gifts for sister

rice warming bag
i made these cute gifts for my sister christina's birthday. i was smart and made them a while ago. i just had to wait until i gave them to her before i posted a picture. the rice warming bag was super easy to make and fun too. it is a really quick project. the bag is filled with rice and after being warmed in the microwave for 1 to 3 minutes becomes a nice heating pad. this is perfect for cramps. i also love that the cover comes off and can be washed if it gets dirty. i scented the rice with pomegranate so it smells really good. i found the pattern here.



gratitude wrap
the thank you card wrap is the same as the one i made last year for jen. i of course had to use pink this time because it is christina's favorite color. the wrap holds an address book, thank you cards, and stamps. i hope she likes her gifts as much as i enjoyed making them.

aunties birthday

yesterday was my sister chrisina's birthday. happy birthday sister! it was a full day of celebrating. we went to a cookie exchange party and then to disneyland. disneyland was so much fun. all my sisters and my mom were there. susan's boyfriend also came. we had a huge group of ten. i loved it. the highlight of the day was the fake snow at the end of the firework show. mason loved it. they shoot soap bubbles out at the audience in front of it's a small world. it looks like snow falling. when we were driving home mason kept talking about how on christmas it is going to snow. hmm. somehow i don't think that will happen. we are planning a trip to the snow though. it will be so fun for mason to see the real thing and not just soap bubbles.

happy due date baby

today is connor's official due date. i think that is just crazy. i can't imagine still being pregnant. i pretty much knew he would be early. not as early as he was, but at least two weeks early. all of my kids were early birds. mason was three weeks early, dahlia was two weeks, and connor of course was six weeks. i actually like that they were early. as much as i love having babies, i really don't like being pregnant. i always hear stories from friends of going past their due date. oh my. i don't think i could handle that. being uncomfortable for so long.

anyway. today is his due date and he is as cute as ever. it just so happens that miles took him to get his synagis shot this morning and he weighed in at 6 pounds 12 ounces. wow. the little guy is gaining weight crazy fast. i wish i had more time to sit and stare at him. sometimes i stay up extra late just to have some alone time with him. this is after all my last baby. i want to enjoy every minute.

tumbling

the kids went to a birthday party for a friend on sunday. it was at a kids gym. a real kids gym with mats and bars and balance beams. they had trampolines. it was kid heaven. it reminded me of a gym i used to go to as a child. i took gymnastic lessons when i was little and loved it. mason and dahlia loved the gym. mason is usually shy and doesn't participate in party activities such as bounce houses so i was amazed when he jumped right in and wanted to try everything available. he was so cute hanging on the ropes and bars, sliding into a big foam pit, and jumping on the trampoline. dahlia of course was not shy at all and had a blast following mason and jumping right along side of him. what a great idea for a birthday party.

i am definitely going to look into classes for the kids at this place. i would love to get them into some organized activities. miles thinks it is a bit too girly for a boy. i don't think so. i think it would be fun to get some exercise and build your muscles.

the monitor

connor is hooked up to this apnea monitor all the time. it is designed to have an alarm go off if his heart rate is too fast or too slow or if he doesn't take a breath every 20 seconds. i have a love/hate relationship with it. the monitor drives me crazy. it will sometimes go off in the middle of the night if the cords are not properly in place. this will wake us all up and freak me out. i have to drag it around with me on my shoulder when i take him to change him or move him from room to room. it is not heavy. it reminds me of when i used to have a pull out stereo in my car and had to take it every where. it is about the same size. it is just a pain to have these cords hanging from the baby all the time. so i hate it because it is inconvenient and then i love it because it keeps me from wondering if he is breathing.

the monitor has gone off four times because of his breathing and heart rate. twice for low heart rate and twice for breathing. every time it goes off i become insane with worry. today it has gone off twice and i won't leave his side because i am afraid it will go off again. ugh. this thing is making me crazy. i am not sure how long he will have to have the monitor. they are supposed to evaluate the results in two weeks. i wonder if i will miss it when it is gone.

soft baskets

i actually started this project a long time ago. i made one soft basket for the baby blankets and then decided that i liked it so much i needed two. i cut the fabric, started sewing and then my sewing machine broke. i was so sad. luckily miles bought me a new sewing machine for my birthday and now i am back in action.

the pattern for these adorable baskets can be found here. they were a bit tricky for me to make because the pattern is not exact. the nature of a soft basket is that it is, well, soft and therfore a little loose in the measuring. it all worked out though and i will be making more of these in the future for gifts.

our little dolls

miles and i were laughing about how connor could share dahlia's doll clothes if we wanted. here is connor next to his sister's dolly.

here is the little dolly in dahlia's lap.