Balanced

I honestly don't know how time manages to pass so quickly.  The past month has been a whirlwind, and I hardly feel like I can keep my feet on the ground.

Amongst other things, my oldest starting kindergarten has thrown our family for a loop.  I really didn't think that it would be a hard transition for me, and emotionally, it hasn't been.  Half day kindergarten, however, takes over your life.  It's going to be a new phase in our family's life, and I am trying to adjust.

I've been hoping to find a nice structured routine for all of us, and I suppose that it happens a bit naturally. Originally I thought that I'd sew/work while Clark was in class, but so far that hasn't happened.  Any and all sewing has been in the early morning, with errands being run during school time.  With craft fair season on it's way, I have to find a bit more work time.

Do you have any suggestions for finding a good work/family life schedule.  Balance has always eluded me. The idea of working from home sounds like a dream, right?  You're able to work in your pajamas, stay home with your children, and make a little extra money.

I've come to think that working from home might be the hardest job ever.  Having to balance your work  and family responsibilities is nearly impossible, not to mention keeping your home in good repair. Sometimes I fear that I'm doing a disservice to my children working from home.  I don't want to send the message that they are less important than a project or a deadline.  They don't often get my full attention, but instead a frazzled and frantic momma.

Like I mentioned, I'm hoping to find a better routine, and a balance, until that happens, posting will continue to be light in these parts.  I can't do it all, and I'm trying to admit that to myself, and the harder part, accept it.

August Elliot: Nine Months

It's been a while since I've done a baby update.  I like to write these up for myself.  I'm not a very dutiful journal keeper, so recording them on the blog is at least some type of written record.

In the past month and a half August has hit so many milestones.  It makes me a little bit sad to see my little baby becoming more and more independent. He started crawling at about 7 1/2 months, much later than his two brothers, but I was quite pleased that he waited a little while.  He's pulling himself up to standing, and loves to be walked around the house.  Unfortunately this boys balance doesn't keep up with his eagerness to walk.  He has crazy legs, and I think we are still a ways away from independent walking.

At 7 1/2 months he cut his first tooth.  His second, third, and fourth all cut together on the top.  The week following 2,3,and 4, he cut 5,6, and 7.  Teeth 6, and 7 aren't visible in the picture, but they have cut through the gums on the bottom.  All of those teeth, so close together, makes for a pretty uncomfortable baby.  At least he is working his way through the teething process in an efficient manner.

At 8 months he figured out how to wave to say bye bye, and learned to clap his chubby little hands.  He is so sweet. He loves to play, and smiles easily.

He's slid down the charts a bit in the past months.  All of this teething has killed his desire to eat.  He's weighing in at 23.5 lbs, and is in the 93%.  He's 94% for height, and is 100% for head.  My boys have had big heads, and I blame their daddy!

His hair is coming in nicely, and is a sweet honey blonde with loose curls. 

We sure love our little Gus Gus!  We're so glad he's ours.

It's About Love

It has been an interesting past few weeks in our home.  Our extended family has seen how life changes involving both death and illness can bring you together.  Just a couple of weeks ago I sat in my husband's grandmother's funeral.  The room was full of family.  She bore eight wonderful children that loved her.  Children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren were a result of the love that she shared with her husband, and the love that she showed to each little spirit that was added to their family.

As I sat in the funeral, I was once again reminded about how family is love.  About how all of the best parts of my life are a result of the family that I was born into, the family that I joined when I married my husband, and the family that resulted from my marriage.  I have been blessed.  My family is the sweetest part of even the most bitter days.  Finding ways to express my love isn't always easy.  Sometimes loving someone means saying "No".  Sometimes loving someone means putting their needs above your own.  Sometimes loving someone means holding their hand when there is nothing else you can do.

When Clark was two and a half years old he had a scrape on his cheek.  He asked me to kiss it better.  I did. Following the kiss, and after looking in the mirror, he replied "it didn't work, it's still there".  My kiss hadn't magically made his scrape go away, but he had had faith that it would.  As a parent/family, we can't always take away the pain and difficulty of life, but we can always do something.  We can lend a listening ear, we can support them as they make mistakes, we can help them get back on their feet when they fall. We can kiss their cheek, and let them know we care, and would fix it if we could Family is love.

My sweet friends Quinn and Ashley have a beautiful family.  Their sweet daughter  looks just like her mommy and daddy.  I grew up with Quinn, and he is an awesome guy.  Soft spoken, kind hearted, and hard working.  Ashley I met in college.  We had a painting class together, and she was expecting their daughter.  Ashley is full of personality, sweet, smart, creative (see her blog here), and very nurturing.   They are amazing parents, and their daughter is so lucky to have them to call her own.

Ashley and Quinn have more love to share, and Kelsey is ready to be a big sister. You can read more about their story here, but they need our help.  They are looking to grow their family by way of adoption.  If you know of anyone that is looking to place a baby up for adoption, please send them their way.  They want to kiss it's scraped cheeks, change it's dirty diapers, give it a place to call home, and make it part their family.

August: 4 Months

I've been MIA the last little while (year and a half or so), but with good reason.  This little guy.

Just a year ago we found out that we would be receiving this unexpected blessing.  Gus has been such a wonderful addition to our family.  It's true that he hasn't been the easiest baby, but we have figured out my diet, and he is feeling better, and is so much happier.

He is four months old now, and is learning all sorts of new tricks.  He can roll belly to back, and back to belly.  He sleeps for 5-6 hours straight at night, which is much better than the oldest two did at this age. And he is a charmer.  The boy loves to smile.

No I didn't make the hat, I bought it from Pick Your Plum last year.  I love it!

He is really big for his age.  Nearly off the charts in height and weight, but he looks just perfect to me.

I'm hoping that as we wrap up the holidays in the next few weeks, that I will be able to get back to some sort of schedule on the blog.  I sewing for blogging pleasure, and lately all of the sewing I've been doing is for business and Christmas.

Speaking of holiday sewing, what homemade gifts are you working on this season?  Anyone out there do a pure handmade holiday?  I think it would be fun to try one year....but not this year.

I've finished up a few fleece blankets, some magic pillowcases, belts for my boys, and still have a few more things to make in the next week and a half.

Jake and The Neverland Pirate Costumes

Halloween costumes have been a topic of conversation since early summer in our house.  We tossed around several different costume themes.  Initially Clark wanted to dress up as the Wild Kratt's from PBS.  Next we were going as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, then ghosts, and finally, nine days before Halloween Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

source

Hook's costume was definitely the most involved, though I dumbed it down as much as possible.  Fortunately my husband already had maroon pants, and white socks.  I bought a plain long sleeved tee added some satin ruffles to the top, trimmed with lace.  I added a bit of gold ric-rac down the front, and then made some separate felt cuffs for the sleeves.  They are completely detachable, which was great when eating.  The hook was a thing of genius, a black glove with a felt/peltex hook sewn on the front.  My husband could make a fist to expose only the hook, but it also allowed him to carry a baby or two when needed.  The hat is a double thickness of felt, and the feather has four layers of felt and a wooden dowel for stability.

I'll be honest, I really pushed for this theme.  The pirate costumes would be relatively easy to construct. And who doesn't love dressing up as a pirate.

Miles played the role of Jake.  He was adorable, but unfortunately very difficult to get a decent picture of.  The boy hasn't been trained to pose for pictures.  

His costume consisted of a white muslin pirate shirt, a blue and gold vest.  Red headband with a Jake-esque fauxhawk, black sash, and a wooden sword. 

I was Izzy, one of Jake's right hand men.  My costume was simple.  A pouch full of pixie dust, a pink lace trimmed bandana, pink shirt, purple pants, and brown boots.  I didn't have the purple pants, and my pink shirt was more of a coral, but no one called me out on it.  I threw on some gold earrings, and wore my hair in braids and it was done.

Clark chose to be Peter Pan, which made me happy.  His costume was fairly simple as well.  A pan inspired hat complete with red felt feather.  Green knit leggings, a green fleece tunic, brown belt, and a felt knife. He wanted to be Peter over Jake because "he is more magical".  

Gus Gus got to play the role of Smee, Hook's loyal pirate side kick.  A cropped blue and white knit shirt, blue leggings, sandals, and a red knit cap completed this look.  The very easiest to put together, and the most adorable.  A big baby belly will win over anyone.

I hadn't planned on making costumes this year, but I'm glad I did. Family costumes are so much fun, and  I was able to use up A LOT of materials from my fabric stash.  I only purchased hook's shirt, gold ric-rac, and the green fleece for Pan's tunic.  Everything else we already had.  A last minute Halloween Costume success.

August 2 Months

There are still a few more days to enter the Monster N-tunes headphone giveaway.  Don't miss out on the chance to win a pair of these great headphones.

I'm alive, in case you were wondering.  I know that things have slowed way down in the past year, and while I can't promise that things are going to change, I can tell you that I have been very busy sewing up a Halloween storm/craft fair storm lately.

Meanwhile, this little guy turned two months old.  I can't believe that it has been two months already.  He's been such a great addition to our family.  He's a big little guy, at nearly 16 pounds.  It makes me sad to see him outgrow his clothes so quickly, but it is so fun to see him change.

We've been giving him Baby Gaia Probiotics for a few weeks now, and have some seen some improvement.  His digestive system is still working out some kinks, but he seems to be quite a bit more comfortable than he was.  At his two month check up I talking to his doctor about breastfeeding vs. formula feeding with his sensitivity issues.  He informed me that 90% of sensitive babies do better with breastmilk than formula, and that he'd recommend sticking with breastfeeding, and so that is what we will do.  I'm still hoping to reintroduce some foods into my diet.  Even if I can't get away with chocolate, a bit more variety would be welcome.

White Satin Blessing Onesie

Don't forget to let me know about your favorite flavor of Monster Candy, and enter to win a pair of Monster N-Tune Headphones.  Check out my review and enter the giveaway here.

Those of you that have been following my blog, may remember reading about the guilt I was feeling about not having time to make a blessing outfit for August.  Well my guilt got the best of me, and the day before the blessing I managed to whip up a semi handmade blessing vest. I actually had a blessing outfit hanging in the closet to use, but my massive 7 week old didn't quite fit into the tuxedo jacket.  So, I decided to keep the pants, and make a vest and bow tie onesie to accompany them.  I've made plenty of these, so it whipped up pretty quickly, and fortunately August slept.  

It makes for a fairly simple blessing outfit, but he looked handsome none the less.  He had been a bit grumpy the night before the blessing, so I feared he was going to scream through the entire thing, but he did awesome.

Photographing a busy baby isn't the easiest thing.  I'm sharing these blurry smiles because I just can't get over how it looks like he is taking a selfie.  Makes me laugh every time.

This week we started with infant probiotics.  At $30 for .17 ounces, I hope they work.  It's been three days, and it seems to take about a week from the reviews I've read to see improvement.  I'm hoping for the best for this little guy. I'll keep you posted.

I've also cut out eggs, which has seemed to help a bit.  Now I am on a Gluten free, egg free, peanut butter, chocolate, tomato, and bean free diet.  Meal ideas anyone?  I'm running out.

Crocheted Pumpkin Hat and Smiles

Ahh, an actual project up on the blog.  Micah Makes has some of the funnest little crochet hat patterns, and I had to make her crocheted pumpkin hat for the fall season.  It was a project that I found I could work on while August slept on my lap, which means that it actually got done.  Hooray!  

This newborn sized hat will be a perfect photography prop, and I might just make another to throw on August for Halloween.  Micah also provides instructions for making a leaf to add to the top of the hat.  I made the leaf, but chose not to add it.  I like it the way it is.  I love that little ribbed stem, such a perfect detail.  Hop on over to her blog to find her free crochet pumpkin hat pattern.  

Now for a little August update.  Thanks to all of you for your sweet and supportive comments on my last post.  I wrote up the post at a  bit of a desperate moment, and I am so grateful to have kind readers to share their experiences and wisdom.  Thank you, thank you.  We are still trying to figure out exactly what is bothering his little digestive system, and I'm still currently breastfeeding.  It may just be that his digestive system is immature, but he has had some really good days among the harder ones.  So it is a bit more tolerable for all of us. He's also started to give some social smiles, which is so wonderfully rewarding as a parent.  I'm considering giving the infant probiotic drops a whirl, just to see if they help his little system out.  Have any of you tried them?  The reviews online seem pretty good, so I figure it is worth a shot.

Mom Top Knot Hat blogged about here.

On My Mind: Store Bought Guilt

Over the past few years I've made a lot of handmade gifts for my children.  Every Christmas they've received at least one handmade item.  I've made their halloween costumes for the last three years, and as newborn's I made their blessing outfits.

I'm trying to come to grips with the fact that I will probably not be able to find the time to make five handmade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes by Halloween.  I am also trying to accept the fact, that I will not be able to finish up a blessing outfit for August by next Sunday.  I want to.  I have this fear that he's going to hold it against me if the other boys have one made by mom, and he doesn't.

 The truth is, yesterday I held/bounced that boy for the better part of NINE HOURS.  It was a rough day.  I'm quite convinced that he is highly sensitive to something I'm eating.  Let the elimination continue.  Hopefully one day he'll appreciate the fact I held him all day long, and didn't break into tears myself. He's getting my time, even if it doesn't result in a tangible handmade product. But I can't help but continue to feel a bit of irrational guilt.  Why do mothers do that?  Always so much unnecessary guilt.

Want to hear another irrational point of guilt for me.  With the idea of eliminating something else from my diet, possibly eggs or dairy, I'm faced with the fact that it might be better for both of us to have him formula feed.  I am already on a a gluten free diet, and I don't know how much more I can cut out and still keep myself healthy.  For some reason, I feel that I would be failing him in some way.  Why?  Formula is specially designed to meet babies' needs, and there have been many healthy human beings that have survived and thrived on formula.  What's my deal....maybe it's the fact that I don't want to wash a hundred bottles a week.  I dislike washing dishes. Or perhaps it's the fact that I am a normal new mother riding the emotional post-partum hormone roller coaster.

August: 1 Month

One month has passed since we welcomed little August into our family.  I can't believe that time is already passing so quickly.  He is a joy.  We love him.

35 Weeks

Clark (4), drew this picture of his two little brothers being chased by a monster truck.  I got to be present in the picture...due to the fact that the littlest brother is "just a lump in your belly". The proportions are surprisingly accurate, though he left out a few body parts.

Five more weeks to go.  I can survive the 95-100 degree weather.  I'm going to survive the swollen feet, the forty plus pounds of weight gain, the insomnia, the heart burn, and even the irritability (hopefully my family survives that one too).

Only five more weeks until we welcome our third little boy into our home.  Five more weeks to select a name for this little guy.  Five more weeks to deep clean my cupboards, stock up on diapers, wash teeny tiny baby clothes, make freezer meals, do three more months of craft show sewing, do three months worth of church related responsibilities, and five more weeks to enjoy our family of four.  

And only five more weeks to carry around this round belly.  I do love (some aspects) of being pregnant.  I am so grateful to be  a mother, and feel blessed with the opportunity to mother my three boys.  I wish that the to-do list over didn't weigh me down.  I wish I could slow down and really enjoy the next five weeks with Clark and Miles, and of course their daddy.  Heaven knows baby number three is going to change our family life.

I do plan on making the time to take my two little boys, and my husband out on one on one dates before I deliver. My husband and I are celebrating our anniversary this weekend, and should have a good day and a half to ourselves.  We are so excited.  Before we know it, we will be bringing home baby, and he'll be heading back to school.

It's a . . . .

First of all, this isn't an April Fool's joke. I am always reluctant to post anything honest on April Fool's Day, but I just had to let you know, that. . .

What can I say, we know how to make boys.  Fortunately, we love our boys, and know that we will love this little guy.  

Thanks to all of you that cast your vote on the gender.  It was fun to see what people guessed.  90% of you guessed that it would be a girl.  Don't feel bad that you didn't get it right.  After all, the Old Wives, and the Chinese Gender Chart got it wrong as well.  It may have been wishful thinking, and to be honest, the idea of having a little girl in pigtails was fun.  Until then, we'll just love what we have.  

We were so relieved to see that everything looked good.  There are so many things that have to happen for a little baby to grow, and it just amazes me that things go the way that they should, as often as they do.

I can't promise ruffles and lace over the next few months, but they'll show up eventually.  I have plenty of nieces to sew for.  

Surprise, Surprise, Baby Surprise

I realize that the title of the post is probably altogether odd for most of my readers, but for some reason the jingle a television advertisement from my childhood, always pops into my head "Surprise, surprise, puppy surprise.  How many puppies are there inside".  There are probably only a few of you that would remember such a ridiculous thing, but what can I say, I'm ridiculous. You can find the commercial here.
So the big mid-pregnancy ultrasound is coming up in a couple of days, and I can't help but wonder what is hiding inside.  Hopefully it is a baby.  Hopefully it is healthy. And hopefully we can get a clear view of that little baby and all it's parts and pieces.  I am actually quite horrible when it comes to surprises. My husband always knows what he is getting for Christmas.  I just can't handle the thought of spending money on something he might not like.  So, needless to say, we are planning on finding out whether it is a boy or a girl.

Any inclinations readers?  I've never had a real clear feeling one way or the other, during any of my pregnancies.  Though with Clark I did dream that it was a boy.

I will say this-my husband thinks it is another boy.

My mother is really hoping for a girl. 6/9 of her grandkids are currently boys.  A girl would be fun.

The Chinese Gender Charts say it is a girl.

The Parent's Magazine quiz/old wives say that it is a girl (though I'm pretty sure I was almost evenly split).

The heart rate has always been above 140, with the lowest reading being 148.

How about we take our own poll? You have a 50/50 chance of being right.

Boy, or Girl.




While we are on the subject, how many of you "knew" before hand what you were having?  Any signs or symptoms that stuck to one gender or the other?  I'd love to hear your stories.

I have the hardest time waiting.  It seems like the closer we get to the day of the ultrasound, the more I want to go out and buy baby gear, and fabric. Just a few more days!

Confessional

As a little girl, I thought I'd grow up, have a happy little family, in a perfectly orderly home.  Little did I know, kids make messes; moms have very little time for themselves, and orderly is pretty hard to achieve.  I wish that everything in my home and life was in it's proper place, but I haven't achieved that level of domestic perfection yet, and I doubt I ever will.

It seems to me, even as a grown up, that some women manage to be pretty near perfect.  I know it's not the truth, but it can seem that way.  I decided to start a little confessional.  I'm going to admit a few of my faults, and let you in on some little secrets.

1.  I am learning to crochet.  A couple of years ago I taught myself to knit, or at the very least, knitting basics.  I've made a few things, but finally decided that it was time to learn to crochet as well.

I'm working on a hat right now (above).  My stitches definitely aren't perfect, and I have a horrible time ending up with the proper number of crochets. I'll admit that because I'm a beginner.

What I'm not so happy to admit is that my skein of yarn looks like this.

I would like to say that it was my child.  Heaven knows it wasn't my cat, for I don't have one.  The truth is though, I'm not 100% sure that it was my child.  This particular skein has been in my knitting bag for a couple of years.  Confession: sometimes I have a hard time finding the tail of the yarn.  Go ahead, cringe.

Confession #2:  My curling iron looks like this, and has for a couple of years.  Held together with two bobby pins, and coated in hair spray residue, and pastels.  Yep, gross.  Yes it needs to be replaced.  Will it be in the near future?  Don't count on it.  Diapers trump curling iron.

Confession # 3:  I still make post-it note grocery lists.  Not a bad thing, but considering the amount of money paid for my smart phone, I should probably get used to the idea of making a digital list on my phone.  One less thing to take to the store. 

Confession #4:  I've been a horrible blogger. When a blogger suddenly drops off the face of the earth you can jump to a few conclusions.  1-They are writing a book (not here).  2-They are moving (once again no). 3-  They are sick of blogging (not so much, I just haven't found the energy).  4-They are pregnant.  Ding Ding Ding.  

You're probably feeling that I was just pregnant, and guess what, so am I.  This little baby was a bit of a surprise, but we are excited just the same.  We'd planned on waiting until after my husband got through school, but apparently this baby had other plans. The kids will be about 23 months apart.  That aspect terrifies me, and the fact that we will probably end up with a mini-van.

So I apologize for the lack of tutorials and sewing projects.  My energy levels have been next to nothing since mid-December.  We are 14 weeks along, even though I look like I'm 5 months pregnant.  My belly gets huge when I'm pregnant, and apparently my abdominal muscles aren't going to fight it this go round.  

Anyone out there have kids less than 2 years apart?  I'd love some advice on how to adjust.

We are planning on finding out the gender, so you can expect a fair number of projects to start popping up in around 6 weeks, until then.....I can't make any promises.

So any confessions you'd like to make?  I'd love to show you my horrible craft closet, but I'm not sure I'm emotionally prepared to admit the sad shape it's in.

Finally a Princess Party

It took me thirty years, but I finally had one-my very own princess party.  I had my birthday Saturday, and spent most of the day at my final craft fair of the season.  I was able to wrap up the day, eating cake with my family.  It was wonderful.  Clark picked out a tiara for me, and Mile's chose a lovely pink necklace, my favorite gifts.

Clark just assumed that I'd be having a princess party this year,  I am a girl after all.  Kids make birthdays so much more fun.  My dear mom watched my boys while I was at the craft fair, and my husband worked.  While she had them they made me a cake, and found all sorts of princess party props.  It was awful sweet.  Although I'm not thrilled about getting older, it is better than the alternative, and I'm so happy with all that has happened in the last thirty years of life, especially the last ten. I've gone from student, to employee, to stay at home mom.  Single, to married, to married with children.

Thinking about getting older, it seemed to take forever to turn the ripe old age of fifteen, but last fifteen years have come and gone in a hurry. I'm sure that they'll continue to fly by.  Hopefully I'll learn a lot along the way.

Birthday Boys

Within the past couple of weeks, both of my boys celebrated their birthdays.  I love them.

They make me smile.

Clark is such a bright boy. He just turned four.  He loves space, loves machines, is learning to read, and is bound to do great things.

Miles celebrated his first birthday.

 He's walking like crazy, trying to talk like crazy, and we love him to pieces

I can't believe that a whole year has passed since we welcomed him to our family.

Cake anyone?

Summer Time: Bear Lake

This summer has flown by, and it makes me sad to think that it is coming to a close.  My husband's current work schedule doesn't allow him to have much time off, and we haven't done much by way of recreation this summer.  He did manage to get off half of this last week.  His time of was split between a family camp out in Bear Lake Idaho/Utah, and my brother's wedding.  Needless to say, this has been a busy and somewhat stressful, but wonderful, week.  We had a great time spending some time in the sand and sun with family.

FYI: That's sand on my toes, not hair. 

For those of you that live in Southern Idaho, or Northern Utah, you are probably familiar with Bear Lake.  It's the only lake in the area, that I visit, that has a sandy beach, and warm enough water for swimming.  The lake is quite large, the water clean, and absolutely gorgeous.

We all had a really great time.

 My husband was pretty bummed that we had to miss a few days of the camp out, and head back for the wedding, but he put on a happy face.

 Miles loved the water.

Clark loved the sand! See those sandy cheeks poking out of his trunks? I'm so glad they didn't burn!

Thanks for a great get away Bear Lake.  We miss you already, and can't wait until next year.

I'll share some projects from the wedding later this week!  It turned out much better than I thought it might :).

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