Happy Birthday!!!

To the most beautiful TWO year old girl in the whole world!!! We love you Honey!!

Four Generations

Margaret Loretta, Margaret Loretta, Madeleine Margaret and Elizabeth Anne. Hm....

And there you go - me at 33 weeks!

Well, it's official.

We need bigger towels in this house.

Discipline and diapering update

This discipline technique of not yelling, calmly placing the child in time out really seems to be working! I don't think I've raised my voice once since my discussion with my friend last week. Raising my voice was not working to get her attention or get her to stop what she was doing anyway. So now if she is doing something she is not supposed to be doing (or NOT doing something - like coming when I call) I give her one warning and if she doesn't do what I tell her I get up and immediately lead her to her time out chair. After two minutes I go over to her and say "Mommy put you in time out because...." Then I give her a kiss and a hug and let her go on her way. Most of the time I only have to ask "Do you want to go to time out?" and she will do what she's supposed to. Also if I am out of the room when she does something she's not supposed to, she will come to me and say "I don't wanna go in time out." I ask her what she did and she tells me! Yesterday we were at my mom's house and she took something out of the kitchen she wasn't supposed to and took it into the family room. I told her to go put it back and she said "NO!" I immediately got out of my chair and she hung her head and said "Time out" in a sad voice. I think this is great! She knew exactly what the consequences were going to be. I'm definitely going to keep this up. It does involve a lot of "getting up," in other words hoisting my extra large frame out of the chair, but I think it will be worth the extra effort.

So, in diapering news, I did decide to put her back into cloth diapers. The price of the pullups was killing me. And actually, she is doing better than ever! She usually doesn't wear anything at home and never has an accident, so I only put her in diapers when we go out. I still take her to the potty and she normally only has 1 or 2 wet diapers/day. I feel better about saving money and I'm really glad this hasn't made her regress.

And speaking of cloth diapers, I cannot WAIT to order tiny ones :)

33 week appointment

I'm glad it's over! Our appointment was at 10:15 and I had to take Madeleine, and we didn't get called back until almost 11. She was not thrilled about sitting in her stroller the whole time. I'm so glad I brought her bag which was packed with things to do!

Anyway, I have gained 8 lbs (the whole pregnancy, not the last two weeks!) It's pretty much exactly what happened with Madeleine. I only gained 15 lbs total with her and then lost 30 within 2 weeks after she was born. Here's hoping the same thing happens this time! I guess the 8 weeks of puking every day really paid off!

His heartbeat was great - in the 150s. He is head down and LOW! She was surprised at how low he is. She said he might come a little early but not to get too excited. Plus she said the active phase of labor is shorter the second time around. I only pushed 20 minutes with Madeleine so she said he should be super quick once I get to that point!

I told Madeleine that the doctor would be looking at Mommy's tummy and checking out her baby brother. So when the doctor came in she lifted up her shirt and said, "Can you check my tummy too please? There's a baby brother in there!" The doctor about died laughing :)

Oh my goodness.

I can't BELIEVE how much this boy is kicking me! I'm about to take some tylenol pm. I have my 33 or so week appointment tomorrow morning. I like going to the doctor now because it's getting so close! I have to go every two weeks until week 36 then every week. Then hopefully it'll go really fast! Have I mentioned I only have 4 more weeks of work??

We're having a "discussion" about the name I chose. Ken doesn't seem to think it goes with our last name, but the few people I've told think it sounds fine! I do have two others in the running, maybe I should wait until he is born and make the final decision.

We had a great day today. We started out with 8am mass and it was completely packed. The entire school plus like every parent. We ended up in the narthex with no seat until an usher took pity on us and got a chair. We both got ashes and then went to Story hour at Barnes and Nobles, where we saw some good friends. Madeleine and her friend Quinn sat SO well together and listened to the entire hour! I think this was the first time she's made it through the entire hour. Then we went to a friend's house - they have 12 kids! I think Madeleine had the time of her LIFE there! We went to the basement which is their toy area, and Madeleine walked around with her eyes big as saucers saying "Oh my GOSH! Oh my GOSH!" She got to play with lots of new toys and she fit right in with the kids. Their mom gave me some great parenting advice too. Then invited us to stay for lunch and then she took a good nap.

The best advice I think I got was there's never a need to yell. If she does something wrong she goes in time out. I can't "couch parent." I have to actually follow through every single time. So today we walked out to the van after nap to go to the grocery store. She ran out to the driveway and when I called her to come back she said "No!" I immediately picked her up, took her into the house, and sat her in her timeout chair. She was surprised and not happy! The rest of the day she talked about it and even put Elmo in time out for "running away!" She really got it I think.

She also impressed the pants off of a mom at Story hour by singing her entire ABC's. :)

YAY!!

Everything is fixed and they only charged us $157.50!!! As much as I could think of a million other things I'd rather spend that money on, I'm thrilled that is all it was. So I did a bunch of laundry and dishes today (from the whole weekend!) and mopped all the floors again and Ken steam cleaned the carpet again. Everything is almost back to normal around here.

In other news, I was sitting in church last night and I thought of a boy name. This name would be my number one choice but there are a few issues with it, one of them being it doesn't sound THE BEST with our last name. However, few names do sound all that great with it. And I think I could get used to it. I'm going to think it over for awhile. This name I have always loved but I hadn't even thought about it for a while, and never for this kid. But it just hit me last night at church and I think it might be the one. You never know though - I could change my mind again! I was actually up from about 4:30 - 6am thinking about it. Then I fell back asleep and Ken's alarm started going off at 6:15. I also had a nightmare last night that I went into labor when my mom and dad were on vacation - they're going at the end of March. Let's pray THAT does not happen! So basically I didn't sleep much last night!

Oh and I'm not telling the name!!! :)

Fun fun.

So, Friday night I see a few ants in the downstairs bathroom. Ken kills them with some kind of kitchen cleaner and a few paper towels. Then, he flushes them and the paper towels down the toilet.

On Saturday morning I go into the kitchen. It's completely flooded. So is the living room. So is the downstairs bathroom. Ken shopvacs up all the water and I call my brother to borrow the carpet steamer.

Then, we learn that whenever we turn on the kitchen sink, dishwasher, my upstairs shower or flush my toilet, the toilet downstairs overflows again. Suddenly there are ants in the kitchen too.

I have to go to the bathroom. So does Madeleine. Number 2. SEVERAL times on Saturday AND Sunday. The kid decided she loved beans this weekend. Luckily she hits her potty every time. (She's actually doing BETTER wearing her cloth diapers than she was in her pullups. She's only had about 2 accidents all weekend and that was when we were out.)

While the house keeps flooding, I call my dad. My mom and dad are at the Saturday night 5:30 mass but I text them to come over on the way home. Dad says we need a plumber.

Sunday morning we call Rotorooter. They come and can't seem to find the pipe outside that goes toward the house. They quote us $1600. Ken sends him away, goes outside and finds the access under our porch in about 5 minutes. I spend most of the day trying to keep a curious toddler away from the ant traps and changing her socks when she walks through water. Oh, we also have a mouse in the garage Ken's trying to "catch."

Luckily, Ken's toilet and shower seems to be working ok, so we have been using that. But we haven't done any laundry or dishes all weekend.

We called a different plumber and he is coming tomorrow morning at 9am. PLEASE God don't let it be too expensive and PLEASE let it be an easy fix......

Should I get the diapers back out?? with update

So Madeleine is doing PRETTY well on the potty these days, but has not seemed to improve at all for a few months. She does great at home, especially if she doesn't have pants on, but whenever we go out she does not want to go on the potty and just goes in her pullups. I am so sick of buying these things after 18 months of using cloth diapers!! They are so expensive! I have all the diapers I need for her right now. She doesn't want to wear diapers and hates to get changed, especially if she has to lay down. But I'm seriously considering it, at least for night time and naps. Did I try to start too early? What should I do? Should I totally forget about potty training for a few months, or still just let her go at home and wear diapers when we're out?

We did get some potty books and a potty dvd at the library today.... I'm thinking she might regress after the baby is born anyway so I don't want to push it too much.



One good thing about using diapers again - at least she could keep her pants up!!

*Update* So today I got a few potty books and a potty dvd at the library. We read all the books and she loved them. We watched the movie and she went number 2 on the potty after that, and she's gone number 1 a few times. HOWEVER.... she also peed on the couch (mostly on her silkies) and on my lap TWICE TODAY!! WHAT? She never does that. I don't know what is going on here. I'm almost thinking I should give it up completely until the boy is a few months old? But I have no idea.

Better picture

This is from my phone. I couldn't resist posting another picture! She had SO much fun with this and was really sad when they actually had to start playing and she had to get down! Also the drummer has 4 kids who were all there this weekend and Madeleine LOVED them. Especially the youngest one in second grade - she wanted to play with her the whole time and sit with her in Mass on Sunday.

Thrill of her weekend

I SO wish he was going to be here for St. Paddy's day....

LOVE these little pants :)

Getting ideas....

How cool would something like this be? I have never decorated a cake. Does anyone have any tips? Jenni H? Ken said he could get a great deal at the music store where he teaches guitar lessons and get her bongo drums for her birthday! I think she would LOVE it and we could have a drum cake too!!! I find it so funny that she loves drums so much! But it thrills me! It could be a passing phase or a lifelong hobby, whichever is fine with me - I just want her to do what she loves :)

Madeleine's birthday is coming up...

Wow, my little angel will be TWO in just a few weeks! I can't believe it, and at the same time it's much easier to deal with than when she was turning ONE and I cried for a month :) Plus it's weird to think that the NEXT month we will have a newborn again!! I don't think THAT has really sunk in yet....

She is really excited about her birthday, ever since her cousin Eli's birthday party a few weeks ago. She keeps saying "It's almost Madeleine's birthday! Say, 'Happy Birthday Madeleine!'"

So I'm thinking about a party. It's probably going to be pretty simple, but should we have it at our house? Mom's house? Something music themed? Somewhere kid friendly where I don't have to clean up the mess? :) We don't have a lot of money to spend, especially since I accidently backed into my mom's car yesterday and left a dent! But that is a whole different story....

I should probably get on this! Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Our great weekend in Durham

Madeleine and I had such a wonderful time this weekend with our friends in Durham!! They are the BEST hosts. They got a pack n play for Madeleine to sleep in so we wouldn't have to bring one. They cooked delicious meals for us and would entertain Madeleine while I finished eating. They took GREAT care of us. We enjoyed the amazing weather and played outside a lot! She enjoyed playing in the mud and we had to do a few loads of laundry! We went on a beautiful hike and I actually wore a short sleeved shirt outside for the first time in several months!

It was SO nice to be outside! In fact we had such a great time and enjoyed the company and weather so much that we decided to stay an extra day. These free standby plane tickets really come in handy!

She LOVED their dog and cat, and probably wore them completely out so they will sleep the rest of the week :) They have another cat too, but he was not a fan of the kiddo and we hardly saw him.

I stole this picture from my friend's blog - I just loved it . Madeleine was really really good this weekend! I was actually shocked how great she did. I was so nervous about travelling by myself with her but I would actually do it again! She had her moments but overall it was a good experience. She also took great naps and slept wonderfully at their house at night, even though she came down with a little cold toward the end of the trip.

We got to do some knitting, one of my favorite things! I got to teach my friend a few tricks and finished her scarf for her that she's been working on for a while :) We had such a relaxing weekend - watched a few movies, went to mass, hung out and just had a great time. They are such wonderful friends - we are praying they move closer one day!!

We had a rough last plane trip with a kid who was exhausted but refused to sleep! However as soon as she got in her stroller, THIS is what happened....

She was a trooper this weekend though. Thanks D and P for having us and for being such great hosts!

My little Drummer Girl

My girl LOVES to drum! She's been going to Music class for several months now and learning about rhythm, different beats, melodies, hearing harmonies, etc. She LOVES it. She loves it enough that we are sacrificing (money) to keep her going through at least one more session. I will post more on that later with more pictures. But she is CRAZY about drumming. She probably drums for at least an hour a day. It's the first thing she wants to do when she gets up. She sings all different songs and plays all different rhythms. I think she has some natural talent. This is the little drum my mom got for her for Christmas. Sorry about the "Just Woke Up" hair!

Ken taught her how to drum fast and slow, loud and soft. She practices ALL day. At music class she sometimes gets to play "real" drums and she is in heaven.

A few nights ago we went over to Sarah and Chris's house for dinner before band practice. As we were getting ready to leave, the drummer got there and started setting up. So she got to play an entire drumset and I'm not sure I've ever seen her so excited. She did NOT want to leave. She got to bed about an hour late that night and then drummed up in her crib for about another hour.

Honey, if that is what makes you happy, go for it! Luckily your Daddy knows something about drumming.

Ken even said there's a random tom that's been laying around the music store where he's taught guitar lessons for many years. He's going to see if we can get it for her birthday. I can't tell you how thrilled she would be.

Happy February!

According to my Ivillage updates, I'm 29 weeks today, and the baby weighs almost 3 lbs and is 13 inches long! No wonder it feels like he's about to kick me out of the chair I'm sitting in sometimes!

Also THIS line from the update really got me laughing:

He or she may be up all night and asleep all day, which is making rest tough for you! Don't worry, this doesn't guarantee that your baby will be a night owl after birth. He or she probably won't sleep through the night until about 6 weeks of age or so...

6 WEEKS!!!! SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT?? Where are these babies they're talking about???

I suppose I should go pretend to watch the superbowl....

I'm pretty proud of myself!

A few days ago our microwave died while I was trying to heat up some chicken nuggets. It was a hand me down from my parents that my mom said we got when we lived in California - that was 1995! Ken thought we needed a microwave THAT DAY so he decided to buy one at Target for $70. Poor Ken, I told him he had to take it back and that I was SURE I could find one for cheaper. I'm about to place a big fat order of tiny cloth diapers you know! So I looked on craigslist and also posted on freecycle. Have I mentioned how much I love freecycle? The next morning, a very nice lady emailed me and said she would be happy to give us her microwave. Madeleine and I picked it up and it works perfectly! It's also the perfect size for the spot. And it was FREE!! I'm so excited about cloth diapering a newborn! Plus I want to get him one of these for his crib. Ken doesn't know about that one yet :) It's supposed to help them sleep better. There's only one way to go after the first kid.... (PLEASE God let this kid be a better sleeper!)

More about the trip

Thanks so much for all your comments and suggestions! I'm definitely taking them into consideration. Most of you said go for it, a few said no, and some even emailed me and advised against it.

I think I may have missed out on some fun stuff when Madeleine was little because I was afraid of what would happen, but when I actually did some stuff (like take her to Daytona,) she did great. She has flown several times before and has done fine.

The only hard parts would be the actual time in the airports - getting through security, getting her carseat on the plane, getting to the different gate, etc. While we're on the plane and when we get there I'll be fine and have plenty of help. We'll get dropped off at the door and picked up at the door. I'm also feeling better this time around at 29 or so weeks than I did last time. No back pain, no round ligament pain, just a little hip pain. Ken also ordered this thing that can attach the carseat to the carry on, so we could wheel the whole thing through the airport. (And push the stroller at the same time.) If worse came to worse I could ask one of those golf cart guys to take us to the next gate.

My friends who we are visiting are awesome and Madeleine loves them too, so while we're there I'm sure we'd have a great time! Plus they would get her a place to sleep.. So I guess I'm LEANING toward going as of right now....

Question

Should Madeleine and I go on a short weekend plane trip by ourselves? I'd have to bring a carseat, probably a bag and a carry on, and her stroller. Plus it's not a direct flight. We'd have a great time once we got there, it's just the actual travelling I'm worried about....

Snow Day!!!!!

Our backyard - they say we got around 11 inches! Plus they still haven't gotten to our street at 12:45....

Getting ready to go outside was like preparing for extended deep sea diving. She looked like a tick about to pop! We can't find a snowsuit in her size so she wore 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pair of socks, boots, mittens, hat and coat. I think she was pretty warm!

Making snowballs with daddy!

"I wanna go in snow again!"

Surely she'll take a good nap after all that?? After all I have a lot of carpets to clean and floors to mop after this escapade in the snow!

Breech Baby

I don't think I mentioned that at my 26 week appointment (the one with the great ultrasound), they told me that he is breech. I asked my doctor about it and she said he still has plenty of time to turn. I really think he is in the process of turning because I used to feel him kicking straight down and now it's more on the side. Also sometimes it feels like he's really moving around in there, like his head or butt or something is sticking out and moving. It's not the most comfortable feeling. Has anyone had any experience with this? I want to do everything I can to get him to turn if he doesn't do it on his own. At what point are they supposed to be in position?

28 weeks!

Here you go! There's no question now, is there? Today is exactly 3 months to the due date and I can't wait! I know it'll go really fast though -well, maybe not the LAST month.... Oops! I put 29 weeks but I'm really 28 weeks! At least I'm in the third trimester now.

We had a great day today, we went to the Children's museum for just a little while this afternoon, and Madeleine cried all the way out the door! She did not want to leave but it was closing. We got to play with Jenny and Jack this morning (See Delightful on my sidebar) and we had a great time. Jack is such a sweet boy and he will be a wonderful big brother! They played with the trains at Barnes and Nobles and then took turns singing us songs on the little stage.

Madeleine did not take a nap AGAIN today. This is probably the third time this week! But she fell asleep in the car on the way downtown so she got a short nap. I am not letting her sleep in until 8am anymore, and we are cutting back on the sugar and chocolate soy milk for that girl. Hopefully that will help!

The happy couple!!

Check out that rock!!

So cute!

Oh and the best part.... Jenny is not what you would call a big FAN of cats... and now she has one of her VERY OWN!!! :)

Congratulations you guys!!

Congratulations!

My good friend Jenny got engaged to a wonderful guy last night!! We love Doug and we're glad to welcome him into our circle of friends :)

Also Jenny had a few "countdowns" on her iphone tonight...... 90 days until Baby Pack's due date!!!

16 totally random things

Thanks, Sew Infertile, for tagging me :)

1. My favorite pregnancy symptom is not having to shave my legs hardly ever. It's happened both times and it's GREAT.

2. I like some reality TV. Like American Idol, Biggest Loser, and Hell's Kitchen. I've never seen Survivor. I've also never seen Grey's Anatomy.

3. I really like facebook, especially chatting with my friends I don't usually get to talk to.

4. We're not planning on moving Madeleine to a big girl bed anytime soon. We have two cribs, thank God.

5. We have Darth Vader's couches. We bought them at a garage sale from the kid who played Anikin Skywalker. I LOVE them.

6. I can hardly sit through a movie to save my life.

7. I have been craving corn flakes with real milk and a little sugar.

8. I'd rather go on a mission trip to Mexico than pretty much any other vacation.

9. I can play several instruments. None of them very well though.

10. I have not watched the news for several days.

11. I still want 10 kids. I've always said that, and people always said "Wait until you have one, then you won't want any more." I didn't believe them then, and I definitely don't believe them now.

12. Despite that, I'm just a little worried about adjusting to life with two. And also how Madeleine is going to adjust.

13. Despite THAT, I can't wait for my little boy to get here and get to do all the newborn and baby stuff again. He still needs a name though.

14. I love my nice quiet evenings with Ken. I agree with Sew, I do NOT like noise. I am constantly telling Ken to turn the TV and radio down. If the kids get too loud in the car I turn the radio completely off until they quiet down.

15. We had Fr. W over for dinner tonight. Madeleine showed off her praying skills and singing skills. And both kids got blessed before bed.

16. I think my baby girl is the most beautiful, sweet girl who ever lived! :)

Baby's first Cashmere

I bought this yarn a LONG time ago out of a clearance bin at a yarn store. Because it was Cashmere. For a DOLLAR. I had no idea what I'd ever do with one ball of skinny orange cashmere, until I had an inspiration: (Notice my willing model!)

Also made his first pair of cargo shorts. I am LOVING these diaper covers.

I'm off to watch LOST!! WOOHOO!!!

Our newest member of the family!

My cat Roofus had to be put to sleep because she had a stroke - on my birthday. It was really sad, especially since she was my first "baby" and we got her when we moved into our house 4 1/2 years ago. We miss her a lot. But Ken and I have continued our record of choosing AWESOME kitty cats so I would like to introduce....

COSMO!! We got him the day after Christmas from the humane society. He's about 4 years old, and the biggest, gentlest, cuddliest cat I have EVER met. He is GREAT with Madeleine and even Ava. He jumps right up on the couch with Madeleine and lays down next to her. He lets her pet him, play with his ears, paws, and tail, feed him, and she even tried to ride him once! He just hangs out and enjoys the train table, as you can see...

He also LOVES water and my sink and shower. He waits until I get out of the shower and hops right in. A few times I have caught him sleeping in my sink! If I am brushing my teeth, he will drink out of the faucet or just stand there and let the water run over his head. Have you ever heard of such a thing?! He also likes to stand in his water dish, for some reason??
He weighs 14 lbs! I actually didn't realize how big he was until we got him home, but he is huge! And he enjoys getting right up on my chest and laying his head on my shoulder. Ken says he has personal space issues - as in he doesn't give you enough :) I think he is so sweet and perfect for a family with little kids. He already likes the new baby, as you can see he enjoys draping his fat self over my belly!

It actually took us 10 days to name him. We at first considered naming him Jack, short for Jackpot, since it was apparent the moment we brought him home that he knew he hit the jackpot. Here he is on his FIRST night at our house, making himself RIGHT at home.

We miss Roofus, but we love Cosmo. He fits right in with our family, and we are happy to have him!

What I've been doing

I am on a roll! I know you've seen the vest but my mom sewed buttons on everything for me! (Sorry I forgot to rotate the picture before I posted.)

This is my first pair of pants - it's actually a wool diaper cover. The wool is SO soft I would use it for a pillow if I could! There are lots of benefits to using wool as a diaper cover - it breathes so it's supposed to help with any rashes, when you lanolize it, it's great for preventing leaks, you only have to wash it every few weeks, etc. If you want to read more about the benefits of wool you can do so here. I'm mostly making them because I have lots of wool lying around and I figure if I make my own diaper covers, I can buy some more diapers for the little guy. Honestly it just grates on my nerves wasting money on disposables - now I'm buying pullups for Madeleine and it feels like throwing money away!

More pants. I have had this yarn forever and I think it's PERFECT for a pair of little boy pants. Unfortunately I couldn't capture the colors very well but they are browns, tans, grays, etc. Pay no attention to my messy table.

Every little boy needs some navy blue tweed.

This is probably my favorite sweater I've made for him. Awesome stitch pattern, soft machine-washable wool, and I used the tan cashmere/silk and some extra alpaca from the vest for the trim. It has cute doggy buttons that match the tan color. LOVE it! Hopefully he'll get to wear all this stuff. You can never tell what the weather will be like in April around here.

The pants are size newborn, and now I'm going to make him some shorts for the summer. I have some leftover gift card money for my favorite yarn store too - so I can buy some more when I run out. I'm telling you, this is addictive! And it's great because I can do it watching TV with Ken in the evenings and during naptime. (And I may have been sneaking a few rows in during some Elmo episodes during the day too!)

Best. Dr Appointment. EVER.

So I went to my 26 week appointment today and had to bring Madeleine (and a BIG lollipop!) I was chatting with my doctor and she said, "So, we just got a new 4D ultrasound machine and the lady is here to train our technicians. Would you like to have an ultrasound today?" WOULD I??? Here's my little man in all his 4D glory:

We probably took 100 pictures of the pictures they gave us and these were the best we could get. It was so fun! I think he looks just like Madeleine - completely adorable! He wasn't very cooperative though - he had his hand and arm in front of his face almost the entire time. Plus they said if we didn't know he was a boy already they wouldn't say this time because his legs were tightly closed!

Madeleine was pretty great through the whole thing. Luckily she took a liking to one of the ultrasound technicians, who kept giving her cups of water and paper towels.... how did she know what she'd like? :)

Dang.

So I hit the BIG number today. What was that? I'm not going to actually WRITE it, but I hit my pre-pregnancy weight today. I guess I shouldn't mind TOO much, because I also hit 26 weeks today. So does that mean I haven't gained a pound? Let's just say it does.

Interestingly, this is almost exactly what happened last time. So I ended up only gaining 15 lbs more than pre pregnancy weight, then lost 30 in the first two weeks. Let's hope THAT is the same too.

I haven't been online at all this weekend because once I finished Six's sweater vest, I got the itch to make more stuff for him. So I finished a great sweater in less than a week. Now I'm working on a pair of pants. I should have some pictures of this stuff soon, but my mom is going to sew the buttons on for me this week.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! American Idol starts Tuesday - YAY!!!

My kid is hilarious

She was running around and ran straight into the corner of the refrigerator, head first, and fell backwards on the floor. I gasped and thought for sure she'd be crying and have a huge bruise on her head. She popped right up and said "I need-a be careful, watch where you going!"

Finished!

Well... almost. I still have to sew the buttons on the left shoulder. But I LOVE how it came out and the alpaca is SO soft! This is the first thing I've made for him :) I've already started on another sweater.

Dying to yourself

I went to my Mother's for Children group today, where the speaker was a good friend of mine. He has worked in youth ministry for 29 years, and he's been married for the same amount of time. He has three grown boys, who are exactly like I'd like my boy to be someday. He even started tearing up talking about how proud he is of his boys. He spoke today on Loving your spouse more than your children. He went through Ephesians 5 and explained what it means to submit to your husband, and what the next verse means - husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church, which means dying to their own will. But mostly he talked about how we can raise our children to have good marriages and families.

He said kids today are worried about their parents getting divorced. One of the best things we can do for our kids is to sit them down individually and for the dad to tell them that he will NEVER divorce their mother. He said that gives them such a sense of security. He did this with each of his boys and they each remember the conversations. I know that we will be able to do that with Madeleine and our other children. I have no hesitation in this area. I would be able to sit down right now with her (if she could understand) and tell her that I would never divorce her daddy. And I know Ken could do the same thing with no hesitation.

Also he talked about what a great affect it has on the children when it's obvious that their parents love each other. People that are married are really one flesh, we entered into a sacramental covenant with God and with our spouse. Our spouse is MORE important than our children. Taking care of your marriage is so important to the kids. And we can start training our children to eventually have a good marriage. They can see that we have affection and closeness, and they will have security. They can see that doing God's will, dying to our own will in a million ways, is the true key to having joy in our lives.

There was one thing he said that really struck me. He said to train kids to die to themselves, every time we see them give up a toy they want or something they want to a sibling or friend, we just praise the daylights out of them! Let them know how great it is when they want something but they give it to a friend. Tell them how proud that makes us.

He said the divorce rate in our county is 64%. So our job is to teach our kids through our example how to have good marriages. (And the same qualities apply if they are called to a different vocation.) What a job! I hope that we can do it.

New Apron!!

A lot of you guys know about All You Who Hope's famous aprons..... here is the tiny version!! She made Madeleine a little apron and sent it to her before Christmas - so it went in her stocking. It goes perfectly with her new kitchen and she looks SO CUTE in it!! Thank you Karey :)






She is quite the busy little cook!! Karey I might need to buy one from you - for me! :)

New Year's Resolutions

All the junk food is out of the house, and our fridge is stocked with fruits, veggies, lean meats, yogurt, cottage cheese, steel cut oatmeal, lowfat milk and soy milk, etc. We ARE going to start eating healthier. Our resolution should be to eat as healthy as we feed the kid.

I predict we'll feel better within a week.

The other big one is we're going to stop spending money frivolously. We're going to have to start saving, start paying down debts, and stop spending money on stuff we don't need.

We're also going to organize the house better and get rid of stuff we don't need. And go to bed earlier. Speaking of that, goodnight!

3 full hours

10 million small parts.
1 drilled finger.
Countless inappropriate words.
And we have......


Madeleine's new favorite Christmas Present!!!!

The bottom half of this kid was not dressed appropriately for internet display. Potty Training.

She played with this forever after we finally got it set up. She even chose to play with this over watching Elmo - after she'd been waiting all day to watch Elmo. We had a hard time getting her to eat dinner and she wanted to go straight back to "Mannet's kitchen" afterwards. Thank you Uncle Mike and Aunt Jenni!!! And thank you Daddy for working so hard to set it up!

What a difference a year makes!

Happy New Year!!

At least one of us is still young enough to be on American Idol

One of Madeleine's favorite gifts was a microphone from Ken's parents. She sings all day! Maybe a future backup singer for Sarah Bauer???