So stinkin' frustrating!!

It is so frustrating to be told that you are going to have to wait. ---Did I mention, that patience isn't really a strong virtue for me?? Well, it isn't. SHOCKER!!! I KNOW!!! Asche is still going to have to go to Primary Children's hospital. I don't want to drive all the way to Salt Lake, and get to know my way around there and then have to figure out if we are going to have to go back or if we are going to have to have a procedure done so they can figure out what is wrong with my little boy. It is devastating for me to have to go through this. I hate waiting around for answers from doctors. Why does the medical profession believe they don't have to have customer service? Don't they remember they WANTED people to call them with their problems? They WANTED to be woke up in the middle of the night by a panicked mother who has just now decided that the problem can no longer be ignored? They were the ones who thought that becoming a medical practitioner meant they were serving a greater good--or was it all really because of the fatty paycheck they would get at the end of the night to deposit in their bank account?

I made an appointment for Asche today to take him in for a 2nd opinion from Ken's doctor. I told the receptionist that I needed to get him in and that I was looking for a 2nd opinion. I didn't think about the fact that about 6 months ago Ken had taken him in to see this doc. It came up that he would be a new patient. This woman's tone totally changed. "Let me go and talk with my office manager and SEE IF we can take another NEW patient--click. No can you hold so I can see if we are still accepting new patients, just one moment while I check into something...nothing just the rudeness then silence. Then when this woman came back on the phone she said well, I have a 2:15 available. Ken wasn't going to be off till later, and really I needed him to take in Asche so I don't have to miss work if at all possible. I asked her if she had anything just a little later...No, (she spit out at me) for a NEW patient I have a 2:15. This was in the snottiest tone possible I have ever heard. So, because this is what my husband wanted, I figured that I would just talk to my boss and take in Asche.
The dialogue went a little like this:

Snot: "what is your child's last name?"
Jensen, with and E.
and the first name?
Asche...A-s-c-h-e.
Birthday?
8-11-xxxx
oh, well, I think we might have already seen your son in here before..
That is right, I forgot, I think my husband may have brought him in before. Since he isn't a new patient do you have a later appointment available.

HUUGGGGHHHHHH, well, I suppose we could squeeze you in around 3:45, is that late enuf?

Actually, that would be perfect.
Fine, then I guess we will see you then.
I had a few more questions for this snotty receptionist so I didn't just let her hang up.
I was wondering since I am looking for a second opinion would Dr. need to have me send over what Asche's pediatrician has already done.
Does your son have M e d i c a i d ?? (cuz apparently, according to my sister who has worked at a medical office, you are less of a person if you have Medicaid as your insurance. In the medical world..scum ranks above you here).
No, he doesn't. Same insurance as my husbands, but flopped, my insurance is primary for Asche.
Then NO, he doesn't need anything else from your doctor.

Shouldn't this witch be flattered that I thought to seek the opinion of the doctor she works for as a second before seeing a specialist all the way to Salt Lake City? Doesn't she realize when she is billing both of my insurance companies and then sending me a bill that I am ensuring that in this crappy economy that she is secured a job for another day?

I called Ken fuming. I told him that he had better say something to the Cow at the desk about the way she treated me. Lest she forget, answering the stupid phone is in her job description and courtesy is something that people extend to one another even when you day is crappy. At work, you put on your happy face and fake it for the customers. I decided that I was for sure going with Ken to this appointment. We told the doctor. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I am fed up with being treated like crap. If I did that to my members at my job, I would be out of job.

Thanksgiving Dinner

My Thanksgiving party. Mom was hurrying to sit down.

We extended from the counter all the way out to the middle of the family room.

This is my centerpeice. I can keep it on my table all year since it is in the colors of my kitchen/dining room/living room.

The pre-party look. I was sooo happy with this table. It looked sooo good. I love it.

This year I am thankful for my family, my kids that teach me more and more each day about how to be a better person. I am thankful for my husband who puts up with me even tho I know I am difficult to live with some days (I know, hard to imagine haha). I am thankful that I have a beautiful home that gives us all the space we need without us being so spread out we forget that we need to come together on the important stuff. I am thankful for my job. It is crazy sometimes and sometimes I feel burnt out, but really, most days I don't mind going to work. I like the people I work with and hope that they know I do appreciate their efforts. I am thankful for the church and for Jesus. Without Him none of this matters and without Him none of us will return to live with our Heavenly Father.

Another baby, thank heavens it isn't mine.

I am so excited. My sister is going to have a baby. The baby is due July 6th (we might get a 4th of July baby!!). The crazy thing is that I have been panicked thinking that I was prego. I couldn't get the thoughts out of my head that I was going to have a baby and I couldnt figure out how to break the news to my husband. I just knew that he was going to be upset--we don't want to have another baby. I even took a pregnancy test. Turns out it is Candice, not me. No wonder I was thinking it. She and I so close that we should be in snyc with that sort of stuff. I hope that she has a girl. She needs to have a girl. Kaitlyn needs a sister.

The amazing power of Thank You

My Olivia is one amazing kid. When she was a newborn we had her blessed (like a Christening for those who aren't LDS). Ken was the one to bless her which is another amazing story in itself. One line from that blessing that stands out in my mind is she was promised by her Heavenly Father that she was here to touch the lives around her. She would be enriched in her life by others and that she would enrich the lives of others. All of this promised to one amazing little spirit who choose to come to earth and live with our family.

Now the reason for all this background is that I have seen this promised fulfilled over and over in her life. the most recent time is when we went to parent teacher conferences. Olivia's teacher Mrs. Martineau said that Olivia was a very sweet, kind, loving little girl (which we already knew about her). She said she had a story about Olivia she wanted to share with us. She said that every time she would give Olivia a peice of paper, or a sticker for her homework, or read a story to the class Olivia would say Thank You. every single time, with amazing consistency for a 6 1/2 year old kid. Well, this started having an effect on the other little ones sitting next to her. They would start to say thanks for Mrs. Martineau reading, or handing out homework, etc. Then this started to spread. Now the class says thank you to her all day long. They are working on Rachel's Challenge (you have to google this if you need more info...I don't have room here to talk about it) and working on making little changes and creating a chain of events that create more goodness in the world. Mrs. Matineau said that Olivia has created the chain of event that has led to happiness and harmony in their class. She told us that she has never had a class that did this. She had never recieved so much gratitude from a single child before. Mrs. Martineau was telling the class how much she appreciated their outstanding manners and two little boys raised their hands and said..."Olivia taught us how!"

As her mother I am moved emotionally by this child. I think she is amazing. She is little and has created this big change in the lives of those around . How could you not love this kid? She was sent to our family and she is here to teach others to love and how to be loved. Kindness is a way to do that. Maybe we all need to say thank you more and more and for even the little things that we don't necessarily think we need to (who says thanks for getting another assignment to do or when we get to do another chore??) Gratitude is great!

Asche's one year pics

Isn't he the cutest freaking baby!!!!

Our new house!

This is the house we put an offer on. I had posted earlier that we were going to put an offer on a differnt house, but it worked out that this one was the right one. It is completely finished, 7--that's right S-E-V-E-N bedrooms, 3 and a half bathrooms, sits on a half of an acre, has the triple car garage. I am totally beside myself excited about moving in. The move in is in just a few weeks (3 actually). We have a ton of work to do to be ready to move. This is the part of this process I have been dreading. There is a big huge garden that has been tended to lovingly and I can't wait to reap the benefits of the garden if they dont till it up, which I don't think they will do, but I am going to do some major canning if I can. I will post more later.

They came too early Mom

The Young Women came this morning to kidnap Nataushia to take her to breakfast and welcome her to Young Women's. She gets to go to Beehives this Sunday. (sob, sob, whimper, whimper). Sending your oldest to Young Women's is a lot like sending her to kindergarten. On one side you are really excited they are moving on to this phase of life and then other side of you says "WAIT JUST A MINUTE...I NEED ANOTHER HUG FROM MY BABY!" It didn't help that Ken was crying too. Taushi was not really all that excited to be woke up. She had been up late tending the kids while we went to Harry Potter and then they came around 8:00 this morning. Taushi ending up crying cuz she was tired and then I got her up and sent her to the bathroom to brush her teeth. I talked to her about the fact that this is supposed to be fun and that this is a new phase in life that she will really love if she just gives herself over to it. She calmed down enough to go and enjoy. She had a ton of fun and after it was over was glad she went. I am so glad they came. I hope they are loving and kind to her on this new journey in life.

The perks of being the 5th kid.

Asche loves marshmallows--especially melted ones that have butter added. Because he is the 5th child I willingly and willfully handed him the spatula and said to him "Enjoy, baby!"and enjoy it he did. He had the spatula licked clean.

He is just loving it...he keeps chanting mmmmm...mmmm...momomomom....nmmmmm

How can you not love that cute little face!!??

The home we are putting an offer on.

We are going to do it. We are going to place an offer on this home. I think it is going to be a great fit for us. We are super excited. We are asking them to finish the fence, put in a sprinkler system, and pay our closing costs. We went over asking price so I hope that in this market it will be a good offer. The house has been on the market for a while, but it will be a great fit for us. Right now it only has 3 bedrooms, but the basement has 3 more sheetrocked and ready for finishing. There is another full bathroom down (2 up) and a HUGE HUGE HUGE storage room. There is also a large family room downstairs. It is on a cul-de-sac, in a great neighborhood, close to our church. Keneisha likes it because it is very close to 4 horses, Ken likes it because it is close to the airport, I like it because of the cul-de-sac. The kitchen has granite counters, tile floors, and a pantry. I hope they just take our offer. We will see.

I yuv dat song.

For those of you who know Brennady know that she has the sweetest personality. She is the cutest kid and is so sincere in all she does. She also has speech issues. She is not intelligable most of the time. Therapy is helping but the progress is slow. I was talking on the phone with Candice and was making the comment that no one had done something (I can't remember what it is, the Not-Me Monster has a room in the back at our house). Anyway, I said it in the sing-song sound of "who stole the cookies from the cookie jar" when Brennady happened to mosey into the room at that time. She sat down and said to me, ohhh, I Yuv (translates to love) dat song! It struck me hilarous. I am still laughing about it.

Does someone have a brown paper bag...I may throw up.

WE DID IT!!! WE LISTED THE HOUSE. (reminding myself to breathe...breathe in, breathe in, breathe in,...no wait, it is supposed to be breathe in, breathe out, breathe in--I need that bag people!) We listed the house. There is a sign in the yard, a lock box on the door and the papers are signed. We will be in the MLS Monday. (breathe in, breathe out, breathe in). I know this is the right decision for our family, but there are so many questions and unknowns when you put your house on the market. What if they don't like the house, (breathe in) what if we sell the house really fast (breathe out) what if we don't sell the house like we need to (breathe in) what if interest rates skyrocket and we can't afford the new house now (breathe out). I had so much anxeity on the way home from work tonight. It made me feel physically ill. I couldn't even eat. We decided to give us the best spot on the market we would list at 119, 900.

If you know someone that is looking for a good first time home buyer home, with a few extras, send them our way. They can use the 8000 tax credit on this house. We want to sell. We are going to get the building started on our new home.

Updates on the house progress

We have made many many many updates to our home. This is our sunroom. I turned it into a library/sewubg area. The rug in there is a scrap of carpeting left over from when we updated the carpeting.

Asche decided that this rug was put on the floor specifically for him to move around.

The little girls' room. Are they not just the cutest when they are sleeping.

Our front room. I got new lamps, new to us chairs, and rearranged the furniture.

The new painted dining room. It is a soft creamy buttery yellow color.

Our updated family room. I am accenting in grey-blue and sea glass green. The pillows are not for laying on and the blanket on the chair is to die for soft.

Moving the rug.

The older two and the baby's room. Instead of messing up the bed they sleep on it and then just throw their stuff back on it in the morning.

Another picture of the front room. This wall divides the living room from the hallway and bedrooms.

Moving the rug again.

This is where the rug really belongs. But Asche has other design ideas in mind for it.

Since we moved the room this way it looks so much bigger.

Getting closer

We are getting closer to being ready to list the house. This has been a challenge with 5 little friends who are working steadily behind me undoing the work that has been done. We have painted until our shoulder's ache and I have a tension headache in my neck from using my dominate arm to paint. Also, there is about 1200 square feet of brand spankin' new carpet. This went in all three bedrooms, down the hall, in the living room, in the family room, and all the closets. One would think this is what you would normally do, but evidently the previous owner missed that memo. There was a different carpet in every room, the hallway and the living room was the same but the carpet in the hall closets was different. There was a different carpeting in the TV room, but it did match the sun room which has a dark green marble-looking tile in it. I am excited about our new carpet. The flow of the home is so much more smooth now and I hope that our future buyer loves it as much as we do. Now we just have to finish staging. I will update with pics as we get done with the rooms.

My favorite pal

There is nothing like a father son relationship. They can do things that mothers and daughters just don't do. There is all kind of bonding to be done. Physical labor, belching, farting, camping, fishing, and just working side by side. This all starts at a very early age. Ken was replacing some drawers in the kitchen and Asche was very interested in what he was doing. He kept squirming his way in under Ken's arm and peering into the drawer. He was soo much help!


All I could think of was the Primary song "My Dad." The first lines are:

My Daddy is my favorite pal and I help him every day. It's plain to see I want to be like him in every way.

He thinks he is so smart sitting there with him! Look at that smile! I love this kid.

The "n"th degree

My painting fiasco went from a great big freaking mess in our front room to a stinky smelly wet mess. We were all done with the rooms. Walls painted, touch ups fixed, trim painted, closet painted, everything. All that was left to put my house back in order was to finish sorting through the things in the front room and put back what needed put back and DI the rest of it. We decided that we would put the baby's crib in the front bedroom. It is arranged so that it won't look cramped in there and it gets it out of our bedroom, which really doesn't have room for it in there. We had to move the fish tank. This is not a cute little bowl that sits on the counter. This is a serious tank. 30 Gallons of water fit in this tank. We have a plectosmus that is about a foot long and then another fish named Dinner. It is a white fish, honestly I don't know what kind and don't care to know. I feed it each night and that is all that matters. These two fish live in the tank in the older girls' room and the light serves as a night light and white noise for them (the filter runs and makes a low toned even sound all night). We had to move this tank from it's current place on the far wall to the back wall so we can fit the older two's bed and the baby's crib. Instead of emptying the tank to a managable weight, Ken decided that he was Superman (a complex he has had since before we met) and that he could just move it--stand and all. In the process of moving it we hear a pop and the stand didn't sit like it was supposed to. It was leaning to one side. Sure enough, we had broken one of the welds. This was not something we were going to ignore so we went to Wal-Mart and got another stand so we could transfer the tank to it. We got home and again, instead of emptying the tank to a manageable weight he just tried to move it. The last weld gave way and the tank slid to one side and the castle that was in the tank crashed into the glass and broke the tank. We immediately had fish, plecostomus, rocks, castle, broken glass, filter, and 30 GALLONS OF SMELLY STINKY FISH-POOPY WATER ALL OVER THE CARPET!!!! We were able to save the fish (dang it anyway) and I went back to Wal-Mart for a 10 Gallon tank to house our fish. The problem now is how do we get the water up. We do have a shop vac and were able to get the rocks, glass, and a lot of the water sucked up. I couldn't get all the water. The carpet was still soaking wet. I made another trip to Wal-Mart to get a fan so we could try and dry the carpet so we didn't have to add moldy mildew smell to our odorifis concoction we already have. We had already planned on replacing the carpet in the bedroom and front room, but now we get to do it sooner rather than later. Thank heavens for 0% financing and hopefully we will just have to pay it off with the proceeds from the sale of our home.

Painting fiasco

We have made the exciting decision that it is time for us to move. We need a bigger house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 5 girls, and 2 boys = grown out of our space. In order to be ready to move however we have some deferred maintenence we need to catch up on. Project one: Paint. This 5 letter word doesn't seem like it would be much. It only takes up a little room on the page. The theory behind it is simple. Go pick the color, tell the guy behind the counter to mix it up, bring it home and apply it to the walls.

THIS IS A LIE! PAINT IS WAY MORE WORK THAN THAT! First you have to argue for at least 20 minutes in Lowe's (in front of some poor blue jacket wearing sap that really just wants you to make a freaking decision because he really just wants you to go away so he can go outside for a smoke) about which shade of brown you think is appropriate to be putting on the walls. Did you know there is about 400,000 shades of brown? Some are more green, some more orange, others red. So, we have the argument with Nataushia and Keneisha just dying that we are fighting in a public and settle on Balsam Beige. This is not too dark, not too light. We ask the guy to mix this up. 2 gallons should be enough to do the rooms.

Ready, set, paint. Whistle blows in the backgroung. Ref calls a flag on the play. False start. 10 yard penalty. First you have to clear everything out of the room. Did you think so much stuff could be stuffed into one little room.

I can't believe they have this much junk. They need to get rid of half of that! Now that we have emptied the room of it's contents it is time to paint right? Wrong!! You have to tape it off. Every square inch you don't to have painted must be covered up with tape. This takes about and hour when you are working fast. When you have a 6 year old, 4 year old, and a 9 month old this process is extended to about 2 hours. It really isn't the taping that takes forever it is the interuptions that take forever. It sounds a little like this: The 6 year old is hungry. Can you please get me something to eat Mommy? Yeah me too Mom says teh 4 year old. Sure I would love to get you something, what do you want. I want a peice of cheese, a BIG one please. Ok, sure, simple enough. Slice the cheese, two happy people. Back to taping. Ah Wahhhhh! guess who else is hungry. Fix the bottle and ask the 6 year old to feed him. (one perk of having older kids). Back to taping. Mom, I think Asche is poopy, I don't want to feed him anymore, he stinks. OK, just sec, let me finish this wall and I will change him. Baby changed. Please quit fighting over the Halloween clothes. Yes it is fine, Keneisha if they dress up.

I eventually got the taping done. The little two girls wanted to help, so I armed them with a little paint can and a brush and told them they could do no wrong in the closet, please just stay in the tape lines. They did a good job, minimal drips, and I think I lost square footage in the closet, but they had a great time. Brennady moved on to dress up and wore the witch outfit the rest of the day, even to Wal-mart and Broulims. Ken told people she had just dressed up to look like me. ha ha very funny.

The painting starts next. This is arm breaking labor. It took two coats to completely cover up the yellow paint that I had on the wall before. But overall it looks pretty good. I am excited about it being done. I still have to put one more coat on the older girls' walls but I will get that done tomorrow. I will post the pictures tomorrow, that is if my arms work anymore. (Does anyone know where the icy hot is?)

One and a half

One day when I was watching my sister's son, Logan, he was mad at me and was going thru a list of things he didn't like about me. He said, "I no like your house. I no like your hair, I no like your curtains, I NO like your truck!" He was about 2 1/2 when he was telling me this. He is such a smart aleck but cute as all get out. He has the biggest blue eyes that just glimmer when he is being a turkey.

So, when my sister texted me tonight and said that Logan said that Kaitlyn was the second cutest baby and asked me to guess who was the first cutest. I texted her back and said that it was him. She texted back and said that no, Logan said that Asche was the first cutest then Kaitlyn. I told her to tell him that I forgave him for not liking my curtains. She said that she told him that Kaitlyn was first then Asche was second. He told her Fine, they are both one and half. I can settle for that (really, Logan was right the first time. Asche is first cutest).

Outnumbered and looking for a plan.

www.simplemom.net/spring-cleaning-day-one I am going to follow this. I have a 3 day weekend coming up and I am going to get a jump start on this. I really do want to have a clean home--I also sincerely believe that I am the only one that wants this. Ken claims to want this but I don't know that he knows how to. My kids are mess making machines. I can get one room done and turn around and they have messed up everything again. I admit, I am not perfect at putting away all my stuff but really if you were to count what was not in its place you would see that I am a small offender.

I tell people that I secretly look forward to the day that I live all alone--no kids, no husband, no pets. I know that I will be able to have a clean home--everything has a place and everything in its place. We just need to be able to let go of this stuff. Ken had a rough childhood. He constantly felt deprived of the simple things and so now he over compensates by never letting go of things and hauling tons more of it home. If everyone would go away for a week and let me be I could make amazing progress in the house and no one would be able to tell me exactly what I had gotten rid of. There is that much stuff just hanging around.

I will update as my progress goes, and hopefully remember to take the pictures like it says too. Then when I call my realtor in a week to list my house, I will be ready for strangers to come in and look at it and hopefully make an offer. I want to build a new home (that way we can fill it up and I will still be outnumbered. AHHHH Well, who said life is fair)

Finally!!!

For the past 3 nights Asche slept basically through the night (meaning I didn't have to do anything other than get up and soothe him a little) AND he slept in his OWN crib. It has been amazing!! Ken and I actually get to sleep in the same bed together with no little body between us (and you can't count Rose, she is like a teddy bear with a bad temper). It has been about 6 years since Ken and I have slept together. We have had a few nights here and there, but as a rule, one of us has been relagated to the couch. I hope he makes a habit out of it.

Now, that being said---I miss the feel of my baby next to me. I loved snuggling in with him, tucking his body in next to mine. Feeling his body heat, smelling his hair, listening to him breathe. It is sooooo short of a time that I can do that with my babies and I wasn't quite ready to let it go even if I was desparate for a full night's rest. Sometimes being a mom just sucks. On one hand you are thrilled that your little one has learned a new skill, has found a new way, has grown and is so pleased with themselves that they squeal their delight when they do their new found ability. The other hand says, WAIT, I AM NOT READY FOR YOU TO DO THAT!!!! I needed about 15 more minutes with him cuz I think I only got 15 minutes with him tiny.

Out of the mouths of babes.

Kids say crazy things. Mine have all kinds of quips that they come up with. Keneisha has told me one day something we all want to say outloud to our mother's. She looked at me and said sometimes, when I am mad at you, I call you a witch. Not the kind with a green face and a wart on your nose. Evidently there are other kinds of witches, but I think we all know what kind of witch she means. No offense Mom, I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings.

Hurt my feelings, heavens NO!! Why would that hurt my feelings. I think that she just said the thing we have all wanted to say. Now whenever I am the meanest mother of the year and talking with Candice she whispers to me, Sometimes, when I am mad at you, I call you a witch. And we both just chuckle and laugh like crazy.


Next...
When we were getting ready for school and work a couple mornings ago Brennady came to me and said she was hon-dree (translates to hungry). I said well then go and get a banana or a yogurt. She said no, I wanno piece o'meat. She is a meat-a-tarian, it's a choice, but she is willing to commit.


Next...
Taushi is 11 going on 21. She is turning into a full blown teenager and loves to inform me that I am ruining her life. What she doesn't realize if I am ruining her life, I am doing my job. I hope I hear it more and more and more


Next...
Olivia is always full of crazy things to say. How to narrow it down with her is like trying to choose between Dove dark chocolate and Dove milk chocolate. Really, either way, you are a winner. The chocolate is amazing and you are a winner either way. I have to think about it and I will get back to you on her.


I got it--Olivia came out dressed for school in a pair of pants that have an applique of Cinderella on them. They are to die for cute pants and some of her favorites. However, they have holes in the knees. Ken told her she would need to change her pants. She said to him "Aw c'mon Dad. Kids at my school are jealous!" Well, when you put it that way....what can you say. you have to let her wear them---NOT!!! Dad's are suckers for pretty faces and cute sayings.

My millions in the making

This wipe case is going to be the key to my (and my sister's) millions. This is a wipe case that is covered with cute fabric and then we added a pouch that you can hold two diapers (probably 3 of the newborn or 1's). The strap is adjustable so it stays snug when you use one diaper. Of course the cutest part of the case is the logo. We can custom make these to match your preferences. Just contact me here or at cradleme08@gmail.com.

Holy socks?

I love that little girls play with dolls, everything is pink. Olivia tells me she loves pretending to be a ballet-er. I love that my little girls will comb my hair when I am trying to nap (sometimes they even cut it with real scissors but that is another story). I love that we own more pink than just about anyone on the block. I think girls are marvelous. I know I am raising 4 of my best friends.

That said I love that I have a boy and how different they are. I love that he is more physical and just rougher in his lovin's with me. I think that he is an amazing little being. I have proof there are some other fundamental differences between boys and girls. Boys are more interested in how stuff works. Asche is always looking at things and turnin them over in his hands. He just needs to know it all goes together. He is harder on stuff too. Look at these cute little baby toes sticking out the hole in his sock. How does one get a hole in a baby sock? I am not sure.

I know it looks like I have death grip on his foot, but have you ever tried to snap a picture of a wiggly baby who believes that kicking feet is the best? No babies were harmed in the taking of these photos (and no extra holes either).

How to make a boy fit in with 4 girls

This blanket is one I made especially for Asche. He gets to room with 2 girls so I was trying to think of something that would be really boy, really baby, and still work with 2 girls, one older and one younger. He was going to go in with Keneisha (the horse fan) and Brennady originally. We have since changed around the room arrangements but he will still be in with 2 girls eventually. I wanted to do pink and brown and blue and brown since that is so in style right now. The cowboy blanket was a perfect fit for everyone. I could make his all baby, blue, brown, and definitely boy and still make the girls' all girl and pink and brown and everything would go together.

This Pic is the horseshoe that I quilted in the blanket instead of doing boring straight lines to hold it all together.

The backing is flannel and so soft. I sashed it in dark navy blue flannel. The squares are all random fabrics. I think I counted 21 different fabrics for this. My mom did the appliques and embroideries (this was before I owned one of those kinds of toys hehe).

The front: The middle is all the cute mis-matched squares then the sashing is in the softest minkee like fabric that has little stars pressed into it (you can see a little of the fabric in the pic above and if you look close you can see the stars there too). Then I picked a square for the corners and edged it in decorator cording (like the stuff you put on draperies) so it would look like rope around the edge. I love it. Honestly it is my favorite quilt I have ever made.

The girls' quilt is really similar (and not finished since I didn't get them done before the baby, but I will finish them, in time.) Their quilts have pink in them and most of the same squares you see here. I am backing theirs in a fleece so I can use a thinner batting, if any, so it will be more comfy for them to use but still warm.

Constructive Criticism

So, after some helpful and welcome constructive criticism that I needed to include some pictures of the things I have made I took it to heart and did just that (thanks Heather, you always know what is best for gander even when the goose doesn't see it). I made the car seat cover and the canopy for the car seat here.

This is a pacifier case that goes great with the bag that follows. The inside is lined with pink and white polka dot fabric.
This cute bag is fun and roomy. I have lined it with the same fabric that is on the wipe cover and handles. This bag is great when you want something cute and different than everyone else out there and it really could double as a fun purse when baby has outgrown the need for diaper bags. The black courdory is nice sized pockets that can hold all the the little things momma needs at immediate reach--bottles, drops, socks, whatever you put in there.

I can make lots of other things too, I just haven't posted them today. I will as time goes on.