Daddy's Growing Girl

Hope everyone had a great Father's Day.  I think I helped to make Eric's first a good one.  He woke up to breakfast in bed... cinnamon rolls, peppercorn bacon, scrambled eggs, and coffee.  Here was his gift:

4 Braves game tickets for this Tuesday (2 for us and 2 for our friends), a new Braves t-shirt, and Aubrey's first Braves outfit to be worn at her first game next season.  Hopefully he had a good day.


I think I mentioned that I wanted to make a growth chart for Aubrey.  Well, it's FINISHED and I love it.  I started by getting ideas from Etsy.  Here was my inspiration:

I liked that the canvas one would be easier to transport and store and I liked the simple design of the wooden one.  So I came up with my own compromise.


My Materials:
1 5/8 yards of canvas material
5-6 1/2 yard squares of printed fabric for cutouts
clipart prints for cutout patterns
measuring tape
4 flower buttons
4 beady black buttons (for bird eyes)
1 spool (2 yards) of pom pom edging
paint (brown and white), stencil brush or sponge, small paint brush, and branch stencil
plastic bags
needle, thread, Fray Check, and scissors
ribbon, dowel, and screw (for hanging)
pencil
small wooden fence cutout


To start, I printed my cutouts and traced them onto my printed fabric.  My cutouts for this project were little birds, the wings for the birds, the letter A (for Aubrey's monogram), and numbers 2-5.  I decided not to stick to the colors currently in her nursery so that the growth chart can match her room in the future as well.  It is important to seal the cutouts with Fray Check so that they stay together after you cut them out.

 
Next I measured and cut out the chart itself.  I wanted my finished product to be 12 inches wide, so I cut my fabric 13 inches wide to allow for a 1/2 inch seam.  Since my project is for a little girl (and the women in my family are not really known for their height), I made my chart 4 feet long.  It starts at 1 1/2 feet and goes to 5 1/2 feet.  The plan is to measure Aubrey's height each year.  More later on how I plan to mark her height.

Then I marked the chart in inches with a pencil and went back over my pencil marks with brown paint.  After I had all of the inches marked, I attached numbers 2-5 with contrasting pink thread for the feet markers.

I left room at the top and bottom for a boarder and placed my bird cutouts where I wanted them.  Once I knew how I wanted everything spaced, it was a matter of sewing on the cutouts, decorations, and stenciling on the branches.  It is important to remember to place something underneath the canvas when you paint it, because it is not a tight knit fabric.  I suggest recycled grocery bags.  Once the chart is finised, attach a dowel and decorative ribbon to the top.  Be sure that you hang it so that all of your measurements are still accurate.  :-)  Here is how mine turned out:

Once little Aubrey is here, we can mark her height.  Instead of just writing or painting her height on the chart each year, I think I am going to make little tags and pin them to it.  A friend of mine suggested making the tags from her favorite outfits as she outgrows them.  We will see...


Here is my weekly update:

• How far along? 22 weeks


• Total weight gain:  11 lbs.  At least I know this little one is growing.


• Maternity clothes? For all shorts and some tops, but still some regular dresses. 


• Stretch marks? No, just veiny.


• Sleep:  Body pillow = friend


• Best moment this week: On Thursday I went to the gym, and as I was walking around the track for my cool down, an older gentleman approached me and asked me if this was my first baby.  We went on to have a half hour conversation about family, education, literature (To Kill a Mockingbird specifically), his heart condition, and technology.  It was so comforting to meet a kind stranger.  It gives me hope for the world we are bringing this little girl into.  I also got to see What to Expect When You're Expecting with my cousin and best friend.  I definitely recommend it.  Though I will warn you, it had its tear-jerking moments.

• Miss Anything? Feeling like I look decent in my clothes.  I know I am supposed to have a belly right now, but it is really killing my self-confidence.  I have resorted to 50 Shades of Grey to restore my libido.  I swear reading that book is like watching a train wreck...it's so shocking.  Before you know it, its 10 o'clock in the morning and you still haven't showered or left the house (because who wants to be seen reading that in public...especially when you're pregnant).  Although it has helped to set the mood, we are sticking to the "vanilla" approach.  If you don't know what I mean, you will just have to read to find out.  ;-)


• Movement: Still squirming around a lot.


• Food cravings: Ice Cream


• Food aversions: Still Mexican food.  Eric and I think we may have found a compromise...Taco Mac.  He still gets his chips and dip and I can eat something that won't keep me glued to the toilet for 3 days. 


• Gender: Girl!


• Labor Signs: No.


• Symptoms: Back pain and leg cramps.  My gym class is partially to blame for the cramps.


• Belly Button in or out? In.  I am beginning to think my bellybutton may not "pop."  I know there are a lot of people who have innies throughout their pregnancy.  Any of you experience that?


• Wedding rings on or off? On.


• Looking forward to: The Braves game with Eric and friends on Tuesday.  Gooo Braves!