Thanksgiving

Everett's first Thanksgiving! We drove to California to visit John's Grandparents and family in Gilroy! We had to delay our starting time a little because of the BLIZZARD in Utah, not storm, BLIZZARD. Yikes. We made it though, and Thanksgiving day was BEAUTIFUL!!!! We held it at the church because our group was so big, somewhere around 40 people! We made green bean casserole, and the spread of food was impressive to say the least! It was super fun having it at the church, plenty of room to run around, we play Poison (A basketball game) and BUNCO! I even won a prize! ;) Thanks Jess! It was SO fun!

It was a Sunny Thanksgiving day, cold, but sunny and beautiful! I have so much to be thankful for, especially for the health and love of my little family

Aunt Jan had these pilgrim hats, and we couldn't resist dressing up the babies, and I couldn't choose which picture was the cutest, all such funny and cute expressions!

He was screaming/laughing/waving his hands with excitement throughout this little shoot...funny kid

I adore the look on Charlottes face, her perfect little lips, such a pretty baby!!! It was fun to hang with these gals more!

This one (Below) is my favorite...Everett looks like he's getting ready to hip his hat to the little lady ;) CA-YUTE!

His Turkey Bib and Thanksgiving onesie I found thrifting! The onesie was brand spankin new with the tags on it and everything!

We didn't get any pics of the whole group feasting, LAME! If it wasn't for Jess and Rory swiping my camera and taking pics with it, I wouldn't even have this one of Jess and Sadie!

Okay, Everett kept eating his hands, slobbering all over himself and getting cold, see his red face? So at Walmart I had to trap him in my jacket to keep his hands and face warm...silly kid!

SISTEY'S

Another fun part of the trip was to visit with Grandpa Lynn and Grandma Jean, Everett met them for the first time, it was so nice to catch up!

We had to leave early on Saturday instead of Sunday to try and beat another storm. It was scary driving through the night with terrible weather, none of us were able to get much rest. We made it home at about 10:30 am Sunday, safe and sound...then we all crashed!

This is Everett at grandma's house, we just told him he was going to have to spend another 16 hours in his carseat...he hates that thing!!! okay, that wasn't his reaction, but this is a pretty funny face right?

Off the charts...

Woah. Time needs to SLOW DOWN. Everett is four months old! He is getting to be so much fun (Not that he ever wasn't, but now he's so interactive ;0)

When I took him to the doctor for his 4 month well child check up, he was OFF THE CHART for his height. He is 27 inches long, weighs 15.7 lbs (70th percentile) and his head (don't recall the measurement) also in the 70th percentile. He is LOOOOOONG! His pediatrician is so impressed with his huge feet and hands, and his length.

Everett has acquired some new skills...DROOLING, a whole lot, ROLLING OVER, just from front to back, and GABBING back and forth, almost like having a conversation ;) It's so cute. And GRABBING, he loves grabbing the dangling toys from his toy bar, and he grabs his hands and feet. He also sings along and coo's at church and home when we sing...he gets really excited a lot and flaps his arms and legs so fast, it looks like he's trying to make a snow angel. He is so smiley all the time, especially in the morning! He loves putting anything he can grab into his mouth and marking it with his slobber.

This face is his latest trick, the bottom lip sucked in, it's so hilarious. I love it!
Pushing up from his tummy, he is on his way down to roll over, I could NOT get him to stay propped up like this, he just wanted to roll over every time! And when he did, he was so pleased with himself, the very first picture at the top is the second he rolls over, he is so pleased with himself, even though I was fussing at him for rolling over before I could get the shot I wanted!

He looks like he's pounding his fist, trying to convince you of something...

Cutest Gnome

Ahhh, so cute. I dressed Everett up as a garden gnome. It his costume turned out cuter than I had anticipated, it's hilarious. I made the hat and beard and elf shoes. The fleece pants already had the cute knee pads, I attached the suspenders and buttons to his pants and shirt, and he is so hilarious wearing this. I laugh so hard looking at these! I couldn't pick a few photos, I picked a lot...can't even help it. The eyebrows crack me up.

he was SOOO tired during this photo shoot, but he was a good sport, his eyes are all red because he's so sleepy. We went to James and Meikka's right after these pics, and he was asleep before we left the driveway...



He drooled all over his beard, and wanted to eat it too, but overall he tolerated it really well :o)

Okay, this is what I've been working on this week. Binky Clips. I know, everyone makes these and sells them, but I am gearing up for a craft show in Jackson Hole in December, and I am going to try my hand at selling baby items...

the reason is that when I was in Jackson visiting Aaron and Paige and their new baby Annie, I asked Paige if she had a nursing cover, she said there is nowhere in town to buy that kind of thing...WHAT? Utah is really saturated with wares such as the hooter hider and binky clips etc...so one thing led to another, and I am going to be in the craft bazaar in December. I'm going to sell binky clips, bibs(bandana style), nursing covers, slings, and bedazzled onesies. I know a million people do this, but I think that Jackson is a touristy place with untapped market potential for these items, so I'm going to give it a try.

Any tips for selling things at a craft fair or on Etsy (I'll be doing that too)?
I made my own tags!!! My dad made my logo from a photo of my canvas art print of the owls, and my "design" name is "PLaY"

I bought ink jet transfer paper, printed the images out in Mirror Image, and then ironed them onto twill tape...it was really inexpensive and fun! THANKS DAD for the amazing logo!

This is about half of them, waiting to get snaps...
Oh, also, I was totally featured on "all things thrifty" for my damask canvases (that I totally had to rearrange on my wall so they looked right! THANKS meikka! How embarrassing!)

Canvas fun and buckaroo blankie

I just (finally) finished this chenille blankie project...it was one of those that you see at the quilt shop and think, hey, I can do that, SOOO easy! Just straight lines blah blah blah! It took forever! The basic idea is, you take a cute piece of fabric, in this case, this old timey vintagey little boy cowboy print, and three pieces of flannel. You quilt them all together in straight lines about 1/2 to 3/4 inch apart, Then you cut all the layers of flannel in between each line of stitching, When you wash it, it frays since the stitching is on the bias, and it makes chenille! It's SUPER comfy, and so cute. I used some satin blanket binding for the edges. I love how it turned out... a lot. It was totally worth the HOURS of sewing and cutting!

The frayed edges make a ripple-ish effect when it's washed. I like it.

When I was cutting, I had this cool idea, to NOT cut certain parts to spell out Everett's initials. It turned out pretty cool except for the wonky 'M' because I accidentally cut where I wasn't supposed to. I think it would be cool to make like a star pattern, or maybe paisley or something...next time :)

Love these cowboys, I am in love with this style of print/book/art/whatever, I love it.

UPDATE: I have replaced the photo's with the updated ones in the correct order! ;) (I had them switched around, doh! How embarrassing!) So the following photo's are corrected ;)

Also, in answer to your questions, I did use a projector and trace and paint it, BUT after doing the freezer paper, I would ABSOLUTELY say that is the easier way to go FOR SURE! You could enlarge the image on your computer screen, trace it right on your screen, cut it out, iron it onto the canvas, and spray paint it... I think it would be much easier to cut out, iron, and spray!

Okay, So I made some really rockin canvas art, and it was EASY and CHEAP, and I LOVE it!!!

I wanted to do this from "All things Thrifty" but this version was much easier, and cheaper, it was 12 bucks for the canvas, plus like 2 bucks for the paint. Awesome. I would love to paint this wall red, or brown, but this isn't my house, so for now I'll totally enjoy the damask art. I painted while watching/listening to conference :)

This other project I just finished while hanging out with Steph yesterday. It was so easy, and I learned some things along the way....

I took freezer paper, drew an image (The elephants were traced from an image online, the owl was outlined from an image online, but the rest was freehanded by mwah, I'm pretty proud of the giraffes.) I cut the image out with scissors, and an x-acto knife. Then I ironed the freezer paper onto the canvas ( I used a book to brace the back of the canvas while i ironed. I also put painters tape around the edges of the canvas to make a border. The I spray painted a few coats over each one, and voila! CAYUTE custom art. I LOVE it!

What I learned:

Don't rush the paint job. My poor turtles fell victim of ne being anxious to finish, and the green paint bled :( I still love them, but I shouldn't have rushed. The owls turned out PERFECT because I did really light coats.

-Also, iron it down really good. When the paper gets wet, it ripples, so do light coats and make sure it's ironed down well.

total price: Canvas 11.20 (on sale for 5.60 at Hobby Lobby for a 2-pack) Spray Paint I already had. I think it would work with craft paint too, it would just take longer, and might be harder to keep from bleeding
Sad bleeding paint

Happy not bleeding paint ;)

Three Months Old

Woah. Three months. This kid is growing like a weed, really. I don't know how much he weighs but I'm pretty sure it's more than 14 lbs. He is SO happy these days, it's easier and easier to get him to smile :) He's pretty irresistible in the morning after he's had a nice long sleep, he is SO happy! He's still a great eater, and we dropped his late night feeding so now he eats about six times a day, takes 5 naps, and he eats around 8 or 9, and then goes down fro the night. He wakes me up around 7 to eat and snuggle me in bed, it is heaven. He loves sucking on his hands, so when he finds them, he drools so much his shirt is pretty soaked. He still just yells at me when he's hungry, poopy, or tired. He loves being held in the sling, and he likes to be swaddled tight and to suck on a binky when he's ready to go to sleep. He can hold up his head but he still hates tummy time, but he really likes his bumbo seat (see second video below). He is perfectly content to watch me clean and cook all day, oh and he loves to be read to, he likes looking at pictures. At conference he was cracking us all up because he was watching it with what looks like real intent...such a reverent boy!
I made these pants out of a pair of adult shorts (that were $2 at my downeast store)....I feel like a rockstar. I think they are SO cute, and they were super easy because all the hard parts were done already, like the waist band etc...I've got like 4 more pair in the works! I also made a pocket and sewed it onto his polo (that I also got at my downeast store ;)
A bit concerned...
munching on those hands....delish!




he's had enough, wants to be snuggled and put to bed!
Well, that's our little Everett, three months old!