Veggie Bags - A NO GO!

Apparently frozen vegetables don't like to be eaten after thawing unless cooked. 

They get all mush. 

And my husband obviously doesn't fancy eating hard frozen veggies. 

So, in to a stir fry they go (tonight) and scratch that off of my list of ideas to try!

Hickeys and Big Boy Beds

Ethan, just 18 months old now, is sleeping in his 'Big Boy Bed'!

He has slept in it the past two nights, and has only fallen out once.

(We've laid padding!)

He hasn't even attempted to get off the bed himself either.

Assuming that he continues sleeping this well, we'll buy him a real toddler bed soon and free up the crib for Miss Evelyn.

Evelyn is still co-sleeping with Karl and I in our bed for now though.

Speaking of my little lady - she managed to give me a hickey last night.

Right on my face!

Some how she was able to latch on to my face (near my lip) for a second before I woke up to realize she was hungry.

So now I'm sporting a little hickey from my little lady.

It's pretty embarrassing.

She is going through a growth spirt right now - I nursed her this afternoon until I had nothing left and she was still hungry.

I had no choice but to use some stored milk because she was screaming irately.

Well, she took FOUR ounces! FOUR!

I think we're going to have to buy a can of formula as back up for situations like this, because she certainly wasn't willing for my milk to replenish before she ate again.

Right after she was fast asleep.

I have been super busy this past week, and now I've been spending near every available minute retouching pictures.

I spent most the day today retouching pictures for Myka and Myles, a little boy I use to babysit. He's 6 months old and already waving bye!

I've started reading a book called Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver. It's so what I need right now. In the first few opening pages it already spoke to my heart.

Here is one of the first passages:

"Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. The thought intrigues you. Deep down inside of you there is a hunger, a calling, to know and love God. To truly know Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit. You're not after more head knowledge -it's heart-to-heart intimacy you long for.

Yet a part of you hangs back. Exhausted, you wonder how to find the strength or time. Nurturing your spiritual life seems like one more duty -one more thing to add to a life that is spilling over with responsibilities.

It's almost as if you're standing on the bottom rung of a ladder that stretches up to heaven. Eager but daunted, you name the rungs with spiritual things you know you should do: study the Bible, pray, fellowship...

"He's up there somewhere," you say, swaying lightly as you peer upward, uncertain how to begin or if you even want to attempt the long, dizzy climb. But to do nothing means you will miss what your heart already knows: There is more to this Christian walk than you've experienced. And you're just hungry enough -just desperate enough- to want it all."
AMEN!

It continues on later to say:

"We've all felt the struggle. We want to worship like Mary, but the Martha inside keeps bossing us around... I must admit I find myself cheering for Martha. I know we tend to sing Mary's praises in Bible studies. But Martha, to be honest, appeals more to my perfectionist tendencies..."

Anyway, this book is really speaking to me - and it's a good 10 minute here and there read. Which is the only way I get to read these days.

I look forward to getting further.

Veggies

SNACK BAG:

Sugar Snap Peas, Radish, Organic Carrots, and Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

Being on the conquest that we are (eating healthier) I have decided to make veggie bags for Karl's lunch/snacks at work. I was tempted to buy the pre-washed/cut/packaged assortments from the grocery, but then decided that would be foolish considering they're twice as expensive, and really it takes 10 minutes to do it yourself. So, that was my small accomplishment today. 

Sick of being sick.

Ethan, Evelyn, Karl, and myself have all been sick over this past week.

Someone was always super-cranky, and tired - it doesn't make for a pleasant household.

Ethan is still teething, and Evelyn has an infection in her eye.

But we're all finally on the up-and-up and good thing because we've got a busy week.

Evelyn Also turned 3 months! Can you believe it!?

All about Evelyn at 3 months:

• She is a very smiley girl, Ethan was so serious by comparison.
• She kicks her feet like she's riding a bike when she's upset, happy, and excited.
• Everyone tells us she's beautiful and that she looks like her mommy - I agree.
• Mommy likes to put her in her little red pants, or her dress from babysitter Julie.
• She had a reaction to either rotovirus or her DTaP vaccination and cried intensely for days, so she's not getting the DTaP again.
• Mom's favorite time with her is cuddling before we go to bed.
• She has really started to grow, but she's staying very thin, long, and petite.
• She has started to roll over, and "talk" to toys, and kick her baby kicking toy.

I finally got through processing her pictures at midnight last night. We just had a quick shoot, so nothing phenomenal.

It's weird how even though I photograph every one else's kids - I can't manage to find time to do mine... hmm.

So here are some pictures of the baby girl:

That's my little lady. And I LOVE HER!

Sick Kids and Cloth Diapers

My kiddo is completely sick. This is one of the first times he's actually been SICK.
We were suppose to have our first training session tonight for fostering, but couldn't go because Ethan was too much of a handful, and we didn't want to leave him with a babysitter being sick.
I guess we'll have to make it up at the end and it's going to set us back a couple weeks.
But, It's all in God's timing.
He was spoiled with motrin, a bubble bath with daddy, a whole-body lotion rub down, snuggles with juice and kids show on mom and dad's bed, and last but not least - mommy's shirt for p.j.'s
Here he is happily modeling it:

Also, I have been trying a handful of different patters for cloth diapers.
After numerous tries, I have finally found out which one I like best.
I love this pattern. I made it myself. It fits well now, and there is elastic on every side - so it'll grow with her a bit. It's not too baggy or strange looking. So, I think that this is the one I'm going to use.

I'm getting sick of trying different ones out.

One big catch up post!

So, for that long over-due post.
First, this past weekend was a blast.
Karl, the kids, Julie, and I went to Indiana from Thursday to Sunday.
Karl surprised me by not going in to work on thursday and cleaning our house and packing us up before I even woke up! What a man!
We had a parade, cook out and fireworks on Friday, and another cook out and fireworks show Saturday.
Friday was spent with my Dad's side of the family following tradition.
Ethan loved the parade!




He had his first icee pop, and bomb pop. We didn't collect any candy though - he's still not had any yet.
Needless to say he LOVED the popsicles.




He also loved the fireworks. We were nervous on how he'd react...
But the whole time he said "wow" and "ooh".
We ended the day totally worn out and exhausted.


At the cook out Ethan and Karl played ball


And ethan specializes in personal training - Here he is making Julie do crunches.
He pulls/pushes her back and forth.


Tired boy


Grandpa Joe

Saturday, we went with my family to my Grandpa's best friend's cabin on this little lake in central/northern Indiana.
His son is a pyrotechnic and has an AMAZING fireworks show every year over the lake.
It is literally the best firework show that I've ever seen.
I didn't go but they do boat rides, and tubing too. It's a fun day.




My Grandpa

My dad is such a softie

Ethan pouches his food, here he is with a mouthful.

The fireworks

Sunday my mom came back home with us because she moved in!
She accepted a position at an urgent care being an office manager/nurse Monday-Thursday.
So she'll be here Sunday night through Thursday mornings.
It's really nice.
We set her up in the studio.

The rest of her family will be following shortly if everything goes smoothly.
I'm really pumped about the prospect of my family living near us.




In other news, I got an amazing sewing machine!
This is it:

it's seriously fabulous and the best sewing machine I've ever used to date.
I'm in love with it and plan on using it to sew my kids cloth diapers, and may even start dabbing in to making their clothes.
I might even start selling a few things here and there on Etsy.com
We'll see!
I am going to the fabric store to buy some fabric to try out a new clothie pattern.
I hope that they turn out!
Here is what the basic design looks like:

Also, Ethan is officially 18 months!
Can you believe it? I can't.
My boy is officially 18 months old. I can not believe my first born is a year and a half already. They're not lying when they say kids grow up fast...

About my beloved boy:

Words he can say:
'muh'-more
no
doggie
kitty
'neow'-meow
what?
why?
mm-mmm (for yummy food)
yummy
uh-huh
'o-gay'-okay
'non-non'-all done
MOMMY! THAT'S NEW!
daddy-points to self
'ee-he'-no idea!! sometimes it means 'sissy'
'nuchk'-milk
'yup'-up
oh, no!
ut-oh
mine!
'boo'-cow moo
'snort sound'-piggy
'woo-woo-woo'-doggy sound
'buh-pah'-grandpa
'papa'

Favorite Toys:
any mode of transportation (ie: cars, trains, boats, etc)
drums, all though not as often as he use to. He likes to air drum now.
cell phones. He often calls people on mine.
books, crayons, computer keyboards.

His Friends:
Abbi and Tate - Babysitting kids
Amelia - Kasey's little girl
Daddy - of course
The dogs

Favorite TV shows:
The Bunny Show
Jacks Big Music Show

Favorite Food:
Soy Hot Dogs
Grapes, water melon, strawberries
Anything Carb

Interesting Facts:
He is bow-legged, and pidgin toed
He hobbles when we walks
He has his daddies toes and hair line to a "T"
He has to buckle the clip on his booster seat EVERYTIME he gets down from it
Daddy has put him to bed every night since he was 4-5 months old
He loves music more than any baby I've ever met - he already air drums on rhythm!
He will drink a gallon of juice a day if you'd let him, and hates water unless it's out of a water bottle.
He is vegetarian
Mom accidently cut a 'step' on the side of his head when buzzing his hair
He has had 4 different roommates in his life thus far: Michelle, Ashelia, Julie, and now his Grandma
He is just learning how to jump, and can only manage to get one foot off of the ground at a time

CREATION

Spring/Summer sends me on a creation crusade. 
There's something about the season that makes me want to be creating something new or transforming something yuck in to something better...
It's nice. 

I made some Veggie Chili yesterday. 
It's normally a winter meal for us, but I had a craving for it - and boy was it good!
 

 
MMMM, I love anything garlic!

 

I tried my hand at making cloth diapers today. 
I have made 3 sucessfully. 
1 for Ethan, and 2 for Evie. 
I only have pictures of Ethan in his right now, but I will post some soon of Evie. 
I made Ethan's out of recycled clothing - Karl's sweatshirt and my old little black dress. 
It's actually my own design. Totally made it up myself. I completely surprised myself in making it not only functional but not half-bad looking. 
When I take pictures of Evie's I'll show you the inside. 
But, on the inside there are what we're calling "soakers" aka rectangular pieces of fabric layered, and sewn together. 
I put a piece of elastic going cross-wise (horizontally) over the crotch to hold them in, and then put a soaker on top of that to protect their "who-has" as we call them. hah. 
If you can't picture it, I'll show it tomorrow. 
(I am also adding velcro instead of pins)