23 Weeks Pregnant

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Baby is rolling, kicking and punching like crazy! Shawn feels him or her very often now and we can see the jabs on the outside, too. Baby is definitely getting bigger; the kicks s/he sends me directly to my pelvis bone feel so heavy and strong, especially compared to the little pokes and flutters of weeks gone by. I also enjoy gently pressing against one side of my belly and feeling the other end of the baby poke out the other side of my belly. S/he is getting so much longer!
I am so glad for the reassurance I get from the movements and for the connection it makes me feel to the baby... even though I am still in heavy denial that all mammals give live birth to a baby of their likeness.

We're still getting ready for baby; we may have picked a blue nursery paint color! I also can't stop myself from working my baby hoodie pattern into a stack of hoodies so I started making bigger sizes, like 18-month for after the baby is (gasp!) 1 year old and needs sweaters. Here's a swatch!

50 Shades of... Blue

I am virtually sitting in a pile of paint strips. All of them are blue.
I say virtually because they're all in a pile on the Pinterest Baby board.

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No, we didn't have another ultrasound and see anything... We just like blue. My nursery was blue and I just really love the look of it with the rug for the baby room we bought, so blue is the color we'll paint the walls.

If you all would be so kind as to stroll through the colors below and vote on one at the end, it would be very appreciated!
Here is the reference photo of the rug:

Now scroll!


Impromptu Blue by Sherwin Willaims
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Resonant Blue by Sherwin Williams
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Paddington Blue by Benjamin Moore
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Dazzle by Sherwin Williams
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Blue Dragon by Benjamin Moore
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Flyway by Sherwin Williams
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Dynamic Blue by Sherwin Williams
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 And vote!

Which Blue do you like best?
	Impromptu
	Resnonant Blue
	Paddington Blue
	Dazzle
	Blue Dragon
	Flyway
	Dynamic Blue
pollcode.com free polls

It's Friday, I'm in LoVE... still!!! #40

It's been about 10 weeks since I posted one of these! Oh well!

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Today I Love me because:

1. I am in LOVE with my big belly! It's soooo cute! I want to feel like this towards my dry, peely pregnant face too.
2. I cooked dinner everyday last week and some days of this week!
3. I am getting serious about pattern writing and selling my crochet stuff.
4. I drink lots of water.
5. I'm being much nicer to myself than I used to be before.

Have a nice weekend and leave a comment below telling me what you're loving about YOU this week!

Free Sloper Pattern by HiLLjO - Baby Hoodie with Zip

Baby Hoodie Blocked Pattern by HiLLjO

If you would like to purchase the full pattern with written crochet instructions for each piece, please visit my etsy store! Thank you.
Otherwise, feel free to use the pattern below to make your own fabric, fleece, knit or crochet hoodie of your choice! Enjoy!

For Crochet: Gauge – G6 Hook with Worsted Weight Yarn or other hook necessary to maintain Gauge

4dc/in.

3 rows dc/in.

Measurements needed for custom garment sizing:

Head Circumference and Height

Belly/Chest Circumference

Neck to Back Length

Average measurements for 6-9 month olds (courtesy of Bev Qualheim)

Head: 16 in. around; 7 ½ in. tall

Chest/Belly: 17 to 19 in. around

Back Length: about 9 in.

Sleeves for babies under 1 year old usually measure 9 to 10 in. long. Fist Circumference is about 5 ½ in.

To get measurements for all blocked pieces shown below (except adult sleeve), calculate the following:

Width of Front pieces: Divide chest/belly measurement by 4 (ex. 6-9 mo. size Front pieces are 4 ½ in.).

Width of Back piece: Divide chest/belly measurement in half (ex. 6-9 mo. size Back piece is 9 in. wide).

Length of Hood:  equal to height of head multiplied by 2, plus 2 in. (ex. 6-9 mo. size Hood is 16 in. long).

Width of Hood:  equal to ¾ the measurement of the head’s circumference, divided in half (ex. 6-9 mo. size Hood is 6” wide).

Width of Sleeve on “Arm Pit” side: equal to length of Front/Back pieces (ex. 6-9 mo. size Sleeve is 9 in. wide on “arm pit” side).

Length of Sleeve along seam: For babies 6 mo. to 1 year, this is 9 to 10 in. on average.

Width of Sleeve for Wrist Opening: 5 ½ in. across on average.

Blocked Pieces – General Shapes (not to scale)

To assemble you will need:

Both Front pieces, 1 Back piece, 2 Sleeves and 1 Hood piece
Yarn needle
Matching Yarn
Scissors
Separating- or Coil-style zipper which matches the length of your Front opening

Front/Back Pieces

Arrange Front and Back pieces as shown in diagram.

 Align and pin zipper in the center of the two front pieces. Make sure zipper tape is on the “inside” of the Front pieces and pin through the front. Sew each side of zipper tape to each Front side of hoodie with needle and thread. Remove pins.

With RS facing, line up shoulder corners B & C on Front and Back, sew B to B and C to C along seam lines with yarn needle and yarn. Weave in ends and set aside. 

Sleeves 

Fold Sleeve piece in half (D to D; E to E) and sew along length from E to D with yarn and yarn needle. Weave in ends and leave long tail of yarn. Turn inside out to show RS.

Repeat for other Sleeve.

  

To attach sleeves, first place markers in each Sleeve piece at top shoulder and bottom “arm pit” as shown.

Place markers on Front/Back piece at top shoulders. Match each Sleeve’s shoulders with the Front/Back piece shoulders. Place markers in Front/Back piece where “arm pit” markers line up (about halfway down length of Front/Back piece).

Arrange pieces as follows: 

Lay Front piece RS up. Lay Sleeves with RS out with shoulder and “arm pit” markers lining up to outside seam with wrists facing in toward zipper. Lay Back piece WS up on top. Pile should appear as below (Sleeves shown as though Back piece were “see-through” in dashed lines):

Sew each Sleeve to Front/Back piece making sure to only go through the sleeve and Front OR Back layer so as not to sew the sleeve shut.

Hood

Fold the Back piece in half to find top-center stitch and place marker as shown.

Take hood piece and with right sides facing, fold A to A and sew along seam with yarn needle and yarn. Turn out so RS faces out and seam is hidden inside hood.

Weave in ends and leave a long tail of yarn. Set aside.

With RS of both Hood and Back pieces facing, line this marker up with the center seam sewn down back of hood. Evenly sew hood to back piece (and down onto Front piece’s shoulder areas) with yarn needle and yarn.



Please do not use all or portions of this pattern in any other pubication without linking to this site and giving me credit for my work. Please see the full license deed for this pattern before distributing/sharing. Thank you!

Green Crochet Zip Baby Hoodie by HiLLjO

I'm at it again.

This is the first zipper I've ever installed and it looks and works fabulously. I'm very proud!
The design came to me in one of my dreams where baby was a chunky-cheeked little blonde baby girl. I held her up and she smiled big at me (later I realized the baby looks like me when I smile big) with big, green eyes and she was wearing this hoodie. I doubted I'd ever find this hoodie so I made it.
FREE BLOCKED PATTERN IS HERE!!!
See all the crochet baby projects here!

21 Week Pregnant Belly Shot

21 Weeks Pregnant



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I've always thought the stork was an unbelievable and dim explanation as to where babies came from. However, since becoming pregnant I could accept that strange tale now as more realistic than the fact that a human is going to pop out of me soon... the concept is just so weird to me that sometimes I'm still in denial that I'm growing our baby and s/he will be here because I will birth it. I have seen the ultrasound photos and I feel the kicks, but it's so surreal that I can't wrap my mind around the fact. I only rationally accept that this will happen because, well, that's the way babies get here. It still just won't sink in.
Speaking of kicks: baby kicks me a lot these days and I think s/he gets the hiccups more often than I have been suspecting as well. Sometimes I'll think s/he's kicking me over and over in the same spot but lately I have begun to think these may be elbows/knees moving as baby hiccups... kind of adorable. S/he will also poke and kick me back when I prod my ever-growing belly or when I play music for him or her.

Shawn has the baby's room all cleared out and it's just about ready for paint! We're going to have a blue nursery like I had when I was a baby. I just love the calm, chill look of blue nurseries and it will coordinate really well with the rug we picked out a few weeks ago. You can check out the visual plans for the baby room on the Pinterest board I have made. It's so cute!

We'll keep you posted!

20 Weeks + Ultrasound!

Today I am so much more relaxed than I was in the last 4 weeks. It was a great comfort to see our little baby bouncing, kicking and flailing its fists looking all healthy and "perfect" as the doctor said.

Reminds us of Rodin's "The Thinker."



Baby's body from the front (head is on the left. See the eyes?)

Look at those toes! NOMNOMNOM babytoes!

Here's baby's face! What a sweetie!  

Baby wouldn't show the ultrasound tech its bits so thank goodness we didn't want to know the sex! Baby was comfy with its bum in my lower hip area and wouldn't move for all the prodding in the world. We have a very wild, stubborn, and modest baby. What a combo!

I did get to ask the doctor all about everything that has been freaking me out and she was able to assure me that we have no risk factors for any issues like preterm labor and advised that I just enjoy the next two months before I get huge and uncomfortable. I think I'm going to do just that.

Here's the belly as of now! Pardon the photo-booth style hilarity.

19-20 Week Update

It's been a week and a half since I've posted... I just can't think of what to post sometimes. I'm going through a high-stress period. I don't want to be negative or share anyone else's life-happenings even if they affect mine. Someone very close to us lost their baby right before the due-date just after Christmas and last week was about trying to relax and stay calm while supporting them as well.

We really got whammied the 10 days after Christmas: Christmas dinner at our house; the bad news I just shared above; New Year's; my 120th day of Pregnancy; and the funeral closed the week.
We had massages last Wednesday to try to prepare and relax so I'd be in a space that was good for the baby's soul on Thursday but I wasn't able to get comfortable and I just worried the whole time about being face down (even with the hole in the table), being too hot, etc. I also endured getting kicked  for an hour while the curious baby inside me attempted to find out what the massage table was exactly. I actually hurt more now (especially my hips) from tensing up constantly and trying to hold myself in a position that didn't hurt... which hurt more. I'm kind of mad about it; not at the massage place but just at the experience. If Shawn hadn't enjoyed his massage I'd consider all that money wasted.

I think I'm just really overwhelmed; we don't have anything for the baby and my plans for a homebirth kind of just went down the drain yesterday--the midwife won't come to this state for quite a while--and I don't blame her. So it's like I'm halway done cooking this baby (pray for no preterm labor, which is my current obsession-fear) and just starting out preparing for it. I'm stressed.

The bright side: I (finally) successfully made booties...

AND 

my friend & due-date partner Kim at Party Frosting! is having a little boy!!! YAY!