Something exciting!

Sorry, I know I've been posting A LOT lately, but this is a little more fun for everyone than the blog tag I posted last night. I should have posted this, but I was tired and forgot. I know, I'm horrible!

Here it is anyway!

Woo hoo! How awesome is that?! We're pretty excited. I was just laying on the couch and all of the sudden she went from the computer chair to the other couch on her own, so I screamed at Will (who thought I was having a heart attack) and grabbed the camera.

So that's the best part, but here's some pictures, too!

Blog Tag (Stolen from Amanda Watson and Brooke)

All you do is type each of these to Google image search and post the first (appropriate) picture that comes up.

First Name: Caitlyn

Middle Name: Alyse

(Miss Teen Arkansas 2004, haha)

Last Name: Hair(I knew this would be a good one.)

Age: 23

Place I'd like to visit someday: Kyoto, Japan

Favorite Vacation Spot: The Lake of the Ozarks
Past Celebrity Crush: Christian Bale

(Carryin' the banner... *sigh*)

College Major: Linguistics

Place(s) I grew up: Morris, IL

AND Pickerington, OH

First Job: Joann Fabrics

Favorite Treat: Expensive chocolates

Favorite Food: Food from a restaurant that I don't have to cook.

Favortie Color: Purple

Somewhere I've gone today: Babies R Us
(Where I found the shoes for Chaela's costume. It is COMPLETE!!)

What is/was for dinner: Bajio. Delicious.

Ta da!

Well, it's finished! This is the dress I made for Chaela. It didn't take very long, but it had its challenges.

This is the dress with the veil. We're debating whether to use it or just the headband I made to hold in in place.

I was thinking this costume was pretty good because it will be warm and she can wear something underneath it if she has to when she goes trick or treating... to our one friend's apartment...

Here it is with just the headband.

Also I love this picture. So anyways, all we need to complete it are the shoes!

In other news, I think I have a mild case of strep, but if it explains why my throat has been feeling weird lately, that's fine because that means it will go away soon!

Mad Sewing Skillz (and pictures for Aunt Peg)

I've been doing A LOT of sewing lately, and I feel like all of the practice really is making me better. My most ambitious project to date is Chaela's Halloween costume. Why should a costume for a not-even-one-year-old be such a challenge, you ask?

Because I am a snob.

Originally I wanted something cutesy, like most moms do for baby's first Halloween. But when I went to Joann's looking for a lady bug baby costume pattern, they didn't have one. Then I started looking through the pattern books. Big mistake. I came across several that I liked, but all of the awesome ones were for bigger kids. Chaela being small even for a baby, I knew that there was no way I would find one that fit. My favorite was size 3 at the smallest (Chaela wears size 1/2). I thought that wasn't too big to shrink down (and it was on sale for $2), so I got it. This is the dress:

Wrong! Size 3 is HUGE! As soon as I pulled it out I started thinking that, even though I had already bought pretty much EVERYTHING I would need, I would just save it for when she was 5 or so. But it was too late. Now I wanted her to have beautiful, historical costume and none of the cutesy ones for $10 at Wal-Mart would do. So I decided I was up to making my own pattern.

Not from scratch, of course, but I figured I could use a combination of the one I bought with the one I used recently to make dresses for Chaela and Addie for Gem's wedding. I wanted to be careful, though. I bought brocade for her costume, which is not cheap and pretty hard to work with. So I went to Joann's again and bought four yards of muslin (inexpensive, undyed fabric) to do mock-ups of my design.

The first one was decent. I got the sleeves and length right. However, the neck was too big and it didn't drape the way I wanted it to (slightly sack-like, as you can see). So I went back, redesigned, and did a second mock-up. I left the sleeves off to save fabric. I was very happy with the result, which looked less like a nun's habit and more like a princess dress.

So that's about where I am right now! My next step is to cut the brocade and begin her real dress! I can't wait! Not that we really know what to do with her once she's in her costume. I figured we could take her to a few apartments around the complex and maybe she can wear it when I go to class. The only thing I need to complete it is a little pair of silver slippers!

This is the fabric and trim I'll be using. I love it!

On a side note, my Aunt Peg yelled at me the other day for not having more pictures, so here are random pictures from the past few days! Most of them are from today, actually.

Chillaxin' with her tunes. Yes, that is a very common face that she makes.

Bath time! Still a favorite!

"Mom, I don't know why you keep putting me in these weird ugly dresses that don't close in the back."

Hanging out with daddy, who is still in his work clothes.

I went to Wal-Mart today and saw these cute Halloween barrettes, so I got them. Her first ones! Yes, this is how I plan on having her wear them on a regular basis. Randomly all over her head. I knew you were wondering. Haha.

"Mom, I thought you said this thing was supposed to have candy in it!"

Oh, and those little teeny tennis shoes are her first pair! I'm glad I found them. I've been worried, because with the weather getting bad and her learning to walk, barefoot/socks isn't going to work much longer. They're size 3, and they seem to fit ok. I almost got her some amazing fuzzy winter boots, as well, but decided to see if her feet go up another size by the time the weather gets that bad.

Well, that's all for now. I know it was kind of a lot about sewing, which is boring to like 90% of my readers, but I tried to put lots of pictures to make it interesting!

Chaelazilla!

I feel like I haven't posted pictures of Chaela for a while, so here are some!
The first two are Chaela on BYU campus. I wanted to get some pictures of her there so that when she's older I can show her, but so far they're just of her stroller! I'll have to try harder to get long shots.
Chaela in the Wilkinson Center atrium.

Chaela outside the Wilk waiting for daddy to pick us up.

That's all so far, but I'll do more. She'll be like the roaming gnome of BYU!

Here's where the title comes in. I'm making a blanket for my future nephew, so I laid it out on the ground to see how I needed to sew the blocks. Just then, Chaela escaped from Will.

All of my work destroyed! No, it wasn't that bad, but I did have to lay it out again to make sure everything was in the right order. She enjoyed herself, in case you couldn't tell.

Then it was back to Will, and thus the destructive reign of Chaelazilla came to an end.

Article: Struggling School-Age Boys

So I'm at the point in my life where I'm having kids and starting to think about this stuff. I know a lot of my friends are, too. I read this article on MSN and decided to post it here because it gave me a lot to think about. I'd really, really LOVE comments on this, especially from you lurkers I know read my blog but never say anything. Here's the article:

Struggling School-Age Boys
A new study says parents are right to worry about their sons.
By Peg Tyre Newsweek Web Exclusive
Sep 8, 2008 Updated: 1:10 p.m. ET Sep 8, 2008
(link to the actual page http://www.newsweek.com/id/157898?GT1=43002)

Every other week it seems a new study comes out that adds to our already-formidable arsenal of parental worries. But even by those escalating standards, the report issued last week by the federal government's National Center for Health Statistics contained a jaw-dropper: the parents of nearly one of every five boys in the United States were concerned enough about what they saw as their sons' emotional or behavioral problems that they consulted a doctor or a health-care professional. By comparison, about one out of 10 parents of girls reported these kinds of problems.

The report confirms what many of us have been observing for some time now: that lots of school-age boys are struggling. And, parents are intensely worried about them.

What is ailing our sons? Some experts suggest we are witnessing an epidemic of ADHD and say boys need more medication. Others say that environmental pollutants found in plastics, among other things, may be eroding their attention spans and their ability to regulate their emotions.
Those experts may be right but I have another suggestion. Let's examine the way our child rearing and our schools have evolved in the last 10 years. Then ask ourselves this challenging question: could some of those changes we have embraced in our families, our communities and our schools be driving our sons crazy?

Instead of unstructured free play, parents now schedule their kids' time from dawn till dusk (and sometimes beyond.) By age 4, an ever-increasing number of children are enrolled in preschool. There, instead of learning to get along with other kids, hold a crayon and play Duck, Duck, Goose, children barely out of diapers are asked to fill out work sheets, learn computation or study Mandarin. The drumbeat for early academics gets even louder when they enter "real" school. Veteran teachers will tell you that first graders are now routinely expected to master a curriculum that, only 15 years ago, would have been considered appropriate for second, even third graders. The way we teach children has changed, too. In many communities, elementary schools have become test-prep factories—where standardized testing begins in kindergarten and "teaching to the test" is considered a virtue. At the same time, recess is being pushed aside in order to provide extra time for reading and math drills. So is history and opportunities for hands-on activities—like science labs and art. Active play is increasingly frowned on—some schools have even banned recess and tag. In the wake of school shootings like the tragedy at Virginia Tech, kids who stretch out a pointer finger, bend their thumb and shout "pow!" are regarded with suspicion and not a little fear.

Our expectations for our children have been ramped up but the psychological and physical development of our children has remained about the same. Some kids are thriving in the changing world. But many aren't. What parents and teachers see—and what this government study now shows—is that the ones who can't handle it are disproportionately boys.

Some researchers responded to last weeks' study by calling for more resources for more mental-health services for children—especially males. That's an admirable goal. But when nearly one in five boys has such serious behavioral and emotional issues that their parents are talking it over with their pediatrician, you can bet we are facing a problem that requires a more fundamental change in our society than medication or weekly therapy. Let's take a moment, before the school year gets any farther underway, and ask ourselves whether we are raising and educating our boys in a way that respects their natural development. And if we are not, let's figure out how we can bring our family life and our schools back into line.

This is one study that we ignore at our peril.

Peg Tyre is the author of "The Trouble With Boys: A Surprising Report Card On Our Sons, Their Problems at School and What Parents & Educators Must Do," which is being published this week by Crown, a division of Random House. She can be reached at http://www.pegtyre.com/
__________________________
So what do you think? I know that some people who have older children read this as well. Do you agree? In my opinion this author has it right. I think we over-medicate a lot in this country for things like ADD or ADHD. Yes, there are real cases that need it, but maybe we just need to let boys be boys and run around for a few hours a day. I don't know. I'm not an expert. It's made me think twice, however, about sending my kids to a preschool where learning math or reading will be more the order of the day than socialization and the colors of the rainbow. Should I be, though? I guess I posted this more to hear what everyone else has to say and learn from you than try and convince anyone of my point of view.

Ode to my Crock Pot

I know I just posted yesterday, but I wanted to say how awesome crock pots are! Probably the easiest way to get delicious food with least effort. Example: Throw in meat, vegetables, and seasoning, and water. Turn it on. 5 hours later lovely falling-apart-tender dinner! Yay!

The only drawback is cooking time, but if you plan ahead a little it's not bad at all. You could put it in before going to work or church and when you come home dinner is completely done! I just barely used mine for (I think) the first time and now I'm hooked. It's the best way to cook for me since I'm fairly busy. Woo hoo crock pots!

Back to school, back to school...

Hello again! This past week many things happened. My dad came out for a night, so it was good to see him! My sisters were here for the rest of the week, which was also great, except they trashed my house! Ok, I made a mess, too, but still it's nice to have Lindsay's stuff out of my living room.


I also started school last week. It didn't really feel real though, because I didn't have to take Chaela or ride the bus (strange that taking my baby now makes school "real" to me). And I only went to one out of three classes because Kristin and Lindsay were here. I meant to go to two, but my ride was a little late on Friday. Anyways, it didn't feel like I was starting school last week, but today it does!

Chaela woke me up at about 7:45, so I took care of her and started getting ready myself. Then at 8:30 she decided she was just kidding about being up and went back to sleep, leaving me to finish getting ready and post. I'm excited for school this semester because I feel like with so few classes I can really do well and end on a high note. At this point it won't make a difference in my GPA, but I'll be done, so who cares?!

I think I've talked to some people about how HEPE, the G.E. health class that most people take as freshmen, somehow ended up as one of my last classes my senior year. Looking back, I've tried to take it twice. Each time I decided I didn't want to and dropped it. Now I don't have a choice, haha! It's ok, though, because I think now is the right time. It will help me get motivated and maybe even lose a little weight, which would be awesome! It's important to be healthy, so I'm grateful, in the end, that I'm taking this class at a time when it means something to me AND I have time to focus on it!

In other news, I haven't been working much lately because something weird is going on with my voice (an essential component at the BYU Telefund). I'll start work again this week and see how it goes. I really need to have a job so that we can save the loan money for moving. Wish me luck!

As Summer Ends...

Here we are, summer is almost over and I'm about to start my (for real this time) last semester at BYU. I'm registered for the classes, signed up for graduation, and have nothing left to do but buy my books. Let's do this.

There are a few exciting things that have happened this past week. Last Thursday I finally received my new umbrella stroller! Many of you know that I've been waiting months for this, ever since I decided I needed a new, smaller stroller for school and saw this on online. It was definitely worth the wait! At first I had a hard time folding it up, but I've had practice and can do it now!

Chaela has reached another turning point... she is graduating out of all of her 3 month sized-clothes and is now only wearing 6 months and up. It's great, since she's going to be 10 months on Sunday. So I was going through and putting some things away and pulling other things out. I found this really great baby track outfit that my friend gave us. I put the jacket on Chaela to see if it fit and she ran away! Will had to chase her and bring her back to her bedroom. Later she held her feet up for him so he could change her diaper! Ok, not really, because one he started to she tried to escape. But that's what it looks like!

Yesterday Chaela and I went to a Labor Day/Welcome Home Ellen barbecue. It was held at my old apartment in Carriage Cove. Going back brought so many fond memories (Look, Chaela, this is where mommy and daddy made out on the floor)! I was there for a while, so she took a nap in Amanda's room.

And this is the couch where Will and I had our first kiss! It was a little weird to see my daughter sitting there a mere two years later, but kind of cool.

Also in the past few days Kristin and Jacob have decided to postpone their wedding. They want to get married in December now instead of on Saturday. It really threw me off, but they think it will be for the best, so I support them!