Ben's crib!

We weren't planning on getting a crib for Ben at first. When Kaylee outgrew the bassinet we just put her on the floor on a little mattress, and we were going to do the same for Ben. But then I got nervous, because the kids have been sharing a room for a while now and I'm not sure that I trust Kaylee with him in the morning when they wake up. I'm afraid of her putting blankets on his head, things like that. So we decided it would be a good idea to get a crib. That way I only have to worry about her throwing toys into it and perhaps climbing on or into it. :/

Conveniently, a friend of mine was giving one away a few weeks ago, so we snatched it right up. It was in pretty good shape, but a little chipped so it needed a new coat of paint. Anyone that knows me knows a coat of paint for something is NOT a problem. I welcome it.

Here it is before: 

I sanded down all the loose paint and roughed up the glossy finish. Then I went to Lowe's and got a quart of the best paint I could find. Paint and primer in one, low odor, zero VOC, in a nice chocolate brown.

I needed to do 3 coats of paint, and then touch up a few spots that I missed after that. I used a little foam brush roller. I seriously swear by those when I want a nice, smooth finish. A paint brush just doesn't measure up. Not even close!

Here's after:

We rearranged their room a bit and Kaylee's bed is now in the opposite corner. I LOVE the brown with the yellow and green. I think I might actually change the color scheme of the room to have brown instead of white, I like it so much. The quilt I made for Kaylee before she was born, but she has long since outgrown it, and it works perfectly with the room colors, and brings everything together. I love it!

Ben likes it too. :)

Stuck, Mommy...

 I think this one is completely self-explanatory.
.

 She climbed in, buckled herself, and put the tray on. Then called me to help. She loves to buckle, but can't usually get herself unbuckled.

 She's ALWAYS climbing in here. She can sometimes get out, sometimes not so much...

 She was playing in Ben's car seat and started rocking it a little too hard, I guess, and fell over backwards.

This, I believe, is the winner. It's kind of hard to see, but she climbed into the bottom of Ben's bassinet and zipped herself in. Yeah, all she could get out was a finger...

My "easy" child

http://www.homeschooling.net/blog/childraising/how-to-make-your-kids-deaf/

This article really hit home with me. I have people tell me how easy my toddler is. And then turn around and let their kid dump food all over, spill their drink, hit their friend, have a tantrum about something, and they say 'Oh, stop that." and do nothing. Nothing at all. And then turn to me, and say "See? This kid is crazy. He's so hard!"

My child is not "easy." She's very smart, which makes it easier for her to understand what I'm asking of her, but you know what? She is STILL a toddler. She still has tantrums, she still gets mad and hits, she still won't always eat what I give her, she's not an magical angel child. I promise. But she listens to me. Because I talk to her, in ways that are appropriate for her age, and I follow through with the things I say. Of course I'm not perfect, and we've had some really tough times. I have my weaknesses too, things I really need to work on, and things I am working on. But for us, that's enough. For now. ;)

Recent projects...

I've had tons of projects I've been working on lately. I tend to think of about 500 different things I want to do, then start 20 of them all at the same time, finish a couple, get bored of the rest of them and stuff them into the closet. And then start 20 NEW projects! (If my mom is reading this, she's probably laughing because I've done that same thing for years...)

So of course a couple of weeks ago I realized I had a ton of half-finished projects hidden away somewhere. I was working on ruffled pillowcases, four bibs for Ben, a fleece pullover for Kaylee, little ties for Ben, four pairs of Christmas pajamas, winter hats for Ben and Kaylee, a wall picture arrangement and then fixing all the holes in the wall that I made in the process of getting the wall arrangement up (yes, that was a project for sure :O), finishing a small table that I just made, painting the living room lamp shades, sanding and repainting a crib we just got from a friend for Ben, making a canvas for a painting in the living room and painting said canvas.

I decided I needed to really finish all of my current projects before I started any new ones. I don't know if I've ever actually finished all my projects, but I'm working on it now. I'm resolved to not start any new ones till I'm done with these. Well, except for maybe a couple of little ones. Like the winter hats were kind of an afterthought when it snowed 8 inches the last couple of days.

Show off time!

Here is my table I just made. We needed a real home for our fish tank, and Will put me up to the task of designing and building one. I think it turned out alright. It's just cheap pine boards stained with ebony Rustoleum stain and finished with a water base polyurethane. I pieced the top with 1x3's and I love the rustic look.

These are the bibs I made for Ben. The only one I don't like is the train one because I made the border too wide and it got kind of wrinkly after washing it, but overall I think they turned out cute. The main purpose is to keep him dry anyway, so I don't really care that they're not perfect. I've never done edging around something curvy, so it was good to learn how to do that.

My picture arrangement - These were all cheap frames from DI. I painted almost all of them. The yellow ones were a pain to paint because they needed like...20 coats, or they looked green.

And the winter hats. Both hats are made from leftovers from other projects (haha!).

This is Kaylee's sweatshirt. It said on the pattern that it was "loose fitting." Well, they weren't lying. It will probably fit her till she's like, 10. But it's warm and cozy for her, so it works.


I've been having a lot of fun around here if you can't tell. :) I also finished all four pairs of our Christmas pajamas which of course I can't post pictures yet, but they are SUPER cute!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I've always loved cinnamon rolls. Like...really, really loved them. It took me a while to get them right, but I finally found a good recipe and changed it to my liking. This year I decided to tweak it a bit more and make pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Here is the recipe:

Dough:

1 C       warm milk (1 minute in the microwave is about right)

1/4 C    warm water

1 T       sugar

1 T       yeast

 2          eggs, beaten

1/2 C   sugar

1/2       cup pumpkin (I use a 15 oz can and separate it)

1 t        vanilla extract

1/2 t     salt

1 t        cinnamon

1/4 t     nutmeg

Dash    allspice

5 C      bread flour

1. Dissolve the sugar in the warm milk and water. Sprinkle the yeast on top, swirl with a fork, and let it get nice and foamy.
2. Add all other ingredients, mixing well after each one. Add the flour one cup at a time, and when it gets close to the right consistency, only add a tiny bit at a time. You want the dough to be soft, smooth, and sticky to touch, but it shouldn't get stuck ON your finger. Does that make sense?? You don't want it dry or you'll have heavy, dense rolls.
3. Lightly coat with oil, if desired, and let rise for an hour or two or until doubled in size.
4. Grease your work area with nonstick spray or light oil. Plop the dough out onto the greased area, but don't knead it or punch it down. Simply start rolling it out. That way it's still really soft and easy to work with and you can get it in the right shape and size easily. As you can see from my picture below, I don't worry too much about the shape. Umm...it's not very pretty. But it works.

Filling:
1/2 C   pumpkin (or whatever is left in your can if you used the 15 oz size)
1 C      brown sugar
2 T      cinnamon
1/4 t     nutmeg
Dash    allspice

1. Spread the pumpkin by itself evenly over the rolled out dough. Mix together the rest of the ingredients. Sprinkle on the top of the pumpkin and lightly pat with your fingers. (Now I want to warn you that if you mix all those ingredients together and spread them on at once, you might have a drippy mess. I don't think I need to tell you how I know that.)
2. Roll up the dough loosely and pinch to seal. I like to cut my rolls with a bread knife, but you can use dental floss too. Either way works very well. And don't worry if your dental floss is mint flavored - it's not enough to rub off on the rolls!

 
3. Arrange in two greased 9x13" pans, making sure the rolls are not touching each other. Or at least, not squished together. It's okay if some of the edges are lightly touching. Let rise until they look nice and puffy.
4. Bake in a 350 oven for around 20-25 minutes. You want them to be nice and golden brown. If you don't cook them quite long enough you'll have doughy middles, which some people like, but I can't stand doughy bread. Especially in cinnamon rolls, because not only is it doughy, but kind of soggy as well. Yuck!

Icing:
This is the best part!!!
3 oz       cream cheese, room temperature
6 T        butter, softened
2 t         vanilla extract
1 1/2 C  powdered sugar

Mix together till creamy and smooth (you can add more or less powdered sugar depending on your taste and preference). Spread over hot rolls, and serve! Enjoy!!

Notes:

If you want to make regular cinnamon rolls, use butter instead of pumpkin in both the filling and the dough. Omit all the spices in the dough. Take out the allspice and nutmeg in the filling, and instead of 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, add 3.

This recipe makes quite a lot of cinnamon rolls. I always want to make a lot, because I feel if you're going to go through ALL the work of making them, you may as well make a ton! Problem is, after a day or two, they're not so yummy anymore, and it's hard to eat 2 dozen cinnamon rolls in a day. But I came up with the perfect solution. After they are all cooked, frosted, and cooled, take them out of the pan, put them on a jelly roll pan and flash freeze them (30 minutes works). Them put them in a bag and stick them in the freezer. Now whenever anyone wants a hot cinnamon roll, zap it in the microwave for about 40 seconds. It tastes like it just came out of the oven! I'm not even kidding, it's amazing. I've tried freezing them uncooked, but they just never taste as good, plus it takes a LOT longer to cook when you want them. And you have to make the frosting on top of that! So I much prefer the other way.

Halloween

Halloween was SO fun this year!! I've really never been hugely into Halloween honestly - I always liked dressing up and getting candy as a kid, but it's never been super fun for me I guess. Living out in the middle of nowhere in MN made it hard to go trick-or-treating, not to mention it was always freezing cold.

Kaylee loved the whole idea of going to knock on people's doors, saying "dookie-dook" (LOL!) and getting candy for it. She has a little trouble with enunciation sometimes, but it worked.

I never dress up anymore (though I kind of wanted to this year, just didn't bother...maybe next year I'll consider it if Will agrees to joining me), but it's getting to be more fun with little kids. Our neighborhood was AWESOME this year! There were lots of trick-or-treaters, but the best part was the Derricott's haunted house and train rides. They are a family in our ward. The train was a riding lawn mower all decked out and fixed up to look like a train with barrels as the train cars - I don't have a picture but now I wish I did, because it's hard to describe. Anyway, it was very cool, and Kaylee loved it.

We had a friend in the ward watch our kids while we went through the haunted house. The scariest part for me was the clown following us and practically breathing down our neck while smacking the wall. I. Hate. Clowns. It was very fun. I'm seriously not sure how they did it, but it was much bigger and longer than I expected for a homemade haunted house.

The best part? I was wearing shorts, a light long sleeved shirt, and flip-flops and I was comfortable. Perfect weather for trick-or-treating. All in all I would say it was probably the best Halloween I've had, and it makes me want to be more fun next year and actually dress up...

After trick-or-treating and everything, Will and I put the kids to bed and ate candy, cuddled, and finished the last movie in our Harry Potter marathon. What a perfect evening!

Before and after: Guest room

Alright, I know a few of you have been waiting quite a while to see these pictures! I apologize for taking over a month longer than I said I would. We had everything done except for the floor molding. Oh, and the mirror. But yeah, it was like...well, Mary came, and somehow it just kept getting put off again and again. But we finally did it! So, here we go! Hope you enjoy!

Before:

This room was SO DARK. They stained it almost black, so it was just horribly gloomy and...well, creepy. Everything about it was gross - the carpet, the walls, the windows, the ceiling, everything.

Take a close look at the windows if you can...sorry the pictures are a bit blurry. They were covered in tape, sticky goo, stain drips, paint, just overall nasty looking. Like everything else in this room.

Sorry my photography skills were not quite up to par that day, yikes. I couldn't even aim. (Maybe I was holding a baby or something. That happens a lot around here.) See that light spot next to the mirror in there on the left? That is what I call a problem spot. It was a random piece of drywall where everywhere else in the room was paneling. It used to be a closet until weird people went in and changed all the closets and built walls on top of carpets. No, I'm not kidding. We want to take out those walls (only two little ones) and rebuild them properly and perhaps change the layout slightly. We'll see if that ever happens.

Anyway, here are the afters! I seriously get a fuzzy feeling inside every time I go downstairs and see my pretty room! LOL. But really. It was so. bad.

 I should mention that this makeover cost less than $200 (not including supplies we already had, which was a few - some paint and things, but not very much...). We did already have the airbed and the bedding, and although it leaves a bit to be desired, it works. Also, we're going to redo the ceiling and make it drywall (probably), but we'll be doing all the ceilings down there and figured we should do it all at once so we can rent the tools and borrow the people necessary to do that.

Look at those beautiful (despite a little small) windows! I'm so glad I have an awesome husband that can trim the windows like this for less than $20. We redid the windowsills completely, put new trim on around them, and put on molding on the bottom. Out of all the decorations the curtains were probably the most expensive - I can't remember how much I spent but it was something like $20, plus the rods cost another $15. The little pictures in the first photo are pieces of plywood I had lying around with scrapbook paper glued on and the edges painted. The lamp I got from Target for $5 on clearance, but it was orange. I pulled off the old covering and got fabric at Joann's for about $1.50, and redid it.

 So, this is what I ended up doing with my "problem area." I painted it white, put a big mirror in front of it, and got a roll of tulle at Michael's. I tied the tulle into a rope and then glued it around the edge. It works for now at least, I think it's cute. At least cuter than a random hole in the paneling...

The apple blossom decoration is actually a stick I found in the backyard with about a thousand little pieces of tissue paper crumpled up and hot-glued on. Yep......I made a decoration with a stick and tissue paper. Oh, and the vase I got from DI for I think $2.

So there ya go!! That's all. Now on to the next room...

Brag Post

I will just come right out and admit this is kind of a brag post. I am super proud of myself for what I recently made:

It's not perfect, but it's very sturdy. The drawer sticks a bit, but hey, it was my first one I've ever made, and it DOES work, so...

I made it mainly out of scraps of wood we had lying around from all my other recent wood projects, plus I had to buy a few things - totaled around $7 or so. So yes, I made this adorable little nightstand and it cost me less than $10. If you include ALL the costs, it was probably around $15-$20. So inexpensive! I love it and I can't wait to make a couple more for my own bedroom! :)

Thanks Tim for lending me your Kreg Jig! It was super helpful!!

Edited to add: I have to give my husband credit - he helped me taper the legs and use the table saw for one or two other cuts. There is no way I could taper legs myself. *shudder* 

Four Months

I can't believe my little man is four months old already! Okay, actually I can believe it, but I think every mom starts out a blog post like this one that way, so I figured I better conform. ;) I'm actually super excited that he's getting older, because I have a lot more fun with older babies than newborns.

Overall temperament:
Ben is generally a very happy, smiley baby. It is adorable. I love getting him out of bed in the morning and seeing his HUGE smiles that take up his whole face! He does tend to go from happy to dying in about 2 seconds though, if you know what I mean. One second, happy and smiling. Next second, the world is ending right on top of him. I don't always get much warning. He also hates the car. I do think he's starting to grow out of it already though, which would be awesome. Overall though, he's a very happy, content baby.

Yup, this is what I get to wake up to every morning. Love it!

Sleeping:
It started out terrible. He was up all night the first couple of months. Not just waking up to eat, but waking up to eat and then just be UP. Then after around 1 1/2 months or so, he slept a lot better. At 2 1/2 months, 8-11 hours was normal. I got used to that, let me tell you. Now he's up every 2-4 hours or so. *sigh* I don't do well on little sleep, so I am hoping he grows out of that sooner rather than later. I guess the 4-month sleep regression I always heard about isn't actually a myth...at least not with every baby.

Milestones:

• He coos like nothing else. It's probably my favorite thing about him. We'll be walking through a store, and he'll just be talking away to who knows what! He also coos at me whenever I sing to him. I love it when he wakes up in the morning cooing instead off crying.
• He recently found his toes and is quite taken with them.

• When it comes to rolling over, he is just not that interested. He has a couple of times, but that's all! I thought he would because he rolled over a couple of times at only a week or two old, but nope.
• He LOVES sitting up. He can't do it on his own yet for more than a few seconds, but I don't think it'll be too long before he gets it.

• He kind of giggles. By kind of, I mean he holds his giggles in as much as possible until he can't anymore and they kind of come out like little cough/hacking sounds. Sometimes I wish I could have a baby that just giggles, but it's pretty funny anyway.
• He finally started pushing himself up on his elbows. He took a while to do this, because he absolutely positively HATED tummy time. I would put him on his tummy, and he would just put his head down and cry. Or sometimes go to sleep, when he was really little, before he fought sleep. I kept at it and tried to make it more fun for him, and he's really good at it now. He even enjoys it for a little while!

• Playing with toys...he's just starting to be more interested. He has always preferred looking at faces over toys, but lately he's getting better at holding onto them so they're a bit more fun.

That's my boy! He's a cutie and we love having him in our family!!

Kaylee's Room

This is kind of a long time coming...I finished this before Ben was born, but, you know, then he was born...and I never found {made} the time. It's not super creative or anything, but here is Kaylee's room now:

I made the quilt on her bed and the bed skirt. The curtains I bought from Target, but I cut them in half and sewed the raw ends because 84" curtains would look a little ridiculous on our tiny windows. Will and I built the shelf for under $30, including all the supplies, primer and paint. It turned out even better than I was hoping! And of course I painted the letters and added the ribbon.

So, nothing super special, but I think it's cute.

PS Stay tuned for an update on the basement room...should be up in about two weeks! I can't wait to show the difference!!

The Life of a Stay-at-home Mom

 I thought it would be fun to write a very detailed list of EVERYTHING I did one day. So the other day...this is what I did. It was quite a busy day, because Ben was so cooperative and took GREAT naps. Some days I sit and rock him all day because he's being a pain. The times are random because I couldn't remember them all.

1:30(am) - Ben wakes up

Get up to get bottle

Come back to bed

Ben is asleep, put bottle in fridge

Go back to bed, Ben wakes up

Go to fridge, get bottle

Get back to room, Ben is asleep (sigh, what I hate most about bottle feeding)

6:30 - get up
Feed Ben
Change diaper
Play with Ben and surf the internet
7:30 - Put Ben down for nap
Go in basement and paint trim
8:00 - Kaylee wakes up
Feed Kaylee breakfast and eat
Feed cats
Change Kaylee’s diaper and get her dressed
Clean up her room, make her bed
Clean up our room, make our bed
Clean toaster, oven, stove, stove hood, spice rack, KitchenAid, counter tops, microwave
9:30 - Ben wakes up
Go out to garage with both kids, Ben in bouncy seat
Clean up garage
Pull up Kaylee’s pants about every 2 minutes
Start to sweep
10:20 - Put Ben down for a nap
Go back out, wash plastic containers and buckets
Finish sweeping and organizing
11:00 - Come in for lunch
Ben wakes up
Go get Ben, put him in toy jumper
Make lunch
Ben cries - pick him up and finish making lunch
Scrape cheerios off Kaylee’s high chair tray
Sit down to eat, holding Ben, take only one bite...
Kaylee spills her lemonade
Put Ben down, rinse off tray, get more lemonade for Kaylee
Go get (now screaming) Ben and finish eating
Feed Ben
Put Ben in bouncer and clean up breakfast and lunch dishes
Put away dishes
Fold and put away load of towels
Put rags in washing machine
12:00 - Ben starts whining, sit and play with him and Kaylee
12:30 - Wipe out fridge
Put two cookies in the oven for Kaylee and myself (I make little cookie dough balls and freeze them for this purpose :)
Rock Ben for 15 minutes, put him in bed
Get out (burned) cookies, put in new ones...oops
Sweep kitchen floor and prep to wash
Eat cookies
Wash floor
Wash cookie dishes and put away
Wipe down chairs
1:30 - Clean up back yard
Push Kaylee in swing
1:50 Take shower
Get Ben and feed him
Get Kaylee a drink
Change Ben’s diaper
2:30 - Move rags to dryer
Organize junk drawer
Do hair and makeup
3:10 Run errands
Console Ben after being in the dreaded car seat for a half hour
Put away rags
Get chicken out for dinner
4:00 - Feed Ben and put down for nap
Start making dinner

4:30 - DADDY COMES HOME!!!! Hopefully he will never wonder why I'm tired at the end of the day.

I love days like this. It makes me feel productive!

Latest house project...

House projects around here have really slowed down, a lot. Our main living areas are decent now, and so I've tried to restrain myself from doing much right now so we can pay off our furnace and a/c. Even though there is SO MUCH I want to do, I can be patient. Sort of. I was getting a terrible itch to start another project, so I decided why not work on a basement room? My sister is coming to visit in a month or so for a couple of weeks, and I want her to have a room to stay in that is clean, fresh, and...well, just not completely gross. Right now, I'm sorry to say, the room she will be in is completely gross. I think I can make a HUGE difference in it with just some paint and a lot of elbow grease. Of course, that probably won't get rid of the spiders, but it might help at least a little bit...

Some of the previous owners decided that the fake wood paneling in one of the basement bedrooms was just too light, I guess, so they did a lovely nearly-black varnish type stain on it. It was super, super shiny, so nothing we could just paint right over. So, I put on my trusty dust mask and got to sanding.

I must admit I was not expecting to get that dirty. I thought it would be like...well, sanding. You know. You get a bit dusty. This was beyond that and so gross. Comparable to sanding our living room ceiling, actually, except at least that dust was white and fluffy, not dark brown and sticky. Can I just say I'm glad I was wearing a mask? Although, after I got about 3 layers of dust on it, I don't know how helpful it was.

Later, we washed the walls three times, but it's STILL a bit dirty so I think I'll have to do it just one more time and then I'll be ready to fill the holes, reattach the pieces of paneling that are loose, prime it and then paint it. Can't wait!

Happy Birthday, Kaylee!!

 My little Kaylee is two years old today. She is so grown up for a two-year-old. The thing that really amazes me is how much help she is with Ben. Yesterday I was in the other room, and Ben started crying. She climbed up on our bed to reach his bassinet and found his pacifier, and gave it to him. She even remembered to take her shoes off before climbing on our bed. She loves giving him the pacifier and does it whenever she thinks it's necessary (and it often is exactly what he wants at the time). When I do the dishes, she sometimes looks around the house and brings me any bottles or dishes that were left out anywhere and puts them on the counter for me. One time I said Ben needed a diaper change. She looked in the diaper bag and when she saw that there were no diapers left in it, she went into our room, found the package, and brought it out to me. Yesterday, Will and I decided to play a little trick on her and see what she did. We pretended we were going to the store with her, and leaving Ben alone in his swing. We barely got out the door before she was saying "Ben? BEN!!!!" She loves her little brother so much.

The other day it made Will and me laugh because we were at Red Robin and Kaylee had chocolate milk. She drank it all and wanted more. I said she shouldn't have any more, but when the waitress came, she held up her cup and said "Mmm?" It was so cute that I couldn't resist letting her have more. She didn't say it that time, but she's also getting pretty good at saying please and thank you. It actually sounds like "Peesh" and "Dip-doo!" though. She says "bless you" whenever someone sneezes. However, she says "Meh-neh." I have no idea how she came up with that one.

She's quite self-sufficient. She hates being alone, but if Will and I need to have some time to talk all I need to do is tell her that it's Mommy and Daddy time and she'll happily go play by herself for at least a couple of hours. One of the mornings soon after having Ben, I slept in a little bit with him and she got up by herself. I found her on the living room floor, eating cereal and drinking water out of her water bottle. If I let her play outside with some water and water toys, she's literally happy for hours. I really never have to entertain her, which makes it much easier to care for a baby. I said before Ben was born that she would be a great big sister, and boy was I right!

We did a photoshoot for her birthday today. She is so girly it's funny. We did her hair, painted her nails, and put her in a tutu and she absolutely loved doing all that. I know it might be a little pathetic but I have never made a tutu for her before. She got so excited about it. It was hilarious. Anyway, here are some pictures:

As always, it was a very exercising endeavor. I think I got some good ones though, and we had fun, so that's what counts, right?

Of course, she IS still two. She still has plenty of tantrums, and she gets into everything. A few days ago I found her covered in diaper rash cream, along with the coffee table and Will's school laptop. It was quite the mess, that stuff does not wash off easily. And taking family pictures a few weeks ago was difficult. She was not exactly cooperative.

It's really quite funny looking back on these pictures. I can't wait till she's a little older and I can torture her with them. :)

PS Thank goodness for my sister-in-law Tiffany, she managed to get a few smiles out of Kaylee so we got some decent pictures. She has skills!

One of those days...

WHY yes, I did just lock both of my children in their rooms. And then go out and proceed to eat a bowl of ice cream for lunch.

Yes, I did.

Was it a good idea?

Eh, probably not. But I think I needed it.

The last couple of days have not been much fun for me. I have an absolutely horrible cold. Not the kind of cold that you sort of have a stuffy nose and feel a bit out of it for a few days, and maybe a cough. No...the kind where my head feels like it's going to explode. My nose is so stuffed I can only breathe out of one side for days, no matter what I do, and constantly runs. I might as well stuff tissues up my nose and call it good. (My husband finds that super attractive...) I can't sleep, during the precious times at night when Ben IS actually sleeping, because breathing through my mouth hurts my throat, and obviously I can't breathe through my nose. I have this weird cough that is really deep and makes me feel like gagging every time I need to cough.

Now, I do know this is just a regular old cold, because Kaylee just had it. And SHE had the kind that was just a little runny nose, and a bit of a cough. She didn't really seem to notice it.

*sigh*

I should probably go get the kids out of their rooms, as I just heard Kaylee start screaming again, and a little thump. She's probably stuck in one of her toys. Sometimes she's in her shopping cart, sometimes the doll house...

4.5 hours till bedtime. Not that I'm counting.

Baby didn't hang on!

I was REALLY hoping that Ben would stay put until after Paul's wedding on Friday. That was all I was really asking. He didn't cooperate.

I had an appointment with my midwife on Tuesday. Since I was previously dilated to a 4, she wanted to check and see what I was at then too. And what do you know, I was at a 6. We were getting a little bit worried because my labor with Kaylee went pretty quickly, and second babies tend to be a bit faster. I didn't particularly want to deliver a baby in the car on the way to the hospital, and neither did my husband. I was having some contractions, but nothing strong or regular at all. We went home (my midwife was very hesitant to let us leave, but she did, saying COME BACK SOON!) and got things packed up. Yeah, I put it off so much that I still didn't really have a hospital bag ready. Kind of dumb on my part. Anyway, we called Will's family in Provo and asked them to come pick Kaylee up at the hospital so we could go get checked in at the hospital. We got there and hung out for a little while, and a couple of hours later I was dilated to an 8.5. Yeah, I was just...hanging out, in transition. No pain medication at all. Weirdest thing ever. Kaylee's birth was easy too, but believe me, I felt it when I was in transition!

 This was after the baby came. I wasn't *that* relaxed in labor. ;)

My midwife decided to break my water to get the contractions to pick up. That did the trick! I finally felt like "Okay, THIS is labor now." After a little over an hour it was time to push, which lasted around 10 minutes or so. It was definitely more painful in the hospital than it was at the birth center with Kaylee, but not bad. Our hospital stay was fine, except that every. single. nurse and their cousin came in and asked me if I needed pain medication while I was recovering. One nurse must have asked me at least six times. Finally I realized that they were all asking because on my white board under "goals for mom" it said "pain control." Thanks to my first nurse that wrote that, they all thought I must be in a lot of pain. Other than that, I didn't get a bit of sleep, the food was delicious, and I liked always having help with whatever I needed. I was very ready to go home on Thursday, though.

I think it's a really good thing that we went to the hospital that night. I am quite certain that I would have gone from nothing to baby if I hadn't had my water broken. It was such a gentle labor that it may have taken till the last minute for my water to break on its own, and then...well, we probably would have had a baby alone. 

I ended up going to the wedding anyway. We got home on Thursday at around 6pm, and the wedding was the next day at noon. Since it was close by in the Salt Lake Temple, it wasn't a long drive, and the actual ceremony is quite short. Ben stayed with his dad, and he just slept the whole time (nothing new for him, he is the opposite of Kaylee and sleeps ALL THE TIME).  I'm so glad I was feeling good and was able to go.

 We finally caught him with his eyes open!

Anyway, that's the story. We're happy and still a bit shocked he's already here!

And for good measure...here is a picture of Kaylee.

Hang in there, baby!

I just had my 35 week appointment the other day, and to my surprise, I'm already dilated to a 4 and 75% effaced. Meaning...I could have the baby any day, or in 5 weeks or something. Okay, so really it doesn't mean all that much. But it means enough that my midwife told me to take it easy, lie down a lot, don't pick up Kaylee, and don't run up and down stairs. Yeah, as if I'm running up and down stairs at 8 months pregnant.

Okay, actually I was, but that's beside the point.
 

35 weeks

Well, the end is coming right up!! Just a few more weeks. Will says we'll have him May 15th. (I say he's crazy. I doubt he'll be that early.) At church on Sunday I had several people ask when I'm due and then give me looks of pity, or say something that implied I must be completely miserable and want to be DONE.

I guess it has been kind of hard this time. I would list all my complaints...but I'll spare you, because that's boring. But I really love being pregnant! I'm not miserable at all. I'm quite content feeling the kicks and squirms. I love having a baby belly!

I'm a little nervous to have a toddler and newborn to take care of, though. Another reason to keep him in a little longer. :) Kaylee was not easy for me at all as a newborn, so I hope this one is easier. That said, I think she is going to be a WONDERFUL big sister. In general, she is:

• Very helpful. She loves to get things for me, or throw things in the trash.
• So independent. Yesterday she got a snack by herself, and she's extremely good about playing alone. She's not dependent on me for entertainment.
• A great sleeper. She has her bad times, but generally she sleeps so well and even goes to bed well.
• A good eater. Of course she sometimes refuses to eat anything I put in front of her, but she loves her fruits and veggies and I usually have no problem getting her to eat at least some of what I make for her.
• Obedient. She has certainly found her defiant side, and realized that she *can* say no and not do what I ask. However, I don't put up with it, so she knows that she can't get away with it anyway. Let's just hope that sticks with her.

I was worried that maybe we should have waited a little longer to have another baby, because she won't even be two when this one is born. But I've heard a lot of people lately saying how age 3 is a hundred times harder than age 2. Now, people are always saying "Just wait." and this might be a continuation of that, but it seems there might be some truth to this one, because almost everyone seems to agree on it. So maybe it'll be better to have a one-year-old than a newborn when Kaylee is three. I'm pretty sure this will be about right. I think it'll be a great time for a new addition.

This article really got me thinking.

Your Children Want YOU!

Thanks, Mom, for posting it. I read it and it wasn't quite describing me, but I couldn't figure out why at first. I think I finally put my finger on it. I'm sort of the opposite. I feel like all the other moms out there are so much better than me - because they're good MOMS. Not because they decorate cute, or they're so organized. In fact, who cares about all that, really?

You're probably thinking... "Umm, Becky, take a look at your blog here. What are you always blogging about??"

Yeeeah, about that. Homemade Easter baskets. Homemade Easter dress. Cute cupcakes. Handmade entry table. Ruffled bedskirt made out of old sheets. Oh yeah, and I'm 8 months pregnant and have a toddler.

It's obvious that I LOVE crafts and decorating and organizing (although I'm still working on that last one). I especially developed a kind of passion for decorating when we bought our house. I just find it so much fun. I'm not trying to compete with anyone or anything, and honestly, I don't really use ideas online much at all. I get inspiration, then it's all me. I really honestly dislike Pinterest. It kind of annoys me.

So I wonder, am I one of "those" moms? Am I one of those moms that make other moms feel guilty that they're not good enough, because I cook pretty food (sometimes...), and I love decorating? Did I help start this whole trend in the first place? I've kind of gotten comments that imply that before. Things like "How on earth do you know how to do all those things?" and "Oh...is THAT what a good wife is supposed to do?" I've actually had quite a few people say things like that to me.

The truth is, at the end of the day, I don't think "Man, I wish my house was prettier. I wish I was perfectly organized." (Okay, I do sometimes wish my house was prettier, but it's usually something to do with taking out more black marble floor). I do, however, wonder if I spent enough time with Kaylee. Was I patient enough with her? Was I available when she needed me? Most of the time, I don't think I was any of those, and I feel guilty that I didn't make sure she had the best day she could.

Maybe those people you see on Pinterest have kids crying in the background because they want their mom. And their mom says "Oh, be quiet. Go play. I need to finish my blog post." Maybe their dad comes home and the house is messy, and there is no dinner made, and the kids are all yelling, and their mom says "Sorry, I had to finish this photoshoot of these Babyshower decorations I made. I didn't have time for much else."

So, something to think about. If you're ever feeling like your house isn't cute enough, or clean enough, or you're just not crafty enough...remember the other side. They have problems too. And they might be problems that actually MATTER. For me, I know what matters. It's just that I would rather go create something than read "Barnyard Dance" for the 100th time to my daughter. But in the grand scheme of things, reading that book is so much more important than making her bed look perfect.

I need to work on that.

Just one more...

Okay, okay. Three blog posts in one day might be getting a little ridiculous. But I have ONE MORE THING I want to post about today. Simply because I am so proud of it that I can't wait. But, I have to tell my story first.

Kaylee has been on a little crib mattress on the floor since she was 6 months old, or so. It worked fine, it was convenient when we moved, she wouldn't fall far if she fell off, she would get up and play for a little while in the morning instead of crying like she would in a crib. We were planning on buying her a bed when our new baby outgrows the bassinet, but her Grammy Castrey beat us to it. She came over last week and bought Kaylee a new "big girl" bed. I was so excited to finally be able to use the quilt that I made for Kaylee at Christmas. It definitely didn't work with a crib mattress on the floor, that is for sure. Now...the bed was very cute, but it was missing something. I really wanted a bedskirt for it, because the quilt wasn't big enough to hang over all the edges. I had a bedskirt from Target that I was going to use, but I ended up not liking the color, so I exchanged it for a white one. The white one was...well, really ugly. It honestly just looked like the bed wasn't made correctly and a white sheet was hanging off the side.

I got to thinking. I really wanted white, but it just looked bad. Maybe a ruffled one would be better. But all the nice ones I could find were $25 or more and I am really trying to be frugal with all my decorating lately (I'm kind of on a decorating kick, if you haven't noticed yet). So I thought, why not make one? Well, you might say, because fabric is so expensive when you need a lot that it would be cheaper to just buy one anyway. That is true. I looked into it and it really wouldn't be much cheaper to buy the fabric, if at all.

Sooo I returned the failing bedskirt and went to DI, and I got two white sheets for $5. (I thought that was a little expensive for USED SHEETS, but I always think DI is a bit overpriced. Oh well.) Normally I wouldn't touch sheets at DI with a 15 foot pole. Even if you paid me. A lot. Just, ew. *shudder* However, I figured for a bedskirt, it was no biggie. I washed them about 5 times in REALLY hot water and bleached them and Boraxed them and...well, you get the picture.

And THEN! I cut them all up and sewed them together and two hours later...

It looks exactly how I wanted it. In fact, I like it even better than I thought I would. Take that, Target! And Walmart, and everywhere else. I'm not showing anything else in the room because it's not done yet. But it is getting there... :)

Projects

Recently, I decided that it would be a lot of fun to build a few things with wood. With my creativity and my husband's mad skills, I thought we would be able to make some things without too much trouble. Our first project (okay, it's a very silly first project...) was an entry table. Complete with tapered legs, drawers, and edges routed out for a nice touch. Ridiculous, really. I wanted to start with a basic coffee table, but since we got one with our couch set...well, we didn't need one anymore! And I've been wanting an entry table since we moved in, but I'm not about to drop $200 on one, which is how much all the ones I liked were. So I told Will what I wanted, he drew it up and figured out all the measurements, and we built it together and I stained it.  

Sorry the picture is dark. I just took it really quick earlier to get it on here. It can't be a great picture anyway because the rest of the entryway is still gross...

It's certainly not perfect, but it's not too bad either! I think we did good for it being our first project.

I have quite a few other things I'm working on right now as well. Stay tuned for more!

Easter

We had a great Easter this year! I usually don't put tons of photos in my posts because I like to write more and not have my "blog" be a photo album, but I have been kind of getting away from that lately with too many things I want to share, so there are quite a few again today. Please note that because I'm using Ubuntu on my computer (Windows crashed) I can't edit anything. I mean, I'm sure I can somehow, but I don't know what works with Ubuntu. If anyone knows, please tell me...so, please don't judge my crooked pictures that need some cropping. :) Also, they look blurry in the post. They're not blurry, really! They're crisp and clear when you click on them. Blogspot is not making me super happy lately.

I was excited to do Easter baskets this year. I've never done them before. I had fun making them, too, of course! I didn't want to spend much money on them, so I went to DI and got some baskets for 50 cents each. Painted them white with acrylic paint, and got some fabric to make liners for them. I love how they turned out and I spent less than $10.

Kaylee on Saturday morning (we did our baskets on Saturday!)

I made carrot cupcakes for Easter. I found an AMAZING recipe that I am kind of in love with right now, and I thought carrot cake would be kind of Easter-y. ...Right? I was going to do bunnies and carrots on them, but I didn't have what I needed, so I made these instead.

And now for the best part: Kaylee's dress! I love making dresses for her. They never turn out quite...perfect, but they work. And it's so inexpensive to make them. I made this one for less than $15, which I believe is better than basically any store with a decent Easter dress. It kind of makes me think of Cinderella, or Alice in Wonderland.

 

Isn't she adorable??

After dinner, we had an (another) Easter egg hunt. Kaylee loved finding the eggs.

She is growing up so quick! She's turning into such a big girl. Good thing we have a new one on the way! ;)