Surgery.

All went well yesterday with Jim's knee surgery. He is in minimal pain and even walked on a tad yesterday, well, more like a hobble. He got a good nights rest lastnight so we will see how today goes. Avery literally cried the entire time he was in surgery and only stopped after we were in the recovery room with him. It was really sweet. But what wasn't sweet is Avery pretty much cried all yesterday. I am not really sure what is wrong, but I think he is teething (already!) because his shirt is soaked more of the day from drool and he can't keep his hands out of his mouth!

I am hoping for a restful weekend!

Sleepless Nights

Avery just hit his 4 month mark and he decided to celebrate by consistently getting up about 5 times per night! Needless to say, I am exhausted. Our pediatrician recommended Jim giving him a 4-6oz bottle of pumped milk once per night to see if this would cure the problem. After searching for the right bottle and Avery finally taking a bottle, lastnight we tried it. Can I say BIG FAIL! Jim said he drank about 1/2 an ounce an fell right back asleep! So he was up 1 1/2 hour after that ready to eat again. Riley also woke up crying at 2am so needless to say, I was up all night. We are going to try again tonight, but Jim is having knee surgery tomorrow so after tonight, I am on my own until next week! This has been an especially hard and trying time for me but I know it's temporary. I am eagerly anticipating a full night sleep. Riley slept through the night at a year, so if Avery does the same, what's another 8 months of no sleep?! Yeah, we'll see if I make it that far!

On a lighter note, tonight is date night. This will be a good refreshing time for Jim and I before his surgery tomorrow. I have a cow bell that I am going to let him use if he needs help after the surgery, it should be pretty funny!

Progress and Randomness

I am on day 6 of no SODA and day 5 of NO SWEETS (and all around eating healthier)! I decided to stay home all day today, I think we just needed some down time. But I find that the days I am home it is so much harder not to dip into the Halloween candy, but I have held strong! Riley, Avery and I go to the farmers market every Weds on our way home from the gym. I really tried to buy outside of my normal list and REALLY tried to buy organic. It is so much fun to be able to buy the fruits and veggies with Riley. She helps me pick them out and then at dinner time is very excited to serve them to daddy. Although it hasn't helped with her veggie intake at all, I can't help but think I am instilling something in her.

Back to the eating healthier, I am hungry all the time! It really has forced me to eat small meals more times a day. I eat the same thing that I cook for everyone else at dinner time, just a smaller portion, which has ALWAYS been my downfall. Put a big meal in front of me and I will eat the whole thing, even when I am full!

On to more important things, we had Averys 4 month appointment yesterday. He is 15lbs 6oz (birth weight was 8lbs 10oz) and is 26 inches (21 inches at birth). I cannot believe how much he has grown! He also got 5 shots and lastnight he wasn't feeling up to par. We gave him some tylenol and he felt a lot better. He has a new fascination with this tongue and he blows bubbles with his saliva. He smiles ALL the time and giggles when I tickle him. He can sit in the bumbo seat alone and loves to watch me cook. He definitely is a mamas boy and just loves to lay on my chest. Riley couldn't be more in love with him. At first she wasn't really interested in him but lately she talks to him, soothes him and gives him kisses. I cannot wait to see the friendship (and I am sure bickering!) all 3 of our kids are going to have. Jim and I are truly blessed by our kids!

Mommy.

Sometimes I sit and think,"I cannot believe I am a mommy!" I have been so incredibly blessed by my children. I love to see them grow (just not to fast). I am in love.

WARNING: Scrapbooking will cause you to neglect your household duties and your personal hygiene!

That's right, I'm addicted...full on addicted!

My very first page was Averys "Womb with a view." And I am proud to say I got the idea myself, no inspiration except that I love robots =)

Rileys first page was her 1st Birthday page, since then I have made her 2nd, her labor and delivery (I cried the whole time I was making it), swim lessons, Mommy & Me, Daddy & Me, her big girl room & closet. For Avery, I finished his labor and delivery, 2 pages of me pregnant with him, hospital guests and alittle bro page. I am out of paper so I need to make a trip to Michaels, they are having a sale 5 for $1.00 rather than 59 cents a piece! I scoured the clearance section at Michaels and have used a lot of it! Michaels is moving to a new location here so they are trying to clearance out a lot of their products. Anything $5 or more I don't buy unless I have a 40% coupon. Luckily, every time you purchase, there is a coupon on your receipt!

I am going to try Walmart and see if their supplies and stickers are cheaper. My next page for both kids is our wedding, kind of like "where it all began." I have always wanted to know how my parents met and stories behind their dating life together. Pictures to come of the shelving unit my hubby made for me this weekend that houses all my crafts! I am in L.O.V.E!!

Switchin It Up

I have to admit, I have not really had any luck with my sewing projects lately. So I am trying my skills on some new projects. I made this Bless Our Nest sign last week and I am in LOVE! I made it out of this huge piece of plywood that was on our side yard when we bought our house. I had my hubby cut it up (One of my 2010 goals is to learn to use his tools!) so I can make many signs! I have so many different ideas that I probably need to scale them down a tad!

My 2nd project is Averys scrapbook/baby book. I received the most amazing scrapbook/baby book for my baby shower when I was pregnant with Riley from my aunt. It actually could be one of my all time favorite gifts. Many hours went into it and I absolutely cherish it. I have never scrapbooked in my life but I figured I could go page by page through Rileys and make Averys, just the boy version! The problem is, my wallet does not like scrapbooking! I spent $30 to get me started, this doesn't include the album!! Which is $50 on EBAY! So I figured that I would only buy materials when they are on sale or if I have a 40% off coupon. I was able to buy a set of 20 decorative scissors on ebay for $12.00, which retail for about $30 I think. I have decided that I will do a page per month per child. I still need to play catch up on Rileys but my first page for her will be graduating Level 1 of swim lessons! Although she hated every minute of it, I just have to document it!

What We've Been Up To!

We have been mighty busy around here. Playing in the creek, driving all over town looking for Toy Story toys, finger painting in the backyard and spending endless hours staring at the most gorgeous, smiley, happy baby boy! I feel like life is going by in lightening speed and I am just trying to soak up every minute with my two little ones. I have even found a little time to get my craft on. I have been working on a baby shower for a special someone who reads my blog, so pictures will have to come after! =) Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

This and That

I love this picture of Riley and I. It was taken on my 25th birthday. I still wear that shirt and it happens to be one of my favorite! I get so many compliments on it that I thought I would make a similar one but with a plain white tee. I bought the OP shirt at Walmart for $3.50 and bought the fabrics there as well, most of them costing me $1.50/yard. I love the feel of the shirt and of course the price so I must go back and get more colors. I really enjoy embellishing shirts and after being at TJMAXX this morning, I have many ideas in my head.

I have really been wanting to buy a pair of plum color sandals so this shirt inspired me to go spend a giftcard I have had since my birthday. Yes, I have had a gift card in my wallet for shoes for two months and haven't spent it yet! Now thats discipline. Actually, I was just waiting until I could reach my feet to spend it! Now that the baby is born, game on!

Avery Update: He is soooo yummy! I am smitten! He loves his mommy. He smiles already which warms my heart (and it's not just when he poops!) He is allllllll boy! He makes really loud grunting noises when he sleeps, sometimes it's cute, but at 2am, not so cute. He rarely cries. He rocks the mohawk and makes it look effortless. I am obsessed with my little man!

Meet Avery Christopher

Born June 27, 2010 at 5:34am. 8lbs 10oz 20 1/2 inches and completely perfect! I will blog about the labor story later but for now, I want to soak up my beautiful, handsome, and cuddly baby boy

39 weeks, 4 days!

Phew! I have made it this far and surprisingly enough, I am less discouraged today than I have been other days! We had an appointment today with our midwife. After measuring big for like the millionith time, she scheduled an ultrasound and a non stress test for tomorrow. At 36 weeks, I had an ultrasound and it showed that I am carrying excess fluids. Sometimes this is ok and other times it's not. So at the ultrasound they are going to check for polyhydramnios, which is the medical term for carrying excess fluid. If everything comes back that I do have this, they want to induce me this weekend. My uterus can only handle so much fluid, and if it gets overworked, it won't work properly. I am still only 1cm dialated but my cervix is very soft and little mans head is very low (yeah, I could have told you that!) Every time he moves, I feel like I am being stabbed in my lower stomach! Ouch! I have a feeling he is quite a bit bigger than his petite sister was.
I am looking forward to seeing my little boy in the ultrasound tomorrow but I would rather go into labor tonight! If I don't go into labor after this weekend, my midwife doesn't want me to go much past my due date. I really don't want to be induced but on the other hand, I completely trust my midwives with my life! I have always felt like they would do whatever is in the best interest of myself and the baby. I don't feel like they are "rushed" when we have appointments and actually I feel like they treat me as if I am their child. Whatever they recommend, Jim and I will strongly consider.
Does anyone have an induction advice?!

A Year of Change

It feels somewhat funny to say a year of change when we are only half way through, but that is exactly what our life has been so far! We bought a house earlier this year and now we are awaiting the birth of our baby boy any day.

I have really struggled with being a mom and then doing things for me that are fun. One outlet that I love is crafting. I LOVE trying new things. Whether it be sewing, painting, using my hot glue gun, figuring out how to make something that is ugly into a master piece!

So I have decided in order to fuel my addiction to craft, after the baby is born I am going to open an Etsy shop and see how things go! I have been thinking of a name for some time now and still haven't come up with one, but I am sure Avery will bring me some inspiration.

I made this clutch and now I am obsessed with making these flowers. They are somewhat time consuming but so worth it in the end! They are a great project for when you just want to watch some TV but also get your craft outlet!

Wish me luck on our season of change! We feel so blessed to be where we are and like I say every post, we can't wait to welcome our baby boy anytime! Come on Avery!!

A bit of Randomness

This picture has really nothing to do with my post except for the fact that my husband is hot and I think my daughter is so dang cute!

I have been feeling lately like there are not enough hours in the day to get things done. I think it's just because what I could do in an hour before I was pregnant now takes two hours because I am so tired!

I got up early this morning and decided to go for a power walk before it got to hot, we are suppose to have a high of 95 degrees and boy does it feel extra hot when you are pregs. I got home from my walk, had breakfast on the patio and read. Did I mention Riley slept in until 9am, which made all of these wonderful things possible before she woke up. Then I fell back asleep! For 2 whole hours! I have never felt this tired in my entire life. I told the hubs that I feel like I could sleep the day away. Little boy is moving around alot but I can definately tell he is bigger than his sister was. This won't be hard because she was a wee 6lbs 15oz. Knowing that soon I will have a son is such a surreal feeling. Part of me is scared to go into labor and the other part cannot wait one more second. I have been having contractions every day so I hope he comes soon!!

Soooo Easy!

A couple of weeks ago I ran across this tutorial on Ruffles and Stuff and thought I had to try it out. It was so super easy and fun, in fact, I made about 3 different ones for Riley out of my old tops. I decided to skip the belt on all the dresses but I am sure it would be easy enough to make those as well. My model is pretty cute if I must say so!

Baby Update:

We had an appt today and I am 1cm. I tried not to get discouraged and so far I am doing pretty well. I wasn't dialated with Riley until I went into labor so I am holding on to that. So I am spending my days walking walking and more walking!

Ohhhh Baby!

We finally got to see our little boy last Friday and let me just tell you, I am smitten! Our computer was being really weird when I was trying to scan the pictures so I had to take a picture of the ultrasound picture, so sorry for the bad picture. I was beyond amazed at what we could see. The ultrasound place purchased a new machine a year ago, which means it's an even better machine that we had when I was pregnant with Riley. We were able to see Avery going pee! It was hilarious! I guess it's just a sneak peek of what is to come with his pee shooting everywhere. I can't believe we were able to get his hand, foot and face all in one picture. She printed us over 20 pictures because he just kept giving her good shots, thats my boy!

Now on to the part that makes me nervous, he is BIG. I couldn't believe how much bigger he looked than Riley. We had ultrasounds for the both of them at 34 weeks. His head is measuring that of a 37 week old baby. And since I am planning (I know this is just a plan) another drug free labor I am nervous about the size of his head. She is told that she over estimates their weight by about 6oz most of the time, so her estimate was that he was about 5lbs 13oz already! At the corner of the screen they give an estimated due date based on their measurements and his was June 6th, when I am not due until June 26th. I know this doesn't change your due date at all but my point is that he is one big boy. Riley was 6lbs 15oz so I am only use to little ones!

Anyway, it was such a joy to see him. I have literally looked at his pictures 40 times. I just can't believe that this is my little boy. I feel so blessed to be his mommy!

Take a deep breath...

After yesterday I needed to take a deep breath and relax. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and renewed. One of the things that almost sent me over the edge yesterday was the changing pad cover I was making. I had made a HUGE cutting mistake and was trying to make dinner at the same time. Bad combo there! Anyway, I was able to salvage the fabric and retry. It turned out pretty tight on the changing pad but I still love it. I just used left over fabric that I had from making his bumper, which is almost finished! Also, Jim put the bird decals on the antique window which is now hanging above the guest bed. I am not sold on the owl picture above the changing table, the positioning looks weird. Anyway, we are making some progress finally! 2 more days and I get a sneak peak of my little boy!

Have you seen this?!

As I have mentioned earlier, I am looking for bedding for the guest bed in the nursery. My friend Holly turned me on to Urban Outfitters where I found this bedding! I hadn't originally planned on a bird theme for Averys room but it has turned out so! I think the quilt and pillow are a little to much but I LOVE the thought of having these two pillow shams!

So if anyone has been this fabric anywhere, let me know because I would love to make them after a tutorial I found here. These run about $30 for the pair and I think I can make them for cheaper! I've got diapers to buy so every penny I can save is great!!!!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Mothers Day! I was welcomed with an amazing breakfast, lunch at Burger Hut (my choice, I was craving it!) and BBQ steak dinner by my man. He even painted my toe nails today because I can't reach them! Now that is true love.

Baby on the Brain

My cute friend Stephanie gave me the idea to make a mobile for Averys room. We never had one for Riley, mainly because I was afraid that she would get hurt by it somehow? Hmmm, can you tell I am having my second child? It seems like you don't worry about things AS MUCH the second time around. And the fact that this would be hanging from the ceiling brought some relief to me. Anyway, I bought the stick wreath for $2.99 at Joanns, I pretty much raided my scrap pile for the detail on the birds, my grandma gave me all the buttons and ribbon, and last but not least, the felt is $.29 for an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet so all in all, this was a pretty cheap mobile to make! My friend Stephanie always has great crafting ideas! Check out her etsy shop here. Happy Wednesday!!

Things to think about

A good friend of mine just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Actually she is one of my 3 girlfriends that are expecting a boy along with me! She was the first one to give birth and let me just say, when I went to visit her in the hospital I was giddy with excitement thinking about our little boy coming.

When she got home we talked a couple of times and she told me her daughter, who is friends with Riley, was having a hard time with the new addition. I thought I would bring her daughter a gift to see if I could cheer her up. I scored this table cloth at a yardsale down the street last weekend and wasn't sure if I was going to cut it up or use it. I dug through Rileys old onesies and cut the bottom off. Unfortunately this was a lot of work because I was trying new techniques to see what worked best. In the past I have hand ruffled as I attached the bottom fabric, this time I ruffled with my machine. I think ruffling with the machine was a lot harder to attach.

Anyway, she loved the dress and that is all that matters! I have been on a crafting frenzy lately and I think it's my way of nesting. I need to start washing the babys clothes in the next couple of weeks and get them in his dresser. I am so anxious to get the nursery done and MANY more projects before the baby comes.

Baby Update!

On Saturday I will be 32 weeks preggers with our baby boy. We had a midwife appointment today and everything is going great.
Because of my first pregnancy I feel a lot more pressure this time around. The muscles are looser and somewhat damaged which makes it harder to carry the 2nd one. I am definitely looking forward to strengthening my abdominal muscles after Avery is born. I can't wait to get back to running and exercising with my mommy group. I can't believe that just last August I ran my first 10k and now I am out of breath running around in the backyard with Riley. This pregnancy has really put into perspective how I want to live my "active" life after the baby is born. I was really getting into being more active and exercising almost everyday. I look back at pictures from August and although I wasn't the weight I wanted, I liked how I looked. I felt I was really starting to look toned and healthy. I also really want to model fitness for my children and how important it is to take care of our bodies.
My midwife Cheryl scheduled another ultrasound for me in two weeks and I am thrilled! If you know me at all, I am very impatient. I cannot wait to see my little boys face. I remember we had an ultrasound with Riley at 34 weeks too and it was the most amazing thing to see her little face in there.
Jim and I can't wait to meet our little guy! Hopefully by the end of next week his room will be done, I finished his curtains and his mobile today. Pictures to come!

What do you do on a tight budget? Make it yourself!

My job for today is to make (start working on) some curtains like these for the little guys room. Although they are a little feminine, I need to find a creative way to make them more masculine. Because Averys room is also doubling as our guest room I have really tried to not make it very "baby." Instead of the white ruffle I purchased red fabric for this part to tie in the rest of his bedding and decor. The best part about this whole deal is these panels are from Pottery Barn Teen and they run about $69/panel. I went to Joanns and bought 6 1/2 yards of muslin for $1.99/yard with a 40% coupon. Plus one yard of the red fabric at $1.99/yard. Let me do the math for you! $14.93-$5.97 (40%)=$8.95..whoop whoop! And no, the muslin fabric is probably not nearly as nice as the pottery barn sheer fabric but as long as you don't rub your face all over the curtains we should be in good shape. Also, sometimes I risk my stress level when I work on these projects but as long as they turn out good, I am ok with it all!

I use to be a huge fan of Jon & Kate plus 8, and I will admit, when they announced their divorce I cried. But one thing she said on her show really hit home for me.. She said that Jon goes out and works and she is blessed to stay home with her kids, so her job is to make his paycheck stretch as far as possible. This has really been helpful for me when I have the shopping urge. I have really been trying to get creative with our finances lately and seeing how many things I can make as opposed to buy. One huge thing that we are doing now is eating out WAY less. We never ate out a ton anyways but realized we could still safe money. Even if that means on the nights I don't feel like cooking, we make something easy such as quesadillas or sandwiches.

Also because we are trying to furnish a house that is more than double the size of our last, I have really been hitting up the yard sales (yard sale season, whoohoo!). For instance, I scored a fairly brand new wood double bed last weekend from an estate sale for $25.00. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but once I got it in the room and have been surfing the internet for bedding ideas, it's going to be great! And last but not least, you can't beat craigslist!

Do you have any money saving tips you would like to share?