, but I think that is mostly because of how sure Carter is! So we have two votes for a girl so far. What do you think?

Gila Valley Temple Open House

Carter and I went with my family to the Gila Valley Temple Open House this weekend. It was so great to be with Carter inside the temple (it only would have been better if Sean could have been there!) and talk about why we have temples and answer his questions while in the temple. Carter has an amazing memory so I hope this is one experience he remembers for a long time.



**For more information on temples and why our church builds them, here is a short video:

Table Redo

My SIL Steph, gave me her old kitchen table and bench. (I already painted the bench red and added it to our current kitchen table). Here is a before and after of what I did with the table. (well the before isn't a true before, I had already put the first coat of primer on the top when I remembered to take a picture--but you get the idea)
It is the perfect sewing table now! Our house doesn't have much storage space and with the baby on the way I had to clean out my craft stuff from the baby room closet. So where to put it all? I painted the table black and then attached Velcro to the material to the table and put all my craft stuff under it!! Very accessible, all in one spot, but hidden! It has been so nice to sew and not have to move everything off my kitchen table for dinner and put the machine in a closet. I LOVE it. Thanks again Steph!

For the unbelievers out there

the proof is in the photo. the baby bump exists.

**photo courtesy of carter

Happy Birthday Carter!

Carter has been going to some birthday parties lately so for his birthday he really wanted a party. He wanted a car party and a pinata. Everyone took a turn hitting the pinata then it was back to Carter. He kept hitting it and all the kids would run in when candy dropped out. It was a great system. Carter only cared about hitting the pinata and the kids only cared about the candy! We had fun decorating bikes and going on a "bike parade." Amazing, how a group of 10 4 year olds can really tire you out!!

P.S. Can you spy my baby bump in the pictures above? I am 4 months now and definitely showing. (click on the picture to enlarge it)

quilts

I gave Carley and Tanner their birthday quilts last month. Carley wanted bright colors and animal print. Tanner wanted zebra print and sports. I am really loving my embroidery machine for the quilts. Now I just have Carter's quilt to make--don't think I'll have it done in time for his birthday, which is in 3 days, since I haven't even started it yet!!

I think he likes him

(Above) This is how Carter went to sleep last night, in Buddy's bed that we bought him.

Meet the newest member...

Carter got an early birthday present today and named him Buddy.

To run, or not to run

When I did this triathlon in November 2009 I was 6 weeks pregnant. This run was seriously killing me. My SIL Marlee (in the black and yellow) ran with me the whole time and really pushed me to run faster. We had a goal of passing that guy right behind me, I didn't think I could do it, but I finally did. Katie (in the white and blue) joined up with us at the end and helped me finish. I could really feel the effects of being pregnant. I was cramping and extra tired during the triathlon. I had already signed up for a relay race in February. But after this triathlon, I dropped out. 3 weeks later I had a miscarriage. So I was now back in the relay race and really started training hard for it. One month later I found out I was pregnant again. I was placed on "moderate activity" by the doctor. No running. So I had to drop out of the race, again. I am happy to report that I did not have to rejoin the race again. Baby Rose (according to Carter!) will be here in September.

Projects!

I've been busy the last two months with a few projects around the house and gifts. It's been fun, but I am excited to finish one more quilt and be done with projects (yeah, right!)

1. made some burp cloths

2. made an apron for a niece

3. made a cover for some storage in the garage

4. revamped a bench my SIL gave me for my kitchen table

5. revamped the top of my hutch after 7 years of the same stuff, it was time for a change!

Gonna brag, just a little

Carter's training wheels were all bent, so when Sean got home from work this morning, instead of fixing them he just took them off and told Carter to try it without his training wheels. Sean gave him a quick lesson before he tried it on his own, and I held the back of his bike for about 5 seconds and he has been on his own all morning. No crashes yet! I am so amazed with this 3 year old! The best part, was seeing Carter's face and how proud he was of himself! LOVE that kid.

How to have fun at Wal-Mart

As a general rule I typically try to avoid Wal-mart. However, when we are in Sierra Vista, with my Mom, we have to make an appearance there, kind of as a general rule. Our trip last week to see Spencer and Marlee was no exception! But Carter taught us a few ways to have lots of fun in Wal-Mart.

Step 1: Get in the cart and pile all of the bolts of material on top of the cart. Then insist that everyone call you "Jack" (the hamster) and feed you crackers through the "cage."

Step 2: Lay all the bolts of material across the cart and then lay on top of them. Make whoever is with you pull you around making the sound "whoooo wooo" as you take your patient to the hospital, while the patient lays on the ambulance bed.
Follow these steps and you are sure to have a fun time at your local Wal-mart.

I told you I was serious

What did I give at the baby shower I went to today?


An embroidered baby blanket and onsie.

knitting with paige

My sister Amy and I went to a knitting class tonight. Paige, came over to fix my row for me. I borrowed Amy's tide stick, to remove a stain. Paige was not happy about this.

Thanks for teaching me how to knit Paige, I believe I will knit a scarf that will make you proud. Sorry for being off task. But I'm more sorry that I didn't look in a mirror after 1pm today.

I know what I will make you...

Baby gifts?
Wedding gifts?
Birthdays?

Embroidered, embroidered, embroidered!

Yep, that will be my staple gift from here on out, just tellin' you now.


I got an embroidery sewing machine for Christmas. I am LOVING the possibilities with this thing. Think of all I can do with the quilts I have been making for my nieces and nephews. I have two to complete in the next 2 months! I can't wait to get started on them. I went to the class yesterday to learn how to use the machine and here is my first project I made today! Carter wanted his own towel, so we embroidered a snail on one and a fish on another for him. So fun!