Ready?? (With pictures!)

So this is what MY Thanksgiving long weekend has consisted of :-)

First, our Thanksgiving meal. We had brisket, mashed potatos and asparagus. (And white grape juice)

I even got out our china and a table cloth and attempted to match Sam's high chair by throwing some Christmas fabric over it. :-)

She liked wearing her bow for the pictures...

After we ate lunch, we took our little girl to the park for some fun time. It was MUCH easier when daddy went with us. She loves to swing and recently discovered she loves the slide!

She was good about going down correctly, as long as she didn't get too excited and try to walk down the slide. Daddy did a dive once to catch her :-)

We got home just in time to take the homemade apple pie out of the oven. My first fruit pie to make ever and it was good :-)

Because it was a holiday, we let Samantha have her own small bowl of pie and ice cream. When she was done, this is what she did... stole from her daddy. We don't think she'll at all have mama's problem of a sweet tooth....nah...

Friday morning I painted a small jewlrey box for part of Sam's Christmas present. A little bright, but eh.

This morning Samantha got organized. She lined up all the shoes in the front hall on the steps and then decided her books needed to be lined up as well. It was a good distraction as mommy did this...

Made 2 kinds of chex mix and bagged it all for Christmas goodie bags! I also made cinnamon sugar walnuts a few days ago and bagged those this morning as well. My iBloom small group should enjoy tomorrow!

And then, because that wasn't enough, I made marzipan and covered it with almond bark and then expermented with the little almond bark left by coating pretzles and adding peanut butter chips. Mmmm

Oh and yesterday and today, I've been working in sections to steam clean our living room. Because it totally needed to be done. And I'm getting all antsy about this baby being born.

Nonnie better hurry here because Mama is ready for this boy to come OUT! :-D

Random Thoughts

I have so many things I'd love to post about - complaints (crazy drivers!) or fun things I've done (recipes, sewing projects) or philosophical questions (how friends come and go)

But I think of all these great posts when I'm busy...in the shower or driving.

And when I sit at the computer I am not philosophical or really all that interested in uploading photos and giving step by step instructions and I know that no one really wants to hear me complain.

So I'll just take a minute to say...I love my life. I have an absolutely wonderful, amazing husband. A very sweet and adorable daughter. A very active (that means healthy, right?) son whom I can't wait to see. Great parents. Caring in-laws. Loving extended family.
Awesome friends (even if most are far away)

I'm just very at-peace with my life. However hectic and crazy it sometimes is. However much some days seem to drag on. (And being a mom of a toddler, that just happens sometimes!)

I'm thankful for all the blessings in my life! I could sit around and want more. Sometimes I think it'd be nice if...
But I'm not sure more money is really worth much. How would I appreciate the free things in life? More time might be nice, but then would I appreciate all the little stages that are rushing by?

Perhaps being a mom was what I always wanted. I am quite content :-)

Almost There!

I'm officially full term today! (At least by my definition) 37 weeks and counting each day!
Of course, daddy wants little boy to hold out at least 6 more days and Nonnie wants little boy to hold out (well really, hold in) at least 14 more days.
I could care less as long as he's healthy and my little girl is cared for too!
His room is ready. Well, pretty much. Waiting on a few online orders that should arrive tomorrow that I can wash and put away. I've rewashed infant bottles and new pacis. Of course there are a million projects that I wanted to get done before he came, but I'm not dead yet... ;-)

In other news, Samantha is such a sweetheart. And becoming a little more reckless? I think that's a good description. She never really got hurt learning to walk, but now she's decided she can run. And run. And run into things. :-/
She has 3 injuries from 3 days last week. She looks pretty awful. I can only imagine what they think at the church nursery :-( But little kids have accidents, right?
She is definitely testing boundaries lately. I'm trying to learn what discipline is effective for her. The last few days have been better than the days prior, so that's good. I know it will all go haywire when she has a little brother and much loss of attention, so I'm trying to at least get things on a good track before then.
Her nap schedule (when I was finally accepting and really loving the 2 naps a day) is all messed up. I think she's transitioning to 1 (finally, I know) but its not quite at the right time. Yesterday, I put her down for a nap at 8:30 and woke her up at 9:15 (to go to my mom's group) and then she took a good 1.5 hour afternoon nap at an appropriate time. So I'm kinda trying that again today. I feel awful waking a baby who is sleeping so well, but if I let her sleep in the morning then she takes no afternoon nap and then she is totally cranky in the evening. Then I put her to bed early then she gets up at some ridiculous hour in the morning. And I'd really like to sleep in past 5:30am.

So up I go to wake her up and then run some errands...

And if you have any ideas for building patience in an 18-month-old, I'd love to hear them!! She seems to be getting a little better at dealing (not throwing fits), but still whines all. day. long. Ugh

Where did the time go?

So, after we stopped sleeping, then we got 2 weeks of teething/sickness at our house. Everyone had something, though it all seemed like different things. At the end, Samantha ran a fever for three and a half days, got 2 different antibiotics and Nathan came home with what he thought was food poisoning. We still managed to make it to visit his family once Samantha seemed on the mend, and we had a good weekend. Then we found out that apparently Nathan's food poisoning was a virus and all of his family got sick. You're welcome! :-)
So we finally got over that and my favorite nanny AM came to visit for 5 days!!! We did lots of fun things with her around to motivate, create and babysit :-)
And now I've been out of touch with my homelife for 3 weeks and I feel very behind. Where did my time go? And somehow, ya know, being in the last 7 weeks of this pregnancy, I'm suddenly feeling VERY tired, VERY worn-out, sleepy and feeling like I'm becoming completely useless.
I can spend all of my energy all day into cleaning/picking up the house for small group, but then Nathan has to finish dinner and do the dishes and I get nothing else done all day.

I have SO many projects!! I am just not a person that can slow down. Well, I do slow down, I just wish I didn't. And it makes me sad and guilty that I can't do everything I want to. Not even half of it.

On the bright side, yesterday morning, I got up at 6 because I couldn't sleep any longer and got a whole 30 minutes before Sam woke up so I finished her curtains between that and naptime. Today during naptime this morning I put together half of my maternity shirt. Now if only it wasn't a tank top when the weather finally turned cooler. Hah. I'm gonna finish it anyway, hopefully today and then figure it will warm up at least one more time before this baby comes out. And maybe someone can borrow it after that :-)

Sleep Stealing Monster

Our household has been battling the sleep stealing monster for over a week now. Nathan can't fall asleep, I can't stay asleep in the middle of the night, and Samantha doesn't want to sleep past 5 or so. It'd be slightly better if we coordinated and were all awake at the same time, or at least 2 of us!
My poor baby is teething/sick and it seemed like the end was in sight until today when she got up at 4:45am, would not go back to sleep, had trouble taking a morning nap and is now coughing through her afternoon nap. :-( I feel so bad for her...
And in the midst of sleep deprivation this morning, I was contemplating which child to put up for adoption, because there was no way I could handle her like this and a newborn! I'm now getting very anxious about the lack of sleep with an infant. When Samantha was a baby, it was only her, and when she was feeding 2-3 times at night, I could get her to sleep in till 8 or 9am and I was doing fine, hardly needing a nap! I don't know what I'll do when I have an infant waking up 2-3 times to eat and a toddler ready to go at (oh let's hope) 6 or 7am.
Someone who's been there, please tell me I'll survive and its worth it!

Weekend Play Date!

Our friends Brian and Cristal and their little girl Skyleigh came over yesterday and spent the day and the night with us. I was so glad, because Nathan's fishing trip ended up turning out a little longer than expected :-/ so it was very nice to have company! Sadly, however he didn't make it home to play Catan with us, but we enjoyed a 3 person game, so thats ok!

Here are a few pictures!

We had fun and this morning played dress up in some of the items I've made for the craft fair that is mid-september! :-)

A month's time..

I keep wanting to post but feel like I have nothing to write about.

A short update of what happened in August: Samantha got older (smarter and more stubborn), I got bigger (more bloated, less able-bodied), and Nathan continues to smile.

But really, Samantha is now saying a few words. Her first real word was "Daddy". She actually hardly says that one anymore. She seems to say "pft, I've mastered that, let me work on the new ones" *rolls eyes* Oh my child's personality - or at least what's already coming through! Her favorite word(s) are "uh oh" which she says quite clearly. She still says "da" for dog, though not as often (again, older word, why say it now) She has said "bubble" fairly clearly a few times and does enjoy bubbles in the bath time or when mommy is tired of her whining (then I might be the mom that blows bubbles in the house for a few minutes...) And apparently she says "hi" a lot. I guess I wasn't even thinking of that noise as 'hi' until we were in a restaurant, passing by people's tables and she kept saying 'hi. hi' and a table full of adults were very excited and all smiled and waved and said "hi" back to her. So it takes other people noticing for me to realize my child is talking? I must tune her out more than I think - "uh oh!" :-P

She has definitely mastered walking at this point. She's getting close to really running now. She loves to go up and down the stairs, but now she occasionally tries to take a short flight by holding onto the wall/rail and actually walking. She giggles to no end when I hold both her hands and let her walk upstairs like a big girl! Its so nice (now that I'm getting pretty big and worn out) that she knows what to do when we go somewhere. If I put her shoes on her and tell her its time to go to the store, she crawls up the stairs, waits for me to open the front door for her, cautiously steps over the doorframe and then waits at the top of the porch steps for me to help her down (or occasionally she gets impatient and crawls down the porch steps). She can also follow me to the car, so I only have to lift her in! Of course once we get to the store, there is lots of carrying involved, because I don't want her walking around the parking lot yet. Ugh. She seems SO heavy now. But I think its just carrying 2 babies at once...

She passed her 15 month check up with flying colors (but really, can you fail?) She weighed in at 23 lb (no more ounces once they use the big scale, I guess) and 31 3/4 inches. That put her in the 55% for weight (yey, we made it past halfway again) and 85% for height (I'm confused, both Nathan and I are fairly short...) Her head was still 99%, just in case anyone thought it might shrink, haha. Poor girl. There are shirts that would fit, but I can't get them over her noggin. So full of brains it is... ;-)

4 weeks ago, we brought home our new lab puppy. Molly is pretty well behaved for a puppy. It took her at least 2 weeks to gather the courage to start digging in the yard. Of course now our backyard is full of small potholes.... Oh well. She chews up anything left in the yard, but has not discovered chewing on the fence (thank goodness) She isn't interested in running away, which is very nice. At Nathan's parents we were able to keep her out with the beagles and she had a great time exploring with them. Well, when it wasn't so horribly hot and she was laying under the porch in the hole she'd dug (sorry mimi!)

Ok, I've wasted enough time. Its now 9pm and not at all too early for bed. I have some catching up to do!

These are a few of my favorite things....

*Having a clean bathroom (I did that this week, I don't care for the cleaning part, but going into a clean room makes me smile!)
*Getting some FUN sewing done! Ok, so most of its fun, but seeing the finished product is the best part!
Here's a pic from this week

The ruffle pants are so fun, but they're a bit long on Sam, so maybe in a few months...

*Pancakes, eggs, and fruit for dinner! (Don't tell daddy, but we'd already had pancakes for breakfast) And Sam loves it and eats well! I'm sure a normal plate for a 14 month old is an egg, half a plum, and 2 pancakes? And that was not too long after her snack of a full yogurt carton and a bunch of graham crackers. (I was tutoring and trying to keep her busy...)
*TWO Wal-mart trips in one week :-D oops...
*Colored pens for my notecard Bible verses. Yey for pink and purple! And blue and green...
*Actually making it to library story time for once this month!
*Feeling my little boy bounce around! At this stage, its still fun because he doesn't hurt me yet :-) Don't worry, as active as he is, I KNOW that is coming...

I hope I can make you smile today...
So what are some of YOUR favorite things?

Random thoughts from my neck of the woods

Today I have a few pet peeves to talk about but I'll try to sparse it up with some nice things too! And go me for adding some pictures. I take none of the credit for them. I'm no photographer...

1) Our baby boy is jumping as I write! I forgot how fun it was to feel a little baby moving around inside  you. So nice to know he's doing ok in there :-)

2) I really dislike people who can't seem to put their carts in a cart return and instead leave them next to my car or rolling across the parking lot. I am pregnant, with a 1 year old and I manage to put my cart away (every time!) and usually 1-2 others (which by the way is actually really difficult when my kid is still sitting in one of them), so get over your lazy, irresponsible self and be considerate!

3) My husband is amazing. He is rebuilding our upstairs deck (with a bit of a tight deadline) and after being out of town all week, he worked all day today, around going to his boss' celebration. Even after the celebration when I was totally wiped, he helped me get Sam to bed and came out to work again - amazing! So I'm keeping him company, typing this post from our new deck!

4) I think people need to learn to keep their comments to themselves more often. I am quickly learning that its not just that you can't make everyone happy, its pretty much you can't make anyone happy. I'm starting to care a lot less and take everything with a grain of salt. But your comments on how I shouldn't do something when I've already made the decision thats best for me and I can't turn back....not helpful. Thanks. Try being positive. And I'll try to remember that there is only One I'm trying to please.

5) I have a dessert obsession. It's so bad that I'm trying to call chocolate chip cookie dough flavored poptarts a decent snack. I know that many say that I'm pregnant and that's an excuse, but I think 4 brownies, 3 pieces of fudge, 2 cookies, and a bowl of ice cream is a little much for one day. For anyone. I'm pretty sure my arteries are almost clogged. I don't think that's a good thing. Yet somehow I'm still buying supplies to make fudge. I will create some amazing fudge soon. I'm bound and determined. I just wish someone else would help me eat a little...

6) Have you seen my shop's new logo? Check out my website I had some great help from The Creative Professional
I'm really trying to get the ball rolling, so next week, I will be featured on this blog as part of a birthday celebration!

I'm totally willing to give you discounts if you watch my kid while I work! Of course this only works for my local friends :-)

Why we're crazy...

"And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they'll know we are Christians by our love."

We seem to be the 'crazy couple' who asks people to be our roommates. Most people wonder why. Well, there are lots of reasons, the rent check isn't bad and I enjoy company. But mostly our reason tends to be the ability to be a witness and example.
I'm not the outgoing type. I'm not an eloquent speaker. You will NOT find me preaching...probably anywhere. But I've made an effort to make my life transparent and what I hope is a good example. I want people to know where I stand and what my beliefs are by how I live, not what I say. I've been aware of the power of my life choices as examples since as early as junior high. I'm by no means perfect, no one is. But the act of asking for forgiveness when I do something wrong is also a powerful example.
My 'slogan' for any leadership position I've been given has been to lead by example. I wasn't the organizer that told everyone what to do and sat back. In fact, I really didn't LIKE being in front of everyone as a leader. I just pitched in with anything and everything. I was the person on the team that went back to pick up trash because it just looked like it needed to be done.
Back to the roommate situation...
I know that we're doing the right thing because a few days ago our roommate came home and started questioning us both on why marriage, why kids. He put his feelings out there and asked why we felt differently. Not that we would never have this kind of conversation with him if he was just a friend and not living with us, but the opportunities arise more often when you share your living space. And he gets to see the day in and day out. And question what crazy person wants a clingy, whiney, poopy child around! Nathan, being the master of words in this house, had quite a few good answers.
And we shared our faith once again. Easily, quietly, in a way that I think hits home more than any sermon on Sunday could.

Recipe Time!

Alrighty, the FUDGE is here :-)




First some tips:

1) Get all your ingredients ready plus the final pan buttered. And try to distract your little ones, haha.

2) Use a candy thermometer and TEST it first! Mine was only off about 2 degrees, but I read where some can be off almost 10! Make adjustments in your cooking.

3) Try not to have your daughter break a glass in the middle of the ‘stir constantly’ step.

4) Attempt to have a strong man handy for the “stir till it thickens” step

5) Follow the directions and have fun!



I cut the original recipe in half, so this makes about 1 pound and fit in a 7” x 5” pan nicely. Doubling should allow you to use an 8 x 8 pan.



¾ C milk (though I did use half and half to see if it’d be really creamy)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate (should be 2 wrapped squares)

2 C sugar (yes, this isn’t healthy!)

1 ½ Tbs light corn syrup

1/8 tsp salt (I didn’t measure, just did a few sprinkles..)

1 ½ Tbs butter (Though the husband suggests more next time, but I don’t know how it would affect the setting of the fudge)

¾ tsp vanilla (I’m a vanilla lover, and threw in a whole tsp. I’m convinced I could have used even more)



Combine the milk and chocolate over low heat till melted.

Up the heat a little more (to medium or so) and add sugar, corn syrup and salt. Stir constantly till boiling.

Then stop stirring and don’t stir at all (so hard!) until the mixture reaches 234°F. (if you are a regular candy maker, this is soft ball stage and a little bit of fudge in a glass of cold water should form soft balls. Not sure what exactly that would look like, but when I put some in water, it still kinda smeared on the bottom of the glass just a bit, but also had one little bubble looking drop suspended.)

Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla, but don’t stir yet!

Wait until the mixture reaches 110°F. (This took a considerable amount of time – maybe 30 min or more)

Then stir/beat (with a wooden spoon) until it thickens and loses its gloss. The recipe says this is about 15 minutes, but Nathan only stirred about 9 minutes.

Spread in buttered pan. I then refrigerated and it was set in an hour or 2.



One last tip – they say not to scrap the sides of the pan when stirring after it reaches 234, because that can bring in some of the crystallized sugar and make it a little lumpy. Since I can’t stand being wasteful, this is probably why I don’t have the absolute smoothest fudge. Shouldn’t affect the taste, however.

Need Encouragement?

I did today.
A little over a week ago, a single male friend of ours simply asked "So...what do you DO all day?"
Really?
I wish Nathan would have been there, because I'm sure his answer would have been better, but after a minute, I simply said "Well, Samantha is pretty much my day."
I know SAHM do much more than care for their kids. One thing I knew growing up was that when Daddy was home, we got to play, because he had time for us. He might have projects or other things of his, but it wasn't a whirlwind time of housework, bill paying, or shopping, because my mom took care of all of that during the day. Our family had quality family time. A lot. And I appreciate that.

So to encourage myself, today I'm keeping a list of everything I do that isn't for me. So my shower (however wonderful and necessary it was) doesn't go on the list, however feeding Samantha breakfast, does. Yes, every little thing, that I couldn't do if I wasn't home.
I won't brag by sharing the list, but I will let you know that at 10:30 am, its already got quite a few things on it. And I'm feeling much more accomplished - and encouraged to do more!

I like Steven Curtis Chapman's new song Do Everything. Here are a few lines...

"You’re picking up toys on the living room floor
for the 15th time today
Matching up socks and sweeping up lost
Cheerios that got away

Little stuff big stuff in between stuff
God sees it all the same
And while I may not know you I bet I know you
Wonder sometimes does it matter at all
We’ll let me remind you it all matters just as long as you do

Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you
Cause He made you to do
Every little thing that you do to bring a smile to His face
And tell the story of grace"

There may be people where I used to work that don't understand why I left behind the job, the money, or the accomplishment.
But I'm pretty sure my family REALLY appreciates me. And I'm doing what *I* feel is the best thing to do.

Visiting Violet

Samantha and I and, thankfully, Nonie, went to Baltimore to visit the newest member of our family, Violet. She is currently 5 weeks old and pretty darn cute :-)

Meeting Violet "Hey, you're smaller than me!"

Some of my cousins came to visit!

Cristy and Violet

Celebrating my brother's 30th Birthday!!

The babies and mommies at the party.

We went for lots of walks because there is a cool park very near their house.

There is a working farm at the park! So we saw chickens, pigs, goats, and sheep!

Nonie and her new grandbaby!

Nonie and both grandbabies!

Violet smiles, kinda!

Another day, another walk :-)

Pretty girl

Samantha learned how to treat a baby nicely...she's fairly good at it :-)

Pretty little girls!!

The Jackson cousins!

So we had lots of fun. The 3 hour plane ride...not so fun. Perhaps next time we should just buy her a seat and strap her in the carseat.

Summertime

I'm such a bad blogger. I love reading other people's, but so slow in updating mine.
So the updates on baby #2 is that he/she is not as easy going as Sam was. Still feeling a little bad most evenings, though I had a good day yesterday. I'm trying to figure out what is causing the certain symptoms I keep getting and, yesterday, battled them witih some medicine. I wish I didn't have to resort to that, but I am so tired of feeling bad and it ruins my evening by 4 or 5pm. So alas, a little bit of medicine yesterday went a long way. I got to finish Violet's quilt after Samantha went to bed when I would normally have been lying on the couch wishing the day to be done. Nathan tried a fun dinner of battered/fried chicken and onion rings. It was not quite as good as he hoped, but then he was so sweet to clean up all of the kitchen and do the dishes when he was done. I didn't complain when someone else cooked and cleaned. Yes, my husband is amazing :-)

Samantha's birthday party came and went. It was very enjoyable. We had more people than I thought (yes, I invited them all, but I guess I didn't expect everyone to come) and we didn't do everything I planned, but I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We mostly just relaxed and chatted inside, ate and did presents and ice cream sundaes. BTW, I still have 2 unopened bottles of whip cream if anyone is interested! I prepared for everyone to eat sundaes like I do, not like most people, haha. I sure have enjoyed the left over ice cream and toppings!

Sam still isn't walking and doesn't seem any closer than a few weeks ago. I think she physically could, she just chooses not to. She doesn't want to walk much with you helping her, but she does walk all day with her walker or cruising the furniture. And though occasionally she seems like it might be really cool and exciting to take a step by herself, in the end she sits down and doesn't do it. I thought I had a little daredevil, but she's pretty cautious about walking alone.

She babbles all day now and points all the time to what she wants. I've been trying to be more consistent with signing a few select words every time I use them, but she doesn't seem so interested in that either. My child is MISS Independent, I'll do it on my own time, thanks mom.

I do love that she is more interested in books again. Our naptime/bedtime routine now includes reading 2-3 books before being laid in bed (awake) and most of the time she is very attentive. She also goes to sleep on her own with little fuss. Much more pleasant times now!

I cut up some of my own t-shirts to start a quilt and then yesterday got a whole stack from a client to get started on a quilt. I think I'm still going to do my quilt first to make sure I know the best ways to get this all done, but it sounds like I may have more shirts coming my way after that. I am very excited that SOMEthing is finally, maybe a little, taking off. And I was very surprised at how fast Violet's quilt finally came together. Granted, it was cut out by my mom a few weeks ago, but all in all, I got it finished in just 4-5 naptimes after that. (Yes, everything I need to do alone is measured in naptimes) Of course Violet's quilt was a bit smaller, since made for a baby and not out of t-shirts, but essentially the same design, so it gives me a bit of a base for how long this will take.

And tomorrow Sam and I head off to MEET the new Miss Violet and hold her and snuggle her and take lots of pictures with her! Oh, and we'll get to celebrate my brother's big 3-0 and see my wonderful sister-in-law. AND my mom is coming with us, YEY!

Warning: Complaining Ahead

I'm just tired of being a mom today. I'm so tired of feeling sick. I thought it was getting better and the last 5 days have not been. My house is a wreck. I wish I was exaggerating.

When is MY vacation day??

What to do when you want to change your status on fb every 2 seconds..

Blog it all!

So this morning Sam took a 30 minute snoozer in her swing while I showered and got ready. Unusual, since it was an hour earlier than her normal (and still early) naptime.

We headed to the mall where she proceeded to get fussy and all I did was get my watch fitted to my wrist (thank you wonderful husband for the mother's day gift) though I did find some maternity clothes at Burlington and a sale at Motherhood, but someone was too cranky to let me try anything on! :-( I may have to go back.

I am in love with Chick-fil-a chicken biscuits. Why do they stop serving breakfast at 10:30?? Couldn't they carry just MY one breakfast item all day?? :-(

I've had 2 in the last 3 days and WOULD have more but again, its hard to get out before 10:30am. Though I might have planned my day around a chick-fil-a breakfast. Yes, I had this plan last night, and yes, luckily it worked out for me today!

Speaking of cravings, I'd really LOVE a coke right now...I'd only drink a little of it, promise. But cravings and having a one year old...its not easy. I can't just go get myself whatever I'd like. Sad times. :-P
I'm currently settling on sparkling apple cider. Nothing like a good ol' coca cola...but at least its sparkly?

And my sleepy head fell asleep in the car on the way home. I was super surprised that I was able to get her out of her carseat and inside and back to sleep on my shoulder. So I just layed on the couch with her on my chest. She moved around a few times, I got her shoes off. I thought surely she'd wake up. But no. So I finally REALLY had to go to the bathroom. I laid out a blanket and put her on the floor. She is STILL sleeping. 1.5 hours after she started her nap in the car. I'm truely amazed. However, I don't think her diaper is going to make it.
Oh well! Happy baby, wet floor is FINE BY ME! :-D

Go Figure

It would be the one day in 2 weeks that I blog that blogger decides to pitter out in the middle of my post and not save it. Yeah, I copied it on my clipboard but of course didn't do anything with it from there and now, well, a day later, its gone.
And the feeling from yesterday's post is gone, so I'll have to come up with something else.

Today.
Today I made my own laundry detergent :-D
Stolen from Mrs Weldy's blog (who I believed probably found the recipe via google) I made 2 gallons of detergent today. Then I'll use 1/2 cup per load. The supplies I bought means that the 6 gallons total I can make would cost me $0.04 per load. Compare that to one of the cheapest detergents at $5 for 44 loads (or about $0.11 per load) and that's a pretty good savings. Not to mention that I'll probably have 2 of the 3 ingredients left for many more batches, so in the end it will be much more savings than that!
But I won't lie, I did it for fun too :-)
I was hoping that the fels naptha (one of the ingredients) would help with baby food stains as well (in the concentrated form as directed on the package) but it did not. I'll try some other combinations, but for now I'll need to rewash some bibs with shout. Oh my do I need to find a cheaper stain fighter. I went through a bottle of shout in about a month, maybe a little less. It seems like almost all of Sam's clothes need Shout. Either a bib with food, spit up on her shirt or poop through her bottoms.

Sam.
Yes, my baby is one week from being a year old!! The (second half of the) year seems to have flown by! I can't believe she's growing up, but its also so much fun!! She pulls up on everything and has even stood in the middle of the floor a few times by herself. She doesn't seem all that interested in walking. If she stands up when you hold her arms, she'll only take a few steps before sitting and crawling. She does have a walker that she's so proud she can walk behind. Then again, after awhile, she'll just push it on her knees...
I've been kinda lazy about food with her. I was doing well introducing her to feeding herself, then we moved, I got pregnant and sick and she's had all jarred baby food for over a month. Well, she feeds herself cheerios and rice krispies, but I haven't made her peas or carrots in a long while. Soon, soon, when I get past this 'morning' aka "all-day" sickness.
She got a baby doll for Christmas and she's always liked it but this week she has been LOVING it. The doll came with us shopping and 2 mornings in a row she wouldn't give her up so she could eat breakfast. Its pretty cute.

Well Daddy just got home, so that's it for now!

Easter

So let's see if I can do better on the picture posting today.

Here is part of the Easter Egg hunt. Since Sam couldn't walk, Daddy helped her find one egg in her basket. We also think that Zade will one day look back on these pictures and wonder why his mom let him wear that hat. But he put it on and 3 year old boys are just kinda hard to stop

 This was in the first 5 minutes after all the kids got dressed in the morning. You have to catch them fast before they realize that they don't have play clothes and they want out of the 'fanciness'. Although there were 3 cameras trying to get good pictures, I think this one is probably the best. Yeah, you try getting 5 kids under 5 to look at the camera and smile and sit with their legs closed and not in front of each other and not crawling around or looking at the dog, etc....

 The night before Easter, we celebrated spring birthdays. Well, that kinda covers all the kiddos, but even if it doesn't, who would deny someone a cupcake? I think officially we were celebrating Sam in May, Jason in May, and Sadie and Avery in June, though all the kids got presents.

This was Sam's first cake and she did not really get into the first birthday cake smash. She just looked at it and then slowly put her hand in the icing (whip cream) then she pulled her hand back and looked at it as if to say "mom, that's kinda messy". Funny, she usually puts everything in her mouth, but not this time. I had to help her eat some of it and break off some pieces of cake for her. 

Sweet Uncle Matthew helped the kids dye eggs on Saturday. It was mostly "pick an egg, pick a color, watch Uncle Matthew put it in the dye". And no furniture was stained :-)

The older kids LOVE the pool at Mimi's house. They enjoyed splashing and getting all wet. Funny, they didn't enjoy bath time afterwards... Our family missed the mud pies they made, which from the pictures, looked pretty good!

While the older kids were out one day, the babies got a chance to talk to GG by themselves. All the kids love GG :-)

We had a wonderful weekend, then we got to bring a lot of the gang home with us for a staycation week. I'll have to blog about that too. The guys (and Laura) went fishing all day Tuesday, then we took the kids to the beach on Wednesday (and had fun despite the sun, seaweed, and awful bugs) and recouped on Thursday. Today is a quiet day with just the three of us. It is GORGEOUS outside, so maybe a trip to the park could be fun.

Birthday coming soon...

Now that there is just ONE MONTH till my baby turns one, we've started really thinking about her birthday party. I'm excited to have something simple at our (new) house and have people we love coming over to eat food and cake.
I'm kinda torn about presents though. I'm sure people want to bring things for her, but I really don't think she needs much. I have outfitted her for the summer (yes, a few times I couldn't control myself) so she has plenty to wear until the fall. Fall clothes really aren't out yet and I doubt anyone really wants to buy fall things in the next size that they wouldn't see her wearing for awhile. As far as toys, I don't want her to have too many so she really needs very little. She's more entertained by an empty box or water bottle anyway!
Of course, baby food or diapers are welcome, plus an additional baby gate or two that I'm looking at buying. But those aren't really things people get you as presents :-)
Is it wrong that I just don't want to spoil my child?
And maybe I'm going overboard. We're not inviting that many people and Christmas was much more low key than we made it out to be. The few toys she got, she really does enjoy and I don't feel like toys are taking over our house (yet).
So maybe I should just let it go...any suggestions from veteran moms?

Waiting...

How many times in life do we feel like we're just waiting? Too many, I think. We can't forget to LIVE!
Currently, I'm waiting for my parents to arrive for a (short) visit. I'm waiting for Nathan to get home from work because I love having my small family all together. A friend is waiting for a home-buying decision to get made.
Waiting...

I love the song While I'm Waiting by John Waller
I'm waiting


I'm waiting on You, Lord

And I am peaceful

I'm waiting on You, Lord

Though it's not easy

But faithfully, I will wait

Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve You while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting

I will serve you while I'm waiting

I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

 
So don't forget to SERVE, WORSHIP and ENJOY life while you wait :-)

Name change and other things...

Yesterday was a very good day. First, I put Sam in the nursery at church and went to the 'Called to be Mom' group. I talked to people (shocking for me, I know) and really enjoyed myself!
Plus I got some tips on my business, got another round of 'Let's get this thing going!' and am now in the process of changing the business name to make it less 'cute' and more upscale boutique-y and getting help with a logo design!
Sam did ok in the nursery. I mean, for her first time, everyone would say it was good, but now I feel guilty for leaving her there. I'm sure the workers did a good job, but....
She did cry for a bit, though she also took a bottle and a nap for them. She was still cranky when we got home.

And then I went to lunch for a friend and her husband and throroughly enjoyed having MORE adult interaction :-) :-)
Sam was pretty loud and got pretty fussy by the end of lunch. But after coming home and getting a nap, she had a pleasant afternoon.

Nathan got home, I made dinner, we ate and put Sam to bed. Then we had a nice conversation about our life and our plans and dreams. Then I lost horribly in Yahtzee! The game was so pathetic to us yahtzee-advocates, that Nathan actually added up the score at the end. 105 to 267. I scored 49 on the lower half - ridiculous! It was actually laughable.

And that is what makes for a GREAT day in my book.

Now today I need to do some dishes and clean up a bit ... oh well!

The Paci Mystery

So Sam's pacifiers (she had around 8) are all different colors. A few have faces, some dark pink, some light, yellow, green, blue. I like this uniqueness. Because we can get home from the park and I see a paci on the floor and think "oh yeah, she rubbed that all over the park swing, maybe I should wash it now that we're home" I like things clean (hahahaha)

Today her morning nap was quite difficult. Now, when she gets mad in her crib, she throws her pacis overboard. Then she gets a little less mad, wants to sleep, but can't find any pacis. And I haven't seen her fall asleep without a paci in a VERY long time.
So at naptime, I left her awhile, but finally thought I'd go up and try again to rock her to sleep. Well I couldn't find any pacis anywhere. I had put 3 in her bed (and I knew exactly which ones) when I left her and didn't find any in her bed. I looked under the crib and finally found the blue one. Worked like a charm. 2 minutes of rocking and a paci and she was asleep. After I laid her in bed, I looked all over for the other 2 pacis (dark pink ones) and never found either.

I forget about all this after her very nice long nap. I go to get her and she has the same blue paci. We come downstairs and she's playing for about half an hour. When she comes into the kitchen with a dark pink one! No seriously. I KNOW it was up in her bed, I KNOW I couldn't find it, I KNOW it was not with her when we came downstairs, yet half an hour later here it is.

We have a paci mystery in our house....

Update: The other dark pink pacifier reappeared in the front hall about an hour after I wrote this. WEIRD!!

Still missing a yellow pacifier the last few days and a second yellow one since we've moved. And a light pink one but I haven't seen it in months.

Maybe they'll come out of the woodwork today....

10 Months

Ok, so 10 months happened last week, but here are the updates. Samantha loves getting into things! I'm not sure this is new but her abilities are getting better all the time. She crawls to what she wants - and doesn't mind obstacles in her way, she's like a tank - just go over them! She loves it when I lay on the floor and she gets to use mommy as a jungle gym. She particularly likes lifting my shirt and blowing raspberries on my tummy! So funny since we really don't do this to her that often. Her eating schedule is the same, the only difference is that mid-morning and mid-afternoon have turned to bottles, since it seemed that mommy just couldn't keep up. She's still getting that late night bottle in her sleep. I'm thinking that if I just move dinner up a little then maybe I could nurse her and do the bottle both at bedtime and not have to go up again when we go to bed. But why mess with success? She only sleeps till about 6. Some days it can be as early as 5, but if it is that early, she'll often snooze in bed with me till 7 or 7:30. Which means her nap schedule is not consistent time wise. Oh well. This weekend she was up at 6 and then ready for a nap by 8:30 where most days she goes down closer to 10 and once last week she skipped her morning nap all together and went down at 12:30! *shrugs* She seems to be sleeping longer - about an hour or a little more each nap and most of the time she wakes up cheerful, so we'll let it go. We have gotten some 12 month summer clothes, but her 9 month stuff still fits, so we're probably good on clothes. My only 'need' is PJs for her. I can't decide what's best. I did like the cotton footies, which she only has 3 pairs, but now its getting even hot for that, I think. Her feet will stink in the morning after being in footies all night. Plus I can't find many in 12 month size and the 9 month ones are getting a little short. I still want one piece PJs, though Target and Walmart only seem to have 2 piece sets for 12 month. Nathan thinks just a onesie, but I feel like her theighs need a little cover, since she rolls around and doesn't keep a blanket on. I could get some light pants and do that over onesies, but light-weight are hard to find unless I buy the 2-piece PJ set and I don't really want the tops... Anyone have suggestions as to what their kids wore to bed at this age in this heat?

Spoon Feeding Disaster...

Today, like almost every day, we had some finger foods and some food from a spoon. In particular, today was chicken, peas, and carrots that I cooked myself. However today was different in that it ended in a mess!
This end of the spoon mom??


Ooooh, which spoon??




All over her! And this doesn't even display the seat or her hair - yuck!



So after lunch I just took her clothes off and put her in the kitchen sink for a bath.

Yeah, her and her dollly, both nakie for a little while...

Motivation Needed...

So I finally get time where the baby is asleep and I have nothing pressing to do and yet here I sit. Not sewing like a good girl or even cooking myself dinner. Just wasting time surfing facebook.

Does anyone have extra motivation?

And how am I tired? I got a two and a half hour nap yesterday!

What's really funny is that Samantha has slept till about 6:30 the past 2 days (good for her!) yet I have been awake at 5:45, the time she had been waking up...ugh! We need to coordinate our schedules...

In writing I am trying to perpetuate myself off this couch and into the sewing room to see if I can make any progress in what I'm sure is not much of naptime that I have left.

I think tomorrow at the grocery store I'll be buying frozen dinners....

We did it!

Woo hoo! We closed! Money should be in the bank Monday, then I'll KNOW its for real! Whew!

This Week's Projects

This weeks projects are.... and my no means does this mean they will actually get done this week.

First, I am really bad at posting/editting, so these are backwards in the way I wanted them and I can't seem to move them.

My cute helper:Turning this into a blanket: pink and chocolate zebra minky with silky satin chocolate back. So soft and smooth and perfect for cuddling a summer baby. Anyone interested? Personalized just for you! Its a trial in satin/minky pairing, so it'd be a good deal...
Difficulty (for me) hard! Turning these pieces into a curtain for Samantha's room. The top (valence) will be the multi colors, and the panels will be from the bottom purple fabric. Not sure I have enough, so it'll be interesting to see how I can make it work.

Making personalized placemats from the purple for Kelly! Plus a bonus dresser cover for her little girl's dresser :-)

That's it for now. Cross your fingers and say a prayer for this afternoon and I'll let you know if it for sure happens - we're supposed to be closing!