A big bottle o' catch-up!

I've been gently reminded recently by a few readers that I haven't blogged in awhile. It wasn't my intent to abandon the blog for more than two weeks but time just seems to fly with two kids occupying my time--before I know it, the day is done and I'm too tired to string sentences together, let alone type them. Dave also took the lap top back to school with him so blogging mobility is no longer possible, and Moses' interest in the keyboard makes typing at the desk impossible while he's awake since all my sentences would undoubtedly contain extra letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. Ah, the woes of motherhood!

Despite my inability to blog, I've been writing down topics as they come to mind and these jewels to share with you today:

1. Milo's 1-month-old!
2. The characteristics of a first born
3. Fernando
4. Amigos de Fernando
5. Finger painting
6. Sickos
   
7. RIP TV
   

So, please, sit back, relax and let me regale you with the my tales o' family.

1. Milo's 1-month-old!

Time certainly flew for us. We can't believe how quickly we reached the 1 month milestone with our boy. His sleepiness and contentedness wore off almost as soon as I blogged about it and he's now awake more and grumpy/fussy for 90% of the day. I wouldn't say he's colicky but maybe fool's colicky since he exhibits all the signs of a colicky baby but inconsistently so (I'm think I'm going to copyright that).

I meant to take a picture of him at one month, but he wasn't being his cute self on camera. This was taken during his nap a couple days before.

2. The characteristics of a first born

Moses' personality is shining through increasingly more these days. The funniest (and most irritating) part to manifest lately involves his need for things to be just-so. He'll let us know something's not working for him with a pointed finger and "oh, oh, oh." He's suddenly very concerned with the cleanliness of his highchair and its tray and will point out anything that's askew. He'll alert Dave to parts of the lawn that weren't mowed. A spill on his clothes could spark WWIII, and if Milo's spittle so much as dribbles down his chin, we know the instant it happens.

This was all very cute for awhile but now it's a teensy bit annoying since there's little we can do to stop his concern but take the time to correct the offending item. Thankfully, I'm a fan of Kevin Lehman's The Birth Order Book and know this little quirk is a typical characteristic of any first born child and we've essentially created this nit-picking monster!

But what an adorable monster he is.

3. Fernando

You may remember that, while I was suffering from insomnia, I discovered that a mouse was enjoying the comforts of our kitchen . Well, shortly after that discovery, we left for Dallas and when we came back, there was no sign of the mouse (who I dubbed Fernando) so we forgot the issue. Then, a couple months later, I noticed the tell-tale signs again so we bought a no-kill trap and placed it on our counter. We caught Fernando that night and released him far, far away the next day.

Meet Fernando:

Cute, right? Moses enjoyed watching him, and I enjoyed pretending he would wear clothes and talk when we weren't looking.

4. Amigos de Fernando

We've since caught three others. Eek. The aren't so adorable in these numbers.

5. Finger (er, brush) painting

I'm trying to incorporate more activities into our daily routine, including arts and crafts, so we tried our hands, nee fingers, at painting. While we started out using our fingers, we switched to brushes because Moses was too tempted to eat or lick the paint from his hands. The Crayola finger paint was a little disappointing though because it looks like a translucent gel instead of your typical paint. All in all, we had a great time and I look forward to more art projects. Next up--stringing fruit loop necklaces (if we can avoid eating them for long enough).



(no, he didn't paint that tree but rather confiscated my painting)

6. Sickos
Since school started up again recently, it was inevitable that the sick season would start. Two weeks ago, Dave started feeling some cold symptoms and soon after Moses and I had them, too. As with any illness that comes through our door, I got the worst of it and rode the couch as much as Moses would let me. I'm hoping this winter is better than last and that Moses can stay ear-infection free for as long as possible!

7. RIP TV
Last week, our living room TV decided to stop working. That was a rough morning for me because Moses usually watches TV during breakfast so that I can get ready for the day and start chores.

The worst part is that the TV is not even a year old but outside its warranty (don't buy the Wal-Mart brand, ilo). We can't exactly buy a new one so we're stuck with Dave's old 19" set and my fifteen-year-old 13" one that needs rabbit ears. We were used to having a nice large set and pretty HD pictures so this is a bitter pill to swallow. I've already requested an HD converter box coupon though. Sigh.

Well, that covers the last two weeks. I hope to get my rhythm back soon!

Goody, two shoes!

I heard about this cloth shoe tutorial from a friend and I couldn't wait to try it out. I was a little nervous because I haven't done much sewing recently other than the bunting flags for the boys' room, but I'm pleasantly surprised with the results and have become addicted to making them! These are my first two attempts, but with each pair the quality and time spent improves so I have a few other pairs in the works right now, too. I'm experimenting with and without the suggested interfacing because it's not allowing me to gather the elastic as much as I'd like.

I'm hoping to appliqué some onesies to match the shoes later this week (if he stays put long enough).

-Lindsey

Mulligan

If it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind, then I'm doing my gender proud. I started in the boys' room with a certain "look" in mind and have since completely changed direction. The back wall was lime green, now it's a brown called Cathedral Gray. The curtains were also green and now they, too, are brown. I'm much, much happier with the room since making the changes and feel like it fits this house and our family better. Moses seems to enjoy it, too--especially his big boy bed.

Here's the finished product:

View from the doorway

Moses' big-boy bed

The silhouette art work

The baby's crib is ready to go

The nesting dolls are my favorite knick-knack

Brown curtains and invaluable storage

The closet and play areas

More fun wall art

Moses is completely out of the crib now, which frees up the crib for his brother. His new bed is currently a trundle bed frame so he won't have far to fall during this big-bed learning period. Eventually, we'll get him a bed that isn't on wheels, unless it's shaped like a race car. Sigh.

The bunting flags were a project I worked on while at a hotel for my Mother's Day gift. I'd been wanting to make them for awhile but it was too labor intensive for my typical night at home. Cutting the flags took forever (I cut 35). Pinking shears would have helped prevent fraying, but since I don't own a pair, I settled for a zig-zag hem. I'm really pleased with the end result and Moses loves to stand beneath them while looking up and exclaim, "whoa, whoa."

There's now a large, free space under the windows where the trundle bed used to be. It's nice to have that space to play in and its size makes it possible to set up his circus tent without cursing its existence every time you pass. I'm planning on adding a small table and chairs in that area soon, too. Hooray for lots of space!

I had hoped to void his room of a theme when we moved to this house, but there's still a travel motif to the room. Considering Moses' current love for all things wheeled though, I think it's appropriate. Plus, we're open to change as his (and his brother's) interests develop.

One room down, 2 more to go.

-Lindsey

Paper Cuts

I'm still working on the boys' room, but I'm nearing the finish line. I needed some cheap wall art so I turned to Moses for inspiration. Since silhouettes are all the rage these days, I fashioned Moses' likeness from some paper, mounted it on a contrasting color, and placed it in a spare frame. Voila! Cheap, personalized art. I actually did two frames with Moses (mirror images) because I plan to replace one with his brother's image when his brother is a) not kicking my insides repeatedly b) capable of holding his head up.

Doesn't he have a nice profile?

UPDATE: To make the silhouette, I found a picture with a good profile shot, cropped it to the size I wanted, and printed it on our home printer. I used tracing paper to outline the silhouette and made a template from cardstock. This was my inspiration.

-Lindsey

The Boys' Room, Part I

I've been wanting to work on the boys' (plural!) room for awhile, but for one reason or another, I haven't--until this past week. I've seen some great productivity in fellow (or recently) preggo bloggers and their projects inspired me to get off my duff. I've also been touring nurseries on Ohdeedoh for room ideas, which has done nothing but increase my "to-do" list exponentially.

This was the room before Sally, Maegan, and I used 5 gallons of white paint to freshen up the walls and change the maroon walls to a lime green that I've since grown tired of (it must be my hormones because I usually love anything painted green) and have pledged to repaint a taupish-grey color in the near future. I love how large the room is, but I miss the wood floors in our old place. These walls are also a bit too textured for my taste, but it's something we can live with in a rental.

I haven't completed the room yet (sigh). I'm still working on Moses' soon-to-be big-boy bed situation since we currently have a nice trundle bed in there, but I think it's too much bed for Moses and too large for the space so I'm rethinking that arrangement. Then, there's the wall that I need to repaint. I'd also like to organize the walk-in closet, too. After those three tasks, I should be done with the room and be free to move on to other (more important but less fun) tasks, pending a cooperative baby!

When you walk into the room, there's a storage space on the wall for Moses' often used shoes and jackets. I have all the supplies (except a letter--what will we name this baby?) so that Moses' little brother will have one, too. The wooden crate is meant to hold cds, not shoes, but a little repurposing can go a long way and, with a little training, hopefully save me from the daily shoe search.

Here's Moses' current crib and dresser that will soon become baby #2s. I loved this train idea and had been wanting to change the previous artwork for awhile so I used two pieces of fabric and Heat N' Bond to appliqué the plane. I was hoping to get away from the travel theme in the room, but I loved the idea of a biplane too much. This was a nice, lazy way to redo that large canvas and I'm pretty pleased. Plus, if I get tired of it, I can just do something else.

I took down the dirty mini-blinds and hung some cotton tab-top curtains which I dyed green and added a fun ball-fringe trim to. The green is a little darker than I intended as I've learned that cloth dying is a very delicate process with little room for error (that test strip really is important). I'm still pleased with the results and think they add more color and whimsy to the room. For the record, I'm now obsessed with ball fringe!

For storage, I found some great cloth bins at Dollar Tree and mini-suitcases at Hobby Lobby. They are wonderful for storing random toys and small books. I also bought a toy organizer from Target--it's so nice to be able to access the toys and put them away easily. Since we have a lot of white wall to contend with in that room, I hung up an old dart board I scored from an estate sale and two other pieces of art I've found in the last year.

There's a large part of the room that I haven't shown, but that will come with Part II, once I've figured out the bed situation and painted that darn wall. I'm running out of steam more easily these days (hello, third trimester) but I'm planning to have the other things done in the next month. We'll see.

-Lindsey

Crafts with Moses

Today we got out some paints that Gran (Sally) gave Moses. He's done fingerpainting at school, but his teachers say he's not a fan of the paint sticking to his fingers (I'm beginning to see a theme here). He's still a little young to paint with brushes, but he does really well manipulating objects so I thought I'd give it a try with these special "Smarty Paints" brushes--they allow me to load the watercolor paint on them and then he can squeeze the brush to let the paint and water out at once.
He had a good time painting two pictures...and a mess.

-Lindsey