The Great Debate

Okay it's not really a debate... but I think about it a LOT.... What in the world will our little girl look like?  DJ and I have such different genes.  The only thing we have in common is that we're tall and thin.  Other than that, it's a toss up.  Here's some pictures to show how very different we were as kids:

Me at about 5 months (cause for some reason that's the earliest pics I have?)

So white and so bald.

DJ on his blessing day.

So dark and a full head of hair.

At about 6 months-- to reiterate my baldness.

 DJ probably at about 2.

Me at 3.

So so blonde.  And big blue eyes (which have since turned green).

DJ-- I'm guessing around 3.

Brown hair, big brown eyes.

So in the end-- who the heck knows who this baby will look like? I'm aware DJ has all the dominant genes.  But I still wouldn't be surprised if I popped out a baldie/blondie like me :)  Only 12 weeks til we know for sure!!!

4 Little [sock] Monkeys

The other day on Pinterest, I saw a picture of sock monkeys.  Now, I've never been a particular fan of the strange little creatures, but when I saw these I thought, "I know some kids who could enjoy these!"  My brother Josh has 4 children, who we call "The Monkeys."  I happen to have their family for Christmas, so why not make sock monkeys for my favorite little Kaiser Monkeys?  After doing one I realized it was soooo easy and that I should make a quick tutorial.  

For 1 sock monkey you need:

- 1 pair of socks

- 2 buttons

- needle

-thread

- fluff (that's batting, for you technical people)

Okay, here we go!

Turn one of your socks inside-out, and flatten it with the heel facing upward:

Because these socks were knee socks, I had to shorten them, but if your socks aren't so long you can skip this step:

Now from the cuff (or bottom of your sock), cut a straight line up the middle to about 1/4 inch below the heel. (The heel becomes the bum of the monkey)

Cut the heel out of the other sock.  This will become the nose-mouth (hahaha thanks, Matt).

From the other sock, after cutting out the nose-mouth (okay, it's probably actually called a snout...), cut out 2 arms of equal length and width, a tail piece, and two half-circles for the ears:

Sew the feet and legs together, leaving a small opening in the crotch so you can turn it right-side-out and stuff:

Turn right-side out:

...And stuff. Then sew up the crotch.  Hooray, you have the body:

Sew the arms and tail together, leaving the end open so you can turn them right-side out.  Then stuff the arms.  I opted not to stuff the tail; I like it a little floppy:

Hand stitch the nose-mouth to the front of the face.  First, it looks a little deformed, and you may think you've done something terribly wrong:

But leave a small opening, stuff the fluff in there, and whip stitch it shut, and your nose-mouth takes the proper shape:

Now whip stitch the arms and tail on.  It clearly doesn't have to be perfect:

Here's what it looks like from the front:

Next sew on some button eyes, the ears, and hand-stitch the mouth, and you've got yourself a sock monkey:

Here are the 4 I've made:

One for each of my favorite monkeys!  (Carly, if you read this, no telling that I'm sending these to them.  After all, it's for Christmas!)

Post Me Up Some Halloween

Last week, my cute nephew asked my sister to "post him up," meaning he wanted her to post pictures of him on her blog.  It's probably my new favorite phrase :)  

So here's some pictures I wanted to post up of Halloween yesterday!

Keesh and DJ made a great pair:

DJ's mustache worked great for his costume, but he was thrilled to shave it off at the end of the night!

And then Wario (Matty) came in on the scene:

And Superman (Davey) made an appearance:

We had a party with all the Provo sibs:

Nikki, me, Kristi, Sean, Matty, DJ, Keesha, Davey and Meg

And me and Alexsi rocked our skele-costumes together :)

I saw a costume like this on a blog last year, and I hoped that someday I'd be preggo on Halloween so I could use it!  Who knew it would be perfect for one year later???

Happy Halloween!!!