Handmade Holiday Gifts

I'm a firm believer in handmade goods. The joy and creativity that comes with making something by hand has rewards that are incomparable. The moment I realized my skill at crochet and knitting, it seems like all I do is make gifts for others and I love it! I've also become more crafty at sewing, cutting and gluing - basically fine tuning the kindergartner in me.

The holiday season is the perfect time to craft up a storm and give gifts that you can't put a value on. The meaning and sentimental value is much higher than anything similar found in stores. Here are a few things that I crafted this season :

1. Knit Ribbed Cowl

Idea derived from H&M. Made with bulky grey yarn.

2. Knit Cable Gloves

Idea from ravelry.com. Made with worsted weight grey yarn.

3. Holiday Wreath

Idea from pinterest.com. Made with styrofoam circle, white yarn, red and green felt, faux berry twig, pearl tipped pins, hot glue

4. Christmas Stockings

Idea from various google images. Made with felt, interfacing and sewing machine.

5. Crochet Toddler Ripple Blanket

Pattern from ravelry.com. Made with Lion Brand Homespun yarn.

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Baby Holguin - 18 weeks

Week 17 was SO uncomfortable. The only way to describe it would be to say that it felt like I had just experienced the craziest ab and oblique workout ever. Every muscle in my abdomen ached for 3 days straight. They hurt when I walked, twisted, stood up and basically made any move in general. The only good part was that I had a great excuse to sit on the couch and watch the entire Twilight saga and demand things from Andrew because, well I needed to "rest".

Little did I know that this period of stretching and aching was the foreshadow of what was to come - my belly!! It literally popped out during week 18. Baby Holguin was working hard to make room and the work definitely paid off.

What we've learned: Our baby is a little over 6 inches long. SIX inches! And that doesn't even include the little legs. Right now baby is growing about half an inch per week so by 20 weeks he or she will be about 7.5 inches long. The baby weighs 5 1/2 ounces now and the genitalia, whether boy or girl, is mostly formed.

Cravings: Orange juice. All day, every day. I drank almost a half gallon in one day, I just can't get enough!

Daddy duty: After week 16, I can't lay on my back because the weight of my abdomen on the uterus can cut off the blood flow to the baby. It's especially difficult at night because I love sleeping on my back. Andrew has taken on the duty of monitoring my sleeping positions and he'll wake me up to remind me to turn on my side. It's really great because I'm a deep sleeper so I won't wake up on my own.

My crazy dreams: I dreamed that I went in to labor and rushed to the hospital to have the baby. Somehow I fell asleep during labor and woke up with the baby already in my arms. The nurses were congratulating me but I keep thinking, how did I fall asleep?? I wanted to be awake for the birth!!  I was so upset in the dream that I almost didn't believe it was my baby because I hadn't witnessed anything. Everyone was oohing and aahing at the baby and saying how well I did but I kept saying, "I wasn't awake!! Why didn't anyone wake me up?"

Nursery updates: I finally cleaned out our second bedroom and made space for all the cute baby stuff we'll be getting. It's such a relief to get that part done and over with and know that we are at least somewhat prepared for whats to come.
If we have a boy, I'm leaning towards a pear green color scheme for the nursery with rustic reds and eggshell blues.

If it's a girl, I would like the nursery colors to be deep purples complimented by soft lilacs and cream. 

Doc updates: We had a 16 week ultrasound a couple weeks ago and it was so awesome so see our little baby moving around and going crazy in my belly. The weirdest part is that I can't feel a thing! The baby looked healthy and normal; it had two arms, two legs, a spinal cord, a stomach, a big ole head and a really strong heartbeat. The heart rate was at 144 bpm and it's so reassuring to know that everything is growing as normal.
We have our 20 week ultrasound on December 7th and hopefully at that point we will be able to find out the gender. We've been looking forward to this appointment for a number of weeks and we will be so excited to announce it to everyone. Pin It

Baby Holguin - 14 weeks

We have officially passed the danger zones of the first trimester and have transitioned wonderfully into trimester numero dos. Everything has been really smooth and although there were a couple concerns in the earlier weeks, they have pretty much been wiped out by now.

What we've learned: Our baby is a little smaller than an apple. He/she is about 4 inches long and weighs a little over 2 ounces. Right now our baby has a skeletal system, lanugo and organs. Its skin is translucent but it can move around like crazy but I can't feel it yet.

Cravings: Sweets! I have been craving soda, candy and fruity flavors. Usually I try to curb it with an apple or a banana but it's difficult when all I can think about is gummy worms and Pepsi. It's odd because I've never been into sweets before and usually can just say no, but now I may just be giving myself gestational diabetes.

Barf foods: Tomatoes and Ranch. YUCK. Just thinking about it makes me gag. I used to love tomatoes in my salad, on my pizza, etc and now when I try to eat them, I have to spit them out. Same with ranch dressing. Before I found out I was pregnant, I used to eat ranch on my salads everyday and now I can't even stand the smell of it.

Daddy bans: So far Andrew has banned me from a few things such as riding my bike, drinking coffee, wrestling, caffeinated soda and every once in a while doing the dishes (not so bad). I was a little annoyed at first but then realized that he has good intentions. However, coffee has been difficult to stop drinking. Especially with my sweet cravings, sometimes I just want a delicious pumpkin spice latte to wake me up in the morning - so secretly I have been ordering 8 oz half decaf coffees at Starbucks a couple times a week. I finally went to the store and bought bulk coffee and pumpkin spice creamer and Andrew was pissed when he found out I was drinking it. So I had him consult his almighty friend Josh who said that it is totally ok for pregnant women to drink coffee in moderation - which is exactly what I have been doing. Booya.

My crazy dreams: I have had some very odd vivid dreams over the last few weeks. Most recently I nursed a kitten back to life. Somehow I came across a newborn bald kitten, soaking wet and cold. I wrapped it in a shirt and put it in the hamper. I went to sleep and woke up in the middle of the night realizing I had forgotten about the kitten and worrying about it being dead. I ran to the hamper to find the kitten barely alive so I nursed it. I even made sure to switch boobs so one wouldn't feel worse than the other. Like magic, the kitten sprung to life and suddenly sprouted all its hair and began running around like a brand new kitten. I felt strange when I woke up.

Nursery updates: We started our registry at Target and Babies R Us and I kind of realized how much stuff we need, but Andrew was not on the same page as me. He is very simple when it comes to registering and was baffled at why you need so much of this and all of that. Either way we had some fun scanning stuff and now we just need to make room.

Doc updates: We have an ultrasound coming up on 11/9 and by that time we will be 16 weeks. I am secretly hoping to find out the gender so I am really excited. If we can't see the gender then we will go back at 20 weeks for another ultrasound.

Body changes: My belly has grown a little and I've been in denial. I swear it's mostly because I haven't been working out as often and I've been eating a lot. However, Andrew says that for as long as he's known me I've always had a flat stomach and this is nothing like he has seen before. Either way, it's exciting to think that our baby is growing. For the first three months it's hard not to be able to see the growth and I always worried that nothing was really happening. Now when I lie down and my bladder is full, I can feel my uterus right below my belly button. At first it scared me - I thought a muscle was popping out but then I remembered that now is the time you can feel it. It's a little bigger than a softball and it's crazy to feel the shape and now that our little baby is tucked in there.

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