Heidi's World

NOOooo!

2012-02-01T13:48:00.004-05:00

Sneaking up on my prey...

"Mom, I'm happy!"

"No more pictures, Mom!"

"Wait, I thought your were happy. Show me your happy face."

"Nooo! No more pictures, Mom!"

"Stop it!"

"No! Stop! No more taking pictures!"

Trying to get away...

Am I the only one that thinks it's funny that this 2-year-old does not like getting his picture taken? He's an odd one, that Adrian.

Let's talk about poop

2012-01-30T14:21:00.000-05:00

Restyle {by Heidi}

My conversation with Adrian over our morning smoothies (all things potty-related have been big topics around here):

Adrian: [sticks his tongue out] A bird won't poop on my tongue, Mom.
Me: No, Daddy tells you that to tease you when you stick your tongue out.
Adrian: Birds won't poop on my tongue. They just keep the poop in their bellies.
Me: If they kept the poop in their bellies they would get a owies in their bellies. Just like you would get owies in your belly if you kept the poop in your belly.
Adrian: No, birds just poop on the grass...not on the road.
Me: Well, sometimes they poop on the road, too.
Adrian: No! They just poop on the grass!

2-year-olds are pretty equal to teenagers when it comes to knowing everything. (Ha, and all of the parents with teenagers are laughing at me now.)

Little Moments

2012-01-28T11:51:00.002-05:00

I love these little moments. I'll find Adrian quietly sitting, "reading" a book. Even if he's sitting on a pile of books and his train track...

He has such an amazing memory, it just blows me away. I'll read a book to him once or twice and later, he'll be able to repeat most of the story. The book he is reading is the reason he'll occasionally exclaim, out of the blue, "'Oh my goonness!' says Rabbit."

Jeff's workweek starts today. I still can't seem to get used to this new schedule. And by 'new,' I mean almost 3 months old. Or maybe it's only been 2. I was thinking about getting out in the snow today, but then realized it's pretty windy. I can do the cold, but I'm a total wimp about the wind. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more calm. We totally missed out yesterday; it was sunny and in the 30's (at least). I had a doctor's appointment then went grocery shopping. By the time I got home, I had to babysit and make supper....which didn't end up getting done until 8. Yikes, I don't know what happened there!

Did you realize that February starts next week!? I just realized that and panicked just a little bit. This baby is going to be here before we know it! (And we have yet to decide on a name!)

The 16-year-old

2012-01-26T16:20:00.002-05:00

It's a little late, but I just realized that I never posted pictures of Danny's surprise birthday party.

Kaitlin volunteered to take him to the pet store while we decorated. Brett went along as well and we had a 'surprise' for him as well. I think he told Mom to make the party for him, too, but make it a surprise! So, we did.

We all had party hats and noisemakers when they walked in the door. I think Dan figured it out before he made it inside because we had turned all the lights off.

Dan wanted to open his gifts as soon as he walked in the door. Guess we shouldn't have put them right under his nose! We did finally convince him to wait a little bit, he was a bit of a...well, he was just being Dan, really.

While we were wrapping our gifts--moments before the party started--Gretchen was saying we all had cool gifts and all she got was a Harry Potter Poster. Well...this was his reaction to that one:

And yes, he totally wrinkled the poster in his excitement. He carried it around for the rest of the evening. (I mean, we were staying in his room so it's not like he wanted to hang it up yet.)

Sorry Brett, we didn't all get a gift for you...but you did get a card! Wade picked up a Miley Cyrus card for him and everyone else jumped in and signed it.

I think my camera battery died at this point, but my mom had a great cake picture on her blog.

Blue-striped tee

2012-01-24T12:41:00.000-05:00

I was able to resize my thrifted shirt this morning! I have been realizing that all of my shirts are getting too short. I wasn't very good about getting monthly pictures when I was pregnant with Adrian and I still haven't been doing them now. They're fun to see, but I guess they aren't top priority for me. The point is, I'm pretty sure I'm a lot bigger for this baby than I was with him. The comments from friends and strangers alike confirm that fact...and it's reconfirmed by the fact that all the shirts I was able to wear for my entire pregnancy are already too small. And I still have 2 months to go.

Ah, love self-portraits. This one is particularly attractive with the addition of a spare tire thanks to that crooked stripe. ;)

I found this shirt at Salvation Army. It was in the men's section, but I'm pretty sure it was a women's shirt considering the colors and the fact that it's an XXL and it's still this slim. Okay, 'slim' is a relative word here considering I'm 7 months pregnant...

It fits much better now thanks to a few new seams and I still have a little room to grow. I'm pumped to have another long-sleeved shirt, most of my maternity shirts are short-sleeved.

BTW. As I was taking these pictures, I overheard Adrian in my bedroom, playing with the (cool, unplugged) iron. "I'm sewing projecks." See? I must be sewing more. He's always asking me as he watches me sewing, ironing, cutting, etc, "You working on projecks, hey Mom?" That's my little yooper boy!

a year of sewing

2012-01-23T15:04:00.001-05:00

I saw this idea elsewhere in blogland and I thought I'd give it a whirl. I wanted to see how many sewing projects I actually completed in the last year, so I made a collage.

Hm, as it happens, not very many. That's 1.16 completed projects per month, folks. It feels like I did a lot more than that. I mean, I suppose I did make a few shirts for Restyle that I didn't add to the list and let's not forget about all the projects I started and never finished...
Here's hoping I'll have a lot more finished projects in the coming year!

I did just finish another shirt for Restyle this morning, I need to wait for a sunny day to get pictures. I also have a thrift shop find in the dryer that I'm hoping to restyle for myself this afternoon or evening. If these first few weeks are any indication, I should definitely have more completed projects this year!

Yesterday's project

2012-01-20T12:35:00.000-05:00

When I woke up to...okay, so I don't really know what the temperature was, but I trust that it was crazy cold yesterday. I thought it would make a great sewing day. As it turns out, I didn't touch my sewing machine all day. When I cleaned out my fabric stash the other day, I found an infant onesie that I bought on clearance at Target. I had originally planned to add a little something to it and give as part of a baby shower gift, but obviously, it got buried and I completely forgot about it. I left it out so I could add a little paint and wear it on the new babe. I really like how this shirt turned out, so I went with the same idea:

First of all, I need to say that when I made the shirts in Restyle I painted first, then sewed them together. I wasn't really up for pulling this onesie apart so I just did the best I could with what I had.

Yeah, that's our kitchen chair. The paint comes right off and even if it didn't I'm not too concerned. My only other option was be a large piece of cardboard which I don't have.
I wasn't able to get the lines quite as straight and clean as when the shirt is pulled apart, but for less than $2, I guess I'm okay with that.

I love how quick and easy it is to paint on fabric! It dries really fast too, so you can reposition after a short time. Now to figure out what to paint on some of my shirts...or Adrian's...or Jeff's...

I'm pretty sure today is even colder than yesterday (weather.com said -13 around 9 this morning), but I have some running to do. Most importantly, to get my hair trimmed and then we'll see if I can brave it to a couple thrift shops that I didn't make it to the other day.

(BTW, I could not get that taped up shirt picture to go the right way. I literally turned it every direction before uploading and it came up wrong every time. Ah, well, you get the idea, right?)

"I wanna skate around"

2012-01-19T17:48:00.000-05:00

It's been all about hockey, all the time, in this household.

After convincing Adrian that Dad's hockey helmet wasn't that stinky, he finally wanted to put it on. And if you give a 2-year-old a helmet...

Hang on, we forgot something!

For some reason, throughout that entire process, he was completely fine with me snapping pictures, but then a few minutes later:

Wednesday, Wednesday

2012-01-18T09:56:00.002-05:00

I need to get my butt out the door to do something grocery shopping--and thrift shopping--now that the weather has calmed down. Have I told you what awesome friends I have?? Two of our closest friends (along with a few other local couples, not us because I'm 7 months pregnant...) went on a cruise this week. And since Jeff drove them to the airport (you know, cuz that's where he works), they left their car with us with a "I'll leave you my keys so if you want to use it next week, you can run out!" Wow, thanks! Without it, I probably would have missed the annual meeting at church on Sunday. And now, I can run out today since yesterday was really snowy and then I babysat in the evening. (For some other really good friends. Who, btw, brought us a roast for our freezer since we fed their kids supper. Seriously, these are the kind of friends we have. I'm not sure that I deserve them.)

So, while I try so hard to hurry out the door (sitting on the couch, drinking hot chocolate, yeah I'm really hurrying), Adrian is playing hockey and telling me about his trip to the zoo. Last August.
"Papa was zooming the ban [van]. The pigs were getting in the dirt. With their nose!"
I just realized he said all of his r's in that conversation. Lately, he's been pretending he can't say them. He talks in this weird, fake voice, "drive the caaw," "chaaaange ma diapaaaaw." It's really kind of strange, but I realized recently that one of his friends talks like that so he must think it's cool??

Since I'm all over the place, I might as well keep going.

I've started having those dreams where I forget about my baby. He was only a few weeks old and I recall checking on him during the night, but he never woke up to eat. Then, all of a sudden, it's 11 o'clock in the morning and I still haven't fed him and he's nowhere to be seen. I start spazzing out, yelling, where's my baby? Jeff's brother, Dave, is holding him like, uh, hello, right here and I'm all mad because no one brought him to me yet, he's doing totally fine. Oh yeah, and we named him Bentley. And, somehow, it took us about 5 days to realize that my sister has a Bentley and we can't actually name him that. We were embarrassed even in my dream. Oh and guess what? We still haven't figured out a name. Maybe in one of these dreams, one will come to me. ha.

Oh my goodness. I am so excited to have another little bebe. It's amazing how much more excited I am this time around. I think, with Adrian, I just didn't know what to expect so I wasn't THAT excited. I mean, I was happy, for sure, not trying to send the wrong message here. But now, I am just PUMPED to have another little baby, for Adrian to have a brother, to actually see what it's like without being in a haze. Those first 6 months or so with Adrian were an absolute blur. And not because it was so busy, but because I just didn't know what I was doing, I was learning so much everyday. Trying to figure out how to best care for that little guy. We'll see how it goes this time.

Ah, well, I'm off, it's already 10. Have a super fabulous day! I know we will! (How can you go wrong with thrift shopping??)

Adrian says

2012-01-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

(As in right now when he saw this picture.)

"Adrian says, 'No taking pictures!' on the caputer!"

I'm pretty sure he told me just before I took this picture, "Take my picture, Mom!" And then, when I pointed the camera in his direction, this is what I got. And yeah, that's 'hot chokwet" on his mouth. I've been enjoying a lot of that lately. I found that I like it sweetened with honey.

Restyle {by Heidi}

2012-01-16T13:21:00.000-05:00

Oh BTW, I have an Etsy shop. It actually has something in it. Please disregard the fact that it's been open for nearly a year...

If you recall, one of my goals for the year was to open my shop. I guess that should have said, list something in my shop and actually tell you what it's called.

I had made a few toddler t-shirts and then s-l-o-w-e-d down around Christmas. Then, as I begin preparing for this "new baby in da house," I started s-l-o-w-l-y organizing my sewing space which happens to be in my bedroom. I was digging through my fabric/clothing stash and found a couple more items that I started, but never actually finished. I finished them up and voila! I can open my shop!

There isn't much, yet, but there will be! I took so long to get this far, so I finally told myself that once I have 5 items, it's time to announce the 'grand opening.' Right now, all of my items ship for free!

As you should already know if you've read my blog for any amount of time, all of my items will be upcycled. So far, everything in the shop is made from adult tops. I'm so excited to work on more items and get them listed!

If you missed all the links above, here you go again: Check out Restyle {by Heidi} on Etsy!

I Want to Drive a Zomboni...

2012-01-14T20:08:00.000-05:00

This boy has been killing us lately. I only wish I could remember all the funny things he does and says, how quickly this time goes!

Today, Jeff and Adrian were playing hockey in the living room and Adrian kept 'slipping' on the ice and falling down. Completely his own idea. He went to a hockey game with Jeff the other week and he hasn't stopped talking about hockey players since. Then, in the middle of the game, he stops and runs down the hallway to get his race car. Jeff and I were a little confused because he seemed to be having fun shooting the puck. A few moments later, he came zipping down the hallway on his race car. "Hafta cwean the ice."

He's too fast. And, he doesn't want me taking his picture anymore.

He cleaned it about every 2 minutes after that. And each time, when he was finished, he drove his "Zamboni" back to his bedroom. We just never know what he'll come up with next!

(That blue dot is a magnet, he thinks it's pretty cool that he can get it to stick to his car.)

We did get our winter storm, never did hear the official count, but I'm pretty sure we got over a foot of snow. It finally looks like January! I did get out thrift shopping in the middle of it. I found a really cool crocheted blanket for the baby...that Adrian already claimed. I'll have to get a picture. I also found some kids books, nothing super exciting, we just need some different books around here. I've also been keeping my eye out for a bigger bookshelf, but no luck yet.

Something super exciting is happening this week! Hopefully Monday. I'll keep you posted! :)

"Mom! Where's my race car?!"

2012-01-12T21:17:00.001-05:00

Since I'm still handing out Christmas cards, I figure it's appropriate to blog about it as well. Thank-you, thank-you to my mother-in-law for mailing my camera back to me so I have my pictures!

Adrian got this awesome race car from Grandma and Grandpa L. I have to say, it was the one gift that had him SO excited and literally jumping up and down.

He's been riding it around our apartment...and parking it in front of the refrigerator. I can't wait until he actually has the space to ride around!

Lately

2012-01-11T12:15:00.000-05:00

We're still here.

Painting,

Playing hockey,

Like his glove? He had me in the net with a bubble mailer on my hand.

And venturing out into the snow,

What little snow we have anyways. I feel like we're back downstate with the amount of snow on the ground. Grass is peeking out everywhere, it's weird for January! We went out the other day when it was warm, but really windy and ended up behind the city housing next door. Buildings block a lot of the wind on two side and there are hills on the remaining sides. It's still a big open area so it's the perfect place to play, and really close which is awesome for 2-year-old feet clunking around in snow gear. We've been building a snow fort in the piles of plowed snow and throwing snowballs. I've been amazed with how easily Adrian has taken snow in his face, down his jacket, up his sleeves...he doesn't seem to care at all.

We're supposed to get a storm, starting this afternoon, so maybe it will start feeling like winter around here!

Other than that, I have been thinking about working on some projects, but nothing has happened yet. I've had plans every day to get a bunch of stuff done, but I keep getting an unsettled stomach that I can't figure out so I end up lounging around after getting the bare necessities done. I plan to do some thrift shopping tomorrow if Jeff isn't working overtime, hopefully that yucky feeling doesn't get in the way!

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-03T15:49:00.000-05:00

Little A, last January

I was wanting to reflect on last year's Goals for the New Year, but I didn't post anything and I can't remember for the life of me if I ever made any.
I don't generally do resolutions because they seem like a setup for failure in my mind. Instead, I made a few goals for the coming year. Basically, I'd like to achieve these before 2013.
And, since I didn't do it last year, I definitely need to document them somewhere!

1. Open my Etsy shop. Um, did you forget about that, too? Okay, so I guess I didn't actually forget, but it definitely got pushed aside for a while. Almost a year, in fact.

2. Buy a mini-van! Super exciting, right? We've been a one vehicle family for the past year or so. Jeff had a truck for a short while which was awesome, but we decided to sell it and the specifics aren't coming to me right now. Oh wait, maybe it had something to do with us driving it to the camp--2 1/2 hours away--and Jeff getting it stalled on some bush road and having to get a ride back home with his dad to pick up our car. And then, going back up again the next weekend to fix it and bring it back home. Hmm, maybe that had something to do with it. Anyways, with another baby on the way, it just makes sense for us to get a mini-van. I know we could make it with a car, but if we have to get another vehicle either way, I'd rather have a van.
On a side note, I don't recall ever being the "I'm never getting a mini-van" type. Maybe it had to do with a coworker back in the day who told me she regretted getting an Explorer instead of a van. She said it was such a pain to get kids and carseats in and out. Or maybe it was the fact that I always wished we had a mini-van growing up instead of a full-size. Not that a mini-van was even an option with that many kids.

3. Buy a house. Or get a house? Even since reading Total Money Makeover, the word "buy" has a much different meaning. I guess either way, we're "buying" a house, we just won't completely "own" it for a while. I'll try not to rant about our latest increase in rent here because I'm sure you've heard enough about it elsewhere. I've gotten to the point where I'm done paying someone else to rent. It feels like we're flushing our money away after 3 years. Plus, in our area, I know we can find a house with a mortgage much lower than what we're paying monthly right now. Now that it's becoming more real, I can't wait!

[Pause to get the turkey in the oven. Oh yeah, we're eating late tonight.]

4. Have a successful VBAC. This is actually my #1. I haven't talked about it much on here, but Adrian was breach and after trying for several weeks to get him to flip, I ended up with a c-section. It was such a huge disappointment and I've felt sort of cheated ever since. I wish I knew then what I know now about preventing breach babies. I know there are still no guarantees, but at least I'm trying everything I can to avoid another c-section this time around. If nothing else, it helps to alleviate some of my stress and anxiety when I'm able to be proactive rather than taking the "wait and see" approach.

5. Cut back on grains. Oh yeah, there had to be a health-related goal right? I'm hypoglycemic so I should be eating a high-protein, low-carb diet. I know I feel my best when I'm eating right. Cutting back on grains helps me focus more on vegetables, something we all need more of! I think breakfast will be the hardest. I do not like breakfast foods. My go-to breakfasts are usually muffins, pancakes, or baked oatmeal. I'm not a big fan of eggs and I have yet to find a natural sausage that I like. Just focusing on this one meal would help a lot with this goal!

6. Potty-train Adrian! I was hoping we'd be a little further along by now--he's been sitting on the potty since September, but only peed twice. He's definitely interested, I'm probably the one holding him back. I really, really want him trained, or at least, well on his way, before the baby arrives. We'll see what happens!

What about you? Any resolutions or goals set for the coming year?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

We enjoyed a wonderful week-and-a-half downstate with both sides of the family for Christmas. Our computer was with us, but I never took the time to blog. My sisters Amanda and Jennifer were also in town (with their families, of course). In that time, we did some shopping, threw a surprise birthday party for my brother Dan, got spoiled with some new gadgets, and even sneaked in a day date. Unfortunately, my camera didn't make the return trip with us so I don't actually have pictures of any of the above at this time.
Today, we are taking it easy and trying to find our groove again. Whatever that means for us. I have plenty to do and Adrian is currently throwing a fit. He slept till 9:30 today, but I don't think he's quite 'caught up' with his sleep yet after such a busy week.
This picture was our Christmas card this year--if you're local, and I don't have your address, it's still coming to you! They finally arrived the day we left so I passed out a lot of them at church on Christmas and sent out what I could. BTW, I emailed Snapfish, telling them how irritated I was with the 3 weeks it took to receive my cards and they refunded my order.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Bah Humbug...but not really

2011-12-19T16:29:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling just a teeny bit stressed out today. I wish we could be downstate with our families already. I hate this last-minute procrastination crap that I always seem to be involved with. I still have 2 gifts to make. 1 is sort of close to being finished and the other--felt food for Adrian--might not get done at all. I thought the food would be much more fun to make (I'm just free-handing everything) but I didn't realize how much hand sewing went into making it. I hate hand sewing.
I'm also still waiting for my Christmas cards to arrive. I think I ordered them on November 24th. I'm pretty much furious about that. Remind me not to use Snapfish next year. I could have handed out a good percentage, but now I'll be mailing a lot more than I had originally planned. Aaand, I'll probably be addressing those downstate since they didn't arrive yet again today and I really don't have time to do that before we leave.
To combat my stress, I've been stuffing my face with brownies. Which, in turn, makes me feel sick.
The trouble with procrastinating is that I get stressed thinking about what still needs to be done which causes me to procrastinate even more. And to think I'm more prepared than I was this time last year...
Well, anyhow, there's laundry and packing and sewing and wrapping to be done! (Just not in that order.)

Camping In

2011-12-14T15:27:00.000-05:00

I don't think I ever mentioned it on here, but Adrian had been climbing out of his crib 17 times a night so we finally said 'enough.' I'm not exaggerating when I say 17, in fact, one night it may have been closer to 29. It gets old quick, let me tell you. Especially when he's back out of his crib by the time I even climb back in my bed which is about 10 steps around the corner. We have been wanting to get him a twin-sized bed for the past several months, but it hasn't happened yet. About a week ago, (after the night of 29 crib evacuations) I folded up his little crib and set up his little mattress in the corner. And he's been sleeping a million times better ever since. As have I. Apparently standing up and running out of his room isn't quite as alluring as scaling the side of his crib.

Then, a few nights ago, I thought I heard him playing in his room after putting him to bed. When he didn't come out I went to investigate. His bed is in the far corner so when I heard breathing coming from the middle of the room I thought he was sneaking around. I flipped on the light to find him in his tent. He had pulled all his bedding, minus the mattress, into the tent and was only awake because I turned the light on. He's been sleeping in there since and he's even made it through a few nights without getting up!

Decking the Halls

2011-12-12T16:19:00.001-05:00

Jeff picked up our tree on Saturday evening. (For the locals, there are trees starting at $10 in Ish...) We have never made a big outing of Christmas tree hunting, but then maybe that's because we don't cut down our own. Someday, but for now it's so much easier to buy one, especially when we can get it that cheap. While Jeff was out, Adrian and I rearranged the living room to fit out tree.

Adrian likes to be right in there 'helping.' (He's sitting next to me now telling me, "Mom, Adrian helping Dad?")

I think I still surprise Jeff every once in a while. He was shaking his head when he was putting up the tree and we realized just how short it is...and I didn't even care. My only request was that we don't get a Charlie Brown, other than that, I really don't care. This tree is so short, I could put the tree topper on while standing on the ground. And I'm only 5' folks.

I tried to let Adrian decorate:

It didn't go so well...

He had a little better luck with these swirly turquoise ornaments:

I put the remaining 7 ornaments on along with garland.

Now all we need is a tree skirt, tree topper, and a lot more ornaments. Ah, well, we're halfway there. I did have a few more ornaments but I ended up hanging them in the window. I'll have to post a picture if I ever figure out how to take a decent picture of the window. Tips are welcome.

Other than that...we made it through chickenpox with Adrian this past week. He did pretty well, just crabby for a few days and low fever, but nothing to get me worried. Yesterday in church he told our friend Kate, "I have chickenpox. I have scabs." I keep trying to tell him he doesn't have chickenpox anymore, just scabs. Lots of scabs.

The Sunday School Program was last night, it's always so cute to see all the kids saying their pieces and singing the songs. It's a little different here than when I was in Sunday school downstate, mostly due to a much, much smaller group. The 5-year-olds each have a piece to say which is so sweet, just something simple like "Jesus loves me," or "Jesus was born on Christmas." And at the end, the entire Sunday school goes to the front to sing a song together. I imagine that won't happen for too many more years since our congregation has grown so much.

Now to finish supper and finish my dish for Ladies' Christmas Party tonight!

jokes on me

2011-12-09T14:53:00.001-05:00

I saw repinned this top on Pinterest without noticing where it was from. While I was downstate for Christmas, I bought the same top in salmon. I found it at the Old Navy in the Tanger Outlets which, to my knowledge, doesn't carry maternity clothes. I bought it one size too big thinking of this very pin. Ha! So today, I pulled it out to resize and halfway through I clicked over to Pinterest, to this picture and realized oh, whoops, I guess I could have just bought it in the right size. Although, to be honest, I'm not sure it would have fit over my belly much longer if I had bought it in the right size.

Okay, so that's about all I got done today and yikes, our trip downstate is sneaking right up on me!

this time, last year

2011-12-08T14:29:00.001-05:00

Our tree was already up, my belly was pretty flat, and Adrian was still as goofy (and cute) as ever.

And oh man, looking back at these pictures makes me so excited to have another little boy!

As for everything else, we will hopefully be getting our tree very, very soon, my belly is quite round, Jeff is working a lot, Adrian is covered in spots. I picked up everything we need for hot cocoa, including the whipped cream, so we're all ready to decorate. Just as soon as a tree makes its appearance. Pictures to come when stated event occurs.

Mr. Snowman

2011-12-05T16:02:00.001-05:00

Whenever Adrian is bored or crabby I give him a list of ideas to occupy his time. Among that is "go look out the window." For some reason, that one usually works. Here he is sharing the snowy view with his snowman (one of the few decorations that he can't ruin in some way).

a few snapshots from our visit with the families

2011-12-02T13:27:00.001-05:00

Adrian and Kendall playing with the Push 'n' Go vehicles in Grandma's kitchen.

Jenny peeling, coring, and slicing apples for a Thanksgiving pie.

Jenna and Mom-in-law, Paula, making pie crust.

Grandpa and Adrian

Adrian and Auntie Jenna. How uncomfortable does he look??

The kiddos with Grandma and her i-pod.

Uncle Brett with his i-pad and Bentley with his i-phone. NBD.

Adrian coloring with Auntie Katie.

Jeff and Adrian at the Fantasy of Lights Parade.

I not a silly goose! I juss Adrin!

2011-11-30T13:44:00.001-05:00

Adrian and I went downstate with 'Manna,' 'Kenno,' and 'Benty' last weekend (as in a week and a half ago) and stayed for Thanksgiving. Jeff came down on Tuesday night after work. It was one of my more relaxing trips visiting the family and now I'm ready to tackle a mile-long list before we head down again for Christmas! I'm sewing today, and cooking a chicken, and doing some organizing while listening to Christmas music. Jeff is working late again tonight (yay for overtime!) and I'm planning to pull out my meager supply of Christmas decorations this evening. Hopefully the tree will follow within the next week! I was just looking at some of my pictures from downstate and these made me smile, he was telling me to take more pictures, messy face and all:

As for right now, I'm off to figure out our Christmas cards so I can get back to my sewing machine!

the holidays are fast approaching

2011-11-14T13:30:00.001-05:00

Completely blurry but, I just love this face!

I've been sewing! Woohoo! And playing with fabric paint! I have a few projects that I've had in mind and I'm finally working on them. But very slowly. My back has really been bothering me lately so I can only spend a small amount of time at my sewing machine before it's just too uncomfortable. Hopefully I'll be able to show them in a few weeks (or less). On the other hand, I'm suddenly realizing that Thanksgiving is next week which means I'll be leaving downstate in less than a week. Yikes! How did it get here so fast?? I had hoped to have the majority of my Christmas shopping done by the end of the month but guess how much I have done so far? That's right, nothin. I know what I'd like to get for Adrian and that's as far as I've come.

Happy Monday!

Raspberry Tea

2011-11-09T15:04:00.001-05:00

I've been drinking a lot of tea since I quit coffee last spring. (And haven't looked back!) I love green tea and thought it was completely fine to drink during pregnancy but, as it turns out, green tea blocks the absorption of folic acid. It should be avoided before and especially during the first trimester. How ironic that I learned this at the start of my second trimester. Anyways, this is a recent finding and who knows, they may find out in a year or so that it is 'safe' to drink during the 1st trimester. (Ironically, the nurse that told me this gave me the 'okay' to drink coffee in moderation...) Here's a little factoid: did you know that, although green tea contains caffeine, it also contains a protein called thianine which doesn't allow your body to absorb the caffeine?
Anyways, I recently switched to raspberry tea which is very good to drink during pregnancy and while nursing. (It's good for anyone but particularly beneficial for those two groups.) I buy it in loose leaf form from our natural foods store. I have yet to buy a tea ball so in the meantime, I've been making my own tea bags. I first saw this idea on A Beautiful Mess. Hers are much prettier than mine but hey, they work. I was able to get 2 tea bags out of 1 coffee filter since I wasn't concerned about the ridges. The only problem is, coffee filters are much thicker than tea bags so you may need to allow extra steeping time. This isn't a big deal with raspberry tea because I keep the bag in the entire time.
Now go drink some tea and gaze out the window at the falling snow. (Wait, what? It's not snowing in your area? Hm...we have a few inches on the ground already. Happy November!)

I love boys...

2011-11-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

Especially these two. And the one we get to meet in March.
I finally looked through Adrian's baby clothes today (up to 9 months anyways) and realized that I need A LOT. I had borrowed a ton of stuff from my sister Emily and my friend Shannon so I didn't buy as much as I should have when Little A was a baby. Oh well, I have the whole winter to thrift shop and then garage sales in the spring when we *hopefully* have another vehicle. As for now, I have enough one-piece pajama outfits for 0-3 months so he won't be naked under his blanket but it would be nice to find some cutesie stuff, ya know?
ETA: Oh wait, I just realized that Amanda has a bunch of my baby clothes, I guess I have more than I thought!

Coffee with the ladies tonight, woohoo! Hm...maybe I'll run to Goodwill before.

What's Yours is Mine

2011-11-03T18:44:00.001-05:00

I finally got pictures of the shirt I restyled!
Here's a before, as Jeff's shirt (don't worry, he was getting rid of it, I didn't actually steal it)

Terrible picture in every way, I know, I'm sorry. And it was laundry day, we do actually use sheets on our bed. I snapped this real quick because I was about to start working on it and couldn't be bother to get a better picture. ;)

And now, it looks a little something like this:

Ha! Self-portraits are so awkward. I tried to get a better shot, you know, maybe one with a side view but the camera just wasn't loving me.

Here's what I did, sorry no step-by-step photos (maybe someday):

1. Using another maternity shirt--inside out--as a pattern, I traced the outline with a fabric pencil
2. I sewed over the line, actually slightly outside the lines because I was afraid it would end up being too small, I'm glad I did.
3. I tried on the shirt at this point and when it seemed to fit right, I cut along the seam, leaving around a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
4. I used the same maternity shirt again to trace the sleeves, this ended up being a little trial and error to match the sleeves up just right with the armholes, I'm learning. Once I determined that they were the right size, I cut the sleeves and sewed them on.
5. I should have done this before I sewed the side seams but waited until this point to ruche the sides. I wanted to make sure the shirt was long enough. I wish there were more gathers but I would have had to use elastic for that and well, I didn't.
6. Somewhere along the way I cut off the collar. I think I'll add a tiny little ruffle over the raw edge someday. And maybe I'll cover the lion logo since it's practically in my armpit now.

Woohoo! Yet another of Jeff's shirts that is now mine!

My Little Pumpkin

2011-11-01T20:34:00.000-05:00

Adrian was a little timid trick-or-treating. It's funny how he was all pumped up at home and then when he actually had to say the words to a stranger they came out just above a whisper. I was wondering how the night would go when, at the first house, there was a cackling shrunken head on the door handle. He got a little scared but he did just fine after that with any laughing and cackling decorations.

He rode around in the stroller but quite honestly, he probably could have ran around the entire time if I had put tennis shoes on him. I wonder if that would have prevented 7 people from calling him a her. Or maybe it was just the polka dot blanket...ha!

As soon as he started getting the tiniest bit cranky, we headed home. He still got way too much candy but I suppose he couldn't eat half of it anyways since we had to take away anything with wheat (btw, licorice is made with wheat, did you know?) and all the jawbreaker-type candy. Jeff was disappointed that Reese's are wheat-free. I did tell him that Adrian wouldn't have a clue if he swiped them all.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T12:56:00.000-05:00

We're taking Adrian trick-or-treating for the first time tonight. He is so excited! We've been talking about it for the past week or so and he is always telling me, "say, 'trick-or-treat,' give candy, say, 'thank-you!'" I've been letting him play in his pumpkin costume for the past few days to get him comfortable with wearing it and boy, he's comfortable! Last night, he was wearing it (sweating) and I took it off to change him into his pajamas. As soon as his pajamas were on he wanted it on again and was so upset when I had to take it off for him to go to bed. He wore it until lunchtime today, again sweating, and only took it off because I didn't want it to get dirty while he was eating. I don't think we'll have any trouble with it tonight! He's been asking all morning, "Go trick-or-treating?" His voice gets all high-pitched at the end and he raises his eyebrows. "Go trick-or-treating when Daddy get home?"

I whipped up a trick-or-treat bag for Adrian today. I can't take credit for the idea, I saw this bag on Etsy. I had some green fabric left over from another bag, I used felt and black buttons for the eyes.

Adrian was so impatient for me to finish making it so he could carry it around. I wish I could get a picture of him looking all excited but it was difficult enough to get him to hold the bag in the right direction.

Trick-or-treating pictures tomorrow and that shirt if I remember to get a picture!

Happy Halloween! Be safe!

He always has me laughing...

2011-10-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

A minute ago he hopped on his bike and informed me, "I'm riding my bike all the way to the park, buh-bye Mama!"
And a few minutes ago when I ran to grab the phone, "Just a minute Mama!"
Now he's 'Goin' fishin' in the boat." (The Lego container.) "I catch-ed the fish!"
He's been calling me 'hon' or 'honey' lately as well. He always brings my attention to the things I say every day even when I don't realize I say them.

I restyled a shirt today! Go me! I'll post pictures once I take them.

Sister's Trip

2011-10-27T13:24:00.000-05:00


Jean, Molly, Gretchen, Kaitlin, me, Larissa, Amanda, Emily Sara, Jennifer, Mom

I'm not done blogging, I've just felt kind of burnt out from blogs in general.

This past weekend was our 1st ever Sister's Trip! We've talked about taking a trip together for the past several years but it never seemed to work out. This year, Sara took action and started planning it. That's what it takes to really get a plan in motion. We can find an excuse every time whether it be money, babies, our husband's schedules, but in the end, if a trip is planned there's a pretty good chance that we'll all make it! We did have two babies with us this year and we will probably have at least one baby for the next umpteen years but that's just the way it goes. Next time, it could be me. I'm not sure how often we'll be doing this but I know my mom has her own Sister's Trip every other year and that always seems to work well.
We rented a condo near Madison, Wisconsin for the weekend and I am so glad we did. It was such a nice place, full kitchen and living room, 4 bedrooms plus plenty of space in the finished basement (where 2 of the bedrooms were) for a couple more beds. All 13 of us fit quite comfortably. We had first considered a hotel but it was so much easier to visit when we had chairs and couches and space available so we never felt cramped. This picture (courtesy of Emily) was taken on the screened-in porch.
On Friday night, we went to Olive Garden and then back to the condo to exchange our handmade Christmas gifts (my mom posted pictures here). The next day, we ate lots (oh wait, that was all weekend, we brought way too much food!) and then headed to Panera Bread before doing some shopping. I am a terrible shopper! After pinching pennies for so long I have forgotten how to spend money. I found a sweater for myself at Plato's Closet. That's it. Of course, it is a little trickier trying to find maternity clothes but I was also on the lookout for some new heels and a pair of boots, I found neither. I think most of the other girls brought home a few bags of clothes, lucky them!
That night we exchanged our white elephant gifts which gave us plenty of laughs, some were serious and some were just ridiculous. Like the super soaker squirt gun my mom got!
It was such a fun weekend with so many laughs, so much food (I guess we do talk about food a lot...) and it definitely wasn't long enough!

DS

2011-10-18T18:34:00.000-05:00

It's Down Syndrome Awareness Month. My mom emailed all the kids to share this video so I thought I'd share it on here (sorry if you already saw it on facebook). Christopher, in the video, reminds me so much of my little (almost 16-year-old) brother Danny, especially at the end of his segment when he says 'See? We are more alike than different."

Reading with Dad

2011-10-17T14:39:00.001-05:00

Vintage-Style Romper

2011-10-14T11:01:00.001-05:00

I've been itching to sew lately, I still haven't done any real projects this fall. I found this pattern at St. Vinnies for 7¢! I think their patterns are usually a whopping 14¢ but the sale for the day was half off everything except yellow tags. I also found a winter jacket for Adrian (still hoping to find a nicer one but for the price listed, I couldn't pass it up as a 'just in case'), a yellow, silk shirt for myself, and another basic toddler pattern for shirts and onesies. I also had a $1 off coupon so my total was, wait for it...$2.17.
This pattern is from 1975, I plan to make the top sunsuit using this vintage sheet a found quite a while ago:

I'm not even sure what I'll do with it once it's done but I was so excited to use the pattern once I brought it home! It might be a baby gift or it might find it's way to Etsy. Hey, do you remember when I talked about opening my very own Etsy shop?? Yeah...I remember that too.

hiking with 2-year-olds

2011-10-08T16:28:00.001-05:00

I've been avoiding posting just so I wouldn't type out a big complaint about how lousy I've been feeling. Since it's basically unavoidable, I'll just get it out really quick...I've had a cold for over a week and when I was getting to the point of whentheheckwillthistupidcoldgoaway?! I got another one. The first one was coughing, sore throat, lots and lots of phlegm (your welcome) and this one is more in my head...no, not like I'm making it up, come over here and I'll show you. Kidding, but really, I have a runny nose and my head feels all cloudy and I'm positively exhausted. I have a pot of chicken noodle soup simmering on the stove right now and even though it doesn't sound that tasty at the moment, I can't wait to eat it. There's nothing like hot soup when you feel like crap.
I was obviously feeling quite a bit better on Wednesday--even though I had that other stupid cold at that time--when the twinners were here.
Kaitlin and Gretchen came down on Tuesday night and we made plans to go hiking. Or I made plans to go hiking. Now that I think about it, I don't even know if they were remotely interested.

We went to Sugarloaf which is the easiest hiking trail I know of. Kendall only had flip-flops so we all ended up wearing flip-flops.

It was a perfectly beautiful day and there are lookout points on the top but we didn't end up staying long since all of us were getting hungry for lunch.

This was my first time letting Adrian walk up on his own and he did great! Actually, both kids were pretty awesome.

Gotta love self-timer shots!

Kendall had some mud on her leg so she held her shorts up on the way down.

We finished up and then went to Border Grill for lunch. Yum! I'm so glad my sisters were able to make it down for a visit!

home is wherever you are

2011-10-03T15:09:00.002-05:00

I managed to survive a week without Jeff! He left last Monday for training and we were finally able to pick him up again last night. It actually went pretty well, I had a vehicle for the week so that helped. I felt pretty relaxed until Adrian and I both came down with nasty colds around the middle of the week. There were many times that I had to remind myself that he wasn't feeling well either. It takes so much patience to care for a sick little guy when I just want to crawl back in bed! Then, of course, he was so tired and I wanted him to sleep so he could get better but, he wasn't sleep very well at all.

It took him a day or so to figure out that Jeff wasn't around and from then on, he constantly asked, "Where's Daddy? Daddy working on airplanes? Daddy far away?" And then, after telling him that Daddy was in Texas he would ask where Jessica (Jeff's cousin) was, remembering that she also lived in Texas. He must have thought they were hanging out or something. Pretty soon came the "I miss Daddy." I have no idea if he knows what that means but I know he heard me say it plenty of times! We went to the airport to pick him up last night and as soon as Adrian saw him (his flight landed earlier than expected so he was already waiting outside our tiny little airport when I pulled up) he started giggling and kicking his legs. Aaah, it was so sweet! We're both so glad to have him back!

spending time with the fam (in august)

2011-09-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

I don't think I ever posted pictures from my 2 week trip downstate this summer. I caught a ride with my sister Sara and her family as they headed south after visiting family in The Keweenaw. I'm so glad I was able to spend (almost) a week with them since we usually only see them about once a year.

BIL Jon slam-dunking. Look at the kids in total awe. Except the 2-yr-olds...

Orrin

Orrin doing one of his many tricks. (He landed safely btw.)

"If you make 10 baskets, you can have a four-wheeler." Paul was pumped!

Tug-o-war. Who will win??

Dan stays in it till the bitter end.

Modern day America. I think they were watching a video on Mom's ipod touch.

No photo recap would be complete without a mugshot of Dan the Man!

My little man. I really like this picture but I couldn't get a clear shot.

Riding a 'bike.' Quite possibly his favorite thing to do at Grandma and Papa's!

Be Kind

2011-09-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

I saw this quote on Pinterest today and it just kind of stuck with me. I think about this often as I'm reminded almost weekly that we don't always know what battles a person might be fighting. Throughout the last several years, and maybe it's just a result of becoming an adult, my eyes have been opened to so many people's struggles. Some are open about them, others are not. Some we know, others we don't. For as often as I am surprised by each trial I also realize that they are not alone. I may never know who dreads getting out of bed each morning to face the day. I might never know which close friend battles her demons on a daily basis because she never tells another soul. I do know this, there are certain people who could drive me nuts because I couldn't figure out why there were so unsocial, withdrawn, or just downright mean. As it turns out, I did learn of some of their struggles along the way and it made me ashamed that I hadn't treated with more love and understanding. Often, a person is the way they are because of the battles they have fought. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt these days but I know I often fail miserably. This quote is a good reminder to me that I really don't know what demons each person, whether it be stranger or close friend, encounters each day.

That was a bit heavier than my usual posts, sorry if I left you feeling depressed! It's something that's been on my mind lately.

the soon-to-be big 'brudder'

2011-09-26T19:22:00.001-05:00

My little boy is growing up before my very eyes. I am constantly surprised by the things he says and does. He absolutely loves to read book and only recently figured out how to 'read' by himself. He would gladly listen to me read 37 books in a row so, this new discovery is pretty nice for me. But, sometimes I feel really selfish when I say 'no' when he asks me to read him a book. For some reason, it's even harder when he is okay with it. A few minutes ago, he came up to me with those big blue eyes and held a book out asking, 'read the story?' The sweet little smile on his face melted my cold heart and I did read him a story. Besides looking at books by himself, he has started reciting the words aloud. And most of the time, they are actually words from that particular story. If you haven't read any of Mo Willem's book, I highly recommend them. Right now, we have The Pigeon Finds a Hotdog. There are parts where the pigeon is yelling and I walked in on Adrian 'reading' the story one day, "Not a hotdog. Taste like chicken? I hab a question. TASTES LIKE CHICKEN OKAY!! Okay, okay!" Oh, how I love that boy. Of course, I wasn't able to get it on camera and he wouldn't do it again for me.

He has also been into dogs ever since we went camping with Jeff's family which included 3 dogs. He has a Melissa and Doug pull-toy dog and he has been dragging it around everywhere and pulling it onto the couch with him. He even calls him Toby which is one of the dog's names. Then I have to pet it, it's sitting right next to me as I type. I just love seeing his imagination at work!

(He's looking at a "Pooh-Pooh" book right now, btw.)

And now he's telling me to get off the 'puter' so I guess that's my cue!

Autumn Leaves

2011-09-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

I did end up making the leaf garland I was talking about. It was such a super simple project which is so motivating to do more projects. I think I used my sewing machine twice over the summer so we definitely have some catching up to do.

I had a bunch of felt sheets leftover from Easter...I made some animals for Adrian with the intention of making a felt board. I have yet to buy materials for said board. Anyway, I cut out a bunch of simple leaves which took all of 10 minutes and sewed them right up. From the looks of my piles, I thought the garland would be able to double up over my living room window. In fact, I thought it would be even longer than that. Let me tell you, I am a terrible estimator; I was only able to drape it once.

The above picture is my best shot of the garland 'in action.' Even on a dark, gloomy day, my camera is no match for the window.

I'm already thinking about what kind of garland to make once fall is officially over (which seems to happen pretty quickly in this area). Probably pom-poms...Am I the only one excited for Christmas while there are still green leaves on the trees? I blame it on Pinterest of course.

Southwestern Pot Roast

2011-09-22T13:38:00.001-05:00

Jeff and Adrian while camping in Traverse City. Swings are a favorite.

I am quite possibly the worlds worst grocery/meal planner. This morning, I was trying to decide what to make for supper considering I would need to walk to the store before lunch to pick up whatever I would need. A brief flash of Mexican-style food crossed my mind so I flipped through the Magnolia Lane cookbook to find something suitable. I decided to make Southwest Pot Roast (recipe by my aunt, Tricia Johnson) since I already knew that it tastes good and that I had a roast in the freezer. Um, yeah, the freezer. About that...
Since it's a slow cooker recipe, I just put it in the slow cooker with the beef broth on low and ran to the store with my little man to get the rest of the ingredients. Everything else is now nestled in with the beef so I'm crossing my fingers that it's thawed and will cook splendidly!
In other news, I'm into my second trimester and I feel great! Adrian likes to randomly tell me he's going to be a 'big brudder' although I'm not sure he knows what that means. We talk about having a baby live here and he always acts like that's really cool and then goes and throws a doll or something. Okay, I might have made up that last part but he does play with dolls more often than he has in the past. He's learning to sing to them and give them kisses. He gets as far as 'Jesus loves me [mumble, mumble]...' Aaah, so darn cute.
Well, I'm off to do something creative. I've been thinking about making a fall garland out of felt and I think today is the day!

I thought I had posted this recipe already but I can't seem to find it so, if you're interested (and you should be, it's really good!) here it is (with my notes included):

Southwestern Pot Roast

4 lbs lean roast, trimmed of visible fat (I have made this many times with pork and that also tastes amazing)
1 c. red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 med green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 c. [fat free] beef broth (I always use regular and to be honest, this time I used beef bouillon)
3 T. chili powder
1/4 tsp of cayenne (I'm a complete wimp when it comes to spicy foods so I always substitute paprika)
1 (16) oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I always use black beans because I love 'em and probably a lot more than this because, like I said, I love 'em!)
4 c. frozen corn kernels (I completely forgot to add this one time and it just wasn't the same, the corn adds a nice subtle sweetness.)
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp black pepper, to taste

Season roast with salt and pepper and sear in a frying pan. Put roast and all remaining ingredients except corn and kidney beans into a crock pot on low all day (8-10 hours). During the last 1-2 hours, add the corn and kidney beans.

Tricia's note: This is great with a baked potato on the side (the sauce tastes great on potatoes). For leftovers, it's also great wrapped in tortillas. This is the best pot roast I have tasted so far is healthy to boot.

My note: although this is a low fat recipe as is, we like to add a [rather large] dollop of sour cream and some shredded cheddar. Yum!

Walk it out

2011-09-19T14:37:00.000-05:00

I have been loving our fall weather! The temperature climbed back up after our cold spell and it's been around the the 60's for the past several days. We have been getting out to walk in the evenings which is always so relaxing and special? because it gives Jeff and I a chance to catch up. Or forces us, but either way, I love it. It almost feels like a date except we're pushing a stroller and every once in a while a little boy will pipe up and add something to the conversation. Jeff was gone the other evening but Adrian and I still ventured out and he totally pointed me on the 'correct' walking route. Over the summer, Jeff would take Adrian out by himself because I was too ~~lazy~~ busy to go and he would check out all the vegetable gardens. So, the other night, I had planned to go straight but Adrian pointed to the left--can't remember exactly what he told me--and was very happy when I listened and then right away pointed out the "gardens!" After that, it was the 'football team!' They weren't actually there at the time but, it was the entrance for the football field which he knew all about since Jeff has already taken him to a few games. Jeff told me that when they were at the game the other night, it got so chilly and Adrian was shivering away but refused to sit in his lap. Mr. Independent. Except for when it's time to go up the stairs, then he always wants Mom to carry him. In a couple more months that's all over buddy.