22 weeks, 6 days


32 weeks, 2 days


36 weeks, 6 days

I'm really beginning to wonder how much more this shirt will stretch........

• OMG...bullets are working for me??? YAY!! lol
• 35 weeks today...5 weeks to go....still no name or car seat....
• I found my camera...the van didn't eat it, my purse did.
• I made my first FOE-bound diaper covers the other day....why did I wait so long? Easy, and quick!
• Internet is working (for now) it is so tempermental. Grrrr.
• Costumes done, pumpkins carved,(thanks to Felix!) pompoms made, now if the 2 older kids can BEHAVE!
• I'm going to bed. I didn't take my iron last night, and I feel it today. :yawn:
  
   

If tonight is a preview of the school year to come...I'm gonna need 3 different tables and...oh, yeah, TWO MORE OF ME!! LOL

I got a wonderful idea off another blog www.theidearoom.blogspot.com about a Boredom Buster jar (and a smock, and a car seat tent that I saw elsewhere but forgot to bookmark) and the kids have been *dying* to break it in. Like sending Aidan to me saying he's bored...yeah, I don't think so. The things in the jar are more aimed towards the older 2.  It has 95% chores...stuff outside their usual everyday helping out, some things they do just once a week or when asked, and some things they're never asked to do...along with a couple fun things...rafting, coloring, computer time, story time, things like that. I let them all try it out the other night...Isabella got a chore, the boys each got a fun thing :X

So...she;s all over teh jar tonight...so I let her pick. They *HAVE* to do (at my discretion, some things are not feasible, like running though the sprinkler at 8PM or making a treat late at night) whatever they pick, no choosing again or whining about it. She picked scrub the kitchen table. And we had just had dinner. We had rice. And NONE of them were neat. She had to pickup the mess, put piddly stuff away, and scrub the table and dry it. Needless to say she wasn't bored....she did ask if there was anything else we could do..I told her to whip out her workbook. The boys heard, and pulled theirs out too. Cool!! School at 8PM, haha, SO how our family rolls.

O..M...G.

Diego was not pleased that I had to show Aidan what to do in his book, he's never actually used the dry erase marker in it before, just kinda played with it. "But Mom, you're not helping ME!"  Already, I think schooling Aidan will be like it was with Bella. He *WANTS* to, she was very willing at that age too, and he will work by himself if you give him the direction for the page, and that's when we started schooling with her...Diego, well, it takes coaxing. Absolutely NO interest until a couple months ago. Even then, it's touch and go. I take it when I can get it. And I *must* hover over him. AT.ALL.TIMES. omg.

Anyway...I feel SO behind with Diego. Like he doesn't recognize his letters, rarely gets the sound right.  He knows if a letter is in his name, but cannot name the letters. Numbers? He's all over it. Knows them all by sight, and dioes simple additon and subtraction in his head with EASE. Aidan has caught on to Diego's number bug, can name most of them, and can add simple numbers in his head also. Uses proper grammar when he speaks, uses complete sentences (I am SO odd about this....from the time they can string words together, I train them to speak in complete sentences whenever they can, for lack of a better way to put it....no wonder my kids are so verbal, lmao) and tells stories like no other little boy I know. LOVES to "read", I usually catch him after bedtime with the light on in the room, out of bed, telling me he wants to get a book to read.
 
But the letter thing....He refuses to write with a crayon, and pinches/drops/rests the pencil and his hand well. I think he'd have better control with a crayon, but yanno. I pick my battles. He doesn't like to write, really. He *just* in the past few months started coloring. He hasn't colored in a looong time, because it didn't look like mine or Bella's, "I'm not doing it right". It was heartbreaking. What little boy doesn''t want to color or draw ANYTHING, EVER??? The only thing he would do was *sometimes* paint, or to stick the little sticky foam pieces on construction paper. No other artwork on it.

Latey he's been coloring, and most recently drawing things. He mails his coloring pages to Alia ("Mom, she says I'm the boy of her dreams!") my BFF"s daughter/his psuedo-cousin. She's 7. Today he drew and colored me a jalapeno, green, complete with a dark stem. OMG it is too cute. He drew Felix an ice cream cone with a scoop of ice cream and m&m's on top (all red). I'm SO JAZZED about this :) This si SUCH an important thing for him to WANT to do, and this reassures me that he may have an easier time in K, since most of the stuff is coloring/artsy. And hoping that this will spill over into his writing/letters.  

Because I couldn't find one online, so I made one....a picture tutorial on adding ruffles to a diaper cover. I found lots of photos of covers with ruffles, but they were either lace, or premade funky ruffly stuff. I wanted same-fabric ruffles that were wide, long, and overlapping.

This is my first tutorial, so please bear with me if it is all over the place and confusing. Please leave a comment if you're having problems!!

These particular measurements are for a NB size diaper cover. It's best to use a diaper you have already made from the same pattern to get your placement right. If you don't have one already done, or don't want to wait, there will be general guidelines in these instructions. If you have questions, please leave a comment with your email address. Happy Sewing!!

BEFORE YOU START:
PLEASE read all instructions! These ruffles are intended to be sewn onto a diaper that is YET to be constructed. Sewing the ruffles on afterwards will prove difficult and will cause your cover to leak. I sew on my ruffles after I sew on the front Aplix (or place snaps, if that's what you use.)



I used 3 tiers for this newborn diaper. 3 will work with small and medium as well, for a large or XL, you may want to add a 4th tier.
First tier is 17.5" x 2.5"
Second tier is 15" x 2.5"
Third tier is 12.5" x 2.5"


Markings for this particular diaper (NB size) are (top to bottom)
7", 6", and 5".  Top tier marking is 1.5" from the top of the back of the diaper.

***If you are using a pocket diaper than has a flap for the elastic casing, this casing IS NOT included in the 1.5" measurement from the top!***

*MAKE YOUR MARKINGS FOR PLACEMENT BEFORE YOU CUT YOUR RUFFLES! You will need these measurements to cut the proper size of ruffle. This is explained later on.* I hate wasting fabric, don't you?

For your own markings/placements, measure the top tier approx 1.5" from the top edge, and the bottom tier slightly below the leg elastic marking towards the back of the diaper (about 1.2" or so).  The top tier stops midway between the center of the diaper and the end of the tab. The second tier markings end midway between the top and bottom tiers, so do the top measurement, then the bottom measurement before attempting the middle one. Make the ends of the markings no closer than 1.75" from the edge of the diaper, to make room for the seam allowance and the casing for the leg elastic. Ideally, your tier markings should not be more than 1" apart. The finished tiers will measure approx 1.75", and will need to overlap a bit (or a lot, if you want) to look right. Adjust as necessary to get your tiers to fit, adding another if needed, or make them more than 2.5" when cutting.

To get the right size tiers, take your placement measurements and multiply by 2.5. For example...
My top tier marking on the diaper is 7". 7 x 2.5= 17.5" 
So my top ruffle is 17.5" 
Middle tier marking is 6", so the ruffle is 15"
Bottom tier marking is 5", so the ruffle is 12.5"
I have tried only doubling the marking measurement, and it is just not full enough, and looks really floppy and wrong, lol.




Using a wide zigzag stitch, set on a stitch length of 2, zigziag around all 4 sides, encasing the edges with the stiches. SHOWN: top of ruffle) This is an important step that should not be skipped. NOT finishing your edges will cause your ruffles to fray, strings to hang out, and eventually the hem will come out with washing. This can be done easily with a serger, but if you don't have one, this is the next best thing. After you finish all 4 sides, narrowly hem in the 2 short sides. (SHOWN: left side) After both sides are done, hnarrowly hem up only one of the long ends. (SHOWN: bottom)



On the long edge that you have not hemmed, you will sew your gathering stitches. With your machine set to the longest stitch length, (mine is a 4) carefully sew as close and straight to the finished edge as you can, WITHOUT going into the zigzag stiching. As you start and end your stitch, don't backstitch...you will need these ends free to gather this seam you're sewing. Leave the strings long, when you start and finish, to pull for gathering. (If you run off the edge, stop, rip it out and start again.)


Start with the bottom tier. Gently pull the bobbin strings on either side, working the fabric towards the center with yuor fingers. Work slowly and gently as to not break your thread, or you will have to start over again and sew another gathering stitch. Leave these strings.



Measure to make sure you're at the right length. This ruffle needs to be approximately 5". Adjust as needed.


Pin your ruffle over the markings, right sides together, with the ruffle upside down. I pin mine *just* over the markings so they won't show when I'm done. I use regular pencil on light fabrics, it will wash right out.  Make sure to pin carefully, and ensure that your finished edge isn't tucked under, and that  it is as straight as you can get it. Double check your gathers, making sure they are even. Last chance!


(Make sure your machine is set back to your normal stitch length!!)
Slowly sew *just* to the right of your gathering stitches, going to the other side will cause your gathering stitches to show through. Make sure the fabric is straight and nothing is tucked under funny as you go along. This will make sure your ruffle is straight when you flip it over.

Take your pins out, flip it over, and tug just a little. Topstitch as close to the seam as you can. This will make your ruffle lay down. Go slow, making sure again that your fabric is stright right to left, and not bunched anywhere. Depending on the fabric you use, you may have to manhandle it a bit, almost spreading the ruffle and the fabric to get it to lie flat and straight. Extend your stitching slightly beyond each end of the ruffle.
 

All 3 tiers done!


When your tiers are done, and you are ready to layer your pieces to construct....pin each tier up and away, but on;y have the pins go through the tiers and not the fabric. This will help keep them out of the way when you sew your seam allowance and elastic. I place my pins at an angle with the ball towards the top back of the diaper, so before I turn it right side out, I can open it up, see the pins, and get them out so I don't stab myself with them while turning :) (I leave my opening at the back, some leave the opening at the front, which will be problematic with pinning the ruffles.)


Finished diaper!