Eeeeek!!!

Oh. My. Goodness. I am so stinkin' excited!! With Caleb going to preschool this fall, I knew I wanted to **attempt** to make him a special, one-of-a-kind nap mat, and today, I woke up inspired to do so! I've had the fabric for quite some time, but honestly, it's been probably a year since I've pulled out my sewing machine. And, I've had the nap mat tutorial "favorited" for even longer. So, as I got started this morning, and was looking at the list of supplies I was going to need, I noticed that buttons were one thing that I've ALWAYS feared working with, and therefore never have. Until today! And I'm proud to say that after a few trial runs on some scrap fabric, I actually completed two button holes successfully!

To say that this project was hard is an understatement. I think I put it off for so long because I was scared of it. And maybe it was the fact that I actually got 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night thanks to my amazing hubby who got up with Asher, that inspired me. Either way, in about 5 hours start to finish, we have an awesome nap mat, and I am proud to say that I stand here in sheer amazement that I didn't yell, curse or shed a single tear while taking on this overwhelming task, even though I've got plenty of red dots on my finger tips from sticking myself with push pins!

I "eeekkked" with giddyness as I finished sewing on the last button and let Caleb take a test run. He didn't want to get off of it so I could take pics, which means maybe, just maybe, he will actually use it at preschool come September!

Here is the boy that I *slaved* over the sewing machine for today, just as I would any day of the week! He couldn't wait to lay down on it! He is calling it his nap night night mat, so cute!

The finished project, just waiting to be filled with my big boy!

The "outer shell", one of the cutest dinosaur prints I could find! SOOO much color and not too little boyish!

The finished project, all buttoned up and ready to go!

Finally, the strap, which Caleb won't be using because it's about as big as him, and I don't think he'll be able to carry it himself!

I am so absolutely thrilled with how it turned out and I know that it will be well loved not only by Caleb, but by Asher someday as well! And what a wonderful break it was to actually be creative and put it to good use! Thank you Aaron, for letting me take the time to do this today, I desperately needed to do something different than soothe our crying baby, or clean!! You rock!!

Be Blessed and Encouraged!