I love all things handmade! There is just something about a homemade something! I am not sure what it is but it is wonderful! I have stumbled across a new site called Etsy that sells all things handmade and it is incredible! Actually a really fun site also. It is kind of ever so slightly like eBay in that people list their handmade items to sell but that is the end of the comparison. You do not bid on items you just buy them. The fun part is that you can search by color, region and many other things. It is fun to mess around with! Picking a color you see all kinds of random handmade items in the color that you chose. If you search by region you can see who is selling what near your home, in big cities or on the other side of the world. I love it! If you have some free time I highly recommend checking it out but be careful not to become addicted!

For book club this month we were to read Jane Austen’s Persuasion. We ordered Persuasion and I had every intention of at least trying to read it and I must admit that I really did try. I tried for a whole three of four pages! I heard faintly the sound of the DVD calling me from the closet saying watch me as I am easier than the book! I crumbled and watched the DVD! I know I know! How could I, but I did and I am actually thankful that I did! After watching the movie (even though I did not really catch everything just because of the language) I was really inspired to read the book! With just a few days before book club I dug the book back out and dusted it off to begin reading. I did not finish it in time for the actual book club but I did finish it today. I must admit that I really enjoyed it! I think that it really helped that I watched the movie and had the gist of what was going on. Of course the book was a little different but I could still figure out where I was and what was going on plus I had pictures in my head to go along with the book! This could actually encourage me to read another and maybe even all of the Jane Austen’s books eventually! For now Persuasion will be my favorite even though it took some persuading for me to read it!

Yes, the your mama jokes have come and gone but in Charis’s world it it just a fact of life right now. Every time I get in the car Charis says, “Mama so big!” I am sure that I said this little statement a time or two and now Charis is picking it up and running with it. Tonight during dinner I leaned back in my chair and rested my arms on my belly and Charis said, “Mama so big!” That was the first time that Brad has heard the little statement and he got a kick out of it. It is amusing but it could give a person a complex as well!

I recently made Charis and Cai a little simple diaper bag that I could just throw a few wipes in along with some diapers and be set for a quick trip out. I am also finding that this little bag is wonderful for the church nursery as well. I have been very surprised with how Charis has fallen in love with the little bag and she calls it her purse. She loves carrying it to and from church. I had added a handle at Brad’s suggestion and what a great suggestion it was because not only do we not have to carry the bag but Charis can carry it and actually really enjoys it.

We have started gathering quite the collection of hair bows as Charis’s locks grow longer and longer so I decided that we needed a little organization. I found several holders online at various sites everything from painted holders with names to wood circles with faces painted on them with long braids to clip the bows onto. Everything that I found was really cute but also really pricey! I decided to tackle this one on my own! With a little thought and trial and error I think that I am quite happy with the final outcome. Plus it was super cheap!!! Hip hip hooray!

Wild Animal Baby is a magazine for toddlers that Charis absolutely loves! I ran across it on Amazon a little before Christmas and added it to her wish list not really knowing what to expect. It is smaller than a magazine about children’s book size and it has much sturdier pages. The magazines are definitely something that you can keep and read over and over again. The little magazine has stories, rhymes, songs, pictures of animals and all kinds of fun things. We would highly recommend this to anyone ages 12 months to 3 years! It is a little pricey but I think that it is well worth the money as it is one of Charis’s favorites and you get a new one almost every month!

My dear hubby brought me the best Valentine’s Day gift! Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Chocolate Covered Potato Chips that is enough to set a pregnant lady’s or any lady for that matter heart to dancing. There was just on stipulation with the Chocolate Covered Strawberries he said that the people at the chocolate store told him, and I am quoting here, “You have to eat the Chocolate Covered Strawberries within 24 hours or they start to go bad”. Not only did I get the lovely strawberries but I “had” to eat them within the 24 hours. It was rough let me tell you but I did manage! The best part is that even though I “had” to eat the strawberries quickly I can slowly savor the Chocolate Covered Potato Chips over time. They are quite delectable as well! I told Brad that he did a GREAT job on the gifts and he said that it is pretty easy when you are told exactly where to go and exactly what to get.

One of my favorite bloggers (Monkey Foot Designs) just shared this info regarding Warm Up America and I thought that it was a really neat project!

“If you have extra yarn from things, you can make it into
7″ x 9″ squares and send it to this address and they
will make them into afghans for homeless people,
nursing homes,veterans’ centers, even victims of
Hurricane Katrina or other disasters.”

Warm Up America!
Craft Yarn Council of America
2500 Lowell Rd
Gastonia, NC 28054

Warm Up America also has a website that you can check out. You can see all that they are involved in and also download a free pattern for the squares.

I must confess that I love fabric!I have been reading other crafters blogs online and have found some fabulous places to buy incredible fabric but there is just one problem! The price! I know that there is such a thing as quality fabric and I know if you really want the cute stuff you have to be willing to shell out the cash but when there is no cash to shell…hmmm! After a final no from the hubby on the fabric that would cost nearly $40 for me to make a diaper bag for Cai (this is not including the lining fabric! I know I know!) I have decided to go out and prove the world wrong and make a cute diaper bag for Cai with cheap fabric! I have decided to stick with a pattern that I know well so that I can try to add a little spice to it (this is me being brave as I am not one to stray from a pattern). I headed to Joanns and of course this was a day with no cute fabric in site! On a very bottom shelf in the back and in the dust I found a cute green polka-a-dot fabric and then I came across a green and white stripe that I liked as well. I was hesitant with the white since it shows dirt so well but I decided that is what the washing machine is for! It will be summer when Cai arrives so I wanted happy but yet I wanted to stay masculine so I have decided to throw in some brown piping and then probably brown for some embroidery as well. I was able to purchase everything for right under $15 which is a huge price difference! I have a pile of sewing yet to do on other projects but when it is finished I promise to post some pics for now here is a pic of the fabrics!

And for your own temptations here are a few of my favorite fabric sites…
Hancock’s of Paducah
Flapper Girl Fabrics
Purl Soho
Super Buzzy

This picture is so amazing to me and so hard to take in and comprehend! Right before my very eyes my daughter has grown. I have been there for almost every moment of it but somehow I still feel like I blinked and missed it! I was going through Charis’s closet yesterday and came across a diaper bag that Brad had when she was little (we had separate bags because mine was too girly for him to carry). Everything was still in this bag! It had been shoved in the closet and forgotten about. I was pulling out stuff seeing what could stay and what we would need new of for Cai and finally at the very bottom of the bag I came across a size 1 diaper. I must admit that there was a tear or two shed! We are up to size 6 diapers so this was just such a dumbfounding thing to me to see the two diapers side by side! Right before my very eyes my baby has disappeared! We are on the home stretch to the second birthday and I have loved every stage since her birth. I love how chatty she is now and that she can carry on a conversation with me but there is just something about her little self in that little diaper that I do miss!