Easter Bunny Wreath

I just finished my Easter wreath and I was so excited I had to share!

 

Major credit goes to my mom who actually made the base using branches she found! She is a crafting genius and I am trying to convince her to quit her teaching job and craft with my every day, haha! She has off this week for February break and we have been having the best time. 

I have some more Easter crafting plans that I am looking forward to.

Do you have any projects you are planning? I'd love to hear about them!

Homework: 2012 in Review

Back in December I received a homework assignment from my friend on twitter. Well, she was assigning it to someone else and I said that it was a good idea so she handed down the assignment to me as well. The original intent was to make a list of brave and/or cool things that happened in 2012 that were not related to baby making. For me it was a little different and served as a good reminder that I am not just living the same day over and over again like the movie GroundHog Day. That I was brave at times and did cool things. 

I had to come up with one thing for each month that was brave and/or cool.

January- We made the official decision to start co-sleeping. One night Jay had fallen asleep in our bed and before Adam carried he him up to his crib, I asked if he really wanted to. He would wake up sometime around 2 AM anyway and we'd have to go get him. Why did we keep putting ourselves through it? Because he is supposed to be in a crib? Adam agreed and we never looked back. It's been a full year and it's the best decision we have made as parents. We all sleep better. I don't know how we would have survived teething without it. (I count this as brave because it felt brave at the time-- although since then I have tried to do a lot more parenting from my gut and not worry about how things are supposed to be.)

February- In January I lost the daycare kids I was watching so February was a lot about cutting costs and trying to make it without my income. It was scary and took a lot of sacrifices...even more than the ones we were already making to pay off our adoption. I feel like we were brave just in our trying to get by. 

Jay also got a stomach bug that month and while NOT AT ALL COOL, it was new and we handled it well. You never want to wake up to your child throwing up on you. Poor little one. He was so tired and couldn't understand what was happening. We both feel so bad whenever we think about it.


March- I opened my Etsy shop. Although it would still be another month until I really listed items to sell, it was a huge step for me to open it and start making things to sell. I had no idea what I was doing or how much work it would be, but I feel like putting myself out there and trying to do whatever I could to bring money in for our family was brave.


April- We celebrated Easter. This was a big deal to me. It was the kind of day I always dreamed of while waiting to be a parent. We did an egg hunt for Jay and he did so well. He liked finding the eggs and going through his basket. We also did pictures with the Easter bunny and he started putting two words together for the first time that month. I remember at the mall when we had the pictures done he got a rubber ball and he threw it to see it bounce and then yelled "My ball!" A very cool month.

May- Adam and I went to the drive in and Jay slept at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This was VERY brave of us. In fact as we were driving to drop Jay off, Adam was saying we shouldn't be doing it. We had only been away from Jay a couple times ever and those times were only for an hour or two. An overnight was huge. (And we actually have not done it since.) The drive in was fun until the end when we realized our car battery had died and I began running around to cars and asking strangers if they would help us. We finally got someone to help and we were in a freezing parking lot at 2 AM trying to get the car started.

June- I don't really have anything for June. Had my birthday and turned another year older? That's about it.

July- This month was very brave. I went to my gynecologist for the first time since my hysterectomy. I was way overdue and it was so hard for me to follow through with it. I cried and it brought a lot of hard stuff to the surface, but I did it. And now I have the peace of mind that I am still cancer free.

August- I took Jay to Boston to visit my sister without Adam. I had my mom with me, but it was still scary taking Jay far away without Adam with us. Especially since we spent a night in the hotel just Jay and I.

September- Two toddlers started coming here for daycare. With Jay that meant I was watching three toddlers at once, which was exhausting and terrifying. Although things have gotten easier since then. We now have a routine that works well and it's great that Jay has friends to play with every day.

Also, this month we had a big Sesame Street birthday party for Jay's 2nd birthday. 

October- We took Jay trick or treating for the first time, which was so cool. We also threw a Halloween party.

November- I started planning a surprise party for my parents. More on that (including pictures!) coming soon.

We took Jayden to vote, which was of course very cool. He was a tiny baby in an infant carrier last time we voted. 

December- My siblings were home and my family was together for the holidays. There is nothing cooler than that!



Okay, so there is my list. In February. I get *some* credit for actually finishing it, right?

Now, go read my friend's list at My Lazy Ovaries.

And my other friend's list at So I Was Minding My Own Business.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!!

 

 Crayon Valentines Jayden is giving his friends that come here for daycare. 

Valentine's Day memory lane!



***9 PM  Post Updated***

It was a great day :)

What did you do today?

My Velcro Cloth Diaper PSA

Don't buy velcro cloth diapers.

I wish someone said it to me two years ago, so I will say it to you.

Adam and I have been pulling diapers out of our collection one by one as they are not strong enough to stay closed well anymore. We only have two velcro diapers left in our stash! Which means we have about half the diapers we started with. Which means we have to do laundry more often. That is bad news for the woman who has always owned enough underwear to get her by so she only had to do laundry every two weeks. (Unless you spill something on them, you can wear jeans an unlimited number of days, right?)

Velcro seems like an easy option when you have a newborn, but when you have a toddler, you need something strong and predictable. Snaps are the way to go!

I am considering buying some new snap ones now, but who knows how much longer we have until potty training happens. I am not sure it would be worth it. Especially since I don't know what the future holds in regards to growing our family. (Oh boy, that is for another post!)

So, when you are registering or buying diapers for your little one, get lots of snaps!

Deck The Halls

We put our tree up over the weekend. Yes, I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet. You can see my previous post for my justification. :)

When Adam first opened the big box we keep the tree in, Jay got excited and said "tis tis tree!" I couldn't believe he knew what it was. It wasn't even put together yet. And I didn't think he knew what a Christmas tree even was.

He wanted to help through the whole process. When Adam was putting the stand together Jayden was carrying heavy tree pieces across the room. He was signing build. He brought the top part over and told Adam it goes on top.

When Adam put the first ornament on the tree, Jayden ran to the kitchen and got a dish towel to hang  on it, which I found hilarious.

We gave him some soft ornaments he could put on the tree. 

But he got bored pretty quick and went up to this room and got his tunnel out.

And played with his parking garage.

And then there were snacks.

And he found the Nook.

 

And by that point he had really forgotten all about the tree. 

Since then he has left it alone for the most part. Except for crawling under it a few times to get to where the cat was sleeping. The first time he did it, I had no idea where he was. I could hear his muffled voice and then I realized he was behind the tree saying "Mommy! Stuck! Tree! Cat!"

 

Christmas Starts Now

I know I am supposed to complain that radio stations are already playing Christmas music and the stores are flooded with holiday decorations. Grumble, grumble.

But, I love it.

I am so excited for Christmas this year!! I feel like a little kid again.

Last weekend was our big leaf raking weekend (okay, so Adam and Jayden raked leaves and I worked on Etsy orders.) I could not stop thinking about Christmas the whole time so I asked Adam what he thought of putting the tree up early. He said we had to deal with the massive amounts of leaves in our small yard before dealing with the Christmas tree but we could do it next weekend. I was surprised he didn't give me a hard time about waiting until after Thanksgiving.

So the time has come! We are putting our tree up this weekend!! I am so excited. I can't wait to see what Jayden thinks of it all. I can't wait for him to see it all lit up and help put the ornaments on the tree.

Also, our Christmas cards came in the mail this week! I got a good Groupon deal but part of the deal was that I had to use it in the beginning of November.  We didn't get pictures done professionally this year so I just brought Jay out in the backyard and took some pictures with my (old/not very good) camera. You can tell the pictures weren't done professionally, but the cards still look really cute and I can't wait to  mail them.

I've also been putting a lot of thought into Christmas shopping and Black Friday deals. How many of you go out for Black Friday? I am on the lookout for Lego sales because I want to get Jay a couple Duplo sets. 

The other morning when the toddlers I watch got dropped off, their Dad asked if we are "those people" because Adam had put Pandora on the Christmas music station. Haha, yes, we are those people! Just wait until he sees the tree up when he comes on Monday.

But, don't worry, we are not forgetting Thanksgiving. I have photographic proof:

Our front door-

 Our fireplace mantel-

Oh, and I can't forget the turkey Jayden painted-

Frumpy Mom

I can't think of anything I have bought for myself since Jayden was born. That is not a complaint. Honestly, I would rather buy things for Jayden than myself. But recently when we went to the zoo, the plastic in the back of my sneaker broke and popped through the fabric and cut my foot. Of course it happened at the point of the zoo farthest from our car. I had to hobble with my foot half out of the shoe the entire walk back to the car. It was obvious I needed new sneakers, which Adam had been saying for a while. It was getting too cold for flip flops and other than one pair of dress shoes, I don't own anything else.

So, I broke down and bought myself sneakers that cost me an amount that made me cringe. I broke one foot in high school and the other foot in the college so I need sneakers with decent support. I can't just go out and buy something cheap or else my feet will hurt whenever the weather changes. (Yes, I am old.) So logically I knew it was necessary, but it was painful to spend that much.

I was supposed to buy a new pair of jeans and a sweater too, but I couldn't make myself do it after the shoe purchase. They are still sitting in the online shopping cart.

I just feel awful spending money on stuff like clothes for myself. They are so expensive and it feels wasteful. Maybe it's because I buy all of Jayden's clothes used that it makes buying new clothes for myself feel extra ridiculous. I think it's also because I knew going into our adoption that sacrifices had to be made and clothes was always on the top of the list. Especially since I work from home. If we have any money for clothes, I feel like it should go to Adam since he works outside of the home. But, I will admit all of my clothes are extremely worn out. To an embarrassing point.

Nothing has highlighted my frumpiness more than the mom of the two toddlers I watch coming in nice clothes to pick them up after work every day. She looks so nice and professional and my hair is up in a messy (dirty) pony tail and I am wearing junky shorts and a t-shirt. Oh yeah, and my house is a mess. Always. I might as well start coming to the door wearing a snuggie every day.

I could really use a whole new wardrobe. Underwear and bras too. But, that's not going to happen. So maybe I will splurge on those jeans and a sweater and maybe a couple new t-shirts. That way I have something to wear out of the house. I'm telling you it's going to be painful to hit the order button though.