Baby #2

Yes, we are excited to announce that we are expecting baby #2! At only 8 weeks, I know it's early to share. But, I've been absent from this here little blog and now you know why.

The photo looks a little "blob-y" but the head is to the right. We did see the already-formed arms, hands, legs and feet. Due date: December 9th.

After having hyperemesis gravidarum for the duration of my first pregnancy, we were positive that Charlotte would be an only child. Then we changed our minds. The desire for another baby just outweighed our fears of possibly having HG again.

Hyperemesis includes paralyzing nausea (my saint of a husband slept on the floor for 7 months) and severe vomiting for the entire pregnancy. This is waaay more than morning sickness. I was also unable to eat for the first 4 months of my pregnancy. Somehow, I, and the baby, survived on a few Ensure supplement drinks and Gatorade. Any food that I tried to consume would be immediately purged. Hyperemesis can also bring sleeplessness, depression, dehydration (warranting IV therapy), double vision (no tv or books!) and despair. The only relief comes when you give birth. I never suffered any post-partum depression because I was so darn happy not to be pregnant anymore!

It's a rough road and yes, I've been really sick. I'm a very happy mommy, but an unhappy pregnant lady.

Any prayers and positive wishes that you send our way are greatly appreciated. We are truly happy to be expanding our family!

Grandpa Makes Pop-Ups

Charlotte's artistic Grandpa made her this Wizard of Oz pop-up card. C loves pop-ups. Despite being opened and closed numerous times and being poked with little fingers, this one is holding up nicely.

You see, Grandpa docents at an art gallery. They recently held a Dr. Seuss exhibit and welcomed the pop-up creator of "Horton Hears A Who Pop-Up!" - David Carter. Our girl even received an autographed copy...

Thank you, Grandpa. Here's a peek at the inside of this incredible book...

If you're not familiar with "Horton Hears A Who" by Dr. Seuss, I highly recommend this tender-hearted story. Even at 2, she seems to understand the message, "A person's a person, no matter how small."

The Seuss exhibit spurned Grandpa's interest in homemade pop-ups and more shared craft time with our girl. I believe C made this Noah's Ark pop-up with the grandparents...

If you're interested in making your own, here's a link. It's a great project for all ages. It seems that once you get the hang of it, you can easily branch out with your own designs.

Triple Thanks

A couple of months ago, I was reading Cider and Faun when I stumbled across an offering. Andrea was giving away some tea she could no longer drink. I dropped my name in the bucket because my husband is addicted to Candy Cane Lane by Celestial Seasonings. She recently sent me a box of Candy Cane Lane and a huge bag of Mighty Leaf loose tea plus some postcards and a bookmark of her art. Her delightful etsy shop is located here. Thank you, Andrea!

Another special thank you to the Jane Austen fan writemeg for featuring one of my Pride and Prejudice bracelets on her blog here. You can also check out her etsy shop here. She crochets ipod covers, scarves and more!

And finally, thanks to Deusprovidebit for including my vintage orange napkins from acornpudding in their Impromptu Tea post.

It's a joy to connect with other tea-drinking Jane Austen fans. Thanks everyone!

Boring Ol' Clean Floor

Yes, this is a boring picture of my clean kitchen floor. I've not been the craftiest of gals lately. Sometimes, day-to-day life takes priority over therapeutic craftiness. So, I'll show you what I've been up to instead.

My floor was in dire need of sweeping and mopping. Within 1 minute of sweeping the floor, there were 17 crumbs of hot pink play-doh under one chair. After re-sweeping, I got out my spray bottle and a rag and got to work. My floor hasn't sparkled in a long time - thus this picture. It's proof that it was clean, once.

I use vinegar and baking soda to do all my household cleaning. No need for expensive, chemical-infused cleaners when a spray bottle of half white vinegar and half water will do the trick. I believe that Martha is a fan of cleaning with white vinegar, so who am I to argue with a walking domestic dictionary?

Since I am not a big tv watcher, it's rare for me to catch Martha's show (is it still on??) It was tough for me to watch her back before Charlotte was born. I can't get over the fact that she pronounces the "h" in the word herb. It makes me shudder. After all, she's not british. Even I don't pronounce it this way when I'm talking to myself (see #5 of this post).

Right after I finished mopping my floor on my hands and knees, I wrangled the dog and my daughter out of the kitchen and got distracted. My face felt dry due to recent windy weather. I went into the bathroom and smeared lotion all over my face, before I realized that I hadn't yet washed my hands after cleaning the kitchen floor. I guess if vinegar and water are good enough for the floor...

Bargain Breadmaker

My best bargain of the weekend garage sale roundup included this Breadman breadmaker for $5.00. I've been wanting to try my hand at breadmaking for some time, and now, for about the price of one loaf of bread - I'm on my way. There is a small manual included, but not much real breadmaking info. If any of you have breadmaking ideas or tips, I'd appreciate your input!

A few other scores include these two 4-5t sized coats for Charlotte at .50 cents each.
Lastly, I picked up this mega carton of Play-doh, 50 different colors in all, for $1.00. C's been rolling, cutting and squishing ever since! Hopefully, with my breadmaker, soon I will be too :)

The Never-Ending Candy Colored Scarf

This scarf has taken my nearly 4 months to complete. Granted, I haven't worked on it very often... but now that we're rounding the corner to spring, it's ready to wear. What's my excuse? I reeeally don't like to knit. I keep trying to like it, but I just don't enjoy it. Why don't I just stick to crocheting?

I used Lion's Brand Landscapes yarn in Rose Garden - two skeins. This is my own "pattern" of the stockinette stitch... 11 stitches wide.
- Row 1: k1, p1, repeat.
- Row 2: p1, k1, repeat.
- Repeat and repeat until you're sure you'll never be done with this blasted scarf.
- Repeat some more until you're sure that you never want to knit again.
- Finish off.
- Ignore the mistake stitches.
- Wrap around your neck and enjoy for 8 days until the weather will be too warm to wear it.

(P.S. The brown speckled Express sweater was thrifted for $1.00.)

Gray / Yellow and Gray / Pink

Is it gray or is it grey? Anyway, gray is my new everyday. I'm enjoying the comfortable-ness of gray with splashes of color.

The open jacket is new and (can you believe it?) store-bought, but the striped top is a thrift find, as are the sunny yellow necklace and clutch. I've been drawn to this combo more than once lately.

Then I came across pink perfection for spring...a pair of thrifted, never-been-worn, pink eyelet flats - in my size. I may have heard angels singing... They are perfectly matched with my new gray jacket, a garage sale top for .25 cents and thrifted gray linen crop pants.

Spring arrived, then backed out. It's toeing the line in our area, but I'm ready either way - with gray!

Sonoma Chicken Salad

We interrupt my recent thrifted-clothing obsession to bring you this delicious recipe...

The Sonoma Chicken Salad recipe was found at Whole Foods. Of course, I made some changes, so I will post the recipe as I made it. (My picture really doesn't do the salad justice!)

Ingredients:

Dressing:

3/4 cup mayonnaise

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

5 tsp honey

s+p to taste

Salad:

4 cups of baby spinach

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - shredded

1/2 cup almonds, some chopped

2 cups red seedless grapes, sliced

I premade my chicken in the crockpot at the beginning of the week, so just prepare the chicken breasts as you normally would... i.e., bake them flat with some water in a pan at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Toss main salad ingredients together, set aside.

In a bowl, combine dressing ingredients. Drizzle over salad or stir to coat completely.

It filled all three of us up - with my husband commenting that he wouldn't mind eating this MANY more times :)

Reconstructed: Dress To A Skirt

Here's a dress that I thrifted this past weekend, but it was too big and had a halter top. I knew it could be altered without much trouble. (The white cotton crocheted cardigan is another thrift find for $4.00) Here's the dress print up close:

Cheery blue and green butterflies - perfect for spring!

I started by ripping out the seams on the side zipper, then I cut the skirt away from the bodice. I finished up the side seam (where the zipper used to be) then made a simple casing for 3/4" elastic.

If you're doing a waistband for yourself, take your waist measurement, subtract 2.5", then cut your elastic. Thread your elastic through the casing with a safety pin attatched to the front of the elastic (sort of like a mock needle and thread). It took even less time than I expected.

The inspiration for this dress purchase came from a butterfly-print scarf I've been eyeballing at Land's End in Sears. It's $29.50 here.

So when I came upon the butterfly dress for $5.25, I figured that I could make my own scarf. Then I fell in love with idea of a spring skirt. It seems that I got something better for less!