baking with dad

baking with dad, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

How's that for some father son bonding time?
Erik was sure that Father's day was this weekend, but alas, he still has some time to wait... what better way than to make cookies together?

Not for the faint of heart (or stomach)

SO ya know how people always talk about how new parents talk a lot about their baby's poo and it's color and frequency and smell and such? Well I think that for the most part, Erik and I have done a good job of keeping it on the DL. Not today my friends. I've had such an 'incredible' experience, I mustn't keep it to myself.

SO- we've been working a little on potty training... at least, last week we were, then Matthew got his leg pinched between the toilet and the seat and things haven't been the same. He WAS doing GREAT, and now (then?) was terrified to be put near the toilet. Now we're talking the BIG potty here. The boy will have nothing to do with using the "sticky" potty chair or smaller seat that you sit on top of the potty to fit it for little bottoms. Nope, his rear must be held in place.

After a week of going back to the diapers, hoping and PRAYING that he'd forget about the pinching incident, we decided to get back in the saddle again... break out the buzz undies (sorry- I was going to post a picture and then decided not to considering that it'd be out there on the Internet for ANYONE to see), pull out some M&M's and go at it. and he did well yesterday, and this morning. Both days I put him in "button-up underwear" or "nap time underwear" (fuzzy bunz) for nap time, and then changed him back in to underwear afterwards.... well today...

he sat on the potty after his nap, but nothing happened.
1- he went to play in the living room.
2- I followed him in
3- he said "Ma-hoo poo now"
4- I noticed the extra load in his underwear and
5- promptly ran him to the potty to clean out his unders and let him finish his business
6- he threw a fit about the toilet hurting him, so I sat him on his potty chair
7- he licked his hand
8- he told me he had poo in his mouth
9- he threw up.
After that- I tossed him into the tub to rinse him off, cleaned up the mess while he was sitting in the tub screaming, wrapped him up in a towel and met the UPS man at the door.
You can only imagine that I was less than thrilled at the thought of putting Matthew back into underwear, so figuring I'd seen and cleaned up enough of a mess for one day, I put a pampers diaper on him and took him outside to play until I was sure that his tummy wasn't going to unload again.

the upside of my afternoon??
I'm certain that after a few kicks in the same spot on/in my belly, that the small hard spot I felt was a foot. There was about an inch long bumpy area that led to a small section of toughness, that ended in a point. I don't know if I'd gained too much weight with Matthew to notice such details, or if I just never thought to try. I really hope that I have the opportunity again soon- when Erik is home to experience the wonder with me.

Super Why haircut

super Why haircut, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew's fake cheese smile in this picture makes me laugh. He looks like he's getting ready to attack or something.

Anyhow- here's Matthew's new hair cut. I think Erik did an excellent job. Matthew did pretty well too at sitting still and not screaming. He did get upset occasionally when he'd get hair in his mouth or all over his leg... or my leg... but a small pause in cutting to wipe away the debris was all it took to get us going again.... that, and a reminder that dad was cutting his hair JUST like Super Why's.

Yeah, I'm feelin' that.

So this is Matthew this afternoon... and I'm totally feelin' his groove.

sleepy boy., originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

I think I have been for the past 2 weeks. It's so sad really. One day you're nesting away to your heart's desire, the next... your in bla land.


I'm in such a lazy mood latley and it's not cool at all. I'm starting to annoy myself with my lack of energy. I feel like I've gotten so much done, and ther's still so much more to do- I'm at the last leg of the race... and I was in first place... and now? I feel like I've given up.

Last week I did pretty good at faking it I think (or was that 2 weeks ago??). I did a monster of a shopping trip and came home with I'd guess.... 2 weeks worth of food, PLUS. I made a new meal every night and froze at least one extra serving of whatever it was we were having that night. I think this past weekend I sent my mom home with 13 meals to be stored in her basement freezer until July when things get hectic around here with two kiddoes and no one has time to even THINK about what will be for dinner, much less prepare a meal. More on that later though. I've seriously got to go find my get up and go before it's long gone.

Super helper

Super helper, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew has been a super helper lately.... did I mention that already? His favorite new task is to help with the dishes, which of course, always results in a wet shirt for the little guy.

This morning in Church- Father said something along the lines of "Brothers and sisters, let us join hands as we pray together..." Matthew's little head perked up, his eyes sparkled and he looked at me and whispered "A sister!!"
"yes" I responded, "a sister..."
"a sister in dere- mommy's belly!!"
He's starting to catch on... It'll be funny to see what he does when his sister is no longer 'in dere mommy's belly'.

butterflies

butterflies, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew catches on FAST. Each and every night (well, most every night...) Erik has to help me do some butterfly exercises for our class we're taking to prepare for the birth of this new little one... and so when we're finished, it's Matthew's turn- and if during the day he catches me sitting indian style (which is often because THAT is something else I have to do to prepare...) he'll grab one of my knees and move it up and down, up and down. Too too cute. He's such a big helper these days (even if sometimes his helping isn't so much help).
I can only hope that this streak of big boy-ed-ness lasts, and carries over to the days of being a big brother. That's not usually how it goes though, right? I'm expecting that really there will be wonderful sweet moments that will help me though the madness... and that most days will be madness. :)

When you wish upon a star...

I'm calling this my baby WISH list, because over the past two years, I've learned that a lot of needs are really wants... if you think long and hard and creatively about it. A lot of items sold now-a-days make caring for a baby easier, and us new(er) moms wonder how moms before us lived with out all of the doohickeys and whatya macallits... But then again, they sell things like this. When in the heck do you use THAT? and Gross. It was never that big of a problem- cover it with a diaper people.

Any how- my wish list, yeah, that's where this was headed...

a changing pad
a changing pad cover- off white, light green... pink?
a car seat protection mat
a night light- any kind at all, even maybe one for the big brother so the one in his room isn't so 'baby'.
a baby bath tub- we borrowed one of theses before and it sure does come in handy when washing a little squirmy slippery thing... wonder if the person we borrowed ours from still has theirs...
a laundry basket- I really like this kind- because you know, little people make a lot of messes. Man- I'm looking forward to those blow out sipaers- let me tell ya...
Also- these patterns are ADORABLE

and goodness, how quiclky one can forget... it's always good to have infant medicnes on hand for those middle of the night fever/ sickness outbursts, I imagine even more so when you want to stop any fits quiclky before the baby wakes up the toddler...

diapers are always good- I think I have my eye on some of these this time too, though I know me and I'd have to go all or nothing, I think... maybe not.

Erik and I are also researching sit n stand strollers, though we haven't quite decided exactly which brand and style are for us.

and man oh man- we'd be lovin' a DOULA... which we're also in the process of searching out... or, well, we will be soon.

I should add that I'm totally cool with used stuff too- it's environmentally friendly- and we all need some of that these days!! :)

And the winner is...

small dress, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

So when I'd told my mom that I was going to go get some fabric, and she responded by "I'm just going to go and look in my stash in the basement"... I thought she meant like 'NOW I'm going'... and so once I got started on this, I could not, did not stop. It helped that Erik was up until 11:30 also- playing World of Warcraft.

Again, FREE pattern here, found via here.

The race is ON

Itty Bitty Baby Dress, originally uploaded by madebyrae.

So, from sew mamma sew I found this FREE pattern from Made by Rae for a small baby dress. I showed the pattern to my mom, and now we're in a race to see who can finish first. I may win since I've been excited about making something, ANYTHING for some time now- then again, she is a more seasoned seamstress, who has actually MADE clothing before... and I'm planning on trying to make it reversable. Hey- if you have to sew a lining as well, it may as well serve some purose other than to just be comfortable... :)

a pop-kul-kul-kul

a pop-kul-kul-kul, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Matthew's newly found favorite summer treat.

Luckily, he's finally got the hang of holding it and eating it all by his big-boy self. Look out summer, here we come.

freshcut chair padding

fresh cut chair padding, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

To go along with the lamp, I took this wicker chair that I rescued from the trash. I've had it since back in the portrait studio days, and have just been unable to let it go. There's something so appealing to me about small furniture- such a cuteness to it that I can not resist.

The chair was scratched pretty badly, and as you can see, is missing the decorative wicker trim that once was across the bottom (or can you tell that it's missing...?). It also had a warning sticker on the seat of it- you know, one of those silly things companies have to put on there "no standing, this is a chair, this is a prop" sort of thing. After a new coat of spray paint, I think she looks pretty good, don't you?

I made a pattern for myself by tracing the shape of the seat on some newspaper, and then by giving myself a 1 inch seam/ stuffing allowance. I added in some ribbon on the back to make it able to attach to the chair. It's a bit puffy now, but after a few good sits from a little bottom (mine is too big, or I'd be hanging out here often) it should flatten out a bit.

another task to check off the list... 9 more to go... for this room.