Happy Monday

• I really was happy to see Monday this week.  MacGyver was traveling for work last night, and my nights are usually restless when he's gone.  Even if I do have a cute baby boy sharing my bed when he's gone.
• Speaking of cute baby boys, can you believe this one turns 1 in just one week?  Here's a sneak peek from his birthday photo shoot.  He's just so darling.  Even if he's grabbing at the computer as I type this.
• The next few weeks are busy ones for us:  Little Dude's birthday, my mom's 50th, my brother-in-law visiting from Utah, and then Little Dude's party.  The kids and I are staying at 'home' for over a week, too, so there's the packing/planning/preparing for that.
• This is the last week of preschool.  Goodbye, calm and easy mornings.
• I'm excited to share my ideas for the little guy's birthday and party.  It's no secret we celebrate birthdays like crazy people, so I've been a busy little planner.
• MacGyver was a dear and bought me a pretty pink beach cruiser.  We hooked the bike trailer up to it, and I spent the weekend pulling our heavy kids around.  We live in a great place for this:  there are miles and miles of wonderful bike trails that are accessible right from our front door.  We're lucky.
• Right now I'm so hungry, and need to go to the grocery.  I'm always stumped about what to eat for lunch.  I usually have cereal.  Or cookies.
• I'm wearing a maxi skirt today.  I kind of have a hard time with maxi skirts, because I grew up in an area with a ton of amish/mennonites/apostolic christian.  Whenever I wear long skirts, I feel like I'm channeling them.  Not a bad thing, just usually not the look I'm going for.
• On the agenda for today:  finish laundry, groceries, work on a headboard I'm making, and clean up the basement.

Happy Monday to you!

Today

Today I'm sleepy.  Someone tell this baby to sleep through the night already.

Today it's cold.  Current temp is 39.

Today is school picture day.  Here's what my pretty little girl looked like when I dropped her off.  I'm not responsible for anything after that.

Today I'm going to a friend's house.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Today should be clean-the-bathrooms day, but I'll try to avoid that.

Happy Today!

Holy Pentunia

I have a bit of good news to share today.  I recently had a seriously amazing experience with a company and I wanted to pass it on, simply because I think most companies could learn something here.

Several years ago, my dear friend Kelli introduced me to the wonderful world that is Petunia Pickle Bottom.  I bought by first bag from BabySteals, and just loved it.  After the Sunbean was a little older, I bought a smaller Petunia bag {the touring tote}.  My love for Petunia doesn't end there...Little Dude came home from the hospital in a layette set, and my favorite swaddle blankets are Petunia Pickle Bottom.  I've since purchased another larger bag {the boxy backpack...don't worry, I never wear it as a backpack}, and I LOVE my overnight bag {the wistful weekender}.

My little guy modeling some of his PPB jammers.

The Touring Tote has a double zipper on the top, and one side of it broke a few years ago.  Since the other side worked just fine, I didn't worry about it.  Then, right after Little Dude was born, the other zipper broke.  I was totally bummed, and decided to check with Petunia to see if they offered any type of repair service.

I contacted them, and they had me send some photos.  After reviewing the photos, they asked me to send in my bag.  About a week later, I heard from them, and they informed me that Petunia was going to replace my bag!  For free!   And, I got to choose the pattern!  I'm a total nerd and creature of habit, though, and picked the same one I'd had.  I just love it so much!

Keep in mind that I didn't provide them with any type of receipt or proof of purchase, and this bag was purchased three years ago, in 2009.  I just had to share my experience with a company that stands behind their product loyally, even after three years of use.

You know I love a good deal, so watch for their semi-annual{ish} outlet sale, which is online.  I've gotten some great pieces there, and some gifts for friends, too.

I just love it when a company exceeds expectations!

For information's purposes, Petunia Pickle Bottom has no clue I wrote this.  I just love them.  Isn't the number of 'sponsored' blog posts lately driving you batty?!?

Fun in the Sun

It seems strange that these pics were taken in March, but we're loving this mild weather!  We discovered a wonderful park that is a 10-minute walk from our house, and Little Dude had his first taste of the swings.

I'd say he's a fan.

Oh Monday

How was your weekend?  Mine was lovely and relaxing.

• On Friday, MacGyver returned from a week-long business trip.  It was longer than anticipated, and let's just say I was more than happy to welcome him home.  Little Dude had taken to waking  up extremely early (think 4:45am), and he's at that age where I can't cat-nap on the couch.  By Friday night, I was so exhausted.
• That didn't stop us from spending some time with our good friends on Friday, though.  I'm so thankful our littles will happily sleep just about anywhere.
• On Saturday, we headed down south to my alma mater, Ohio University.  A family that I was very close with during my time at OU lost their father, so we wanted to attend the memorial service.  While there, we spent some time with more close friends and ate at some favorite places.  I swear, I could eat my way through that town.  I love that we live closer now!
• Then on Sunday, we got to just relax and listen to general conference.  Such a lovely and relaxing weekend of the year.  The Sunbean listened to a few talks, thanks to the bingo game she got in Primary.
• I actually had time to meal-plan and make a good grocery list.
• Speaking of, I made a delicious egg salad today with greek yogurt.  So tasty and so healthy.
• Since we'll be traveling this weekend, we just did our family Easter thing on Sunday.  I loved watching Little Dude find the eggs.  Please forgive the terrible iPhone pictures.

This week brings me a house that needs cleaned, Easter outfits that need sewn, and laundry that needs laundered.

But I sure to love this boy.

School Days

Well, we opened up a new chapter of our lives yesterday.  The little Sunbean started preschool.

She's 3 1/2, but will be able to start kindergarten just after she turns 5.  When I realized that {in January}, I started exploring preschool options for next school year, so that she'd get a year of preschool under her belt.    I guess preschool is like college in these parts, because she was wait-listed everywhere.

On a whim, I decided to call our school district to find out exactly where she stood on the list.  I happened to get a lovely woman on the phone, who got my little lady signed up to fill an empty spot right away.  Now her spot for next year is guaranteed, and she gets an extra few months of school.  I really feel like we won the lottery on this one.

She's a 'peer model' for the preschool, which serves students with IEPs.  I think it will be a perfect fit for us.  Every single person I've spoken to has been absolutely fantastic.

It certainly tugged on my heartstrings to see my baby girl with a backpack on, walking into a school.  She's so ready for this....so I guess I am, too!  I loved the big smile and giant hug I got when I picked her up.

Next stop:  room mother extraordinaire!

The Little Things

Today, I'm feeling grateful for a husband who gets that the little things are important.  

Like a few weeks ago when he let me drag him to West Elm to window shop, and then suggested that we get a few things to 'spruce up' our kitchen.

We came home with these sweet measuring cups, and this cute little colander.  It's perfect for rinsing berries.

We also got a small cutting board and a new outside mat.

Just a few small things, but they made a big difference.

Love that man.

Sibling Love

I'm so thankful these cuties love each other.  They love to play and snuggle.  They both willingly share {for the most part} and put up with each other's less-than-lovely moments.

And they both love to snuggle.  Sometimes, when it's just a rough night for one of them, I let them have a little sleep-snuggle.

Sweet babies.

On the flip side, right now is supposed to be nap time, and really it's let's-lay-in-our-beds-and-make-each-other-laugh-instead-of-sleep time.

Not-So-Happy Hour

There is an hour or two here every day that I refer to as 'happy hour'. It's that blissful time when my littles are both snoozing.

I usually spend it eating lunch or a snack {or both!} while watching smut on Netflix.

Last week, I was fixing the cord on the wii in preparation to settle down with some 'Say Yes to the Dress', and bumped a picture frame off of the wall. It landed on my foot, resulting in this:

 

It.  Hurt.  So.  Bad.  Like, I literally threw up for 20 minutes from the pain.  I called MacGyver, and he sweetly came home from work to wrastle the children while I lay on the couch and felt sorry for myself.

It still hurts a lot, especially when the Sunbean steps on it, but I can tell it's getting better.  I did plenty of Google-based research and concluded that it was unnecessary to pay a medical professional to tell me to keep it iced and elevated.

It baffles me that one little picture frame could do all that damage!

Holler.

Hey, do you remember that one time, when I had a blog I updated?

Because every post is better with a picture.

It's been a seriously crazy week.  We've:

• rented/sold our house!  Hurrah!  No more rent + mortgage + double utilities every month!  It's not 'official' yet, since the bank is still building a portfolio on the interested person, but he's moved in and paying us rent.  Winning.
• traveled home to make sure the house was ready for our guy.  It was weird to walk out, knowing we'll never live there again.  We've had 6 months to move on, though, so it wasn't too emotional.
• made travel plans for Florida!  My mom, the kids, and I are headed down in a few weeks.  I'm sure it will be nothing short of crazy with whiny kids, but that kind of sums up my life here, so might as well do it on a beach, right?
• taken a road trip up to Cabela's in Michigan.  My dad is hunter/fisher/outdoorsman extraordinaire, so this store is like home base for him.  He likes to take the kids up once a year, so up we went.  We made the experience complete by taking his new Ford truck.  Yep, we're that family.  To balance things out, I made sure we stopped at Target and Starbucks {twice}.
• spent an entire Friday night + alllll day Saturday looking at new cars for me.  We've more or less narrowed it down to a Honda Odyssey.  We're open to the Toyota Sienna, but we're Honda people.  My CR-V is at 250,000 miles right now, and still going strong.  You just can't argue with that.  So we found what we want a few times on Saturday, but it basically boiled down to being cheapskates thrifty.  In three months or so, we'll be able to pay cash for the van we want, so why finance?  Sure, we could finance now and then pay it off then, but I think we'd probably end up going on vacation or something with the money.  I think it will feel good to drive away in a new {to me} van that we actually own!

So I suppose that's why I haven't been updating the ol' blog.  Tomorrow I'm visiting a friend and taking a meal to another, so it will be another busy day.  Also on the agenda is sewing some clothing for my children so they aren't running around naked or wearing winter clothes in Florida.  Ah, the troubled life of a stay-at-home momma.

Little Dude is...

Here is Little Dude's preferred mode of mobility these days...the back-arch-scoot.  So helpful during diaper changes.

This little boy has been entertaining us with his antics lately.  Such a little ham.  Here's what he's up to:

• He's decided that solid foods might not be so bad after all.  He's still a pretty tough sell, but is gradually becoming used to the idea that food on a spoon isn't so bad.  I think he'll love feeding himself, but he still struggles with chunky food.  He does love the puffs, though!
• This little guy isn't crawling yet, but I know it's coming soon.  He gets so close, and then flops down.  It's cute, but frustrating for him.  He'll be much happier when he can move on his own!
• Thanks to Sleep Week, he's got such a good sleep rhythm down.  Up around 7, naps at 9, 12, and 3, and then down for the night at 6.  Sleep makes for a happy baby and momma.
• Lately, Little Dude has been shaking his head back and forth.  It's so cute and so funny.
• We've been doing baby signs with him {loooooved them with the Sunbean}, and he definitely understands what 'more' and 'all done' mean.  He's not signing back yet, but it's amazing to watch him respond to our signs.
• This guy makes more mouth noises than any baby I've known.  It's funny, slobbery, and very distracting at church.

We love this sweet boy!

Sleep Week: Victory!

You know you've found yourself in all of these positions.

Oh, man.  My kids totally rocked Sleep Week.

Let's start with the Sunbean.  She said that she wanted to sew the paci to her favorite animal's mouth.  Being the infinitely wise mama that I am, I went ahead and cut the tip off first.  No funny business around here.  The first night, there were tears and whines for upwards of two and a half hours.  Not constant, but still exhausting for everyone.

Then the next day for nap, it took her another 2.5 hours, but she went to sleep.  No crying this time, though.  I'll take it.  For bed that night, the little darling went to sleep in about an hour.  A far cry from her usually 10 minutes, but it was progress.  By last night, she was asleep right away.  Such a big girl.  Naps are pretty good, too.  Two days this week she fell right asleep, and two days it took her a long time.  Either way, she's still napping.  Winning.  She does, however, have an unnatural hatred toward the animal who now owns the paci.

Little Dude has amazed me this week.  It took him exactly one day to learn how to put himself to sleep, and doesn't fuss much.  Maybe 20-30 seconds.  Looooooove it.  Now he wakes up around 7, naps at 9, 12, and 3, and then goes to bed at 6.  Of course, he still wakes up at night to eat, but last night he did 5-hour stretches.  He hasn't done that since he was 2 months old.

So all in all, this week has been great.  It was stressful and exhausting for all of us, but the hard work is over.  All we have ahead of us is restful nights.  Ahhhhh.

I can't say it enough, but you've gotta check out Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  It's like scripture to me.

Have a restful weekend!

Monday Hodge-Podge

 

• First and foremost, it's Sleep Week here at the homestead.  Both of my kids have naughty, naughty sleep habits.  I've reached my breaking point, so this week is going to be rough.  For Little Dude, he's learning how to put himself to sleep.  So far, we're doing great.  He fussed for his morning nap, but fell asleep on his own and in his bed.  We did this with the Sunbean at 4 months, so we're a little behind with the dude.  But he's doing great!  As for the Sunbean, she's still using a pacifier {insert guilty mommy look here}.  I know.  It's ridiculous.  She's just such a good sleeper {12 hours at night + a 2-3 hour nap} that I hate to mess it up.  But it's time {it's been time for 2 years...}.  So for FHE tonight we're sewing her pacis inside her favorite stuffed animal.  Here's hoping she doesn't tear open the animal tonight.
• Have I told you about my calling?  I teach the 10-year-old Sunday School class.  The kids are way smart, and I have to work really hard on my lessons to occupy them for the full hour.  But the really incredible part is after my lesson when I go with them to Singing Time.  These kids are like some kind of elite choir.  They all sing {even all of the boys!} and they all harmonize.  The music leader teaches even the 3-year-olds melody and harmony.  It's so amazing to sit there and listen.
• I'm getting excited about Valentine's Day.  I know that sounds odd, but I remember holidays being a really big deal when I was a kid.  It occurred to me the other day that it's my job to create that for my littles.  So the Sunbean is getting jazzed for another holiday {she loooooved the Christmas season}.  I've got some fun meal ideas, and I ordered some super cute things on etsy.
• MacGyver and I have decided to get serious about getting rid of this 'happy weight' we have.  You know, the weight you gain when you get married and happy and comfortable and have no one to impress.  Since January 2nd, we've both lost 7 pounds.  Go us.
• Do you have an iPhone?  You need the camera+ app.  It's so amazing.
• On Saturday, we spent the whole day at our friends' house.  You know, the ones who have 3-year-old twins and 4-month-old triplets.  Our 'baby gift' to them was to paint the less-than-appealing wood paneling in their family room.  Wow.  What a day.  Our painting 'plan' is always for MacGyver to do the rolling and I do the cutting in {trim work}.  So, I ended up doing 2 coats of cutting in and then 2 coats on all of the crown moulding and baseboard.  My body still aches!  Aside from that, the triplets {who are usually such mild-mannered babes} were having a bit of an off day.  And then you factor in that we had 7 children 3 and under in one house for the whole day....well, 'loud' is an understatement.  But we had such fun hanging out with our friends all day, and the room just looks great.  Such an improvement.
• We visited the local science museum on Friday, COSI.  It's so great.  The second level is devoted entirely to children in kindergarten and younger.  Like, if you have an older kid with you, they can't come in.  It was awesome to just let the Sunbean explore and do her thing.  Not awesome?  Carrying around my 22-pound 7-month-old for 3 hours.

Happy Monday to you!

I Heart Free Art

I suspect I've been flagged at Lowe's.

I've been doing some projects around here, with one central theme:  free.

Thanks to Pinterest, I've discovered that the best material for free art supplies is paint chips.

Here's what I've made with paint chips + mod podge:

 

We have this terribly awkward wall in our kitchen.  It's a walkway + has stairs on both sides.  And just for good measure, the thermostat was hung with no rhyme or reason.  But these (heavily inspired by some at World Market), help.

  

The folks over at Young House Love did something akin to this.  We've got this guy hung near our TV.  You know I got the frame at the ol' GW.  Excuse the awkward angle...the sun was producing a glare.

So if you need me, I'm the crazy lady squirreling away paint samples from Lowe's.

Also?  These are terrible iPhone pics...my computer recently decided to start rejecting my camera card.  Awesome.

2011 Year in Review

January:  We visit Sesame Street Live.  The Sunbean is enamored.

 February:  Snowpacalypse.  MacGyver and the Sunbean build an igloo with two rooms, a table, and chairs.

 March:  We escape to sunny Florida.

 April:  I spent most of the month on bedrest; we say goodbye to the Sunbean's sweet friend, Mazie, and her family.

 May:  We welcome Little Dude into our family.

June:  We spend lots of lazy summer days at the zoo.  The Sunbean becomes obsessed with feeding ducks.

 July:  Continuing with our lazy summer, we spend lots of time camping at the lake with my parents.

 August:  The Sunbean turns 3.

 September:  MacGyver accepts a job as a manufacturing engineer; we move 2.5 hours away.

 October:  We take the kids to the pumpkin patch; the Sunbean adopts a gourd.  I found it molding in her closet last week.

 November:  Little Dude starts taking a bath like a big kid.

December:  We celebrate a fun Christmas season with family and friends!

Happy New Year!

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas...

...my true love gave to me:

a sick family!

Total bummer:  our kiddos are sick.  Not anything terribly serious, just nasty headcolds.  The Sunbean has a bit of a cough, too.  True to form, she's acting just fine.


Little Dude is another matter altogether.  He's so congested that he can barely breathe.  I've tried everything, and the only thing that's even remotely helpful is just being held by his momma.


So....so much for the 12 Days of Christmas for this momma.  I'm off to hold my baby.


But Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Let's Hear it for the Boob

 

Over Thanksgiving, I was blessed with mastitis.  For added fun, my children had the flu at the same time and we were traveling.  Such fun.

Here's how it all went down.  I think, in my sleep-deprived state, when my little monster was waking up to eat, I was mistakenly not alternating sides.  So I woke up on Thanksgiving morning with a rather tender and hot left gazonga.  Happy holidays to me.

I did a little Google-based research, and tried some heat and massage.  It just got worse.  The obvious choice would be to just pump, but we were at my parents', and so my $300 pump was 3 hours away.  My parents live in the middle of nowhere (no, really), so running to the store was out.  You're lucky if their grocery has fruit that isn't moldy, so an affordable hand pump was clearly out of the question.

In desperation, I called my high school bestie.  She just had a baby, and I was hoping she had a pump.  She did, and being the saint that she is, let me use it.  Now that's friendship.

While that helped, I knew I was going to need something for the rest of the time I was at my parents'.  Hello Target on Black Friday.  There, amongst the crazies, was a $16 hand pump.  Phew.  So, for the next two days, I hand-pumped on the unaffected side while Little Dude ate on the infected side.  25 ounces later, and I have a lovely little date-night stash.  Also?  I happened to catch the Sunbean trying to use the pump.  Pretty much made my weekend.

But the real point of this post is to give all of you working-and-pumping-moms a big ol' high-five.

Here's the thing.  I love nursing my babies.  It is such a sweet and wonderful thing.  This experience is pretty much the extent of my complications, so it's been an easy road for me.  I really can't say enough good about it (though I'll certainly try).

But.  I do not like pumping.  What a freaking pain in the neck!  There are parts to wash and rinse, then you've gotta pour the milk into a bag, and label it and freeze it, and two hours later....you're back and it again.  I have a hospital-grade double electric pump, so I know it's a bit easier with that kind, but still.  Pumping just isn't fun.

So if you're a working mom who hauls that breast pump into work every day, 10 points to you.  That's love.

Family Home Evening

When it comes to living the gospel, there are so many things that we are so bad at.  But one thing we've really been enjoying lately is Family Home Evening.  Basically, we set aside one evening a week to spend as a family.  We typically sing some songs, have a quick lesson, and then play a game or make a craft.  Oh, and treats.  Always treats.

The Sunbean has really been getting into FHE the past few months, and it is so cute.  She gets so excited on Mondays, and loves to help me think of a game or craft.  Her favorite treat is to put some chocolate chips in muffin cups for everyone.  Love that girly.

Yesterday, we made some little pinecone Christmas trees.  They absolutely didn't turn out cute at all, but it was fun to craft with my family.

I just wanted to take a minute to remember this little moment.  Lately I've been feeling like time is zipping by...I know that all too soon I'll be wishing for these crazy days of laundry and messy faces and sticky floors.

Household Happenings

I hate it when I realize that it's been a whole week since I've blogged.  So I'll give you a brain dump and post a fun little project later this week.

• First, everyone around me is having babies!  It's so fun!  Yesterday, I went to visit my sweet college roomie and her sweet baby girl.  As a bonus, I got to check out her adorable house.  As a bonus on top of the bonus, my kids slept in the car.  Here's that sweet baby:

• Then, another dear friend of mine had a baby on Sunday morning, AND my high school bestie had a baby tonight.  When I go home for Turkey Day, I'm going to have so many babies to squeeze!
• Speaking of squeezing, that's Little Dude's newest pastime.  Squeezing the fat on my upper arms.  Ouch!  Perhaps this will be the final encouragement I need to drop the remainder of this weight I'm carrying around.  Just to give you the proper picture, I'm currently eating a cookie.
• The Sunbean officially *really* wants something for Christmas.  She saw this little Hello Kitty umbrella and must have it.  It's at a store that is all the way across town, and I need to get back over there to get it, since they only have one.  I can't go when she's with me {duh}, so I have to wait until MacGyver gets home.  But rush-hour traffic in big city + darkness + baby = little motivation.  Tomorrow.
• Are you watching Revenge on Wednesdays?  It's on in 4 minutes, and I can't wait.  I'm totally obsessed.
• Speaking of obsessed, I'm obsessed with finishing my Christmas shopping before December 1st.  It's an OCD sickness, really.

Happy Good-TV Night!

Chalk it Up to Goodwill

Have I told you about the Goodwill stores here?  They are amazing.  I hated the Goodwills where we used to live.  They were skanky and gross and expensive.  But here?  They're still skanky and gross, and sometimes expensive, but they've got good stuff.  What kind of stuff?

Well, for one, Target donates all of the clearance items that don't sell.  Yes.  You read that correctly.  It's amazing.  So the kids and I swing by the local store at least once a week.

When we first moved here, we didn't have any of our furniture.  Still don't, actually.  We're {patiently?} waiting for our house to sell.  We lived for 27 days {not that I was counting} in the 'resort camping' lifestyle.  I'm not a fan.  We now have a king-sized bed and a lovely new sofa.

Before that lovely sofa arrived, I wanted to DIY some type of coffee table.  I decided that I'd know it when I saw it, and headed off to the old GW.  That's what the cool kids are calling it these days:  GW.  I came home with this beauty:

MacGyver did not share my vision.  Also, that is not our lovely new sofa.  That is a crappy Ikea thing we got years ago.  And a lawn chair.  Ah, memories.

But I knew she had good bones, and decided to make the top a chalkboard.  I knew the adults kids would love it.  I scampered off to Lowe's to grab some chalkboard paint and nearly had an aneurysm.  $25 for an itty-bitty can?  No thanks.  I decided to try Martha Stewart's method for chalkboard paint.

 I very much suggest using a throw-away container for mixing.  The obvious choice for mixing would be a paint stick.  I didn't have one, so I used both a straw and a plastic spoon.

Since I really wanted the actual look of a chalkboard, I went with a classic gray color, but you can do any color you want.  I bought the 94-cent carton of grout, and a little $2 trial size of gray paint, so this was a pretty cheap project.  For the legs, I decided to add some color and go bright yellow.  I had a coupon for a free tester from Benjamin Moore, so I scouted out the local Benjamin Moore retailer for that.

The whole project was pretty easy.  Here's the finished table:

The verdict?  We all love it.  The Sunbean loves drawing on it, and we think it will be great for keeping score while playing games with friends.  The space still needs some serious work, but we're happy with what we've got so far.

Here's a cost breakdown for you:

table (Goodwill):  $10
grout (Lowe's):  $.94
gray paint (Lowe's):  $1.94
fresh foam brush (Lowe's):  $.98
yellow paint (Creative Paints):  free
supplies:  already owned

total:  $13.86

Winning!