Sewing Extravaganza

I have been spending a great deal of my free time, mostly after the girls are in bed, sewing.  I always make a cuddly soft baby blanket for my babies and for my nieces and nephews, and this time around is no exception!  I like to use 2 different minky fabrics (the ones that are kind of plush and super soft) and 2 different flannel fabrics and try to match their bedding.  Since making my first few blankets I have discovered an easier way to find the matching flannel fabrics that just going to the fabric store, and that is to go to Target, Babies R Us, etc and buy a 4 pack of flannel receiving blankets that match or are the same theme as the bedding.  I first did this for my sister's son Cooper and it turned out really well and have tried to do so since then.  The one thing that I have found in doing this, is that I use 2 of the 4 receiving blankets and then have 2 left over.  Well, this time around I got creative and decided to buy some towel fabric and am making double sided burp cloths and wash cloths/reusable cloth baby wipes.  This has turned out to be a nice use of the extra fabric and they are super cute!  The cloth baby wipes will be especially nice for us since we are doing cloth diapers again with Mr. Jack :)

Halloween Party!

This year we decided to do a Halloween party for the girls, cousins & friends.  It was so much fun!  We decided to keep the party small this year and see how it went with the hopes of doing them in years to come.  I think it was a success!  First we started out with some drink and snacks.  Then, we moved on to games, beginning with a Halloween themed bean bag toss. The next game was pin the tail on the cat and I am pretty sure the kids could see through the "blindfold", because they all pretty much hit the "x" on the cat.  The last game we did was bob for apple slices and that I think was the funniest of all!  First of all, Brian thought we should blindfold the kids, which I didn't think was a good idea.  However, I didn't think it would be as difficult of a task as it turned out to be!  Only a few of the kids were able to grab a slice of apple and the rest just decided after a few tries to just grab a slice to eat instead.  We then decorated Halloween ornaments before playing the rest of the afternoon away.  What a fun day!

Portland Pumpkin Patch Fun!

This past Saturday we made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  However, this year we didn't go to Liepold Farms as we since we moved back from Texas.  This year we went to Portland Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.  Why?  Well, their highlight was a Twilight Corn Maze and being that I so love the Twilight Saga I thought it was only appropriate :)

We brought Mama Vicki and Mama Cheryl with us and met up with Brian's brother's family, as well as The Cox Family.  The kids started out feeding the farm animals and then we moved on to exploring the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkins.  We purchased our pumpkins, as well as some yummy farm fresh corn and carrots.  Then it was off to let the kids play in the hay maze for a bit before we ate some lunch.  Then, it was on to the muddy corn maze.  Thank goodness for Brian and Mike navigating the corn maze, because it was pretty elaborate in design.  A few of the kids fell and got muddy and well, our kids had to ride home in their skivvies, but I think a fun time was had by all!  I just couldn't wait to get out of the corn maze because there weren't any port-a-potties along the way, can you believe it?!  Now, the question is, which pumpkin patch will we go to next year?  I think that is up for debate, and maybe we will go to a different one all together :)

Going Gluten Free

I have been thinking about going gluten free for sometime now, but am finally taking the plunge!  When I started doing a little research back in April I got completely overwhelmed and decided that it was just going to be too hard, as it seemed that virtually everything had gluten in it.  I have been reading a wonderful book called Wheat Belly, by William Davis, and it has really enlightened me. Although it is still quite overwhelming for me, I have since changed my attitude.   Before any of you say "hey wait a minute, she is pregnant, this can't be healthy".  Think again, it really is no different than if I were diagnosed with "gestation diabetes" (which is tested for at 28 weeks gestation, and by the way I am not...yay!) and having to eat more proteins and minimal carbohydrates.

Don't know what gluten is?

glu·ten 1. The mixture of proteins, including gliadins and glutelins, found in wheat grains, which are not soluble in water and which give wheat dough its elastic texture. 2. Any of the prolamins found in cereal grains, especially the prolamins in wheat, rye, barley, and possibly oats, that cause digestive disorders such as celiac disease.

Why do I want to go gluten free?  I have suffered from daily headaches pretty much since Kennedy was born.  I had been told it was just hormones and had to take a daily prescription to help with this, but in addition to a daily pill that is supposed to be taken at night because it makes you drowsy, and gives you pretty severe dry mouth, I also have to take migraine medication for the times it isn't successful.  Well, now that I am pregnant, I can't take those medications and although my headaches seemed to be few and far between early in my pregnancy, they have ramped up in the recent weeks.  I am now taking the maximum dose of Tylenol of 4,000mg per day and getting minimal relief if any.  So, I decided that a change in my diet was in order.


How does gluten play into this?  Good question!  Gluten effects people in all different ways, from bowel issues, joint pain, headaches, exasperating symptoms of ADHD and autism.  Gluten effects all parts of our body.  I am willing to give it a try!  So far I am on Day 4 of being gluten free and it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be, and this is the first day in a long time that I have woke up without a headache and at 3:30PM I have yet to take any medications besides my prenatal multivitamin.  I can't tell you when the last time was that I could say that I haven't had a headache or not taken medication to prevent one.  Not to mention my body feels much less "sluggish" and at 28 1/2 weeks pregnant, that is saying something!  We will see if this is a fluke or an ongoing trend.  I am not getting my hopes up yet, but I am hoping for the positive.