Repurposed Sweater

We had a dilemma after we bought Madelyn this:



Of course, it's super cute, but not incredibly practical for winter. I planned on buying a little cardigan to go over the top, but I could not find one that would look good and cost less than $15. A few nights ago, I had an epiphany. I remembered that I had a white cropped sweater that no longer fit. I've been seeing adult clothing refashioned into kid's clothing on multiple blogs and I figured I could do the same. So I cut the sweater into Madelyn-size pieces, using the bodice from the pattern I used to make her blessing dress. Here is the finished product:



This would be the overall cardigan. Our camera stinks, but you get the idea. I added random flowers and cool buttons that I got from my grandma. I also replaced the buttons for better ones. Here's the closeup:



And here's the flower I made to go on the headband that will match the dress. Making this involved an open flame, which was a little scary, but it was pretty easy otherwise. I may have one that matches hers.....



The sweater is not perfect, but it cost exactly $0. That enabled us to save $15, plus it was educational for me! Madelyn likes it okay, so we are going to call it good, and call her holiday outfit complete!

What's In My Bag?

I have seen multiple blog posts about the contents of various women's purses, and since I always enjoy reading these, I thought I'd get in on the fun! Here's my lovely diaper bag which also has to serve as my purse (not that I mind, it's a pretty darn cute diaper bag).



And here's an inside shot:



Okay, so now I'm going to pull out everything and list it here for you! You lucky, lucky people!

-Wallet
-Pen
-A recipe for Double Chocolate M&M Cookies
-2 packs of Extra gum: strawberry shortcake and polar ice
-Vaseline Lip Therapy
-Berry-colored lipstick
-Dr. Pepper chapstick
-2 tubes of pink lipgloss
-A makeup compact minus makeup
-Bobby pins
-Hair elastic
-Mini hand sanitizer
-2 moist towelettes
-iPod touch in fabric case
-Skullcandy (love them) earbuds
-Keys
-Sunglasses in fabric case
-1 smooshed strawberry granola bar
- a handful of gum wrappers
-changing pad
-part of a Winco ad
-a traveling formula container
-diaper wipes in case
-Madelyn's jacket and gloves
-Madelyn's hat
-my leather gloves
-2 burp clothes
-a white baby headband
-a green onesie
-a brown floral onesie
-coupons
-2 tubes of diaper rash ointment
-a pair of baby booties
-baby lotion
-baby tylenol
-five diapers
-a purple sweatsuit for Madelyn
-a pair of pink newborn booties (that don't fit Madelyn anymore)
-a bib
-WIC packet
-3 play rings
-a miniature rainbow slinky
-a booger bulb
-a tupperware full of bobby pins
-Madelyn's immunization card
-3 receipts
-a very large business card for Primary Children's

And that's it! Madelyn and I are slightly high maintenance, and we require a very large and a very full diaper bag to feel secure in life....Sorry though, if you found this boring. I'm not very cool.

The Sock Thief

A ridiculous portion of our lives are dedicated to socks. Jason and I spend way too much looking for (Jason), picking up (Megan), and arguing over socks. You see, we have a few strange sock habits. Okay, in all actuality, I have some weird sock habits. I wear them when I sleep (and I might add that I highly recommend it- I am out within five minutes of laying down, and I sleep deeply without waking up), I occasionally tuck my pajama pants into my socks during the winter before I go to bed (don't you hate it when your pant legs ride up and your legs get cold?), and I have quite the talent for losing my socks. And this, my friends, is why I am the sock thief.

Women's socks, for some reason, are not very warm, nor are they very sturdy. I go through them quickly, and I lose them easily. I've gotten a lot better about keeping track of them, probably because, for the first time in my life, I have a washer and a dryer to myself. For a long time though, I had a hard time keeping track of my socks. Community laundry rooms were not kind to me, and I lost most of my socks before Jason and I got married. And then, a marvelous thing happened: Jason and I got married, and all of a sudden, I realized that in addition to my own few pairs of socks, I now had access to Jason's numerous pairs of socks. Jason, fearing for his socks' safety, bought me a package of socks for our first Christmas. His only oversight, however, was that I had found out the truth about men's socks: they are way way better than women's socks. So, for the past two years, I have been "borrowing" his socks on a regular basis, and you know what? He doesn't like it. He worries that I'm going to lose them, and he hates losing socks (I have not, by the way, lost any of his socks in all my days of doing his laundry). So, once again, he has told me to expect socks for Christmas. That's fine by me, but Jason, my dear, sweet husband, please buy me men's socks. I might stop stealing yours, and we'll both be much happier sock wearers.

Megan's Crazy World of Crafting

Every Mommy knows that she needs an occasional break from being a Mommy in order to stay sane. Unfortunately, since Jason is so busy bringing home the bacon and otherwise providing for us, and since Madelyn is a high-maintentance child, I don't get a lot of Mommy breaks, so instead, I sew and make various things. All without trying to spend money.....

A car seat canopy refashion- I made this canopy several months ago, but the straps would move all around on the handle. I finally had enough of the slipping and sliding, so I remade the straps so that they fit snuggly. I also remade the flowers with the help of some fabric my Grandma gave me. I'm pretty sure the fabric is older than I am.



I believe in beautiful hair, but Madelyn lacks large amounts of it, soooooo..... she wears a lot of headbands. Again, I kinda had to use what I had lying around...ahem, tights.....but anyway, they work!



This pillow is, once again, made from fabric found in my Grandma's fabric filing cabinet (as well as some fleece from a jacket I made in sewing class that will never fit unless I am hugely pregnant) and from a pattern found on purlbee.com.



I made the fabric basket liners, which were also made from that super old pink fabric from my grandma. Note: It's a good thing they are meant to only show on the outside because the inside is U-G-L-Y. I need to learn how to sew a flat piece of fabric to four sides of fabric.



Madelyn's tissue paper mobile- $3 for tissue paper. Martha Stewart's minions inspired this one. So cheap, and simple so that Madelyn doesn't get overwhelmed.



And now I feel like a total showoff, but I promise that my lack of photography know how keeps me very humble. Amen.

The Nursery Revealed!

Okay, so a quick disclaimer: the nursery is not actually finished. I still have a few projects I'd like to complete in there to finish it up. Here is a quick peek though:






Okay, so obviously, I need to paint out the bookshelf, and I'd like to add a shadowbox above it. I might reupholster the rocking chair, and I'd like to frame Madelyn's blessing dress (I seriously hope we never have another little girl small enough to wear it) and place it above her crib.

The best part? We were able to finish the room for less than $100 because of our wonderful family. My mom gave us furniture, and my cousin gave us the crib and changing table. Jason's mom made us a bunch of gorgeous blankets (one of which is on the rocking chair) and the crib linens. D.I. and Roberts were the sources for the rest of it! But we are pretty proud of it, and we think Madelyn likes it too!

Ruling the Roost

So I always feel like a loser because it seems like we have nothing going on. And then I feel like life could not get any crazier. The phone is constantly ringing, Madelyn's therapists are always at our apartment, the trash is always overflowing, and of course Madelyn is insanely cute (okay, she also needs to be fed and kept clean and entertained). What is going to happen when we have more kids? So basically we live a constantly busy and somewhat boring life. But we do have some fun stuff going on as of late!

-Madelyn has discovered her hands. She raises her fists (which kinda smell funny since she has sweaty palms due to clenching those fists so tightly) in front of her fists and concentrates really hard on those babies. She tries really hard to one of those fists to her mouth, but so far, nothing.

-Madelyn now demands attention. She needs to be talked to. She needs to be held. She needs love! Or else she yells, cries, and pouts. She has the best pouty lip I've seen. Like, for reals. She loves listening to music (favorites are Taylor Swift, Michael Buble, and some Disney, and of course, songs sung by Mommy and Daddy). She also loves loves loves dancing.

-Madelyn can laugh, and she does it a lot. It's a strange little laugh, and it's hard to hear sometimes. However, if we are dancing with her, she will laugh hysterically and quite audibly.

-Our child is naughty. She cries when Mom leaves her with Dad, she cries when she has to run errands with Mom, and she doesn't care for naps. Umm, as in she slept for a total of thirty minutes between 7:15 am and 5:30 pm. Grumpy kiddo today.

-As you can tell, Madelyn is the queen of our apartment, and Jason and I have become second class citizens. Her complete and utter control over us is based on cuteness. She wins hands down.

-Jason is still working hard. Really really really hard. He's doing awesome in school and is pretty much amazing as an employee too. That, we are sorry to say, is his life right now. He is dying for a vacation outside of Utah.

-Megan is 90% Mommy and 10% Seamstress. Sewing is really my favorite hobby lately. I've been sewing headbands, and various items of clothing for Madelyn. I finished my and Madelyn's Halloween costumes. I've gotten really creative with my fabric scraps and odds and ends. My projects do not always turn out, but I have grandiose plans for my little fabric scraps.

-Megan has been baking lots less, and bookmarking more recipes. In fact, my baking is mostly just experimenting with whole wheat flour, which I am trying to like. I've made some sweet potato rock muffins. Lesson learned: Whole Wheat All-Purpose Flour is not the same as Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Major fail. But, But! I can now fit into a pair of khakis that I wore before I got pregnant. Yes, they are my biggest pre-pregnancy pants, and yes, they look horrible with my pasty skin, but they fit nevertheless.

Like I said, we are incredibly boring, and more than a little overdue for a break of some kind. But we have a darling little girl who keeps life incredibly interesting, messy, and joyful. Unfortunately, no pictures today. I'm still trying to figure out the MacBook I inherited from Jason and I haven't attempted uploading pictures from memory cards yet....

I Have a Crush on Food Blogs

Okay, so here's the deal: I absolutely love food blogs. As in, I rarely use my recipe books. As in, I read more than a dozen blogs every day. As in, the recipes are so stinkin' good that I just can't help myself! So I've thought about starting a food blog, but I just can't get myself to do it for a couple of really good reasons (at least in my own mind).

1. There are about a bazillion food blogs out there. Food blogs from people who have more cooking experience, more cash for ingredients, and way better photography skills (you've got to have awesome pictures).

2. I'm only what? 22? Pretty sure I have tons of learning and refining to do in the kitchen.

3. And I forgot my last reason. But I'm sure it was a good one. I've got Mommy brain.

So anyway, no food blog for now. But I am making something yummy for dinner tonight. They involve bacon! And cream cheese! And more cheese!

Da-duh-duh! Chicken Rolls! These are based on a recipe that everyone seems to know, but mine are super cool because they have bacon and other yummy twists.

Chicken Roll Bread Dough

6 cups flour

1 ½ tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp oil

1 cup hot water

1 Tbsp yeast

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for five minutes. Add oil, salt, and flour. Let dough rise in warm oven for 50 minutes, punching down every ten minutes.

Chicken Roll Filling

8 oz. cream cheese

4 Tbsp. melted butter

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

2 Tbsp chopped green onions

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

8 strips bacon, cooked and chopped

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 Tbsp milk

1 ½ cups Italian bread crumbs

Blend cream cheese and melted butter until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients. Roll out bread dough and cut into 3 inch squares. Place 1/4 cup of chicken mixture in the center of each square. Pull up the corners and seal the edges. Roll in melted butter and then in bread crumbs. Let rise for ten minutes, but not until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 12 rolls.

Mini Me

This is why Madelyn is Jason's Mini-Me.

Jason

Madelyn

Megan

It's kind of sad that Madelyn doesn't look anything like me. I just hope Madelyn doesn't look just like her Dad when she grows up. I'm not sure Jason would make an attractive girl.

Oh Me, Oh My

So I'm sitting on the couch, surrounded by Kleenex, hand sanitizer, a plastic bag, and the remote controls. It's the first time I've been sick since Madelyn's birth, and can I say that being a sick mom is stinky? Anyway, it's just a head cold, so I'll survive.

So life at the Wells' apartment has been pretty low key lately. Madelyn is just eating, sleeping, and playing. She is a little bit of a stinker, but she's also super happy. We like her, and we'll keep her. So here's what Madelyn can do:

-Smile! She's really learning how to respond to us, and her happiest time of the day is 6 am.
-Kick. Her favorite places are in the tub and against any flat vertical surface.
-Coo. When Madelyn is happy, she likes to talk. Otherwise, she yells.
-Pout. She's got her daddy's talent for pouting. Nough said.

We love having her home. We fall more in love with her everyday.

Jason is still working in the Church's IT department, and will be switching over from his intern status to contingent staff once school starts. He's pretty awesome at his job, and everybody loves him.

I am at home all day, almost every day. This means that I now follow half a dozen TV shows via Hulu. I'm lame, I know. It does help me get through the 45-minute long feeding sessions (Madelyn likes to goof off while she eats). I'm also having fun sewing things for Madelyn- a blessing dress, a car seat canopy, and a sling, so far. Otherwise, I'm trying to brainstorm what in the world to do for Madelyn's room, at the lowest cost possible. It's interesting.....

And of course, I'm cooking! And baking! And gaining weight....but Jillian Michaels and I are working on that.

I Smell Like Spit-Up

My last blog post was February 28. I have to laugh a little bit, because just five days after that last post, I went into preterm labor. Unfortunately, by the time we decided to go to the hospital (I had no idea I was in labor- I just knew I was miserable and wanted the horrible pain to go away), I was way too far along for them to stop my labor, and I gave birth to Madelyn early the next morning. Today, six weeks later, is her actual due date.

I feel like we've been living in the Twilight Zone since then. While we've adjusted to life in the NICU for the most part (you can never truly feel at home in a hospital), it all seems so surreal. I feel like a part-time Mommy since I only get to hold Madelyn for about an hour and a half every day. I did get to meet my little one early, but we've also seen her hooked up to all sorts of things, endured lots of disappointment, and learned the consequences of a shortened gestational period. There have been a lot of tears and frustration for both Jason and I, and I feel just guilty that my body didn't do what it was supposed to do in regards to carrying a child. But now, I'm just going to stop with the not fun stuff. That's not what we need to focus on, even though it's hard not to.

So now for the fun stuff. Madelyn is an absolute sweetheart. She is a happy, smiley baby who loves to be held. She is also quite fiesty. She does not like to be held in certain positions, and she will get mad if the nurses mess with her too much. She prefers to be held so that she can see us, and most of the time, she just wants to sit on one of our laps, and make froggy faces. She is growing great, and is currently 5 lbs. 11 oz.- which is quite a bit bigger than her original 3 lbs. 1 oz. In fact, she's got some nice chub around her face, and her arms are getting some mini-rolls on them. She's also filled out in the legs, which means that her chicken legs are officially gone. She loves it when Daddy sings to her (Mommy does too, but Dad's more favorite) and when he reads to her. She is finally beginning to like baths, but she still hates having her head scrubbed. Yes, head, not hair. Her hair currently consists of peach fuzz. It's very soft and sweet, but she does lack that wild hubangee look that some of the other hairier babies have. We like her though, bald head and all.

Oh, and yes, Madelyn spit up on me today. It's the first time that it's happened. It won't be the last though, will it?

We Stink At Blogging

After thinking about it for a few weeks, I've decided to finally post something. I know. Amazing. Truth is, I'm a lazy bum, and while I love to read other people's blogs, I stink at doing my own.

Jason and I have been busy between work (Jason) and school (both of us) and baby growing/nesting (Me). Jason is now doing an internship with the church, and drives up to the IT office in Riverton pretty much everyday. Yeah, he work about five minutes away from my parents' house, which is great for when I want to visit. He uses his hour-long commute each day to "read." In other words, I've been renting the Jason Bourne series for him from the library, and he listens to the tapes on the way to and from work every day. Then, he comes home and works on Calculus. Calculus has become a dirty word in our home. However, Jason is working really hard and is doing well in his class. We like the nights where we can just spend time together and relax though.

I am currently splitting my time between a sewing class, and being a happy little homemaker. The cleaning/cooking/laundry thing is going fine. I do have doubts about my sewing class though. Between walking to campus, and trying to fit my rather large belly behind a sewing machine, and attempting to remember how to do stuff with my prego brain, sewing class is somewhat of a challenge. I am learning lots though- i just finished my first project, which is a polar fleece, zip up hoodie. It fits over my belly. Most things don't anymore. Of course, there is almost a full grown newborn in there. Yes, I am 33 weeks, and feeling it- today in the form of Braxton Hicks. Jason is loving the giant belly- he pokes and prods it in order to bond with baby Madelyn. He also likes my tummy because it makes me infinitely more entertaining- I can't reach anything on the floor, or really go from sitting/laying down to standing anymore without lots of struggling. He thinks it's pretty funny.

So that's our life right now. It really is taken up by our basic daily responsibilities, and preparing for Madelyn. We are soooo stinkin' excited for our little girl. I just worry that once she comes, Jason's never going to let me hold her, unless he's at work (he says I've had her for nine months, and now it's his turn). So that's the last few months in a nutshell, and maybe, just maybe, I'll post again before the baby comes. Maybe.