ohbrooke

Owen’s First Pictures

I promise this blog isn’t turning into my baby’s blog, or even a kid blog at all, but at 2 weeks old, that’s just where all my attention is at the moment! My good friend Nicole took some adorable photos of Owen. You can see them on her blog, nicolehoxiephotography.blogspot.com.

I also have another giveaway I’ll be posting on Monday!

A Surprise Package Came in the Mail

… An adorable handmade quilt from Natalie Jost.

She made the quilt with her adorable Constellation fabric that she designed. And a keen eye I must say, having kept with our nursery theme: grey and yellow.

Although I’ve never met Natalie, this is what I know about her:

1. Talk about “irons in the fire”… these are a few things that Natalie does {and these are just the ones I know about}

2. As you can see, she is a BRILLIANTLY creative designer. I love everything I’ve seen of hers.

3. She has integrity – it emanates in everything she does.

4. She is quick to help others

5. She is adorable!

Thanks Natalie! We love the quilt!

20 Weeks: What I Know Now

1. All my pants shrunk
2. The popular ‘Kids Meal’ will heretofor be called the “Kids/Prego Meal”. I crave cheese, and kids know how to do cheese right: grilled cheese, mac ‘n cheese, quesadillas…
3. 3 of my good friends are pregnant which is more than awesome. I lent my pre-pregnancy pants to one of my friends so she can wear them DURING her pregnancy, which is less than awesome.
4. After watching several episodes of “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” I’m scared to go to the bathroom.
5. Half-way there and I’ve only gained 8 lbs. {I know, don’t burst my bubble, I’m enjoying it while it lasts}.
6. I have a headache at the same time everyday. Hormones, my doctor says. Only Tylenol or Diet Coke can cure it.
7. My little boy doesn’t like it when I sit down. He leaps into all sorts of acrobatics while I’m at my desk at work, watching television, or doing my precious crossword puzzles. I guess he feels that I should be working on his room instead.
8. That same little boy kicked for what felt like 8 hours straight one day. Toward the end of the day I was feeling annoyed by this constant motion, then cried all night for being a horrible mother who is annoyed when her perfectly healthy baby wants to tell me he’s here and is ready for me to sign him up for team sports.
9. If my pre-pregnancy panties were XL, where do I go from here?
10. I still haven’t puked once. {Did I just jinx myself?}
11. I’ve been having wild dreams. My husband tells me how I talk of all things crazy: giftwrapping and giggling, in the middle of the night.
12. I had a dream that the baby kept sticking his little precious arm out of the top of my shirt so I would hold it because he was scared. He had a name in this dream too! *secret*
13. When I bend over, I emit an involuntary grunt {you were scared of where I was going with that, weren’t you}.
14. I understand crawling babies in jeans, but I just don’t get newborns in jeans… what am I missing? Okay, yes, it’s adorable, but can they really be comfortable with that muffin top? {I know I’m not}
15. I’m in the “honeymoon phase” where, for the most part, I feel normal. I had been feeling crampy and achy for about a week, and it didn’t go away until I tried a pair of maternity pants on in the dressing room. I guess if mom weren’t cramming her roly poly-ness into her normal jeans, this could have been avoided.
16. This week, the ultrasound technician said each one of these phrases: “hyper baby”, “exhibitionist”, “playing with his ***”, “wants to keep showing me his ***”, “is that a gun show?” and then finally, the words I longed to hear: “head size on the smaller end of the spectrum”.

Pant Alteration Tutorial

Preggo pants. *sigh*

I’d love to have some cute ones but I don’t want to spend the money on pants that I’ll wear for less than a year.

My friend gave me these Junior “Jolt” brand jeans that were comfortable, but made me look like a moose {especially paired with a tent-like top}.

So. I. Fixed. Them. I had nothing to lose.

Here’s the before:

Step 1

Put the pants on inside-out. Sit on the ground and take a pen to mark the inside of the leg you want to trim down. You can do anything… boot leg, straight leg, skinny, etc. It was easier to do this sitting down with legs stretched out, rather than standing up. These jeans had cute button pockets that I didn’t want to mess with, which is why I chose the inseam to trim.

Step 2

SEW! Be sure to reinforce the seam in the crotch {ugly word, I know}. My stitching didn’t go all the way to the end of the pantleg, I left the bell shape at the bottom.

Step 3

Trim the excess fabric and flip right side out.

Here’s the result:

And in honor of the great fashionista Maegan…

image from …love Maegan

Guest Post: ohbrooke Baby Shower

Good morning, ohbrooke readers! My name is Jess of MakeunderMyLife, and I’m a blog friend of Brooke. I’m so excited for her and her new baby! Since we live all over the world, coordinating a blogging baby shower in California might be unrealistic (read: impossible). So I had the idea to have a little party for her here on ohbrooke. This way all of us blogging “besties” and readers alike can share in her new adventure.

To participate in Brooke’s baby shower, send your wishes, advice, or tokens of affection for Brooke and her baby. Wishes can take the form of a jpg or comment sent to brooke@ohbrooke.com with the subject title “OhBaby! Shower”. Or, if you’d like to send a snail mail letter or gift, please download and print the address label below and send her your wish (so she doesn’t accidentally peek). Over the next few weeks, Brooke will collect the emails and thoughts that arrive. And on Saturday October 17, she will open all of our wishes at once – and post about them with links to our sites.

Again, congratulations, Brooke! I am excited for you and your husband. And I know your baby is going to have the coolest nursery on the block.

{To download the mailing label, click the thumbnail below and print!}