arts and crafts day....

For today's Arts and Crafts project, we are going to make art for the wall, using painter's tape, acrylic paint, canvas, scissors, and paint brushes. These are the supplies we will be using:

Step 1: Begin placing the painter's tape on the canvas, in no particular order or place, just abstractly place the tape so that it looks like a cool design. Here are Gena and I placing the tape on our canvases.

Here I am with my canvas, after applying tape and before painting.

Step 2: Start painting. We used acrylic paint, small paint rollers, and regular paint brushes for the second coat of paint. I began painting with the brown paint on my large canvas. We did one coat of paint on each canvas and then let them dry for about 2 hours.

Me and Gena getting started with the painting:

Step 3: After about 2 hours, our canvases were dry and the tape was still in tact. Since it was warm outside yesterday, and by warm I mean 85 degrees in October, we set them outside on our patio while we waited. This is what the canvases looked like after 1 coat of paint and dry.

Step 4: We returned from getting a bit pampered, manicures and pedicures, and painted the canvases with a second coat of paint. The tape was still on and we added the second coat with regular paint brushes instead of using the rolling paintbrushes this time. Though the texture of the roller paintbrushes was nice, you could still see some white from the canvas, so we decided that we would try the other brushes. They worked very well, and gave a nice, smoothe look to the canvases.

Step 5: After the canvases are completely dry (we let ours sit over night), remove the tape very carefully, and then display them in any room of your home that you like! The blue and brown ones are for Tshabalalah's room, and Gena's is the hot pink one!

Here is a photo of the final product from Arts and Crafts day:

This was such a fun day! All that is left to do now, is to hang them up! I am looking forward to many more Arts and Crafts days in the future!

Eat Mor Chikin...

Last Saturday Brad and I ventured to the new Chick-Fil-A here in Los Angeles. It wasn't until we got there that we realized what a disaster it is. Whoever designed it, really should not still have a job. The drive through is the same entrance as the parking lot, and in LA, it is rare to even have a parking lot. The fact that the parking lot was blocked really was disappointing. When we got to the actual building to go inside and sit down, we realized that there is no inside! I thought for a minute about leaving, since really, who builds a Chick-Fil-A where you cannot walk inside to order or has no bathroom!! I am 38 weeks pregnant, and I mean, how inconsiderate!!! As we walked up to the window to order, I showed Brad the menu and guided him in the right direction of what he should order.

Brad ended up getting the spicy chicken sandwich meal and I, of course, got the original chicken sandwich meal.

After we ordered, I saw the Chick-Fil-A cow and insisted on being in a picture with him/her....I thought it only appropriate given my current condition of pregnancy....check it out here:

It only took about 4 minutes for our food to be at the window, and when we got our food, we realized that there were no tables for us to sit down, as they are all outside, but occupied. People were eating at all of the tables, and 9 months pregnant in 95 degree weather, I was not waiting around until someone decided that they were done eating.

Instead, Brad and I decided to take our food home with us to eat. When we got home, about 10 minutes later, it was still warm, and tasty! I was a little sad that Brad's first experience with Chick-Fil-A had to be in our apartment, and not actually eating at the "restaurant," but maybe next time...and who knows, maybe there will be 3 of us the next time we go!

I ate all 31 flavors

After we went to dinner with Emily and Teddy Davis, on Sunday night Oct. 9th, Teddy insisted on taking a photo of me and Brad, and Tshabalalah of course! Though I blend in a little with the sign behind us, you can still see how big the belly is getting!

Over the course of the week, I have been getting progressively more uncomfortable! The acid reflux/heartburn is really starting to bug me a bit....I'm just hoping that it goes away when Tshabalalah comes out, whenever that may be! My ribs, the left side in particular, are really sore. It feels as though I have a bruise on the left side of my ribs....

Tshabalalah still has not dropped yet, though he is making his way down to where he needs to be. After going to the doctor today, Thursday October 13th, I am still almost 1 centimeter dilated, just like last week. We monitored Tshabalalah's heart rate for about 20-25 minutes, and everything looks great. 

On another note...all of Tshabalalah's laundry is done, the car seat is in the car, and our hospital bags are packed and ready to go....I just can't believe that my due date is only 2 weeks from today!

All strapped in and ready to go....

So, this week we decided that we are going to start getting ready for the fact that we are having a baby....

Now some people may think that we ARE ready for a baby because we have a stroller, some washed clothes, and a changing table....though it occurred to us that we will need to have a way to get Tshabalalah home from the hospital! This is not the 1900's, where it is acceptable to put the baby in a bassinet and place it in the back seat of the car. We are in 2011....where there are so many gadgets for Tshabalalah that it is hard to know what you need to have and what you don't.

Brad took a field trip to the CHP (California Highway Patrol) on Thursday, when I was 37 weeks! He needed to have the car seat installed and wanted to know how to do it properly so he had the CHP officer help him with it. She was very helpful and gave him several hints about what should and should not be attached to the car seat. Most cars have hooks to hold the car seat in, but they have a weight limit, so the CHP officer told Brad that it is best to use the seat belt if you can.

Here are some photos of the finished product!

Safety first!