Feeling patriotic!

      So this is a post that is a little late-it all started the week before I was scheduled to be induced; I started working on a few patriotic decorations around the house. I wanted a few things to put out in the house that would celebrate Memorial Day and I could leave out until 4th of July (since I can't see myself having lots of time to put out decorations with this little one around the house as well).  I wasn't scheuled to work any more on a regular basis but I was going in and working half days and then came home in the afternoons to rest. However, I was feeling pretty good and most days I would get restless and anxious walking around the empty house. So I got a few little projects done.
   I went to Michael's and walked around until I got a little inspiration and that led to a trip to the fabric store next! I started by working on a "wreath" made from fabric scraps that I got from the bargin bin at the fabric store. For anyone who hasn't made one of these before-it is so EASY and it's  the type of project where eveything doesn't have to be perfect...my type of project!

 I started with this 12 inch empty wire wreath from Micheal's (it was only $2.94!) Then I needed to get my fabric ready...

I had five different fabrics and I cut them into peices that were between 9 and 10 1/2 inches long and about 2 1/2 inches wide.  In total I think I purchashed about 3 yards of fabric. I think its important to think about the patterns on the fabric you pick out. If you have too many patterns going on, it will look just like a bunch of messy fabric. I had two patterns and then three solid colors and I think it was well balanced.

This was the fun part! All you have to do now is tie the fabric on the wire randomally. It's a totally mindless task that I did while we watched a movie one evening. It is time consuming though, almost two hours of tieing knots!

 The back of the wreath needs to look like this, so that all of your fabric is turned toward the front.

 This isn't the greatest picture of the finished project, but it gves you an idea :-)


Lastly, I picked up some scrapbooking paper and wooden letters at Micheal's. After a little cutting and some modge podge....viola!

So there you have it...my patriotic spurt complete! Hope everyone has a great week!

Harper Elaine

The last week and a half have brought so many changes in our household! On Wednesday June 6th, I went  in to be induced with our first baby. I was exactly one week past my due date and feeling great! I thought maybe I was having really mild contractions throughout the week, but continued to feel good. Although the induction was long and much more uncomfortable than I anticipated, it was all worth it in in the end when our little girl was born at 12:10pm on June 7th. She was 8lbs 1 oz and 21.5 inches long. I had amazing support from my husband, my mom, our doctor, and the nurses at the hospital-definently couldn't have done it without them..

We have been home for a week and although there is still no routine, we are all adjusting pretty well and learning to function as a family! I can't believe this little girl wasn't in our lives ten days ago because she has fit in so perfectly.

Her dad was even in a wedding this past weekend and Harper was a great party guest.  

Now that I am off of work for the summer, I hope to get to know this little girl even better and also hope to have the time and engery to make some changes around our house that I have been wanting to tackle for some time.

Thrifty Finds!!!

Last week I stopped by our local Goodwill on Thursday (Thursdays are 50% off all infant and toddler toys and clothing). I was thrilled with my findings for our little girl-it was a good trip! (sorry about the reciept being upside down, I couldn't figure out for the LIFE of me how to make it right!!!)

Four items in great condition! The pumpkin on the butt is my favorite though :-)

Grand total: $5.45-thank you ma'am!

In other news...I am now 36 weeks pregnant! Starting next week, my baby will be considered term so she can offically come any day. We are still putting the finishing touches on the nursery, but are feeling fortunate for how great this pregnancy has gone and we are anxious to meeet this baby girl :-)

April Showers...bring a May baby?

Last weekend my husband and I were blessed to truly be "showered" by good-wishes and gifts from family and friends. It started on Friday with my amazing co-workers over our noon hour. Our work has had a lot going on with people getting married, having babies, retiring, graduating, etc-yet they found time and energy to put on a great shower for myself and baby Harper. They even went with our owl theme and served pink owl cupcakes!!

Saturday morning, I woke up early and intended on heading to my mom's house to help her prepare for a birthday gathering for my cousins. My husband however was doing an excellent job of distracting me by making my favorite breakfast, scrambled eggs! Then my mother called and gave me the task of picking up a last minute cake, so I didn't make it until almost 11am, a hour later than I intended.  I was kind of stressed and mad that I was late, but my mood quickly changed when I walked into a surprise shower from my family! Again, they ran with the owl theme..

We spent a fun afternoon playing shower games that my aunts and Grandma had worked on coordinating. I am not usually a fan of games, however these were a blast! Espeically when my teenage boy cousins got involved in them!

Sunday came and I had one more April shower! My friends Lindsie and Amy had coordinated an amazing shower totally through email and having never met each other! We gathered for desserts and more owls!

It was a great afternoon with friends! Harper got lots of books so she has a more complete library. I came home and tried reading some of the books, but found myself sitting on the floor of Harper's nursery crying :-) I love children's books!


I can't thank all my friends and family enough for helping us celebrate our little girl. We can't wait for everyone to meet her soon! Stay tuned for nursery pictures and some thrift store finds :-)

From Old to New...

So today I am 32 weeks pregnant!  The excitment of the new baby is really kicking in for me as we finish preparations for her. I can't say that nesting as completely kicked in, but I do find myself engrossed in little projects around the house and trying to stay on top of things at work, so I think that is my way of "nesting."
    One of my new found "loves" is thrift stores and garage sales. I have an aunt who has been going to thrift stores and sales for years but I never really got into it myself. This winter though I found myself at Saver's one day looking for some baskets to use for a fundraiser. About a hour later I was walking out with all sorts of fun finds! I now have hit all the major thrift stores in Rochester and even know their sale schedule so I have specific days I go to certain stores. I am also hoping to take full advantage of garage sales this summer, espeically since I will be on maternity leave!
   Recently, I was in Saver's and happened upon a baker's stand in the furniture section. They had a $12.99 price on it, but I had a 25% off coupon, so I decided to take this darling little peice home for the hefty price of $9.98....

Now, once I got it home and unloaded into the garage, I wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. I hated the white color so that needed to be changed and I wasn't so sure about the grapes at the top. So  left it for a week until I was walking through Hobby Lobby and they had a sale on spray paint for $2.50/bottle. I found some chocolate brown spray pain, found matching stain, and went home in a hurry!!!
   Once I got home however, I realized that I was not suppose to be around paint or stain during pregnancy. So I preped the baker's stand and gave very specific directions to my darling husband...

I will spare you the details, but it did take twice as much spray paint as I had anticipated and the stain was kind of a disaster. However, the entire project cost me less than $35 and I am pretty happy with the end result:

I'm still looking for little items to add to the shelves, so I'm hoping my next thrift store/garage sale adventure turns up some more fun finds!

Is It a Boy or Girl?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I hosted a little get together with our family and friends. Earlier that week we had our "offical" ultrasound to see little baby Hesby and ensure everything was going well. It was by far the most exciting day of this pregnancy. Not only did we get to see the baby, but the ultrasound tech was amazing and we were able to see the baby's brain, the spinal cord, the heart, and lots of little bones that are growing fast! We were able to take a big sigh of relief as we were told everything was in the right place and looked great!
     Then our tech checked for the sex of the baby, and placed the results in an envelope. I took this envelope to Hy-Vee Barlows bakery where they made cupcakes for us. These were vanilla cupcakes with green frosting and a very special filling.

Once everyone was there, we passed out the cupcakes and everyone bit into the cupcakes at the same time. Now, I was preparing myself to act surprised as I had been pretty sure that while we were in the ultrasound, I had seen some "boy parts" but I didn't want anyone to know. My husband has also been convinced this entire pregnancy that we were having a little boy, so I was ready for the blue filling!

 So here we go!! My husband, myself, my mom, and my husband's parents all stood together....

And we all got a HUGE surprise! Its a GIRL!!!!

It was such a fun night with friends and family to celebrate this little girl coming into the world this Spring. Thank you to Hy-Vee bakery for working with me on this little project and a HUGE thank you to Stacy Epps for coming over and taking pictures so we could have somethig to show our little girl when we tell her about the night we all ate pink cupcakes!

Missing in Action

So, my motivation for blogging as really been missing in action lately. Not because I don't enjoy it, but because I have been a little busy getting ready for the holidays. We only have three family events to attend, with very little travel, so that isn't stressful, thankfully! However, it never fails that no matter how organized I was the previous year, I never seem to find all my decorations or they don't fit in the same place that I thought they did last year!

I have several "projects" that are in the making right now, so I will post those as soon as they are complete. But in the meantime, while I was finishing up winter semester in school, we also found out the most exciting news: we are having a baby!

I find that I use the baby as en excuse for a lot of things: " The baby is craving a long-john so I need to have one" or " The baby is tired, so I think I will lie down instead of folding laundry"

I have to admit though that in the second trimester I am getting a little more energy and am excited to get our home ready to the newest edition.

We are currently in the process of updating our kitchen/dining room on a very tight budget. My husband put in new lights a few weeks ago that he found on sale for under $50. Now we are awaiting new appliances and I'm working on a backsplash...more to come...

We have been busy cleaning out our office as it will be the baby's room. This has led to our office being crammed between my husband's hockey room and my craft room. Since we are both only children, we are finding this "adjustment" a little challanging, mostly because we like our own space so much!

I am really hoping to use this blog as a way to stay in touch with our family and friends who are not close to us here in Rochester, and will share with you as we prepare to bring the next generation of Hesbys into the world!

I hope everyone is healthy and happy and has a safe and happy holiday season!