Simple Crafting

So here is a super quick and simple craft to bring some color to your fridge doors...or any magnetic surface.

What you need:

Large buttons

Tacky magnet circles

All you have to do now is peel the protective cover off the tacky part of those magnets and stick it to the back of the buttons you chose...Less breakable magnets for kids to hang their own artwork!  TADA!  Love this idea....Pinterest inspired of course!

Voila!  Now loose the toddlers and watch the color naming and counting commence!

**Note: The small tacky dots pictured in this post are not a super strong magnet so they will not hold multiple sheets of paper or cardstock.  Most coloring book pages will be fine if done only one sheet at a time.  The 'jumbo' coloring sheets (like pictured above) require 2-3 magnets depending on how much of a breeze may be passing your fridge on any given day.**

P.S. I'm Not Awake.

Just some cuteness to start us out.

Throughout winter I watch people post pictures of their flip flops or images of the lakes because we all get to that point of missing summer.  Some people have pictures of their feet propped up in front of them with whatever summer view is their favorite as the backdrop.  As much as I love the views that show up via these pictures, I think feet are gross.  It doesn't matter how many pedicures you've had, what soap you used twenty times and how many coats of nail polish you just applied to get that picture to look 'cute'.  Feet are gross.

My point is proved once again by the MASSIVE swelling that I have going on AFTER the delivery of my child.  I know I had some minor swelling at the end of my pregnancy but this is like ham sized ballooning.  I'll of course spare y'all the picture because, well, it'd be weird and gross to make y'all see a picture of feet when I just declared how much I dislike pictures of feet.

I've hit the peak of swelling (for both pregnancy experiences) at 2-3 days post partum.  Hopefully it will go down soon and I can stop seeing crazy markings in my skin from socks.

What was your 'favorite' surprise during any of your post partum experiences?  (Or of your significant other's  experiences?)

P.S.~ I of course am lacking sleep along with the ability to sleep.  I've tried to take advantage of the nursery and even when Wyatt goes there I'm up every hour.  *sigh*

Here He Is!

Wyatt Charles

8 lbs.  12 oz.
21.5 inches

Tues., Jan 15th

@ 0730

Confession Time....

I'm fessing up.  I admit it....I am totally nerve-wrackingly, panicked over the c-section--well, part of it anyways.

I hate (HATE) needles!  It has been sheer torture just getting my finger pricked once a month for this pregnancy...weird (but reasonable) policy at this new OB office I'm with now.

So, I did rather well at getting my epidural with Alyssa.  It may have been the fact that I was in enough pain that I could hardly breathe though.  How in this freaking world am I going to be able to curl into a ball to get a spinal without the pain motivating me??!  There will be NO distraction from this one this time!  I almost am hoping to go into labor on the drive to the hospital just for the contractions to distract me from a spinal....I am such a wuss, people!

I'm not really scared of the surgery itself.  I expect my doctor and hospital staff to take good care of me before, during, and after that, so really it comes down to mundane things like having a needle inserted into my back without a sufficient pain motivator.  Or things like recovering at home with a toddler running wild.  The only thing keeping me from being scared of the drive home (seatbelt and incision site are essentially the same spot I've noticed) is the fact that I'll be all drugged up still!

So yeah, there y'all have it.  Nerves.  I'll be fine and it'll all go well.  So long as I can handle that Spinal process....Now I'm off to pretend I'm not freaking out so I can have some of my birthday cake today!  *hums birthday song*

Baby #2...We Aren't Ready!!

Here we go!  We are in the last couple days before the new guy finally gets here and my physical body is the only thing actually ready for it.

The house is still in general chaos (what can I really expect having moved in roughly a week before Baby Boy joins us?).  The crib isn't even assembled!!  We don't have a crib mattress yet!  Most of the baby stuff is in storage four hours away.  The clothes that I have for him--admittedly sparse still--are still in the apartment along with the car seat (thankfully that isn't four hours away!).  We just bought the first bottles for him Wednesday night (less than a week before he gets here remember and one of the first things you need for a bottle feeding baby!)...Can we say UNPREPARED, people??

While I am mostly concerning myself with the baby prep and the related house things that will make my life easier coming home from a c-section which I'm sure I'm working up into a much more horrific recovery than I need to-hopefully...My husband is dealing with the rest of our lives.  He is basically a rock and even rocks can show cracks now and then.  Between work (he is the first and only IT guy at his company and they are hitting major renovations pretty much RIGHT NOW), school (he is going for his BA, or maybe it'd be a BS in computer stuffs..yeah, I suck at technology), moving a family, and welcoming a baby and a recovering wuss of a wife home...well, let's just say that he deserves some kind of reward!  Like something massive IMO...I figure I'm not "pushing" this time so maybe he needs the "Push Present" that I heard tales of last time.

So just to clarify...I am literally days (DAYS) away from delivery.  We are still in moving process.  My hubby is AMAZING.  Oh, and he has drill just under an hour out of town this weekend...don't we have such wonderful timing?  At least we made it past Christmas...wish us luck!  Please?

Excited About Garbage?!

What?  Did you see that??

Yeah, I saw that!  There are some PINK garbage cans around our new city!  Y'all may not know this but I love pink...Specifically, I love Pink things that donate to cancer research.  Whoever thought up a garbage service that gives you that option is FREAKING AWESOME in my opinion!!!

So yes, I am excited about our garbage service now too...Does your local garbage service offer anything like this?  Do you have a charity or research that you love to support?

*Photo Credit (and a way to see if you might have this option available in your area!): Pink Cart

Get Ready to MOVE! (with another sneak peek!)

Folks, I'm giddy.

Yes, between the euphoric high of finally having closed on our house, the painting, the project planning, AND furniture shopping because we now have two living spaces (living room and downstairs family room--soon to be overran with toys) with only one couch to our names, well, I have been in a planning/decorating state of giddy joy!  Let's not forget that I am just eight days from having a son in the outside world rather than bouncing on my bladder on top of all this.  (Oh shit...only 8?!)

My mom and aunt came down this weekend and tore through the house with rollers and brushes in hand and what we thought would be months of us working around furniture and kids became a project in the DONE list instead!!  I had to run out and buy the paint for the other rooms when they got here because they tore through what we happened to have purchased for the two kids' rooms so FAST!  Original plan was that Chris would be painting Alyssa's room this past weekend and we would be lucky to get that much done before moving everything tomorrow (Tuesday).  In actuality, those two women showed up 3-4 hours from their homes and got Alyssa's room, Baby's room's base color, our room, dining room, hallway, and living room ALL painted!  My contribution was sadly just taping what I could reach without use of a ladder/step stool, keeping a toddler as out-of-the-way as possible, and I got to help with the dots in her room too.  So useless when you can barely catch your breath standing still!

I don't think the living room will ever photograph right...so trust me when I say I LOVE how it turned out.
Legacy   UL250-22 (Behr)

Last night we went furniture shopping for the main living room so that we have seating for the various people that are already trying to plan trips down here to meet the little guy--yay...hostessing while fresh into recovery in a new place...Gah!-- Anyways, we found a great setup that I am loving!  My husband loves that I stayed very much under budget (30-40% depending on if you consider taxes and delivery in the budget which he usually does not when he gives me a number to stick to) and still got him a recliner in the mix.

Couch

Love seat

Hubby's favorite: Coffee table with 4 stools (extra seating!)

I'll get pictures up once we get them delivered and set up in the new house (and have internet over there!).  I'd add the recliner in here but the pictures online are kind of awful and I can't find one that shows how well the 'leather' matches the other 'leathers' of these pieces...so y'all will have to wait with the baited breath I know you've got going.  (HA)

In the meantime, bear with what will likely be a very sporadic next couple of weeks.  I'll post updates as possible on the house.  I'll certainly introduce y'all to our boy next week and hopefully it will be coherent while I'm on the lovely pain meds that I'm told accompany a c-section.  Otherwise you may find a small craft post mixed in here and there from my folder of to-be-posted stuff just waiting to be shared with y'all.  The big move begins tomorrow so the next few days will be CRAZY HECTIC and hopefully super fun too!  I'll see y'all when I get internet up at the house!

*Photo credit:  Love seat and Sofa
*Photo credit:  Coffee Table

**We got all our pieces at Ashley but their site didn't have all of them pictured for me to share directly from them.  I have not been asked by anyone at any company to share their products with my audience and do so only because of my own excitement at a new home purchase and love of decorating!

Sneak Peek!!

Polka Dots!!

Isn't this exciting?!?

I'm still here...now with a house!

So in the interest of not disappearing on y'all...We have closed on our house finally!

This process was a long thing and very stressful but now we have our new home to fix up while we settle in (with a mere eleven days before Baby is supposed to arrive--and this is a no-later-than time frame).  We were lucky that even with the delays between banks, underwriters, and the general "short sale" process that we actually got to sign before Baby came.  That fact gave us time to paint this weekend!  People...you will not believe the amount of painting that got done just yesterday.  Seriously!  My mom and aunt made a last minute choice to make the four hour drive to paint with my husband.  We both were blown away by the tornado of accomplishment that they brought with them!  Chris and I figured we would get Alyssa's room done and MAYBE a base coat in Baby's room...My mom and aunt were able to get through Alyssa's room, most of the living room, the dining area and are tackling two more rooms this morning before heading back.  I can't believe how much the place improves just with paint.

I actually had to go buy the living room paint when they got here to make their trip worth it...Crazy, right?  So today we are headed back to the house to get Alyssa's POLKA DOTS (pink, purple, teal, and bright green) up on two of her walls, along with other rooms' finishing coats/touches and possibly some painting in the other two rooms of the upstairs.

I swear I'll get some pictures up soon!  (I hope)

Green Light! Time to Wake Up!

In an effort to help our toddler figure out when it is okay to be awake (without using such subjective things like it being dark outside) I went on a hunt for the elusive toddler alarm clock that I had seen somewhere in the last year.  Turns out I could find it both on Target's website (probably where I saw it randomly over the last year) and on Amazon.  I'm sure it is available elsewhere so check your favorite stores!

We set it up while getting super excited to teach Alyssa that she doesn't get to "wake up" just because she is awake...especially at 5am.  My request was for a 'green light' at 9am but that seemed a little too late to make her lay around waiting so we went with a 7:30am compromise.  So, at 7:30 the body of the clock goes from a dim yellow nightlight mode glow to a "Green Light!! Momma, it's GREEN LIGHT!"

Now, fair warning, there is another clock out there that has a naptime feature (meaning it will do the 'green light' for naps also) and I *thought* that this one had it as well.  They are easy to differentiate as one has a flower or alien face plate and this one looks like a clock.  Clearly I was comparing the two much too often and mixed them up because the Teach Me Time Clock by American Innovative does NOT have a nap feature.  This turned out to be perfectly okay for us but while setting it up I was bummed.  Truly though, the dual display feature of both analog and digital clocks is AWESOME and totally makes it up to me.  It has features that teach your child time by reading the clock to them if they hit one of the feet--don't worry, this talking feature can be turned off in the 'hidden' back panel meant just for parents ('hidden' because Alyssa opened that on day one).

We have had this clock for a few weeks now and she has done remarkably well with it.  There have been two instances where she would call for me before 'green light' and not lay back down or quietly read after being reminded of the clock.  Of course she hasn't stopped calling for me in the morning if she is up before the light changes but the 'green light' reminder is usually enough to get Momma a few more minutes of peace before the announcement is shouted from her door, "Green Light!  MOMMA!  GREEN LIGHT, Momma!!"

Yes, I do laugh nearly every morning when she is practically bouncing with excitement because her clock shows her when she can get up.  It is a fun way to wake up with a toddler.  We don't have the alarm clock feature set, we have the talking feature turned off, and we set it to dual display mode so she can read both clocks as her TV shows teach her how to tell time way before I thought we could even try!  (Yes, one day Papa was in her room at 7pm and she told him he couldn't come out until "8 o'clock".  "Papa, it not 8 o'clock.  It 7 o'clock!"  He asked her how she knew it was 7 and she showed him the big hand being (very) close to the top of the clock and the little hand at the 7...Can we say stunned??  I'd bank on Umizoomi for that one...so sometime in the next year we will probably turn on the talking feature so she can learn a little more time telling with her own clock.  For now we just work on the full hours for fun.

**This post was not written at any request beyond my own love of a product that we purchased of our own choices.  I love this clock and recommend it for any parent who wants a visual option for their kids to know when it is okay to get up.**

2013 Resolutions?

Happy New Year!!

Today being the first day of 2013 we are all on the bandwagons we have selected (whether that be weight loss/gym going, making homemade meals, getting ahead on personal debt, developing some spectacular new organizing system in your home, or even that "I resolve to make no resolution" wagon).  I wish you all luck with your personal choice of how to tackle 2013!

For myself, I have decided to take it easy.  I recently was directed (via a friend's Facebook link) to a mildly, possibly drastically, offensive but still motivating opinion article (WARNING: language content may be offensive within linked article!) that made me stop to think.  Now, please, PLEASE don't run off and get offended by this article at first read.  I could have and my gut wanted me to but I read it through, twice, and some (if not all) of the points hit home for me.  I frequently lament my lack of talent in various areas of my life--can't cook, can't sew, can't can't can't...Why?  Because I haven't bothered to learn.  Will I ever become the next Food Network Star?  Only if y'all need instruction on how to open a laptop to order Pizza Hut or using Google Maps to get to the nearest Applebee's!  This certainly doesn't mean that I shouldn't TRY to become more proficient in my cooking skills (like not getting burned every time I use a fry pan for ANY kind of meat...seriously- this goal alone should make me a star!).

No, I'm not going to make a firm resolution of X number of homemade meals or new recipes or even including boxes of mac and cheese.  I'm not going to sew a certain number or type of projects this year.  I AM going to improve a skill.  Something measurable, something that people can see if they are involved in whatever aspect of life it falls into for me...this is what a skill should be considered.  I don't need to be Suzie Homemaker, Martha Stewart, or Carol Brady.  I do need to feel better about what I am able to do.  I've picked up a new hobby this year...paper crafting.  I enjoy it!  It makes me feel good and I produce something out of my efforts.  Right now they aren't amazing but they can get better!  2013 I am aiming to improve at my hobby.  I want to make cards for events that I am proud to give.  I want to make decorations for parties that I throw that even if no one comments, I can look at and smile because of!

Yes, I plan to improve my cooking but this is continual and more about survival of my family (and my limbs) than a year's goal...I plan to do better at cleaning house, again, not a goal worthy of a resolution but more a necessity.  I hope to teach myself to eat better and exercise more.  I just think that 2013 needs to be a year where my resolution is something to boost my self-esteem without guilting myself into things to get it done.

So, 2013, no numbers, no scheduled deadlines (well, other than 2014).  Just something that I'm enjoying and putting time and effort into improving in it!