Year in Review - 2013

Remember how I used to be really good about blog posts? I would even write about stuff no one cared about. That's how much I had to say. Those were the days. Before I had a toddler. Before I had school. Before I watched our neighbor's baby. Before I got pregnant again and had a toddler. Before I had a newborn and a toddler. I guess what I'm trying to say is toddlers ruin everything. I'm kidding, mostly. I love my little man.

Anyway, my sister and sister-in-laws have inspired me to catch up on my blog. There is no way I can fit everything that happened in, so I'm doing a condensed version. Let's say this is what my Christmas letter/card would have said if we had sent them out this year. Here we go.

You know how at the end of the year you think, "How will next year top this?" That's how it was for me last year. It was a great year. We found out in January that we were expecting. (Great way to start the year, right?) I also started working on my Master's degree through Southern Utah University in Sports Conditioning and Performance. In February we went on the annual winter family cabin trip. Always a good time there.

We took a trip down to Arizona in March to visit some friends.

I want to say April was pretty low key. (I hope I'm not missing something there.) We did have some family come visit us that month.

In May we headed up to northern Utah because my sister and her husband were graduating. A few days after graduation, my mom, sister, and I took a trip out to NYC for a few days. It was rainy and fabulous!

June was a busy month. I had to go onto campus every day for two weeks for school. Then Lish went out to DC to play a part in our good friend's baptism. Then we headed up north to meet our niece Grace.

July was not quite as busy. It was the last month I watched Presley, which was bittersweet for me.

In August we headed to Huntington Beach. That was a great trip, again. I also had a baby shower that month and we just tried to get things ready for the baby.

Lish and I went on our first overnight trip in September with just the two of us and no Yale. We went to Vegas and it was so much fun. The rest of the month we just played the waiting game. And we waiting right up until the end of the month. Brooklyn was finally born on September 30th at 11:24 at night. It was a perfect way to round out that month!

October was chalked full of visitors. It was a little crazy with a new baby, but at the same time it was nice to not be alone with two kids very much.

In November, Lish, Brooklyn and I headed out to Atlanta for Lish's Criminology conference. Yale headed up north to bounce around between grandparents for a week. I think he had fun but he had some separation anxiety when he got home. My dad and Alisia came down for Thanksgiving. It was fun to host them and have a  big Thanksgiving feast.

December was another busy month. First we had Yale's first friend birthday party. We went to the fire station. It was a success. Then we had some family come down for Brooklyn's baby blessing, but it snowed here in St. George more than it had snowed in over 100 years. That was a little crazy. We ended up having the blessing at home because church was cancelled. Then Lish's dad, sister, and her kids all came to our house for a few days. And we all got sick. But it was still crazy and fun. A couple days later we headed up north for Christmas. We were still sick, which was not fun, but it's always a good time to spend the holidays with loved ones.

That was pretty much our year. Like I said, it was a good one. We saw lots of family, took a few trips, had a baby. Even though it's already February, I can't wait to see what this year has in store for us!

Hooter Hider Tutorial

My sister asked me to do this for her, so don't pay attention to this post, or pay attention if you want to learn how to make a hooter hider.

Materials:
one yard of fabric
half of a yard of boning
a small amount of fabric for the pocket (usually white or another light, neutral color and a softer material)
2 - 1" D rings
thread
2 cloth diapers/burp cloths (optional)

Measurements:
26" x 36" cut out
2 1/2" x 10" strip
2 1/2" x 18" strip
2 - 7 1/2" x 20" cut outs (for the burp cloths if you so desire)
9" x 9" for the pocket (using the other fabric)

First, cut out all those lovely pieces. Then we'll start with the big piece. I always start with the sides of the piece first. When the hooter hider sits, the sides will be the shorter length. Fold down the fabric about a 1/4" all the way down the side. (I use my fingernail to press a crease into the fabric.)

Then fold the material over again all the way down.

Pin those sides down, but leave an inch or two at the bottom so you can fold it up. Guess what you're gonna do now? Yep, fold the bottom using the same technique. Before you pin it down though, fold that small piece of fabric for the pocket corner to corner diagonally. Stick that fabric on one of the corners of the hooter hider where the folds will fold over.

(Do you see my tiny little arrow on the 1st picture? Put the corner of the pocket on that creased corner.)

After you get everything pinned down, just start sewing. Sew both sides first and then the bottom. As with starting all sewing lines, go down about an inch or so, then sew back up, then sew back down so all the edges of the sewing line are nice and sturdy and won't fall apart.

Now let's move to the top. Fold the fabric 1/4" down first, like how we did on all the other sides. Then you'll fold it over again but wider so that the boning will fit through it. This will usually be about an inch wide.

You'll want to sew the bottom side of the fold over and the top side, so be sure to leave enough room for those stitches, and also be sure to have the top stitching be right close to the edge.

Then slide the boning in there. Make sure it's right in the center. It will stay there because we are putting our straps on each side of the boning. 

So let's move on to the straps. Fold both straps in half length-wise and then sew. That's it for the shorter strap, but for the longer one, sew one end of the strap as well.

Once those are sewed you come to my least favorite part. Now you have to turn those babies right side out. You can do it using whatever strategy you think works best. For the longer strap I usually use a pencil or pen to help me. 

When they're turned right side out, iron them flat. Then fold a tiny bit down for where you'll attach it to the hooter hider. You'll fold down the unsewn end of the longer strap and both ends of the shorter strap. Before you pin the shorter strap on, slide the two D rings on there and then pin it on the hooter hider folded in half. It doesn't really matter which side you pin each strap onto, just be sure to pin them right at the edge of your boning. (Come to think of it, I usually pin the shorter strap onto the right side of the hooter hider because most people are right handed so it's easier to strap on. But either way works.)

Sew those little lovelies on there. They will usually be harder to sew on because of all the material you're trying to sew through, but just give the fabric a little push or a pull if it needs it. I go all the way around where those straps attach twice, so it's making two squares.

After the straps on on there, sew a little line right up by the D rings so they don't have very much sliding room. Otherwise it gets tricky to have them stay in place.

Last step on the hooter hider - back to the pocket. Use a ruler or measuring tape or whatever so you can measure it evenly. I've found that the entire length of the pocket piece is about 12", so I make a mark at 4" and 8". From those marks, draw a line with a pencil, all the way down to where it meets the fabric and add a third line connecting those lines.

 Then just sew along those lines so you're making a three-sided square. I usually start on the top side and just follow it down, turn the fabric, follow it down, turn the fabric and follow it down so it's continuous.

When you're done sewing that pocket, the front side of the hooter hider will look something like this:

(Don't mind that I can't sew a straight line.)

Now your hooter hider is complete!

You may be thinking, what should I do with this extra fabric? And that is where the burp clothes come into play. Perhaps you already cut out the pieces for the burp cloths. Good for you! Let's get into it then.

If you haven't already, iron the cloth diapers. They are usually very wrinkled from the packaging. Then take the material and fold down the long sides down about a 1/4" to a 1/2".

Place it on the cloth diaper and center it as best as you can. Pin down the sides and the fold over the ends and pin those down too (just below the diaper's edge).

Now just sew everything down. I like the way it looks when I sew a little into the cloth, rather than from edge to edge, but you can do it however you wish.

Welp, now you're done! You have just made a pregnant or nursing woman very happy. YAY!