I’m sure some of you were worried about me…wondering if the new baby had taken me down. Fear not! My husband and I are very excited to share our sweet baby boy with you!

Meet Corbin.

Isn’t he precious? (Okay, maybe we’re biased.) We’ve been so wrapped up in new baby things we’ve neglected housework, grocery shopping, and yes, our poor blog. But now that we’ve successfully survived 2 months, I hope to get back into the swing of things!

Since my only “free time” occurs during feedings, I frequent the Etsy app and browse all of the beautiful things there. ::Sigh:: I love, love Etsy. And anyone who browses crafty sites knows that it leads to a desire for craftiness. And where does one find items to satisfy a craft thirst?

That’s right, Hobby Lobby.

I wanted to make something pretty, something that reminds me of romance and love. So, here’s what I made.

I love wedding bouquets! One of my favorite parts of my wedding was creating the pew decorations, and I found out today I really like to arrange flowers. This was my first go at it, but I feel like it turned out pretty well!

Maybe this is the beginning of something fun. We’ll see

Things are mostly ready. My bag’s packed. Corbin’s room is coming together as we continue to receive gifts from friends and family. He’s only 5.5 pounds and yet he has more clothes than I do. Crazy.

Because of the all-baby-all-the-time mode we’re in, everything’s been put on hold. Including the blog…sad.

Even my Etsy shop has been neglected. I’m hoping to start again fresh very soon with blogging and with making things for themillersground. I’m trying to convince my mom to quit her job, move down the street, and make things with me. I may or may not be using Corbin as bait for that!

Today’s agenda includes laundry, organizing things in the nursery, maybe taking the dogs to a dog park…some fun, restful things like that. I’m very much kind of a busy person, so I’m trying to take things slowly. We’ll see how that goes…

With baby things in full swing, I’ve had very little time to do any diy or craft projects. I’m still working on my 36″ wreath for Etsy, but it should be finished tomorrow and shipped out very soon. Boo to the yah.

In other news, Toby is having a little…operation…Friday. Yes, he will be wearing the Cone of Shame as one of our family members put it, losing his ability to bear children and mark my furniture. With all of Corbin’s new things coming into our home, we can’t risk Toby marking them. Dog urine + Newborn = Bad News. So, think of Toby on Friday around 7 a.m.

Time to update the registry. We have a family shower September 24 and a church shower September 25. Double header…that’s how we do things here in the Miller Household.

Any interesting DIY projects or baby things you’d like to share?

All that to say I’ve been thinking about what items I’d like to sell on Etsy. I enjoy making the wreaths, but I also really like to sew. Etsy recommends one type of item per store, and it seems many people do a great job selling that way. I just don’t know how to incorporate both items because I don’t want my store to just sell wreaths. Ideas? Anyone?

As a side note, if you’re interested in ordering any of the things you see on this blog, please leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!

Here’s what turned out:

I love love love the pattern! I did fleece on the back for some extra squishy for baby.

I’m having a boy, so this apron doesn’t really work for him, but I thought it would be fun to make anyway.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday!

Jay and Kassidy (my sis) both have accompanied me to a neighbor’s pool several times so I could float around, trying to get some exercise…but more importantly, trying not to drown. For those of you pregnant, I highly recommend swimming. Especially when we’re having record-setting temperatures here in Texas! (Jay and I got home from dinner yesterday evening at 9:30 p.m. and the outside temp said 97 degrees!) Not.Okay.

As far as diy crafting goes, I’ve made some progress! Last week, I opened my Etsy account in an effort to 1) begin releasing the creativity in me that desperately wants to get out and 2) generate some moo-lah for the fall.

I posted here about a wreath I was making out of magazine pages. I was able to finish it the next day but posting while getting things ready for baby Corbin and working 40 hours a week has become super difficult! More power to those of you who are able…

Either way, here’s the finished product!

I thought it turned out really nicely! The pages weren’t hard to glue to the wreath base (I use wood instead of foam for security), and the colors of the pages really popped! Plus, I like that I was able to use a magazine I was no longer reading to make this wreath. Score.

Tonight, Jay and I are celebrating being able to watch t.v. again! Not that we’re big t.v. people, but when one of your wedding presents to yourself is a flat screen, and then you cancel cable because you’re having a baby, you feel sorry for your flat screen…that it’s not able to fulfill its purpose. Now, with a trusty paper clip, my husband has rigged our t.v. to accept local channels. Jay’s We’re watching the Rangers Game as we speak! And the flat screen is happy.

I think we’re planning to wake up early tomorrow and head to Hobby Lobby. I have an unused gift card, an open Saturday, and a host of Pinterest pics I’m unabashedly addicted to. That’s a dangerous combination, friends.

#actinglikechildren

Like so many others (I hope!), I started an Etsy store awhile ago but really didn’t post much on it (lazy). Today though, I totally rocked Etsy! I uploaded a Vintage Paper Wreath I made a few months ago (here) to my site and am super excited about it! I already had one person list it as a Favorite Item…and that makes me stupidly giddy!

So, in an effort to give it my all-or-none-type attention, I started on another wreath. This one’s a little different though.

Instead of using book pages, I thought a magazine might work well. I have tons of Real Simple magazines that I absolutely loved reading but now didn’t have a use for. I saved the pages that inspired me (great recipes, design, DIY tips) and began tearing out colorful pages throughout the magazine. I ran across one of their sections about halfway through, which I thought was ironic.

Straight from the horse’s mouth…er, editor’s pen…?

I didn’t feel so bad tearing out those pages because the magazine endorsed repurposing! It was practically asking for new life…

As soon as I started, I realized I didn’t really like rolling the paper the same way I did with the book page wreath. So, I tried something different.

I folded the paper almost like a regular flower, where it gathers in the center. Then, I hot glued it there and pinned it with a clothespin after many, many near-burns.

This kept the “flower” design intact without running up my medical bills.

Then, I began placing the magazine flowers around the wreath, and this is what I have so far!

Right now, it kind of looks like a bad hat.

But rest assured! At the end, it will be amazing.

Time for some more glue and then sleep. Corbin’s made it a little difficult to get a good night’s rest lately. Hoping for restful sleep tonight!

*Is anyone else impressed with the New Uses for Old Things section above? Who knew vanilla could mask the smell of paint??

Our Trane air conditioning system’s motor and disconnect switch went out Thursday. In it’s defense, it’s 15 years old. Its time was up, I’m sure.

Now, while Jay’s gone on mission trip to Virginia, I’m learning about SEER ratings, variable systems, motors, fans, copper lines, and many other things I’m not super interested in. Ah, the joys of homeownership!

One thing I’m trying to remember as the quotes come in and their zeros continue on forever is that Corbin will still be in here in October. Air conditioner or no air conditioner. Money or no money. He’s coming…totally unaware of the stresses and hardships we’ll face as a family. And my job is to maintain that innocence.

So, one way or another, our air will be fixed, our baby will be happy, and we’ll be a family of three…soon enough.

Happy Saturday to the rest of you!

(p.s. Any air conditioning tips would be highly appreciated!)

Poor thing. In our defense, we have been watering it! We stopped doing the soaker hose because Jay was able to get the sprinklers working. But with the intense Texas heat (triple digits!), our little Youpon is still dying. Sadness. This shows our complete lack of vegetative knowledge.

Today Jay found and repositioned the soaker hose around our little bushes, so we’ll see what the next few weeks bring!

Since the husband has been on mission trip all week, we’re going to spend time playing a game together tonight! We’re thinking Yahtzee or Stratego….He always wins at Yahtzee (game of luck); I always win at Stratego (game of intense strategy and awesome battle skills). I’m just sayin’.

Do you and your husband play board games? What’s your fav?