THE Baby Blanket Round 2.

We all remember THE baby blanket, right? Well if you don’t, you also don’t know that I SWORE I would NEVER make another. It took me almost a week of working on it all the time. This time it only took me 3 days! {O boy, you know it’s bad when you are celebrating a baby blanket only taking 3 days to make.} But it is again my favorite baby item. So for my sisters new baby, I knew I would end up caving on my never ever ever ever ever.

My full tutorial is linked above. Here’s a couple more process pictures with this new blanket. There was also a big difference between the boys blankets. Sawyers is cotton. And Braxton’s is flannel. I can’t say which one I like more, The flannel one is amazingly soft right from the beginning. But it was just slightly more difficult to sew with. The cotton took about 25 washes to get to the same softness. But might last longer.

Another big difference, and the ONLY reason I even attempted a second blanket, the chenille cutter. So instead of breaking my hand by cutting 130 lines with scissors, you just glide this nifty little tool along your blanket. It took me just over an hour to do the whole blanket. And only that long because of my little helper! 1hour>4 days. If your going to make this blanket, buy a chenille cutter.

Speaking of my little helper! I cant believe I managed to get this finished with all his extra help! As you can see in the far left one, he only let me sew during naps. I thought I had outsmarted him with the jumper but nope. He demands a little more attention! And also, look at the lack of hair. That was only 2 months ago!

Then admire your masterpiece one last time before throwing it in the wash. And almost like magic it turns from this into…

I just LOVE these blankets. I almost didn’t want to give this one away. The colors turned out so perfectly together. And the sparkle on the green even stuck around. Perfect baby blanket. {As a random question, would there be any interest in buying these handmade keepsakes? They would have to be priced at about 60-80$ depending on fabric. And that is barely making anything for all the labor, but occasionally I do like having projects like this. And I would love to work on some girly ones too! }

I’m so glad this little guy will always have this special blanket. And now both cousins have the same{-ish} ones! And even better was giving it in person. There is nothing like the excitement of watching someone love something you’ve put so much work into.

Also I didn’t even plan that the outfit I bought him when I first found out about him, matched his blanket perfectly!

Stay tuned this week, because I just finished a wedding cake at 1am tonight {why am I still up blogging this at 2:50 am?} and I have another Very Hungry Caterpillar theme birthday cake tomorrow. Totally different design though.  And more cupcakes next weekend. Always busy in this little household!

Home Again.

Though I immensely enjoyed having a whole month long vacation, it’s nice to be home. It was an eventful road trip home. One we won’t forget anytime soon. {I swear we are cursed to lock ourselves out of the car every other time.} I dont think Ive had a bigger album on fb. Too many memories to squeeze into such few days. So grateful for it all. Ready to get back into the swing of things here. Lots going on as usual. Getting ready for someone’s first Birthday!!! Cant wait.

Here’s a couple of my favorite moments from the vacation. {That Camera is going to fuse to my hand one of these days.

Im an Auntie!

Braxton David Gibson Klassen. Born August 20th at 3:54am via C-section. 9 Pounds 2 Onces. 22 1/2 inches long. {Big Boy}

I just typed that holding this little guy!

Auntie wissa here. {So far most kids can never figure out to pronounce the AL-issa. So I am always different versions of wissa or lissa. And I love it. The best part of kids learning to talk is the fun ways they pronounce some stuff.} This is not the first, or second, or third, fourth and fifth time I have become an Auntie. But this is the first on my side. So it’s special in it’s own little way.

There is only two people allowed in the delivery room, or hospital for visits after birth. But because of some circumstances it ended up being my mom and myself. She started her induction Saturday night and her contractions started the next morning at 4:30 am. We were all at the hospital for a good 21 hours before they decided things were not progressing and that she would need a Csection. {I told her welcome to the club, as both my mom and I delivered by Csection.} I was not allowed into the OR, but got to meet my new nephew at 5am in the recovery room. Its been a whirlwind of hospital visits and of course picture taking.

Both mom and Baby are doing great and are already home! Wow amazing for having major surgery Monday morning and discharged Tuesday at 5pm. Our visit is already winding down, 4 more days. So I’ll just enjoy some last down time before we head home. O and again lots of picture taking!

*I have to say a special thank you to my hubby who’s been in solo charge of Sawyer for the last couple days. Its amazing not having to worry at all about your own kid on top of everything. *

7 things.

I follow another mom’s blog. Her daughter went through the same cranio surgery as sawyer a month and a half later. She found my blog through the magic of the Internet and knowing Sawyer’s story helped just one other mom, makes me heart leap. I like knowing there is a friendship out there based on something no mother should have to endure. Always a silver lining. Well she recently did a post of “7 things” you may not know. And she linked me in it. {Hooray, maybe just a few more followers.} I thought the idea was super cute and here is my version!

1. I have not always been a Camera-holic.

Tis true. You can ask my mother. We first got a family digital camera on my grade nine grad. {First let’s take a second to acknowledge, that we grew up on real film! O the love of going to get photo’s developed and hoping they turned out, and sometimes being blown away or disappointed. How crazy that it was such a short time ago!} Back to when I was the awkward teenager. I would get so annoyed if my mom took one or heaven forbid more than one picture! How sad because I look back now and wish there were more from those days. Don’t take them for granted. So I more than make up for it now. Because you can never get them back and I dont want to regret missing any moment dear to my heart. And it just so happens every single day of my life includes those special moments.

2. Im a Saver not a Spender.

You would have been able to tell at a young age I would be this way. My sister was the opposite. Any time we were given candy as a treat, I would save mine to enjoy later, she would inhale hers. {and then bug me about sharing mine later!} {some things never change 😉 } I did the same with lucky charms, and still do. Eat all the blah cereal and then save all the marshmallows till the end, and eat them last. So I do the same now with money. I recently got a couple birthday cards of money, and though I’ve been here for three weeks, Ive held onto almost all of it. Saving. For what, you never know. But I am always afraid I’ll spend it and then not have it when something better comes along. {But, there was some retail therapy going strong tonight. I’ll have to share that in another post this week! There is always exceptions to the rules!}

3. Speaking of rules, Im a rule follower.

Here’s another where I am opposite of my sister. It can be a simple rule or a massive rule. I wont generally break it. I don’t know why but it would cause massive anxiety. Just today we were waiting to turn left into an intersection, that was blocked and no one but me could go. But I did not have the right of way. Kimmy told me she would just go. But I refused. Just cant.

4. I have broken one big rule.

I lost my license when I was 20. For speeding. For speeding a lot. In Canada they have the graduated license program. I got 4 speeding tickets between 18-20. That is not allowed. I used to have a lead foot. Driving country roads and highways can do that to you. I was even in a full on cheerleading uniform crying during my first ticket. I still could not get out of it. {Ok I was going 40 over the speed limit, whoops.} But that poor rookie cop who gave me my last ticket. I knew it was the one that was going to take my license away. I think he thought I was going to kill myself. Did you know cops cannot pull away and leave until you do? It was 2 am and I just sat in my car crying for a good 3o minutes. He even came to ask me if everything was ok, and I cried, “No everything is not ok!!” And he just slowly back up and went back to wait it out in my car. So I lost my license for 30 days. And I learned my lesson. I do not speed at all anymore. Its pretty drilled into my head. I do not want to relive that humiliation again.

5.  I miss cheerleading daily still.

It was my entire life for 5 and a half years. 3 years in high school, one year in All Star and 2 years coaching. I couldn’t tell you which I miss most. They are all so different and yet the same. They were my family. I still talk to most of the teams I coached, and lots of the people I competed with. It was hard to walk away from but I am no where near a level to be involved with in the US. {Plus there is some baby weight that’s still in the way!} But every month there is a couple dreams where I stunt and stunt and stunt. And I always wake up wanting more. I keep track of the teams I used to be on, their practices and competitions. I saw one of my old team mates compete in Las Vegas last year. I miss coaching. A lot. I miss being in charge of 20 high school girls. Call me crazy. I miss the choreographing, and practices and prepping. I miss the pride I felt when my team hit the mat and the cheering started. I love knowing the team changed because I chose to stay and coach when most had passed through and on after graduating. That because of that, others girls decided to do the same. Now we have banners in that gym with cheerleading on it. I miss All Star. The friendships that came along with it. The uniforms, the stunts and the travel to competitions. I miss the adrenaline of it all. One day maybe it will be a part of my life again.

6. I’m fascinated with Dreaming.

I love to dream. I was always the one with the report cards that said “She day dreams too much.” Can you dream too much? I don’t think so. It all started with reading, and I would wonder, “what came after the ending?” I started looking up dream meanings, and keeping dream journals. I’ve always had very vivid and intense dreams. They are not all happy, but they are not all awful either. Dreaming can allow you to live impossible things. I can hope I won’t experience some of the horror ones, I’ve got a very concrete memory of cold steel on my neck and warm blood running down my neck and back. From being shot in my dream. But there is also the wonderful parts too. Then came the day where I started to have lucid dreams. I didn’t think it was any different. For some reason I thought everyone could experience lucid dreaming. Google it if you have no idea what I’m talking about. But basically you are somewhat aware you are dreaming and become somewhat in control of your dream. I generally use this experience to fly. I love to fly in my dreams. Love it. I’ve also experienced sleep paralysis. That’s not a fun one. But like I said. I’ve always been a dreamer. So I will always be fascinated with anything dream related. Small little tidbit. My friends mom is deaf and they recently learned, much to my surprise, she does not hear anything in dreams. Nothing. She was surprised to learn that we all do! How weird is that. And not all people dream in color either?! I definitely do, but maybe you will now think a little deeper on your dreams too. Did I mention I only saw sawyer in my dreams as a red headed little boy, much as I wanted to imagine a little girl, I only saw a “sawyer.”

7. We didn’t have cable when I was growing up.

Maybe that explains the dreamer in me. My dad believed that at our age we didn’t need tv. So when we moved to the country we didn’t get satellite. We thought it was horrible punishment. But we played a lot more outside. There was a fair amount of made up trampoline games. Baseball in the front yard. Boomerangs down the street. {I never got one to come back.} Home movies scripted, costumed and filmed. And many many barbies played with. See looking back it doesn’t seem like a form of child abuse. Don’t get me wrong, we had a tv. And we were allowed to watch movies. But we never got into stuff like American idol or survivor because we couldn’t. Though we did try. We snuck into our RV because it had a satellite attached and brought the teeny little tv out there to hook up and we watched the season 3 finale to survivor through a major static storm. Now I think, good for my parents. letting us be kids. Too many times in our lives we let technology take control. I think we need to let imagination free sometimes, instead of putting it in the back seat. Brandon already has an idea of raising Sawyer on older video came consoles, so he can “appreciate” the simplicity of them. And I love the idea. Things like that, that set your childhood apart from everyone else. Like not growing up with Tv. Thanks Dad.

Well that was relatively easy. I thought this was going to be a much harder experiment. I could go on and on about things you don’t know about me! I would probably be putting you to sleep after 7 though! Did you notice each category got a bigger and bigger explanation. By 1o I might be writing a novel. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me more. I’ll have to make this an annual thing. And in no time you’ll know me better than I know myself!

Who’s who at the Zoo?

We have a zoo in Las Vegas. All I’ve heard from it is that it is incredibly depressing. So Sawyer’s first zoo experience has been in Calgary. We were even lucky enough to go two times! Once with my in-laws, and again with a friend and the little girl she nannied. Sawyer had a fondness for the penguins and butterflies. As for me, my love of my camera was enough. Too many pictures to share! So here’s a couple of my favorites. Enjoy.

So much fun going on here! Going to soak up the last couple days. And hopefully my nephew is born before we have to leave!

For the Love of Cars.

If none of you knew, my dad is very into cars. Hot Rods in particular. He built his first a couple years before I was born. And then sold it for his first baby girl. (cue me.) It’s taken my dad my whole life, to slowly built from the ground up, another one. His little yellow ’29 Model A “Ace.” We recreated the last shot taken with it, a month before I was born, 24 years later while I was pregnant with Sawyer.

And last Christmas Sawyer got a special treat, a ride in his first car. Not quite a fan yet. {not even sitting up yet!} But regardless his first ride was pretty darn cute. If I do say so myself.

Eight months later we’re back in my childhood house to find the old peddle car my dad built us. Painted purple because it had to be girly but he wouldn’t budge on the pink request. It even had a trunk so I could take all my barbies along for the ride. Well sawyer had his first ride in it this week. And it looks good on him! {I wasn’t even home but I think I have everyone trained on my motto of “take pictures ALL the time.”}

But sawyer got an even bigger surprise when “santa” pulled up this week with his bag of goodies. Cake supplies and a vintage heart waffle iron. {a special treat from our childhood.} But even better a vintage camera! It was supposed to be Brandon’s, but I’ve already stolen it as mine. I just love vintage camera’s. And when you wind this one up, the clicking sound is so heartwarming to a passionate memory keeper. I love knowing that I am holding something that gave someone in the past amazing memento’s. Thank you Santa!

So Sawyer got his first mini ride in a hot rod. I’m sure my Dad is thrilled to finally have a boy in the family. Someone who might actually want to play with cars over barbies.

And I am thrilled to know how many more cute “Boy and his Car” pictures there is going to be in the future!

Happy Birthday Lukas and Declan!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be home to celebrate 2 of my nephews Birthdays. We rarely get to see these two so it was special that we got to be a part of their celebration. I cannot believe they are already 2 years old. I can still remember being told there was going to be 2 new babies joining the family. It seems like yesterday, but here they are already running around like 2 crazy little boys. I’ll treasure that we were here this summer for all these get togethers. I love being around family.

More awesome summer memories. I know I’ve been slow posting. Too busy having fun with everyone here, waiting on a baby to pop, missing my hubby, and other memories to be made. I will try to remember to get back on here to share it all!

He Proposed.

4 years ago. On July 4th, but I was just scanning pinterest. (my daily late night treat.) Thinking I had nothing to blog about lately. {Ps. I am on vacation so its bound to be a bit slower.} But I came across this lovely little “before I die/bucket list” type pin.

“Be Proposed to in an unique way” And I thought, Ive never shared my story with the blog. And I happen to be biased and think its about the best one out there. Especially when Brandon just left me to go back home and work a bit. I find myself missing him already! Funny how the heart does that. But on with the story.

This was back when we thought doing long distance love was a brilliant idea. Brandon was already living in Las vegas, and I was back in Calgary after doing the Toronto to London, UK. for a month and a bit. It was July 4th and a long weekend, and I was so mad that Brandon wasn’t taking advantage of the extra days to come back for a visit. He was being distant and was going to watch a football game, a convenient 3-4 hour break from texting. I’ll give my mother credit for trying to get me to look presentable that day. Though I should have known something was up, since the only other time she was that persistent was my sweet 16 surprise party. The only other big surprise event of my life. There was definitely signs, I was just completely oblivious to them.

My parents went out to dinner and refused to let me join them, even though I was bored out of my mind. So then I flat out refused to get ready. I mean no make up, hair a disaster, and an awkward outfit to tie it all together. The real kicker came when they got home and decided to watch a movie with me in my room. On my as tiny as possible 7 inch screen. Looking back it makes me wonder if I wasn’t just sleep walking through the day.

About 10 minutes into “Narnia,” my dad points out a noise on the window. I immediately told him it was probably just birds. It came again and I chalked it up to rain. Finally after a couple more they asked me to just check the window. And here comes the most romantic part of the story. There under my childhood window, was my future husband throwing rocks at my window. Something I had told him I had always wished for, but would never experience growing up on an acreage. I had said it when we first started dating, and hadn’t thought of it again. But he remembered. And I went into shock.

The next minute I was down the stairs and out the door, and there he was on one knee, pulling out the perfect ring. And asking the perfect question. Will you Marry me.  And the rest is History!

That was the start of our story. It was special and unique and perfect for us. And there has been many more moments just as dear to my heart, but this was the beginning of it all. Sometimes we focus too much on the negative and forget all the little moments that have made our lives so treasured. Take a moment to look back on a favored memory too. On that note, I’m off to finish watching home video’s with my “about to pop her baby out any minute” sister. Goodnight!

Feel free to leave your own engagement story too, I love hearing them all!