My First Sewing Project {Quiet Book Picnic Page}

I am so excited {and proud} to share my very first EVER sewing project with you guys!!

No, literally. I had never turned my sewing machine on before Monday night. I hadn't threaded a bobbin since 8th grade Home Ec. I had no idea how to thread the machine. I was clueless.

So between Monday night and tonight (Friday), this is what I have accomplished:

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Actually, scratch that. Yes, I accomplished that one page.

But I also completed 9 ADDITIONAL PAGES!!

Ten pages total. Holy Smokes!

That's right, folks. I just dove right the heck in!

Last month, I saw a blog post on Better Life Bags' Blog and it was calling for people interested in taking part in a Quiet Book Page Swap.

For those who haven't been introduced to quiet books, they're all the rage on Pinterest, but they're basically handmade books that are great for keeping toddlers and young kids occupied and happy during church, at restaurants, during long car rides, etc.

So I saw the call for participants, and decided to just go for it. Sure, I knew it would be a challenge, but I felt like this was the way I had to do it! It would force me to learn to use my sewing machine, plus it felt like the only possible way that Wren was ever going to receive an entire quiet book. I'll be honest-it is time consuming! And the thought of making 10 or more different pages--well, that's just out of my realm of possibility right now!

But one page, done 10 times? That, I thought I could do!

SO I searched and searched trying to decide what to make. I found some great blogs, but nothing was jumping out at me. After searching Pinterest and tons of blogs for a few days, I decided to go with a picnic scene.

I'm really proud of my sandwich complete with lettuce and tomato!

Here's the basket all full.

It contains a sandwich, a banana, an apple, a bottle of milk and 2 napkins. 

I definitely would have loved to have added some ants, bumblebees, ladybugs, etc., and I'm not thrilled with the flowers. (I'm not a big fan of mixing pastels with primary colors, but I had the flowers and just had to get over it.) I would've liked to have had a few additional food pieces, but the basket got kind of full.

So there are definitely things I wish I had done better/in more detail.

Overall, I'm really super proud of myself. I know it's silly, but this makes me feel really domesticated.

I will definitely show you all what the final completed book looks like.

I can't wait to see everyone's ideas!

Become a Voyeur {A Weekend in the Life}

Day in the Life videos are really popular among YouTubers. It's fun to see how people spend their time, how they interact, how stay at home moms fill their days and how working moms fill their days. It's funny to see how similar things are with toddlers in the house, and how very different things can be from family to family.

I am never organized enough to film a Day in the Life during a weekday. I'm always running late in the mornings and it's all I can do to get myself out the door to work, so though I'd like to do one someday, I decided to start off with a Weekend in the Life.

Ther eare 2 parts and though they are pretty long, you will see lots of super cute Wren clips, so that makes it worth it!

This Just *PINNED*

Have you all been pinning away? I feel like I haven't spent as much time on Pinterest here recently, but I wanted to remind you that my Pinterest Challenge is coming to a close!!

Don't forgte to link up your completed Pinterest projects by THIS SATURDAY, the 25th, at Midnight! There aren't too many entries just yet, so your chances of winning one of the giftcards is really good!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE ENTRY POST!

Speaking of Pinterest, I thought I'd share a few things I've been recently pinning. I have been a bit out of the crafting loop with the miscarriage and other things, so I'm itching to get some things done!

One thing I *have* been focused on is FOOD. And lots of it.
Today is Day 1 of starting my Low Amylose diet again. (WOOT.) I'm actually really excited to get back on track, start an exercise routine of some sort, and get back to eating what I know my body needs. Or, should I say, NOT eating what I know my body DOESN'T need. Which is carbs and sugar, for the most part.

I recently pinned this delicious looking dinner to my PCOS-Friendly Recipes Board.

The board is full of great recipes that are helping to inspire me to keep on track and also helping me to get creative about what I can eat on this diet. 

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

Another focus recently has been homemade cleaning supplies challenge. I have yet to get started, but I've been prepping myself. In part, the frugal girl in me feels like we need to use up what we've got. But I recently found this link to the motherload of all homemade cleaning supplies from Young House Love.

I have pinned it to my Make It Yourself board, along with some other great "recipes" for cheap/green cleaning!

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

The one crafty thing I actually *have* been working on is a quiet book page.

Yep, you read that right.
I'm not working on a whole book...just a page!
I'm taking part in a Quiet Book Page Swap, which has me super excited.
It also has me learning how to....you know, turn my sewing maching ON. Let alone, thread it and actually SEW. Oy! I might be in a bit over my head, but I'm super excited!!
I'll reveal everything when it's done, but here's one cute page that helped inspire me.
I have this pinned on my Smartsy Artsy Kid Stuff Board.

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

Speaking of learning to sew, I have an entire board devoted to When I Learn to Sew!

Here are a few projects that have me giddy...for me:

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

And for my little Bird (OMG. I die.):

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

Finally, I have really enjoyed making different wreaths for the seasons. See HERE and HERE for examples.

I wanted to do the heart shaped one for Valentine's Day but I couldn't find a heart shaped wreath to save my life.

I'm embarrassed to admit that the Christmas one still hangs on the door. I guess my thought was that it was red and cream, so it would be fine through Valentine's Day.

Which...was yesterday. Sooo.
I think this might be my next inspiration for St. Patty's Day. I also think I can make it springy enough to last a while longer. You can find this on my (pretty bare) St. Patty's Day Board.

{ORIGINAL CREDIT}

So. There you have it. A little Pinterest Roundup, if you will.
I have some fun projects to share with you when I get the time, too!
What are YOU working on? Feel free to leave your Pinterest link below and I'd love to follow along!
And most importantly, don't forget to link up your projects on my Pinterest Challenge!!

D&C

We had the D&C on Thursday. It was tough, but we made it through and I am looking forward to moving forward, healing emotionally, finding out the results of the genetic testing and most of all, hopefully experiencing another healthy pregnancy that ends in another perfect and healthy baby.

I was so touched to receive these gorgeous flowers at my door just after returning home from surgery.

 They're from my dear blog buddy, to remain nameless, who blogs over at In Due Time. They actually came from my most favorite florist in town! I didn't get a great picture, but you can see the sweet little bird in there, and they came in a basket that looks like a nest. Thanks again, girl!! I was so touched.
*If you haven't found her yet, go check her out. A lot of people ask me lots of questions about my Low Amylose diet, and she is also doing the diet and does a lot more research and posts a lot of great recipes and tips for the diet.*

I won't go into details about the procedure, because I did vlog about it. I thought it would just be easier to post the vlogs. The first is the one I made the night before the procedure. I'll warn you, I get a bit emotional. :( But I do hope it will help someone else that has to experience this at some point.

This is the vlog I made the day after the procedure. I was in a better space, and not nearly as emotional. I also talk a bit about where we go from here.

As always, I'm open to any questions you might have.
Thanks for the love, friends.

Tabletop Play

I never got Christmas cards out for this past year.
I also never got out the fall-back New Year's cards that I thought I'd do.

So...what's better than a Valentine's Card with this sugary sweet little face?!:

I fell in love when I saw Tara post a little photo shoot with her litle girl and I decided I needed to recreate it for us. I'm planning on getting pics printed and makin Valentine's Day cards for friends & family who didn't get their normal Christmas card in the mail this year.

Seriously? Is she not perfect? 

Painted little piggies in the sugar and flour... 

Such a little sweetie. 

(For the record, she doesn't really get sugar. Like, ever. Needless to say, she got reeeaaallly sleepy at lunchtime after 1 1/2 cupcakes!)

In other tabletop news, we have been enjoying arts and crafts lately. Wren loves fingerpainting and we find it easier to do on top of the table so the dogs don't interfere. I think I'm going to frame the masterpiece in the back. 

Don't worry. No cow print diapers were harmed in the making of this artwork.

How can you not smile with this little ray of sunshine?
I'm so happy I have her to keep me busy and active and smiling.

"The Heart Will Soon Stop Beating..."

Those are the worst words an expectant mom could ever hear.
And they're the ones that I hear Dr. Miracles saying in a continuous loop in my mind.

My baby's heart will soon stop beating.

I hadn't yet announced the good news here on the blog, because I think there are a few IRL people who read and I didn't want the news to get out until we were out of the first trimester. I've been making YouTube videos and posting them on my blog Facebook wall.

But yes, we are pregnant.
We found out on New Years Eve at the stroke of midnight.
We were due September 7th.

9 weeks, 3 days. That's where we should be right now.

We should be rounding out the first trimester.
I should be shopping for Big Sister shirts for Wren.
We should be starting to think about nurseries, names, baby buys.
I should be cleaning out my closet and moving in the maternity wear.

Instead, we're preparing for another miscarriage.

We are heart broken, but taking comfort and finding smiles through our most miraculous gift. Wren makes this entire process bearable. I find myself nuzzling her little neck and just taking her in. Every funny, quirky little thing about my bird...I am cherishing it.

I made the video below discussing the entire pregnancy up until when we found out we will lose it. The D&C will be next Thursday. In the meantime, the baby inside of me will cease to grow. It's heart will soon stop beating...

Wren's Bathroom Makeover

When we moved into this house, Wren's bathroom was all beige with a horrible black and silver striped shower curtain. We knew that we'd want to update the bathroom before she moved from her baby tub (which we kept downstairs in the laundry room for ease of use).

For Wren's Valentine's Day gift last year, my sister asked if she could do the bathroom. I was so excited! We shopped all around and finally settled on this adorable shower curtain from Target, and then my sister spent a whole day painting the entire bathroom.

After she painted, it still took several months to get it all together because I waited for specific things to come together. I found these adorable Children Inspire Design pictures on Zulily for a great price. They went so well with the forest theme on the shower curtain that I just couldn't pass them up.

The shower curtain, striped towels and the bathmats are all from Target, though I'm pretty sure they don't carry the shower curtain anymore.

I found this mirror at a great little thrift store last spring. It was all gold (see below) and I happened to have some paint left over from when we painted our living room, so I used that to spruce up the mirror. Prior to this, there was just a big standard square mirror on the wall...I think the mirror really makes the room!

Love those details:

This cabinet is just a standard cabinet and was hanging in the bathroom when we bought the house. It used to be white, so I just used the same brown to make it go with the colors better.

I added these sweet drawer pulls from Cost Plus World Market.

I love these pictures because whenever we get done with bathtime, Wren and I go through and point to all the different animals on the wall and on the shower curtain. It's really helped her to point out specific animals.

I searched forever trying to find some coordinating sink accessories, but it was nearly impossible. I actually found the brown cup in the back on an endcap at Target for $3. Then I found the toothbrush holder, soap dispenser and trashcan at Kohl's.

These are also from Children Inspire Design and came with a packet that I used in Wren's playroom.

(Click here if you didn't catch that tour.)

Wren loves her bathroom! For the most part, she really likes bathtime. Granted, she doesn't love getting her hair and ears wet, but she thinks splashing is the funnies thing ever.

Check out my little bitty's long locks!:

And I just love this picture too much not to share. Crazy girl with some crazy hair!!

As I mentioned before, I did some work to the mirror and the cabinet. Here's what they looked like before:

Also, for anyone interested, I did a video tour on my vlog...if you want a closer look at things, here's that video:

Hope you enjoyed!!