Writing a blog makes me realize I need to document things better because blog posts are always more fun when there's an associated picture. If I uploaded pictures from my camera more frequently, then I might blog more frequently instead of making a long super-post . . . until then . . .

DATE NIGHT

Friday we went on a date (not just to Arby's and Walmart)! We were in the mood for some meat and almost missed out due to TomTom (our GPS) thinking that Texas Roadhouse was in the middle of a parking lot about 2 miles away from where it actually is. Luckily "eagle eyes" Allen got lasik in April and spotted the sign as we were about to give up and eat elsewhere. 

Texas Roadhouse! I should have asked the waiter to take the picture for us.
Can you tell who has to go to work inside all day and who goes to the pool a couple of times a week?

I was not disappointed with my first ever Texas Roadhouse steak and I love that they keep bringing more of those delicious rolls! After dinner we decided to make it a real date by going miniature golfing. :) It was a pretty cool blacklight mini golf place but I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon since it was a little pricey for miniature golf and because I won! Apparently my big belly helps to stabilize my arms and I am able to putt much better . . . it's all in the hips since the arms can't swing through. And just in case Allen actually reads this: we stopped keeping score because it was more fun so I don't actually know if I won in the end.

My belly during week 34 - can you see Allen in the mirror in the back?

CRAFTINESS

I guess the boredom of no job plus the "nesting instinct" (or whatever they call it in the pregnancy books) have helped me come up with some creative (and some useless) things to do.

Preface to the crafts: My mom and I chose fabric for Junior's baby quilt in April and loved all of the Dr. Seuss  fabric we found so it was decided that Junior's room motif would be Dr. Seuss. As I continued looking online for more Seussy things to decorate his room with, I discovered that everything is overpriced. 

Exhibit A: They charge $45 for a mobile that is cute, but not that cute. 

 

And so began the quest to make cheap, cute things for Junior's room. Although, if you include the price of the sewing machine into the cost of the crafts, I don't know how much we actually saved! ...other than my sanity. 

Craft #1: Dr. Seuss Mobile - not yet finished

Prior to the sewing machine purchase, I made these letters out of old T-shirts, an old decorative pillow and good ole needle and thread. That was so fun that I decided to make a Cat in the Hat hat. Here is what I have so far, plus some Dr. Seuss fabric, wooden dowels and fishing line to figure out how I'm hanging it. 

Don't worry - the flip flop will not be in the mobile, it's just to give you perspective to see how big the objects are.

Craft #2: Dr. Seuss fitted baby sheets - done

Sewing elastic onto fabric is much harder than it looks or should be! I got better by the end but refuse to take close up pictures of the terrible sew-manship. They look great from a distance though! 

That's the quilt my mom made hanging over the back of the crib 

Sheet number 2

Craft #3: Seuss-ified canvas storage bins - one down, one or two more to go

$10- $24 per storage bin (depending on which size you got) was pricey for the bin below.  

I bought a plain colored one at Walmart for $6.Then to Seussify, I simply had to sew more strips of Allen's old T-shirt onto the Seussy fabric and iron onto the canvas bin. Unfortunately the sew-free bonding stuff did not like the canvas or the cotton for some reason and did not bond very well. So, out came my needle and thread and I reinforced the edges. Voila! I know, have too much time on my hands.

Craft #4: Sheet savers - one down, ? to go (I'll make more if they are actually helpful)

After realizing how much fun it wasn't to make the fitted baby sheets, I did not want to make more and sheet savers seem like a great idea to not have to change sheets in the middle of the night when they're covered with spit up/blow-outs. 

But who came up with the idea to charge $10 per sheet saver, which in reality is a 1 ft by 2 ft piece of fabric with ties in each corner to attach to the crib bars! And according to most of the reviews, is not very water resistant so you end up having to change the sheets half of the time anyway.

Walmart to the rescue! I bought a cheap towel (in a much better color than these are offered in), cut it in half,  hemmed the edge and attached ties made from extra Dr. Seuss material. Mine also covers twice as much area in the crib as the true sheet savers do. They are made for one end or the other... bum or mouth, but not both at the same time. 

The towel with the ties attached

Progression of ties: fabric, sewn fabric, turned right-side out

Then to solve the non-water resistant issue... I got a cheap shower plasticky shower curtain that will be cut into the same size as my sheet saver and rather than sewn onto the towel (because I don't know how it will hold up in the washer/dryer) I will simply attach ties to each corner of it as well! In theory, it should work well, but I'll let you know in a few weeks when I've actually tried them out with Junior.