I did it!

I did it! I actually sewed! I bought a pattern for a clutch/purse type thing. It isn’t the cutest, but it’s supposed to be for beginners and very simple to understand and follow. I found some super cute burp cloths, (along with a million other things that made it onto my super cute list of things to attempt to make) and figured I should do that first! I mean how hard could it be?!?! It’s a rectangle! After 30 minutes of attempting to cut the sides straight I realized that any future burp cloth making will be done with a rectangle pattern! I suck at cutting straight! It was a good little project to get a feel for my machine and I figured out a few things to do a little differently so they will look better next time! I got all my pattern pieces prepped and cut out for my clutch and all I have to do is put it all together! Maybe tonight! I will post some pictures of the finished project. For now I leave you will my football themed burpie!

Chris's baby boy

No, I am not talking about the one I am growing. Chris's dog Shane has become such a spoiled brat! He went from sleeping in his cage at night to this! Now, I have him and Buddy sleeping next to my side of the bed with their ugly old blankies! Penny sleeps on Karly's bed which you know drives Chris crazy! These pictures are from Chris last night...Shane was already laying on his pillow, yes he prefers to lay on a pillow...Chris pulled the covers over him and he stayed just like that! Chris called me in and it was just too cute not to share! Enjoy!


Never mind my husband's white legs or my non-matching bed!

Miss Neely

Just had to share a picture of my adorable, second cousin, in-law, niecie poo….not really sure her official title of relation to me other than one of my favorite little love bugs! She lives in Katy, so we don’t get to see her (or her momma) nearly as much as we would like, but when we do we all get a good laugh.

This kid is so sassy and funny! She is the definition of an only child and a girl all the way! Remind you of someone…oh yes, my own little bossy only child girly girl! Maybe that’s why she melts me heart!?! She adores Chris which is the cutest thing! He scares most kids but Neely screams his name and runs for him when she sees him!

Here she is all dressed up in her new outfit from her Gigi (Grandma). I can count on one hand, the times that I have seen this child in regular clothes in the last year…she loves dress up! I love that her mom Laura lets her wear what she wants within reason of course! I thought she would wear this lovely outfit to the tea party, but she fell back on her old favorite beautiful bride dress :) Which reminds me…I never blogged the tea party! I must do that this weekend! Neely, Karly, and Gigi worked so hard to put together a lovely party for us! I promise to post pictures of it soon!

Sawyer

What do you think about Sawyer for baby boy's name? So far, and for the last 20 weeks that is the only name Chris and I can both agree on. I have about a million others that I love, but they all get the veto pretty quickly! Needless to say, unless something that blows us both away comes along...Sawyer is his name. Any ideas for middle names? I like Michael or Matthew, Chris isn't thrilled with either. Karly hates Sawyer so she isn't any help either!

Went to the doctor today for my ultrasound where they check out all of his guts and take measurements. According to them everything looks great! He supposedly weighs about 13 ounces which is normal! I had a list of questions for my doctor and not only did I forget them, he popped in the room for truly 2 minutes! So frustrating! $200 for 2 minutes time...I should have been an OB!!! They only took 4 pictures, and one I honestly can't tell what it is? Maybe the placenta?!?! So....here they are...

LEG & FOOT

FACE

FACE

Jake

So, since my sister Kate hasn't caught up with this century and still doesn't have internet...(WTF KATE!?!? ) I thought I would share a picture of my handsome nephew! Wish I had a few more, I promise to post them from now on when I get them! Is he not the most handsome guy ever? I sure do miss him! I talked to him on the phone the other day and though he probably doesn't remember me he still chatted for a few minutes...made me very homesick. Kisses to Jake from his Aunt Scotti!

Texas Resident

After 13 months of procrastination and 2 hours of waiting at the Department of Motor Vehicle, its official; I am a Texas resident! I would have kept my Arizona license forever, but A.) it’s illegal and would leave me a lovely fine if I got caught B.) Chris and his nagging was driving me bonkers C.) I REALLY wanted that ultrasound :) Perk: I am now on our bank account since my name matches!! Woo Hoo! Anyways, silly thing to blog probably bought I thought it would be fun to see my AZ license picture taken when I was 21 and my current taken at 27…I’m getting old! Do we LOVE that Texas doesn’t post your weight on the drivers license?!?! Heck yes, we know I am nowhere near that 125 pounds these days! Haven’t been since…well I was 21…maybe 20…we all knock that license weight down 5 or 10 right!?

Halfway there...and Blueberry Muffins

Our family has been battling this nasty head cold all week! I do think we have it about beat, thank goodness! I have been pretty miserable! Lots of rest, vitamins, and orange juice since that's about all I can do! As for Chris...he has been walking around in a nyquil stuper! Hoping we are all up and running full speed this week. The shock fence we put in to contain our dogs actually works! We should have done this months ago!

So, I am going to try this click on the word and be linked to what I am talking about thing...I am not always the most techno savvy person, so let's hope it works! The words that are a different color will be ones with links. Try it and let me know!

I am officially 20 weeks along (yesterday actually) which is technically halfway, though I guess we won't really know until he is here! At 20 weeks I definitely have a baby bump, but so far have kept my weight gain in control!! YAY! I can feel him flipping around in there like crazy and can't wait to share it with Chris and Kar. I go in for my big ultrasound on Wednesday to check out all his guts and find out the sex..hee hee...we already know! Other than that things are just the same around here! I am going to try to convince Chris to go and register pretty soon...just because it's fun to look at all the little baby stuff! I am thinking Babies R Us; I know they can be a little more expensive, but they have a huge selection especially if you check out online! Any input here? Anything you just couldn't live without with your baby? Can you believe it's been 10 years for me! Thank goodness for nephews and other little babies I have had around! I'll try to get a few belly pictures up this week sometime.

I have been back to crafting and loving it! Went to my scrap class this week, it was fun, my heart just isn't in scrapping right now. Now I am desperately waiting for my sewing machine to arrive! I think I finally figured out my issues with her bottle cap necklaces! Hoping to whip up a few today, pictures to follow! Have you all heard of Etsy? If you haven't, check it out! Our cousin Laura just set up her little shop (click to visit) and I am hoping to follow suit shortly! I am not expecting to live off the royalties, but it would be nice if it would help support the hobby fund!

Karly and I went to the library yesterday; I got a few basic sewing books and she got a few cookbooks. Her favorite is the Fairy Princess one...maybe she will whip us up some fairy pretzels later today! She now is planning her princess party where she will be making all of the dishes....maybe she will grow up and be a caterer/party planner!?! Who knows with this child of mine! She is too funny. Snapped a few pictures of Karly making us blueberry muffins, (from a box...not the cookbook) for breakfast this morning. She LOVES blueberry muffins! Not to mention you can never see too many pictures of my adorable girl!

PLEASE LET US BACK IN!

Let Me In!

As some of you know we ended up trying to find our dogs new homes. It was horrible and awful, but we felt it was important to our sanity...well, Chris's and our neighbors. We ended up finding a home for only one, and of course it was Penny...Karly's sweet girl. After 2 weeks, the placement just wasn't working. The woman that took her has two small children and her little boy is just too rough so Penny came home! I am thrilled she is back, and will never get rid of a pet again...it was heartbreaking!

So, as I have mentioned we put in an electric fence to keep our dogs in the yard...after some recent drama we had to do something. I had heard very mixed reviews of the fence/shock collar with people saying their dogs run right through it. Well, a little over a week with it in and so far so good. Poor Penny was running after Buddy (who wasn't wearing a collar) this morning and hit and went through the fence. She had no choice but to come back through it. Now I just have to figure out how to get them to realize they can leave the porch without being shocked! They are fixtures on my sliding glass door! Licking it, rubbing their wet noses on it, and pleading at me with those puppy dog eyes...PLEASE LET US BACK IN!

Penny

Shane

Seamstress Scotti...What?!?!?

Let me just start by saying I have the nicest husband in the world (most of the time)! I am happy to say I ordered a sewing machine yesterday!!! I did a little research and think I found a great little machine for me to learn and grow on! I have already started looking into so many ideas and patterns, I am so stoked! Yes, I am a nerd but that’s me! Well, here is a picture of her! Yes, she is a her! Now I just have to find the patience to wait and the motivation to finish the projects sitting on my table! I am terrible about finishing anything!

Little shout out to all the blogs I follow...I am happy to say that I had 4 new blogs to read today! Thanks guys! I love seeing what is going on in your worlds!

Just a quick hello!

Happy MLK day to everyone! Unfortunately I am stuck at work today, so instead of working I will blog for a few! Not much new in our world!

Karly is fighting off a cold and busy as usual. It’s time to sell cookies for Girl Scouts which is always an adventure! Chris sold 70 boxes at work the other day…kudos Daddy. Speaking of…Chris just went for his annual fire school refresher; Karly and I lived like single ladies for a few days AKA messy! He is still working 6 days a week which is far from his favorite thing to do. He spent his day off this weekend installing a shock fence in the hopes of containing our dogs. As for me…I am 19 weeks pregnant and up 6 pounds (give or take a pound or two depending on how good I have been). I bought my first pair of maternity pants. They definitely aren’t the sexiest things, but man are they more comfortable! They actually don’t look bad thank goodness! I can still fit in my normal pants, but after lunch they are far less comfortable! Chris and I are both still sold on the name Sawyer, so unless something that blows us both away comes along, that is his name. He is quite the kicker these days! I can’t wait for Chris and Karly to be able to feel him! I am guessing in another week or two! I have a doctor’s appt next week so I will have more pictures of him.

I am getting back into my crafty hobbies and am having a great time trying new things! I am doing a monthly scrap booking class which should be good to get some layouts done, don’t have much desire to scrap lately though. I made Karly some bottle cap necklaces, I am still working out a few quirks, but I think they will be fabulous! Have a few other projects as well! Pictures to follow soon! Debating setting up a separate blog for my crafting things!?!? Wouldn’t it be great if people actually wanted to pay me for my creations?!! Umm…YES!!! My cousin Laura just got a sewing machine so I was browsing books for her and now I am obsessed! I want to learn so badly! Now just to convince Chris of my NEED of another hobby :)

Our baby boy

Well, everyone now knows that "it's" a boy!! For all these years my family has only produced girls...Kate and I proved the fates of generations wrong! Our uterus' will welcome a baby boy! I still can't imagine being a mom to a little boy...I mean, I have the girly girl thing down! I am very excited for this next, and I am sure more injury filled challenge. Skateboards, bugs, soccer, and dirt, I can't wait to do it all. Chris is of course beside himself with excitement. He is great with Karly and her overwhelming pink world, he takes her to dance and even took her to the Hannah Montana 3D movie; which Kar said was SOOOO embarrassing because he was the ONLY dad there...I will admit I was proud of him for toughing it out...without me even! Now he gets his turn to teach his son how to play sports, hunt, and I am sure cause me plenty of headaches!

I just to share some of the pictures from our ultrasound. It was so amazing to see him really in there. He had the hiccups and we caught him yawning. He also proved to be quite the little swimmer kicking around. The poor ultrasound tech was trying so hard to get his face and all he wanted to show was his proof of manhood...boys will be boys.

*My Baby Brother*

Well, obviously it's a boy!!! Karly has writing homework every Tuesday night, 20 minutes of free writing. This was what she wrote tonight...thought it would be fun to let her "tell" everyone what "it" is! I will post later with some pics!

*My Baby Brother*

by Karly Montgomery
Today something really exciting happend in my life . And you will never guess it . I mean you can try and guess. That is right if you did guess my mom is expecting a little baby boy . And I will be a big sister. My mom and my dad want to name my baby brother Sawyer but I don't like that name at all . And my mom said that the baby's nursery is going to be brown and blue . Hopefully I will be a good big sister . My mom is so excited that we went to go find out what the baby was . When we were in the waiting room for like 2 minutes my palms of my hands were so sweaty . I was so nervous on the drive to the doctor that my heart stated pounding (boom-boom-boom-boom) . When I saw my baby brother he looked like a "who" like off of the movie Dr. Suess's How The Grinch Stole Christmas . The only reson he looked like a who to me was because of his little round cute nose . And now you know all about my new baby brother .

The Power of a Bribe

I have been boycotting getting a Texas drivers license...well, since we moved here one year ago! I like my Arizona one! My hair is cute, I am young and skinny...not to mention it didn't expire until 2046! Chris has given me a hard time about this for the last 11 months. I will admit he has some valid points such as a nice ticket if I get pulled over and the fact that I can't get a bank account because my last names don't match! Still...I procrastinated! (procrastination is probably one of my worst qualities)

I have been pleading my case to pay $135 to find out the sex of the baby early. As soon as I knew we were going to find out the sex I couldn't wait! My doctor is dragging his feet and enough is enough! Chris presented me with the following bribe...We could go do the ultrasound today if.... 1) I got my TX license 2) I got my oil changed 3) I shipped 3 packages that were overlooked for a few days. Well, apparently my darling husband doesn't know I was raised with bribery :) My mom wanted me to sleep in my own bed...she bought me new bed stuff and gave me a beautiful room. My mom wanted me to stop crying at night and actually sleep in my own bed without a meltdown, so she bought me a scooter. I will say it's amazing how productive I am when presented with a bribe!!!

So, at 5:30 today we shall know what "it" is!! Karly of course says she hopes it isn't a neuter baby or hermaphrodite...no more movies for her! I really think it's a boy...Karly swears its a girl!

Well...talk to you soon with good news!

Happy New Year!

I am your constant companion. I am your greatest asset or heaviest burden. I will push you up to success or down to disappointment. I am at your command. Half the things you do might just as well be turned over to me, for I can do them quickly, correctly, and profitably. I am easily managed, just be firm with me. Those who are great, I have made great. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with the precision of a machine and the intelligence of a person. You can run me for profit, or you can run me for ruin. Show me how you want it done. Educate me. Train me. Lead me. Reward me. And I will then...do it automatically. I am your servant.

Who am I?

I am a habit.
The author of the above is unknown

So many people go into New Year’s with an open mind, full of great intentions but with a closed heart which makes it impossible to reach any goal. Resolutions are not meant to be punishment or a forced commitment. If you have no intention of working towards it, and no plan to help map out your success don’t waste your time and set yourself up for failure. I speak from experience. I have always started out with the resolution to lose weight or work on me. I have never followed through with it, even those first hours or days of the New Year. I don’t think I ever truly wanted it enough. I just followed the trend of making the resolution to essentially lose weight!

Looking back at 2008, I moved to a new state with my new husband to start a new life together. Well, here we are a year later and things are good. I don’t have much to complain about and the things I can complain about are frivolous. In June of this year Karly went to my mom’s for the summer. Having few friends here I had the chance to really focus on myself and what I wanted for my world. I wanted to be healthy. This meant losing weight, eating well most of the time, and most importantly to get my body moving. I was so ready and jumped right in! I also spent a lot of time focusing on me, trying to find more confidence and self esteem. Learning to care less what others think of me and my world. I will say I only did ok with this one. I am slowly getting there.

I am going into 2009 with the same hopes, but a different outlook. I know how to tackle what I want and just how much motivation and drive it takes to get there. The only resolution I plan on making is to continue to grow as a person and to better my world and those around me. In order to reach this I have smaller goals that I will take a day at a time and do the best I can that day. I will not beat myself up for failures and mistakes, but commit to picking myself back up and getting back on track. I will practice and forge new habits! I will start exercising again, at least 3 times a week. I will get back on track with healthy eating with one cheat meal a week. I will continue to develop my voice and self confidence. I will be more patient as a wife and mother. I will perform one small act of kindness a day, whether it is helping someone in the store, calling a friend, or just passing along a smile or compliment. Not only will I do this daily, but make a point to notice the good feeling and positivity this spreads to my world. I will be kinder to those around me and more positive daily. I will work on letting negative things go instead of allowing them to poison my world. I will get back into creative things as allowed with time and finances. I will also start taking steps to a more financially stable future by looking into career options and paths and working towards getting there. This is a goal I realize cannot be completed this year, but I want to set the ground work and commit to it. As a family I would like to see us spend more quality time together. Hiking or kayaking on the weekends, game nights, or just sitting around talking. As a family I want us to get ourselves out of debt so that we are in a better position to buy a house by the end of 2009. I do realize this is a lot of little things...

I am not expecting perfection. I am expecting growth!

I encourage you to look at your world, decide what isn’t working and make a plan to change those things. Focus on the positive, rid yourself of the negative.

Cheers to an amazing New Year full of hope, love and positive change!