We Have a Date!!

I had my weekly OB appointment yesterday. Things look good...my GBS test came back negative, clean urine, measuring great, swelling was about the same but my blood pressure was up quite a bit. Not to worry ~ I'm pretty convinced it was just nervousness.

We discussed induction and, although I didn't really expect Barney to agree, we are going in on Monday night to have this baby!! I will be 38 weeks 2 days but she won't be born until late Tuesday night or early Wednesday so I will technically be 38 1/2 weeks by then. Tuesday is 11 days before my actual due date, but I am thinking she is probably about 8# now so that really isn't a concern. And both of my previous pregnancies were induced at 7 - 10 days early due to size (my last baby was 9#5oz)...I like to grow them big and healthy, I guess!! I am HOT, TIRED and just plain worn out and ready to get this over with. Who knew that pregnancy could be so emotionally draining, too? Ever since I had the unexplained bleeding starting at 7 weeks with this one, I have been extremely paranoid and worried about every little thing. Soon, that will be a thing of the past and I'll have this little girl in my arms where she belongs :) I love my kids and I normally love being pregnant...but age and my mother's built-in worrying about every little thing have really gotten to me this time!! LOL There will be NO MORE after this one which is bittersweet...but Jim already has his consultation appointment set up for August 22nd!!

On the quilting front, I have been working on my Round Robin that is due next Thursday. In cutting the borders, I discovered I didn't buy enough fabric (duh!) so had to make due. I'm actually quite proud of myself and my "ingenuity"...I found the most *awesome* Christmas fabric in my stash that matched just perfect...only thing was it was a stripe. I don't really know what to do with stripes which is why it was still in my stash, I'm sure!! Anyway, I decided to make stack-n-whack cornerstones using this fabric even though I've never done a SNW and don't even own any of Bethany's books!! I dug through my quilt book collection and came up with something very, very similar and had a great time figuring it out!! Today, I will get my embroidery traced on and started so I can get the embellishments added on over the weekend. I forgot to take a pic before I started on it, so you will just have wait until I finish to see what it looks like! I already know I am going to love it!! And hope to do more fun stuff like this on my own quilts down the road.

A HOT and Busy Weekend!

Temps have been near 100 here for the past few days and that's just too much for this fat, extremely pregnant mom to take. So I've been staying in the house and enjoying the AC. I haven't really felt all that great for the past week or so and it seems to be getting worse...guess that's how it is in the middle of summer in the Midwest chasing three little kids around and extremely pregnant with the fourth :) I made the kids start to clean out the toy room on Friday and we finished up yesterday. Two big bags of stuff to Goodwill and a box to Freecycle later, it's done. My boys just have TOO MUCH stuff and it kills me to think about getting rid of some of it after the $$ that's been spent. But we just don't have the room and with the addition of another little one, they're just going to have to make some choices. They did actually sit down in there yesterday and watch a movie...something they haven't done in a LONG time because it's been such a mess. Even though I hated to do it, I made them do it ALL themselves just so they could maybe appreciate what I have to do to clean up after them on a daily basis. They were pooped when they were done!!!

On the quilting homefront, I am working on my next round robin. I have the most *awesome* idea for this one and the person who 'owns' it is really into cardinals and Christmas so I'm adding a little bit of glitz. I'll try to post a pic later on today of what it looks like now before I start and then in a couple of weeks, when I hope to be done with my part, I'll post another pic so you can see what I added. Let's just say it will include a couple of techniques that I've not attempted before but feel confident doing including making my own rubber stamp (which actually was pretty fun!!). I was disappointed that I couldn't find what I needed at the local LQSs (and that IS plural because I think I've hit 7 of them in the last week) so had to order the last couple of things from the internet. This round is due on August 3rd so I should have plenty of time to get it done as long as I get my borders on and what I want to do drafted on it today. It's going to be a nice hand project to work on!!

It's a busy week this week starting with tonight. I'm going out to dinner with my book club...with the exception of Alice's bookstore opening a week ago, I haven't seen them or had dinner out in about 6 months. Now that April's quilt is finally finished, I'm taking it with me to present to her (I am kind-of embarrassed that it's taken so long). I know she will be happy to have it and I will be happy to have it out of my house :) Then I have an OB appointment on Tuesday afternoon, dinner out with some friends that night, the annual Midwest Cookbook Collector's Convention on Wednesday and CCQ on Thursday. Guess I'd better get my rear in gear and get lots done on Monday and Friday!

And how could I forget...six years ago today at 6:18am, we lost my mom to colon cancer. It's been a lonely six years without her as she was one of my best friends. One of her best friends who still lives in town and belongs to one of my charity groups tells me all of the time that she knows how proud my mom would be of me if she were alive today. I also think she would think we were crazy for having such a large family but she would absolutely ADORE my kids...Wyatt was so special to her. In a way, it still feels like yesterday, but realizing that Wyatt will be 9 in a couple of weeks and knowing she died when he was almost three and we didn't have any other children yet brings me back to the reality as to how long it's actually been!!! Today, we will celebrate her life and the time we got to spend with her...

Just Had to Post This Pic!

This is a pic of my friend Tammy in my small quilt group. She has CF and has had a really rough year this year with not only that, but a sprained (broken?) wrist as well when she fell off her horse. With all of the existing medical problems she has, adding another one to it takes a LONG time to recover. BUT she is doing great, now ~ and is back to quilting alot again which I know makes her happy.

Anyway, she had to have a surgery last year implanting something (can't remember right now what it is) but her bra rubs on it so she has (in the past) gone into the bathroom, removed the culprit and come out loudly exclaiming how she just couldn't take it anymore. She is a HOOT!! So the other girls in our group came up with the idea that we should make her something with a bra because if she isn't going to wear it, it needs to be good for SOMETHING!! LOL

I started doing research on the internet and found out there actually is a pretty big trend out there right now (especially with red hat ladies) to make "bra purses". We expanded on this idea a bit and made our Tammy a bra sewing kit. Since she loves western stuff and horses, we chose some of those theme materials for the outside and then added some bling-bling with black sparkly beads, black feathers and red tassles! The inside is filled with pockets to put all of her thread, needles, tape measure, etc. in. It closes with velcro and has a strap so she can carry it over her shoulder like a purse. It turned out REALLY cute. And she was not only surprised but just tickled by it, too.

I'm off to quilt this afternoon ~ working on another one of my July projects that MUST be done before I have this baby!! Yesterday, I got the next step penciled out for this RR that I'm working on...off to the quilt shop tomorrow after my OB appointment to get what I need!

Finally! Some Progress!!

Well, I buckled down and finally got the binding done on my friend April's quilt. I've attached a picture of it for your review :) Each of our book club members signed a block and then the remaining blocks are filled with inspirational sayings and quotes. In the middle is a copy of a picture that April painted of an old gravel road with the saying "The Road of Life is Smoother When Traveled with a Friend" in the block next to it. April was supposed to have moved across the state this past summer since her hubby had taken a job there. However, they couldn't get their house sold, so she and the four youngest children decided to stay for another two years until the now oldest in the household graduates from high school. I have to say that we (the book club) were NOT disappointed that she wouldn't be leaving!! But we'd already discussed/purchased/began on the quilt project so we did it anyway and when she finally DOES end up moving, she will have it as a rememberance of us.

The book club girls and I also attended the grand opening last night of Beaverdale Books, a store owned by another friend in my book club. This is the realization of her dream and it is very, very nice. They have it set up with reading areas and the shelves are not all spines like you see in a library or the big chain book stores. The marketing ideas they have done are just great! She also stenciled quotes from famous authors all around the top of the walls. We wish her GREAT success!! I know she'll do well.

In other quilt-y news, CCQ threw a baby shower for me on Thursday this past week. They bought me the Fisher Price portable swing I'd been wanting and then...best of all...they made me (hmph, me...it's for Baby A) a signature quilt!! It's awesome! Each member signed their name and then embroidered it, one member pieced it, one quilted it and one put on the binding and label.

When I picked the kids up that day, Afton crawled into the front seat and said (in the most innocent way, of course!)..."For ME!?!??!" She was SO excited!! It was hard to tell her that it was for Baby A! Now to just keep it away from her until Baby A arrives :)

Speaking of which, I spent most of yesterday having contractions again. I made sure I was drinking enough water and they still kept coming. I decided against going to the hospital, tho ~ and just waited it out to see what they would do. Once I went home and went to bed, either I was too tired to notice or they calmed down and stopped on their own. So far, so good today.

I'm off to get some lunch ready for the kids and spend some more time quilting this afternoon!

Where Did June Go????

I can't believe it's Sunday the 2nd of July already. What happened to my month of June? I guess time flies when you're having fun...or so they say :)

I haven't made time or found time to quilt in the last couple of weeks and it is driving me CRAZY. I thought I was going to have the afternoon to work on some projects until my hubby just informed me he made plans for us to go visit some friends out of town later on this afternoon. UGH. Not that I don't *want* to, because I love visiting with them...I just have so much stuff that I want to get done before this baby arrives!!! And it's hard to get anything done when you're not home to do it!!

I'm embarrassed to say that I don't think I accomplished ANYTHING off my June list and will now have to move it all to the month of July. Pretty soon, I'm just going to have to give in and remove some things because my time is running out.

Of course, if this pregnancy were going perfectly, I wouldn't lose so much time to problems, either. Yes, I ended up in the hospital again this past week. I started having contractions on Wednesday about 11:30am and I thought they were just Braxton Hicks...but when they didn't go away and started getting stronger...you guessed it...they were the real thing so down to the hospital I went...ALONE. Sometimes I think the hubby just doesn't have his head screwed on straight. But I didn't push the issue of him coming with me and he didn't offer. Anyway, after 6 hours and 4 doses of terbuteline, the contractions settled down and stopped and they sent me home to rest. Thankfully, I haven't had any since then. And the "boss" (my OB) says that if I make it just two more weeks (I was 34 weeks yesterday)...they won't try and stop them again. I'll just be able to go ahead and have her. And am I ever READY!!!!

This weekend I catered a wedding event at our local lodge for 275. It wasn't too bad...the menu was pretty simple but I'm completely exhausted today. Which is why I had in my mind that an afternoon full of quilting therapy was just what I need!!

Gratitudes

1) Our new puppy has added so much fun to our lives! Yes, potty training is a PAIN and I still think cats are easier BUT he is such a little card and there's nothing better than seeing the joy in my children's eyes as they play with him and discover how much fun he is!

2) The baby has been moving lots and letting me know in her own subtle way that she is okay. I enjoy being pregnant but I'm ready to endure sleepless nights to have this little bundle in my arms! (Only 4 or 5 more weeks to go!)

3) The solitude of a shopping trip to my local LQS ~ without children ~ and without a time table.

4) The coolness of our central air conditioning on a really hot Iowa afternoon.

5) The memories I have of my mom as we celebrate her life by mourning her death on the 16th of this month.