Ensign Peak

The Great Salt Lake.

Downtown SLC.

Hiking at the Cabin

Daily Dose

of Maggie cuteness.
Shaving like Daddy ("Maggie's turn").
Mr. Potato Head's glasses. She walked around with these on for 15 minutes.
Trying out our new sleeping bags (Mother's and Father's Day presents/emergency preparedness).

Another Board Book

Here is another board book Auntie Rachel made for Maggie. She made this one using squares of cardboard and tape - and excellent substitution if you can't get the blank pre-made board books I mentioned earlier.

Each page has a map of a different city and an animal to look for.

Here is another present Maggie just got in the mail from Rachel: it's a cute little train with a letter of her name on each car. The letters are covered with a map of Florence. Maggie can read her name and loves trains, so she loves playing with this.

Memorial Day

We made an early Memorial Day trip to Provo today. John made the cute card for my parents. There's a secret message on it if you look closely.

Maggie's favorite part of the trip was the exhibits in the Eyring Science Center.

More Farm Girls

We took Maggie and Colette to Wheeler Farm today. It is hot and windy, but we still had fun.

Sleeping Beauty

Most unusual. I should have been hearing "Eepie on!" before this.

Reusable Snack Bags

I whipped these bags up last night using some bits of fabric left over from other projects. I used a free pattern from Boogaboo Babies (click on the item to download the free pattern). ETA: this pattern is no longer free. Drawstring bags aren't that hard to figure out though, especially if you don't want a lined one.
The bags were easy to make. The one of the left was made from 10"x10" squares, and the one on the right from 8"x8". The first is too large, but the second is an awkward shape. Also, the left one is lined. I like the interfacing on the bottom to give it more support, but I think the lining is superfluous and make for an unnecessarily bulky bag. These bags are to replace Ziploc bags as snack holders, and also allow Maggie to get her own snacks. We don't have a snack tray on our stroller, so we'll use them on walks.

And Another Maternity Skirt

I think this one turned out better. I used the same tutorial as before, but I made a pattern this time. I also did a lining (this fabric is somewhat sheer), and put 2" wide elastic in the band instead of relying on the knit fabric. Not hemmed yet, as we don't have a full-length mirror and John isn't home.

Here is the pattern I used, cut on the fold. For the front, I added an inch along the diagonal line.
Here is a closer view of the pattern on the fabric. It's a darker red in real life. It is crepe, which means it shreds terribly - but not as bad as the lining. I have several more yards of this fabric (and the lining) so you will likely see another dress for Rachel someday.

Purple Shirt Pregnancy Remix

Take two on the shirt made out of a purple sheet from DI. For construction, I used the same tutorials as the previous shirt. I also used the same homemade pattern as before, but made alterations to the pattern I'd made to the previous shirt. And, obviously, I made it to fit the baby belly (19.5 weeks, by the way).Here is a helpful site for altering a t-shirt pattern for maternity.

Complaints: I didn't cut the back long enough, and you can see the stitches (of white thread) around the neckline. The 3/4 sleeves were a happy accident (previous shirt was long-sleeved, so I figured I'd just cut whatever and trim it when it was finished). When I tried it on before trimming, I thought it was cute! Since I didn't hem the bottom or the sleeves, I can just trim the sleeves when it gets hot.

The Maternity Sewing Begins

I had a difficult time finding something to wear to church on Sunday, so I came home and got started on my maternity sewing. The skirt is made out of a sheet I bought at a thrift store ages ago as practice material for Rachel's dress. I made up the pattern, but here is a tutorial from Sew Mommy Sew: Maternity Skirt Tutorial. This took about an hour. This was my practice skirt, I have some really nice material I'm going to try next. The top is some knit fabric I bought from JoAnn.
The shorts are a pair of slightly-too-big pants I already had, with holes in the knees. I used more of the knit fabric. I marked where I could zip them up too, then cut them at that mark, and removed the zipper. I sewed the fly shut. Then I made a band of knit fabric 5 inches wide, and the length stretched as tight as I could around my tummy. The band is folded in half lengthwise, and stretched to fit the waist of the jeans then sewed on. Took about half an hour. These were "practice" too. I'm going to make a pair of pants next, and I'm going to use a much wider band, maybe 10 inches, folded in half. These don't come up high enough.

Here are some helpful sites for maternity jeans:
Craftster: DIY Maternity Jeans with tutorial
SewChic: Tutorial: How to Convert Jeans into Maternity

ETA: I ended up picking open the seam of the knit fabric on the shorts and inserting 2" elastic after wearing them a few times. Easier and faster than redoing it with more knit fabric, and hopefully they will stay up better.

Mother's Day

In the "toy drawer" at Grandma June's. Because I wish I had a picture of us playing in the orange cupboard at the Ranch.

John with his mom.

With Grandma June.

Maggie with her mommy!

Best Friends

We had our friends over for dinner. I went to check on the girls playing and found this:
You can tell in this picture that they were being entertained by Colette's daddy.

Wobble Wobble

M is walking all over the house pulling her wobbly alligator, but she was willing to stop and pose for me.

Cousin Cuteness

Check out this adorable photo from August 2007.