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!

Anastasia 15 mo stats and pics

This post is a little late, but better late than never!  At Staci's 15 mo appt, she got 2 vaccinations and impressed Dr E with all her sign language skills.  She is still right at/around the fiftieth percentile for both height and weight--and twentieth for head size.  She got Mommy's head size which isn't altogether a bad thing! We still have plenty of brains, that is for sure. ;)

Height: 30.5 inches
Weight: 21lbs 13oz

Thanks to my awesome photographer friend Mandy at Mandy Leonards Photography, we have some adorable photos to share!

This last one is my absolute favorite! I love that squishy, devious smile <3

Big News

Everyone who frequents this blog already knows, and Max and I are looking for a fun way to tell long distance family. so, here it is!

No one was more shocked than me to see that line pop up on the pregnancy test! I tested because I was planning on drinking wine that evening, and since my cycles hadn't become regular yet (in fact, I only had one) I figured it was a good precautionery measure.  I was so surprised I walked out to tell Max, and couldn't utter a word.  I ended up just handing him the pregnancy test.  He jumped up and hugged me, and I just started giggling.  With everything we went through to get pregnant with Staci, I did not think there was any chance we would ever have a surprise pregnancy.  Obviously, I was wrong! 

I did have a little bit of spotting a few days after the positive test and went into the doctor for some bloodwork to see what my levels were doing.  the first level came back at 156, and the second was 397.  It more than doubled in 48 hours which is fantastic, and faster than the doubling time from when I was pregnant with Staci.  

We went for an ultrasound on Wednesday, 7/14 and I was measuring 6 weeks and 2 days pregnant, so exactly where I thought I was.  we got to see the heartbeat and even got to hear it for a little bit.  The heart was beating at 120 beats per minute, which is just about perfect for how far along I am.  I think the heart rate will go up over the next couple of weeks. If it stays low, I will be thinking boy!

In the ultrasound above, the baby is on the right and the yolk sac is on the left. 

So far, I have been feeling pretty nauseous for about a week.  I ordered some psi bands and got them today, they seem to be helping a little.  Basically, they put pressure on an accupressure point that is supposed to disrupt your nervous system's recognition of nausea.  I'm glad to be feeling some relief!  When I was pregnant with Staci I used the b-natal therapops and those worked well, despite the icky too sweet flavor of the cherry I had.  This time I got the green apple flavor but they are still too sweet and not all that effective with this pregnancy--which is unfortunate.

Other than nausea, I have been outrageously hungry and it seems if I am not shoving food in my mouth I'm nauseated.  So, I might be gaining a lot more weight with this baby--I'm hoping I don't! I am also exhausted.  Pregnant and breastfeeding my 15 month old is really wearing me out.  yawn.

Although there are some unpleasant symptoms, I am so thrilled to be expecting again!!  My babies will be about 23 months apart, which is how far apart my brother and I are. I think it will be perfect.  I can't wait to find out of this is a boy or a girl!

I won't be sharing this on facebook for a while, so please no comments there quite yet.  But most people that read this blog already know, and the ones that don't are family so we decided to go for it! ;)