Our Big Christmas News!

For those who want to know:






Reed was






























RIGHT!




We're having a GIRL !

And couldn't be more excited!! :)

Musings at 5:30 am

Okay people.

I woke up at 4:30 am.

I kept dreaming it was 8 am, until I think I finally psyched myself into believing it was.

But it wasn't. And it's still not.

I laid in bed for a while, hoping Reed would magically be awake too.

No such luck, just nice even breathing sounds.

I finally decided to get myself up, thinking I could do a few things around the house that needed doing and wouldn't be disturbing to those still sleeping, but who am I kidding?!

Any noise at this hour would more than likely be disturbing.

And so here I sit, wishing it was "that time".

Want to keep me company?

P.S. Thanks to all those who voted for twins in our poll - I accounted for one of those votes, but had no idea I would have joiners.

I can definitely put to rest the idea that we're having twins.

I thought you should know.

Little Nudges in the Right Direction

Merry Christmas From The Bishop Family


I'm sitting here at the computer, reading blogs while the little ones sleep, a little late might I add, when the little being in my tummy started nudging me. A lot. And so I've decided maybe it's the nudge of "why don't you update the blog already?" And here I am. You can all thank the baby in a few months. :)

Christmas is coming. I am mostly ready. I've been thinking a lot lately, seeing as how my belly is growing, about things I love and hate about pregnancy. But mostly, I've been reading a lot about belly bands and I think I've decided I need to try these things out. So if you see my husband, could you let him know that for Christmas I would like one? You can find them at Target! :) I would like white. ;)

Aftyn is growing up a lot lately! Maybe it's because we're requiring of her to act a little more grown up, but she is saying more words, speaking and not just repeating us in more and more things and just acting so very grown up! She is going to be 19 months tomorrow, but it seems so quick for her to be acting so mature. I like it and it makes me a little sad. All at the same time.

Reed is working as hard as ever, still fixing and putting in scales. He and I both got new callings this past month. He will no longer be the ward mission leader, he is now the 2nd counselor in the Sunday School Presidency. This means no more evenings during the week gone, no more early morning Sunday meetings. We sure get to see a whole lot more of him, and we're not used to it but we like it!
My new calling is to be a CTR 8 teacher - is that right? Anyway, all I know is I teach 8 year old boys and girls and a lot of the boys I know from my old calling in scouts! That's kinda nice since I felt a little sad about leaving scouts. I am really excited to have a Sunday calling as this will fit better with my life right now.
I promise to have some fun postings coming up, I've just been feeling kind of blah lately. My mindset has been, "Christmas is coming too fast, Christmas is coming too slow, it doesn't feel like Christmas," and round and round. I blame it on hormones.

Either way, I am feeling more prepared now and so I am excited for Christmas. Excited to get to spend lots of time with family and making memories with them and excited to watch Aftyn this year enjoy Christmas a little bit more than last year. I'm most of all excited to spend Christmas morning with my own little family, feeling loved and loving them and finding out what our future holds (pink or blue? ? ?).

May you all have a Merry Christmas!

Pearls of Wisdom From A Cub Scout

As we were walking outside in a group of 5 eight year old scouts with me pushing Aftyn in a stroller,

one of the boys shouted out, "somebody tooted"

which of course was followed by a volley of "not me!".

One of the boys walking by me turned and shared this little pearl with me.

"When you toot outside, then nobody can smell it."

The things I learn from 8 year old boys.

Moments From Last Week

Sweet rosy cheeks

My craft project for last week - made these 4 stockings out of 1 sweater from the DI.

I'm Reaching . . . But I Can't Quite Get It!

Dear World,

Christmas is coming. Faster than I want and slower than I want.

We get to see the baby on the 23rd for our "big" ultrasound.

But we are REALLY waiting until Christmas to find out
if we're right with our gender predictions this time around.

I'm going to laugh my head off if we're wrong AGAIN !

(We'll just have our hopefully helpful ultrasound tech write down what we're having and slip it into a VERY thick envelope that will be opened on Christmas morning.)

That's kind of on my mind a lot.

That and my growing belly.

Oh yeah, and the big/little girl who is a little oblivious to what's going on with Mommy.

She is growing and changing and is so much fun.

All these things and a WHOLE lot more seem to be taking up too much of my time.

And I feel like my life is too boring to be interesting to people who want to read something newsy

on our blog.

Here's my big news: I've got nothing.

We're doing well,

we're having fun,

we're really excited for Christmas,

we're living life

and trying to enjoy ourselves where it seems appropriate.

And we're thanking our Heavenly Father for each minute of our

somewhat boring,

sometimes exciting,

always full of blessings

life.

A Creative Idea Comes To Fruition

I've been thinking about this project for a few weeks.

Ever since the creation of Aftyn sized sweaters, I wanted something for them to go with.

I imagined up this cute and flouncy grey skirt.

I looked in lots of stores, but never found what I wanted.

Today I just decided to go for it.

I looked online for patterns, but found NOTHING.

So I made up my own pattern and created this:

Gotta say, it turned out just how I wanted

but going into it I didn't have 100% faith that I could pull it off.

Glad to know I CAN create something purely out of the imaginings of my mind.

Post Edit:

I was going to write up a tutorial on how to do this.

I didn't get very far and it was getting very complicated.

If you want to sew something cute LIKE the skirt I just made,

click on a super cute tutorial here .

Aftyn Wants To Be A Helper

Aftyn has picked up a new skill and word lately, all taught with the help of her Daddy.

She is a "helper".

Several times a day, should you drop something or need something picked up,

Miss Aftyn drops everything she's doing,

toddles over saying "helper" or "help you",

and picks up your needed item with a big smile on her face.

It is so cute, and even cuter because of the big smile she has afterward.

Last night after helping unload the bottom part of the dishwasher,

Reed decided to utilize Aftyn in loading the silverware back into the dishwasher.

Here are some pictures of it all:

Daddy? Daddy, I'm ready!

Okay Aftyn, go put these over there

*pointing finger*

Yay!


I'm a helper!


It went on until it was almost completely loaded,
and Aftyn was starting to lick the silverware before she loaded it.
Yuck. :) But funny!

Weird Things At The Grocery Store

Anybody else ever notice the birds that fly around inside WinCo Foods?

They freak me out and fly so quickly that I think maybe it's just my imagination,

until I see another one out of the corner of my eye.

Can it be a good idea having birds fly around fresh produce?

In case you have never seen them, they are generally ONLY in the produce section.

This has been deep thoughts on Monday Morning.

Tune in next time to that popular question:

why DOES my husband leave almost empty

jars of jam in the back of the fridge?

This Never Happens

And that's how you KNOW she is sick

That Promised Post

Let's start with Aftyn's big announcement . . . . . . . .

she became the proud new recipient of a big girl bed!

(This is today at naptime - I covered her up after this picture)

This is my old twin bed with a new re-covered headboard.

This was one of the projects I started and finished last week.

So cute - I love the argyle look of it.

One of my old favorite sweaters got a big hole in it last year,

and since I decided I couldn't part with it, I made 2 Aftyn sized

sweaters from it. They are SO cute on her!

Oh, and before I forget, one more project.

This is one I've worked on the longest,

sweated over,

agonized,

I even lay in bed at night sometimes thinking about it.

It will still probably need a lot more work

but it's definitely coming along . . . .

A Little Teaser!

My camera is missing . . . I think it's taking a mini-vacation at my in-laws house.

Good thing, because when it gets back I will not be giving that thing a vacation for awhile.

We have had some big things happening at our house with Aftyn and

some pretty cool projects being finished in record time!

And with all these ideas swimming in my head for Christmas still,

well it's Project Time in the Bishop household.

Hopefully that means projects around my house and projects for Christmas.

And be sure to come here on Monday for that all-important reveal as to my

household projects I've whipped through and our exciting news about Aftyn!!

Happy Halloween!

Gotta love her, runny nose and all !

Just For Laughs

No Aftyn's were harmed in the taking of this photograph.

It was only over her face for a few seconds, while she was laughing,

and then we pulled it back off.

Random Dream

I had the most random dream last night.
I went to work at a new job, and found one of my old co-workers
who had been a great friend to me in real life was my new co-worker.
In my dream, I asked her about her life.
We talked, she had made a lot of good changes in her life.
In real life, I have thought a lot of about this woman.
I wonder if I had this dream for a reason.
If not for a reason, why do I remember it so well?
If you have an opinion, please share.

Overheard at Bedtime

As Reed put Aftyn to bed the other night, he sang her this song:

" I love you, you love me

with a knick knack paddy whack

give a dog a bone,

this old man came rolling home."


It's all about the thought, right?

I was laughing so hard in the other room when Reed came walking in from putting her to bed. He laughed too after I straightened him out about the two songs he had just combined. What a funny guy and what a sweet dad.

Growing Up

For about the last 3 weeks or so, I have taken to singing to Aftyn when I lay her down to sleep at night. I sing her a primary song or songs I heard when I was little. This generally helps if she's upset to be going to bed, or just brings a smile to her little face. Either way it has very pleasing effects.

Also within the last month or so, I acquainted her with the fact that we have a picture of Jesus on our wall in our frontroom. We have talked about and looked at pictures of Jesus many times, but now it seems she has a ready tongue to say his name and a memory that keeps it fresh in her little mind.

Many times in the last few weeks, I have found her looking at this picture and moments later she will announce to me who it is. "Jesus". She gets a little excited when we recognize that she is saying his name.

What do these 2 things share in common?

Today while having some friends of Aftyn over, I decided to entertain them all with a few primary songs played on my guitar. One of the songs happened to be, "Jesus wants me for a sunbeam." In the middle of singing this song for these little girls, Aftyn says "Jesus!" She had recognized his name in the song. And then tonight while putting her to bed, I decided to try it again and see if she would notice and sang the same song for her. Even with a mouth full of binky, I recognized the word "Jesus" as it came out of her little mouth in the middle of my song.

I can't help thinking she still remembers him, can you?

Monday Monday

Pretty much sums up what we'd all like to do, hmm?

Put our arms over our eyes and go back to sleep. :)

Some of my finished projects from this month

Here at long last is that picture of my headboard attached to my bed as it should be.

We have had it up for awhile, and I have to say it's nice to have.

Makes the whole room look a lot more "together".

Here is part of my kitchen window over my sink.

I have had the flowery part of the curtain up for a long time, but felt it needed something more. I found some really nice already sewn curtains at the DI a few weeks back and they came with this fabulous piece of cloth that matched that I sewed into this gathered stripey curtain.

The pre-made curtains will go over my back door, so all the matching fabrics will be in the same room.

Looks nice!

I fussed and fidgeted with these curtains, and now the gathering looks more even and the curtain fills out the whole window on the sides.

Projects for next month? I think it's time to start preparing for Christmas, and that means I won't be sharing most of my projects on here. :) It will just have to wait for Christmas!

Do You Think She Liked It?

It's In My Blood

I married into a family with sugarbeet history. And so occasionally I like to sing this song from my childhood for my husband, who didn't really believe it existed. '>.

I apologize in advance for the amount of time you might continue singing this song. :)

Can I Borrow A Cup of . . . . . Nicotine Sticks?

I strive to be that neighbor that you can borrow things from, especially if I know you.

Sugar, butter, milk, eggs

No Problem.

But today, I actually had to turn a person down.

Because my elderly neighbor wanted to know if I could spare a few cigarettes.

I never saw that one coming !

Making Great Strides

Remember when she was this small and cute?

Aftyn has been doing so many new things lately, I knew I needed to document some of the big changes she's been making.

Now that she's a week away from turning 16 months, here's what she's been up to:

-Finally gaining enough weight to go into a new carseat. Yay!

- Started feeding herself with a spoon this week, she is so proud of herself and likes doing it so much she even tries new foods on her own just because she likes putting the spoon in her mouth .

- When asked, she can say the sounds for a horse, a cow, a dog , and a cat! Normally, we look at pictures and she can do their sounds, so I was completely blown away when she did it without pictures.

- She loves it when she can do new things on her own, such as feeding herself with a spoon.

- She tells on herself when she's getting into something she shouldn't. She says "no no" as she is just about to do what she's not supposed to do. Pretty funny.

- She just got her first molar in last week.

- Some of the words she says actually make sense with what she's doing. This morning, while feeding herself oatmeal, she said "yummy".

I'm sure there's lots and lots more things that I am not thinking of because I see it all the time. She is so fun to be around, except when she's teething. She is a happy little thing, and is so entertaining. We sure do love our Aftyn girl.

Sorry about no new pictures, but I can't remember where our camera is. I better go find it.

Can You Relate?

Watch '>this

Who doesn't love DIY projects?!

Sorry, I forgot to take a "before" picture when it was still all intact.

This is what it looked like after I took out the metal leaf looking thing out of that open space, and I sprayed the oak color over with this reddish primer.

Here we see it's new hue, a beautiful mahogany color!

And the finished product, with a beautiful fabric insert complete with some cool buttons.

Here's a close-up of the fabric - I love how it accents the color of the headboard and it also matches our comforter on our bed! It's only held in by some cardboard and some tacks on the back, so it's easy to change the fabric any old time I want to!

I love it!!

Daddy's Girl

Please don't mind the blurriness - my camera has issues

Sewing projects of the past re-visited

Long ago before Aftyn came into this world, Reed and I bought a nice bed set from one of the stores at the mall that was going out of business. We spent a nice chunk of change and so were loathe to spend more money on matching pillows and the like. So instead I went to our closest fabric store and purchased a pillow with some lovely upholstery fabric to cover it in that matched our new comforter. It will match our headboard which we will also someday put together when we get all the right things and we will cover it in the rest of the upholstery fabric so it will all match. Lovely right?!

Here is Aftyn modeling our new "bolster pillow" which will now grace our bed. It was a fairly quick project, going together in the time Aftyn takes a nap. Yay!

And Our Big Thanks Goes Out To:

This Guy!

Thanks for making your big entrance last 2 whole months. Could you send your buddy along sometime soon?

Meet Alysa

Yes, that really is this Barbie look-alike's name. My twin sister gave her to me for Christmas when I was a teenager. Who wouldn't like a barbie doll named for them for Christmas, I ask you?

Except see, there are a lot of differences between my namesake and me.

She has much better looking legs, owns more short skirts and hats and purses, and wears more dramatic and daring clothes than I ever would.

She has calf-length hair! I'm not sure I would EVER want to grow my hair that long.

I'm glad that I am not in any way shape or form like my barbie.

I'm not sure I could keep up with such high high standards of living.

Or that I would be happy doing so.

"Ba-ba"

We are at that fun stage where we are searching for the perfect sippy cup to replace Aftyn's bottle for her milk. We haven't as of yet been able to find that oh so elusive "perfect" sippy for her. We've only tried 2 cups, so I guess there are still quite a few options out there.

Tonight as Aftyn started to feel tired, she told me what she wanted. "Ba-ba". And so the search began. She is in the habit of placing her bottle anywhere she finishes it which can sometimes be hard to find. It doesn't help that we only have one. So a few times a week when not easily seen, we go looking for her bottle. I generally wander around, calling "ba-ba" so Aftyn knows I'm not slacking off, just walking away from her needs. If I don't let it be known why I'm walking away from her, fantastic fits have been known to happen.

As we were searching with me calling out "Ba-ba", Aftyn followed suit probably a total of 4-5 times which in and of itself was quite endearing and totally new for her. We looked in all the rooms and in the last room I quickly scanned the room not seeing what we were looking for. I turned around, only to see Aftyn bending down, reaching for that special something that was her hearts desire!

This has never happened before, and I really didn't think Aftyn even connected what I was saying for what we were looking for. Who knew 1 year olds really ARE that smart?!

By the way if you have any sippy cup suggestions we are open to hearing them!

And thanks for enduring my illustrations of the whole event. I thought I would heed my sisters suggestion to me earlier about illustrating my own stories. And I would suggest to all - use markers, not crayons. :)

A Quick Bedtime Story . . . .

Once upon a time, there was a little princess and her name was . . . . . . Sophia.
(Sounds princess-y right?)

One day her mommy the queen went away on a little weekend trip to help a neighboring castle throw one heck of a shindig reception for a recently married niece. Her mommy the queen had to leave princess Sophia with her very dependable father King Daddy.

While Mommy the queen was away, princess Sophia and King Daddy had so much fun that Sophia forgot all about mommy. And started to make funny "roar" sounds just like King Daddy when he played with princess Sophia.

Finally Mommy the queen came home and took princess Sophia out of her car seat while King Daddy watched. Sophia wouldn't even LOOK at Mommy the queen, she just kept staring at King Daddy as if to say "who is this weird lady, I don't seem to remember her."

Mommy the queen took princess Sophia in the house and set her in her lap and hugged and kissed her and reminded her how much she loved her until princess Sophia began to hop up and down on her lap, clearly showing how excited she was that Mommy the queen whom she suddenly remembered was home.

But from that day on, princess Sophia certainly seemed to become a King Daddy's girl. And she liked to "roar" a lot in a gravely voice.


The End

I love mornings

Our future seamstress, she somehow managed to get herself in this position into my sewing basket. Hilarious!

I hear a little voice babbling, sometimes impatient and occasionally crying. All signifying a wonderful morning about to begin.

I swoop into the room and talk to my little one, with smiles on my face as she staggers to her feet and walks to me in her "i-just-woke-up" wobbily way.



I pull out the binky in order to hear her words more clearly. Just as I thought, it's gibberish. Silly girl.



As we make our way to the kitchen, I talk to her and she looks at me with sleepies in her eyes and only half understanding what I'm saying until I get to her favorite word. "Do you want a baba?" "Baba" she says back. In fact most days she keeps saying it until I present it to her, full of that wonderful white liquid which is her hearts delight.



I put her down so that I can make myself a bowl of cereal. After I measure it all out, careful to keep track of what I put in my bowl, we wander wherever we feel. Today it is to the computer so I can catch up on my readings. My little Aftyn follows me, her little legs walking quickly to keep up with mine.



I plop myself in the chair, and begin to eat as I read.

A little body pressed against my knees and an impatient look on that face and I know: I had forgotten to share.



In an effort to save myself some time and to get Aftyn to try new things, I had recently been sharing my cereal bowls contents. I doled out a few spoonfuls to her waiting mouth, unsure of her enjoyment. And yet she stays, wanting more and as much as I will share. When the bowl is empty only then does she turn back to her ba-ba.



I love mornings like these. I want to always remember these sweet moments we share where we spend these moments together, sharing and snuggling and all is very very sweet. And so I write this today, so that I can remember.

Because even on good days, these moments don't last very long. :)

And it's ALL because of my sister Laura . .

Last night while talking to my sister Laura on the phone about what she was wearing to our niece's wedding this weekend, I suddenly had a burst of inspiration for the skirt I should wear.

I was so excited I hurriedly got off the phone with her to go and peruse my closet for an old pair of pants that I never wear anymore. I'm sure we all have a pair like that, right?


I found a pair of work pants I had never really liked and had only worn maybe 3-4 times. They had huge legs and a little waist and most of all they were from Walmart and had been on sale when I bought them. Possibly even clearance.


Ever seen those jean skirts that girls made out of an old pair of jeans? That is exactly where my thoughts led me on the phone with my sister.


I took that old pair of pants and I cut the inseam of both legs all the way up to the zipper and all the way in the back just above the part where there is extra fabric to make room for your tush. Luckily, these pants were made of a stretchy, linen-y type of fabric, so my seam ripper worked its magic in about 10 minutes.




I cut the pant legs just below the knee, leaving myself some room to sew under some of the fabric for the bottom of the skirt I was about to make, took the extra fabric I just cut off, added it back to the middle where the legs don't meet with some pins, and away I went with my sewing machine which I was rejoicing and thanking my mother for more and more. Thanks for that awesome Christmas gift so long ago!!


And here's what I came up with:

Complete with a cute little bow!

I came up with that idea while looking at all the scraps I had leftover.

Yesterday's Project

I bought this cute little sleeveless dress a few months back at a garage sale - and my niece getting married this weekend is the perfect excuse for Aftyn to wear it.

I decided to sew in sleeves and make my life easier

not having to find a white shirt that would look good underneath.

My mom ( oh ye of little faith ) asked me how I was going to sew the sleeves in,

as if it couldn't be done. Well I showed you! :) lol

Actually, it looks a lot better than even I imagined.

Must have been a blessing for me.

Yay for projects working out the way you want them too!

For Alyson

So you can see how tall it is, it hits right below my knees