DIY Baby Sleep Sack Tutorial for Beginners

Well, I inherited a sewing machine. It's really nothing special, but to me it's a land of opportunity! I've been wanting to try my hand at sewing for awhile now, but lacked an important piece of equipment. My sweet grandma indefinitely lent me her machine and I set out on an epic sewing journey! I decided that the easiest first project was something with a zipper... A very long zipper.

You see sweet Avery Jane was growing out of her current sleep sack and winter is upon us so I thought to myself that a fleece sleep sack was the perfect first project! After finishing, I would not necessarily suggest this as a first project for people, but hey.... It was mine and it turned out ok, so why not give it a try!

What you need for a 6-12 month (approximate) sleep sack:

• 1 yard of your favorite fleece fabric
• A 20-22" separating zipper (the one in the picture is an All Purpose Zipper... That was wrong and I had to exchange it;)
• Fabric Scissors or Fabric Rotary Cutter and Mat (any scissors will work... These are just sharper) (This is what I have and it is very inexpensive and is a GREAT starter kit!)
• Push pins
• Thread and Sewing Machine 

Back piece.

To start out and make a pattern to follow, I used an old sleep sack of Avery's and traced it onto newspaper. Make sure you allow for 3/4 inch all around. I wanted it to be a next size up for her so I made it a little bigger than that all around and added about 3-4 inches on the bottom. Once I was done with this, I cut it out and pinned it to the fabric and cut out the back of the sleep sack.

Front piece.

For the front pieces, I folded the pattern in half and left 3/4" on the inside for the zipper. (**Note this step is pretty important**). Do this on both halves of the front pieces. After I cute the front pieces out, I realized the neck hole on the front pieces probably needed to be cut a little lower. I cut a little too far, so don't cut too much more out.

After this, lay your zipper out and cut a piece that is about an inch longer than the zipper on both ends and about 3-4 inches wide. You will need this to cover the inside of the zipper. (This is not a super necessary step in my opinion, but is nice to have the zipper covered on the inside).  Below are all the pieces you'll need for this project.

Next, the dreaded zipper..... Ok, I'm sure I didn't do this the "proper" way, but it worked so I'm happy.  You want to take your two front pieces and pin the zipper on the right sides of the fabric with the zipper teeth facing out towards the arm holes. **Important!! Make sure you pin them on so you will zip the sack from top down! Do this on both sides. Then put the two front pieces together right sides in and sew them together underneath where the zipper ends. Mine had about 5-6 inches I needed to sew.

If you choose to do the inside zipper cover, you want to take that extra strip of fabric we cut out and fold it in half long ways and sew the short ends. Then flip it right side in so your sewing is hiding inside the fabric. (OR you can just cut a strip that is about an inch to inch and a half wide and skip the sewing part... I did this so it wasn't so bulky and easier to sew onto the project. You can do this with fleece because it doesn't fray. Other fabrics you will want to fold and sew). Sew this piece onto where you sewed the zipper so it lays across the zipper on the INSIDE of the sleep sack. The picture below is with the two front pieces zipped together and wrong sides of fabric facing out.

We are almost done!! Now put the right sides of the fabrics of the front and back pieces together, pin them, and then sew all along the outside perimeter 3/4 inch EXCEPT the arm holes and neck holes. Hem the arm holes and neck hole and then you are done!! UNLESS you are me and realize there is a little extra fabric above the zipper in the neck area... I folded it 1/4 inch and sewed it. When you are all done with this, flip it right side out so you can see your finished product.

That's all it takes to make your own sleep sack! I was able to make one for about $9 total. The one I bought from Target was almost $30... My lines may not be straight, but hey... I saved a bunch of money and Sweet Avery Jane got a sweet new sleep sack.

"One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians"

(Okay, okay this post is long overdue... Story of my life ;)

So, I have never been a huge Halloween fan, but the last few years I have been slowly learning to become one. It all started when we were living with our dear friend AJ. We lived with him for two Halloweens and he was a movie guy so both of these holidays included movies. One year, we ordered  the movie Scream 5 from On Demand.... Yes, everything about that statement seems so wrong. Ordering a $5 movie on your TV and having said $5 movie be one of the Scream movies.... I am a tad bit ashamed to admit it, but hey! It made for a great memory.

The next year we watched the movie of all movies. Troll 2. We still laugh about this. It is absolutely the worst movie ever made, but the sheer "badness" of it makes it pretty entertaining. There isn't even a Troll 1. There is never a troll in the movie, only goblins. The graphics are terrible and the acting is the worst! It's all so bad! It's a great (non-family) halloween movie, however (if you wanna laugh). There was even a documentary made by the star of the movie called Best Worst Movie.. If you so desire, check out the amazingness of Troll 2 here.

We now live on Halloween street in our town. People go all out. Leave work early or even take the day off to decorate. This year I walked down the street and talked to some of the people who were out decorating, one lady said she bought 3500 pieces of candy and that the rest of the neighbors and her had been talking and said that would not be enough because of the nice weather! Wild!! Luckily, we live at the end of the street and this Halloween we only handed out candy to just over 60 kids...

Here's a pic from one of the houses that night.. It is dark, but gives you an idea of how many people were out.. PS this was taken around 8:45pm!

So like I said, I am slowly becoming a Halloween person. Having a daughter now is an even bigger incentive to get more into the spooky spirit (I even "decorated")

Avery Jane was just over 6 months for her first Halloween. She's not even sitting up without some assistance or her Bumbo (we have this one), so naturally she needed to wear a costume. It was really a no brainer what we chose to have her dress up as. She of course took after her momma and dressed up as little Indian baby.

She already had this pair of amazing moccasins that helped inspire the costume. For the rest of the costume, I decided to go simple and just make a tutu and a feather headband to go with the moccasins. Both items were super easy to make.

For the tutu, I just used some elastic that I measured around her waist (minus an inch or so) and sewed the ends together and then knotted the tulle around it. (I bought tulle by the yard – 1/8 of a yard in each color – because I knew I would not need as much as what comes on a roll. I cut it in strips and loop knotted to the elastic band.)

For the headband, I just used a brown baby headband and hot glued a strip of brown felt to it, hot glued the feathers onto that piece of felt and then glued another piece of felt over the top of the bottom of the feathers. Vioala! Avery Jane had a costume (that she wore for approximately 20 minutes). Our cute little indian girl :)

Confessions of a breastfeeding failure...

"Normalize breastfeeding, breast is best, breastfeeding is beautiful, free the boob".... These are a few of the sayings that you become pretty familiar with pretty early on in mommy hood (especially if you choose to nurse)... But what about those of us who want so desperately to be able to feed our babies solely the breast but can't? We're told that the best thing for our new babies is milk produced by our own bodies... We are sometimes told in a laughing, sarcastic tone that breastfeeding may be hard... But no one really takes the time to sit you down and tell you how hard it actually can be and how easily it can all go down hill...

This was me. Correction this is me. Both my mom and my grandma struggled with breast feeding, so I knew it was possible that it would be a struggle for me. However, I was determined to give it my best shot! I prayed often before giving birth that I would be able to nurse my sweet baby. 

So, sweet Avery Jane entered the world and began nursing. Her latch was pretty good, it didn't hurt too terribly bad, no cracks, no bleeding... Success! Nursing was going pretty well for us and I was so pleased! 

But then the silent killer entered the scene... The lies all of us women believe... It had been just over six weeks and I had been given the ok to start exercising again... A few more weeks had passed and I still wasn't my normal size 3. In fact, I was still double that. So, I started watching what I ate more and was hitting the gym/working out from home more. I felt good. I felt great really. I thought, "I will be back in no time."

But then Avery Jane happened. She went to the doctor and had basically fallen off the charts for weight. She had had a little blood in her diaper as well so the docs were doubly concerned. After about 4-6 blood tests, 2 stool samples, a urine test and a visit with the lactation consultant the doctors told us she wasn't getting enough to eat from me and to start supplementing with formula. Such an easy thing for them to say, such an easy fix. SUCH a shattering and discouraging thing for a new mom to hear. They said, "Your supply must have dropped." What I heard: "You have failed at being able to adequately take care of your daughter." 

Now I know my thoughts were absolutely irrational, maybe even hormonal, but I was utterly crushed. Not only was I not "slimmed down," but in trying to do so I took away the ability to feed my sweet girl what she needed. I felt so terrible. So ashamed. 

You may hear moms joking around about how ravenous they are while nursing, but you don't often hear how extremely important it is to eat enough calories while nursing. You don't often hear how much you will struggle with how your body looks after having a baby. You will know the fact that you just gave another human life by growing it inside of you, but that evil voice in your head will continue to try to tell you you're fat. What a lie this is! A lie I chose to believe and now Avery is paying for it. 

No one ever tells you how embarrassed you may feel to have to admit you're giving your baby formula!! GASP! Well, I'm hear to say yes, you may feel embarrassed to admit this, but it is nothing to be embarrassed about! It's something to celebrate really. What if Avery had been born before formula was invented? Would she still be alive? Possibly not. This sounds extreme, but it helps me to be thankful that formula was invented and that it will allow Avery to grow and develop as needed. Even thrive!

My advice to other new moms who may be just beginning this nursing journey:

• EAT! Make sure to get enough calories in your day. Avery's doctor told me I should have been eating 2500-3000 calories a day. That is a ton! I was lucky to be getting 1500-2000... And then gymming on top of that. Not good. Do NOT feel guilty for eating extra while nursing!
• DRINK! Make sure you are drinking enough water! Get a big water bottle and mark it with lines of how much you need to drink by when... Do whatever it takes to get enough liquids.
• PRIORITIZE your supply! When it's time to feed your baby DO IT! You are NOT an inconvenience!! I struggled with this... If we were out with family or friends, and I knew it had been more than 4 hours since I nursed or pumped I would just push it longer... Avery wasn't crying so she was fine. As a result, my body thought it needed to make less milk and my supply began to dry up.
• YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE if you can't nurse... Coming from a mom who's baby cannot survive on my milk alone, you are still a good mom if you have to feed her formula.. A GREAT mom even, because you can put your pride aside to give your baby what she needs.
• TAKE YOUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE!! At some point you are going to hate your post-baby body. You may even think horrible things about how you look, but look at your baby and remember it took 9 months for that sweet baby to grow inside of you... It's absolutely OK if it takes that long for you to look like you "used to."
• PRAY! This should probably be first on the list. Pray for your supply. Pray for your baby. Pray for your thoughts to be pure about your body. Pray for your pride to step aside if you are unable to nurse. Ask God, cry out to God, that He will help you on this journey. He wants to be included :)

I have taken the last 3 months to work on rebuilding my supply. You name it, we've tried it! Avery Jane was living on probably 80% formula and 20% breast milk when we found out my supply had depleted. She was lucky to get .5-1 ounce from me each feeding. I would guess she is now living on about 65% formula and probably 35% breast milk. She's getting anywhere from 1-3 ounces from me and the rest formula.

Bottle can also be best!

I'm not sure I will ever regain my full supply, but I will continue to try. I will continue to choose to be ever so thankful for the creators of formula for providing my baby a source of nourishment! I will thank God for helping us find out that she wasn't getting enough food before any permanent damage was done! I will choose to believe I have NOT failed at breastfeeding or being a good mom, but believe I am a GREAT mom for doing whatever it takes to give this sweet girl the best life I can :)  I will continue to try to be the best mom I can for sweet Avery Jane! 

~Arieanna

To Stay Home or Not to Stay Home....

Ever since I was a little girl, I have LOVED babies and little kids. I used to just love when the neighbors would call and ask me to "babysit" their kids! The parents were there the whole time and really I was just playing with their kids, but hey! I thought I was babysitting and they were able to get some things done around the house... Brilliant strategy and a definite win-win! I just couldn't wait to have my own babies some day!

From pretty early on, I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home-mom. What I didn't anticipate was the amount of time it would take to become a mom (you can read the full story here)... I also did not intend to find a job that I absolutely love! A job that I didn't want to leave...

A little history on my "career path":

The University of Montana

I went to school at the University of Montana and graduated with a Bachelor's in Marketing... So, naturally after graduation, I got a job babysitting ;) Again, I just loved it! But after about a year of this, Casey and I decided it was time for me to move on.... But I wasn't sure what to move on too... Then out of what seemed like no where, God opened a door wide for me to walk through... That door was the door to our church, Harvest Church.  I sat in a number of different seats on the Harvest bus, but the Lord eventually gave me the reigns to lead the Kids Ministry program at our Lockwood Campus (the same campus my husband, the worship leader, works).

I instantly fell in love with this job! It was hard, challenging, but oh so rewarding. My first day in this role was on Easter... If you know anything about church work, you know that Christmas and Easter are the two most attended holidays of the year! I can just remember the pure exhilarating exhaustion after that day and craving more! Even though I couldn't pull myself off the couch the next day, I knew that Lord had in store an amazing ride for me and that things were just getting started!

Our campus as a whole has been growing pretty steadily over the last two years and with more adults comes more kids! We grew from around a 70 kid average to around a 115 kid average in just 2 years! We were having an absolute blast! The Lord had assembled a killer team and I mean I have been getting to be part of kids learning who Jesus is.... Goodness that is something to celebrate!

BUT then something changed.... After years of praying, God gave me a baby... A baby of my own! Never in a million years, did I think that deciding to stay home with her would turn out to be such a challenging decision.

You see.... I now know that I was going to stay home with her all along, but as soon as I became pregnant, I was trying to convince myself and the Lord that I could do both... To love and raise this sweet daughter of ours AND lead our Lockwood Kids... But as soon as Sweet Avery Jane landed in my arms, I knew God was releasing me from my responsibilities at Harvest.

My heart was torn... I felt as if I was letting down a number of people I loved: my boss, my volunteers, my church... But every time I would begin to think that, I would hear myself think, "This is God's church not mine... His ministry not mine." God will take care of His church... He used me for a season, but now it's a new season... A season of motherhood.

So, I told my boss... He was more than supportive and even excited for me... Which made it even more bittersweet. His words to me were, "You have been great, and it will be hard to replace you, but nobody can replace you as Avery’s mom so give her all you’ve got. You have my deepest respect and sincerest gratitude both for your service to Harvest and your commitment to your family."

So, the decision has been made... To stay home with Sweet Avery Jane... He's right nobody can replace me as her mom and I intend to give her all I've got! I know I will NEVER regret this decision!

With heavy, but happy heart I am saying goodbye to my role at Harvest for now and hello to full-time mommyhood!

#SweetAveryJane

Most of you know on April 16th, 2014 at 9:36am our sweet Avery Jane entered our lives.

What many of you may not know about Avery Jane is how long we waited for her arrival. You see, Casey and I have been married 4 years now... We knew we wanted to start a family pretty early in our marriage and we figured we'd "pull the goalie" and be pregnant in no time... That's how it seemed to be going for all our friends anyways. 

Well, we did just that and started trying for a baby in the summer of 2011... A few months went by and we still weren't pregnant. I told my doctor that we were trying for a baby and she warned us that it may take awhile for my body to regulate and to keep trying. We trusted her.... But then an entire year of us trying rolled around and there was still no baby, no pregnancy. We were becoming more and more discouraged and it seemed as if EVERYONE we knew was pregnant or getting pregnant with ease. I can remember at one low point counting 12 people within my semi-immediate circle that were pregnant and being so disheartened. We just wanted so badly a family of our own and were not being given it. 

Casey and I had been praying about a baby this whole time, but we decided that we needed to cry out to God on this issue because we were not accomplishing anything on our own... So, we put it in God's hands and agreed to pray everyday together about it. Every night before bed we asked God for a baby. We prayed every night for another year.

We were living with our friend AJ during a good portion of this and he was so excited for us to start a family. He would always talk about our future kids and say things like "this would make a great nursery huh?" while we would have our nightly family time in his basement. He knew better than most our struggle with trying for a baby. Eventually he stopped bringing it up... In fact, most of us stopped talking about it...

And then our sweet friend, AJ, died on July 16th, 2013. We were sad beyond comfort (and still are at times), but God provided some very unexpected joy in the midst of our immense sadness....  On August 25th, we found out that I was pregnant! Pregnant! After trying for so long, crying so many tears, questioning God so many times..... I was pregnant. Pregnant in the middle of being so incredibly sad. We went to the doctor and they had told us that I was already 8 weeks pregnant.... This placed the date of conception just after Junior left us. We were amazed, baffled, even confused as to how this was possible. To get pregnant during such a stressful time... It didn't make sense... But then the nurse told us our due date: April 8th... Just days after AJ's birthday and then we knew... Knew AJ had worked us a deal.

Never once was that guy thinking of himself... ALWAYS thinking of others and how he could help a friend out. Ok... maybe he did think of himself at least once... but this time we know AJ wasn't thinking of himself, but thinking of some close friends he left behind. We're not sure on the theology of it all... In fact, there most likely isn't any, but we are convinced that Junior sat down with The Lord and wheeled and dealed on our behalf's with Him until God agreed to give his pals' a baby.

This was and has been so healing to our hurting souls. All along God knew what He was doing in having us wait so long for the baby we so desperately wanted. He knew there'd be a time that Casey and I would need joy... Need something to look forward to... Something to help us hold our heads high and keep on putting one foot in front of the other.

Well, fast forward 9 months... It was April and I was VERY, VERY pregnant. April 1st was AJ's birthday and we had all (his family included) been pulling for our sweet baby to be born on Junior's birthday. Well, the 1st came and left and there was no baby born yet.. Then came our due date... and then there went our due date... This baby was proving to be very stubborn. A week after our due date, we went to the doctor for what we hoped to be a final checkup. We scheduled to be induced on April 17th... Two days away. We hoped by giving this baby a few more days, it would finally decide to enter the world.

That night (April 15th) we crawled into bed just before 11pm to be jolted out of bed from a popping sensation that I thought was my water breaking and contractions that followed immediately. After fixing our fridge that had apparently been leaking for who knows how long (great timing!), we made our way to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital just before 1am on April 16th and we got settled in.... Ha kidding I was having contractions.. There was NO settling in!

After my labor had went to my back, I decided it was epidural time... Around 3:30-4:00am, I got an epidural and then the calm before the storm happened... SO wonderful! We then actually settled in and napped until the delivery crew came in around 7:30am and told us it was time to have this baby! I started pushing and then a short two hours later Casey said "It's a girl!" And I knew sweet Avery Jane was born!

April 16th, 2014... 9:36am. Our beautiful, healthy daughter is placed in my arms.... So long did we wait to lay our eyes on such a precious baby. Time stood still as they say.... And I can remember, through tears, thanking God (and AJ) for such an amazing gift.

It wasn't until later that day when our friend, Tucker, came by and pointed out the significance of when Avery Jane was born... You see our beautiful Avery Jane was born exactly 9 months to the day, almost to the minute, of our dear AJ's death. Again time stood still.... God, like He always does, made such beauty from such ugly, heart-wrenching ashes. Again we were astonished, baffled, confused.... But so thankful. So very thankful!

Such a happy, little family.

Beauty Baby.

Happy Heart.

Proud Papa.

Sweet Girl.

Readers make leaders.

Smiley Baby.

Such a joy.

Just hanging and having a convo with Dad.

Thank you, God, for the amazing gift you've given us in this tiny, little human. Thank you for answering all of our prayers. Thank you for continuing to heal our broken hearts. You are an amazing God!

PS... Say hi to AJ for us.