The Finished Product

Well... I DID IT! I worked my little fingers to the bone all week, but I finally got this bedding done! Thanks to the help of my mom of course! We didn't have a pattern, so my mom was awesome with all the measurements and figuring out how much fabric we needed etc. She is totally awesome and I couldn't have done it without her, but I can honestly say that I did 90+ percent of the work all on my own! I was so excited about how it turned out! I was super worried that the final product would be one of those "Oh she tried really hard, but it just doesn't look very well done" type of deals. But thankfully, we were pretty meticulous with our measurements and seams to so it turned out better than I had expected! :) I am so glad that I decided to take back the other bedding and make Livvi her own unique crib set! And...  bonus! I think I have plenty of fabric left over to make a cute quilt to go with it, even though I hadn't planned on making a crib quilt originally! Now I can't wait to get to snuggle our little angel in it! :) 11 more weeks to go! Yay!

I am so glad that I decided to stick with some animal print. If you can't tell, the pink is a cheetah print and the green/white at the bottom is zebra :)

I decided with so much pattern going on a simple, solid colored sheet would look best :)

The orange stripped ties turned out to be one of my favorite parts! 

Scary Sewing Decision

For a couple of weeks I have been toying with the idea of returning the bedding I got for Livvi and buying fabric to make my own... Ah! Such a scary idea, but I have read a lot of tutorials about it and I actually think that with my momma's help I can do it! Yesterday I took the bedding back and searched for the perfect fabric, it was quite the search but I finally found something I really like! Amazingly I saved about $50 doing it this way and got really high quality fabric... wish me luck! :)

I decided to stick with some animal print but wanted bolder colors and a more modern pattern :)

 ...and while I am at it... Here is the 27 week photo!  

Only 1 more trimester to go!

A Visit Worth Waiting For

A while ago I had the opportunity to fly out to visit Jeff. It was AMAZING! We had so much fun and did some really fun things!  Jeff was absolutely wonderful. When I got off the plane he was the ONLY soldier there to greet his wife! Somehow he figured out a way to get to the airport about an hour before all the other guys got there! I soooo appreciated that! We immediately hopped our rental car and headed for Chicago...We were in Chicago for a few days then back to Indianapolis for the last two.  We sure learned a lot about the transit system there. Geez, it is pretty confusing but way worth the few $$ in order to get where you want to go... once you get the hang of it that is. We went shopping, out to eat, to a CUBS game, to Lincoln Park Zoo, Navy Pier and to a few movies! It was great just to relax, do some fun things and just be together! The only thing that I struggled with, besides leaving :(... was the blasted humidity! As you can see by the sweaty face pictures of me, IT WAS HOT!! I just kept thinking, how in the world do people live here?! I had been anticipating this trip for a few weeks and it seemed to take FOREVER to get there, but oh man, the wait was worth it! It was so much fun and exactly what I needed. I think that Jeff and I both got emotional after leaving eachother in the airport. Saying goodbye again was rough, and I had a few grumpy and depressed days after I got home, but all is well once again.

There was the beautiful little path that walked around this Lily pond... so romantic ;)

Walking to the Zoo

Getting ready to board our first train 

Chicago was really pretty!

GO CUBS!

On the train...

I was melting so I held my hair up and fanned myself with a program for 90% of the game, lol

Chicago Art

Before the game, Jeff just had to get there early enough to watch the team warm up and the grounds crew prep the field. He was so cute, such a sports guy :)

26 weeks :)

Zoo

Looking into the mirror "blob" art thing, ha ha 

My handsome soldier at Navy Pier. 

Oh How Time FLIES...

I could not believe that it had been a whole 5 years since I walked across the graduation stage and left high school far behind, but lo and behold... it surely had. During the Ute Stampede celebrations ( which are a big deal in little Nephi ) I was able to go to our class reunion. It was really nice to catch up with those I haven't seen in a while. Some looked the same as I remember, others had changed a lot... and there were even a couple who I didn't even hardly remember at all, oops!  There were only 20 or so of our actual classmates that showed up sadly, but many brought spouses and even a few brought some kiddos along.

A few of my high school girlfriends; Erin, Hilary, Lauren... and myself.

 Just about everyone who showed up, missing 5 or so...

Hopefully in the next 5 years more people will realize they want to come to the next reunion...

A Whole New Meaning...

In all honestly, the fourth of July has never been a big deal at my house... growing up it was the day we ran around with sparklers, threw pop its at each other and watched the city fireworks at grandmas house.... but that was it. We never really talked about the true meaning of the holiday and heros of our country. I guess it must be because we haven't ever had any family in the military and it didn't seem like a big deal. BUT, this day has more meaning than ever.... My amazing husband is deployed for our country and in the past few years I have learned a great deal about the military and how it works. 

 I look back and feel guilty for never seeing and recognizing the importance of this day before. I looked out my window this morning and saw the American Flag lining the street on our and many other neighbors lawns, I saw the big yellow ribbon tied around our tree, I saw Jeff's dog tags hanging from my mirror and... I saw my husband (not literally there)  but I saw his face in everything. HE is the meaning in MY celebration of this day. I couldn't help but cry and think about what an amazing person he is, not only because he is my AMERICAN HERO, but because of the man he is. He represents everything that is important to me. My best friend, my husband, my rock, my sounding block, my lover, my parenting partner, my eternal companion, my everything, MY HERO! I could not ask for a better person to call "mine" for eternity.

So to my husband, thankyou for EVERYTHING you do, everything you do for our country and especially for everything you do for Livvi and I. We are the luckiest girls in the world, seriously! I love you more than words can describe!

The day WILL come when I can take this down and be with my hero again, I KNOW this too shall pass...

Silly Summer

Danielle and I  have been laying out this month.... but decided that laying out on the grass needed a pool to go along with it... it is simply much too hot and much too boring without some water :) Can't beat the dollar store!

...And hooray! 23 weeks! :) It finally seems to be going by fast!

Just What I Needed...

Even when we are hundreds of miles away, he ALWAYS knows exactly what I need. This came in the mail yesterday... and it couldn't have been better timing!