Welcome Nolan

Here we are a little more than a month later, and I'm finally announcing my little guy. Say hello to Nolan Spencer, born October 31, 2013 after a whirlwind delivery. He didn't waste any time. My first real contraction was 9:30 pm after a long night of tric-or-treating with the family, got to the hospital at 10:15 and Nolan made his appearance at 10:39pm weighing 7lb 12oz and 21". My doc said to wait an hour after the first contraction before calling so that's what we tried to do until we realized the contractions were getting scary close together way too fast.

 

 

He has been such a blessing, such a good baby, loves to eat and sleep and best of all doesn't love to scream like his sister. He is a little over a month old now and sleeps 3 hours at a time at night and 4 hours straight during the day (still a little backwards)
He was very jaundice at birth, 12 hours he had a bilirubin level of 10, so we were in the hospital for 6 agonizing days. I'm happy to say that is resolved but he does most likely have hemolitic anemia just like his sister. (Lots of blood work in out future)

His sister actually kind of likes him (surprisingly) She only gets mad when Jake holds him and she gives him kisses and helps out a little.

Life is slowly becoming easier, I'm finally able to get a little work done although, my body has been really screwed up. When he was 3 weeks old I got an ear infection (haven't had one since high school) with a fever of 101. Yesterday, I developed mastitis with a fever of 103 today. I haven't been this sick in years.
Savannah has been waking up multiple times per night for the past 2 weeks and we have yet to figure that one out. But she was up so much last night, that she slept in until 9:30am which is why I am still able to be awake past 10.
There has been absolutely no time for sewing or crocheting and my craft room has become another storage room for my husband. Hopefully I can get in there soon to work on something, Nolan does need a Christmas stocking.
We had 3 Thanksgivings, one at my mom's, one at Jake's dad's on Saturday and we had our own on Sunday (got a really good deal on a turkey)

more crochet

Yup, more crochet. Most recently I've finished these baby boat booties in black and blue. This pattern is easy and there isn't anything I would have changed.

 

 

 

for these crochet high tops I changed the laces a little to support the tongue and the black trim I did not do as it's own row, I just slip stitched that in. I think if I do these again I will skip a row for the sole because they are kinda tall.

 

Then the extra bulky button beanie which did not turn out as cute as the one shown for the pattern.

 

 

This one is the baby mohair hat. I did not use mohair or handspun, I used extra bulky for the handspun rows and slip stitched instead of single crochet. I think it needs a decrease in rows at the top, it's a little tall.

 

My newest favorite Wooly owl hat. I've been wanting to make this for Savannah for a while, I thought it was going to be too complicated but it's not. It does take a while to make though because of the applique and the strings but I'm currently making one for Nolan in grey and green, and I plan to make a Christmas one for Savannah.

Only thing I don't like about this hat is, the earflaps are too wide. I made them smaller on Nolan's and so far so good

 

 

Now, for those who care, this has been quite a week with my pregnancy. I was very ill last Tuesday. I had been nauseous for 2 days, then very sick to my stomach and had very bad cramps (not contractions) The doc said it was preterm labor but who really knows. I've had no appetite and have lost 6 pounds in the last week.

Then, to make things even better, last night I was having contractions all night about every 10 minutes, I was so ready to go to the hospital and have this kid, but then around 3am thye slowed down just enough to wake me up every half hour and they are pretty much gone today. I'm getting frustrated because I'm tired of the false alarms. I don't mind waiting for baby to come but enough with the false alarms already. My husband cannot have this uncertainty with his type of work so I try to just keep it quiet until I'm more sure.

I am now 3cm and 80% and I guess we will just have to wait and see what God has planned for this labor.

Crochet Mania

It's been crochet mania in my house lately. The weather is getting cooler (yay!) I'm getting bigger and lazier, and who can beat free patterns!

The baby is due 3 weeks from today (eek!) and I wanted  to make sure he was stylin' from day one.

He will have a new pair of booties. I can't even tell you how easy these were to make. The pattern is a T shape, then you sew it all together. Seriously 20 minute project! Here is the link simple crossover bootie if I didn't do that right, just go to ravelry.com and search simple crossover bootie.

 

Next, he will have a newsie hat. This one is also simple, and I did mention free! Here's the link newsie baby hat

 

 

He can't only have one hat (hopefully he will have many more) so I also made him this striped button hat

We can't forget about Savannah. So she gets this adorable bobbi news boy hat. The alterations in this pattern for the children's size were perfect. I fit her on the first try. This one did take a little longer but it was worth it.

 

 

 I am in the process of making a scoodie for Savannah, and bible costumes for our church's Christmas Live event.


Even though I am in constant pain, I have no energy, I can't sleep, I'm out of breath, and my heart races constantly, I do not want this baby to come early. I know I sound crazy but Savannah was a sleep to starve baby who would eat for 2 mins then fall asleep, then do it all over again 1/2 hour later, and she had a weak suck reflex. These are symptoms early babies tend to have. I do not want to go through that again.

I hope to have another post before I have this baby but it's doubtful.

Sweetheart Romper

As promised, here are the pictures of the birthday outfit. The pro pics are in but unfortunately Target portrait studio will not let me have the online pictures to share and they want an astronomical amount to get a CD.

 

 The sweetheart onesie was mostly my idea and all my own pattern and sewing. My mom got the fabric for me a few years ago, but I was waiting to use it for the perfect thing. I love the way it turned out and hope to make a few extra to sell.

 I did cute rhinestone buttons in the back on her's. Stella's had elastic in the back instead. I had to add a little elastic ruching in the back because it was too loose in the front.

I was busy these past few weeks working on another dress. I found the pattern here on Pinterest. Instead of using a Jelly Roll, I made my own strips. The fabric with the white background was another one from my mom.

 

 

 Figuring out what to feed a 2 year old has been very difficult. I sometimes wish I could give in and give her sugar 24 hours a day as she is requesting. I figured out she likes bologna, salami, and pepperoni. I need to start making our lunches ahead of time because I am so busy, she gets very angry by the time I have to make something for her, and cook something? forget it. I took a 1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon and pressed it into a slice of cheese and a slice of bologna added some crackers and as with everything, ketchup. Viola! we have a homemade lunchable and she loves it. Total cost was approx. $0.25 and the plate I got for the same amount at Kohls. I've also been putting together lunches and fitting it all inside a sandwich container that I got from the dollar store. Sandwich, raisins, cheese, cookies, it all fits!

Pictures

Savannah's second birthday is coming up quick, I can't believe she is almost 2. She is starting to understand so much now and it's making it much easier on us because she will answer yes or no to most questions. She still isn't talking much, but at least she is making an effort. Everything still sounds like daddy but we can understand some of it.

I've almost finished her birthday outfit, but I want to get pro pictures done with her wearing it before I reveal. That has been a difficult task since she keeps getting eaten alive by mosquito's, then scratching so bad she gets scabs all over, also falling in the driveway constantly and most recently she has a really big stye on her left eye, making it look like we beat the poor child. (we don't)

I made her this shadow box for her birthday. I put in the pro picture we had done when she was a few weeks old, the hat she wore most in the hospital, the card that was in her bassinet after she was born, the bracelets her and I wore and her first footprint.

 

 

I can't get a nursery ready for the new baby because we are supposed to be building that in our master suite (which has not started yet grrr..) My nesting has been organizing and finally putting up some decorations in our house. I haven't been feeling the greatest, second pregnancy is definitely a lot harder, so I haven't been doing a lot of physical activity. I've had this collage picture frame for a long time but could never decide what pictures should go in it. The collage looked pretty boring sitting there on the wall in my living room, I decided to do a copycat store bought quote frame. I bought a sleeve of scrapbook stickers all about family and cut them up a little to fit, then stuck them in the blank spaces in between the pictures. I like it a lot and prefer it to the expensive store bought ones because you can choose what quotes you want, and where they go.

I never knew what to do with old Christmas cards given to us from family, until I realized I don't have many decent pictures of my nieces and nephews. Plus the picture size for these collage frames are always a little weird. So, I cut out the people in the pictures I want to frame and use that for the odd shaped collage spaces. I have another frame in my living room I did this with and you really can't tell, It looks so cute.

So just an quick update on my pregnancy. I'm about 30 weeks now ( not really keeping track) but my appointment are every 2 weeks which is added stress to my already busy schedule. I've been feeling a lot of pressure for a few weeks now and when I brought it up to my doc, she said it's common with a second pregnancy because the muscles are weak. I never understood when I was pregnant with Savannah, why people always wanted me to sit so much. Now I get it, I can't walk far or be on my feet too much. I'm not sleeping well, and my body is always sore, everywhere!

Re-usable swiffer pads.

 I found another way to save money on household items. Homemade re-usable Swiffer pads. I love my Swiffer wet jet but didn't love the price. I've been making my own solution for it since I first ran out, just water and your favorite floor cleaner. I have also been using a cheap brand of Swiffer wet original pads because the "Swiffer diapers" are way too expensive. I found a great tutorial on Pinterest, it was very simple to follow and I had a couple dish towels that I've hated since the first wash. I cut up the dish towels, added some fusible Velcro and there you have it.

 

I fits perfectly and since I used it once and washed it already, I have to say I am very pleased with the result.

Savannah is keeping me so busy with her tantrums and infinite energy that I've been too tired to do much lately. I am currently working on her birthday outfit, I just hope it is warm enough to wear it. I'm also currently working on a new cross stitch for little Nolan and I have been a Ravelry fiend, finding crochet patterns to make for fall.

Maine and gender reveal

 

We took our yearly trip to Maine this past week. If you don't know, we stay in Jake's dad's cabin in Northfield which is about 9 miles from Machias, where Jake's 94 yo grandma lives. It was a  great vacation except for the one day I caught a stomach bug. The weather was great, even cold by the ocean. We swam in the lake a lot, did a little sightseeing, and tried to fly kites but that was the day I was sick.

 

 

 Savannah loved picking and eating the blueberries. She sat right down in the field and started filling her basket.
Blueberries grow wild in Maine but Jake's aunt owns a large patch that we can pick from. They are smaller and much better tasting than Jersey blueberries.

 Love getting pictures of Savannah and her Great Grandmother. Savannah took to her so well, even gave her a hug.

 Savannah is a little fish, she loves swimming and with her swimmies on, will go off on her own.

One of the places we visit often is Quoddy head in Lubec. It's pretty close and has some nice views and hiking trails.

 We visit Raye's mustard in Eastport every year. The mustard is amazing, they make it right there and there are so many different flavors to choose from. We had to get extra this year because we keep running out early.

One of the grinding stones.

Finally the gender reveal.

Thanks to my SIL for watching Savannah while I had a crazy time getting my ultrasound.
Baby boy is due November 4, 2013. Name is most likely going to be Nolan Spencer Holcombe. Spencer is Jake's dad's name. We are so excited, but picking out all new clothes is difficult already.

If you're interested:
My 20 week ultrasound was scheduled at my 21 week appointment. The OB's office does not take my new insurance for testing so I was told to schedule at the local hospital. The soonest they could fit me in was too far away, the testing needs to be done by 24 weeks so I was told to call a different place. I made an appointment for the next Friday, show up and the department is not only closed, they have no record of me making an appointment. After hours of frustration, hysterical crying and getting transferred to 10 different people who "could not help me" I told my OB that I refused to reschedule again since this was not a mistake on my part, and they fit me in at their office later that day, waving the insurance.
Another exciting update, I gave my notice to work and my last day will be August 27. YAY!

Baby doll carrier

 

This is the latest think I've been working on. My nieces Cambria and Brynna share a birthday party every year, so I made them identical doll carriers. My SIL mentioned a while ago how much she liked these. I would have liked to make them with her but I just didn't have the time. I got the idea here. I had to draw my own pattern, but it wasn't very difficult. The only change I made was the straps in the back. I used D rings so they could be adjustable. I'm never good at measuring things to fit people, so this was the easiest way.

 

The carrier has a front flap that folds down for baby facing front.

Or stays up for baby facing "mommy" (sorry about the blurriness)

 

Check out my next post for the baby gender reveal.

Sweetheart onesie.

You want to hear something messed up? All that waiting for the ultrasound and I couldn't even have it. My insurance changed and the office didn't inform me they did not do ultrasounds in office with my insurance. I even called to tell them my insurance changed. I sat in the waiting room waiting to see the doctor practically in tears. I still don't know when I will get it because now I have to wait for the hospital to call and make the appointment. I'm 22 weeks today and this is supposed to be done before 24 weeks.

 

So that onesie that I made...

 

I had Savannah model it since her and Stella are almost the same size.

 

 

I took a photo shoot of Savannah last week. That was a very difficult thing to do by myself with my terrible photography skills.

Recognize the dress? I made that one too, with leftover pieces from the quilt my mom made her.

 

 

Smelling a Gardenia, Her favorite flower.

Meet Lilly

I'm still totally in nesting mode. Except I'm not really nesting, just sewing a lot, cleaning, and encouraging (not nagging) Jake to get our renovations done.

 I finally hemmed my nieces dress from Christmas (remember the nightmare dress?) I finished the purse I had to make for my SIL's sister, I also finished the cutest little outfit that I designed and made so quickly and easily. I can't go into to much detail there because it's going to be a gift. Now I'm back to working on the applique birthday outfit so I can sell some.

 

 

 

Jake talked me into getting a dog. I always said I would never get another animal after the guinea pigs that I couldn't wait to go, and the 2 cats that I am not only allergic to but hate cleaning up after, especially the one that marked his territory on most items in my basement (needless to say he's gone).
Anyway, his friend could not keep her and I'm a big old sap so say hello to Lilly. She is 7 yrs old and fully trained, very friendly and most importantly doesn't jump or go on my furniture.

Savannah is talking a lot more this week. I think I'm getting used to her picky diet which is mostly pasta, chicken nuggets, PB&J, and green beans.

I'm 20 weeks pregnant now and get to find out the sex in 8 days. I can't wait! I'm feeling good except for the sciatica and the heartburn, and we can feel movement on the outside now. This baby seems a lot less active than I remember, but it's still early.

Birthday Onesie

Holy cow! I think I just got my energy back. I feel like sewing all day and I owe it all to my friend Keo who asked me to make her daughter a onesie for her first birthday.

 There it is, such a simple thing to do. She told me people were asking $15 and up for this same thing on Etsy, actually I think this one looks better than the picture she sent me. I couldn't let her spend that much for something so simple, but hey, if other people are selling them why can't I? I've come up with a few idea's on how to spice it up, maybe add some ruffled bloomers, leg warmers as an option. There are so many possibilities and my mind is racing. Since I will no longer be working when baby #2 arrives I'm going to need spending money.
Can you give me some feedback though? Do you prefer the applique stitch around the edges or should I just do a regular stitch outlining the number about 1/4" from the edges on the inside?

We just got back from Myrtle Beach, and it was great. Savannah was a little crankier than normal but there were so many fun things to do and see. She is getting so big isn't she? She still doesn't want to talk, but she is understanding a lot more words.

I'm 18 weeks pregnant now and excited to find out soon whether it's a boy or girl.

Quiet Book

I finished the quiet book for my nephew Truett's birthday. It was a few weeks late but it was better that way, I got to add my finishing touches. I mixed fabric, felt, applique, and hot glue. It worked out really well and some of the pages only took an hour or two.

 

The first page was a pocket for the loose pieces with a "T" applique. This was done with felt on fabric backing. You can see I rushed a little because I never let my stitches be seen if they are crooked.

 

Page two was a tennis racket that has loose "strings" so he can practice weaving.

Third page was the baseball page and this one was my favorite. I used baseball fabric, made felt bases and appliqued them on. The ball is felt and stuffed to give it some reality I hand stitched the stitches. The bat is also felt that is stuffed, I stitched some curved lines to make it more "wood like" and added a 1/8" black ribbon around the handle as the tape. The glove I stitched lines for the fingers, appliqued it to the fabric and used yarn for the large stitching. There is yarn on the ball that goes through a hole in the glove connected to a button. You pull the yarn and the ball falls into the glove, and the bat is removable.

 

The Noah's ark page was another favorite but not entirely my own idea. I got the template for the animals here Noah's Ark Quiet Book template. I had to re-draw the hippo's and giraffe's because the originals were too large for my ark. I drew and stitched the ark myself. All of the animals are stuffed felt hand stitched around the edges, there was also a little hot glue used in some parts. I used French knots for the eyes ( i'm not very good at those) and yes these little guys are all double sided (Lot's of work)

There are 2 of each animal of course except for the dove. The animals include hippo's, giraffe's, lion and the female version and turtles. The women have hearts hot glued to them. That idea was from the blog but too cute to pass up.

I added metal grommets to the side with metal rings to go through and hold the book together. I hope to add pages in the future.


Baby and Savannah updates:
Savannah had a good check up yesterday, she is gaining weight and growing tall. She is trying to run and loves going outside with me every day to water our baby plants. She started liking new foods like, cottage cheese and tomatoes, but also disliking old foods like, pizza, applesauce, and yogurt.

I have been feeling 100 times better with the pregnancy. I started cooking again, mostly grilling which helps with the smell. Although, I have not resumed cleaning or crafting. My house is a total mess and my poor craft room has been abandoned, unfortunately so is my husband because I go to bed a 9pm and wake up at 6am and I still need a nap during the day. All of the appointments between Savannah and I have not helped these problems.