My Awesome Mom

So...My mom is a creative genius!! Look at this precious little hat that she made!! From the moment that I took it out of the box My Little B didn't take it off!! Check out my Etsy store to see more!

Today's post is going to be all about my mom. She taught me everything that I know about being a crafter and being a great mom!!

Today has been rough. B will be 3 soon, as you all can see from the day ticker to the right of my blog. (How fun??!!! I love it!) I am beginning to think that those moms who told me that 3 years old is tougher than 2 might have known what they were talking about!!!

Well, you would never know it by looking at this sweet face (Cheek full of grapes that she wouldn't chew and swallow), but My B has been a wild child for the last couple of days. Did you ever watch a child misbehaving and think, "That parent should get control of their child!" or "When I have kids they will never act like that!" ....yeah...so did I...and today that kid was my kid!

So I'm thinking a lot of my mom today, because (obviously) I lived to past puberty, and until now I never knew how much restraint that must have taken on her part!!! For the last 3 days B has been testing me on all of the rules that I thought we had down.

Pray for me all you moms out there!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!! I promise, I am saying a prayer for you every time I almost scream @$#&*^%*(^*. And it's working. As you can see, B still has hair. (Hair that isn't in a ponytail or brushed or anything because she "Don't want it brushed!!!") and I didn't have the energy for another fight. Bless you mom! I remember saying that same thing to you! I also remember sneaking out of my room at night to see what you and Daddy were watching on TV, and holding grapes in my mouth until they were all warm and squishy! Oh...and cutting up that letter that you got from your best friend!! The scissors were just right there, and I just hadn't developed the self control to fight the temptation! (I Love you Mom)

My awesome Mother has been crocheting her fingers off as well! Ever since my Etsy page has taken off so well she has been throwing in items to help out! All of the shoulder bags on my website were made by my mom! She's amazing.

This little hat and poncho set is something that she finished up just yesterday! How gorgeous!! Doesn't it just look like a ray of sunshine on a chilly day?? Whose little girl wouldn't look adorable in something like that?!

Now here is about the coolest thing I think I've seen so far!! This is a reversable and extremely versatile item! It is a poncho for a little girl to be worn either side out, turtle neck, or folded down as you see in the picture, but it is also a perfect little skirt! Absolutely adorable to layer over a pair of tights or leggings on a chilly day!

My mom is a Genius!! She is why I am creative. Who am I kidding, she is why I am anything that I am. You are blessed Mamma. I love you.

Proverbs 31:28 Her children rise up and call her blessed, Her husband also and he praises her.

The Day After The Colic Frolic!

So here is my darling little E Bug wearing his Daddy's hat! Kristin took the picture, she was so kind to avoid showing the pile of laundry on my table!! (I promise it's not the same pile as yesterday) We do sit at the table for every single meal...it's just (and I'm sure that all mothers of multiple toddlers understand perfectly)no matter how often you do laundry...there is always always always laundry to be done!! It's a beautiful day when your dining table is covered with clean laundry as opposed to your hallway being impassable because of a pile of dirty laundry!! LOL

I think that maybe his eyes will be green like mine. Isn't he a beautiful kid?!!
L...the one who started the uproarious night that we had last night, was still mighty fussy today, but the bath really cheered him up. He had a great time!! He just chilled out, leaned back, and crossed his legs! (Check out his funny little toes!!)

And Kristin(Aunt KiKi) caught the smile! You all should hear the belly laugh that goes along with that darling little smile and bald head!

And, last but not least, here is "Cranky Pants" AKA Little B just waking up from her nap today.

Today was one of those days where there was only one set of footprints in the sand, I'll tell you that much! (Footprints in the Sand Poem)

Jeremiah 16:19 Oh Lord, My strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction.

Colic Frolic

Tonight I'm feeling kind of crabby
Although my life is not that shabby

My children three have worn me out
I may just join them. Sit and shout.

I've cried and laughed and laughed and cried
I've tried, and given up, and tried

I layed them down to sleep at seven
and here it is almost eleven

Not only are they still awake
They shake and scream and scream and shake

I think their tummies are in pain
I see them roll and push and strain

And now you'll find their mommy crying
I cannot fix it, but I'm trying

Blah!

Ok...so the wool diaper cover that I made before...yeah. Not going to work out. It was horrible to put on and didn't fit around the legs properly. I didn't like how it stayed tied. It didn't come untied, it just looked like I had synched it around my infant...Not what I was hoping for.



So, I tried something new! Funny!!! I love it. My friend Brandi (an amazing photographer)made the request and I thought I'd give it a shot.



As far as the other diaper cover, I think I'm going to tweak it and make it into a soaker. I'll post pictures when I'm done. It should be recognizable.

Designed with love by my sweet friend/serrogate sister, Kristin. She surprised me with this on HER BIRTHDAY!!

Finished Product

Here it is with the buttons!! I can hardly wait for a picture of the birthday girl!!

Birthday Dress Project

One of my projects today was a little dress for my friend Kristin's daughter K who is turning 2 in just a few days! I made it a little like a pillowcase dress...only I didn't start with a pillowcase. I found a fabric remnant for next to nothing at the store the other day and thought

"I wonder if I could make a little dress" So...here's the story. I didn't have a pattern or anything, I just started with a piece of fabric. I pressed it and cut the edges as straight as possible, sewed it into a loop and hemmed one end(the bottom). Then I pressed and hemmed the top to prepare for elastic. I put elastic more than halfway around leaving a straight front(to crochet on) then I set out crocheting the bodice! I am going out to get some cute buttons tomorrow morning, but this is close to the finished project back and front.

The buttons will go on the bodice and both the halter and the flowers will button on. That will make the halter adjustable and I can make some matching flower barrettes to go along!!

I will post a picture of it on the birthday girl as soon as I get one!!

Wool Diaper Cover

So...it may or may not work, but I finished my first wool diaper cover!!! I will be lanolizing it tonight! I am very excited to try it and tweak it a little to make it perfect. It isn't a soaker...as you can see...it's just a cover. I decided to try these first because it is so extremely hot here and it is the middle of summer!

Hey, if any of you have actually tried wool soakers and/or diaper covers, I would like your feedback on how this one looks. I'm flying a bit blind here. I had one mom tell me that she wouldn't personally ever buy a wool soaker that tied shut. She prefers a drawstring. I would love to know your opinions. Would you buy a wool soaker that tied, buttoned, or had elastic in it? Is drawstring the only way to go? Let me know.

The Greatest Weekend

So, Friday morning B and E had a dentist appointment. It was B's second dentist appointment and she did really really well. We had just watched an episode of Sid the Science Kid that was about teeth! (If you haven't seen that show, I highly recommend it. It is really informative and fun for kids.) B did great.
It was E's first dentist visit and he still did pretty well. He didn't want to open his mouth. LOL! The dentist had to practically pry his mouth open with a gloved finger! I was terrified that E would bite him! Thank Heaven he didn't! All in all it went pretty well. We went ot McDonald's for lunch as a treat and then made it home in time for nap. (Crochet time for Mama!!)

Friday evening my sister, who I haven't seen in close to a year, came to visit!!! She brought her two kids. N is about to be 3. He is 3 months younger than my Little B and 10 months older than E Bug, and S is 6 months old, exactly 2 weeks older than my L. Needless to say, living far apart, we hadn't gotten to meet the youngest additions to eachothers families. Mom and Daddy got to come for the weekend too. It was a wonderful wonderful wonderful few days.
Here is a picture of my sweet sister(Crystal)
Here's my Daddy aka PawPaw holding S with L in the background. (Just look at the beautiful babies and ignore the laundry that's flowing over the edge of the kitchen table!)
What a wonderful time!


Crystal brought me the biggest surprise! When we were kids we saved and saved and saved to buy a dollhouse kit. We ran a lemonade stand and babysat and all number of little jobs to get enough money. Mom and dad covered tax and we bought it!! We came right home and started putting it together, but it became more and more evident that it would require adult assistance and there just wasn't time. I thought that it had been lost or destroyed in a move or something, but unbeknownst to me, when Crystal found out that I was expecting a baby girl she asked for the kit from my mom and dad. She took it home and started builing it(again). It was very involved. She even had to mold her own bricks out of the mortar mix that they provided and the shingles for the roof were all in a bag...etc. Long story short, she finished it and brought it to go in Little B's room! The kids love it. They have already spent countless hours playing with it and we don't even have furniture in it yet! The picture is of N, Crystal's oldest. :) What a cutie!!



The next few days were spent crocheting, visiting, eating good food and having fun! Crystal actually kept the kids one evening so that John and I could go out! We have had a sitter come before, but no one has ever told us..."Just go and don't hurry. Don't worry about a thing. If I need you, I'll call you. Take as long as you like! Be sure to see a movie and eat dinner!!!" It was so amazing! It was like having a glimpse of life before kids. So worry free! What a refreshing reprieve! Thank you SuperSis!!

Jenga!

So...life as a mom is like a game of Jenga. You know what needs to be done, but in order to do it there are 10 other things that need to be done first! I'm sure that life would run much more smoothly with just a little sleep!! LOL (Please tell me it will!)

Today was day 3 of cloth diapering E, and it is going great! I am doing much better than I expected...and he is doing really well too. Honestly, I don't think the little "tank engine" even noticed the difference. It sure didn't slow him down any at all. Check out his little orange bottom!! I love love love Fuzzi Bunz! In fact...I'm dabbling in sewing a bit and have found the fabric that I need to make a pocket diaper similar to FuzziBunz. I have actually made 1 and of course it neads a bit of tweaking before it's perfect, but it's also not as difficult as you might imagine.

So...let's talk about crochet!! I have been working on several different designs in the last few days. I am going to have a 4th of July special on Red, White, and Blue products!! I should have some pictures of them up at http://mamanettiescrochet.etsy.com/ by Monday! I've been working like crazy on a pattern for a head wrap and it came to me this morning at about 3:45! (Moments of genius come to me when I haven't slept and don't see any sleep in my near future!! That's God letting me know that I'm going to survive!! LOL!) L has been cutting his first tooth...and re-cutting his first tooth...and re-cutting his first tooth for the past few days. The poor little one is miserable and gassy and fussy and just plain exhausted. (And so is mommy!) Anyway, I was up already, and all of the sudden I knew just how I wanted to do the headwrap! It's awesome! Check out the pictures! It looks like knit doesn't it!!!? I'm so excited, you who crochet will not believe how I did it! I'm sure that if you're familiar with crochet at all, you are familiar with the slip stitch. It is the one that you use to connect, it's usually not used for anything else at all...just to connect 2 pieces, or create a circle. Well...I slip stitched this! I love the way it feels too! If you want to try the stitch out, you chain the length that you want, sl st in second ch from hook across, chain 1, turn, and go into the first sl st from hook to make a straight edge. Let me know if you try it! I'm anxious to hear what you think! This headwrap will have a button on the back, I just haven't covered the button yet. It will be for sale on Etsy tomorrow!

Cloth Diapering E Bug Day 1

So...last night was anything but restful. L (My 5 month old) seemed to have no intention of sleeping!! Mommy is exhausted this morning! Hurry up nap time...get here quick!

I have been cloth diapering L for 3 weeks now, and have just used my last disposable diaper for E Bug (My 22 month old)... I'm trying so hard to be brave, but already I'm really nervous about cloth diapering 2 at a time! Praise God for our modern conveniences, or until last month I would have been cloth diapering 3 at a time!!! My Little B is potty trained day AND night now!!

So, since I cannot afford to just buy out the FuzziBunz factory, I am working on designing a crocheted wool cover that I can whip out in a flash, lanolize, and use for E Bug. He is a really big boy and tough to fit.

Today has been going better than I could ever have hoped! All you moms out there, it really isn't as hard as it seems like it will be!! Take the plunge and save the money!!

Crochet Order!!!

Today I finished my first fairly large crochet order!! I made an array of beautiful headbands for a sweet lady that I met at the McDonald's play area, and her little girl. Here are a few pictures! I'm sure I'll have more to post later on.