Baby Baby Baby...

I feel like I haven't talked much about the pregnancy... There's not really much to say, yet. But I am getting into the swing of things and revived another abandoned project. I'm currently trying to finish (I have until July) this baby quilt:

It's been so fun to find all these old projects and actually have time to work on them. Especially since we've had a couple snow days!

Keeping the Heat In.

Brandon suggested curtains to keep the heat in. I suggested he cough up some cash so we could go shopping. Brandon suggested we go to the Goodwill, find some sheets and I get working on my sewing machine. Hey... I'm not one to argue. Here are Finn's curtains. Made from an embroidered duvet cover ($3.99) and part of a striped flat sheet ($2.99). Not bad for a couple days work. I'll post the curtains for our room once I get them done. Which, as of right now, may have to wait until after Christmas gift sewing is done.

Finger Painting!

Yep. More ornaments. Only these are Christmas gifts, so I'll show you the end result after the holiday! Sorry!

Snow Ball Fight!

Ok, not the most enthusiastic display of snow-ball violence, but he got the hang of it, and tried his best. We went out RIGHT after breakfast and enjoyed the snow with our friends Skye and Conor.


Luckily Brandon and Finn got outside BEFORE the snow and put the snow tires on the car. This is what Brandon's been waiting for. A kiddo that can help him with boy stuff.

From the Depths of the Hall Closet...

Come old projects that I've decided to try and finish. Here's the first, which we may be needing sooner than later with snow in the forecast. I started this quilt for our bed about a year or more ago and haven't had the chance to really get some serious work done on it. I decided with the huge off white expanse, I'd hand quilt it together with colored floss. It looks pretty good so far. I'll definitely update as things progress. Luckily we only have a full sized bed.

Seattle Snow!

I'm always amazed when it snows IN Seattle. Why? Well...

1. It always seems to snow around Seattle. Not actually in the city.
2. When it does snow it happens at night. Which means it is almost always gone by morning and Finn misses it entirely.

However, we have a couple inches, and it's still coming down. So hopefully Finn will be able to get out there in the morning and quickly request to come back inside!

Cookies!

Yep. We made Christmas cookies in our pajamas. That's really the best way to do it, isn't it?

More Ornament Making

I've realized in getting a Christmas tree, that we'd probably need some ornaments for it. So our house has been a little ornament factory the past week. Finn and I made about 6 or 7 felt wreaths the other day, but on a 7 foot tree they don't take up much space. So I got on the google machine and looked for some ideas and found this Salt Dough Recipe. Pretty simple, and a fun painting activity for the kiddo (and the Mom and Dad!). Here's what we came up with:

Christmas Tree "Shopping"

There was a lot of controversy this year over our Christmas tree. Live tree (which we've done the past couple years so we can plant them when the holiday is over), No tree at all, Re-using our tree from last year that still hasn't been planted. The discussions and disagreements ended with my pregnancy neurosis taking over and demanding a cut tree. So we went to the tree lot, and then another and found our tree.

"Shopping"...HA!!! I was actually looking for a tree... Finn and Brandon were looking for the best ways to run through them. It was more like a fun maze for the boys than a search for the perfect tree. But it was a good time!

Going a Little Holiday Craft Crazy

I saw a photo from a magazine of some little felt square wreaths on Belladia, and decided that Finn and I could make some (or something similar) as holiday decorations. Which, I've realized, are sorely lacking in our house. Well... truthfully, I made them, Finnegan took them apart. But it was still fun to spend some crafty time together. So Here's a little tutorial so you can make your own.



Materials:

Pipe cleaners
A Bunch of random colors of craft felt
Scissors
A smaller than usual hole punch
Ribbon if you like it

1. Pick out a bunch of different colors of craft felt. You can also use felted sweaters like the one on Belladia, or fancy expensive wool felt, or probably any other type of fabric you like... you'll just get a different, and probably just as fun result.

2. Cut a bunch of every color into a bunch of little squares (mine were approx. 1/2 - 3/4 inch square.

3. I have a really small hole punch that I used, but I'm sure you can use a needle or some other way to punch holes in each of the squares.

4. Start threading the pipecleaner through the holes of all the little squares of felt. Squish them on there snug!

5. Keep going until the wreath is the size you prefer. It takes a LOT of little squares!

6. Twist the ends together and clip the extra pipecleaner off. Add ribbon if you like. Make a ton and decorate your whole house. I'm planning on putting them on my tree.... when we get our tree.

What Now?

Well, first off, a little catch up with everything that's gone on in the past month.

Brandon returned from his trip to Colorado and took a BUNCH of pics. Here's one of the bridge (in progress) and my fave of B.


We went up to Snoqualmie Pass with the Mc-Inlaws and Mc-Cousins and The Family Scott for a fun filled weekend of playing in the rain and sharing a 400 square foot studio between 11 people. Crowded? Yes. But fun all the same. Here's the kids warming up and calming down after a walk:


Thanksgiving was great. We got a chance to see everyone in the family within the 4 day weekend and were welcomed to everyone's home with wonderful fooooood! A few days before however, we all headed to see my nephew Eddie's elementary school holiday performance. We even got a shot of the whole family after...(which doesn't happen often enough)


And here's a preview of what I'm working on now that I'm not making hats (whew.) Stay tuned for more details!

One Last HAT Hurrah...

Before I completely give up, I've gotta get rid of the rest of my hat stock. Come check out Urban Craft Uprising this weekend if you're in Seattle. Click on the poster for more info...

I've Done it Now...

This morning I officially closed my Etsy shop. After a long evaluation over the past few months, I've decided it's for the best. My priorities had changed in a way I really didn't like... customers came first when I knew that Finnegan and the Belly McG needed to be in that place. Rushing around trying to get orders completed when we could have been at the zoo. Heading to the post office, when we could have been coloring. Answering emails instead of going to the park. There's too much unnecessary worry that comes along with running a happenin' hat biz on the internet, and right now the extra weight is something I really don't need in my life.

Now I have time to create and sew things for all the kiddos in our life.

I may reopen someday. But for today and tomorrow, it's Finn and Me, Me and Finn and a bunch of fun times ahead.

Hand Turkey

Finnegan's first "Hand Turkey". He traced mom's hand, and then chose colors and drew eyes, beak, feet, and even some food for the turkey to eat. What a nice boy.

Imagine.

Finnegan is amazing. His imagination has really blossomed lately and it's been hilarious to witness. Here's a few examples:

1. Last night I was making dinner and Finn was watching. I told him that I should go get a jacket because I was cold. He replied, "I make you a fire Mommy!" He got down from the chair he was standing on and proceeded to collect imaginary firewood from all over the house and then piled it together and started a "fire" for me on the kitchen floor. I just stood there in amazement. What amazed me even more was how gentle he was putting imaginary bandaids on my leg when I stepped through the fire on my way to the other room.

2.Last night again... We went through Finn's normal bedtime routine: Pajamas, brushing teeth, washing face and hands, saying goodnight to Darby, picking a story and hopping into bed. When he said goodnight to Darby, he asked, "What about Daddy?". This was the first time he's mentioned saying goodnight to Brandon, since he's been gone, so I rolled with it. I told Finn to yell "GOODNIGHT DADDY!!!" as loud as he could and maybe then he would hear it in Colorado and yell back. Finn yelled as loud as he could but we didn't get a response. I told him Daddy was probably already in bed and we'd try again in the morning. This morning I woke up to Finn yelling, "GOOD MORNING DADDY!!!! I'M AWAKE!!!!!" I didn't realize what he was doing, so I went in his room to ask him and he said he was "Yelling at Colorado".

3. Monsters. Lots of stuff about Monsters. But I'll save this for another post soon.

Cute kid.

Ugh...

Why on earth am I awake at 4 am, you ask? Darby dog woke me, and when I tried to tell her to go back to sleep and then tried to roll over and go back to sleep myself, Nugget (our surviving chicken) called out and woke me even more. I jumped out of bed in panic mode. Not only panicking at the idea that something is after our only surviving chicken, but panicking that I'm going to have to deal with the mess left behind and the culprits who have done the dirty work. Brandon loves this kinda crap and he's in Colorado until Sunday. Where's the flashlight? Brandon didn't use a flashlight... wait! Where's his headlamp thingy that he used when this happened last time? Am I wearing shoes? Where the heck are my shoes? Why does this have to be happening during a storm? Do Raccoons even hunt during storms? The answer to that last one.... NO. BIG FAT NO.

Our stupid little hen, Nugget, didn't get up onto her perch last night and is sleeping on the ground in the least protected corner of the chicken coop. There is a storm, she's getting wet, and she's letting me (and Darby, who's still freaking out that there's a big hairy animal outside for her to chase and bark at) know that she doesn't like the wind and rain. Ugh. BIG FAT UGH.

Catch Up

I don't have my camera this week, so I thought this would be a good chance for me to actually write something in my blog. Believe it or not, I did used to write here. Go ahead and look back at the beginning if you don't believe me. Anyway...

Lots going on.

For those of you who haven't heard, Finnegan is going to be a big brother. We just found out a few weeks ago, so it's still a bit new and hasn't really sunk in yet. Besides the fact that I'm completely nauseas and tired all the time and that I now refuse to drink caffeine, nothings really that different... yet.

Brandon is in Colorado (with my camera) working on a bridge project. He left Wednesday and won't be home until next Sunday. I got a surprise phone call from him via the satellite phone this evening. It only lasted a few minutes, but it was a nice surprise since I didn't think we'd be able to contact each other at all.
He reported that it's cold and it's supposed to snow again tonight. It's beautiful where they are, but that's about all I got from him. I'll post pictures as soon as he gets back.

Everything else right now seems to be fleece concentrated. I have 2 shows in the next week and a half that I'm stocking up for and of course I'm also working on getting prepared for Urban Craft Uprising. Only a few weeks away! Better get sewing.... again.

Finn EATS GRANDMA!!!!!

Finnegan and Stella... Quite a Pair!

Trick or Treat!

Finnegan REALLY got into it this year. It was a ton of fun just watching him interact with our Halloween-loving neighbors and telling us which homes decorations were too scary for him to deal with! Here's our little Red, Fire-breathing Dragon in action:

Happy Halloween!

LEEEEEAVES!!!!!

Yup... Our Family is Growing!

Don't be concerned. Brandon isn't actually pregnant! Just me.

Finnegan Loves Robyn...

Bad News.... a week later.

Just So We're All Clear:

Thank God for Humor!

All But Consumed....

We're all so busy!!!

Finnegan is busy being 2. He's singing, running, jumping, learning to take his clothes off, learning to brush his teeth by himself, and REFUSING to learn how to use a toilet for what it's good for.

Brandon is busy with work and studying. Studying for a HUGE, ENORMOUS, EXCITING, and NERVE-WRECKING Exam. His Professional Engineering Exam. Yep. He takes this 8 hour test on Oct. 24th (that's only 17 days away, and he has something like 60 books to read), and then we party hard the next day and wait 12 weeks to find out the results.

I am busy. That's it. Just plain busy. Busy being mom and wife, and when I find a moment in between, I'm busy making hats. Lots and LOTS of hats. This is the beginning of a cRaZy hat season, and business is booming. Also very exciting news: I got accepted to show up and sell my hats at URBAN CRAFT UPRISING the first weekend in December. This means I have to make MORE and MORE and MORE hats. But who's complaining, right? Not me!!!

Oh yeah... Brandon and I celebrated our anniversary this last week. Finn spent the night at his cousins' house and we got ourselves a fancy hotel room and got our debate on. That's right. We bought a bunch of junk food and watched the VP debate on tv without distraction...besides playing a few Sarah Palin drinking games! Happy anniversary honey.




So there's an update. I'll try and get my camera out this week and actually take some visuals of what we've been up to. But until then... wait. Just wait.

Singing During Dinner

I'm not trying to make this into a video blog again, but it's hat season people! At least I'm giving you something, right?

Shameless plug...

Everyone's been asking, "How's the Hat biz goin?". IT'S GOOD!!! I've got a bunch of new ideas and things are starting to get busy for the season. Poor Finn will surely be in therapy one day for all of these silly hats I put him in. Click on this pic of my new kitty to see the new look and new link for my ETSY shop:

Muffin Tin Monday

This week's Muffin Tin:
Cheese sticks, pb&J, cheerios, chicken nuggets, yogurt, and Ritz. I know I said things would become more exciting, but I have to tell you... there wasn't a single thing left in this tin when Finn got done with it. The boy who doesn't eat, ate.

Duck... Duck....Duck....

"I love to play with Darby and Robyn....!!!!!"

Scootin' and Drivin'

...and the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang obsession continues....

Finnegan's Little White Shadow

My Mom and her husband, Barry, are in the UK right now. Mom said she didn't get to do all the tourist-y type things when she was there last time, so that's what they're doing now. Their dog, Robyn, gets to stay with us for a fun 2 weeks, and she LOOOOOOOOOVES Finn. Finn thinks she's pretty great too. Here's a video of the typical Robyn and Finnegan relationship:

YAY Nugget!

Our sweet little chickens are finally BOTH doing their work. Mary Poppins has been giving us 4-5 eggs a week since her 2nd week here, and now, Nugget has finally gotten the picture. Her comb and waddles have turned bright red, and I've caught her a few times, laying in the nesting box she's skillfully avoided this whole time. Today I pulled 2 eggs instead of one. So unless Mary Poppins is doing double duty, Nugget can now carry the status of "Hen".

Good girl Nugget.

An Exciting "See Ya."

Brandon headed to Camp Muir on Mt. Rainier last week, and since they were taking the helicopter up the mountain, I asked if Finn and I could tag along and check it out. It was a beautiful day for a drive through the middle of nowhere, and the mountain looked extra spectacular up close. While the crew was figuring out logistics, Finn got the chance to sit in the helicopter. How excited was he, you ask? There were no words. For once, Finn was speechless.


Here he's impersonating the helicopter's propeller...spinning and spinning, round and round.

Needless to say he collapsed from all the excitement and slept most of the way home.

Busy Busy Busy....

I found out on my birthday, that I would be "representin'" Etsy at Bumbershoot. I was thrilled to meet some people from Etsy Admin, and to just spread the word. The problem and excitement came when Christina from Etsy wrote me to let me know I'd be working the booth on Saturday and I needed to fill up half a table with my hats. Poop! I didn't realize that I would have the chance to sell anything, and I don't carry a lot of inventory. Actually, I didn't have ANY inventory. So that gave me 3 days to get my stuff together and get sewing. Luckily, Finnegan already had a date to go spend the night at Grandma's house with ALL of his "Mc"-cousins the next day and Brandon picked him up when the fun was over, so I had the opportunity to sew, sew, sew, right up until Saturday morning when Marlo picked me up for our day at the festival. Here's a shot (taken by Marlo) of our amazingly cute booth....

I was amazed at how many adults were interested in getting themselves into a silly hat, and people were trying them on all day. I ended selling quite a few and I even gave a couple of them away (to people you wouldn't really want them back from after they tried them on.) Finn and Brandon came to show some support and explore the festival, and Finn, our little hat celebrity made his appearance and even signed an autograph for an adoring (and a little drunk) fan.

I'll update you to the rest of the week later on. Gotta get on with my day.
Thanks for the pictures Marlo.... hope you don't mind that I used them.

Today, I'm a Day Older.

Yep... this is me almost 26 years ago. Time flies, huh Dad?

dum de dum dum dum de. dum de dum dum dum de. dum de dum dum dum de de. dum de dum dum dum deeeeeeeeeeeee.... and many more!

Muffin Monday

I've realized that these have been getting kind of boring, so watch out for next week! ... Maybe.

cheerios, hotdog, yogurt, cheese, grapes, and graham crackers.

The Birthday Sunflower

Only took 4 months, but one of Finnegan's birthday sunflowers finally bloomed. What a beauty.

...and I was impatient enough to want to rip them out to plant a vegetable garden. Lesson learned.

Crafty Afternoon....

My friend Katy made some pot holders a while back and had a tutorial on her blog... I have pot holders a plenty, but I needed some new place-mats. So, I I found a Placemats tutorial on The Crafty Crow, and this afternoon Finn and I ran with it. I think we'll do this with Cohen too, to make something he can take home to mom. Finn really enjoyed coloring with "fancy" (fabric)markers.


I made sure I put Finnegan's name and age in the corner, just so we're sure this wasn't done by Brandon or somebody.


I did the sewing once Finn was sick of coloring (that's a 2 year old's attention span for ya!), and backed it with a solid blue cotton. We'll hopefully be able to get a few more drawings made and a few more place-mats sewn in the next few days.

Muffin Tin Monday

Peanut Butter and Applesauce Sandwich, Eggsalad Sandwich, Yellow and Orange Bell Peppers, Cheese, Bananas and Graham Crackers.

Finnegan and Cohen actually really enjoyed the Applesauce alternative to jam on their sandwiches... not the egg salad so much.

Poor Kid...

It's 4:07 a.m. as I type this and I've been up now for about 21 hours. I had good intentions of getting to bed at a reasonable Saturday night time, around 10:30. I started my bedtime routine and went in to check on Finnegan, and there he was...sitting up in bed, covered in an upchucked version of dinner. And he's been continuing the up-chuckin' about every 20-30 minutes since. Brandon of course has been amazing and helped Finn through the messiest of it all, but I finally sent him off to bed at around 2, and here I am in between bouts.

I didn't think that this would ever be something that I'd write about in my blog, but it seems to be significant in the fact that we, as parents, have never yet had to deal with a night like tonight... Not that I didn't see it coming. This is only about the 3rd time that I can recall Finnegan throwing up, and the 2 other times were in the day time and passed relatively quickly.

So, I've spoken to the consulting nurse 2x this evening, mainly to calm my nerves that anything is seriously wrong with my child. She was amazing and wonderful and patient enough to deal with a mother who has no idea what she's doing. And now I'm sitting here at 4:15 and Finnegan is sleeping for the moment and I am calm and surprising myself at how awake I am. I'll give you all an update as to how the boy is feeling in the morning. Oh wait... it is morning. Maybe this afternoon.

Gorgeous Etsy

I've been noticing a LOT of Pretty being thrown around on Etsy lately... I thought I'd share some of it with you. Aren't these great?



Yeah, yeah, yeah... I know that it's not typical that a Mixer is beautiful, but it is in my weird "mutant" eyes!

Our First Egg!

Our hen "Mary Poppins" (Finnegan picked that name... Brandon named the other one "Nugget") gave us our first egg this morning. A perfect, tiny, light brown egg. Here's a picture of an excited toddler inspecting it, with proud egg-laying Mary Poppins in the background. Also a comparison pic next to our VW key to show how little this first egg is. Still a pretty exciting day in the McG house!

Dancin' in the Streets

Ballard's Seafood Fest 2008

Wood Block Building

Last week, when Brandon was building the chicken coop, he took a little time out to make Finnegan an airplane out of scrap wood blocks.


Today... Finnegan asked me if he could play with some of the wood scraps that Brandon had set aside in a box for kindling. I grabbed some pieces out for him, set them on the patio, and left him to his creativity so I could get him a snack from the kitchen. When I came back, this is what I saw...


Brandon's airplane on the right, Finnegan's airplane(sans screwdriver) on the left. I showed Brandon the photos when he got home this evening, and you could say he was no less than absolutely proud of his little boy. A little boy lookin' up to his dad.

They're Here!

The coop is complete, and the Chickens are here! We took a small family roadtrip Sunday up to Stanwood, and picked out our 2 chickens and brought them home. One is a Buff Orpington (tan colored) and the other is a Barred Rock (black with white speckles). Finn is convinced that the Buff Orpington is a "Mommy" Chicken and the Barred Rock is a "Daddy" Chicken. We've told him that their both "Mommies", but he's not convinced.

Rainbow Muffin Tin

Here's our RAINBOW muffin tin... check out SycamoreStirrings(click on the pic) for more details...

Applesauce(yellow), Avacado(Green), Goldfish(Orange), Watermelon(Red), Tillamook Mountain Huckleberry yogurt(Purple), and I couldn't figure out blue, so I threw in some fruity Cheerios as an ode to the RAinbow!

We're Gonna Give it a Try...

I found a link to a great contest on Enviromom. The ONE CAN A MONTH CHALLENGE!!! The whole point is to get down to one can of waste (not including recycling or yard and food waste) a month. We're going to give it a shot. I'm keeping the expectation that we probably won't be successful in the first month, and maybe not even the second, but we'll get there!

Check it out here, to get details and tips on how to get it done, and give it a try in your home too: