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!