oops... i'm accidently shopping online...

Yeah, we don't have a lot of money, with Todd in school, and i NEVER go shopping... But, school is starting and my bigger kids don't have hand-me-downs, so i've been looking around. (Plus, i'm nesting a bit so i have to do something or go insane...) 1. Children's place had some great deals... I got my boys long sleeve shirts for $5 each and sneakers for $5.99... And I got the cutest striped feety pj's for leah and the new baby... I'll have to take a picture cause seriously you want to eat leah up in her cute pjs... 2. Gymboree- I've really been coveting soft cotton dresses from Hanna Anderson... but to outfit all 4 of my girls it was just too much. I tried to order some $10 cotton dresses from Children's Place, but they are not the same-- thin t-shirt cotton instead of the thick, stretchy cotton you get from Hanna or Gymboree... surprisingly I found a really good deal at Gymboree... if you google gymboree coupons you can print out a 20% off your total order and they have Gymbucks, where if you spend $50 you get a coupon for $25 free gymbucks... And, who can compare in quality... Leah is still wearing adorable Gymboree clothes that were passed down from my sister, thru Anna and Ellie...

3. Finally, these jeans are from Gymboree... Lots of Dots collection... what a cute idea!! They have these capri's and just regular jeans with buttons sewed at the bottom... I'm totally going to COPY this idea... and, they have cute cardigans with colored buttons and cute henley shirts where they have random colored buttons... how cute-- it really makes a simple pair of jeans look a bit more stylish... This is my next project... well, after i get my house ready for a new baby...

what's 8 cm?...

So, I'm dialated to a 2, 50% effaced...

means nothing.

i think i'm always dialated to a 2...

baby #6-- i have never gone into labor on my own...

will this baby break the trend?

This morning I'm writing my TO DO BEFORE BABY list...

(You know that I LOVE to do lists) I had a transfusion yesterday--

I asked them to find me a strong, black man's blood--

today, i feel powerful (well, not really) but, if i didn't have this belly i bet i could run fast...

i HATE surprises- so, i think i'll plan on having this baby Sept. 15--

(that's the day they will induce me)

everynight when i go to bed i won't think about the possibility of waking up in a puddle of water...

everyday when i feel a contraction, i won't wonder if it has been 3 minutes since my last one,

and, i'm not going to constantly rework my "if i go into labor today i will send my kids to..." plan

in fact, i'm not even going to think about the possibility of going into labor on my own...

8 cm... it's a chasm...

oooh, was that another contraction... i better go to the bathroom to see if i'm leaking amniotic fluid... :)

stripes n' dots...

I made a bag... my very first real life bag- from this pattern!! (It just took me one night and was surprisingly fun and simple to make... I saw a quilt like this at the Material Girls Quilt shop in Utah, and I had to copy it... (here is the pattern if you want to buy it, i just saw a sample, i never actually saw the pattern.) This is a VERY easy quilt and it is SO FUN to make... you just need a front 45x45 and a back 45x45. Baste them together with the batting, then you sew strips of fabric and ric rac right to the front (just the sewing of the strips is your quilting). For binding, just cut 2 1/2 inch strips, iron them in half and sew them around the edges-- since this quilt is designed to fray it is SUPER EASY!! A great beginner project!! My sister-in-law Rebekah made two just like it out of Americana fabric-- they were adorable and fast. The first time you wash them you end up with a mess of strings, but after the second washing they are fine!! Anyway, so fun... every baby quilt i make may end up with frayed binding. :)

first day of school skirts...

My girls decided that they wanted something new to wear on the first day of school... so, we browsed through my fabric and came up with these lovely creations... i copied some skirts i saw on this website- here -- honestly, hers are still cuter (and, i love the quilt she made). i just measured the girls and cut rectangles of fabric-- smaller for the top and gathered for the bottom-- with an elastic waist. EASY!! I did have to alter them a few times, I tend to make them too big and had to keep cutting them smaller. Ellie cried because she wanted to wear her skirt again on the second day of school... they LOVE that the skirts are long. And, as i've told you before, my girls would wear a skirt everyday of their lives...

words of wisdom:: 1 Enzio Busche

Todd and I are reading the book, Yearning for the Living God, by F. Enzio Busche. My sister-in-law, Lanette, let me read a copy of a speech by the same man entitled, Unleashing the Dormant Spirit. I keep trying to quote him to other people so i thought i'd just post them... the whole talk is amazing (if you click on the title it should link to it)... here are a few of my favorite words of wisdom-- -The pain of sacrifice lasts only one moment. It is the fear of the pain of sacrifice that makes you hesitate to do it. -When you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that as you are learning this lesson, God wants to give you something better. -Never judge anyone. When you accept this, you will be freed. In the case of your own children or subordinates, where you have the responsibility to judge, help them to become their own judges. -First and foremost, you are a spirit child of God. If you neglect to feed your spirit, you will reap unhappiness. Don't permit anything to detract you from this awareness. -When you are physically sick, tired, or in despair, steer your thoughts away from yourself and direct them, in gratitude and love toward God. these are all sooo true...

Lanette told me my mother-in-law's saying,

"Life by the inch is a cinch, but life by the yard is hard."

Thanks Net for the words of wisdom for this week...

I think I'll take my life one inch at a time...

Back to School!!!

What a LOVELY morning!!

I'm definitely a pro-school momma...

Everyone is dressed, fed and happy and it is only 7:20 am...

Is it bad that i don't cry when Ellie starts Kindergarten?

Ellie with Mrs. Hagood, Kindergarten

Anna with Ms. Teague, 1st grade Drew with Mrs. Dennis, 3rd Grade Jakob with Ms. Alexander, 4th grade

lotsa cousins...

waterpark anyone?

on the road again...

yeah... we're off to the land of the potato... good ole' Idaho. i think it's a 24 hour drive... with potty breaks and sanity stops and that's just cause I'm 8 1/2 months pregnant... the kids should be fine... we once got pulled over for speeding... all five of the kids were screaming... the cop just smiled and said, "thanks for keeping them in their carseats, be careful..." no ticket!! honestly, i think he just didn't want to hear all the racket while he wrote the ticket out...

oh, i have come to appreciate Emma's courage in deciding NOt to head west...

i LOVE road trips!!! I LOVE road trips... I LOVE road trips...

a tech quilt for todd (and brobergs)...

I sewed two of these quilts, one for us and one for good friends of ours, the Brobergs, who are moving to Kansas next week... i had to be careful what i posted about the quilt cause i was afraid that they might see my blog... anyway, we just had our "till we meet again" dinner and gave them the quilt... i wanted to get a picture with them holding the quilt, but i forgot... oh well... it's cute, but still red and black...

it's sad saying goodbye, but i'm so glad to know that someday we may be finishing this program, we may be moving and we might actually get a paycheck bigger than the debt we aquire each month...

GUNS UP!! GO RED RAIDERS!!

NOTE- I originally ended my post with Go Raiders!! Todd explained that i needed to add, the Guns Up and Go RED raiders to be accurate...

i'm NOT sewing a dallas cowboy quilt next, don't worry...

joy cometh in the morning...

NO-- I DIDN'T GO INTO LABOR YET...

Just remembering back...

Sorry, i'm off to another day of blood transfusions...
honestly- they aren't that bad, but it always helps for me to infuse my brain with adorable memories before i head out...
soooo sweet! this is leah... her birth was difficult... we had just moved to Lubbock, she was emergency c-section, and she had to stay in NICU for a week...

but look how sweet... it was worth it!!

Can you believe that i'm going to have a sweet baby again soon???!!!

Today i like the names Lucy Kate, Sophia Rose or Ava Grace...

oh, i can hardly wait...