Pilllowcase Tutorial

I used this tutorial to make Annika a Hello Kitty Pillowcase for a birthday present. I loved how simple it was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moryq_ZRFY
(Here's the link.  The video isn't uploading right.)

Try making one! They're fun!!

Blue And White Ruffled Bags

When you have 3 kids, one of which is a newborn, you don't have a whole lot of spare time to craft.  I took on this project right before Parker was born.  If I knew what I was getting myself into, I probably would have said no, but it sounded fun and I had forgotten how exhausting having a brand new baby is, so I said I'd do it.  This lady was having a blue and white retreat thingy and saw some of my ruffled tote bags available on my etsy shop.  She wanted me to make her 8 of them in blue and white fabric.  All 8 being different fabrics.  Do you know how hard it is to find 16 different blue fabrics that somewhat coordinate well with each other??? I believe I went to 3 fabric stores and I came up with these.  Where did I find the time? It's all a big blur this whole last month.  It really took me a full month to get these done.  I think I've had a total of 1 nap since Parker has been born.  When I could have been sleeping, I was knocking these out.  Was it worth it?  Mmmmm, probably not.  But, I learned a lot.  And I accomplished what I said I would do.  SO, here is how they turned out.  It's possible that she might want another 1 or 2 bags.  But, I'm not going to think about that right now.  I am definitely not a seamstress, so this was harder for me than it probably should have been.  Not to mention when you're tired you do silly things.  I never did actually sew the bag shut though...heehee.  

Change Of Plans

Parker's blessing will not be February 3rd.  We have Stake Conference that day.  It'll probably be the following week, February 10th.  We'll know for sure tomorrow when we confirm with the bishop. 

5 minute check-in (more later)

I can't believe this sweet boy is 5 weeks old today.  I love him so much! He hardly makes a fuss.  Such a happy little boy.  Quite a bit has happened in the last few weeks.  I've been so busy, some day soon hopefully I can get caught up on here, but for now, this will have to do.  Parker had his 3rd set of testing for VLCAD today.  His second set of bloodwork came back negative, so we have high hopes that he doesn't have it.  But, they are still uncertain and needed to do the DNA test, which is more bloodwork.  We'll find out in a few weeks if we need to do the enzyme test.  If the results come back where he has one mutated gene, we'll need to do the enzyme test.  If everything looks good, we will be free.  At least they've come quite a long ways in the last year or two, and it would be another blood drawn test instead of a skin test.  He hardly cried at all.  The first time they poked him in his right arm.  He had a good vein, but couldn't get any blood.  He didn't cry at all.  Then they tried the left arm.  They poked him.  He cried a second and then stopped.  This time they got their blood.  :P They had a nice dietitian there who I was able to talk to.  I was a little concerned with how much Parker burps up after he eats.  I asked if it seemed like it could be a milk or lactose allergy.  She told me I could try getting off dairy and should know in about 3 days if that was the case.  I've already been off regular milk for over a week and using lactaid milk, but she told me that I would need to be using soy milk because the lactaid still has the protein in it.  So, I guess I can do soy for a few days to see if it helps.  She's guessing he just has a weak sphincter though, which is perfectly normal in young babies.  It'll get stronger by the time he's 3-6 months and he won't burp up so much.  Nolan burped up a lot too as a newborn, but he always seemed to be in pain.  Parker doesn't.  He hardly cries or anything.  Just shortly after I feed him, it seems like it mostly all comes right back up.  Frustrating.

Parker will be blessed on February 3rd at 12:30 at the Poet Smith Building.  After church we will also have a little birthday celebration for Annika.  Whoever can come, we'd love it!

I'll try to get some more pictures on here soon.

We also took a little vacation trip to Monterey.  It was wonderful! I needed to get out! :) It was so spontaneous.  We've never done this since we've had kids.  It was about time.  Adam had the whole weekend free.  Nolan had a mini day on Friday and no school Monday.  Adam got a good hookup on a hotel in Monterey.  It was going to be in the 70 degrees! We were off! I will tell more about this trip later.  You should see my house right now.  It looks like a tornado hit! :P

Parker Wayne Brice

How I love these pictures! Thanks Bon! I'm going out of order by posting these before all the hospital ones, but this is what I had time for today. I love this new little baby boy so much! I can't believe how easy he is to take care of. I'm a little embarrassed to admit how much sleep I get at night. He only cries when he's hungry or sometimes when he needs his diaper changed. And that's about it...seriously! He loves to snuggle. Somehow when I wake up in the morning, I see that he's ended up in bed with me. He sleeps so well that way, it's hard not to just let him. He loves to sleep and sleep and sleep. He does have moments of alertness, but still prefers to sleep. :) I feel so blessed to be his Mommy. Such a sweet boy!