I am reaching the end of my pregnancy (anywhere from 3-6 weeks now) and I am feeling a lot of tension in my life, every little thing makes me frantic. I think the unknown of not knowing when or how she will come is the main part of it.
I thought I would be less concerned with it than I was with my son because this time I am a S.A.H.M. and last time I was working full time at a small company and the only full time employee in my area. Even though there isn't the same stress as what if I go into labor while I am at work, will I know when it is the right time to leave.At the time Slim Jim was suffering from a lot of panic attacks, I wasn't even sure that he would be able to be there for the delivery without having a panic attack. Luckily it really went well, everything worked out. Rhett was born scheduled C-section (because of his enormous size and the fact that I had made zero progress towards labor) on a Friday afternoon. Slim Jim, My mom and Slim Jim's parents were able to be at the hospital before, during and after Rhett's birth.

Pregnancy at 34 weeks (graphic from BabyCenter). Our little girl is being stubborn though and her head is not down, she is laying across me.

This time the stress level is similar but the situation is different. This time I am trying to think how to get her here at the most convenient time for everyone (during Christmas break) and I am a little scared of my birthing options, VBAC or C-Section.
I have heard positive and negative stories for both. My mother-in-law attempted a VBAC with her second and the baby got caught on the scar tissue on incision line, from Slim Jim. After laboring she ended up having to do an emergency C-section. Then her 3rd she successfully completed a VBAC and she said it was way more painful recovery than a VBAC.
I have also have friends that have felt so empowered by there ability to labor and birth naturally, after the evasive procedure of a C-Section.
One of my doctors is really positive about V-BAC's. The other doesn't like them for people with big babies. Both have the rule that the baby can't be larger than 8 lbs. 6 oz. if she is going to come VBAC. Rhett was 9 lbs. 12 oz. at 39 weeks and 2 days. I don't know if the ideal size will be easy or hard for me to reach with our little girl.
The positive of having a C-Section is I already know what to expect mentally and physically. And the physical part of it is really what worries me. Slim Jim goes to school full time and works nearly full time as well, which leaves Rhett and I home together a lot. I know that after a C-section you are limited to lifting the weight of you baby for the first 8 weeks. Which will be fine for the first 2 weeks when I will have a boat load of help, but it is the next 6 weeks that worry me. Slim Jim will be busy at school/work and Rhett, little girl and I will be home alone. Rhett will need to go "Yucky" (his word for going potty) and he will need help getting up on the toilet or getting his underwear on. Or Rhett will have one of those moments where he will need me to drag/carry him somewhere and I will be unable to do it.
What I really probably need to do is prepare myself for the worse case scenario and plan for the best. I guess the worst case scenario would go something like this:
I go to 40 weeks at which point they induce be because the baby is getting to big. I am in labor for a long time and they decide after several hours of pushing that they are going to have to do an emergency C-Section. Because they don't have enough time then they have to put me all the way under and Slim Jim and I are unable to witness the birth of our daughter. I wake up groggy and in a fog and in a lot of pain because my doctor forgot to prescribe my morphine after surgery. I end up loosing a lot of blood and have to stay for a few extra days.
I will go home from the hospital to find that Slim Jim is incredibly busy with school/work. At this point we will go into survival mode (begging favors from friends and neighbors) until I recover.We won't freak out if the house is far from perfect. We will eat frozen or prepared foods that aren't super healthy but we will survive. Slim Jim will take his clothes to the dry cleaners to get cleaned.
I guess the truth of the matter is that I won't really know how/when things are going to go down so don't worry about it. I wonder if I can keep myself busy enough I don't have to think about it either. I have a few projects that I am sewing up the next couple of days but after that I think I will be making 1 of these:

Hospital Gown picture and tutorial from The Crafty Cupboard

 And make a couple of these to match, for keeping the hair out of my eyes:

Double Sided Headband picture and tutorial by Happy Together

Then I will pack them up with the take Home from the Hospital Outfit for baby in the new diaper bag that I made following this tutorial from Make it And Love it:

2 in 1 Stroller Diaper bag picture and tutorial by Make it and Love it.

I am so pleased with how this blanket turned out. The best part of this quilt it was made with scrap material from her blessing/christening gown and cut fabric that I found in the remnant fabric bin at JoAnne's. The story behind this quilt is that I had gone into JoAnne's to grab some printed canvas/outdoor upholstery fabric to make a diaper bag out of (that project will be posted soon). I walked by the remnant bin and found 1 1/3 yards (just short of 48 by 60, standard crib quilt is 45 by 60) of The Cuddle Soft in Remnant bin. At 50% of the current price I couldn't pass it up.
I did not take pictures as I went since I was making it up as I went, but encase you would like to make a similar one I have written down the process in the greatest detail as I can think but if you have any questions just leave a comment on this post and I will try to answer it. 
When I unwrapped it I was so pleased to find that it was nice and soft on both sides, so instead of applying a back to it I decided to put my ruffling foot to use and ruffle up some satin. I cut my satin in 3 inch strips and then sew the strips together (I think I did 8, because I knew I would loose length in the ruffling process and wasn't sure how much I would end up needing). I then ruffled my strips so that there would be a pleat every 6 stitches with a depth of 4.
I then folded the Cuddle Soft fabric horizontally and vertically so all of the outside corners would be lined up. I then pinned them so they would stay in place while I cut. I then I place a large plate over the top of the corners and traced the rounded shape. I then removed the plate and cut all of the layers at one time (this gave me a nice rounded edge to work with.
After that I then lined up and pinned the raw edge my ruffled satin  to the raw edge of my cuddle soft, with the satin laying on top of the right side of the Cuddle soft. I then stitched the satin on with a 1/2 inch stitch. When that was all attached I wanted to be able to cover my raw edges on the backside. So I cut (6) 1 1/2 inch strips of satin and sewed them all together. I then pinned and sewed the raw edge of the satin strips to the raw edge of the ruffles and the cuddle soft, with a 1/2 inch inseam. I then ironed the satin down and folded the satin edge around the ruffle/cuddle soft inseam (at this point you should have no raw edges showing). I pinned it so that it would stay down and in place. Then I lined the satin edge with the left side of my presser foot (most pressure feet have a right and left line that you can follow, it is half way between where the needle comes down and the edge of the presser foot) and had my thread come down in the middle. I then kept my hand tightly stretched across the fabric so I wouldn't have any puckers. DONE!
The Cuddle Soft Blanket will be so nice and comfortable to wrap our sweet baby girl in and the fluffiness of the cuddle soft fabric and the smooth silkiness of the satin ruffles make a complementary contrast. The white ruffles also help anchor the bright colors of the bright hearts. One of my favorite parts is that it is totally budget friendly.
Fabric Regular price: $17.32
My Cost for Cuddle Soft Fabric: $5.13 (50% of the current price, which the fabric was on sale for $7.79/yrd instead of the $13/yrd)
My Cost for Satin Ruffles:  Less than $1 because I made my own binding and the fabric I used I got for a $1/yrd.
Total Cost of Blanket: $6

The matching floral fabric for the Coming Home set was some that I purchased at Walmart before we found out we would be having a little girl. I had gone to the fabric section to purchase another print and when I saw it I knew I couldn't be without it, though I didn't know what I would use it for.
When we found out that we would be having a little girl joining our family, I immediately turned my eyes toward a ruffling foot for my sewing machine. My mom was so sweet and decided that she would get it for me for an early Christmas present. The dress is the first project that I used on it.

For the dress I used the Sweet Little Dress (3M-5T) from leila & ben. I am not being paid for endorsement of this pattern so know that this is my true opinion. I think that this pattern was the best 10 dollars I could have spent on a pattern. The instructions were really easy to follow and you can easily have a finished dress in an hour or two (the second and third time went much faster). I also love that you can choose to use a contrasting fabric on the sleeves for a completely different look. I also love that they send the pattern as a pdf file so that you can just print it off and cut it down to the size that you are making.

The dress top

Love the petite little ruffles.

I wasn't sure if the 3-6 Month pattern would be true to size or a small enough to make for a newborn, so I experimented. The 3-6 Month pattern was a true to 3-6 Month size. To make it new born I took 1/2 of an inch off of each of the sides and from the bottom and made the neck elastic 2 inches smaller (the pattern called for 15 inches of elastic so I did 13 inches). I followed the pattern's instructions for assembly with my adjusted pattern.
The ruffles are not part of the orginal pattern but I was playing with my ruffling foot and thought that ruffles would add a sweet touch to it. To make the ruffle, I used my ruffling foot and set the foot to do a mid-deep pleat (4 out of a 1 to 8 range) every 12 stitches. I did a small rolled hem on the bottom of the ruffle and then sewed right sides together on the ruffle and the dress bottom making for a nice finish. Then I pressed the seam flat and top stitched on the skirt so that the ruffle would stay down.

Cost of the Dress: $3 for fabric, $10 for the pattern but I plan and have used this pattern more than this one time. 


With my left over ruffles from the bottom, I made a casing by folding it 2/3 of the way over and ran 13 inches of elastic through it.
For the roses I cut strips of felt and rolled them and tacked them with thread. Then I laid the three roses out and decided which order they would go best in. Then I tacked them onto the headband with thread.
Cost of the Headband: $0, Everything I used from this project was leftovers from another project.
Blanket: 
With my son I always loved the extra long receiving blankets my mom made for him. They were the perfect swaddling blankets, worked great for draping over the carseat when he was sleeping and large enough that I could modestly nurse about anywhere. I think the double layer flannel receiving blankets are great for the cold days, but sometimes you need a lighter blanket than that.
The blanket is made by sewing two 45" by 45" pieces together, it has flannel on one side and the same material on the front side. To make this blanket I sewed my right sides together with a 5/8 inch seam (leaving a 1 1/2 inch hole on one of the sides so that I could turn it right side out). I then clipped my edges (here is a great tutorial on clipping your edges) so that I could get really pretty corners. Then I pressed my blanket so that each one of the seams would be nice and flat then I sewed around the outside of the blanket with a straight stitch at 1/2" and 1/4".
Cost of the blanket: Between $6-$7. I bought my flannel when Walmart was running a $2/yard sale.

Ryder intensely licking the beater

Little Balls of Dough

Showing the perfect form for inserting cookies into the oven.

I think this picture proves that Ryder is as big, if not bigger cookie dough fan as his mom and dad.

Oh so yummy, look at that melted chocolate perfection.

The end result

I love this recipe it always turns out the perfect, cake like cookies. Here is the recipe just in case you want to have your own Cookie Day.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 1/2 cups Shortening
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
18 oz of Chocolate Chips
3 tsp. Vanilla
3 1/2 cups Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Bake at 375 degree F for 8 minutes (set your timer for 6 just in case your oven cooks a little hot).

Extra Long Receiving Blanket: This blanket is double layer flannel (perfect for cold winters in Eastern Idaho). The extra length on this blanket makes it ideal for swaddling a taller baby.

Coming Home Set: A matching set Extra Long Receiving Blanket, Dress with Ruffles & Headband

Cuddle Soft Blanket with Satin Ruffles: Super soft fleece found in the remnant section and finished with scrap satin to make a cuddly crib sized blanket.

Girl's Spotted Minky (Minkee) Travel Quilt: This soft quilt is perfect for traveling and the Minkee fabric makes it perfect for every season.

Owl Minky Travel Quilt with Satin Quilt Binding: Fabric selected by Ryder (2 years old) and the soft textures of this quilt will make it perfect for long trips in the car. The bright colors are sure to mask any spills.

I like to do hard things. I love challenges. And I hate people telling me I can't do something. Gnocchi...has been one of those things that I have wanted to conquer but have never been brave enough because Slim Jim told me they are really hard. He pretty much summed it up as the only people that he ever saw do it successfully is the older ladies in Argentina with Italian decent.
In the last year I have found two authentic Gnocchi recipes that made me think that I might just be able to do it. And I really wanted to because one of my recent cravings has been the chicken gnocchi soup from the Olive Garden. So I peeled and boiled my potatoes away followed the recipes, but I realized something on my last potato as I shredded it into the bowl.....it didn't get boiled long enough. It wasn't soft enough. Thinking I was probably freaking out about nothing I continued on my merry way.....I added my flour. I rolled it. I cut it. I boiled it. Only to have the yucky starchy little alien creatures arise out of the boiling water...dinner time was quickly approaching and I was beginning to feel the walls closing in because I had been working on this for 1 1/2 hours and didn't have anything else planned. Just then I remembered that I had once come across a not so authentic but would help me save dinner recipe for gnocchi's that called for instant potatoes.
I then found a recipe for gnocchi's made from instant potatoes on allrecipes.com (this is where I go when I need a recipe and all of my favorite cookbooks/blogs don't have it). The recipe I found had 280 reviews and a rating of 4 1/2 stars, I read some of the review and kept in mind the things that were mentioned. I went with a new sense of hope and purpose... to make Gnocchi's even if they weren't 100% authentic but 100% delicious. It went so much better my dough came together great, and in a few minutes I had all of my little Gnocchi pillows ready to plop into my cream soup.

Quick Gnocchi Recipe
adapted by Scary
originally from Sandy Metzler from Allrecipes.com

1 cup dry potato flakes
1 cup boiling water
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
  
Place potato flakes in a medium-size bowl. Pour in boiling water; stir until blended. Let cool. 
Stir in egg, salt, and pepper. Blend in enough flour to make a fairly stiff dough, just add a little at a time then your dough will come together a lot easier (you might not even need the full cup). Turn dough out on a well floured board. Knead lightly. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into a long thin roll, the thickness of your thumb (unless you have tiny thumbs then do it the size of your husband thumbs). With a knife dipped in flour, cut into pieces the width of your thumbnail (they will expand in size in the boiling water). Place a ten gnocchi in boiling water. As the gnocchi rise to the top of the pot (probably about 3 minutes), remove them with a slotted spoon. Repeat until all are cooked.

Placed cooked gnocchi's in a bowl and set aside as you work on the soup.

Chicken Cream Soup Base
by Scary
1/2 stick of butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons of flour
1 cup of cream
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon of ground oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 chicken breasts (cubed and cut)
1 batch of gnocchi's
3 carrots pealed and diced
2 cups of water

Melt butter in a stockpot on low heat. Then add garlic. Once garlic is flavorful add flour. Make a rogue. Then  add cream and milk. Add seasonings, precooked chicken breast, gnocchi's. Fill a small sauce pan with warm water and carrots. Boil carrots until they are soft and then put the carrots and the carrot water in with the rest of the soup. And right then it is ready to serve.

I cooked my chicken the day before while working with some other chicken so after the gnocchi dilemma it went really fast. And I am thinking in the fall when Slim Jim goes back to school this might be one of those go to meals that I can whip up in 30 minutes. 

I get almost all of my gluten free ideas online- otherwise I make them up from the cupboard.

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