March 29, 2012

Devin Gerard Griffiths


March 23rd 2012
6:05 pm
7 lbs 14 oz
20 ½ inches
dark brown hair 
dark blue eyes


Our family is doing really great.
Devin is a sweetheart and very cuddly.
We all love him so much.
He's a perfect fit.


More hospital details to come...
As of right now, I'm a little tired.


March 19, 2012

The Final Countdown......

(Are you singing the song now?... you're at least singing it your head.)


Days away from my due date, I have had a lot of time to think about the new baby.  I've gotten a lot of questions (a lot of the same questions), so I thought it would be good to answer as many as I can in this post :)

This last leg of pregnancy has been so different from E's & R's.

With the first two, the last week of pregnancy was the worst with dreams/nightmares. I dreamt I'd lose the baby, or they'd go missing, I dreamt that they both had died, I dreamt that the nurses lost my baby, that I wasn't really pregnant, all sorts of scary situations.

With this one, I haven't really dreamt at all. Just sporadic light naps through the night. I'm not exactly sure what that means.  I hope it's good.  Although, my darling husband has had increased nightmares/dreams during this time.... (he talks in his sleep almost nightly now).

Two cravings have been full fledged. I LOVE ORANGE JUICE. I just can't seem to be getting enough of that stuff. I try to be good and save some for the rest of the family, but I just find myself chugging it,
late at night,
in the dark,
straight out of the carton.
I just can't help myself.
And  ICE WATER with LEMON SLICES. Oh dear, We have some of those XXXL cups from the gas stations (40+ ounces) and I finish those bad boys off every night.

Other than those, my cravings have somewhat subsided. For the past several weeks, I have almost completely lost my appetite, something completely different from the other two pregnancies.

I did get over my cannoli craving. I found a bakery in SLC that has fresh cannoli and this flour-less chocolate cake with raspberries... oh my goodness that was SOOOo good. So after my fill of cannoli, and chocolate cake, I was over that craving. That's how it has pretty much been this whole time. I will get a craving, then once I'm actually eating it, I get sick of it, and the craving is over.

As for the PGP, it has still kept me immobilized for the most part. I have taken it a little easier, and it seems to be helping with the pain. AND if ANYONE says that they have 'gotten over it' or 'it doesn't hurt anymore'... never had PGP. BELIEVE ME. You don't 'get over' this. I've heard from my doctors that the only cure is delivery. (hooray).  So I am looking forward to that. Although, I have heard that women with PGP during pregnancy can be 'wobbly' immediately postpartum.

One day I did do a lot of cleaning/reorganizing and I was paying for it the next three days. ugh.
Not fun, and I still have so much cleaning to do this week.

Physically, I feel like I'm carrying smaller and lower than the last two as well. I remember with Reese she was so high up that I felt like I was constantly wearing a push-up bra, and that she was playing footsie with my ribs. Everett was a little more forgiving. In fact, I think Everett's was the easiest pregnancy.


I also have started snoring. Kurt claims that I've snored since we've been married, but I swear he's just listening to himself. I know NOW that I've started to snore because I've actually woken myself up. It's the weirdest funniest thing I have experienced. I must take after my dad in that respect, I loved watching my dad wake himself up by snoring too loud...and then running out of the room, cracking up. 

Karma is so not funny. 


So what's the 'plan'? ...

Well, Thursday will be my last doctors appointment.

With Everett and Reese, I had my last doctors appointment on my due date. The first time (Nov 21), the doctor suggested that I get 'stripped' and that might help me with getting our little munchkin along. And it worked! I went into labor that night, and delivered the next morning.
The second time, I went into the doctor's on my due date (May 27th) asked to be stripped, and I went into labor super early the next morning.

So this time I'll go in on the 22nd, asked to be stripped, and hopefully I will deliver on the 23rd. And we will see when this little one would like to make his appearance.

 Nothing too dramatic, hopefully.

(knock on wood)

and hopefully we will be there in time for a "Happy-dural" (as my doctors put it... I totally giggled and had him repeat it like three times before I realized what the heck he was talking about)

I feel like I have proven my womanhood by going naturally with Everett.  I don't think I can actually choose to do THAT AGAIN. But, if I'm too late, then I'm too late.

But we wont be late.

(Kudos to my mother, by the way,  I'm pretty sure she had all three of us naturally - WHAT-A-WOMAN)

I am really excited to see what this little one will look like. I have a Brunette/Brown & a Blonde/Blue... any guesses? My cousins (on my mom's side) have a brunette, a red-head/ginger (pick your preference),  and a blonde. We have SOOOO much blonde in both of our families (at least when they are born) that I have a feeling that he will be a little blondie, just like all his uncles and grandpa's were.

But a mama can hope for a handsome baby boy with dark hair like hers, right?!

I think that all my education of 'dominant genes' is a bunch of hooey... whoever said that brown was dominant was obviously trying to suck up to somebody.

Reese is really excited. Everett is not sure what's going on, but he occasionally kisses and hugs my belly and says, "baby".

Although, Everett has turned into a HUGE mama's boy these past couple of weeks. I think he knows that his position of 'baby boy' is about to be replaced. He comes over from his little bed in the middle of the night to cuddle me. He makes sure that he has my cheeks in his hands, or on his face, and smothers me until he falls back asleep. He also positions himself to be the 'small spoon'. That boy is such a cuddler! I'm not sure what will happen when he finds his younger brother in his spot....

I guess daddy has to get his cuddle on.

As for names, I think we may have one or two picked out. But we never really know until our baby is actually here with us. For some reason, It makes me feel weird to pick and name a belly (in essence).  I want to see my baby and name him. I don't know. But we do name him within minutes, no 'babe with no name' here.

The baby is healthy, according to the doctors, I'm still measuring at exactly the right week, at the last three appointments I've been:
1 & 70
2 & 70
3 & 80
... you have to be a mom for THAT to make sense...

(I was actually admitted with Reese when I was a 3.....)

As of today, I've had no painful contractions, some strong braxton hicks, but nothing too serious.

hmm.. I think that's it for the updates...

Have you guys all seen the preview for the movie "What to Expect When You're Expecting"?  Kurt and I went to go see "This Means War"(which, by the way, was SO FUNNY. It was so much better than expected)... anyway, the preview for "What to Expect.." came on. Now, that looks like a funny movie. Kurt and I were cracking up through the preview...

What got the biggest laugh from Kurt? ... When the woman (Elizabeth Banks) looks at her husband, apologizes, and says "Gare-Bare, I'm sorry, all I want to do is punch you in the face".. then her husband gives her a thumbs up.

I guess I should be embarrassed that is what got the biggest laugh out of MY husband... but all my inhibitions go out the window the minute those pregnancy hormones kick in (around 16 weeks).

Anyway, check it out. I will most definitely go see this one.



I think it's pretty funny when they guy spits out the apple juice from the bottle... I've done that so many times... I just never learn.

March 12, 2012

Dear Smith's Marketplace,

I hardly ever complain to any company/business. If they get my food order wrong, I just usually deal with it. When they take forever to check out, I just take a deep breath and go with it. However, tonight was literally the last straw with these people, so I wrote a little letter. I guess the lesson here is never mess with a pregnant lady. I'll let you know what they write back.  The worst thing is, is I have no idea where else to get all my groceries.... 

(concerning the Lehi Smith's Marketplace)

I am very disappointed in the past several visits I have had at Smith's. I haven't made any formal comments or complaints due to the fact that I keep giving them the benefit of the doubt. But tonight (3/12/2012 ~9:20pm) pushed me to my limit. 

My first poor experience was over Christmas time, I had purchased a large amount of cranberry cans for a church party I was hosting. We didn't use any of them (they remained in the original smith bags the entire time), so I returned them. I had a total of 12 cranberry cans.. When I went to return them, the lady (older, short blonde hair, really BAD MOOD) was too busy being angry at something to bother to count how many she had actually returned. When I was at the counter with her, I noticed that she forgot to return one of the items (I checked my receipt, and watched her mis-count the cans). When I asked her to double check because I thought she missed one, she REFUSED, told me she got all of them, and went through with the transaction. So, you're welcome Smith's for giving you a free can of cranberry sauce.  I decided to not even bother to argue with her because she was acting so belligerent I knew I wouldn't get anywhere.  

Along with Christmas, I was getting quotes for some other items of food I was needing for my LARGE church party. I called Smith's deli to get a quote on Turkey Gravy, and the woman I spoke to said that her manager, who handles all those orders, was not in, and that I could leave a message. So I did, and the employee on the other end of the phone said that they would get back to me the next day with a quote/answer. Weeks passed and I didn't hear anything from them UNTIL the day of my church party, saying that my order was ready to pick up. UNBELIEVABLE! He left several annoyed messages saying that I needed to call him back and pick up/pay for my order. So I treated him the same way he treated me. I let him leave a message, and decided that he wasn't important enough to get back to in a timely manner. 

My other poor experience was when I was shopping with my toddlers. They weren't having a great day, and started to throw a tantrum. (NOT Smith's fault)... However, when things were getting loud with my four year old, I guess I attracted a crowd of laughing Smith's employees, while they quietly commented on my situation. It became really uneasy that I had an audience of employees (including, I assume a manager because he was wearing a tan shirt), so I just left all my merchandise there, (which was well over $100, and I wasn't done shopping), and left the store. (I ended up driving to Walmart) 
It was completely unprofessional and irritating for employees to be snickering at a pregnant woman with her disruptive 4 year old. I'm sorry for the inconvenience of my child's brief meltdown, next time I'll be sure to bring the popcorn. 

Then there was tonight. It was later, around 9:18p (time on my receipt), when I was ready to check out. The cashier was more than happy and friendly, and I was thinking I was going to make it out of Smith's drama-free. When right when I started unloading the IDIOTIC manager (or kid in charge) ..(guy, blonde hair, glasses?, bad skin) sent the bagger on break. The cashier pointed out that several customers were coming into her lane and that it was probably not the best that he sent the bagger to break. He was acting like a complete douche (for lack of a better word). Saying that he didn't have a choice, blah blah blah. I was listening and was completely annoyed at this man. He ended up just walking away and the cashier took control and got a friend to help her bag. I apologized out of sympathy for the cashier, and she was more than gracious and polite. She took control when her incompetent superior was lacking. On my receipt, it says that my cashier was Elizabeth. She was fantastic. 

Overall, I am so very disappointed in Smith's. It is so convenient for me, and the savings are great (especially on fuel). However, I am finding myself more and more reluctant to shop their due to these experiences. 

One more thing, 
Either get rid of, or clean those darn carts with the toddler cars attached. They are getting NASTY. 

March 11, 2012

You are my inspiration... Pinterest.....*

*taken from the song Rock Hudson sings in Pillow talk

Pinterest is great. It is seriously the best place to find DIY projects. Before, I would have to endlessly search google, youtube, or ask a Lowe's or Home Depot employee, only to get little/no results or blank stares.

The last week I was feeling pretty good, my hips weren't hurting as much, and I had a little bit more mobility. So I decided to tackle a few projects. I figured, I either get them done now, or have to wait several months to be in the mood to do anything major again.

So my #1 project was to re-arrange the kid's room because it is ALWAYS a disaster and it drives me crazy.  The biggest problems, besides for my children's fascination to dump all their toys out of their buckets and play 'train' and 'fort' with the empty buckets, (why do they even have toys?!) was their books and stuffed animals.

At the time we had two hand-me-down doll house looking things, one that would  hold all their books (barely) and one, if you tried really hard, and if you're good at tetris, you could get all their stuffed animals to fit. However, with Reese and Everett's need to try and fit themselves into small places (I'll get back to THAT), they always dumped all their books and animals out just to sit in the doll houses.

SOOoooo.. I searched Pinterest for 'stuffed animal storage', and I came across a few options, however, I found a problem with each one.
Problem: $45 average.
My kids would dump out animals and wear this as a hat, or a tiny fort.

Problem: $58 baskets, $250 bookcase.
 too easy to dump out, and cute wire buckets are a fortune.

Problem: So it's pretty awesome.. but not $450 awesome. 

Problem: tooo small, awesome price $4.99 or something, but with my kid's animals, I could maybe fit one in each cubby. I would have to buy 10. so... $49.90

Problem:  $5-$25.
If you have active toddlers you know perfectly why this is a very very very BAD IDEA. I can just picture me walking in on Reese and Everett, and having Everett in the high hammock and Reese trying to swing from the dangling chain...... then everyone falling down and breaking bones. 
THEN I came across this one:
Problem: $157 w/o shipping...
but.....the design....
Now that's what I'm talking about!!
This is just PERFECT. The kid's can't climb in, they can put their toys back easily, they can all fit, it's perfect.

Then I tried to get a DIY on this thing... and it wasn't happening. Some husband put a DIY explanation, and I thought he was too 'thorough' (not really, he listed parts and said nonsense). SO.. it was up to me to try and figure this baby out.

I was looking online for some bookcases (cheap and non-fancy) for the kid's room, and I came across one from Walmart for $15, and it had some decent reviews. So I was all set and ready to go to pick it up, when the thought occurred to me.

Instead of building the 'zoo' (aka animal prison) out of 2x3's and dowels and having it NOT match, why not just buy another bookshelf, and turn it into a zoo? It will match, not be too tall (R&E's room has vaulted ceilings, like a barn shape), and it will be able to fit all their animals.

So that's what I did.

Here are my materials:


Drill: $0 (husband's)

Bookshelf: $15 Walmart (Click to go to Walmart website)

Bungee Cords: $2.50/2pack- I bought four... ($10 LOWES)
1/2 inch Spade Drill Bit: $3.00 (or if husband already has one $0 LOWES)




So here it goes (sorry for the lack of pictures... I just wanted to get it done):

1. I first measured out my holes for the bungee chords. The shelf measured a tiny bit over 28 inches, so I measured out 7 holes, 4 inches apart, 2 inches from either end, and 2 inches in.

**Make sure you are drilling 2" from the 'pretty finished' side of the board, it will be the side with the finished trim**



2. I attached the drill bit to the drill .. and made 1/2 inch circles at each 4" marking, on the top and bottom shelves. (I saved the two shelves that came with the bookshelf, I didn't need them for this project...)

3. Then I put together the bookshelf according to the instructions

4. So now I had a bookshelf with 14 holes in it... Now it was time for the BARS.

At first, I debated back and forth on how to do this part. Do I attach hooks and hook the bungee cords? Do I drill holes and try to fit them through the holes? Do I do the hooks on the bottom and knots at the top? Do they just make bungee string without the hooks so I could weave it in & out of the holes? Or do I just go with regular camping string and make it super tight? Or do I go with the wooden dowels? 

I eventually decided to do holes on the bottom AND top shelf with bungee cords.. and here is why:

First, I found out they don't make bungee string. According to Home Depot and Lowes, I am a crazy person for asking for Bungee String. I just wanted a stretchy string DANG IT! 

So I decided to go with Bungee cords. I wanted to have the 'bars' be tight, but stretchable, since the kids have some larger animals. The wooden dowels will break and the camping string will become loose. 

5. Attaching the bungee cords. Here is what I decided to do:
Take your bungee cord. 

Take one end, slide the hook to the other end, and cut off this tip. 
Once you cut this end off, slide the tags and the two hooks OFF the rope.

The other end will look like this. 
Thread the cord under your bookcase (it will be hidden by the small panel on the bottom). The 1/2 inch hole will not allow the pre-manufactured knot to pass, it will serve as an anchor.

* you may want to add a washer to hide the hole, so it looks a little prettier, I decided not to, just so the kids wouldn't have something else to try and grab or pull off....

Continue to thread through the matching top hole.

pull through, pull tight, tie off, and burn the ends (so the string doesn't start to unravel)

Continue this, 7 more times and voila! You have yourself a cool Animal Zoo ... all for $25!!!!
AMAZING!!

So here it is.. Not über impressive, but it gets the job done. If you are feeling adventurous you can always paint the bookshelf and add moulding to make it all fancy shmancy. The possibilities are endless!

 And my kids LOVE IT. *sigh* so easy to please.












....and I hear even Kurt likes it... but I have yet for him to tell me... I heard it from Reese...

March 7, 2012

INO picnic 2011

The kid's shirts say "Put the SMILE on the burger"....... 


March 4, 2012

Babysitter's Club

After ranting and raving about my pregnancy frustrations, I really needed to take a time out and focus on something that I can truly appreciate, and show a little gratitude for.

And last night was my answer.

Every single family needs a good babysitter. Whether it be a grandparent, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, cousin, neighbor, a YW... you just need one.

{There is no possible way that it is ever good for a marriage to not have someone else you can depend on to watch your kids.} Especially for date nights.

Kurt and I have been pretty good about getting date nights in. Not all of them turn out great.. but at the very least,  it is soooooo nice to relax without the kids, not be at work, and enjoy a movie/meal without something getting thrown at our heads or spilled on us.

When we were back at home in California, we had some pretty fantastic babysitters:

1. Grammies & Grandpa
2. Nana & Papa
{I mean, you can't beat the grandparents!}

When we moved to Utah I was so nervous about finding someone who we could trust that lived close. I know that Kurt has lots of family up here, but I always feel bad trying to ask them because they all have so many kids of their own.. that it would pretty much drive me crazy if I were to add two more to the mix.

So, we decided to turn to our YW (young women organization- a church thing). Thankfully we had a list of YW babysitters, age, and phone numbers {EVERY WARD SHOULD HAVE THIS}. Being new, we only recognized one name on the list: McCartnie S. , our next door neighbor. We had met her parents the day we moved in and we liked them immediately, which is a good sign right off the bat.

A few months later,  I asked McCartnie's mom about her babysitting, and she reassured me that she would LOVE to babysit and that she actually enjoys it. {complete opposite of myself back in the day}


Let me just say, I am so {INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL} for our fantastic babysitter and neighbor. My kids absolutely love her. Kurt and I never have to worry about them at all - first off, because we know she'll take great care of them, and second, if an emergency were to arise, her parents are right next door. {and she puts up with our messy house}. 


Which brings me to my next little thought...

my babysitters.

{cue dramatic music}

Let me just say that Dakota {my brother} and I have had some pretty interesting people babysit us.....

There are two categories for the people who watched us. Loved vs. Loathed

Here's my side of some Babysitting Tales (of the ones I can remember- Lolo, you might have to share some memories you have in the comments...):


LOVED
#1 My grandma. 
They have this really fantastic interesting house with practically a rainforest for their backyard. She made us shell noodles and hot chocolate, tortillas with cheese,  and her famous chocolate truffles. At night, when it was time for bed, she let us watch a little bit of the TGIF (you know you remember that!) and wake up Saturday morning for some cartoons (back when cartoons on saturdays were AWESOME). She had a pool..too. It was pretty awesome. My grandparents always tell the story on how I used to refuse to leave her house by hiding under the table and not letting go of the leg... That should pretty much explain everything by itself. 



LOATHED

#2 Let's just call her Mrs. Gulch.
When we moved to England we were obviously without Grandma to babysit us. So my mom and dad came up with two, very different, babysitters. Mrs. Gulch looked and acted just like her {given by me} namesake. I'm not lying. Well, from what I can remember this is what she looked like. I'm sure she was young {she seemed ancient} and just a plain girl . But we all know that little kids tend to want to be around pretty people.. I think it's just in our nature.  ANYWAY, she scared the living daylights out of me. She was super strict and did everything on a schedule.. kind of like if Mary Poppins had an evil twin. The biggest thing with her is that she would make us take a bath for bed time. OK.. so that's not that bad, right? Well, try taking a bath with TWO inches of water!!! She absolutely refused to fill the tub more, no bubbles, no nuthin'. and it was cold. COMPLETE MISERY FOR A 6 YEAR OLD! 

LOVED

#3 Julie.
I'm pretty sure that's what her name was. SHE WAS AMAZING. From what I remember, she looks like Jodie Foster from the parent trap. She was young, energetic, told us crazy stories, let us run wild and wrestle her... We loved her. My mom claims that she only babysat us maybe twice or something, but man, she was one to leave an impression. My greatest memory of her is when we were playing on the stairs, and she would let us jump from the stairs, on to her back, and she would give us piggy back rides around the house. On one of my turns I jumped, and hit my front two teeth on her back... I guess they were already loose because they fell out. She wasn't freaking out, I can't remember if it was the same for me, but I remember us laughing thinking it was the funniest thing.  She was cool and fun. And I think she was Irish or Scottish or something.. either way she talked awesome.  

LOATHED

#4 The Dancing Queen. (the picture is a mere representation)
Now, I do remember her name, she was in our ward {after we moved back from Europe}, and she only babysat us once, I think.. mainly because we moved back next to our grandma... but man, that one time pretty much scarred me for life. Things were going ok... neither my brother or I really liked her to begin with... then she suggested that we turn on some music and dance. NOW, if you really know us Lenz's {and now Griffiths'} we love to dance.. secretly and in our home.. while drunk on giggles or tryptophan...but we do love to dance. So that was totally cool for me and my bro. 
WELL... she pulls out these crazy dance moves, like lying on the floor humping the air, some twirly break dance moves... she was out of control. Then she commented that we should learn how to dance like that because that's what all the kids in High School were dancing like. All I could think was.. "oh my gosh.. this is the weirdest thing I have ever seen. She's nuts." 
Needless to say, we convinced our mother to NEVER CALL HER AGAIN. Which seemed to work. Plus, I was getting old enough where it wasn't such a big deal to get a babysitter.

AND... Grandma would work out JUST FINE.

And I wont even go into the little devils I had to babysit!

Well, maybe...

 briefly....

Of all MY babysitting adventures, I had only ONE family that was awesome to sit for. They had five (or was it four, I can't remember) kids, their oldest helped me take care of their baby, they were all polite and well behaved. And ironically, it was the most kids I had sat for, and for the longest time {it was new years eve}. I guess it didn't hurt that my best friend at the time, Jess, came over to keep me company for a while after the kids went to bed. Little ANGELS!

The 'Others' included:
1. Flooding the bathroom and locking me out.
2. Locking me out of the house.
3. Threatening to tell her parents that I hit her,  if I didn't let her stay up late. (PURE EVIL THIS ONE)
4. Having a random man (the mom's roommate- she did warn me beforehand) come in and out of the apartment.
5. Having a little boy be obsessed with my boobs.
6. Hardly ever being paid.
7. Throwing food on the ground and demanding that I clean up after her. (PURE EVIL I TELL YOU!)
8. Missing the toilet.. (multiple times)

...that's all I can remember for now.. I think all the rest of the time I have blocked permanently from my memory.  However, each of those families said that the kids ended up loving me, and if I could return again for another time to babysit...

(Except for the EVIL ONE... I wonder what she told her parents.... I  shudder to think.)

Sadly, I was always too busy to babysit again... then I started High School and really was ALWAYS BUSY.

And now with babies of my own, I find it sooo much easier to love your own. THANK GOODNESS! To be honest, I still have a really hard time babysitting. I think I've been scared for life.

ANYWAY,

I'm sure you all have some pretty interesting stories about babysitting.. {you are more than welcome to share in the comments... hint hint :) }..


To close {hehehehe.. can you tell today was church?!} I would like to share a clip from a really funny movie. This is a classic amongst the Lenz men (my dad and brothers) DADDY DAYCARE:




March 3, 2012

Crochet Adventures

One of my New Years 'resolutions' was to learn a new skill.. like sewing, or knitting, or quilting, or crocheting.

I see SOooo  many cute things, especially on ETSY that I want to get.. 

then I look at the price and..

 it's $85..... 

then I freak out and find another listing... ok ... 

$50?!!! 

Then I have a mini break down and a self-loathing time-out, cursing the day that I never learned to crochet. 

Luckily one of my friends had purchased a hook and some yarn because we were going to learn together (we just never got around to it...) and left it at my house... in a bag.. hanging on the door. 

So there it was.. lurking ..  giving me the 'laaaaaaazy eye'.... 

So, after the self torment of trying to rationalize a $50 purchase for something made from a $3 hook and a $5 ball of yarn, I decided I better suck it up and YouTube {the crochet} out of it. 

I found a great Australian lady with fabulous long nails to teach me the basics and show me how to make some cool things. 

My first attempt was to make a scarf?? I don't really know what it turned out to be... I think I was just trying to practice holding the hook and getting used to it. But, Reese thinks I made her a scarf, so we'll just let her keep on thinking THAT....



Next she showed me how to make a newborn cocoon.... I decided I wanted to modify it a little (different yarn, larger stitch), so here's my finished project: 

(hint hint.. if you are having a baby I would like to use this prop........)




Here's her YouTube video: Basic Baby Cocoon

After feeling pretty confident in knowing the lingo, I decided I wanted to make a beanie for little bo. 

On a side note: I have discovered that crocheting is like reading a book for me. Once I get started I can not put it down until I have finished it, or it's 3:30 in the morning and I'm in that weird limbo state where I'm not sure if I'm still awake or I've been crocheting a bow and arrow for Katniss. {Yay for March 23rd!}

Sooo... while discovering all sorts of crazy crochet people on YouTube, I came across the *perfect* beanie for Everett. 

For those of you who don't know.. my son LOVES Angry Birds. If he sees a phone, any phone, he expects the game to be on it, and ready for him to play.. and then you will be his best friend, until your battery runs out. 

Anyway, so here's his Grumpy Pig Angry Birds beanie..... 






Ok, ok, so I got fancy with the camera angles.... I think it turned out pretty cool. 

Here's her video: Grumpy Pig Beanie

I had to modify/change a few things, I didn't really like the way hers looked, plus it was WAY too big for my little bo. 

When Everett saw it this morning he LOVED it. He hasn't taken it off since.. well, he did take a bath today, so I took it to take some pictures of it... but other than that I think it's his favorite. 

And THAT is the best feeling EVER! 

My next big adventure in crocheting is to make a cute beanie for Reesie. I found a super adorable beanie idea (that she's not too thrilled about), but I think it's in my expertise range of beginner. However, it is not a YouTube video... it's just a 'pattern'

or more like a foreign language. 

Take a look at this: 
(I mean WTHeck?)

 I'm sure this is super easy, and maybe I've already done this before... but what the heck does this say? I really need someone to walk me through this crochet language so I can crochet more than what
patient-women-who-make-YouTube-videos can offer.

So, for now, Reese will have to settle with something from YouTube.. or another video tutorial....

Now, the question remains.....where can I find a doggie-princess-crown-rapunzel-owl beanie tutorial? 

hmm.. this may be a little tough. 

OH MY GOSH! I FORGOT PICTURES OF EVERETT!! HERE THEY ARE: 


making a piggy sound/face

oh brother, so handsome.