Future Team USA soccer star

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I used to tell my husband that she was going to be a soccer player because of all the kicking she did while inside of me.  Who knew that just a few years later, she'd be asking us to play!

Last October, two of my nephews played in the AYSO soccer league in Visalia and I took Faith to go see them play.  She loved it!  While one cousin was playing his game, she was kicking a soccer ball around with the other.  Needless to say, I needed to get her involved some how.

Back in January, I saw a banner posted at the elementary school down the street from us that the Clovis Unified offered a Little Kickers program for ages 3-5 and the spring season started on March 9th, the week after her third birthday.  I called to verify that she would be eligible to play and then signed her up!

She is beyond excited.  To get her ready, daddy and I took her to get some shin guards and to find her some soccer shoes.  We found the shin guards at Target, but couldn't find any cleats her size.  After asking around from friend and Facebook, we found that a local soccer shop carried toddler sized cleats.  So, off we went.

We found a pair of Addias cleats that were just her size and I ended up letting her walk out of the store with them off because she refused to take them off.

Well, she is so excited about playing soccer that I found her trying to put her cleats on by herself in the living room the other day.  It was so cute.  She looked up at me and told me, "I play soccer, momma!"  Her excitement just melts me heart. 

Trying to put her cleats on by herself

(Yes...I had to buy her her own soccer bag and it had to be Addias to match her shoes.)

Daddy and I have taken her out to the park a few time to kick the ball around a little to get her used to it, but I'm looking forward to watching her play with kids her own age.  I can only hope that she grows up loving the sport just as much as her mommy did when she was younger!

Looks like a natural!

Recent Finished Project

Quite a few years ago, I learned how to cross-stitch and took to cross-stitching baby blankets as an easy hobby to help myself relieve the stress of the day.  My first blanket took me over a year and a half to complete.  Since then, I have made quite a few, including one for my own daughter. 

I've tried to make one for each of my nephews (since I don't yet have a niece) and my own daughter.  In August 2012, my sister-in-law, Melissa, told me she was expecting her first child and I immediately started thinking of what I would do for her.  At first (I believe she was really hoping for a girl), she told he she was going to do an owl theme for the nursery.  Since the blankets take so long for me to do, I went to Joann's that same week and found my next project.



I immediately fell in love with this blanket.  I bought it and took it home to start working on with the hope of having it finished before the baby shower and before the little baby was born.

I started working on it in September 2012.  I worked on it as often as time would allow (I did have a full time job and was a full time wifey and mommy duties that took precedence, ya know). I took it on a weekend trip out of town with the hubby and worked on it all day on a Saturday while he was in a meeting all day.

Stitching while the hubby is sitting in a boring meeting.

As I worked the blanket, I had a lot of idea running through my head.  I wanted my sister-in-law to be able to actually use the blanket instead of just saying "it's too pretty to use". So many ideas and no clue as to what to do.

After almost four months of working on the blanket and praying that I would get it done before the baby arrives, I finished it just after Christmas.

The finished product

After I finished the blanket, I kept looking at it and told myself that it need something else.  I wanted it to be something special that my sister-in-law and new nephew would be able to use and treasure.  By this time, the baby shower was just around a few days away and while I wanted to give it to Melissa, I knew it wasn't as finished as I wanted it to be.  So, when it came time for the shower, I wrapped it up and gave it to her.

Melissa and I at her baby shower on January 21th

I brought the blanket home with me after the shower, still trying to figure out what to.  My hubby looked at it and told me that I should have the baby's name put on it to personalize it and then add a backing to it to hide the stitching on the back.  Thinking it was a great idea, I set out to do just that.  I ended up taking it to an embroidery place here in town and had them stitch my nephews name and birth year on it.

(Embroidery done by California Embroidery)

After I had it embroidered, I took it o Joann's to find some sort of fabric to put on the back of it to make it usable but at the same time, make it look more boyish.  I ended up finding a nice fleece fabric that was blue and white checkered.  Now, the fun part was trying to figure out how I was going to get the fabric onto the back of the blanket.  I had a sewing machine, but didn't know how to use it. (I know, brilliant, right?)

Well, a few weeks ago, with the help of my mother and stepfather and a friend of my mom's, I was finally able to finish it and get it done the way I was picturing it in my mind and exactly how I wanted to get it done. 

Got the backing sewn on!

I was so excited when it was done.  And the best part.  I had done all of it myself!  My sister-in-law is so excited to use it.  Hopefully soon, I will be able to add a picture of my new nephew with his new special blanket!