Watch My Belly Grow

I apparently only wear solid colored shirts. :) I guess that's mostly what I have in maternity clothes; though the last picture is green & white stripes but the shirt looks solid green in the picture. I also think it's interesting that on some of the earlier days my belly looks bigger than it does on some of the later pictures. These pictures are all in date order, even though there are some that look like they're out of order.

39 Weeks and 4 Days

So I'm gianormous. My ankles puff up when I sit at the computer desk for too long. My stomach bumps into everything. I have to stand just so to wash my hands without bothering my belly. Rolling over at night takes way more effort than it should. The other night I was rolling over and Andrew thought I was having a contraction so he rubbed my belly and told me to relax. I didn't understand what he was doing until he explained it to me in the morning. I was just trying to get comfortable and was stealing the covers and rubbing my belly. :)

Yarn

Andrew got me a yarn ball winder for Christmas (I asked for it) and had a lot of fun winding my old balls of yarn into new balls of yarn. It sounds like such a silly thing to get excited about, but I was really excited. :) You may ask why do you need an apparatus to wind your yarn when you were perfectly capable of winding balls of yarn on your own. The answer to that question is tension. You get a more even tension with the winder than with your own two hands. I've actually had some yarn that was wound too tight and when I went to use it on a new project there was a distinct difference between the old and new yarn. The yarn ball winder is the solution to that problem.

These are my yarn balls before.

This is the yarn ball winder finishing up a ball of yarn.

These are my yarn balls after.

It's silly but the new yarn balls make me happy. :) Just look how nice they are and they're not going to roll away and the tension when you use them is so much more even than using a regular yarn ball.

Another Baby Update

We went to the doctor yet again, and today I finally got to 1 cm, 50% effaced and no engagement. So basically the baby is staying high and not helping me dilate. :( We have another appointment for next week on my due date. My doctor is going to be out all next week so we will be seeing one of the other doctors at the office. I've actually heard good things about her so I'm not too worried.

I think this is funny; my doctor is on call this Wednesday night to Thursday night, so as we were leaving he said, "See you on Christmas."

The shirt says "Caution: Intense Mood Swings Ahead!"

What's in a Name?

We have decided on a boy's name and a girl's name... finally, but we're not going to say what they are just yet. I thought that it would be fun to do a poll and see what you think we picked. I've created 2 polls, here on my blog, and you can pick multiple names, because we did, and see if you can guess what we're thinking about naming the baby. The polls are our actual list that we made our final decision from and the names that we've chosen are on the lists.

Some names that didn't make the final cut are:
Adelaide
Clover
Fitzroy
Galen
Hazel
Keegan
Lily
Reagan
Skyler
Tobias

Just For Fun

PowerPoint is kind of fun, you can create a slide with words and pictures, etc. and save it as a image. So just for fun, since I'm wearing this shirt right now, I thought do a before and after thing.



Random tangent... my ribs hurt, but only on one side. :(

I'm Still Pregnant

Yet another doctor's appointment again today. I am still less than a centimeter dilated, but he did mention 30%, which I am assuming means effacement. So I am making progress, just slow progress. Perhaps I will be one of the 4% of women annually that actually gives birth on their due date. We have been planning and preparing for a natural birth experience, so we want this thing to start on it's own. But we're really hoping that the baby will come before the end of this year so we can get our tax deduction this year. :) Nobody really knows when the little one will decide to come, but it's fun to try and figure it out. When do you think our baby will show its face? I technically still have 12 days left until I'm due.

A White Christmas?

Not for me. I've been reading about the snow that Western Washington and even Las Vegas is getting so I thought I would look up the weather forecast for the Tucson area. Who knows, if it can snow in Vegas (which is kind of like hell freezing over) then maybe it can snow here in Tucson too. No such luck! In fact the forecast here is going to be cold for maybe 3 more days and then it's predicted that it will start to warm up again. Christmas day is supposed to be a high of 74 and a low of 43.

Ruffle on the Crib

Now that the ruffle is done I figured I would waste no time in getting it put on the crib. First I had to raise the crib to little infant height and then put the ruffle on. Let me just say that raising the crib is A LOT easier with two people, but I managed to get it done.

Here's the finished product:

38 Weeks Picture

I am sufficiently huge! We won't have an update from the doctor until tomorrow so for now all you get is a picture. :)

Sew Stinking Excited!!!

The dust ruffle for the Baby's crib is DONE!!! Hurray! Though I didn't actually complete it myself; the Relief Society president in our ward is super awesome. She used to own her own professional sewing shop up in Utah and she still has most of her industrial sewing machines. Anyway, I was talking to her the other day about some of the projects that I'm working on and I mentioned my dilemma with the crib ruffle and she said come on over and she would help me out. Of course I said okay. So I walked to her house this morning and she whipped out her awesome serger and zip zam it was done. I love sergers and wish I had one.

A New Cell Phone???

I was talking to my brother Wyatt the other day, I've decided I'm going to call him my low-tech brother. He doesn't have email and he doesn't do anything online, especially if it requires his name and any personal information. Anyway, I was talking to him on the phone the other day and he's telling me about his new phone and all the features that it has and like unlimited texting and he can send pictures. And he asks me about my phone and if I can receive pictures, I can't, and I told him so and he started telling me how I needed to get a new phone. He explained to me that with unlimited texting he doesn't need the internet; he can send texts and pictures and music and videos(?) so why does he need email? When he got the new phone his girlfriend's daughter (she's 12) said to him, "I had you pegged as an anteana kind of guy." I think he said he's got a BlackBerry Pearl.

So the point of the story is I was laughing at him for not having email and he was laughing at me because my phone is low-tech; both I think are funny.

Baby Update

We went to the doctor again today and I'm maybe 1/2 a centimeter dilated. We also did a quick ultrasound to check on the baby's position. It is still head down and is hanging out on my left side. *Hurray!* He also saw that I have "good pockets of amniotic fluid" around the baby. I am really enjoying being "medically boring". All my numbers have been good and I only gained 2 pounds this week; without really trying I haven't really gained that much weight overall. The hard part will be to loose the non-baby weight that has accumulated over the past 4 years.

I was walking around WalMart yesterday and I'm pretty sure I felt a few contractions, perhaps that's where my 1/2 cm came from. :) I went walking again today and felt that I was walking fast, but in reality I have really slowed down my walking pace. I kept saying to the ladies behind me that they were allowed to pass me if I was walking too slow.

I've found recently that, with the exception of a few pairs of pants, skirts are more comfortable for me to wear. I think that for the most part it's because pants are either too high and give me a wedgie or are too low and fold over underneath my belly. Skirts on the other hand typically stay where I put them. I like the knee length skirts better than the long skirts because they are less restricting.

I also got my hair cut again, but this time it was more like a trim, I had a duck tail getting larger and larger at the back of my head and it just had to go. I have a girlfriend, that lives on the street perpendicular to mine, who just so happens to cut hair out of her home. So I walked over, she cut my hair, and then I walked home. It was awesome! Plus my hair looks really cute. :)

This is me today at 37 weeks and 2 days w/the new hair.

The Baby's Room

I just finished assembling the wall hangings and wanted to see how they looked up on the wall. I'm not sure if I'm going to leave them where they are or not, but they really make the room look more interesting.

The Baby's room is pretty much ready to go. Although we do need to raise the crib back up. We lowered it so cousin Eva could spend the night here a couple of times. Or we could leave it down since we have a bassinet in our room where the baby will be for the first while or so; yet another decision to make. Oh, and we still need to figure out how we are going to attach the bumpers to the head and foot of the crib.

The lamp in the picture is a touch lamp, it's one of two but the other one doesn't work when you touch it, and we purposely found a really dim light bulb to go in it to be our night light. We are still debating about whether or not we need a baby monitor.

I Finally Finished the Baby Quilt!!!

That's right I finished the baby quilt that matches the bedding that I made for the crib. I already wrote about it on my new blog so here is a link to what I wrote so I don't have to write about it twice... Too late. :) Anyway here is the link.

I Am Officially Nothing...

Andrew and I went to our first weekly doctor's appointment yesterday; it's the one where they tell you what to do if you go into labor and check to see where you are with preparing for labor. I am officially not dilated, not effaced and the baby hasn't dropped into the birth canal yet. Fortunately the baby is hanging out head down. Who knows if it will stay that way, but it's been head down for the past two weeks if not more. So the odds are good that baby will stay that way. *I hope*I hope*I hope*

I've been really good about walking 3 miles twice a week. Once is on Thursday with the Stroller Brigade and I've been lucky enough to have a willing walking partner in Lauren. Today I took Andrew walking with me on the Stroller Brigade's route. It was nice but I think we started out a little too late in the morning; we were too hot by the end of the walk. "They" say that walking is a good way to help prepare baby for labor. I don't know if "they" are right but I'm willing to give it a try. I'm going to take Andrew on another walk tomorrow to see how I handle walking 2 days in a row, and then I will try to walk more than just 2 days a week.

I like walking for the "health" of it. :)

Brownie Yummy Goodness

I went to a baby shower a couple of weeks ago and someone there made this super yummy dessert. I don't know what she calls it but I have decided to call it Brownie Yummy Goodness. :) It is very easy and very YUMMY! I thought that I would share it with everyone.

*Recipe Notes* I'm not sure what size of pudding box you need I only had a large one and it turned out really good. I also only made one batch of brownies and thought that 2 would make it even better.*

Brownie Yummy Goodness

Ingredients:
Brownies (either make or buy the equivalent of 2 9x9 pans of brownies)
1 box of chocolate pudding mix
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup water
1 16 oz container of cool whip

Directions:
1. Crumble the brownies into small pieces (1"x1" or so)
2. Mix the chocolate pudding, sweetened condensed milk, water, and 8 oz of cool whip together.
3. Mix the crumbled brownies with the mixture you made in #2 and spread out in a 9x12 pan.
4. Spread the rest of the cool whip on top.
5. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
6. Dig in!

Stuff I Made

So just for fun I decided to create a new blog specifically for stuff that I've made the link is: http://MorganMadeStuff.blogspot.com. Some of it I have already talked about on this blog, but I have a lot more new and old craftiness that I am going to post. There are a couple of things in progress right now that I can't talk about because they are awesome gifts for people for Christmas, but I'll be sure to post them up after Christmas. :) Hurray for being crafty!!

Today is 36 Weeks

Officially I have 4 weeks or 28 days left. We are hoping to have this baby either right on time or a little early. The full moon this month is on the 12th so who knows maybe we'll have the baby around then. :) I'm to the point that I don't think we could be physically anymore ready. We have clothes and diapers and blankets and a place for the baby to sleep. That's all you really need right?

I guess we need a name too. We've got a list and we're working on it. Right now we have more girls names on the list than we do boys names. Which is funny since I have had a bunch of people tell me that they think I'm carrying high so it must be a girl. :) I don't know about that but I can still breathe so I don't think I'm carrying that high.

I haven't really started nesting yet either. Andrew was joking that my nesting will be me telling him what to clean; just because I told him to clean the bathroom before people came over for Thanksgiving. I have been crafting a lot I've finished up one crocheted blanket and putting the finishing touches on another. And I've got quite a few other projects that I need to get finished before Christmas.

This picture is me at 35 weeks and 4 days and yes the pants are supposed to be capris.

Random Thoughts in a Numbered List

1. Maternity overalls sound like a good idea right? They're nice and loose and don't bother your belly. I thought so too... until I decided to wear a pair the other day and I litterally had to use the bathroom 10 times that day when I finally decided to change into something else less cumbersome to wear, and ironically once I changed my clothes I didn't have to go to the bathroom as much.
2. I've been doing a lot of "crafting" recently in addition to the things that I've posted about already. I've been crocheting a blanket and making Thank You cards, I even made a wrap so I can wear my baby. It's just been a very crafty time. Yesterday I said to Andrew, "You really like me doing all this crafty stuff, huh?" He said, "Yes." And then I said, "It's because it helps to justify having a room full of crafty stuff." He again said, "Yes."
3. I found a really cool website while searching Frysfood.com (Fry's is our local grocery store in the Kroger family, the one by our house is a Market Place which just means it's bigger, similar to a Fred Meyer or WalMart) for the sales to make my weekly shopping list from. The website I found is called shortcuts.com and basically you register your loyalty shopping card with the website and "clip" coupons online, then the next time you use your card at that store and buy that item the discount will automatically be deducted from your total. I haven't tried it yet but the next time we go grocery shopping (probably tomorrow) I will test it out. There are only certain stores that participate so it may not be available to you but it's a great way to clip coupons and save money. Though I think the hard part will be not having the physical coupon to remind you to use it.
4. This past week I am to the point in my pregnancy that it has started to get particularly uncomfortable. I was sitting on the floor cutting fabric and really got annoyed that my belly was in the way and I couldn't quite reach what I was doing comfortably. I actually had Andrew cut the fabric for the wraps because it was so long.
   
5. I really enjoy walking with our walking group on Thursdays, it gives me a chance to get out of the house and get to know the ladies in our ward that are in similar situations that I am or else that I soon will be in. I also really enjoy the walking it's really good exercise and one of the ladies wanted to up the walking so we're going to go walking on Monday's too. I'd love to do it daily but I don't know if I can handle that much walking right now. The last time I went walking my pelvis really hurt, just like the first time I did the walking. Maybe I need to walk more to help prevent that... I'm not sure.
6. I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We're doing it at our house and we're having Ham. I can't wait to have all that yummy food. I get to eat more this year because I'm "eating for two". :) I am trying out a couple of new recipes so I will be sure to share them afterwards if they turn out okay.
7. I'm constantly thinking about things that I can blog about. I don't always end up posting what I've thought about but it's still fun to think about. Sometimes I will tell Andrew what I'm going to blog about and then I remind him that he's allowed to blog too. The typical reply to that is, "Yeah, I know... mumble, mumble, mumble."
   

I Finished a Boppy Cover!!!

I originally found a tutorial on how to make Boppy covers and I didn't like it because I would have had to print out a bunch of pages and tape them together to get the pattern. In hindsight perhaps I should have gone that route. Instead I reverse engineered the cover that came with the one I got from my baby shower. It was going really great until I was almost done sewing the darn thing together. The last 16" or so I started to notice that the fabric wasn't even close to the edges lining up like they were supposed to. So it looks alright but not great. The next one I make I will definitely pay more attention to that to make sure it's not all caddywhompus.

This is the front

This is the back I think I did an awesome job on the zipper

Things I'm Going to Make Next

I think that the next thing that I'm going to make is an extra cover for my Boppy pillow. It came with a super cute cover but I think that it would be nice to have an extra cover or two on hand for when the others are in the wash. Plus the fact that an additional cover costs from $10 - $20, and since I already have fabric it will be way cheaper to make it. I think that I will just use the existing cover as an example and figure it out from there.

I also think that I will crochet a baby hat. Babies need to keep their heads warm and I feel like crocheting some more. I found a pattern for this super cute Santa hat. Even if the baby comes after Christmas I will still put the hat on the baby.

Nursing Cover Completed

I waited until this afternoon to start working on this project and it was really easy!!! I decided that since I have the most of the top left fabric I would make the first one out of that, just in case it didn't turn out well I could scrap it and take the hardware and try again. :) I think it turned out really good. The only issue that I have is the fabric is a cotton/poly blend and it is stretchy. I wasn't paying attention to the direction of stretch while I was making the straps and so now they are stretchy the long way instead of the short way. So all in all it took me around 2 hours to do, but I definitely could have done it in less time; there was some lollygagging back and forth between the living room and the craft room.

Here's the finished product.

You can't really tell that the top stays curved out so you can peek in on baby.

Today is 33 Weeks

Tuesday is my week marker, it is also the day of our birth class at least until Dec. 2nd. It's really crazy to think that I only have 7 more weeks left. The last time (Friday) we went to the doctor we scheduled the rest of our appointments; there's only 5 left!! One was for 2 weeks and the rest are weekly appointments. Also the appointment before last our doctor said to us, "Isn't it nice to be medically boring?" I really do like being medically boring and I really hope the boringness keeps up for the rest of the pregnancy *knock on wood*. We are hoping to have the baby earlier rather than later because we really want to get our tax deduction for this year. :) We still don't have names picked out but we have some time to get all that figured out. We do have most major things figured out, primarily where the baby will sleep, what's going to keep the baby's bottom dry and what the baby will eat. That's really all that's important at first, right?

Nursing Covers

Andrew and I sat down recently and made a list of baby things that we still want/need for the first 3 months of baby's life and on that list is a nursing cover, because you never know when you'll need to nurse when you're out and about. So today I decided to google "nursing cover tutorial" and I found a really awesome one with pictures and everything here. After I found the tutorial I went and looked through my fabric to see if I had anything that would make a good cover and lo and behold I did! Andrew likes the top left, top middle and bottom right. I like them all. :) Though the bottom middle and bottom right are more of a "quilting" cotton as opposed to the others which are more of a jersey cotton/cotton blend.

I used my awesome JoAnn's coupons to get the notions that I needed to make the nursing covers and since I already had the fabric I'll be able to make more than one for a serious fraction of the cost that it would take to buy one in the store. I'm really excited to have my next sewing project; I almost want to start tonight, but I know I'll have plenty of time during the day. :) I'll be sure to update you with pictures of the finished product.

Awesome Cheap Baby Clothes!!

There is a store down here in Tucson called Twice as Nice; it's not a thrift store but more like a consignment store except the clothes are bought out right instead of waiting until they sell. It's kind of like Plato's Closet except for all ages and not just teens. I've heard people talk about it and what awesome deals they have, so today I finally went and checked it out. Holy Moly they were right!! I got a TON of adorable baby clothes in lots of sizes and most items were either $0.99 or $1.99. Then later I went to Savers, a thrift store, to compare what they had to what Twice as Nice had and got a few more items.

All together I got:

2 T-shirts
4 Long sleeved onesies
9 Short sleeved onesies
5 Sleeper gowns (no legs just a stretchy hole)
3 One piece sleepers w/no feet
13 One piece sleepers w/feet
3 Infant hats
1 Bib
1 Receiving blanket

That's 41 items for $66 (including tax) which is an average of $1.61 for each piece.

Cloth Diapers

I have decided to use cloth diapers for our baby. I actually got the idea from a couple of ladies in our ward. I'm not crazy. :) So far I only have 3 diapers (I got them on Craig's List) but I'm planning on getting more. The website for this particular brand recommends getting a minimum of 24 diapers. This makes sense especially for newborns that have been known to go through 10 or more diapers a day. So that would mean doing diaper laundry every other day. I can handle that. But more importantly these diapers are one size fits all. They can handle 5-35 pounds and they have snaps that make them shorter or longer depending on the size of baby. It's a big up front investment, but I won't have to buy diapers again. Another thing that's nice about cloth diapers is babies who wear cloth diapers potty train earlier.

Andrew is worried about having to clean the diapers off into the toilet. There is a sprayer that we can get that attaches to the plumbing behind the toilet specifically for spraying down diapers. There are also flushable diaper liners that we can get to put between baby and diaper to reduce the amount of "gross" cleaning that will have to be done.

I'm actually excited about these diapers, not because they're better for the envronment, which they are, but because we won't have to spend as much buying diapers. Like I said it's a larger up-front investment than buying one pack of paper diapers at a time but it will pay off in the long run.

These are in the newborn position.

Proposition 102 - Results So Far

I thought that I would share that it looks like Arizona's Proposition 102 and California's Proposition 8 are both PASSING!!!

Play Yard & Bassinet

We found an awesome matching play yard and bassinet on Craig's List and we picked it up last night. It's gender neutral and I'm really excited that the bassinet came with it. We haven't set it up at our house yet but they took really good pictures for the ad so I will use their pictures to show you it. We bought them from a really nice couple whose 2 year old has outgrown them. They also didn't find out what they were having, which I thought was really neat. :)

The bassinet can also detach from the base that it's sitting on and clip into the play yard and there's a changing table that can attach to one side of the play yard and flip up and down when you need it.

Just the Play Yard

The Bassinet

The Bassinet with the cover open

Both of them next to each other

Pretty Pillows

I'm thinking about doing opposite colors for the backs of the pillows. What do you think? Also I'm looking at the leftover fabric from making the quilt and believe it or not I bought the same yardage of fabric for all 4 colors. Somehow they are now all different sizes. It's just funny how projects work out that way; especially looking at the leftover orange fabric. It's just long enough to make the back to the pillow. Apparently I have an unconscious affinity for the color orange. :) But I'm sure that doesn't come as much of surprise to anyone. LOL!!!!

See, I am an Addict :)

I took the quiz that Megan shared with me and I am a 74% addict. :) I just thought you would like to know.

74%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Created by OnePlusYou

Blogaholics Anonymous

I have recently discovered that I, Morgan T. Gardner, am a Blogaholic.

Since I'm not working right now and don't have a car during the day and have few things that take me out of the house, I find myself at the computer multiple times during the day. I check my email and check my blog, not to see if anyone has commented but to see who else has recently updated their blog. I really love the Blog List. I told Andrew today that I don't watch soap operas, I read blogs. I'm constantly checking to see if any of my friend's blogs have added people to their lists of people that I know and don't already have in my list. Sometimes I check my blog and forget that I checked it just a couple of hours ago and that most people don't even post everyday to their blog. I get a little sad if nobody's updated recently then I remember that I just checked not too long ago. I do do other things like sewing and cleaning and such and there is a free online game, Puzzle Pirates, that I like to play, but reading blogs is my favorite thing to do.

This is just a random realization that I came to; this is not an effort to make everyone blog more so I have more to read. :) But if it works out that way I'm okay with it, either way.

Baby Quilt -- Another Opinon?

I was thinking about backing the quilt with orange fleece but Andrew thinks that the orange will overwhelm the blanket. He thinks that green would be a better color, but I don't have any green fleece. I took a picture of the quilt on top of the orange; what do you think? I was also thinking that if the front is flannel and the back is fleece that I don't necessarily need batting in the middle.

Ronald Reagan Quotes

* Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged.

* Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

* I know in my heart that man is good.
That what is right will always eventually triumph.
And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.

* If you're afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again.

* The ultimate determinant in the struggle now going on for the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas-a trial of spiritual resolve: the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish and the ideals to which we are dedicated.

* My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.
Said during a radio microphone test, 1984

* Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his.

* Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.

* Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

* Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.

* Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

* Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

* Governments tend not to solve problems, only to rearrange them.

* How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin.

* I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at gunpoint if necessary.

* Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have.

* All great change in America begins at the dinner table.

* All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk.

* Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty.

* Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man.

* Don't be afraid to see what you see.

* It's difficult to believe that people are still starving in this country because food isn't available.

* Let us be sure that those who come after will say of us in our time, that in our time we did everything that could be done. We finished the race; we kept them free; we kept the faith.

* Let us not forget who we are. Drug abuse is a repudiation of everything America is.

* No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth!

* One way to make sure crime doesn't pay would be to let the government run it.

* Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.

* Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.

* One legislator accused me of having a nineteenth-century attitude on law and order. That is a totally false charge. I have an eighteenth-century attitude. That is when the Founding Fathers made it clear that the safety of law-abiding citizens should be one of the government's primary concerns.

* With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there's one individual who's not being considered at all. That's the one who is being aborted. And I've noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.

* Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don't interfere as long as the policy you've decided upon is being carried out.

* The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.

* The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

* The problem is not that people are taxed too little, the problem is that government spends too much.

* The taxpayer - that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination.

* There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect.

* There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.

* Trust, but verify.

* We are never defeated unless we give up on God.

* We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

* We have the duty to protect the life of an unborn child.

* We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

* We should measure welfare's success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.

* We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.

* Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.

* When you can't make them see the light, make them feel the heat.


* While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.

* Within the covers of the Bible are all the answers for all the problems men face.

* Without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure.

* Coersion, after all, merely captures man. Freedom captivates him.

* I am an environmentalist. ... I am for clean air. ... I know Teddy Kennedy had fun at the Democratic convention when he said that I said that trees and vegetation caused 80 percent of the air pollution in this country. Well, now he was a little wrong about what I said. I didn’t say 80 percent. I said 92 percent — 93 percent, pardon me. And I didn’t say air pollution, I said oxides of nitrogen. Growing and decaying vegetation in this land are responsible for 93 percent of the oxides of nitrogen.

* The defense policy of the United States is based on a simple premise: The United States does not start fights. We will never be an aggressor. We maintain our strength in order to deter and defend against aggression — to preserve freedom and peace.

* Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the Constitution. No serious scholar, including one disposed to agree with the Court's result, has argued that the framers of the Constitution intended to create such a right.

* We cannot diminish the value of one category of human life — the unborn — without diminishing the value of all human life.

* If you don't know whether a body is alive or dead, you would never bury it. I think this consideration itself should be enough for all of us to insist on protecting the unborn.

* The abortionist who reassembles the arms and legs of a tiny baby to make sure all its parts have been torn from its mother's body can hardly doubt whether it is a human being.

* We must all educate ourselves to the reality of the horrors taking place. Doctors today know that unborn children can feel a touch within the womb and that they respond to pain.

* Late-term abortions, especially when the baby survives, but is then killed by starvation, neglect, or suffocation, show once again the link between abortion and infanticide. The time to stop both is now.

* We cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide. My Administration is dedicated to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning.

* Blood that has soaked into the sands of a beach is all of one color. America stands unique in the world: the only country not founded on race but on a way, an ideal. Not in spite of but because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength in the world. That is the American way.

* "We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us. "We the people" are the driver, the government is the car. And we decide where it should go, and by what route, and how fast. Almost all the world's constitutions are documents in which governments tell the people what their privileges are. Our Constitution is a document in which "We the people" tell the government what it is allowed to do. "We the people" are free.

* Although I held public office for a total of sixteen years, I also thought of myself as a citizen-politician, not a career one. Every now and then when I was in government, I would remind my associates that "When we start thinking of government as 'us' instead of 'them,' we've been here too long." By that I mean that elected officeholders need to retain a certain skepticism about the perfectibility of government.

* If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation.

* It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. This Administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy.

* We don't have an option of living with inflation and its attendant tragedy.…We have an alternative, and that is the program for economic recovery. True, it'll take time for the favorable effects of our program to be felt. So, we must begin now. The people are watching and waiting. They don't demand miracles. They do expect us to act. Let us act together.

* I hope the people on Wall Street will pay attention to the people on Main Street. If they do, they will see there is a rising tide of confidence in the future of America.

* Freedom is the right to question and change the established way of doing things. It is the continuous revolution of the marketplace. It is the understanding that allows to recognize shortcomings and seek solutions.

Cute Pillows Too

I think I'm going to do fun pillows to match as well. Obviously the pillows and quilt aren't going to be in the crib while baby is there. I already had the squares cut out and I don't know what I'll do with them in the future so I figure while I'm in this sewing high I will do as much as I can until it wears off.

What About This Design?

I took out most of the blue and rearranged the colors. What do you think about this one?

Baby Quilt -- Your Opinon Please?

I had some extra fabric after cutting out the pieces for the crib ruffle and I decided I would make a baby quilt to go along with the rest of the bedding. I cut the squares for it and now I'm piecing it together and I would like your input on the design. I like it but I'm not sure if I really, really like it. Take a look and tell me what you think.

Hurray for Walking Groups!!!

Every Thursday morning a group of ladies from my church meet at the park near my house and go walking. They have been doing this for longer than I have lived here. Today I finally motivated myself to get up and go walking with them; they meet at 8am and I currently have the privilege to sleep in later than that if I want to (I usually do). Anyway, I walked to the park and saw a gang of ladies with strollers, everyone was pushing a stroller but me. :) They have an established route that takes them in a nice loop; it's about 3 miles long. I had a really good time I started out walking with the ladies in front and slowed down and walked with the ladies in the middle and by the end I was walking with the ladies in back. While we were walking I was feeling fine just maintaining my slow pregnant pace and talking with the ladies. When we got back to the park I felt the need to sit down, so I did (the kids got out of their strollers and played on the playground after we were done walking). I sat and talked with the "newborn" moms, one has a 3 month old and the other has an almost 1 month old. It was a really great way to get to know women in similar situations to me. When it was time to walk home I stood up and felt like my pelvis was going to fall apart. Holy Cow! I've had a some pain there before but not as bad as today. All day since the walk I felt like I'm going to die! Well, not really but it's not a pleasant feeling. I'm really glad I went and I'm planning on going next week; I just hope that the more I walk the less pain I will have. This has really motivated me to do the exercises that my birth class recommends. I even blew up my exercise ball. Everyone needs to do their Kegels!!!! :)

Another Crazy Pregnancy Dream

I dream about places that are real but in my dreams they aren't really how they are in real life. So I had this dream the other day that Andrew and I needed to go to Babies R Us just to get 2 things. I'm telling Andrew this as we're walking around and a guy who was also at Babies R Us does the snort laugh and says, "That's what they all say." Then somehow Babies R Us turns into Ikea. While we're in Ikea we run into my friend Lance, who's going to school to be a dentist and he tells me that we're having a girl. We're kind of like yeah okay whatever and then we're in the food court in Ikea and I jump into the pool and start swimming (didn't you know Ikea has a water park?) and they bring me my food in the pool. Then suddenly I'm not swimming anymore and I'm somewhere else talking to this guy and I'm telling him my story how I ran into a friend who said that I'm having a girl. He asks who told me that and when I tell him it was my friend Lance he says, "Then you're having a girl. Because Lance has an unusual ability to be right about theses things." And then I wake up and that's the end. I told you it was crazy.

Only 65 Days Left Until...

Christmas!!! I bet you all thought that I was going to say until the baby comes, nope that's 70 days, only 2.5 months. It really is crazy how time flies. I'm feeling kind of like Costco right now. They have Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations out for sale right now but they're really gearing up for Christmas. :) I'm also feeling like a little kid again: counting down the days, wondering what I'm going to get, feeling like it's never going to come, wanting to make Christmas sugar cookies or at least get the premade dough and eat it (not that I was allowed, but I like cookie dough). :)

Andrew told me that some of his family are planning to go to Afton Wyoming for Christmas to visit his Dad's parents and that sounds like a lot of fun. But I'm not going anywhere anytime near Christmas, well except for the hospital that is. :) It's actually kind of weird not going to either of our parent's houses for Christmas, or Thanksgiving for that matter. I guess we were really spoiled living so close to both of our parents and extended family. Andrew says Christmas with just the two of us will be fun, I think it will be too. I'm just glad that we've already got our Christmas tree, with lights on it and everything. :)

Online Baby Shower Clarification

It seems there is some confusion about the online baby shower. It is not a one day thing but an ongoing blogging event, with polls about who the baby will look like, whether or not you think it will be a boy or a girl, etc., until the in person baby shower on November 1st. So if you haven't looked at it recently there may be something you haven't seen yet. Only 2 people have voted on who they think the baby will look like; so far I'm winning. :)

Watch Andrew's Trees Grow

Andrew is monitoring the growth of his trees based on these pictures. The interesting thing is all of the trees are expected to grow to about 15-16 feet tall.

Tangelo Tree

Lemon Tree

Red Grapefruit Tree

White Peach Tree

Asian Pear Tree

Proposition 102: One Man, One Woman, That's Marriage

Today I decided that I would put up signs in our front window advertising "Yes to Marriage". So I did and when I went outside to take pictures of our window I'm pretty sure that I heard a Spanish commercial for Proposition 102 while I was out there. :) I thought it was pretty appropriate timing considering why I went outside.

I don't know if anyone will actually be able to read them from the street since I printed them out from my printer. I also requested a proper yard sign to put up, we'll have to wait and see when that gets here.

I really like how simple the amendment is just 20 words: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.” There is nothing extra thrown in and no long winded technical double speak to make you question what am I really voting on here?

So I've got 2 Spanish signs and 4 English signs.

Look at the Cute Clothes I Used to Wear!

Andrew and I got home last night from our birth class and this blue rubbermaid tote was on our front porch from my mom. I had no idea what was in it so I opened it up and in it there were a bunch of baby clothes and blankets in it.

Look what was in the box! All my cute clothes I used to wear.

So I decided that it would be fun to show you the dress now and a picture of me wearing it when I was a baby.

This is my "birth"day shirt and me wearing it.

This is the dress that my sister and I were blessed in and this is me wearing it, though I don't look too happy about it. :)

This dress I'm not sure what's special about it other than the fact that it's cute and I'm wearing it.

Look What Happened in Massachusetts!!!!

My mom sent me the link to this video. Don't let what happened in Massachusetts happen in your state! Vote to keep marriage between 1 man and 1 woman.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1352578267/bctid1784521903

Arizona Proposition 102: Marriage between one man and one woman

Baby Bedding So Far

The 2 fitted sheets and the bumper are done. Hurray!!! It was a bit of a pain to cut the pieces out because in the move I lost my clear quilting ruler, which makes using the rotary cutter and mat more difficult especially with larger pieces.

This is my great idea to cope without the clear ruler. I used Andrew's laser level instead; it worked pretty well if I pulled the fabric up so I could see the line.

This is the underside of the completed fitted sheet.

The sheet on the mattress.

The sheet on the mattress in the crib.

The bumpers and the sheet on the mattress in the crib.

The inside of the crib with all the bedding on. It kind of looks like a pond.

Now all I have to do is make the ruffle. It will be easier to cut the pieces for this since I got a new quilting ruler and a larger (24" x 36") cutting mat; I love JoAnn's coupons.