Staci-isms

--A few weeks ago, Max taught Staci how to say the word 'outfit'.  It doesn't sound like outfit to the untrained ear, but she certainly knows what an 'outfit' is, and when she says it she will grab her shirt and smile.  Today, she was being super adorable (when is she not?) and I told her, "You are SO cute!".  She grabbed her shirt just like she does when she says 'outfit' and said 'cute!'  Why yes you are :)

--She won't SAY hooray, but she will throw her arms up in the air with you when you say it! (if you're happy and you know it shout hooray!)

--She has a funny bone in her butt.  Literally.  When I apply lotion before bed, that is a dry spot for her and I make sure to get it good.  Giggling ensues.

--She has learned the word ouchie, and also that she gets them on her knees.  Even though her most recent ouchie has healed, she will still point to her knee and say, "ahchie!"

--We have a book entitled 'The Library Lion' that is really a bit too old for her.  There are too many words on each page to hold her attention for the whole story.  She has learned on exactly what pages the lion roars and will raaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrr when she opens the book to that page.  Also, if I call her a liar (like when she says poopoo and points to her butt and there is no poopoo to be found), she roars at me.

--She has all her favorite books memorized by page.  Although she can't recite them with us yet, she does any and all motions we have made up to go with them at the right time (before I do them).  For example, in the book 'Kip the Kitten', there is a page where we count the cats that come in through the cat door.  She starts tapping the page and pointing to cats before I even get there. 

I. Love. That. Child. :)

Fall Consignment Shopping

As many of you know, I LOVE congsignment sales!  There are a few baby and kid's sales that happen in my area twice a year.  You can find excellent deals on items that are in like new condition and help the environment by saving these items from going into landfills.  You may be able to find cheaper items at garage sales, but what I like most about these sales is the items are-most of the time--already inspected.  It isn't very often that you'll find a stained or ripped item at a consignment sale.  Oh, and the toys work!  It is possible to find items like this at garage sales, but in my experience there is a lot more time, effort, and DIGGING involved! My favorite is the Indy Kids Consignment sale.  It is going on in just a couple of weeks--September 16th-18th.  One of the blogs I follow, INGoodCents is hosting a giveaway for presale tickets to this event. I am very excited about the possibility of getting to shop the presale! If you are in the area and interested, go to her site and sign up!

The other two sales I like to check out are the Whale of a Sale and Just Between Friends.  The Whale of a Sale has probably what I would consider the most high-end items--and also the highest prices!  I still love it though.  The JBF sale tends to have items that are not inspected as closely, so just be sure to inspect them yourself and I'm sure you'll find a great deal!

diaper sewing diva

I finally did it! I finally made the diaper I have been thinking about and talking about making for months.  It turned out pretty cute!  It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, either.  Except for sewing the elastic into the seem allowance. that part was hard! Hopefully, after I wash it and dry it it will still look somewhat like this LOL! 

I think one of the things I am most excited about are the snaps and my new snap pliers.  I had read that snap pliers were not appropriate for plastic snaps, and that you really needed a snap press.  This is not entirely true.  KAM snaps makes an excellent product that is a fraction of the cost of a snap press (around $100, the pliers are $27!!) and they worked great.  I read the instructions, tried a snap out on a a scrap piece of fabric and voila! It was SO easy. I am very impressed.  If I can do it, trust me, anyone can!

I can't wait to try Staci's new diaper! I will have to report back and let you all know how it works!

moving? perhaps!

We, my husband and I, have been discussing it for a while.  It always seemed like a 'one day' type of discussion.  But after coming home from a day out with my mom who is buying a new house, he finally expressed the desire to move closer to his office--and the sooner the better.  Personally, I like the area we live in.  Our neighborhood is safe, our home is affordable (and still practically brand new), and we have enough space for family gatherings.  However, I don't like that he leaves the house before 7am every morning to beat the nasty traffic a la the I-465 parking lot.  Because he leaves so early, he is able to be home by 5.  I love that he is home by 5, but he has still spent an hour and a half in the car that day.  It really isn't a terrible commute.  But it could be better. A lot better!
 
So, we're thinking of putting the house on the market.  My mom is moving to the east side of Indianapolis in a cute little area close to where my brother and sister-in-law and their two boys live.  This area is 10-15 minutes from my husband's office.  AND, I've already found a house I LOVE!  Well, I love the outside.  I need to see the inside of course! It would be so nice to be walking distance from family.  I would love for Staci to spend more time with her cousins, and I would like to spend more time with family myself--especially with baby number two on the way!

There is a problem, unfortunately.  The builders are still in the neighborhood, and I personally can't see why anyone would buy a 'used' house when they could go down the street and build one and choose all the options themselves.  I know that houses here are selling, I see for sale signs and a few months later they are gone, and a moving truck comes.  So I know there is selling going on, but I don't know how much the sellers have had to come down on their price in order to get the job done. 

It is all kind of up in the air right now I guess! We are waiting to hear back from our realtor about a market analysis.  If things look like it's possible to sell the house for at least what we owe, I think we might try to do just that. Wish us luck!

Nesting

After months of batting a big fat zero in the home cleanliness department, I am finally getting into the swing of cleaning again!  Once Staci started pulling herslef along, it became almost impossible for me to keep up with this house.  I just wasn't sure how to manage her and clean--especially because I do try to limit her television watching.  I don't think TV is bad necessarily, but I do think she will learn more and be more active if the TV is off.  This week, however, she has watched way more than I approve of.  That is because Mama has been BUSY!  Monday, I spent nearly the entire day decluttering, trimmed the bushes, shined the kitchen sink, hung the second curtain rod up in Staci's room (so we could have blackout curtans and her pretty curtains up at the same time) and cleaned up the toys in both play areas.  That doesn't sound like much, but it took me most of the day. 

Yesterday I didn't get much done around the house because Staci and I spent the entire day out and about with Grandma E checking out her soon-to-be new home and area of town!

Today, I vacuumed the entire house, steam-cleaned the living room carpet, had friends over and went for a nice long walk, did 2 loads of laundry, cleaned all 3 toilets, and steam-mopped the kitchen floor.  Wow, when I write it all out it sure doesn't sound like that much, but I only sat down during nap time!

I think the big motivator for me in finally starting to get our house in shape is that Max and I are considering getting our house on the market and looking for a new home closer to his work.  More on that in the next post!

Four Years!

This month, my wonderful husband and I celebrated our fourth anniversary.  It's hard to believe it's already been four years!!  We celebrated with our favorite meal and a very special cake that evening, and had a wonderful evening out the following Friday evening.  Our dinner at home was more difficult to enjoy because we spent the entire time chasing our daughter (who refuses to stay in her high chair longer than 3.2 seconds) but the food was still picture perfect!

For our evening out, the hubs took me to The Melting Pot.  We had our own private booth and enjoyed our 4 course meal--it was fantastic! Cheese fondu, salads, traditional fondu and then of course chocolate fondu for dessert. YUM. Wish I had a picture of that...

update on Staci

And before I know it, another month has gone by without me updating the blog!  Our little girl is exploding in the vocabulary department.  She has a TON of words, though some of them she will only say the first half of the word--for waffles, she says, "waffffffffffffff" LOL. She has also added 'play' and 'cereal' to her sign language skills.  She will pucker up for kisses with the cutest little fish face, she gets excited to see her bff Bella when Mommy and Aunt Mandy work out, and she will bring me her lovey to hug, ya know, just in case I needed one.  And she will also spin in circles on command. probably my favorite trick so far!

She is finally starting to expand her eating a bit--I am THRILLED to announce she is now eating yogurt with NO side effects.  In the past, when I have given her any dairy product, it has been quickly followed by stuffiness and fussiness, and occasionally hives and swelling.  She has been eating yogurt almsot every day for a week.  I'm even more elated in the fact that she LIKES it! YAY! my baby likes YOGURT! something her father will not touch with a ten foot pole.  Thank goodness.  At least I won't be begging HER to eat something besides hot pockets and pop tarts!

And you know what? She ate some cottage cheese yesterday. with no problems.  I never thought I'd get her to eat anything like that.  I'm thrilled!  Still too nervous to try mac'n'cheese or grilled cheese sandwhiches--or cow's milk for that matter, BUT, it's a start! In the past, both cow and goat milk have ended in me cleaning up puke, so I think I'll stay away from those a little while longer.

Yogurty McYogurt Face

that is so just the tip of the iceburg...

OH yeah, it got messy.  but it was awfully cute!