the nursing cover

**First of all I need to appologize for the photos in this post. I have been practicing with picnik resizing my images and putting a watermark and I dont know what I did, but half the photos ended up flipped when I uploaded them. I tried my best to fix it, but at 10:15 at night all I can think about is sizing up my pillow ;-)**

So a few times I teased you talking about the fab fabric I got and that I'd worked on some baby shower gifts, finally here it is. Well atleast one of them.

When I became a mother, I realized a lot of things people dont tell you, one of them, when you have to breastfeed.... you have to feed! It dont matter where you are.

There were times when I was shopping at Costco and when your baby wants to eat they want to eat.

From the begining I was determined to have this baby as a part of our lives and not dictate our lives so if that meant whipping my boob out in the middle of my grocery shopping at Costco then so be it.
What made it oh so much easier?
My handy dandy nursing cover!

I just loved, loved mine and so I can't think of a more perfect gift for a new nursing mother.

The first time I made one I used the one I found at Blisstree but I have since made a few adjustments here and there. I think it just depends how big or small you want the nursing cover.

I got two coordinating pieces of fabric and cut the main body at about 24" wide X 32" long and then one at 24" wide X 4" or so long for the bottom trim.
Also cut from the coordinating trim 2 more pieces about 3" wide or so and one at 10" long and one at 20" long for the straps that go around your neck.

Sew the straps together wrong side out so that when you flip them to the right side out, you'll have a nice trim edge. Then sew the trim fabric to the bottom on the large body fabric.

Press the straps nicely and also press the hem on the trim down.

Fold each side in twice and sew a straight stitch and then do the same with the bottom hem as well.

Now with the neck line, you are going to have to get a piece of plastic corset boning. I cut mine at about 15" - 17" long. Fold the hem in once and press. Then place the boning in the center of your nursing cover and fold over again and press. As you can see you made a pocket for your boning to go in.

Pin right next to the sides of the boning so it doesnt move around. You are going to take your two straps and tuck one side under the hem you just pressed right next to each side of your boning.  Straight stitch right along the edge all the way across.

You can see the boning is sewn right in there and wont move.

Go back to the straps and I sew a little square to hold it in place firmly.

At the end of the short strap I put on 2 D rings and then fold over the raw edge once and then once again to tuck it under and hide it. Then sew straight across atleast twice.

And tada!

There you go, super stylish and super convenient.

A life saver in fact!

This one I almost wanted to keep and have another one case it was too cute!

Please dont mind the mess behind me in the pix!

(always keeping it real)

Another update... here is the pix! thanks for waiting!

I'm linking up with the parties listed at the bottom of my page.
Go check them out!

**UPDATE**

Oops sorry I just realized I forgot to upload the final picture!!

Please be patient, it will be up later this evening.

today's creative blog

Life's little blessings...

Our family grew just a little bit bigger yesterday.

My dear friends, that are like our own family welcomed baby number 5.

Welcome precious little Keahi.

I'm so happy for this little addition to their family.

Makes me have baby fever, hehe

This would be the totally perfect way to introduce some of the baby gifts that I made for this lil guy... but that will be another post. Stay tunned...



Does Victoria have any secrets??

The Big Show is tonight!

Do you guys watch it?

I love watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!

wanna know a secret? when I was young I wanted to be a VS model! True Story.

My favorite performance was last year

This is the only time I make my hubby look at other women... and the only time hes allowed to! LOL

I'm very excited for the show, only problem is... it's the same time as Glee!!
Lucky I have DVR

a long weekend and into cyber monday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

I know I sure did... I thought I'd be lazy and just take the weekend to relax (it was much needed!) but instead we were super productive!

Friday I actually ventured out and did a little of shopping. My son wanted to hang out with his papa and my dad told me to go do my errands so I ran around and got some pretty good deals and checked some things off my Christmas list.

I DID NOT go out for the crazy Black Friday, no way!

Saturday we got the usual chores done and my little helper is getting more and more helpful every week! He vacuumed the livingroom with a smile on his face.

I finished the rest of the house and did laundry and cleaned the bathrooms while he went outside with his daddy and mowed the lawn.

I dont know who I was more proud of, the hubs or the lil man.

They even cleaned out my garden, took out the weeds and replanted my green onions!

Yesterday we planted a TON of grass plugs, uggh my arms are killing me today.

And speaking of today, it's Cyber Monday.

You guys picking up any good deals?

I stocked up on PJ for the next 2 years!

Check out this super cute list of Gifts for your Frenemy from Babble.com
Totally made me giggle at the ideas! You have to check it out, atleast get a good laugh.

Cheers to Monday!



Happy Thanksgiving 2011

Is it just me or did Thanksgiving really sneak up on us this year?

I can't even belive that its tomorrow already, buuuut thank God for the long weekend!

I started soaking the turkey in brine from last night, put out 2 loaves of bread to get stale for the dressing what else is there??

I found this picture of my son's first thanksgiving in 2009, he was 9 months old.

Looking at this picture makes me have baby fever!!

I miss this little baby!

I'm so thankful to be blessed with him, even though he drives me insane!

You can hear me gush about the experience {here} and {here}

But this post isnt about my baby so moving on....

Because of the Holiday WTF Wednesday will be postponed and will return in 2 weeks as regularly scheduled. You guys should be able to get some good stuff with Black Friday coming up!

I want to wish all you out there a happy and safe thanksgiving!



Chair redo for craft desk

Thanks for being patient when I catch up around here!

So without further ado... here is one of the projects Ive been wanting to share.

A while ago I got this entryway table from craigslist that came with a couple of chairs.

Just like the table they were pretty beaten up.

I got the table and chairs for $40 so pretty good deal I would say.

I took the dirty cushion off and found another old one under it! I took that one off as well and sanded the chair down.

(please excuse the crooked pix, I just cant for the life of me fix it)

Apparently I forgot to take pictures of the sanding and spray painting process, but I'm sure you guys can imagine it.

Sand - dust - spray paint

Then I took some left over fabric from a sewing project you must stay tunned for...

I layed the cushion I removed on the fabric and just cut around it.

Then I stapled it to the foam and board.

Ok, I didnt staple it, the wood was just tooooo hard!

Even my hubby couldnt get the staples through!

See!

My friend's hubby came from up the road to my rescue!

He's a big strong guy.

He got the staples in finally and even he had some issues!

Then I screwed the seat back on the chair and tada!!

(singing)

Isnt she lovely, isnt she wonderful....

So... after all of this and I put it together, THEN I realized I didnt check to see how I linned up the fabric on the seat cushion!

DUH!

Oh well, I still really like it!

Here is a view from the hallway, see how the colors flow all the way to the front door?

And the print kinda matches my welcome mat too!

Ok, I'm being real here... this is what this desk has been looking like for some time. Getting the chair done has finally put my butt in gear to clean it up.

Now I finally have my little space to work!

And as you can see, I was just getting ready to do some sewing in my spot!

Got a nice view right outside my window and ready to tackle my projects!



I'll be linking to the parties at the bottom of my page and found {HERE} as well.

today's creative blog

you light up my life...

I love candles. What can I say Im a romantic.

Love all the different glass candle stick holders.

Sorry no image source, if anyone knows where this one and the one below came from let me know so I can give the proper persons credit!

And look at all these brass, silver and metal ones, ooooh ahhh!

Image Source

Here's a cheap DIY idea, use empty wine bottles! I could totally do this, where my girls at? We need to suck back some wine this weekend!

(just kidding, I'm not that much of a wine-o)

Image Source

What a pretty idea for a wedding. 

 

Thankful....

We had a super busy week and weekend.

As you know my lil man has been sick, but is doing 100 times better.

Last Friday I had a wedding on the very popular 11-11-11

They were the sweetest couple, so cute and sweet. They and their families have been though a lot and it was so touching to be a part of their wedding and seeing this family all together.

They are blessed to have each other.

Saturday was my friend's, nephew's daughter's birthday and welcome home party.

Wow say that 5 times fast!

This lil girl was born with an underdeveloped intestine and had numerous surgeries in her first year of life. She spend the last year and a half in Kapiolani Women's and Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. She's finally home with her family and they celebrated with a party. We spent 2 evenings after work making 150 cake pops for the guests favors. Whew... I dont want to see another cake pop for a long time! LOL

Sunday we had a small baby shower for a dear friend of mine. She is pregnant with her 4th boy. It was so nice to see the kids playing and nice to visit and talk story with all our friends and family.

I will be sharing some of the gifts that I made for her later this week!

I'll give you a hint... it has something to do with this post.

So I guess you could say I've been keeping busy.

I have some projects that I want to share with all of you, but I just havent been able to find the time to blog about it.

Last night I was lying in bed and I was running all the things I have to do in my head.

It was quiet and I could hear the waves crashing on the beach below our subdivision.

I listened to it for a while and thought, wow, I never noticed that before.

Then, I stopped to think.

How lucky am I to by lying in my bed and listening to the ocean waves break on the shore?

Thank you Lord.

Then I thought, it's so quiet that I can hear it, mean's my son isnt waking up sick during the night anymore. (or that my hubby isnt snoring!)

Thank you Lord.

No matter how much work the cake pops were, thank the Lord their little girl is here and healthy.

All those projects that was going through my mind. I'm thankful for the opportunity to work on them, and finish a lot of them as well.

I dont know if listening to the waves that gave me this Ah ha moment or the fact that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and its time to think of all the things you're thankful for.

Either way, no matter how busy we get we must not forget all that we should be thankful for.

Ok, and as my DECA teacher would say, thats my sermon for today.

See ya'll soon with my projects!

an update...

Yesterday's post didnt go up as scheduled and today's post won't either.

As I mentioned in my 'Monday post' we stayed home this past weekend. My son has been ill and after a trip to the dr's last Saturday AND a trip to the Urgent care this past Sunday, let's top off this party with a trip to the ER last night.

Lesson here: A mother always knows when something isnt right and trust your instincts!!

I originally took him in for a cold. He began with a dry cough and since he has a history of wheezing and they're watching for asthma I figured better safe than sorry.

Diagnosis was a slight cold and they gave him a refill for his nebulizer.

We keep our eye on him and his cough got worse and he had a runny nose.

Called the dr's and they said it was a cold going around and to keep him comfortable and give him tylenol if he ran a fever.

This past weekend, the fever hit and as he slept I watched his breathing and it seemed shallow and almost at a pant.

We called the ER who paged the peds dr on call and were told that if he was breathing comfortably and sleeping dont wake him just let him sleep and bring him in the morning.

I woke up every hour and watched him breathe.

The next morning as soon as we got up and my lil man had breakfast we went to urgent care.

He received care rather quickly and the dr seemed thorough and patient. He even called the pharmacy ahead to confirm that they had the correct attachment for his inhaler.

We were sent home and told to make an appointment for Tuesday for a follow up.

Yesterday evening when we got home, I noticed he was just not himself. He was quiet and lethargic soooo NOT him!

He got really clingy and was just crying for no obvious reason. After about an hour of watching him and asking him questions he told me he was scared cause he couldnt breathe.

That was NOT something to take lightly and I was not going to wait until his apointment the following day.

I just kept having flashbacks of last year Thanksgiving! Dont want a repeat of that!

I rushed him to the ER, it was the LONGEST drive ever!!

Thanfully we were seen right away. The dr's and nurses worked efficiently and were very nice to all of us. After a neb treatment, a couple of nurses and dr's checking him and a chest xray he was diagnosed with a slight case of pnuemonia!

Mama just knew something wasnt right with her baby.

Thank goodness we went in and thank God for the nurses and dr's and everyone that he is doing fine. We'll be going for his check up in about an hour and I'm hoping to get hom and all of us geting some sleep.

I'll check in tomorrow if I have the energy.

I did however, get to be quite productive this weekend since we stayed home.

Got some really nice baby shower gifts done too which I'll share later!

Oh Monday, why do you come so soon??

**note**
I started this post on Monday and fully meant to publish it, well, sorry, it didnt happen.
I'll post an update soon.


Seriouslly? Why does Monday come so soon?

Friday takes forever to get here and come the end of the week and you blink and Monday is here!

It pretty much stormed all weekend long here with flash flooding and they even closed down the bridge going into Hanalei.
We were supposed to go to a wedding on Saturday evening, but the lil guy came down with a fever and we were not going to bring him out in the weather we were having.

We had very restless nights the past 2 nights. The poor lil guy is taking his athsma meds and seems to be more comfortable, except that he's acting crazy!

Well, what comes with Monday's?
MUSIC!
It's time again for:

This week is a freebie and this is just what I need to brighten up my day!

No Christmas in October!!!

Today I'm having a double feature! I'll be linking up to Fawk You Friday with my gal Bobbies

and for the first time I'm joining Mamarazzi for some Friday Confessions.

I Confess...... I've always hated Christmas. It's along story, but its just too stressful for me and it's not that joyful time of the year that it should be.

I Confess...... Since having my son, I kinda like it now, like I have a reason to enjoy it and I enjoy seeing him enjoy it. But I still play the grouchy scrooge.

I Confess..... I'm secretly excited to put up my Christmas decorations and lights. I'm excited to take my son riding around to see all the Christmas lights. I'm excited to bring my son to our local Christmas lights parades.

I was horrified when I went into Kmart and Walmart on the first of October to find a HUGE display of Christmas items.
Absolutely horrified.

Yes, they are beautiful and I really do like all the decorations, but seriously, do we have to start before Halloween?

I say Fawk you to how commercialized the holiday has become!

It is a beautiful time of the year, but we shouldnt forget what it's all about.
I won't go into what its about since it means different things to different people.

I also saw Fawk you to the sickies that are going around right now. My son and I have had a lingering cold, me for 2 weeks now and my son for one week. Please oh please let us get better already.

I do confess.... that I love that since my son isnt feeling well, he's been wanting to be comforted and held and cuddled, something he normally wont do. Makes this mama still feel like her baby wants her.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

My First Pumpkin... It's AMAZING!

Ok, I promise this should be the last pumpkin post I make.

I just think its so cute!

I can't believe we've never done pumpkin carving before.

Now I realize what all the hype is about.

Speaking of which... I sure do hope the stores plan on selling more pumpkins around Thanksgiving. All evening long my son kept asking for a new pumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving

I have had a very sheltered childhood.

No seriouslly I have.

For the people who know me, know that although I was exposed to way more than I should have growing up, there are a lot of things that I never got to experience.

I have never watched Goonies, and my hubby still gives me a hard time about it.

I never saw the original Footloose.

We never sat down for family dinners except for holidays.

As I posted about yesterday, I didnt go trick or treating.

And, I never carved a pumpkin.

All my son talked about this year leading up to Halloween was that he wanted a pumpkin.

I told ya'll about our fun picking a pumpkin, now here's our first pumpkin carving!

The pure joy and happiness this brought my son was absolutely pricless!

My boys, getting to work on their pumpkins.

Please excuse the shirtless hubby, I appologize.

We're in Hawaii, around the house, guys hardly ever wear shirts.

Ok, before any of ya'll go calling Child Protective Services cause I let my two year old use a sharp tool let me just say that he was fully supervised at all times!

Here he is with his first pumpkin! Well mama did most of the work, so it was MY first pumpkin as well!

We had such a great time, this will DEFINATELY become a new tradition in our house!

UPDATE: come check out some videos as well!

the Halloween saga...

Growing up I wasnt allowed to participate in Halloween.

My mother called it the devil's holiday, so instead of dressing up as witches or cats or zombies my mother dressed me as an angel year after year and I went to our church for Harvest Festival. After I had grown out of dressing up, in high school I volunteered with the youth group to work the games booths for the younger kids.

Not saying I didnt enjoy it, I really did. I had so much fun at Harvest Festival, I have so many great memories growing up, but it just wasnt the same as going Trick Or Treating around the neighborhood with the rest of my friends and classmates.

It wasnt untill I was well into my 20's did I get dressed up and go out with my hubby and friends. Ooooh boy! This is what I've been missing out on?

How fun it was to dress as different characters!

How can you not just LOVE a holiday that you can be someone else, anyone else?!

I looked forward every year to picking out a costume.

I have to admit since becoming a mother, its even more fun!

I don't put as much effort or money into my costumes as before, but to see my son having so much fun... PRICELESS!!

This was his 3rd Halloween and we were having so much fun that I forgot to take more pictures! I know bad mommy!

It was sooo tough to get the kids together for a picture that I just snapped some randon shots. I was lucky to get my son to stay in his costume since it was so hot, the headpiece didnt last long at all.

It was amazing seeing my lil man walk up to the front doors all by himself and say trick or treat. It felt like he had grown up way too fast.

Then mama had to have a glass of wine to stop the crying. LOL