Big Girl Bed

The past two days/nights Neva has been sleeping in her big girl bed.  It was a big transition for mommy!...uh hem,  I mean Neva.  The first nap there was some crying and not wanting to stay in bed, but it was quickly resolved.  That night was a bigger challenge with many tears shed.  I was not the one shedding tears, but was getting close to it.  Neva did not want to stay in bed and was just throwing a fit.  Daddy finally was able to get her to stay in bed and sleep.  When I checked on her later she was hiccuping in her sleep.  :(  I felt awful, but knew she needed to transition to a big girl bed before this next baby comes.  The next night was MUCH better!  And today for naptime, she went right into her room, crawled up onto the bed, went right to sleep just like normal.  Phew!  That makes mommy happy.  :)

Neva has also been doing very well with potty training.  There are still the occasional accidents, but she is starting to tell me BEFORE she goes.  Yay!  I never thought about potty training as such a big deal until I am the parent.  It's really quite exciting when we have success in making it to the potty!  Notice I said "we."  It takes a team effort.  Neva will get caught up in whatever she is doing and forget to tell me unless I ask her every so often if she needs to go potty.  It's so cute to see her nod her head and say, "yesh."

The Barn Apartment

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Growing Up

My baby is not a baby any longer.  She is a sprout that just keeps growing.  I love being her mom and watching her learn.  I feel so privileged that God has given me this opportunity and don't take lightly the responsibility.  Little humans are such sponges and I can see it even more clearly every day!

An exciting development is my munchkin's interest in using her potty.  (She is about 20 months.)  The other day she took her diaper off and used her potty all by herself!  I was sooooooo excited, and her face when she saw my excitement was priceless.  She got excited too and started clapping and gave me a hug. :)  Today she did not want to wear a diaper this morning, but her big girl underwear.  We had several small accidents, but we are making progress.

I have been teaching her to say, "please read," when she wants a book read to her.  It makes me smile to see her walk up to me with a book or two and ask me to "please read."  :)

She has learned two new words the past few days.  The first word is "exercise." We were in the pool and I was swimming some laps.  I explained to her that I was exercising.  The next thing I knew she said "ehs-size."  It actually came out pretty clear and it has become her new favorite word...that and the phrase, "Don't touch."  Lol. :D  I was using the laptop and told my little girl not to touch.  She then proceeds to point to the laptop and say, "Do-n tush." Now she walks around with her babies saying, "do-n tush."  Silly girl!

A verse that I am memorizing and is my prayer not only for my own heart, but for my little girl's is  Deuteronomy 5:29.  "O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!"  The first thing to keeping God's commandments is to first know what they are.  Something that God has been working on in my heart is that I am in His Word and learning more about Him.  How can I teach Neva God's ways if I don't know them or am following them myself.  A big one is my attitude.  I can see bad attitudes in others so easily, but when it comes to me, do I have the attitude that is pleasing to God?  I tell my munchkin when she starts pouting after not getting her way to have a good attitude.  But do I have a good attitude when I don't get my way?  Hmm...

How to Make a Jean Skirt

I have had so much fun making jean skirts!  My mom is the one who introduced me to the possibility of converting jeans into a cute skirt.  She made me my first jean skirt when I wore the knees out of my favorite pair of jeans while in junior high.  To remedy the "hole-y" jeans we cut them off just above the holes in the knees and it made the most comfortable and perfect jean skirt ever!  I wish I still fit into it!...and that I hadn't worn two holes in the back pocket area either!  Although to fix that you can use some spare denim and cut out and sew on an extra pocket to cover the hole.  It's actually quite cute! :)  I have made several skirts on my own now and used regular denim jeans, khakis, and corduroy.  They've all turned out great!  The only caution is when using jeans with stretchy denim...they don't turn out as well and kind of hug the bum area.

Step 1:  Rip out the inseam using a seam ripper.  On the front, rip to within one or two inches of the zipper.  On the back, rip to about the bottom of the pockets.  These are just estimates and can be adjusted accordingly. This part is the most boring part, so I watch “I Love Lucy” or something to help pass the time in a more profitable manner.  :D

Step 2:  Try on the “open” pair of jeans to find the length desired.  Mark with a pin.  Keep in mind a hem length of a half inch or so.

Step 3:  Measure from the bottom of the jeans to the pin mark to make sure you will have enough denim to fit in the middle section of the skirt.  If making a longer skirt, you will need to have another piece of material to fit in the center.  This could be from another pair of jeans or a piece of cotton fabric.

Step 4:  Cut the jeans at the pin mark.  Be careful to cut straight across the leg.  If it isn’t cut straight the skirt might bell, being shorter at the sides and longer in the middle.  This can be corrected, but not usually without making the skirt shorter.

Step 5: Use the bottom sections of the cut off jeans to fill in the middle (front and back) for the skirt.  This will take some time playing with it to get it to fit just right and be smooth.  Pin and try on to see if the middle piece is fitted in right.  I normally have to re-pin and try on several times to get it to work right.  How it looks on you when it is pinned is fairly close to how it will look once sewn, so make sure it fits smoothly with no bells or wrinkles.

Step 6:  Sew!  :0)  On denim skirts I will mimic the jean look with the gold thread and two lines.  On my brown corduroy skirt I used brown thread and only one sewn line.  I do not sew the bottom of the skirt yet. At this point, the middle section is a little longer and hanging out at the bottom. To make handling the skirt easier as you sew, you can trim some of the extra material off of the inserts.  Be careful not to cut into the skirt or cut too close to where you will sew.

Step 7:  Cut the extra material off from the inside of the skirt and some from the bottom.  Once you finish step 8, then completely even out the bottom.

Step 8:  On denim skirts I will sew a line around the raw edge of the bottom of the skirt about 1/4-1/2” from the bottom.  This will prevent the skirt from fraying too far up.  On the brown corduroy skirt I sewed a small hem instead of leaving a raw edge.  It just depends on what you like and what material you are making the skirt out of.  Some jeans will be hard to hem because the hem will become too thick.

Step 9:  Wash and dry the skirt (in the dryer).

Step 10:  The raw edge should have some fray now and you can wear as is or cut long threads to even out.  :0)

"Ta da"

My prego skirt.  :)

"No, no!"

My little munchkin makes me laugh! Here is a story I just had to share.  The other day I was washing dishes and she came up behind me and threw her baby doll and cup that she was holding.  I was about to reprimand her when I realized she didn't throw her baby and the cup, the baby threw the cup.  She ran over to the baby and bent down saying, "No, no! No, no!" along with the hand sign for "no".  Then she promptly picked the baby up and helped the baby pick up the cup.  :D  She is a good little mommy to her baby.  It also was a good reminder to me that she is watching...everything!

"Raising Godly Tomatoes"

I love my little girl and am excited about the baby on the way!  My desire is to raise my family with a heart for God and to ultimately see them come to know Jesus as their personal Saviour.  I don't just want my precious girl to outwardly do the right thing when her heart is rebelling.  Eventually that rebellion will manifest itself outward.  My prayer is for her to have a right attitude when she obeys, as well as that she would obey. A friend recently recommended a book to me that caught my attention right away.  The book:  "Raising Godly Tomatoes" by L. Elizabeth Krueger (www.RaisingGodlyTomatoes.com).  I am only part way through this book, but am so appreciative of the time and energy she spent in writing it because it has helped my husband and I already in teaching our little girl to obey...the first time with a good attitude.  I am excited to have some practical direction in raising my family that is all Biblically based.  She has included Scripture for every point she makes and really brings to life these principles.  I highly recommend this book for the Biblical principles she presents and the practical application in raising kids.  It's not an easy task to raise a family.  My husband and I have barely begun, but are excited about our journey.

My Jar of Buttons

This is my first blog and I have a lot to learn on how to make it my own!  I've seen so many wonderful blogs about crafting, cooking, and just life that have inspired me to start my own.  I want to share the hodgepodge of things that make up my life, thus the title "Jen's Jar of Buttons".  Have you ever seen a button jar that contained all the same buttons in color, size, and shape?  One of the best things about a button jar is you'll never know what you'll find.  That's the fun part - dumping them all out and searching through them!  =)