The kids are in bed, sound alseep. I’m tired and ready to call it a day. Their clothes are laid out and ready for the next day. Haven’s pants are hemmed and ready. Five loaves of bread have been baked and are cooling on the counter. The kids lunch bags are sitting out and ready to be packed first thing in the morning. I made two sandwich fillings and tossed them in the fridge for  the kids to choose from in the morning when we pack their lunches. The picture above has nothing to do with anything whatsoever, except that I just really liked it. A load of laundry is whirring away in my washing machine. There are five more loads waiting to be done. The garbage needs to be taken out, it’s on the verge of overflowing. The dishwasher needs to be unloaded. My sink is full of dirty dishes. I have no feelings of urgency about any of those kitchen facts. I have to prepare for the class I am teaching for Relief Society on Wednesday, and I am not one bit ready. I am completely out of cereal. My kids had a wonderful first day of school. Gracen told me she is so excited that she gets to go to school “every day!”. Silly girl. Haven and Gracen kept their room clean today with little effort. I made chicken tortellini soup tonight for supper and there were no leftovers, it was gone in a flash. Finn only had a 15 minute nap today but was only nominally grumpy because of it. Ciel had a good first day. The garden is still overflowing with yummy home grown goodness. I have a fun book on my nightstand I am going to pick up and read tonight. And I am off to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a another busy day.

…and then painted this toddler bed for Gracen to match.

the toddler bed is only temporary fix until we get our tax return nest year, then we will buy Gracen a twin size bed as well. Until then, a few cans of paint were a cheap and easy “re-fresher” for the previously red, then black metal framed toddler bed. It’s all about making do with what you have, isn’t it? Now to make their quilts and some curtains for their room and to figure out a good way to help the girls keep their room neat and orderly. Seriously they have the “problem” room in the house. It is the bane of my existence. See this…

…it all came from their room. And it’s all bound for donation at the local thrift store. Even sadder is the fact that the pile of garbage bags from their room number the same. * sigh* There has to be a better way.

My living room is the other “problem” room in my house, but for a different reason. It’s totally blah. In a fit of frustration I re-arranged it one night, and I like the results, but I am currently fighting with my insane desire to paint the walls some bold color to try and give the room some life. Seriously, it’s a huge, boring, cavern with plain white walls, a cream couch, and cream carpet. Blah. And the room is also in dire need of some wall hangings or something. It desperately needs something that makes it look less vanilla/crummy. I am also trying to decide if I should paint the changing table and glider. Not sure if both of those projects are going to turn into a nightmare or not. The potential for that to happen is always there when you are dealing with laminated wood (changing table) and lots of spokes/spindles (glider). Add to that the constant desire I have to deep-six half the toys in our basement playroom, and I am feeling like a crazy woman these days. Not to mention all of the little outfits, diapers, and blankets/quilts I am still (stupidly) hoping to sew before our little one arrives in less than 14 weeks. I am hoping that I will be able to get more done once the kids start school, but I’m worried I will be swamped with too many other distractions to get to all of this and I won’t get anything crossed off of my list. All I can do is try, right?

Yesterday morning was the “Meet n’ Greet” at the elementary school, so we headed over (me, Noah, Haven, Mathes and Gracen) to find their classrooms and to see which of their friends would be in their class. They loved meeting their new teachers, along with getting in a few hugs and hello’s from favorite teachers from years past. I love that they have so many happy and familiar faces greeting them everyday here and that we know almost everyone there. I just love their school. Later that afternoon it was Finn’s turn to meet his preschool teacher where he had his picture taken for his class book, he picked out an “F” shape to go with his name (he chose ‘fish’ over ‘frog’ and ‘flower’), and even told her which color is his favorite. Blue. He seems to really like his teacher, and I think he is going to have a great time with his class. We are feeling much more prepared for school to start now, and almost all of the apprehension my kids were feeling about their new classes and teachers is gone. They are really getting excited for Monday to come, even Mathes. He is my toughest sell on why school is even necessary, so I am glad to see he is ready to go and have fun.

Summer is in it’s final days at our house. The start of school looms but a week away, the garden is at it’s peak and gushing daily baskets that are overflowing with it’s goodness, the days are still hot but the nights are ever cooler, school clothes and supplies have been shopped for and are at the ready, the last bits of travel and camping have all been done, and the first bits of canning and preserving have started to creep in. Fall is just around the corner, I can feel it. And my days are about to drastically change. In a week’s time, things are going to get very quiet around here. Very. Quiet. All of my children will be in school. Gone all day, except for Finn who will be going two mornings a week for preschool. My house has never been this empty before. I intend to put the quiet time to good use and make sure that it is time well spent with Finn and the baby. He is going to need a little extra help getting used to the new situation and upcoming change in his family ranking, so this will be good. Very, very quiet, but good. Now if I could just get myself to my sewing table and some more projects done, I might feel more prepared for this baby as well.

Craig and I cannot decide on a name for this baby. We have settled on the middle names. Kind of. Maybe. But we can’t seem to pick “the” name. We have a list of the few names we agree on and we will most likely be choosing a name from said list once the baby is born, so I am currently looking for inspiration everywhere I can to add to it. Not that it’s a very big list. Adding to my dilemma, one of my kids ran off with, and then lost my best/favorite baby name book, leaving me with a very awful and un-inspirational copy of “Names For the 90’s”. Um yeah, it’s pretty bad. Seriously, really, really bad. So I am looking elsewhere like books, tv, movies, and online. I’ve even gleaned a few gems courtesy of Charles Dickens. Thank you very much classic literature. So wish us luck. We need it. And throw any name suggestions our way if you feel like it. Or not. You might be suffering from the same baby-name-brain-freeze that Craig and I seem to be afflicted with at the moment. Oh well.

The glider is in excellent shape, but in need of a serious make over as it looks pretty dated. And the cushion covers are blue. Nothing a few cans of paint and some new fabric can’t fix.

And the changing table is exactly what I wanted, with lots of storage and only in need of a nice soft changing pad and some storage baskets for the shelves. I am toying with the idea of painting it and changing out the knobs, but I’m just not sure yet. So the only big thing left on my baby shopping list now is an infant car seat, since the one we had for Gracen and Finn expired last November. Other than that, I am feeling so much better about being prepared. Now if I can just get my sewing table cleared off enough to get to the rest of my baby projects.

I also whipped up a bunch of burp cloths since they are such a necessity, especially during those first few months. When I had my first baby oh so many years ago, I found myself always grabbing a spare receiving blanket for most spit ups and burps, I liked that they were thin enough to really mop up the mess without being too bulky and I always seemed to have several close at hand. Several babies into motherhood and I began to see all of those cute burp cloths women were making using gorgeous plush fabrics, two layers thick, and embellished with lots of cute trims and what not, all  under the guise of being more absorbent and super soft to use on your baby. Even though I secretly felt that these were really made for the mom to look cute and posh as her baby threw up on her, I still bought into it and started in making some for my 6th and then 7th baby. Using chenille and minky I stitched up a bunch of them, adding oodles of trim, ribbon, decorative stitching and more, and had them all ready to use before each of those babes was born. They looked so pretty and expensive as if I had been shopping all along at some high end boutiques. And guess what. I hated them. They were too thick and awkward and didn’t do any better at cleaning up the baby or guarding from accidents than the single layer of flannel on those old receiving blankets I used to reach for constantly in the beginning. So all of my hard work was for naught as those plush burp cloths ended up getting shoved to the side as I again grabbed what really worked, and the fancy-shmancy burp cloths were given to my girls instead to be used as fancy-shmancy blankets for their dolls and stuffed animals.

So for this baby I have resisted the urge to sew up any more of those plush, expensive looking and useless wastes of time and fabric in favor of something that I will not only use, but that will actually work for my intended purpose.

Using some prints from my stash, I cut the flannel into easy to handle sizes I would use, rounded the corners, serged the raw edges and I was done. These will easily drape over my shoulder, on my lap, and can still mop up any messes on or around the baby. This is what works for me, and I am happy with my utilitarian ways. I prefer “practicality”over “posh” any day.

So far I have made two skirts from that pattern along with yet another jeans-to-skirt refashion only this time I added a stretchy panel to make it maternity worthy. I have worn all of these to church and well as around the house, they are all so comfy and have been perfect for beating the heat.

This skirt was the prototype, and also the one that made me realize just how important it can be to add lining to a skirt. The first time I wore it was to a family party earlier this month, and it drove me crazy as I continually flashed anyone and everyone as it constantly crept up in the front as I walked no matter what I did. Needless to say, I have since added lining to this skirt, and made sure to add it to the next one as well as I sewed it.

This one is my favorite as I not only love the print but the fabric for both the skirt and stretchy panel were both only $1 a yard, so this skirt cost me about $2 to make. Score! These first two skirts hit me just at the bottom of my kneecap and I like to wear the front of the panel right right under the bottom curve of my belly so that the skirt fits like I’m pregnant and not like I’m just fat. Such an awkward stage of pregnancy isn’t it.

And of course I re-purposed a pair of too-short jeans for yet another skirt. Although it looks much lighter in this pic, it’s actually a very dark wash which looks great dressed up or down, and I have worn this one the most. I love it. The stretchy panel is long enough to wear it pulled up over my little belly, or folded down like a demi panel, whichever suits my mood at the moment. It’s also able to accommodate my tummy as it expands over these next few weeks, because there is definitely going to be a lot of expanding in the next little while. But that’s good, and expected, so no complaints.

*I found some great tutorials on several different blogs, offering some cool ideas and tips to help make a maternity skirt, and all I had to do was google it and I had no end of places to browse.