to remember...

I love the conversations with little dude when he wakes up. He's always so lucid and he always has new interesting things to say after waking up. As much as his falling asleep is a favorite time of my day, so is his waking up.

Here's today's exchange (after taking a nice 3 hour nap in the bassinet)...

Entering the playroom.

Me: Look at the trees out the window! They're changing!
LD: Yeah! See the purple ones. And red ones too. See the ones down there.
Me: Yeah, brown ones, gold ones, yellow ones...
LD: And purple ones too!
Me: (i laugh) Yes. Purple ones too!
LD: And green ones. (long pause) Those aren't ripe yet.
Me: (i have to kiss him for that one - what a way to think of it!)
LD: Those aren't ripe yet!
Me: Nope, they're not. We should take a walk today and see what else we see.
LD: Mommy?
Me: Yeah?
LD: The caterpillar eats some of the leaves.
Me: (have to give him another kiss) Yeah, just like in the caterpillar book. You remembered!
LD: Yeah. Mommy?
Me: Yeah?
LD: You want to play trains with me?
Me: Okay.
LD: Fall is coming.
Me: Yup.
LD: Baby comes with the snow.
Me: That's right.

*And today is the big day he began to ask "WHY." A few minutes after this conversation. I wondered when it would come. He asks us a ton of questions but never why. I knew it was coming. And it has. Sort of sad. Because i love the way he asks questions now and why is so...easy.

Register to vote!

(post taken from Sometimes Sobia

Please register to vote today! As a busy Mom I understand having a hard time getting out to register or vote. So HERE is a way to do so online!

Here's when the deadline is for you to register.

Find your polling place here!

It's time for a change! Don't let the next four years be like the last eight!

Napping

:-)
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Little Dude has been very interested in the baby stuff i've been pulling out of the basement. He insisted on taking his nap in the bassinet. I can't believe he's comfortable but i was told to never wake a sleeping baby so i'm not.

I tried to convince him to sleep in the ever so comfortable crib i recently put back together. But it was a no, just as it's been since he was 18 months old. :-)

He also had me read two baby books and stroke his hair like he is a baby. Cuteness. Better now than when the baby comes.

Fun little art project

Here's a fun easy project that's fun for the little ones.

Take a big piece of paper and some cars (you could also do marbles). My kid likes things that go.
Add "mud puddles" of finger paint (or any other washable paint).
Let the little one make car tracks everywhere.

When finished, have them wash all the cars.

THE cinnamon rolls

Pioneer Woman's cinammon rolls
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

These are the cinnamon rolls from the other day. Delish!

Grub

Made Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shrimp tonight and since it was a light dinner (perfect with a baguette) i made her cinnamon rolls. Oh my. Those were good and i'm so glad i have two more tins of them (i made a half recipe). Good thing dinner was light. I ate one, and then half of another, and then baby was kicking saying "more" so i had to give her one too. I waited until hubby took the little dude up for bed before going for that third one. :-) Check out her blog. Good stuff. Her food one and her regular one.

Hormones

I began crying the other day. Want to know why? Because my unborn baby is going to grow up so quickly and it hit me like a ton of bricks how fast these little people grow up. It made me so sad I can't even explain.

This happened in my last pregnancy too but it was a whole lot funnier. We were in Ethan Allen looking for a dining room table and the salesman was being super pushy. My husband was about to cave into him for a dining table we both really loved but wasn't ready to commit to - we had just began looking. He was pushing for curtains to match, this, that and the other. I began thinking what a dining room table was and i just started crying. Right there in Ethan Allen. I began saying stuff like "A dining room table is forever. This is the table our kids will have all their special dinners at. This is the table we will have many family celebrations at. This is the table i will meet my future daughter in law." lol

The guy turned red. But really he was way pushy trying to match up curtains (i hate formal curtains) and fabrics for the chairs (i wasn't ready for that decision). My husband was quite happy because a few weeks later we found what we wanted for the half the price and stress.

Do you want to know how many times we've used our dining room table that was "forever"? I think maybe once or twice a year for the past three years so six times. Want to know the truth? I hate the table. It just sits there looking pretty but doesn't do a thing. I would love to get rid of it.

If you gave them to a man for a day, they'd think they were on a really bad acid trip. It would be hilarious to watch.

Backpack tutorial

Look what Robyn at that Silly Girl did for us...wrote up a cute preschool backpack tutorial. I can't wait to make this next year. This year has too much in the to-do pile unless i can bottle LD's energy up in a bottle and drink it up myself. :-)

He's sick today and last night and kept me up all night but first thing this morning he's up and around and "come on mommy, make me some yemonade". Sigh. I really don't know where his energy comes from. It's so much higher than other kids. This is not just my opinion. My friends with kids are amazed too. He only needs about 7 hours of sleep and he can go go go until he drops for a very peaceful deep sleep nap for two hours and then he's at it again. I was worried about his lack of sleep but the pediatrician says "he knows what he needs" which worried me because everything i've read says kids his age need around 12 hours a day. Sometimes he doesn't and he makes the whole world miserable. That's the thing with my little dude, when he's happy the house is happy, when he's in a bad mood, he'll make the rest of us in a bad mood. He's a bit like his momma that way.

argh

I never gave an update on potty training. I'm losing my mind with it. LD has been going number one on the potty since week 1 two months ago but still refuses to go number 2. No matter what i do - beg, plead, bribe, refuse to dress him, only let him wear underwear, make him sit for a few minutes, buy his favorite Thomas train and let him hold it in the package saying "please if you go this is yours, all you have to do is go". Nothing.

He'll be 3 in a month. What am i doing wrong or is he just not ready?

inspired

So i haven't sewn in forever. Lemme tell you, having a girl is going to be fun. I never knew........... I went shopping last week at clearance sales and got some adorable things super cheap for next summer. How fun it was to shop for a girl! But what is really fun is sewing for one!

She's my inspiration these days, my little 10 ounce daughter who is so mild she only wakes up when i sit (rarely) and when i eat something sweet (nightly) or when i slam a glass of water (usually midday right before i sit). I drink a lot these days but somewhere between "pick up your toys" (raising voice) and "please go to sleep" (praying) i usually get a good 20 ounces in one shot. She stays put in the same spot and refuses to move even if an ultrasound technician shakes my stomach for an hour, she won't move but she'll give me little kicks and tickles. I seriously had an hour and a half ultrasound two weeks ago. They wanted to see the heart good and she just refused to get out of her hole. Little squirrel.

Sewwwwwwwwwwwww, let me share what i've been spending naptime doing (instead of reading the ginormous book i'm supposed to have reviewed by the end of the month.

First up, burp cloths. I hated burp cloths when i had LD. I quit using them and put them right into the donation box because they were useless to me. They didn't absorb anything and were plain annoying. The boy could spit up let me tell you so i just used receiving blankets. So when i saw this tutorial by the multi-talented Barb of Chelsea Morning, i couldn't wait to have a baby so i could make these! And now that i have i will definately be making some for baby gifts. They are so sweet and useful. I made a little mistake and bought the non-prefolds and had washed and dried them thinking "how different could they really be?" Very. Prefolds are key. I made the others work but ended up with 18 burp cloths because i bought six of the prefolds to see how they were supposed to be done and made the 12 others work and now i'm actually pretty happy with them. They aren't good enough for gifts so i now have 18. I hope she spits up a lot. Ummm, did i just say that? Love these!

Next up. I won some fabric at Sew Mama Sew. I chose this yummy fabric.

Yay me! I never thought i would win on there! I decided on this yummy fabric but still don't know what i'm going to make with it but i think it'll end up in a baby quilt. My original idea has changed so now i'm thinking around this fabric. My other thought is these fabrics and make a matching pink sock monkey to go with it.

Also, are these little onesies i've cut out the appliques for but have yet to figure out how to sew them on nice. I'm hoping the inspiration comes next week because how sweet are those?

I also want to make these little bloomer dress outfits out of these two vintage fabrics that a lady gave me this past spring. Yummy right? I mean perfect fabric for them. I hate patterns but it's worth the effort. I say that now........... I got this idea from Barb too. I saw the bloomer shot and i went straight to Ebay looking for it. Found it after 3 weeks.

Here's a closer look at the fabric... vintage yum!


Last is an idea i saw a few years ago and have wanted to make since but thought it was too girly (even if i did it in boy colors) for LD. He was about a year when i found it in a book. But it's been there in my mind and i've had the chenille collected for a while now too. Bought some whole blankets and sold off most of it just for a few measly squares. But love love love how this is looking. I can't figure out what to back it with yet. I will use flannel for the batting and then ribbon tie it instead of quilting it because i broke all my sewing machine needles yesterday just getting it pieced. Chenille stinks to sew through. Those seams are bulky. Glad i used my old machine for it all instead of my good one. I think this is so sweet and adorable for a little playmat hanging out area.

I also started and finished a few gifts that were sorely overdue. I still need to make a doll for the orphanage project still. I stink but i just haven't been in the sewing zone. That's up for next week. I had to get this bout of sewing out first. Not showing pictures of the presents though. Just glad i'm back in the zone!

Oh wait, there's one more thing. I want to make a scalloped stroller blanket out of this fabric. Do you think it matches? I love that top one! The bottom one is vintage and haven't figured out of it will match as the back or not. I plan to use the pattern from "Bend the Rules Sewing".

I don't know if i'll get it all done but boy i want to. I think it's all i'm going to be able to do since i'm also crocheting a blanket. I'd love to knit a coming home hat and sweater but well me and knitting still aren't the best of friends and i haven't learned circular needles or double pointed ones. I still might try for the hat though. I sure would prefer that over the hospital one. Since I'm making so much for baby i also have a few things lined up for the little dude.

Toddler sushi take 2

Toddler sushi
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

This is another version of "toddler sushi".

Take a tortilla and warm in the micro a few seconds to make it bendable and so it won't break.

Make a mixture. We used veggie cream cheese with bits of green pimento olives, turkey bacon, and some other stuff i'm forgetting now.

A dab of yogurt makes a good wasabi. He loved making them and loved eating them.

picnic

picnic
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

I took LD out for a picnic in a teeny little park the other day and it was a lot of fun.

Nitrate-free, uncured turkey sandwiches, Pirate Booty, fresh blueberries and yogurt juice.

We made flower bracelets, took turns throwing and chasing a floaty white feather and read a few books. It was all very idyllic until I said it was time to pack up and go home. Then it was a huge temper tantrum and explosion. He REALLY liked the one on one time with no one else at the park and no playground to distract him. Or he was tired and unbendable.

Flower bracelet
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Looking at these pictures of the during totally make it worth the battles at the end of our excursions. We'll miss summer but I'm sure there's lots of fun to be had in the fall too.

35

35
Originally uploaded by Leo Reynolds

I can't believe I'm 35 today! Wow.

How am i spending it?

Nesting. Serious nesting. I woke up with the urge to clean. I cleared out the fridge, washed all the shelves and scrubbed it from top to bottom. Why on Earth would I choose to do this on my birthday i don't know.

Hubby is coming home early and it's raining today off and on so the plans to go to the beach or a park are no good. Weirdly, i would be find just doing things around the house. I would really like to sew since I haven't sewn forever. I have a few gifts to make, some baby stuff to do and I can't wait to make these burp cloths.

Does this help?

little feet washcloth
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

:-)

I knit this little feet (can you see them?) a few weeks ago being pretty sure we were having a girl. Still not very good at knitting (or fast) but getting better.
And i've been semi working on this blanket but will go full speed ahead on it now. :-)

blankie
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

If those don't help clear it up, this one might.

vintage suitcase and high chair
Originally uploaded by wayfarer

Antique toy high chair. I tore the icky fabric off, cleaned it up, sunned it, and am going to make a new ruffle and pad for it. Ah, can't wait for the girly stuff. Funny i always thought i'd just have boys. Never thought about the girly stuff. Now I'm seeing that it's going to be a LOT of fun. MashAllah.

(the suitcase will be a nursing suitcase - filled with various activities in bags for LD. I have a list of things to put in there all designed to take about 20 minutes. No hands on help needed from mom but verbal assistance can be offered as needed. I figure he'll get needed attention when he needs/wants it but will be occupied at the same time. Later it will be filled with dress up supplies.)

It's a..........

Time. Where does it go? I am horrible at blogging these days! My readership shows it lol. Thank you to you loyal ones who still stick around and comment.

Been trying to spend time outdoors and keep my energy level up enough to do so. This pregnancy is so different than it was last time. With LD i had energy. With this one, none, and that's with coffee (shame on me). I didn't drink any coffee with LD. Strange thing is this one is a lot more mellow in there. I guess baby likes coffee in the morning too (weak coffee and only a cup).

I'm about to ravage my fabric collection and start making things for my little baby which i now know the gender of. I sort of knew all along because I was charting things but it was a little bit up in the air. We already have the name. Weird because with LD we didn't have a final name selection due to my inlaws input. It changed everything and the hospital wouldn't release us until we finalized the name and we just couldn't decide. I still sometimes don't know if it was the right one lol. I left the final decision up to the hubby. Poor guy. I don't think we got home till midnight because i told him to just fill out the birth certificate application and that would be it. It took him hours. :-) And this time, we've already decided. I'm 100% absolutely sure that it will change because with LD we were 100% the whole way until the very end when my inlaws put in their two rupi's.

Wanna guess what it is?