Oh Baby!

Carter's new brother or sister is due July 20th, 2010. For those of you who remember, Carter's due date was July 20th, 2008. It's so crazy that we ended up with the same due date again.
I had my first actually appointment with the doctor this morning. So far everything is looking good. It took forever for the doctor to find the little stinker's heartbeat because it kept hiding. We did in the end hear it.
The due date is probably one of the only things that my pregnancy with Carter and with this baby have had in common. With Carter, I was nauseous pretty much in the morning. I threw up every once in a while. With this baby, I am nauseous almost every afternoon and evening but mornings are fine most of the time. I've only thrown up once. With Carter I couldn't stand the smell of chocolate or pretty much any sweets (Christmas was rough that year). With this baby, I love sweets. With Carter I craved protein and loved hamburgers (as long as I didn't have to see raw meat.) With this baby all meat grosses me out even when cooked. I can stomach chicken sometimes. Gatorade was my magic trick to make it through the day with Carter. This baby seems to think it's far too sweet.
Tim and I joked with the doctor about her 4th of July weekend plans (since she was out of town that weekend when Carter came). She said as long as it could avoid the U2 concert on June 27th, she'd be there this time.
We are still up in the air on whether we will attempt a VBAC. That's one of the best things about my clinic, the choice is mine as long as a c/s isn't needed for safety reasons. The plan right now is to wait until much closer to my due date to know exactly what we're dealing with. I just don't want to get it in my head that the birth will go one way, when in fact things could change at the last minute. My tentative thoughts at this point are to set a c/s date at 39 wks. If I go into labor before that and things look good, I would attempt a VBAC. From what I've read so far, the success rates of VBAC lessen after 39 wks and c/s are the safest at that point. It also looks like inductions will never be an option for me. I'm also at a higher risk of having another breech baby since Carter was breech. (I can't find any good statistics on this to know how much more likely this is, but I did read it in a legitimate medical article, so this means it would have to be statistically significant.)

MIA

Sorry for no blogging lately. I've been super busy! Since my last post I've started two (and quit one) job. The job I started and quit was at the movie theatre. Lets just say the minimum wage and late nights were not for me. (As a side note, please don't whine to the people who work at the concessions stand about how much everything costs. Yes, it is expensive, but it is not going to their paychecks.) I am currently working for JcPenneys doing stock/merchandising stuff. It potentially may only be a seasonal position, but I really like the environment so far. Everyone is really nice, they reward you for hard work, and the management actually learns your name.
Carter's been adjusting to me working pretty well. He gets to spend time with Grandpa when both Tim and I are working. Grandpa is pretty much his favorite person ever. His favorite new word is "no" and he uses it often. A couple days ago he got upset in the bathtub after sticking his head in the water and said "Bad water. No!" He also told Tim he was a "Bad Daddy" because he was doing dishes instead of playing with him.
Hopefully now that I'm getting used to this new schedule I'll do a better job at keeping up with posting. :)

One of those days

It's 11am and I am not dressed yet. Carter is down for a nap after a very cranky morning. I'm hoping this will be a long nap, but since the lawn care service just showed up to clean up leaves I am doubtful it will be.
I've been such a bad blogger lately. Life seems to always get in the way of blogging. What's new with us?
Tim and I celebrating our 3 year anniversary on Oct. 20th. It's hard to believe that it's been that long already. We celebrated by making a crab dinner at home. It was relaxing and delicious.
Carter was sick on Sunday and Monday with Roseola. He had high temps for 2.5 days and then the telltale rash on his torso. We were relieved that it was just this and not anything serious. We're not sure whether he picked it up from MOPS or from ECFE, both of which we attended at the end of last week. (I'm leaning towards ECFE because of the timing of it all.)
I had two interviews yesterday and will have one today. Two of the jobs are pretty much part time retail-ish positions. The other is still part time, but more of an office position. My unemployment runs out in another month and we can't afford to live without it with Tim's hours being reduced so drastically lately.
I am thinking about doing a craft show that our MOPS group is putting on as a fundraiser. My only hang up is whether or not I can get enough stuff done in the next couple weeks to have anything to sell. I need to finalize my decision within the next day or so and reserve my table.
I've been working like crazy to get Christmas presents done too. So far I have 1.5 quilts done for gifts and 3.5 to go. I'm not getting too nervous yet.

My new love

I just completed a bigger version Merry and Bright. I'm so excited to have something wintery to snuggle up with on the couch. :)

Banana Pancakes

After seeing a recipe for banana pancakes on one of my favorite blogs, http://www.beautyandbedlam.com/, I decided to see if I could adapt my recipe to add banana. Check out Jen's blog if you get a chance. She never fails to amaze me on her cooking, thrifting, and crafting abilities.

Banana Pancakes
2 cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk (I like to use skim)
2 ripe bananas, mashed with fork
1/2 cup cooking oil

1. In mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, bananas, and cooking oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir just until combined still slightly lumpy.
2. Cook on lightly greased griddle or skillet over medium heat until pancake is bubbly and edges are slightly dry.

I like to serve these with chocolate chips. They are delicious! It is possible to take out the egg if you have an allergy. (I learned this by accident when I forgot to add them one day) Add a little more milk if it looks to thick.

Merry and Bright Quilt

I just finished my first Christmas gift. I love it so much I might have a hard time giving it away. I will most likely end up making one that is slightly larger to keep for myself. It ended up 40" by 50".



I fall in love with pretty much every quilt I've made so far, but this one has stolen my heart! :)

First MOPS

We had our first MOPS meeting of the year today. I'm really excited to be getting back into all of our regular schedule of activities. There were a bunch of new moms and a bunch of new babies.
I was a little worried how Carter would do in the childcare, since it's been since May since we were there last. He didn't seem to have much of a problem with me leaving. When I went to pick him up, he was still vegging out from a nap. Hopefully he'll always be that easy to drop off.
It looks like it will be a good year! :)

What a weekend!

Yesterday was crazy! We got up at 6am (when Carter woke up) and left almost immediately so we could spend a few hours hanging out with Tim's family before our niece Lauren's first birthday party. Carter loved to give Lauren kisses and hugs. He also gave Ben, his three year old cousin, a hug so big it knocked him over. We headed home after the party was over.
My friend Katie's bachlorette party was last night too. I went into the party not knowing how long I would stay, but I ended up staying until the end at 2am. It was fun to have a girls' night and Katie is a hilarious drunk. I definately feel too old to stay out like that anymore. (Or should I say pretty much ever, since I've never been too much of a partyer.)
Tim is working today, so I've been trying to have a pretty mellow day with Carter since I;m so tired. We went to get some apples at Pinetree Apple Orchard, one of our favorite fall places. Carter loves to bite into apples now that he has he teeth to do so.

Dear neighbor,

Please refrain from parking your stroller with a screaming/crying toddler in front of my house ,(Especially during my child's nap time) unless you would like to watch my child for the evening who is now short an hour on his nap.
Thank you!

State Fair Pics

I'm really bad a remembering to take pictures while we are out and about. I did, however, make sure to take some pictures of my boys at John Deere. Tim, being a former farm kid, is a huge fan of anything John Deere.

Last Year


This Year

2 baby quilts finished for 2 baby girls

One of my former coworkers had twin baby girls a month ago. She is the sweetest lady and I wanted to make something special for them. I tend to fall in love with each and every project I do, but I definitely think this are my best quilts yet. :) Now I need to get back to work on the many Christmas presents I have started.

I'm going crazy. . . .

Without my sewing machine. It's only been a few days, but I'm dying to have it back. I'm leaning towards buying the more expensive sewing machine. Now the only problem is deciding where to buy it from. In the Twin Cities there is only one authorized dealer of the Inovis 900D which is Creative Sewing Center. It is the full retail price right now. From my research online, it seems that I should be able to get it for almost half of that. Unfortunately,it's not sold online, so I can't buy it that way. I am considering checking with sewing machine stores in Rochester and St. Peter to see if they'll give me a better offer. For a $300+ difference in price, it would be worth the drive.
Maybe I'll just have to borrow my moms machine until I can find a better deal.

My sewing machine

While sewing yesterday all of my stiches started to go all whonky. Usually this means the tension is off. So I took out the bobbin and a metal piece fell off. At some point the screw that attached this metal piece to the bobbin fell out. I searched all over, but the screw is still missing.
I was planning on buying my new machine soon anyways, but I guess this is just my kick in the butt to figure out what I really want and go for it. I looked at a shop that carries only Berninas last week. While they were really nice, the cheapest one was more than $800. At this point in my life, I can't imagine spending that much on a sewing machine. So today when Tim gets home, I'm going to take a little trip to one of the other local sewing machines stores to take a look at what they have that is much more in my price range ($400-$600). From my online searching, I'm very interested in the Brother SE-350. I'm hoping they will have that one in person so I can try it.

Wow!

I've been really bad about blogging lately. I think my plan with "back to school" next week is to try to get our lives much more on a schedule. Hopefully this will mean much more blogging.
What's new with us? I've been hitting the job search hard again. At this point, I've been applying mostly for part time positions, so that we can hopefully manage to keep Carter out of daycare for a little bit longer. (FYI, i have no issues with actually putting kids in daycare, it's just an expense we can't afford at this point.)
I've also been busy looking for a new sewing machine. I made almost $300 sell stuff I no longer needed at a family garage sale, so I can afford to buy a much nicer machine. I think I will be investing in a Brothers machine in the next week or two. The one that I want has the ability to monogram. :) This will also come in handy for one of the Christmas presents I want to make for Carter and maybe some of his little friends. I'll post pictures once I start them.
Carter is growing so tall and skinny now, just like his daddy. He's starting to talk so much more now and in short phrases. His favorites are "what is it? an "want that." My favorite addition to the list is "I love Ray". (The neighbor dog at my parents.) I will not say that he loves anything else, just Ray.
Tim might have a potential job development. Right now it's too early to say if it will become anything. If this works out somehow, it would be the answer to so many prayers.
My mom is doing fairly well in the first two weeks of chemo. She's tired, but no other real side effects yet. Her head is starting to get itchy, so that means that her hair will probably start to fall out soon. Luckily, I saved quite a few silk scarves from my buying office days, that she'll have a pretty good variety to wear. I'm tempted to email a few of my old vendors to see if I could buy hats directly from them, so that I could get some fun ones.

10 year reunion

This weekend we went to Tim's 10 year reunion. Tim had a great time catching up with his classmates. I, on the otherhand, was bored out of my mind. First of all, it was held at a bar that I would consider was for somewhat of a rough crowd. It was potluck and the times for it were 3pm until 1am. Many people disn't show up until around 8pm or so. Probably not the best plan for a potluck. I guess I'm really just not a fan of having to make small talk and answer the same questions over and over again. (And hearing the same stories over and over again)Tim is definatley on his own for the next one.
Carter had a great time hanging out with his cousins Lauren and Ben. We also enjoyed going to the Steele County Fair. (Think the State fair divided by 10)

Bad news

Well, my mom's doctors changed their mind on the chemo. After presenting my mom's case at a medical conference last week, her doctor decided that she for sure needed to have chemo. And not just the typical chemo of breast cancer patients. 12 week of once a week treatments (that take more than 3 hours a time) and then every other week for the rest of the year. Sucky!
Althought this will diminish her chance of getting cancer again, this is still quite a set back from what we thought.
Please keep my mom in your prayers! It's going to be a difficult year.

Updates

Well, things never seem to go quite as planned.
1. I have been trying to finish up two baby quilts for one of my sweet former co-workers who just had twin baby girls. The pieces have been cut, one has been sewn together, but otherwise the progress has stopped. I'd like to get them sent by Monday at the latest. We'll see if that happens.
2. I'm still not finished with my doll quilt for the swap. I finally figured out what I want to do though, so hopefully it just needs an hour or two of work.
3. I still haven't made any decisions on what ECFE classes I should sign Carter up for. I have three choices at the school I would like to go to, but I'm indecivice of what day or whether I should sign up for one of the mixd groups. So far i haven't heard of any of the kids in Carter's class from last year that will be signing up at this school.
4. On the bright side, we are setting up a playgroup with two of the other moms and little boys from last years group. We plan to get together every other Wednesday.
5. The daycare for the baby didn't pan out. I'm am now waiting to see if I get an interview for some afterschool nanny jobs. I have also been apply for lots of part time jobs.

The unknown

Right now I'm playing the waiting game. I have no idea what I will really end up doing this fall. There really haven't been any decent job prospects lately. From what it sounds like, this recession stuff really isn't going to turn around until at least January. So I'm not really holding my breath on a job in the traditional sense of the word.
I decided to officially offer to do daycare for the 5 month old. Now I am just waiting to hear back whether or not her mom is still interested. I figure if it's meant to be, it'll work out. And if not, that's okay too.
Tim is taking a class today to try to get approved for some funding for an emergency responder class. This would be the first step on the way to become a paramedics. While this is not his dream job, it looks like the chance of getting into law enforcement just isn't going to happen anytime soon for him. For every job in this area, there are thousands of applicants. And the market just keeps getting more saturated.

Wait- it's already August?!

I'm really not sure where July went. We've been busy, but I'm not 100% sure with what. I guess one of our more major things was Carter's 12 month appointment today. He is 31 inches tall (90%) and 23.5 lbs (50%). My big concerns for this appointment was the trasition to only sippy cups and whole milk. Carter had been refusing to drink whole milk from the sippy and when I diluted it with an ounce of formula he would drink it and then throw it up. We came up with the plan to be done with bottles. As long as Carter will take 2 oz of milk at each meal we won't worry about it too much yet. If he continues to throw it up, we'll try switching to lactose free milk. So far this has worked pretty well, getting him to drink 6 oz of milk is sometimes a challenge. On the days he won't drink it at meals, I offer it at snack.
This weekend we have the wedding of one of the girls I grew up with. It should hopefully be fun. It'll be nice to be out for the night baby free. The only bummer is missing my cousin Joe's 5th birthday party. (Which reminds me I still need to go get him a present. Any ideas?)
I'm still sewing away for the quilt swap. I think I might actually have found an idea that I like. Hopefully my partner will feel the same way! I need to get something done today! :)

Beer with Green Olives and other thoughts

Some people think it's gross, but to me on a summer night (after a very long day) there is nothing better.
A few updates. My mom is healing fairly well. She got fitted for her prothesis today. It's looking like at this point she won't need any chemo or radiation. She is so lucky to have caught the cancer early. (Memo for all of you out there- stay up on your routine dr. visits and get a mamogram.)
Carter took his first steps on his own about a week ago. He is becoming more and more brave. I don't know if I would consider him walking yet since he doesn't really take more than 8-10 steps at a time, but he's getting their. His climbing skills have also improved. Things that formerly were safe on kitchen and bathroom counters are now fair game. On his tippy toes, he is almost tall enough to reach the door handles at my parents house.
His most adorable new habit is sharing. He loves to share his blankie and food with everyone. (He does also feel that everyone should share with him also. This sometimes is more of an issue in public. One example is when he thought a little girl we didn't know at a local fair should share her corn dog with him.)
The less adorable habit he has developped lately is throwing food off his tray. We have started to take his tray away every time we catch him throwing food on the floor on purpose. He gets a second chance after one minute. If we catch him doing it again, the meal is over. He's been much better about it the last couple days because we have been very consistent on how we react to his behavior.
Not a whole lot to update about me. I'm doing my first quilt exchange on flickr. I am in awe of all the talent in the group of 200 or so quilters. I am still just a beginner, but I am so inspired to try new thing because of all of the beautiful work I've seen in the past week.
I'm am also reaching a point in the job searching where I don't know where to go from here. I have the possible option of doing daycare for a 4 month old starting in the end of August. I've been praying about this alot because I'm not sure if this is the right move for me or not. On one hand, it would be nice to be able to make some money and still not have to put Carter in daycare. On the otherhand, doing daycare will not make a ton of money, and I'm not sure I'll be able to do the same things with Carter and a baby as I would with Carter alone. Tim thinks I should say yes and continue to job hunt. I don't feel like I can make the commitment to watch this baby and potentially take a job. Anyone have any thoughts for me on the subject? Either way I decide, I need to be making some moeny soon. But would it be better for my family for me to get a part time job?
Tim has been super busy with work and trying to get a handyman business started. I think he could potentially make this into something full time if the economy turns around anytime soon.

Quilt swap

I'm doing my first quilt swap through a group on flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/dollquiltswap/ I'm really excited/ nervous by all of the beautiful work that people have made in past exchanges. Hopefully mine will be up to snuff. Sometime today I will be finding out who I will be making mine for. I have so many ideas in my head and I can't wait to find out more about this person, to know what they like as far as style and color.
So if ther person who is making the doll quilt for me is reading this here are a few hints on what I like. I love bright,modern prints. I'm addicted to buying any fabric with fruit on it, even if I have no plans for it. I love polka dots. I just painted my sewing desk turquoise. I have a one year old little boy named Carter.

Carter's birthday party pictures

I'm finally starting to catch up in uploading my pictures. I didn't take nearly the amount of birthday pictures that I thought I had. Hopefully everyone else got some good ones too.

Milk

The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it. - Harvey Milk

I guess the history I learned in school was missing some major gaps because I can say I know very little about GLBT history, or pretty much anything more than a couple paragraphs on any minority group. So I really can't tell you how historically correct the movie was. I found the movie very powerful. It made me want to try to fill in those gaps of history that I never learned.
I highly recommend it.

The other inspirational movie that I watched last night was "The Pursuit of Happiness". I had heard this one was good, and it lived up to the reviews. Being another true story, I think I'd like to find more about how things actually happened.

It's been great to see some truely inspiring movies that aren't sappy.

I am amazingly lucky. . . .

to have such good friends. The past couple weeks have been hard because my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am so grateful to have the support of my friends during these rough times. Their thoughts and prayers, help with childcare, and offers of meals are more helpful than they even know. I know I can survive the worst of times with them. (And hope that we get to celebrate some happier times soon!)

Has it really been a year already?

I woke up this morning at 6am, somewhat like last year. Only last year I was exactly 38 weeks pregnant and my water broke. (Much to my surprise since we had a scheduled C-section for a week later since Carter was breech.) We did some quick packing for the hospital and were there by 7am. The confirmed that my water had indeed broke and that I was having contractions. Since C appeared to still be doing fine, they told us they would contact our clinic and that the c-section would probably happen sometime that afternoon. We flipped on the tv to relax since we had no idea how long we would be waiting. Around 8:30 the nurse rushed in to tell us that the doctor had decided that since I had eaten anything yet that we could do a 9 am surgery. Things got rolling and at 9:30am, Carter Thomas was born. 7lbs, 9oz, 19 inches of beautiful baby.
It's hard to believe that beautiful baby has already grown into a hansome little boy.
Happy Birthday Carter!

The kind of day I needed. . .

The 4Th of July definitely the kind of day I needed after last week. Tim worked an overnight shift(and needed to sleep), so Carter and I decided to go to the St. Paul farmer's market with my parents. Carter loved seeing all of the people. We picked up some fresh broccoli, zucchini, green onions, and red potatoes.
After that I took Carter home to take a good nap. As soon as he woke up, we had a quick lunch and headed over to my aunt's house to catch the boat parade on Turtle Lake. It started to sprinkle when we were watching the parade and then it started to pour. 30 minutes later the weather became beautiful again.
Carter wasn't a fan of his first pontoon ride because he hated wearing his life jacket. He loved playing in the sand and swimming with his daddy.
We headed home around 8:30 because Carter was exhausted. It was really nice to spend a relaxing day with my family.

July already?!?!

What happened to June? It's hard to believe that Carter will be one in 5 more days. It's also hard to believe this time last year I was hugely pregnant. I hopefully won't ever be 38 weeks pregnant again in July.

Otherwise not too much too update at this point. We're planning on celebrating the 4at the lake at my aunt's house.

Rough week

It's going to be a rough week for my family. I can't go into details at this point, but I could really use everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Strawberry picking

These pictures were too cute not to share. We took Carter strawberry picking to get the first strawberries we let him try. So much fun!

I'm behind again. . .

First of all camping didn't go exactly as we planned. We left Sunday morning around 9am, thinking that Carter would nap most of the way there. He didn't. This left him fairly cranky by the time we got there. Once we got to the campgrounds, we did a quick walk, and then decided to set up because it looked like rain. Just as we got everything set up, it started to rain. Also, about 15 minutes after we got our tent set up, I tripped over the door, bruising my knee and tearing the tent. It rained all afternoon and all night, into the next morning. Carter would not go to bed because it was too light out and too noisy. We finally got him to bed after 10pm. Carter woke up screaming, scared from the storm 5-6 times. I'm sure the people camping next to us loved us.
Things started to clear up the next morning after breakfast. We had a picnic lunch at a park and let Carter play. He loved it! Then we took Carter for a swim at the beach. He loved playing in the sand and splashing in the water. We had a great day!
The night was another story. I worked really hard to try to put Carter to bed at his normal time, but he just would scream if I put him in his pack-and-play. After an hour of this, we decided to go for a car ride to see if he would fall asleep. He finally falls asleep after nearly 45 minutes of driving. We then try to move him to the pack and play. No luck. He resumes his hysterical screaming. Tim and I decide to get a hotel room at this point. We knew neither of us could take another night without sleep. Luckily the closest hotel was most empty and gave us a room for a great deal. It took us almost an hour to get Carter bathed and calmed down. He slept until almost 8:30 the next morning.
Instead of camping one more day, we decided to call it quits early. I'm thinking we'll try camping again next summer.

S'mores Brownies

I found these on http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2009/04/smores-brownies/

S’mores Brownies

adapted from Bon Appetit, October 1991

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
12 big marshmallows (I also diced 6 additional marshmallows and stirred them into the batter. These marshmallows dissolve when baked, so you can leave them out, or throw them in. Up to you!)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a heavy saucepan of simmering water. Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers. Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool. Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky. Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.


Yum!

Camping!

We're leaving to go camping tomorrow morning. I'm a little concerned with the weather forcast: hot and rainy. It'll be the first time we take Carter somewhere to stay overnight besides Tim's parents house. It'll also be the first time for us to use our new tent. We purchased it right after our wedding. We ended up not going that first summer because we used all of our vacation traveling to Greece. Last summer I was hugely pregnant or we had a newborn, so we didn't go camping. I'm a little bit nervous on how Carter will do. No matter what, it'll be great to get away.

How many words is average?

I'm trying to find some good sources of how many words/phrases are average at each age. I feel like I have no real concept of what is "average" because the kids I'm around tend to be either very verbal or very not verbal. For example my cousin Joe at the age of 3, could explain that he didn't want any of the pages of his dinasaur book read that contained information about carnivores (yes, he actually used that word) because they scared him. You can't tell me that the average 3 year old knows that (or maybe even the average 7 year old). On the other end of the spectrum one of my nephews was barely talking at 3. (He's now 7, and doing much better verbally, but I would have to guess still behind.)
So far the words/phrases Carter has are:
Mama
Dada
Umpa (His word for Grandpa)
Is (His word for Chris)
Baba- bottle
What is it? - (I didn't believe this one at first, but he says it all the time when pointing to things and it's always in the correct context)
It's done- (I'm not completely sure about this one because we've only heard it a couple times)
Bye-bye
I'm sure there are a couple more, but these are the only ones I can think of right now.
I have a feeling that we will be doing much of his learning using music. He loves music!

The Great Wagon Debate

Tim and I have been debating on whether Carter should have a plastic or a metal wagon as a birthday gift. Tim strongly feels that the classic metal ones are a superior choice. I, on the otherhand, would like one of the cool plastic ones with underseat storage, seatbelts, and cup holders. My big negatives on the metal ones are that they are heavy, they rust, no seats/seat belts, and I don't for see me using it as a substitue for a stroller once Carter gets a little bit bigger (and we have another child). Any thoughts/ reviews on the subject?

Two new recipes

The first is from my friend Meghan.

Chicken enchiladas:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into small pieces or strips
1 bag shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack or co-jack all work well)
1 cup sour cream
1 package taco seasoning
1 can green chiles
1 package flour tortillas (or corn if you like that better)
2 cans red enchilada sauce


Cook the chicken in a skillet until done. Follow instructions on taco seasoning and add to the chicken. Put chicken in food processor and shred/chop into small pieces. (if you want to skip this step, I would recommend cutting the chicken into small pieces before adding the taco seasoning!)


Place chopped chicken into medium mixing bowl. Add sour cream, chiles and 1/2 the shredded cheese. Also add about 1/4 can of enchilada sauce. Mix all together.


In a one large or two smaller baking dishes, empty the rest of your first can of enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pans. One by one, spoon the chicken mixture into each of your tortillas, roll them, and place in pans. Once you've filled the pan(s), cover with the remaining can of enchilada sauce and the remaining shredded cheese.


Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes.

They are delicious!



The next recipe is for RHUBARB STRAWBERRY CRISP. I found this at cooks.com
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1837,147170-250204,00.html

2 c. flour
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. oatmeal
1 c. softened butter

Mix together for crust and topping.

Filling:
1 1/2 c. chopped rhubarb
1 1/2 c. sliced strawberries
1 2/3 c. sugar
2 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch
2 1/2 c. water
2 tsp. vanilla

Combine crust ingredients, press 1/2 of mixture into greased 9 x 13 pan. Top with rhubarb and strawberries.
Stir together sugar and cornstarch, stir into water. Cook until thickened. Pour over fruit, sprinkle other 1/2 of crumbs on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

My business revealed. . . .

So I've been working hard to try to get my business off the ground. What is this business you ask? I am selling used maternity clothes on ebay. If you want to check my stuff out, search for my user name jmwerner23. I feel like this is a great opportunity because A)Maternity clothes are expensive B) There are not that many places that sell used maternity clothes C) I loved having cute stuff to wear when I was pregnant. I'm considering adding baby items too.

Another busy week

I feel like this is one of those weeks that I really can't account for where all the time went. I've hit garage sales the last two mornings. Wednesday was my peak where I was found pairs of Nikes and Stride Rite shoes that looked like new for .50. How can you beat that? At that same sale, I also purchased another booster seat )($3), a hugo box of quatros (larger than duplos) for $5, a couple church shirts and sweaters for (.50 each)all looking brand new. I love good deals! \
In other news, I am excited to be getting "new" washer and dryer this afternoon. My grandma decided that we could have the almost new high-efficency washer and dryer from my uncle's house. I'm very excited to be able to start saving on our water, electricity, and detergent costs.
We are also in the market for a chest freezer to store all of the veggies we grow this summer (and buy at farmers market) for the winter. While they are not super cheap, we decided that in about a two year period we would be able to save in frozen veggie costs alone.
Does anyone have a vacuum sealer? We are thinking about purchasing one of those too.

Carter never fails to amaze me. . . . .

with his appetite and willingness to try new foods. For the last month he has refused to eat baby food. Because he only has one potential food allergy that we know about (oats) I feed him pretty much everything we eat. When he doesn't have all of the same things on his plate, he tends to get upset. I found this out when I didn't give him asperagus the other day. He also likes radishes, something even I don't like. We found this out when he kept trying to grab one off a veggie tray. Figuring he wouldn't like it, we finally just let him grab it. We were amazed when he ate the whole thing. Today he decided that he was going to share my egg rolls with me. The only thing we have found that he doesn't like is American cheese (I don't blame him on this).
Somehow I don't think we'll end up being this lucky with our next kids and eating. How many 10 month old babies do you know that eat steak?

One nap days

One nap days, I swear, are harder on me than they are on Carter. Tuesday mornings we have a playdate with our former ECFE group. I love having Carter socialize with kids his age, but it's hard because he usually takes a morning nap now. Missing this nap leads to a crabby overtired baby who is now also starving for lunch. Today he woke up as soon as I took him out of the car, so I decided to give him a quick lunch and bottle and put him down for his morning nap 90 minutes early. I'm hoping this means he'll sleep a lot longer.
My project for the day is cleaning up our dining room (office/dumping place) and neatening up our bathroom and kitchen. I also decided to take on some our downstairs reorganization. So far I switched a couple books shelves around and returned a couple to the garage, put away a few craft projects and supplies, and threw away a bunch of junk. I foresee a garage sale in our future. Hopefully I'll get a little bit of crafting time once I'm done. :)

Carter Pictures

I forgot I had taken some pictures on Memorial Day of Carter with the water table my parents bought. So cute!

Progress!

I made major progress during naps today. It is in no way actually making a dent in all of my half finished projects, but it is a step in the right direction.
The zipper bag was made based on a tutorial on skip to my lou. http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/14/how-to-make-a-lined-zipper-pouch-tutorial/
The hot pads aren't based on any particular pattern, just on the ones in my kitchen.
The adorable handbag is the buttercup bag. The pattern can be found at Made by Rae.
http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-buttercup-bag-sewing-pattern.html

Day two: A success already!

It is 9:30am, Carter is down for his first nap of the day, my kitchen and bathroom are clean, and I'm free to enjoy the rest of my "nap time". Life is good! Hopefully I'll have some finished crafts to show off later.

It's amazing!

My kitchen is actually clean. I have never been an extremely clean person. I like a clean bathroom and kitchen, but after that as long as it doesn't get too bad, I don't care. Post-Carter my standards have been lowered/changed. Now the priorities are making sure anything at a level he can grab is clean, and as long as I can feed him or bath him in a sanitory manner, I'm probably okay with it.
My new cleaning plan is that I need to spend one hour a day working on the room of the day. Sunday= Kitchen. Once that room is clean, I need to try to get one load of laundry started and neaten up the rooms from earlier in the week. After that, I am free to use nap time for my own interests. Today/Day one is a success. My kitchen is cleaner than it's been in a long time. Tomorrow will be bathroom day, Tuesday=Dining room, Wed.= our bedroom, Thursday= Carter's room, Friday= Living Room/Family Room, Sat.= A little bit of straightening and a break!

Lack of Blogging

I feel bad for not blogging very much lately. I feel like I'm in somewhat of a funk. I have crafter's ADD and haven't finished anything in forever (which needs to change!). I need to figure out what I need to do to get inspired again.

Some quick blogging

We've been busy lately!
Last Wed. we went to 4th grade track and field day at my mom's school. Carter, being the class mascot wore his Zepher shirt so that we matched the kids. The kids adored him!
Saterday I went garage saleing with Stef. It was a complete failure. I'm not sure if people just don't have sales on Memorial weekend, but every sale we went to was full of junk. Kind of a bummer that we didn't find any deals, but it was still nice to chat and be child-free for a couple hours.
Sunday we had a BBQ with my mom's side of the family. My parents, being the indulgent grandparents, had picked up a water table for Carter to play with that they had seen that morning in the Target ad.
Monday we worked on planting all of the vegetables for the garden.

Carter's latest game

He love to take all the food off the shelves he can reach in the pantry. It's a good thing we switched all the things he could get into trouble with to the higher shelves.
The other funny thing he's been doing lately is taking an unopened bottle of cooking oil and crawling with it. I'll have to get pictures of it sometime. Yesterday I found the bottle next the couch.
Who needs toys when you have kitchen cabinets?

Blueberry Muffins!

I've been in the mood for blueberry muffins lately. When I saw fresh blueberries at the groccery store last night , I knew I wanted to try to make them from scratch.
I found this one on allrecipes.com.

Blueberry Muffins II "Low-cholesterol muffins."

PREP TIME 10 Min
COOK TIME 20 Min
READY IN 30 Min
Original recipe yield 1 dozen

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 egg white
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons margarine, melted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Use vegetable oil spray to grease 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.
Mix 1/4 cup of the flour with the blueberries. Set aside. Beat egg white and 1 tablespoon oil lightly in bowl. Stir in milk and melted margarine or oil.
In separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Sift dry ingredient mixture over egg white mixture. Stir just long enough to moisten flour. The batter will look lumpy. DO NOT OVERMIX. Fold in blueberries. Fill each tin two-thirds full with batter. Bake in preheated oven 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.


They turned out pretty good. The only thing I might add would be a tiny bit of sugar on the tops.

And because I need to post more pictures

a cute one of Carter in his buddy Cole's adorable orange chair. I can't believe this time last year I was hugely pregnant!

What a day!

Today we were busy! First we stopped by my uncle's house to see the progress. It looks amazing! (If you know anyone in the market for a house in Minneapolis, let me know. If we could afford to move at this point, I would be so interested!)
Then we did a quick pit stuff for lunch at Arby's. Carter loves regular roast beef sandwiches just like his mommy and daddy.
Next we paid off my car loan. We are now officially car loan free. It feels good! $600+ a month (between both payments) of pressure is now off our backs.
Next we did a little shopping at Mall of America. This may be TMI for some people, but until today I had not purchased a bra post baby. For many women, an increased breast size is a positive benefit of having a baby that tends to go away after you stop breast feeding. For me, not really the case. Since breast feeding only lasted the first 6 weeks for us, my ladies should have returned to their previous size almost 10 months ago. I am still one size up from my "normal" size. This is an issue because it puts me into all the frumpy old lady bras. The majority of the bras at Victoria's Secret and Gap body do not even come in my size. Very depressing. I keep hoping that maybe in some twist of fate I will go down a size with all of my exercising. Anyways, enough about my breasts.
In other news, a couple of my friends are going to 5K with me in July. I'm thrilled I have people to make me accountable for my running!
Minus feeling really crappy, today was a great day!

Progress

I completed Week One, day 3 of Couch to 5K. I'm still not in great shape, but I can already see an improvement since my first day. I'm now looking for 5Ks in MN for late June/early July so that I have the proper motivation not to quit.
I'm booking it on my new quilt project. Hopefully the blocks will be complete tonight or tomorrow so I can show pictures. There are a few things I'd do differently next time, but overall I love it!
Carter and Tim went to get an oil change in Tim's car, so I've had an hour of free time. It's been fabulous!

And it continues

I started an additional quilt. This one I am planning for a baby gift. I have 10/42 squares completely done and the other 32 started. I'm hoping to have the other 32 squares done in the next 3 days, so that I can get it to get it toegther by next weekend to give as a gift. I can't wait to show pictures. I love it already.
In Carter news, he has been a teething and allergy crabby mess. He screams about 50% of the time he's awake these days. While I love him dearly, it's hard to be patient when he can't tell you what's wrong. It almost makes Tim not having any hours for work this week worth it. The bright side of a crabby teething Carter is that he sometimes takes longer naps. I'm finally starting to make progress in the massive amount of housework that needs to be done.

I think I have a problem

I started two more quilts. I need to learn how to finish some of these projects! The one is a 9-patch quilt that I'm doing with a quilt-a-long. I started two weeks after everyone else, so I have some catching up to do! My goal for the weekend is to get atleast one of my started projects finished, and do an extra 9-patch block each day. It's an ambitious goal!

Random Conversation

Tonight at the post office automated postage machine:
Middle aged guy: Whoa! You've got a lot of packages to mail.
Me: Yup. I can stop for a minute so you can do yours.
He proceeds to ask me about if I'm ebaying, ect. Very long conversation for someone I don't know.
He finishes his postage, puts his package in the mail box and starts walking to the door. I start working on my next package. He comes back to look for his recipt.
Middle aged guy: Whoa, did you see my receipt?
Me: Nope, sorry.
Him: Oh whoops! I guess it's in my wallet. That's what happens when you have a couple beers before going to the post office.

Is it strange to anyone else that he went to the post office buzzed? If you have time for several beers are your postal needs really that urgent?

The end?

This week is the end of two of our activities until fall. We had our last ECFE class on Tuesday. I was really sad for it to be over because Carter loved it. On the very bright side, our group is trying to set up summer playdates during what was our classtime on Tuesdays. We're psyched!
Thursday is also our last MOPS until Sept. I'll miss it over the summer.

Mother's Day

I can't believe it's Monday already! I had a great first mother's day (minus the 4 times Carter was up during the night). We were up around 7am since that's when Carter decided he was not going back to bed. Tim and Carter were really thoughtful about the gifts they picked out. I recieved a one month membership to the community center, childcare passes to use for Carter while I work out, a book on learning to quilt, and a giftcard to JoAnn Fabric. Great stuff!
Tim had to work, so Carter and I went over to brunch at my aunt and uncle's house. The food was great and Carter had a good time chasing after my two cousins: Joe (age 4)and Aiden (age 3).

Quick Birthday Presents

We have Cole's 2nd birthday party today (one of my best friend's son and Carter's buddy). I whipped up a few quick birthday presents last night after Carter went to bed and this morning during nap. I think they turned out pretty cute!

And done!

My course work is complete minus dropping off one form later today. Needless to say, I'm thrilled! I went garage saleing this morning. The first three houses were a bust, but the fourth scored some good deals.
Tim, Carter, and I ran errands this morning before Tim had to go to work. Our first stop was Fleet Farm. My favorite part about going there is asking Tim if we need (insert random farming item here). Todays favorites include sheep milk replacer and cow taggers. I'm pretty sure I will never have any need for 99% of what they sell. Our next stop was Lowe's to get the baby gates we finally decided on. Of course we get them both home and one is missing pieces, and we don't think it'll work for us. Back to the drawing board. I so wish we could move to a more child friendly house! Some day!

Freedom!

I finished my two papers last night and am now waiting from the people from my group presentation to decide if we need to make some changes. So only one more project left until I have freedom!
One of my goals for the month of May is to ebay or donate all of the clothes that I will no longer wear (which happens to be a lot post-baby). Carter likes to help with this.
Today is Carter's 10 month birthday. This is what happens when Mommy leaves the patio door open.

Picture Update

Weekend update!

I'm so behind in all of my crafting. So many projects are waiting for me half done. After Wednesday night, I should have the time/energy to start working on them since I will done by my three classes. I can't wait! And I should be done until July!
We kept pretty busy on Sat. and Sunday. Saturday Carter and I went over to check out the progress on my uncle's house. It's looking beautiful! If you're in the market for a house in Minneapolis, let me know. The new colors are very pottery barn-esque and really give the house some personality.
I picked up lunch from McDonalds on the way there so we could lunch with my parents and grandma. Carter loves to share chicken nuggets and fries with me. Later we had dinner with my parents and watched "Marley and Me" (Very cute, but be ready to cry!)
Sunday Carter and I hung out until Tim got home from work at 2pm. We then went over to my parents house to work on the gardens and have dinner. Carter had salmon for the first time and loved it (which is funny since I hate it!). He also played in the grass for the first time. He was very hesitent at first (a rare thing for Carter), but then became more and more brave about crawling on it. I'll post pictures later. They turned out great!

Friday!

Yesterday was another hit. I found one great sale in Lino Lakes that I bought a ton of stuff at. Then I headed over to White Bear Lake for a huge neighborhood sale there. I was finding kids' clothes for $.50 an item that looked almost brand new.
Tim got off early from work, so we headed over to my grandparents' house so that he could do their yardwork and Carter and I could visit with them. They adore Carter! Afterwards we went out to dinner with them at D'Amicos. It was the first time we took Carter someplace and had to feed him a dinner that wasn't a bottle. Overall it was successful. I think it would have been better if I would have brought Carter's booster seat instead of using the high chairs because he was so interested in trying to grab plates, glasses, people's food, ect.

Sale results

I ended up getting a couple really good deals. :) I didn't really know the Coon Rapids neighborhood that had a large number sales going on, so while getting somewhat lost in the housing development I stumbled on several more sales that I hadn't heard about. My other mishap was that we drove out of the way to a sale in Roseville (about 20 minute drove from Coon Rapids, 10 minutes out of the way from our house). I drove by the house and didn't see any signs or tables or anything. The sale's next week. Whoops! I guess I need to pay better attention to the dates.
Our deals of the day were a booster seat folds up for $3 (I almost bought a similar one of these for the fully price of $30. So glad I waited one more week!), a Little People Noah's Ark for $3 (Carter loved playing with Cole's), two pairs of jeans for Carter in 2T for .50 and a dollar, and a girls baby gap outfit for .25 (for that price someone I know can use it).
I also got 2 of the 7 papers I need to complete by next Wednesday! I can't wait to be done!

Gargage Sales!

Carter and I are hitting the garage sales this morning. I mapped out our route last night to maximize the chance of finding something really great. I'll update latter with the deals that I find.
I also am hoping to work on my business plan today, which from what I've been reading is very important to have. I can't wait until we are farther along with this project so that I can share what it is.

Our new favorites!

So I did a favorites list of baby stuff when Carter was a little baby. Now that he's 9.5 months we have a whole lot of new favorites to rave about.
The newest is those mesh feeder bags. We like either of the two brands we tried. Carter loves frozen cubes of baby food (how we store our home made food anyways) in them for teething. It's like a healthy popsicle with a handle. For easy cleaning of the mesh bags, use a toothbrush.
We have the Chicco high chair which we really like. We haven't use any other brands of high chairs, so I really can't compare whether this is better or worse. I like the green pattern. It's not an eye sore like some of the others are.
Our favorite spoons for feeding are the ones made by Sassy that have silicon tips.
Bibs: In the begining we love the cloth ones for baby food. Now that Carter is on more table food we love the big plastic covered ones with pockets at the bottom to catch any dropped food.
Baby crackers: We loved Mum-Mums (at Walmart or online) when Carter was first starting food and Gerber puffs now.
Sippy cups: We were lucky to get lots of hand-me-downs to try different types because they all work so differently. We've had the most sucess with the Nuby ones with the silicon nipples and handles. All others have tended to lead to water all over the place. The one that works for each kid seems to vary alot.
Shoes: Robeez hands down. I know they're expensive, but they just fit so much better than the knock offs. Look at used sales for deals on them.
Toys: The hits right now are the Fisher Price shape sorter and the fisher price little people barn. Basically the updated versions of what we played with as kids are still the best toys.

Another Saturday, Another Sale

This time I dropped Carter off at my parents so that I could shop with both hands. I was a little disappointed that I didn't find more, but I did manage to come home with a toddler sled, 2 sand/water toys, a pair of new sandals, robeez, a pair of gymboree jeans, 2 pairs of maternity pants and shirt (No, I'm not pregnant.)for next time around, all for around $20. There were several things that would have been great, if I had been in the market for them, such as high chairs and strollers. And I was tempted to buy an exersaucer for next time around, but I really didn't want to have to find a place to store it for the next year or two.
I finished my first quilt top yesterday. I'm hoping to get it quilted this weekend and maybe figure out how to bind it sometime this week.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Carter and I have been having a busy week. Tuesday we had ECFE. He is definately one of the most social babies there. He has no problem crawling up to any of the moms and snuggling into their laps and playing with any of the other kids. His only problem is that he is so stubborn. If he wants a toy, he will throw a fit for it. Hopefully we will grow out of this soon! (Because I will not put up with it!) Yesterday we had a playdate with Cole (and Stefanie). Playdates are so much fun now that Carter can actually play. Today we had MOPS. Now I'm hoping he'll take a nap, but he's talking in his crib.

Ideas

I am currently toying with the idea of starting my own business. My idea is fairly unique for the area. I feel like timing-wise it would be a good time to start something. The thing that is holding me back is the fear of failure/losing all the money/time put into this endever. And I have no idea what I would even need to start the legal process of starting a business. And how much it would cost to rent a location.

Meal time/ what happens if I turn around

Look Mom, I can use a spoon.

Not a happy mommy

Yesterday when I put Carter down for his nap, he was not happy. Lately we've been having him whine it out for 15-20 minutes before we get him out. After 20 minutes I went to check on him. He was chewing on his crib. There were not just bit marks on the railing, but large portions of varnish missing. I was so mad! (and not that I can even really be mad at him, just the situation) So I calmly pick him up to go get all the varnish chips cleaned off his face and clothing.
He then decides to throw a tandrum. Being this is new territory for us, I really haven't read up much on how to deal with tantrums. Using what I know from a few episodes of Super Nanny, I decide to put him in the pack and play to finish his tantrum so he doesn't hurt himself. After a few minutes, I calmly pick the still somewhat screaming baby. He starts to calm down as I rock him and then falls asleep to take the nap that he needed before the whole process started.
I guess I handled it pretty well. I know I'll be dealing with tantrums more frequently and I need to get my plan of action so that we can parent with some consistancy. Any parenting tips?

Yay for sale season!

We did well at the sales this morning. The first sale was a fun raiser at Falcon Heights Elementary School. We got Carter a bunch of great toys and clothes for really cheap. Then I decided to be brave and take Carter to a fabric/crafting sale at the Textile Center. I was smart enough to remember to bring our Baby Bjorn. We never would have made it through the crowds otherwise. I got a bunch of fun fabrics for less than a quarter of what I would have paid for them elsewhere. Hopefully if Carter naps, I'll get to play with my new fabric. :)

Too funny not to share

Anyone else think this might be good to bring out on his first date? Looks like I need to store things better in the diaper bag. (In case you can't tell, yes that is a tampon.)

Sick baby or not?

Yesterday was a strange day for us. Carter was fine when he first got up for the day. I put him down for a nap, and he slept 2.5 hours (which for some babies might be normal, but for Carter that's 2 hours longer than normal). When I went to get him from his crib, he was crying and rubbing his face on his blanket. He felt really, really, warm. He had a temperature of 100 in the armpit (which if I remember correctly is normally a degree lower than mouth temperature). Carter's never run a temp before so I decided to take him in. He had fluid in the ears, but not an earache yet, and they checked him for strep and foot and mouth disease (both which came back negative). So the basic consensus was that it was allergies plus teething.
Today he seems 100% better. No temp and he's eating. He's back to his wild self.
We went to Target this morning. For those with kids, there are some great deals on summer clothes already. I got Carter a pair a camouflage shorts for $2. They're adorable! If he didn't already have a ton of summer clothes, I would have bought a bunch more stuff.
Carter, my parents, and I will probably spend tomorrow hitting a couple of the local used kid stuff sales. We're on the look out for plastic slides, wooden blocks, legos/duplos, and clothes for next fall. Hopefully we'll find some great deals!

Baby proofing part 2

After my disappointing trip to BRU, I wasn't sure what we were going to do on the baby proofing front. But when we were at Lowe's today, I remembered that Baby Bargains had mention that home improvement stores are a great place to find good deals on baby proofing supplies. Not only were their prices better, almost every gate was stair safe. And to make this an even better trip, we found netting to put on the railings since they are too apart (code on this has changed since our townhouse was built) and it was 50% off. We're going to price gates out at home depot before we make our final decision, but it looks like we should be able to find one that will work for us. Yay!

Baby Gate

We are despretely in need of a baby gate. Carter is now a quick crawler and there's no way I can even blink without him getting into something. We went to BRU last night to see what's even available in the world of baby gates.
BRU's display was definatly not designed by parents. It was super messy and impossible to tell which gate was which, and what price. After looking there, we decided pretty much none of the stair ones will work with our staircase with the way things are lined up. So now we need to either find a new type of stair gate or buy two gates to keep him away from anywhere neear the stairs. If anyone has any brilliant ideas, let me know. (and putting the babe on a leash in not a brilliant idea)

Easter Weekend update

Well, Saturday went much better than planned. Tim actually had set the alarm clock (which I was amazed and surprised by), but we didn't get off until around 6:30am. U had packed Carter's food for the day and diaper bag, and had set out what Carter and I would both be wearing, so it was a fairly smooth morning. Tim woke Carter up at 6am to feed him. We had hoped that Carter would sleep on the ride down there, but he instead "talked" until we were about 10 minutes away.

Carter had a great day playing with his cousins Ben (almost three years old) and Lauren (7 months old). Lauren and Carter loved to trade (or more accurately steal) each others toys. Lauren was definately at is disadvanage with Carter's mobility. He also had his first wagon ride, which he seemed to enjoy. I think we might have to get him a wagon for his first birthday.

Easter Sunday was also a success. Carter was pretty good in church. He was doing pretty well until the sermen when he just wanted to talk. My dad took him out for a couple minutes. After church we had brunch at my grandparents' house. Carter loves ham, which he tried for the first time.

I'm exhausted! Hopefully this will be a quieter week.

Packing

While I love my husband dearly, there are some things with a baby that he doesn't seem to get. We are taking a day trip tomorrow down to Tim's parents to hang out for the day. So Tim tells me he wants to leave at 6am, so we get down there early. To leave at 6am, we would have to be awake by a minimum of 5am to get all the last minute things packed up, feed, change, and dress Carter and ourselves. There are several problems with this plan: A. Typically Carter doesn't get up before 5am, that involves waking a the babe. This gernerally leads to a screaming/crabby baby, which makes for a long drive. B. I don't remember the last time Tim set an alarm clock to wake up for a non-work related event and I highly doubt he's done that tonight. He usually relies on Carter waking us up, which is not an issue when the event is after 8 or 9 in the morning. C. Is there really any good reason to get there at 8am? His sisters probably won't be up for atleast another 2-3 hours.
But I've done my part to see that there is potential for this plan to suceed, so now it's up to Tim. I'll update tomorrow night with how it all went down.

I'm in love with this pattern!

Like all good projects, I'm going to have a hard time giving this one away since I love it so much. The picture fails to show how truely cute this bag is. I'm already working on my own adaptations of this bag since I love it so much!

Having a bad day/ week

No particular reason why. I'm just kind of cranky and sad. I just really need something positive to happen to us soon. I'm trying really hard to be thankful for what we've got, and not for what we've losted/given up. So here's my vent so I can get it all out and go back to being my positive self.
Tim's job: While I'm thankful he's been able to work with this new position and keep health insurance, all these crazy hours and driving me insane! It's impossible to keep Carter even somewhat quiet during the days so Tim can get sleep after an overnight shift. They can't ever seem to make up their mind on scheduling. This week alone they've changed it 3-4 times at the last minute.
My dad's job loss: This is just a crappy situation all around. He thought he's job was pretty safe and didn't see it coming, so they really hadn't been making sure they had a lot of extra savings. It's way harder to find a job over 50. Even if the economy turns around instantly, his company probably wouldn't call him back because it would just mean they'll have to pay him more in pension when he gets to retirement age. (Age discrimination at it's best) I'm worried for my parents. They've been responsible with their money all their life and it doesn't look like they'll be able to be able to be retired and have fun anytime soon now. Plus I think this all scares me because before they were sort of our safety net. We hadn't had to use them for help, but we knew if it was getting to the point that we needed to, we could.
My self: I'm frustrated because I get little to no "me time". Pretty much anytime I get when I'm not taking care of Carter, I'm racing around trying to get laundry, dishes, homework, ect. done. I'm thankful he now takes two 30 minute naps, so atleast I get time to go to the bathroom on my own. I love Carter so much, but sometimes I need a break to do something fun. Tim also has a hard time realizing how much I need this time. He sometimes makes me feel guilty about needing this time. I know it's because he's stressed about being the only one with a job and he's sad that he doesn't really have any good friends close by.

Alright, Carter is screaming, so I guess that's all the venting I get for now.

New pictures

Since I don't really have a whole lot of other updates, I figured I'd post some new Carter pictures.





Since I don't really have a whole lot of other updates, I figured I'd post some new Carter pictures.