I love to Crochet!

In my last post I briefly mentioned that I had crochet projects to work on while my husband was gone on deployment. So I figured I'd go into more detail about how I got started in crochet and projects I've done over the years.

How I got started...

My Grandma Davies (my dad's mom) crocheted. She would crochet blankets, dresses for dolls, animals, she did it all. I remember really being connected to the dolls with the crochet dresses because it was a deal my grandma had. We'd go to the store, I'd pick out the doll and would get her clothes and my grandma would make her a dress. She made Snow White & Prince Charming, Santa & Mrs. Claus, Pocahontas, a Southern Grandma and more. I loved those dolls and their outfits. When I was 8 years old, my Grandma was teaching the 8 year old girls in our church how to crochet. She had me wait in the back room while she taught her class, but the girls were the same age as me and I wanted to be part of the class too. So I snuck out of the back room and joined the class. I was there every week while she taught her class. I'm still great friend's with one of the girl's from that class 18 years later.

During those classes we started small with scrunchies (a 90's must-have accessory), small blankets and such.

When my Grandma passed away 4 years later, I started crocheting more because I felt reconnected to her. It was my way to feel like she was there again.

Periodically I would go back to crocheting. It was a stress relief for me. A way to escape the world for a bit and create something with my own hands.

My Projects...

 When Cameron and I got married, he loved that I crocheted and encouraged me to learn all I could and make everything I wanted to. One of the many reasons I love him so much, he pushes me to be the best I can.

I started out small with baby booties, big fluffy baby blankets and a hat. Some lap blankets that I started out making never got finished.

When Cameron joined the Navy and we moved to SC, I wasn't working, and we were trying to get pregnant, so crochet became a big part of my life again. I started to make head bands and little dresses for our niece.

And I made a huge American flag blanket that I'm so bummed I don't have a picture of. I was going to put it on our couch, but my mother-in-law liked it so much, I sent it to her. I've been meaning to make another one, which is actually a great project for deployments because it definitely takes time to make.

Later when my sister and I both found out we were pregnant, I started making more baby things. She found out she was having another girl so I made more dresses and skirts. I made my first sashay yarn skirt, which is one of my favorites!

And then we found out we were having a boy so I made sneakers, cowboy boots and cowboy hats! Those cowboy hats were so fun because it was my first time crocheting wire into the hat to make the brim.

I also started making dresses for my dog to wear during the colder weather. As well as mug cozy's because I like to drink tea year round, and hot chocolate during the winter months. While making the mug cozy's is when I discovered 2 stranded crocheting! I love the color possibilities and the sturdiness it gives to your projects. It allowed me to hold the cozy without feeling the heat from my cup. It opened my eyes to so many possibilities!

When I found out my best friend in Arizona, Kiersten, was having a baby, I knew I wanted to make something. I wanted to make it meaningful and I wanted to try a Granny Square blanket. So instead of working side to side, you're working in a round using a square pattern. Kiersten is originally from Florida and she is a HUGE Gators fan and their color are orange and blue. So I made a white, blue and orange blanket for her little boy. And I think he very much approves of the blanket.

When we moved to Washington one of friends found out she was having a girl, so I decided to make her dresses using a new pattern. I also tried making a bow with curled tails. Oh my goodness, that was such a fun project! I loved that pattern so much I made 2 more dresses like it! I also made her a small star shaped blanket with an elephant head on it. That was my first attempt at making an animal, and I love how it turned out! I made a granny square blanket as well with the same pink, white and yellow from her dresses, as well as some purple.

Here is Eliza wearing the blue dress I made for her. 

 I saw on pinterest a crocheted play mat! I thought that was so clever! What CAN'T you make with crochet?? So I decided to make one for our son. It was a pretty tedious project, but I think it turned out great. I actually wish I had made it bigger with more textures. I loved the idea of a blanket with different textures on it. I would love to make more like this.

And here is my latest project. Cameron and I have talked about bringing our scriptures to church instead of just having them on our phones. Which is convenient, but sometimes we just miss having our scriptures with us and marking in them. I don't have a case for my scriptures and I was going to purchase one then Cameron suggested I make one! So here it is, my scripture case! I love how it came out. I'm still debating adding handles. I made one and added it on, but didn't like it.

There's so much more that I've made and I am so humbled that I've been able to develop this skill and improve upon it. I will never grow old of crochet and I'm excited to see what else I can create.

Why aren't you selling this stuff??

Well, I've definitely thought about it. I absolutely could devote time to making and selling the items I crochet. Part of me would love that! Other parts of me get very overwhelmed by the idea, and dealing with possible upset customers scares me. I crochet for fun and I genuinely love to crochet, and I worry that the pressures of selling my items might not make it as enjoyable. Who knows, maybe I will start selling them one day.

Waylon - 6 Months old

Wow, I can't believe how fast 6 months has come and gone. Our little moose is half way to a year! It feels like it was just last week that we were bringing him home from the hospital.

He is so much fun right now, and it's fascinating to see him learning and growing. Since he was 2 weeks old he's been able to hold his head up, which was a big sign to us that he would be quick learner. 

He can roll over and turn in a circle to get what he wants. He is now able to sit up on his own which my back is very grateful for, and it has made grocery trips much easier. He said his first word 5 days ago, which was mom!! Now along with his baby babble he says mom and momma, and it melts my heart every time. We try to get him to say dada but he just smiles when you say it.

It's so fun to see his personality showing more and more each day. I feel like I get a small glimpse into the kind of person he will grow up to be. He is so strong! He has some of the strongest legs I have seen a baby his age have. We have an excersaucer that he absolutely loves to bounce in. He absolutely loves mom & dad, and he smiles at everyone he meets.

He has a tooth coming in! It's coming through his gums, but it hasn't quite cut through yet. And he has RED HAIR!? I never EVER thought I would have a child with red hair, and to our surprise, Waylon has red hair. Cameron's grandmother has a mom and 3 sisters with red hair, so that's where he got it from, but no one else in our family has red hair. It's pretty red so it's 50/50 whether it'll stay that way or get darker as he gets older. But it shocked Cameron and I both! haha

He loves when Cameron comes home! I'll be feeding him and he can hear anyone's voice and he won't budge, but as soon as he hears Cameron, he instantly looks around for him. He is definitely a momma's boy, but he sure does love his daddy!

He's also interacting with Daisy more. She gives him her toy and they'll play a little tug-o-war. She is so gentle with him, even when he grabs and pulls her beard haha 

He loves watching Cars and Toy Story, and football on Sundays.

He weighs 18 lbs., and is 27.5 inches long

Waylon's Baby Blessing/ Dad's visit

This weekend was AMAZING! My parents are really good at surprising me.. because my dad came out for Waylon's baby blessing!!! He got in Friday night a little before midnight. 

Cameron had told me earlier on Friday that we had to pick up his 'friend' from the airport a little after 11.  Well, around 9 PM, I decided that since Waylon was sleeping, that I'd get a little nap in myself. 11 o'clock rolls around and Cameron comes to wake me up. I was so exhausted I told him to go without Waylon and I. He said he really wanted his 'friend' to meet Waylon and bribed me with a milkshake. So we start heading to the airport and Waylon starts crying because he's hungry and got woken up from his nap. We had to stop in the cell phone lot before picking up Cameron's 'friend' so I could nurse Waylon. After that, we start pulling up to the front of the airport and I see a guy with a cardboard sign. In my mind I was thinking "Who's this guy with a sign expecting to get a ride from someone?" As we get closer I see that it's my dad!! I was so shocked, I started crying! His sign read "Help! Need ride to Waylon's baby blessing.." I hadn't seen my dad in over a year so I was so excited that he was able to take the time to come see us for a few short days. 

On Saturday, we packed in all the sight seeing. First we went to the beach to walk around and throw the frisbee back and forth. The weather was perfect and the water was fairly warm. Then we headed to Tattooed Moose for some yummy Duck Club Sandwiches and pinball challenge between Cameron and my dad. Next, we drove through Downtown Charleston to see the historic buildings and scenery. We also, walked through a park and from faraway, got a look at Fort Sumpter.

Sunday was Waylon's baby blessing! Cameron got to bless our sweet Waylon and my dad was able to be a part of it. It was a very tender and very special moment. I've dreamt of that day for a long time and having my dad be a part of it made it extra special. After church, we took my dad to go see Charlie. He's the 13 foot alligator that lives on base here. He's lives inside a caged pond with other little alligators.
Sunday was also bittersweet because my dad flew back home later that day.

We had such a great time with my dad here. I'm so grateful that he was able to come out here and share this special moment with us! Being away from your family, you really learn to cherish the time with them however small that may be.

Labor and Delivery

Tuesday July 28th:

I had a Dr's appointment to check on my progress. At this point I was 40 weeks and 3 days. The first thing my Dr said when she came in the room was " I can't believe you're still pregnant". So we talked to her about getting induced and she was more than happy to help us out with that! She cautioned that we could schedule an induction date, but if other girls come in and there are no rooms available, then we would get bumped to another time or day. One of the nurses was calling the hospital to see when we could be induced. To our surprise, they scheduled us for 6:00 AM the next morning!!! We were beyond excited because the 29th happens to be Cameron's Dad's and Grandad's birthday!! That night we hardly slept because we were so excited to meet our little boy.

Wednesday July 29th:

We were up by 4:00 AM and at the hospital by 5:30 AM. We were waiting to see if they had a room available and they did! We were so excited because we were officially admitted to the hospital to have our baby! We were lucky we got there when we did because within a few hours every delivery room was full! We got set up in our room and they start me with an IV. When they tried to put the needle in my left wrist, they hit a valve in my vein and I had started to pass out. They let me calm down and they put the IV in my right hand. They immediately started me on Pitocin to help regulate and speed up my contractions. I was dilated to 3 and 80% effaced, which they said was a good start because most women that get induced start at 0. Luckily my mom was able to fly in from Arizona in time to be there whenever Waylon decided to make his arrival.
By 8:00 AM I was dilated to 6, and Dr Cook, my OB, said that we would most likely have Waylon here before the end of the day. 

The contractions started to get more intense and more painful, so they had the anesthesiologist come in and give me the epidural, which honestly wasn't painful to get at all. Soon my legs went numb, and I could still feel the pressure of my contractions but they weren't nearly as painful as they were. Once I was numb, they broke my water. At 11:00 PM I was finally dilated to 9 with just a small part of my cervix still in the way. 

Thursday July 30th:

Around 12:15 AM it was time to start pushing! An hour later the nurse noticed Waylon's heartbeat started to drop and she had me turn on my side to help calm him down, luckily it helped and we were able to keep pushing. Another hour later I was still pushing. I was starting to get frustrated and I was extremely tired. I was falling asleep in-between pushes and I was thinking I didn't have the strength or endurance to get our little man here. That's when the nurse brought in the mirror. I didn't want it because it was just another thing to think about, but it honestly helped to see my progress and to see Waylon starting to crown. Once his head had crowned my body just took over and kept pushing. I felt a pop, which I thought was my hip, and I remember looking at the Dr and asking if my hip had just broke, but she just looked at me and said 'Keep Pushing'. I gave one last push and I felt the Dr pull him out. I had my eyes closed while pushing and when I felt him come out I was so shocked by the feeling I opened my eyes really quickly to see our big baby boy, and my first thought was " He is so big, there is no way I just pushed him out!" Luckily, I only had to get one stitch because I hardly tore.

During the pushes the nurses noticed some Meconium coming out and knew that there was a chance that Waylon had some in his lungs. So as soon as he came out they placed him on my stomach, Cameron cut the cord, and they whisked him away to have his lungs vacuumed out. It all happened so fast, I didn't get to see Cameron cut the cord. They cleaned up Waylon and weighed him and when they announced that he was 9 lbs 6 oz, everyone in the room was shocked and couldn't believe that I had just delivered a 9 lb, almost 9.5 lb baby! After that, they quickly did skin to skin with Waylon and I, and then they took him off to the nursery to be observed. 

The nurses noticed that Waylon's breathing would pick up very quickly if anyone moved him. He would have 120 Breaths Per Min, instead of the normal 60 BPM. So even when we did go see him in the nursery a few moments later, we weren't allowed to hold him. This was a very hard time for Cameron and I because we just wanted to be with our baby boy. They kept Waylon in the nursery for 30 hours, and every 3 hours I was in there to nurse him, the rest of the time I was supposed to be resting, but that was extremely difficult to do knowing we couldn't be with Waylon.

All day Thursday any nurse we saw would say "You delivered that 9 pounder?" , "You're the one with the toddler in the nursery??" , "That baby came out of you??". I was pretty famous on the labor and delivery floor for having the biggest baby in the nursery.

Friday July 31st:

I knew I was getting discharged the next morning, but we weren't sure if Waylon would be. But he had been making such great progress, that they let him stay in our room with us for 24 hours to see how he did. We finally had our little guy with us, but every few hours someone would come in the rom to either take my vitals or Waylon's, and Cameron and I felt like we weren't able to have that family bonding time. But Waylon did extremely well being in our room with us, and we took in every moment with him.

Saturday August 1st:

We pretty much knew we had the green light to take Waylon home with us, but they were still checking his vitals and making sure his breathing was ok. He passed the tests and both mine and Waylon's discharge papers were being worked on by 8 AM. By 10 AM we had my papers done and ready to go. But we had to wait another 2 hours for Waylon's. We signed his discharge papers and we were finally leaving the hospital with our sweet Waylon. It was such a relief to be home where we could finally be a family and not worry about being bombarded with nurses and doctors. It was a very long and tiring 4 days, but we are loving every minute of having our little guy with us.