Tis the season

for giveaways! There are a ton for photographers right now! Id really like to win one of them! This one has a lot of neat non 'photog' stuff too.

Check out my most recent find over at: Laura Winslow Photos!

Here's another fun one to enter from Paint the Moon Actions

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Ive got a penis growing in me!

Hello from Nashville, TN and from week 16! If you haven't heard the news as of yet you may be living under a rock. Neil and I are going to be having a little boy join the family in May. CRAZY! A boy. I knew I was having a boy but its still weird to think about. As I imagined my life.. my whole life not just in the past few months. I never imagined having a boy. It just wasnt something Id ever thought about. In my dreams and thoughts about being a mom it was always a girl. I think I get a bad opinion of boys because of my ex- step brother. He was terrible and treated my mom like crap. Maybe it was the 'step mom' part of it but I think he was just a rotten child. Never made me want then.. plus now I cant pass along all my 'girl' toys ive saved up and they have to wait a few years. Oh well, all this writing makes it sound like im sad, and im not at all im quite happy to know what I am having and Im even more excited to get him here already. The quicker the baby comes the quicker Neil comes home too! Im in Nashville because one of my very best friends lives here and she happens to be an ultrasound technician. If not for her I would have had to have waited until I was around 20 weeks to find out the sex. So my Thanksgiving plans to Kentucky worked out awesomely. Leslie did my U/S the day I got into town because Neil could be on skype for longer. Baby boy was sure not wanting to show us his parts. It took about an hour of trying before wegave up a little and told Neil to call us again in an hour. In the meantime I ate sugar and moved around as much as possible so he would also move and stop showing us his spine. Its a lovely spine might I add. ;) Here are some of the best shots my friend got of the little guy.

he was giving us a cute yawn here

babies look extremely alien at this stage in life. 

look at those lips! AND that nose!

we got a lot of this

heart rate was around 130 BPMs which makes him a boy according to some old wives tales.

and the money shot!

This shot was taken after Neil had called us back he was all about giving up the goods then.

Leslie took this quick video of the baby hiccuping! look at that heart!


so yay! Thank you aunt Leslie!

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Signs by Andrea Giveaway!

A while back I saw a sign in someones house and it had their last name and the year they were married. I instantly fell in love with it and I have been looking for something like it for some time now. Well I found it and they are having a giveaway. PLUS! Right now they are running a 2 for 1 special. So BAM! Theres a Christmas present out of the way right now!

So go and check them out!!

http://www.andreasteed.com/node/1069

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fourteen and a dream

I had my first baby dream and it was horrible. I dreamt that Neil was still gone and the baby came early. Before ALL my baby showers, before I was ready, before we had things. But there were no complications which was good. The baby was sized full term but was born in February and not May. I got the baby home and completely freaked out. No one was there to help, I didn't have much in the way of supplies, except my boobs. Pretty much what I already have is what I had. So, 4 diapers, some blankets, a crib, a dresser and some baby legs. That's not going to get you very far. I did however see the baby was taken out of the hospital with a blue diaper on. Which doesn't' help me out in my wanting a girl. I wont be too sad if our little one is a boy, I just be a little sad. Ive been a little depressed. Im worried about the baby. Nervous and excited for my appointment tomorrow. Hoping for good things. If all is well tomorrow in a few weeks we should know if Baby Embry is in fact a she or a he. My friend Leslie is going to be the one to spill the beans and i'm super excited about it. This morning I took another belly shot, Ive felt.. very much like not wanting to take photos of myself recently. I feel like if I would have take a photo a month ago I might be bigger than I am now, which still isn't that big but I have grown a little bit. No bump yet though. No cravings. No high belly or low belly. I dont want any food. It doesnt matter if its sweet or salty... well I think id be good with some potato chips and some powdered doughnuts but im trying to stay away from bad things so N O T H I N G sounds good. agh!

dude, look at how long my hair got in 7 weeks!! CRAZY

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thirteen.

Week 13 is here! Hooray! Im out of the danger zone! Yay! I go in for my next appointment next week and im nervous. I dont understand why they dont see you more when your pregnancy is new. Im not too much of a worry wort but I know there are some people that are. Ive had a relatively awesome pregnancy so far. I dont know, I guess all im saying is that they should see you more. Especially in the crucial months. For instance, my last appointment was at 10 weeks. My next is at 14. There is a lot of room for sadness in there and I dont want to go to my next appointment only to find out the baby isnt well. I dont think that will be the case I just think its annoying.

Also this is random but I dont feel connected to the baby at all. I did feel connected but in the past few weeks its been hard. Perhaps its cause I dont feel pregnant, I just know it. I hear thats somewhat normal. Im just excited to start showing so I know Im pregnant and I feel it!

November was supposed to start my crafting for baby time. Im not 100% sure that it will happen. Ive had no time for crafting, although I did kinda clean off my sewing table. So thats a help. Ive been watching all of the Mad Men Seasons(I start season 3 tonight) and while Ive been doing that Ive been embroidering some baby bibs for the new arrival. One of them isnt finished yet, its going to say "mom" like the tattoos. :) There are a lot of patterns I want to do but a lot of them are girly so im going to wait. 

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expanding the house by two feet

Over the next few months this blog is going to take a turn for the small and cute. That's right The Rocket Gnome and I are going to have a baby. I know its quite odd to think that somehow we created life. We have come so far since that March in 2006. My whole entire life is different than I thought it would be. Different in a good way but its just so weird how quickly and slowly life changes all at the same time. Today I am 12 weeks and I am so happy to have made it this far. I really did not want to have to deal with anything going wrong if he wasnt home. So, so far were A-OK! I am quite excited to begin this new chapter in our lives. Ive wanted a baby ever since I could remember. In highschool it was the only thing I ever aspired to be. Which was hard to tell people.. so I said something like teacher instead, because that makes sense to more people. Of course I had to wait to find the right guy, someone that would be a good dad and there for me. That was super important to me as my mom did it alone. I know what she went through to raise me by herself, and it didnt appear easy. So yay for supportive baby daddys! He seems excited about being a dad. About as excited as you can be not being able to see me in person and hes not going to be able to see me until Im a good 7 months in to this mess. We were trying for a little one. It was time we made the next step. Its a HUGE step too. There is so much to growing a new person. So much to learn about what to eat and what not to eat and what works and what doesnt and thats all before we even get to meet the little babytron! Then you have to worry about what to register for and what sort of diapers to buy and what creams and what isnt going to kill the baby. Its stressful. So far, im making it through with a good head on my shoulders and I already know most of what I want to register for.

I havent had any morning sickness so I bet if we werent trying I wouldnt have known for a while but instead we found out at 4 weeks! SO EARLY! Its so early to tell people too so it was quite hard keeping it in for so long. Last week we finally caved and told the internet. It was so good to be able to talk about it openly to everyone.  Im just glad everyone knows now. I wanted to tell with a photo and it turns out the military only gives you ONE ULTRASOUND! Im not going to lie, I was a bit upset when I heard this. But I still went to my appointment anyway luckily and unluckily they couldnt find a heartbeat. Which is hard to depict at 10 weeks anyway its better at 12 so why they schedule you to come in at 10 is beyond me. Anyway, I was upset and nervous about it and the lady doctor scheduled me for one. Which im sure happens all the time. I was able to make it in the following day without any waiting. She did a transvaginal which I didnt expect and the second it was in there I was 2 tiny little feet moving all around. I think if it had been bigger all the kicking might have hurt but luckily its still small. It was crazy seeing it move so much. It moved the entire time, I guess it might have been the sugary breakfast I had. Yum Toaster Strudels! My next appointment is at 14 weeks and Im super excited for it although I have no idea whats going to happen then.. Here is our baby's second photo. Second photo you say, yes one of my best friends is an ultrasound tech and took some photos at 4 weeks which is pretty much a tiny blob but.. she took them all the same.

So Im excited to start sewing baby things, soon it will happen!

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Shelby's baby blanket

I actually made this quite a while ago and I wrapped it I forgot to take a photo of it. Seeing it again makes me want to crochet a little more than I have in the past.. year.

Shelby's sister really liked her sisters present :) I think she liked opening it more though

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all in the timing!

Luckily Ive had a little time off. So I used my time to sew. I was kinda craving the need to create since I didn't have any photo sessions. I started on my first quilt ever for me. I know.. its weird. I'm usually a maker for other people and not myself. I think I mentioned it on the last post. I'm super excited about it. I finished getting all my fabric I need for it. 

Im using Crazy Mom Quilts pattern

I finally finished a quilt top for my newest Nephew Jacob. I used Moda Bake Shop's pattern who.. after just now looking was also Amanda from Crazy Mom Quilts. ;)

Thanks to my awesome husband to snapping a photo for me. Its a really big quilt. I probably wont quilt it myself. :(

I was able to quilt a Valentines day table runner I started last spring.

and the backing

The other night Neil curled up with both doggies. It was so cute.

I wonder if they have seen an increase in sales cause.. Neil doesnt wear Old Spice.

im on a horse

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Free Kitchenaid?

Wanna in a Kitchenaid!?!? I sure do. Its been in my "wish list" for several years now. :)

Click this link! Do it.. I promise its not spam. :) 
Win win!

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Charlie's Quilt | Finshed!

Man o Man. Where has the time gone? I feel like I am not living up to my craft goals here. I am catching up though. But the thing is I'm making a lot of quilts and those take a whole heck of a longer time then other crafts do. Since something sad is happening next month oh! this month I took some leave from work(sorta) and have been able to go on vacation with Neil and just stop stressing so much. Ive also been able to sew! Hoooooooray! I finished a baby quilt for my friend Bentley. She's due to have a baby girl at the beginning of September, although I think were hoping shes goes sooner than that so baby and daddy can meet. She requested no pink but I think she trusted me that I wasn't going to make something with "baby puke colors" as I like to refer to them. I'm not really a fan of light colors when it comes to anything except maybe the paint color.. and even then.. probably not.


I tried the zigzag pattern again using the tutorial at A Quilt is Nice. Its the same pattern from baby Christopher's quilt I just followed the directions this time. Except I messed up a little can you tell where? I think it works still.

It was a lot of fun and the fabric cutting went relatively quickly. I used some of my favorite fabrics and some of my more random stuff but I love the color combos and the fabrics and how they work together. I even used some of my Nicey Jane stash. I love me some Nicey Jane.



For all my binding instructions and help I have used Crazy Mom Quilts tutorial. Its pretty much the best I have found. So very helpful. I had the easiest time with the binding here. I think after.. 5 quilts I'm finally starting to get it. YAY!



I was also able to finish and start my blocks for May, June and July for the Fresh Comfort Bee. Just in time for August! I feel horrible for being so late on them. But they are done now.




This last block was my absolute favorite pattern I have done with the bee so far. I think I might make a quilt doing these squares too!

I also loved her fabric choices. These are for her daughter. What a lucky little girl she is!!


Last night after I was done with my bee blocks I started my very own Christmas quilt. Ill be using this pattern from Crazy Mom quilts(I like her, have you noticed?) Im using 12 Days of Christmas by Moda. Ill end up needing 4 more charm packs. Its going to be quite a pricey quilt but it IS for me so its worth it. :) I don't think Ill quilt it because I dont think my machine can handle it so that saves in timing. :)

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