Cleared For Takeoff

Pictures

2012-01-19T19:27:00.001-06:00

We had about 1/4” of snow last week so the hubs took Ellie out to experience it. I’m not too sure she loved it, judging by the look on her face. The snow was pretty for about 10 minutes, and it was *just enough* to close schools the next day.

The picture above was taken using an app on my phone called RedStamp. It’s free and really good to use to add notes to pictures that you want to remember. I cracked up when I went in her room to wake her, and found about 17 books that she had been reading instead of napping!

Sometimes we go walk around the mall when we don’t have anything to do for the day. Yesterday was one of those days. We were passing by Forever21 and she put her booty on the glass and started wiggling it all around saying, “I wiggle like the Genie!!!” (Aladdin) We were cracking up!

25 Weeks Pregnant with #2

2012-01-13T21:37:00.001-06:00

I’m 25 weeks pregnant! It is starting to feel REAL now.

People keep asking me how I’m feeling, and truthfully, I feel great! Despite getting out of breath a lot, I don’t feel pregnant at all! Everything is SO different this time around. At this point in Ellie’s pregnancy, I was barely recognizable. I was SO swollen and my face was puff-normous. I really am enjoying this pregnancy, instead of being miserable.

One thing I feel guilty about, is that I barely pay attention to Foster’s kicks and movements. I guess I’m just so busy and distracted with #1 that I don’t notice it. I’m sure its pretty normal for second pregnancies, but I still feel a bit bad for the little guy : )

Ellie Kate’s Big Girl Room

2012-01-12T16:29:00.001-06:00

First I need to say that I never in a million years thought I would have a pink room in my house. I’m so not a pink girl. You may remember that Ellie’s nursery/toddler room was brown and red with green accents. But once we found out we will be having baby #2, we decided to move Ellie to the room next to hers, and I decided that every little girl needs a pink room at least once in her life.

Here’s our big girl in her new room!

Her daybed is from the Ashley Furniture Cottage Retreat collection, but we bought it on craigslist for about $250.

And here’s the view from the door:

Did you notice that I photoshopped in the left curtain? We really only have the panel on the right of her window. It’s a pottery barn kids panel ($45) that I bought on ebay for $15. Now I just need to find another one that matches! My trick is to shop pbkids.com, find what I want, and then search for it on ebay. I have saved a ton of money that way!

Here’s the view from the opposite corner. Her bedding is actually a queen-sized quilt from the pottery barn kids penelope collection. I picked it up on ebay for $50 and just doubled it over to fit her twin bed. Her sheets are just some cream flannel ones from walmart. I decided to remove her closet doors, and hung up some sheer white panels from Target instead. Eventually I would like to have a couple more pbkids panels for this area, but those will come in time.

This is the view from her bed. The chair was from her nursery and I keep all of her stuffed animals behind it. She really likes to “hide” back there and play.

I thought I got a better picture of her dresser, but I guess not. It took me months searching craigslist every day to find this piece. I needed something to match the cream tone of her bed, but didn’t want to buy new. We payed $100 for this and I just love the glass knobs. I made this little flower arrangement yesterday, using 2 bunches of flowers and a flower pot from the dollar store.

This is the view from her dresser. You can see her dollhouse in the corner and her dress-up clothes hanging on the right. When I picked out these Christmas gifts for her, I had dreams that she would play quietly in her room for hours. So far, that’s a big fat FAIL.

See how cute those little hooks are? I bought these a year ago, from the $1 section of Michaels Craft Store. They have been sitting in the top of her closet until now!

This is what Ellie and Daddy were doing while I was taking pictures…

That is, until *someone* got fed up and decided she was done.

The Day to Day

2012-01-11T21:36:00.001-06:00

One of my goals this year is to document more of our daily life, so I started today. The quality of the pictures is lacking (taken on an iphone) but whatever works, right?

Started out at 7:30am with my morning cup of coffee. Foster likes to practice his kicking skills on my cup, so I rest it on my belly. Josh was up at 7am, shaving and getting ready to fly out for the day. He brings me my coffee in bed every morning. I’m a lucky girl!

Around 9am I took Ellie to our local play place for her early reading class. So here I am at a stop sign. It was raining all morning so Ellie and I both sported frizzy ponytails all day. You like my silly face?

There’s the big girl, ready to go see her friends!

I didn’t have time to take pictures during her class. I was too busy telling her to sit on her bottom, listen, stop roaring like a lion, and quit touching another little girl’s Dora boots. After class, we decided to stay and play until lunchtime.

“Playing” consists of her running all over the place and exploring, while Mommy sits and talks with her friends. I love bringing her here :)

We came home for lunch and I let her watch one of her shows before naptime. We took this picture and sent it to daddy. And yes, those are ALL my chins. We attempted naptime at 1pm but she talked and (loudly) sung to herself until a little after 2pm. I had to wake her up at 5:15 and it was already dark outside!

After dinner it was bathtime. I usually do my face cleansing routine and fold laundry while she plays in the water. Tonight I decided to organize my makeup drawer. Here’s what I was dealing with:

And here is the after. MUCH better. And would you believe this isnt even half of my makeup? I keep the rest of it in a basket in my closet.

After her bath, we headed up to the bonus room and played princess/tea pot/baby dolls for about 40 minutes, then it was time for bed! Now I’m just chilling out, web surfing, and waiting for Josh to arrive at midnight tonight.

Woo Hoo!

2012-01-10T20:14:00.001-06:00

Some of you may remember that when I was pregnant with Ellie, I had gestational diabetes. Once you have it, you are something like 60% more likely to have it with subsequent pregnancies. So I just knew I was going to be dealing with this nuisance again.

I had my glucose test last Thursday (24ish weeks) and I was dreading it. But I got the call from my nurse yesterday, and I PASSED!!!

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I’ve been incredibly lazy about blogging lately. Not sure why, mostly a combination of feeling fat, ugly, and not wanting to be in pictures. I am sliding down that Stay at Home Mom Who Let Herself Go slope very quickly… I have to remind myself to shower, put on makeup, and to actually *try* to look somewhat put together. And don’t even get me started on the body hair situation. I just cant keep up with the growth! If only the hair on my head would grow as fast as the hair on my legs. Sigh…

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Ellie’s big girl room is almost completely finished so hopefully I will get some pictures taken soon. Tonight is her first night sleeping without the safety rail on her daybed. Hopefully we don’t hear any loud thumps tonight!

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My sweet MIL gave me a gift card to a local maternity boutique and I went hog wild in there today! I stocked up on nursing supplies, lanolin, nipple shields, pump bags, and a super-nice nursing tank. Despite this list, we havent bought ANYTHING for Foster yet! Hopefully when the next big paycheck rolls in ; )

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T20:25:00.001-06:00

We are partying it up in our highest heels today.

Keepin it classy, y’all.

Goodbye 2011

2011-12-30T22:12:00.001-06:00

Looking back, the theme of this year has been Growth.

Ellie Kate grew from a baby to an official toddler when she (finally!) learned to walk last January.

She learned to swim with just her floaties on this past summer.

Ellie grew from a one-year-old to a sassy two-year-old, and Daddy turned 31 on their birthday.

This is also when we found out that our family of three was going to grow into a family of four!

We found out we are having a bouncing baby boy, and my belly grew from flabby to fabulous!

And last but not least, Josh and I have grown together and as parents. Josh has grown in his career to a much more comfortable place for our family, and I have grown into a real live mother. This year I have gone from a confused new mommy to an old pro. I am so in love with our little girl and I finally feel good about being a stay-at-home mom.

Here’s to a great new year!

22 Weeks and His Bedding!

2011-12-27T16:28:00.001-06:00

I reached the 22nd week of pregnancy this past week. Even though I’m more than halfway done, I still cant shake the fear of losing our little boy. When I was pregnant with Ellie Kate, I never thought twice about the fact that we may not ever meet her alive. But after experiencing our chemical pregnancy earlier this year, and having some good friends of ours receiving a fatal diagnosis for their little boy in utero, I’m just looking at this pregnancy with different eyes. I wish I could get back the naivety that I experienced with my first pregnancy, but until then I’m cautiously waiting for baby Foster to arrive.

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On a happier note, I wanted to show you guys Foster’s bedding! It’s the “Geo Boy” Bedding by Sumersault and sells for $130 at Target.com, but I picked it up at a local consignment sale for $40! And it included an extra blanket, a little pillow, and matching wall hangings. It didn’t include the bumpers (I heard it’s illegal to re-sell bumper pads?) but I plan on using light blue breathable bumpers anyway.

His room is really coming together and I hope to have pictures of it soon!

Our First Family Christmas!

2011-12-23T21:27:00.001-06:00

Josh arrived home last night and we decided last-minute to do Ellie Kate’s Christmas the next morning (This morning). But first we had dinner at Chick-Fil-A with Gramps and Gigi!

Once we got home and got the little chicklet to bed, we started wrapping and assembling her gifts. Here’s Josh putting together her giant dollhouse:

I took pictures of her gifts before I wrapped them so I could remember what we got her this year. Also because I love to see what you guys are getting your kids, so I thought you might like a peek too. Here’s her stash!

And here’s a few close-ups:

We bought her a play-doh set, a dollhouse family, a princess book with a CD, and some princess slippers.

I decided at the last minute that she needed some stocking stuffers, and I totally scored at the Target dollar section. From left to right, she got fruit snacks, a velcro catching set, nerds flavored chapstick, a tube of glow stick bracelets, a pack of lacing beads, a wooden airplane, a slinky, and a toy microphone. I ate the entire bag of fruit snacks while she played with her presents, and the first glow stick we played with busted toxic glowing paint all over her hands. Ha! Christmas fail.

Of course I got her first Big Girl Christmas on video:

The next two days we will be having Christmas with my parents, and Josh’s parents. So much fun this year!

Card Schmard

2011-12-21T18:30:00.001-06:00

We didn’t send out Christmas cards this year, partly because I lost my list of addresses and mostly because The Foster Fetus is taking all of my spare energy : ) But, I wanted to show you guys what our card would have looked like, had we sent one out.

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On another note, Ellie Kate is simultaneously amazing me and driving me crazy every single day now! Our little girl is talking in complete sentences: “We gonna go see the Chrifmas lights mommy?” and I honestly feel like I’m hanging out with (a really needy and immature) best friend every day.

We have enjoyed the past few days just hanging out in our pjs, watching Christmas movies, and playing with toys. This is a BIG deal for me because I used to be so discontent just staying home all day. I felt bored, trapped, and stir crazy if we didn’t have somewhere to go every day. But now? I’m loving our time at home with nothing to do. I’m not sure when or how I managed to change, my only guess is that The Lord is preparing me to stay home A LOT when Foster gets here.

I guess it helps that Ellie has hit an easier stage (for now) and is playing more independently these days. Am I the only one that has noticed that their easy-ness ebbs and flows? For a while they will be super difficult, then they will surprise you and be super sweet. Hmmmm…

She’s currently watching a disney Christmas something-or-other on TV and during the commercials, says “I want dat fun toy Mommy!” So….I guess that has started : )

This is the face I get when she “cooks” something for me in her kitchen.

And this is the face I get all day every day. My sweet, challenging, needy, independent, happy 29 month old.

Christmas is coming, and so is the Uncomfortableness.

2011-12-20T21:47:00.001-06:00

I’m feeling a little off my “mom game” lately. Somehow we were blessed to have Josh home for the past month and a half. Every day, and every night, for a month and a half! It was SO nice to be able to share the responsibilities of taking care of our house and our rambunctious 2 year old. And to be honest, I pretty much let him do everything. I figure this will NEVER happen again so I better take advantage of it! Ha! : )

But now that he’s back to work it has taken me a couple of days to remember how to be a part-time single mom again! I was pretty anxious before he left, because I knew I would have to adjust, but I think we have settled into a good routine. Plus, by some sort of Christmas miracle, he will be home for Christmas this year!! We have never….EVER….spent Christmas together. Woo hoo!

Apparently my body has accepted that I really am pregnant now. (For a while I was in denial) I have b.l.o.w.n. u.p. this past week. I’m constantly out of breath, I cant carry Ellie anymore, and I have to really watch my activity or my uterus goes crazy with braxton hicks contractions. Most days I have to lay down on my left side and drink a couple of bottles of water to relieve the tension in my belly, so I have given myself a free pass when it comes to how much TV Ellie is watching lately. Here’s the little diva straight out of bed this morning. She insisted on wearing her “Pwincess dwess!”

I havent been taking pictures a lot lately, mostly because my DSLR cant get enough light in. I need a 50mm lense but don’t have the $100 to spend on it. All of my photos have to be extensively edited in photoshop to even look presentable, and that takes forever, so I’m shying away from it right now.

And last but not least, I am SO pumped to celebrate Christmas this year! Ellie is finally old enough to know what is going on and I just cant wait to see her face on Christmas morning!

Bonus Room Makeover

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

You may remember that our bonus room used to be beige, boring, and blah… We had an eclectic blend of hand-me-down furniture and nothing matched. We finally took the time and money to spruce up our “playroom” since it is where we spend the majority of our time together. Here is what it looked like before:

And here it is now:

We purchased this couch at Macy’s and bought it especially for the chaise lounge at the end. We are planning on lots of long nights sleeping upright with a certain little bundle in our arms.

Here’s another view. We painted the room the same grey-blue as our bedroom, and I just love the orange accents.

Looking to the left, you can see our Christmas tree and Ellie Kate’s play corner. This is where we keep all of her toys.

Here’s a close-up of the play corner. This is probably the most organized spot in our house. I cant stand toy clutter so we only keep out a couple of things at a time.

Back across the room (behind the couch) is MY play corner :) This is where I blog, craft, and now embroider!

Here’s the view from my computer desk. Notice the baby swing in the corner : )

21 Weeks Pregnant with #2

2011-12-12T16:19:00.001-06:00

First of all, we had our anatomy scan last week and confirmed that we are indeed, having a boy. He is completely healthy, thank The Lord!

I have my second glucose test in 3 weeks and hopefully I don’t have The Diabeetus this time around. All I know is I’m eating every carb and sugar that I can pack in before then : )

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This pregnancy is SO different that my first, with Ellie Kate. Here are the main differences:

-With Ellie I could not get enough sweets. With this little guy I don’t want sweets at all! (So unlike me). But all I want is savory, comfort foods like casseroles, salty pickles, and cheese.

-With Ellie I had gained almost 20 lbs by now. With Foster, I have only gained 3 pounds. And its not for lack of trying! I’m eating everything I want!

-With Ellie I stayed pretty comfortable until my third trimester. With this baby my uncomfortableness started right at 20 weeks. I’m out of breath from doing the smallest activities (like standing up).

-With Ellie I had severe lower back pain in my S.I. Joints from the very beginning, not this time!

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Here’s a picture of me at 21 weeks with E.K. If you compare it to my pic above, I’m a lot smaller this time around. Weird!

And here’s a progression from my last belly photo. Not much has changed!

And lastly, here I am with baby Foster’s Christmas stocking…already hanging on our mantel!

Meeting Santa

2011-12-11T21:34:00.001-06:00

This past week we took Ellie Kate to see Santa at our local mall. She surprisingly did great! Here is a photo progression of the past years:

We continued the tradition of seeing Santa with Ellie’s cousin, Audrey and her parents, plus Josh’s parents. Ellie and Audrey are just so stinkin’ adorable right now. Here are the girls waiting in line to meet the Big Guy.

Eventually they got bored and started giving cousin kisses!

After the trauma of meeting Santa, the girls calmed down with a round of touchy books on Gigi’s iphone (or i PONE, as Ellie calls it).

It’s so hard to believe that next year there will be two more cousins sitting in this picture!

Our Christmas List for Ellie Kate

2011-12-04T22:08:00.001-06:00

Have you finished all of your Christmas shopping yet? Not me! We have barely even started. I’m a last minute shopper and that’s the way I like it : )

I’m always curious to see what other parents are getting their kiddos for Christmas because it gives me ideas for Ellie. Every year I create an Amazon wish list for her so that the grandparents can choose from things I have researched and that I know she would love.

So for your reading pleasure, I present to you…….The List:

Play-Doh: Fun Factory Deluxe Set $17.50 -We have begun to play with play-doh at our house, but I’ve run out of ideas to do with it. I’m done making the standard “snake” and “ball” for Ellie Kate, so I think she would love to have something like this.

iPlay Build-A-Road $23.96 -The girl LOVES cars. This neat set has cars that go on their own, plus you can customize the road and build it however you want. I’m betting Foster will love this one some day too : )

Fisher-Price Little People Wheelies Stand 'n Play Rampway $34.99 –This thing is over 2 feet tall, which means Ellie can stand up and play with it. She is going to DIE if she gets this from Santa. They also have a pink and purple version, but it was more expensive.

Kidcraft Cupcake Set $24.17 –When I take Ellie to our local indoor play-place, she adores playing with their cupcake set. She spends most of the day bringing me cupcakes with a big smile on her face like she made them herself. I thought these would look great in her “big girl room” as well.

Kidcraft Aspen Table and Chair Set $86.02 –I really would love to have this table and chair set for Ellie’s big girl room. It’s great quality for the price, and I can see tons of daddy-daughter tea parties happening here!

Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk (Amazon has it listed for $69.99, but I’m pretty sure when I added it to her list it was $49? You can find the same, or something similar at Target and Walmart for cheaper. ) –I am beyond excited for this gift. Ellie all of the sudden LOVES to dress up when we go to friends’ houses. I cant wait to see her face when she sees these princess dresses, and I already have a “dress up corner” with hooks set up in her new big girl room.

Disney Princess Shoe Boutique $44.77 –Every princess needs some heels! Ellie has really been into wearing mine and Josh’s shoes lately. She walks around the house in Josh’s big manly boots most of the time and its hilarious.

And last but not least, this is the gift she will be receiving from Mommy and Daddy this year:

Kidkraft Savannah Dollhouse $119.98 (But we found it at Sams for $99) –This thing is awesome quality for the price and comes with all the furniture! Since having a baby girl, I’ve found that I’m somewhat of a dollhouse snob. I cant stand the Dora houses, Barbie houses, or anything that is bright and too busy looking. This one is precious and classic!

Family Photo Shoot

2011-12-03T20:17:00.001-06:00

My great friend and neighbor, Samantha, did a photoshoot for us a couple of weeks ago. It was *ahem* challenging to get Ellie Kate to smile/stay still/not run away. But- she captured some great pictures!

(This picture would be great, except for my droopy boobie syndrome. Obviously, I need to go get fitted for some new giant bras.)

(This is the standard Ellie face. We see this face about 13 times a day :)

My Little Elf on the Shelf

2011-11-29T17:42:00.001-06:00

Have you heard of The Elf on the Shelf? I hadnt, until last year. Or was it the year before? Oh well, we got this book set when Ellie was just a baby. It’s a story about an elf that Santa sends to your house to “watch over” the kids. Every night he flies to the North Pole and reports the kids’ behavior to Santa. So you are supposed to move him every night while everyone is sleeping, and they can see where he “landed” in the morning! This is the first year we have opened it, and although Ellie doesn’t quite get it yet, she’s excited!

Earlier this week, CBS played the animated version of The Elf on the Shelf, so after school today I let Ellie watch it. She was mesmerized!

She has a habit of pulling the skin off her top lip. She definitely gets this from her Daddy.

I just love that little pug nose.

We had such a great time watching our first Christmas movie of the season. Tonight I’m recording the old clay-mation version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. What are your favorite movies to watch at Christmastime?

Our Little Family

2011-11-28T21:41:00.001-06:00

Of course I didn’t take ANY pictures during our two Thanksgiving celebrations, but here is a little preview of a family photo shoot we had with my neighbor and friend Samantha Byers. It’s so neat to think that little Foster is in this picture, too! More to come soon!

Embroidery FAQ

2011-11-25T20:41:00.001-06:00

Okay girls, you asked about my last post and I’m here to answer!

1. How easy is it to use?

Very easy to use, once you know what you are doing. I don’t consider myself a beginner sewer, but I’m definitely not an expert either. I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated when I brought my machine home, but after my first project I’m hooked. If you can follow simple DVD directions, you can use this machine. (It comes with a tutorial DVD!)

Here is a quick look at the machine:

2. What the heck is an applique? And how do you do it? How easy is it?

An applique is when you lay down fabric and then sew around it (basically). Here is an example:

There are some great tutorials on how to applique, this is the one I use the most.

How easy is it? Pretty easy, but its definitely a process. For applique, you need some (kid-free) time, some supplies (more on this later), and an iron. Your first applique project will be overwhelming, but after that you are good!

3. Is it a long process to monogram something?

From start to finish, it takes about 10 minutes. Appliques take a bit longer, maybe 30 minutes?

4. How different is it from using a sewing machine?

This machine actually IS a sewing machine AND an embroidery machine. If you have ever used a sewing machine, this is easier. The technology is amazing because it is completely computerized. You basically tell it what you want to do and then press the “Go” button and it does all the work for you! It even cuts your thread when you're done.

5. Why is the USB Cable so important?

It enables you to download new fonts ($2.99 ish) and applique designs ($.50-4.99 ish) from online sources like Etsy, Applique Cafe, etc. Your machine comes pre-loaded with over 70 designs but I find all of them to be a bit traditional and “granny” for me. It also comes with 4 standard fonts, but trust me….you will want to download new fonts.

6. What additional supplies do I need?

---You will need some Stabilizer. I use Sulky Cut-Away and haven't had a problem with it. It runs about $9.99 per roll at JoAnn’s. If you are wondering what stabilizer is, check this out.

---You will need a can of spray adhesive. I use Sulky Temporary Spray Adhesive which is non-toxic. It’s about $11 at JoAnn’s and will last you a long time.

---You will need embroidery thread. This is different from regular sewing thread. I use the Coats and Clark brand from JoAnn’s and each spool costs $5. So far I have 7 different colors, but it’s totally addicting and now I think I need every color of the rainbow.

---You will need to download a program called Sew What Pro. (There are other programs available, but this one is simple to use and does everything I need. Plus the others are crazy expensive) It costs $65 but you begin with a 30 day free trial. I’m still on my trial and I can NOT live without this program. What does it do? It allows you to use the fonts and designs you download from the internet, and you can even combine different designs. For example, if you wanted to embroider the name “Katie” under the anchor applique above, you need this program to do it. Otherwise your machine will only do one or the other. The anchor, or the name, but not both. There are tons of free tutorials on how to use Sew What Pro, and I promise it’s easy.

---You will want to buy a pack of pre-wound bobbins so that you don’t have to spend your time winding. I bought a pack of 8 for $8.99 at the Viking Sewing Center inside JoAnn’s.

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And that’s it! Please let me know if you have any questions and I hope this helped.

:: obligatory disclaimer- I’m not sponsored or paid by Brother or any other kind of sewing company. Although I wish I were, because I just spent an hour of my time talking about how to use their equipment::

My New Hobby

2011-11-22T21:05:00.001-06:00

Inspired by this blog, I decided I wanted an embroidery machine for Christmas this year. Then, I convinced Josh that we should go ahead and buy it NOW so I could use it for all of Ellie’s Christmas outfits. So off to walmart we went, and dropped $350 on my new toy.

(I Know!)

I bought the Brother SE-400 Embroidery & Sewing Machine.

I spend tons of time researching machines, and this one came out the best for beginner embroidery. If you are obsessed with monograms like me and have ever wanted to be able to do it on your own, I highly recommend this machine. Here are some of the projects I’ve done so far:

All of Ellie’s items were purchased at a consignment sale for cheap (less than $7 each) and I just added her monogram to spice them up!

I was so blessed to receive a boatload of clothes for Foster from my friend, Diane. She has two boys and just had a baby girl, so we swapped baby clothes! The onesie and boppy cover above came from her : )

The outfits above are from a 3-pack of solid white onesies purchased at Target. I decided to try out the applique function of my machine on these, and I have to say I love it!

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Anyway, I wanted to share this just in case you want to put one of these fun machines on your Christmas list this year. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like more information!

Ques-a-DEE-ya

2011-11-20T21:14:00.001-06:00

I finally got my camera out and attempted to get some pictures of the little princess. And she totally is a princess now. She loves everything with princesses, and every morning Josh asks her what she dreamed about, she says “Pwincess Castles!”

It seems like it gets harder every day to get her to pose for me! One of Ellie’s favorite foods is a cheese quesadilla, so I armed her with some deliciousness and started snapping away.

Is it just me, or is she 4 years old now?

We are gearing up for Thanksgiving festivities around here, luckily we don’t have to travel to see our families. We are ready to eat some good food!!

Bits O’ My Brain

2011-11-14T20:16:00.001-06:00

I keep telling myself that I’ll wait to blog until I have some new pictures to post.

And then I realize that I havent taken any pictures of Ellie since……Halloween? Its just so hard to get a good pic of her lately that’s not the back of her head or a ghostly blur running across the screen. So basically this is a picture-less post, which in my opinion are boring, but here goes anyway.

1. Josh has been home for 2 weeks straight now, and will continue to be home the rest of the month. I KNOW. Its crazy and you’re jealous and its so nice to have him home all the time and blahbity blah blah. But imagine this: We have NEVER spent this much time together. There has never been a time that we went this long without him leaving town. So while I’m enjoying it, it also has it’s hard moments like sharing the bed, him not liking where I leave the wet towel, and me not liking how loud he chews. :) But seriously, I’m so happy to have him here!

2. I’m 17 weeks pregnant now. Yep, totally forgot to take a 16 week picture. Well, that’s not really true. I remembered, but I just didn’t look cute AT ALL last week.

3. I need a haircut. (See above, about the not looking cute.)

4. I’ve started to feel little FoJo move. I totally forgot how awesome it is! I felt him move for the first time at 16 weeks, and then I couldn’t feel a thing for almost 4 days…which brings me to this:

5. I’m still constantly struggling with The Fear during this pregnancy. At first, I was afraid I would miscarry before I hit the magic 12 week mark, now I’m afraid when I don’t feel him move. Even when I have my OB appointments I go in nervously bracing myself for the worst. Why is this taking hold in my brain? All I can say is that Satan knows its what can get to me the best right now. I’m trying to put my faith in The Lord and trust that He created this little boy and that He knows what’s best for him.

6. Also, the NSync Christmas album is the bomb.com

It’s A…

2011-11-12T07:13:00.001-06:00

This week we had an elective ultrasound at 16 weeks to find out the gender of our little peanut. After 40 minutes of digging around (because the cord was in the way) we finally found out we are having a little…

BOY!!!

We are so excited and feel so blessed to have a girl AND boy in our family! His name will be Foster Joshua Jones.

Foster is Josh’s Dad’s middle name and we had always planned on using it as a boy’s middle name, but we decided that we liked it too much! Other names we debated were Nash, Briggs, and Carson.

And just in case you are a name collector like me, here are the girl names we had picked out: Linley, Harlan, Reese, Halen, and Raleigh

15 Weeks with #2

2011-11-06T14:00:00.000-06:00

Not that I can actually go number 2, because apparently this baby has blocked my intestines. Here’s the belly at 15 weeks!

Cravings this week:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup in a bread bowl

Salsa

Breakfast Casserole

Andy Capp’s Hot Fries (Chips)

Anything and everything spicy, salty, and savory!

Crappy Things this week:

Night sweats

Extra-stinky armpits

Monthly Favorites: October Edition

2011-11-05T18:54:00.001-05:00

It’s that time again! October has ended, and here are the things I loved:

My mom bought me this candle in “Kitchen Spice” and I had it lit almost every night this month. It smells sooooo good and now that it’s gone, I cant wait to buy some of the holiday scents! These candles are kind of pricey, but here is a link to a Buy 2 Get 2 Free coupon. Enjoy!

Who doesn’t love pottery barn kids bedding? But I wasn’t so in love with the price, so I searched ebay for the pattern I wanted and wound up getting this set (used) for $50! It has some tiny tiny stains but that is totally worth it to me. We are moving Ellie into her new big girl room sometime this month, just as soon as we get it painted : )

You have to be careful with bronzer, because you don’t want to use anything shimmery, glittery, or too dark. But this NYC Bronzer is perfect for my fair skin tone. It runs about $2.99 in drugstores and I definitely recommend it.

Have you heard of Dry Shampoo yet? It’s the newest craze in hair care. The Tresemme’ dry shampoo has received rave reviews online so I decided to try it. Its amazing! I spray it on my roots and then just rub my fingers around on my scalp to mix it in. Makes my hair smell good and look fresh.

I got a sample pack of these wipes in my Target Beauty Insider thingy that I signed up for a couple of months ago. I loved them so much that I went and bought them the next day! They have a really great scent and they wipe off all of my makeup, including waterproof mascara.

What were your favorite things in October? Link up below!

Halloween Stuffs

2011-10-31T22:02:00.001-05:00

Well, we made it through Halloween. We actually had a great time, unlike last year. We started the festivities by attending a Halloween party at our local playplace.

Ellie was a 50’s sock hop girl for Halloween. We already had the skirt and cardigan, so I just bought an iron-on poodle from JoAnn’s and called it a day. Next year I will let her choose her own costume, who knows what she’ll be!

It’s almost completely impossible to get a picture of anything that isn’t the back of her head these days. She’s all over the place! My MIL, SIL, Niece, and Josh’s Nana met us at the party to join in the fun.

How cute is little Audrey in her lamb costume?

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Sunday night (the night before Halloween) I had tickets to see Wicked with my mom and soon to be Sister-in-Law, Jenni. I had never seen it before and had always heard great things about it. It was amazing! If it ever comes to a theater near you, GO see it.

My dad kept Ellie for me while we went, so he was left to put her to bed for the night. Well, I came home at 10pm to a wide-awake little girl! I was surprised to see her little face, but after some mommy snuggles she went right to sleep. Of course she didn’t sleep late the next morning. Go figure.

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Tonight I took Ellie trick-or-treating for the first time. Here’s our little 50’s girl!

We walked around with some of our neighbors and my friend, Samantha. Here are all the cuties in their costumes:

This little girl really surprised me with her trick-or-treating skills. We walked around for almost two hours and her candy bucket was FULL (and yes, I’m eating it as I type). We finally came back home around 7:30pm and I was exhausted. I still hadn’t made dinner or given her a bath and my house is a d.i.s.a.s.t.e.r area. I popped a pizza in the oven and we sat on the floor and ate it while we watched Pan Am. I finally got her in bed around 8:15 and now I’m just relaxing and waiting for Josh to come home around midnight.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

14 Weeks and It’s a…

2011-10-25T21:51:00.001-05:00

Okay so we don’t actually know what our baby is yet. But tonight we attended a gender reveal party for my Sister and Brother-in-Law! They had the ultrasound tech write down what they were having in a sealed envelope, and had a cake made with pink or blue icing inside. They cut the cake tonight and we all found out together. So fun!

Its not my news to tell so if you want to know what they are having, click here to check out their blog. I’m sure she will post the news once she’s told all her friends. I’m so excited for them!

Pumpkin Picking with My Punkins

2011-10-24T21:51:00.001-05:00

We finally had the chance to go to a pumpkin patch as a family today! We were “that family” that dressed in matching orange and black outfits. Oh yes we did. The plan was to get a family picture, but in typical two-year-old fashion, Ellie refused : )

We started out playing in the corn troughs with buckets and shovels.

Then we headed over to the tractor pit. This girl loves her some tractors!

Ellie’s first time on a tire swing!

Then we waited in line for the hayride. Ellie made friends with this Mama cow while we waited. Am I the only one that thinks The Toddler Squat is the cutest thing ever?

We finished the day with a hayride around the farm, and then left promptly due to a pregnancy craving for Steak and Shake!

13 Weeks with Baby #2

2011-10-21T21:03:00.001-05:00

Now that I’m starting my second trimester, I’m feeling great! I don’t feel pregnant at all and all of my energy is back. It’s so nice to have the motivation to actually do things around the house now (even though I keep telling Josh that the doctor recommends that I do not do laundry, dishes, or cleaning).

One thing that has surprised me with this pregnancy is my love for all things salty. With Ellie I gobbled up pie, cake, and donuts. With this one? I can NOT get enough cold crunchy dill pickle spears! Yall, seriously. I wish you could taste what I taste when I bite into a pickle. It is literally the best thing I have ever tasted. I’m finding that I get really sudden cravings, depending on what I smell. Tonight I took Ellie to Target and as soon as we got out of the car I smelled the nearby Chinese restaurant. Mmmmmm! I HAD to have it!

My biggest complaints right now are the ~~knives repeatedly stabbing my uterus~~ round ligament pains, and the night sweats. Apparently I’m one of the lucky ones that get hormonal night sweats when I’m pregnant, because I had them with Ellie too. Last night I actually woke up shivering in a soaking wet shirt and undies (who sweats in their undie area? this girl.) I had to get up, change clothes, and sit in front of my blow dryer for a while to dry off and warm up. Other than that I’m feeling great!

And so as not to leave Ellie out, here is a video of her chatting with us in the car. She talks non-stop all day long. Not kidding! :)

A Day at the Farm

2011-10-16T20:41:00.001-05:00

Every year I look forward to Fall because I love all of the Fall festivities like going to pumpkin patches, apple picking and Halloween. But ever since we’ve had Ellie, Josh’s job hasn’t allowed him to be home when these times come around. Last year I didn’t take her to any of these fun places because its just not fun going alone, but this year I invited my parents to come. We went to a local farm/pumpkin patch and had so much fun!

They had tons of activities for Ellie to do…

They had a huge mountain of mulch to climb up and these fun slides to slide down. Here’s Ellie and Boz zooming down the hill!

Everyone always comments on how tall Ellie is for her age. Well folks, my dad is the reason why. He is 6’6” and my younger brother is even taller!

We played in a huge sandbox full of corn kernels, but not for long because it was hard to walk in there!

Ellie’s favorite part of the day was riding on the homemade train.

This was probably the proudest moment I have ever had of her. I wasn’t sure how she would handle sitting alone in the cart, or if she would be scared when the tractor drove her away, but she did great!

My mom helped me out so much by taking Ellie to everything she wanted to see.

All in all, we had a great fun day and I’m so glad we went. Hopefully Josh can come with us next year because we will also have a six month old with us!

**Also I want to thank everyone that commented on my last post. It looks like we are all “in the trenches of motherhood” right now, but at least we are in it together!

I need help.

2011-10-14T20:04:00.001-05:00

Ellie is almost 26 months old and I love her to pieces but she’s gotten quite…

annoying.

I spend most of my days exasperated, trying to anticipate what she will need next so that I can avoid The Whine. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t cater to her, but I do try to find ways around tantrums. For example: If we come home from the grocery store and I know she is going to throw a fit when I tell her its time to go inside, I try and make a game out of it and ask her to “help me” by carrying the lightest bag. This is good, no?

But I find myself dreading spending time alone with her at home. She is constantly hanging on me, saying “hold you, mommy” and wanting me to pick her up. She wont play on her own with her toys, and if I get out playdoh or some other activity, she is only interested for a few minutes. Then its back to, “hold you mommy!”

I hate that I get so annoyed with her. I like it much better when I feel in control and content. Who doesn’t? But I just need to know, is this a phase? Or is it her personality? She has always been really huggy and cuddly, but now she wants to do it all day every day! And the worst part is, I find myself relying on Pixar movies every. single. day. just so that I can have some time to get things done. I hate that.

Anywho, would you mind sharing your sage advice, or things to avoid, or words of encouragement? I’m going out of my mind here :)

Life and Stuff

2011-10-12T20:05:00.001-05:00

I promise I actually dress cute some days. I just don’t have the time to stop and take a picture because I’m always taking Ellie somewhere in the mornings, and by the time we get out the door I’m sweating and fed up with my sassy two year old! So here is an evening pic of me tonight, already in my pjs.

In other news, Ellie got her Fall portraits taken at Mother’s Day Out this week:

In other news, life is kicking my butt lately. I’m finally getting some energy back, but what little energy I’m gaining is being sucked out of me by a raging two-year-old! I spend all day every day warding off tantrums, trying to get her to listen to me, and trying to get us to the places we go.

Doing it alone from sun-up to sun-down is really starting to wear on me. The Pilot has been gone for 4 days and will be home soon for a 2 day stretch, then off he goes again for another 3 day trip. Heaven help me get through this week!

I’m finding it really hard to believe there is a baby in my belly, even though I have seen him/her twice now. I just don’t feel like I look that pregnant! But here is a comparison pic of the past couple weeks:

Favorite Things: September Edition

2011-10-04T20:48:00.001-05:00

Did you notice that I skipped my favorites for the month of August? I was just so nauseous and tired that I had zero favs, except for sleeping. But now I’m back to share some of my favorite things for the month of September. Don’t forget to link your favorite things at the bottom, I love reading about you guys’ favorites!

If you’ve ever had the Caramel Apple Cider from Starbucks, you know how awesome (and expensive!) they are. This is a great alternative! I swear it tastes just like the Starbucks drink, caramel and all! (It doesn’t say that there is caramel in it, but I swear I taste it). You can pick up a box at any grocery store for about $2. Enjoy!

I’m just going to admit that I am an eye shadow fiend. I’m constantly looking for the next best color and formulation. At the advice of the Internet Beauty Gurus, I went out and tried the Wet n Wild eye shadow trio in “Walking on Eggshells”. It didn’t disappoint! It’s super easy to use, super pigmented, and super cheap! $2.99 at drugstores

While at our local Fall Festival this weekend, I stopped by one of the booths and bought a couple of bows for Ellie Kate. I picked up the turkey bow that you see above, isnt it cute? I wound up talking to the girl who makes all of the bows and she gave me her information. Her website is shoptheprincessandme.com and her bows are adorable AND reasonably priced. She even gave me a %15 off code to use for the month of October: HAMFEST

I fell in love with this color from O.P.I when I walked by it in our local grocery store. That’s right, our grocery store sells O.P.I! Jealous?? : ) I picked it up and begged Josh to let me buy it. I don’t usually like to spend $7.99 on a bottle of nail polish, but he said I could buy it and I’m so glad he did! I have been wearing it ever since. It’s just the perfect color for fall, sparkly, red, purple, and gold. Just beautiful.

Fall Festival

2011-10-01T20:37:00.001-05:00

While Josh is away this weekend, our town had their annual Fall Festival. I usually don’t go to things like this without him, because I’m too overwhelmed with all the stuff/stroller/toddler to brave it, and it can be painful to see all of the families together, but this time my mom and her friend came down to go with us.

She’s making such a weird face here, but I love it!

Is that not the cutest outfit ever? I have decided that I’m obsessed with jumpers and I’m on the hunt for some more. Anyone know of a good place to buy corduroy jumpers for girls?I got this one at a consignment sale.

We walked around all of the craft booths and then headed to the petting zoo. If you look closely in this picture you will see me chasing Ellie. I’m the one in the giant black tent with tiny denim twigs sticking out.

We got to pet a pig, baby cow, rabbits, and goats! This pig was dis.gus.ting and his hair was all wirey. Yuck!

Ellie was so funny, she just sat right down next to this bunny rabbit and started petting him.

Next she kind of jumped into this huge slide while we weren’t looking, and luckily a random dad helped her up the ladder. See how tiny she is in front of all those boys?

Random dad helping her slide down :)

Then we headed over to the fire truck station and got to touch the truck! Ellie was distracted by the firemen’s hats they were giving away, so she had to have one.

We ended the day with a bluegrass concert and guess who was dancing the whole time?

We had a great time and then came home and both took a three hour nap!

Then….and Now

2011-09-29T17:36:00.000-05:00

Once a silly face…

Always a silly face!

Things Moms Need to Know About

2011-09-28T20:32:00.001-05:00

1. This one is mostly for mommy bloggers: I have been wanting to tell you guys about Windows Live Writer for a while now, but just couldn’t find the right words to tell you how awesome it is. Well, Centsational Girl did a post on it today and explained everything so well! If you don’t know, Windows Live Writer is a FREE downloadable program that makes it 11 bazillion times easier to write a blog post in Blogger and Wordpress. Go read her post, you will thank me.

2. Lately I have met a ton of moms that have just moved to my area, and I tell them all about Meetup.com. It’s a free website chock full of get-together groups in your town. You can search by zip code and by key words such as “Stay at Home Mom” or “Scrapbooking” or “Running”. I joined two mommy meetup groups when we moved here two years ago, and I have made some of my best friends there!

3. If you have a child under the age of kindergarten (what, that’s not an age?) you can join your local MOPS group. I cannot express how much love I have for MOPS. It’s not free (usually $45ish a semester) but it includes childcare while all the moms meet in a separate area (usually in a church). The meetings are every other week. Most groups are run the same way, there is a speaker at each meeting (on topics like organization, family traditions, discipline, etc) and we eat a huge brunch! without! kids!

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I want to encourage you, if you are a SAHM and are feeling bored/lonely/overwhelmed, to get out there and join a local moms group. I have been there, and can tell you that these groups have changed my life! There’s just something about hanging out with other moms that makes you feel normal and like your kids arent that bad after all :)

Ellie Cuteness + Belly Pics

2011-09-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

So here is a video of Ellie dancing, just so you can check out how awesome her moves are:

And if that wasn’t enough entertainment for you, check out my latest belly pics:

I take these pics while Ellie is in the bathtub next to me so keep in mind that a) It’s the end of the day so I look like doodieballs and b) I’m overweight so peek past the fat.

I know they say you show earlier with your second pregnancy but WOW.

Also- are my elbows abnormally pointy? Or are everyone’s elbows like this?

SICK.

2011-09-21T03:08:00.001-05:00

Oh yes…I totally cursed myself.

I am now FULL ON nauseous, gagging, food aversioning wonderfulness. Today the smell of my dining room made me gag (can a room make you nauseous?) so I sprayed some Febreeze, but that was even worse…so I cried. Yep, totally cried because I was upset that Febreeze grosses me out now. Bless his heart, Josh tucked me into bed and told me to nap while he ran errands and picked Ellie up from MDO.

This afternoon we really needed to go grocery shopping but I just didn’t know if I had the energy, and the thought of all that food in one room makes me sick. But I went anyway, and I’m glad I did. I picked up a couple of frozen meals to cook because my nausea is the worst at dinner time and I just cant spend an hour cooking dinner right now. Here’s what I grabbed:

P.F. Changs General Chicken for Two

Stouffer’s Meat Lasagna

Of course now that I’m staring at these pictures, I want to puke. But I mainly picked them up for Josh so I will just eat what I can :)

Back and Ready to Attack

2011-09-18T20:48:00.001-05:00

I cant believe I haven't blogged in over a week! That is the longest I have ever gone without oversharing on the internet. I have spent the past week getting settled into our Fall routine, and boy has it been busy! We spent the summer just hanging out, taking trips to the library, and having play dates with other moms…but now that Fall is here we have so much to do!

Here is our (Ellie and I’s) weekly schedule:

Monday: Free day! Hang out with other moms, library, playground, etc.

Tuesday: Ellie has Mother’s Day Out from 9:15-2:15, and it’s a 30 minute drive to get there, so that cuts 2 hours out of my day. I try to do laundry and cleaning while she’s at “school”, but sometimes I just relax and sleep.

Wednesday: MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Meeting or Bible Study on Marriage

Thursday: Ellie has MDO again

Friday: MOPS (at a different church, in the town I live in)

*Sprinkle Josh in there at random times, whenever he’s in town I leave Ellie at home with him while I go to MOPS and Bible Study so that they can get some quality time. We take her to MDO together and then usually run errands and work on house projects while she’s at school. We just make it work!

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On another note, I’m 8 weeks 5 days pregnant today!

Just like with Ellie, I don’t have many symptoms. I get periods of extreme tiredness throughout the day, but I don’t feel any nausea unless my stomach is empty. My biggest symptom (that started 5 days before I got my positive test) is sore BOOBS! It literally feels like someone beat my chest with a baseball bat. It’s hard to hold Ellie or let her climb on me, but I think I’m getting used to it because now it’s a natural reflex to guard my chest while she’s around : )

It’s actually been really hard to remember that I’m pregnant. I stay so busy that I forget, and I have to think twice before I eat or drink the no-no foods. Since I’m not showing (just fat) and don’t feel very pregnant, I still feel like I’m lying when I tell people I’m pregnant!

But just in case you are thinking, “Wow, you're so lucky. I was sick/vomiting/dehydrated when I was pregnant…” let me assure you that my time is coming. I had gestational diabetes AND hypertension with Ellie, and I would much rather throw up now than deal with pricking my finger every 3 hours.

And some good news, we have decided on a name if baby is a boy!

Quick update before I go to bed at 9pm because I’m that tired.

2011-09-08T21:01:00.001-05:00

I got to see the baby today! I saw the flicker of a heartbeat, which means the chance of miscarriage falls from 25% to 5%. We are excited!

This is the most ghetto picture ever, but here he/she is! God is good!

Official due date is April 24th, 2012

Preschool and Zoo Fun

2011-09-07T21:21:00.001-05:00

Someone started preschool this week! Yes, she is playing with my iphone. It’s the only way I could get her to hold still! She went for half a day and did great! Tomorrow is her first full day.

Last week we took a trip to the zoo with Josh’s parents and my SIL, BIL, and niece. It was HOT (100 degrees) that day and we were so sweaty!

We had a great time and Ellie really enjoyed the petting zoo.

GOAT.

And the best part was the $3 train ride! Ya’ll know she loves her some trains!!

Exciting News!

2011-09-05T23:16:00.001-05:00

Looks like my niece, Audrey, is going to be a big sister too!

I’m so excited to announce that my Sister-in-Law, Kim, and I are both pregnant at the same time!

We actually got pregnant at almost the exact same time, and if I wouldn’t have had the miscarriage, we would have been due a week apart! But since I got pregnant the very next cycle, she is about six weeks ahead of me. Which I am totally happy about, because having two newborns within a week of each other? Family chaos! : )

It was truly a shock to find out, because we didn’t even know they were trying for #2! We are excited and cant wait to find out what we are having. Hopefully two boys or two girls, that way the one little boy wont feel left out in all of his GIRLY cousins!

Anxious

2011-09-02T06:12:00.001-05:00

Well it is 5:45 in the morning and I couldn’t sleep because The Enemy has planted worry in my mind.

I’m 6 weeks 3 days pregnant today and I just cant shake the fear of what may happen. I don’t feel pregnant, besides my chest area being very sore. I worry that we will lose the baby. I worry about how I will handle it if we lose the baby. We don’t have our first ultrasound until September 15th, and I will be 8 weeks then.

I just don’t know how I would be so lucky to get pregnant right away after a miscarriage, and everything go perfectly! Who am I to deserve that kind of blessing?

This is what I’m hanging onto today:

Matthew 6:25-27 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

Just because I love her messy face.

2011-09-01T21:28:00.001-05:00

Feet Issues: featuring Ellie Kate Jones

2011-08-29T22:05:00.001-05:00

*Warning, this post contains drawings of feet. I tried EXTRA hard not to use any actual feet pictures, because I know a lot of you (ahem, Allison) are grossed out by them*

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Last week at Ellie’s 2nd year well check, the doctor noticed that she walks on the insides of her feet. Sort of like she is lifting up the outer edge of her foot, if that makes sense. So she referred us to a local podiatrist and I took Ellie to her appointment this morning.

First of all, the office wasn’t kid-friendly AT ALL so I had to resort to letting her put Elmo stickers all over my arms to keep her from running around like a crazy woman. We finally got to see the doctor and he said she has a condition called excessive pronation. Here’s a diagram:

The doctor also requested x-rays, and since I’m pregnant, I couldn’t hold Ellie for the procedure. And she freaked her freak!! But afterward, I wiped all the tears and boogers from her face and we went to the library :)

So we have to buy some crazy expensive insoles now, and she will need them for a couple of years. But I’m grateful that our pediatrician noticed it, because its very slight and could have been missed!

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And speaking of feet, there is a crazy anomaly that runs in my family, called syndactyly. That’s a long name for Webbed Toes. Yes! WEBBED TOES! My grandmother, dad, and aunt all have their second and third toes webbed together. Like this:

And Ellie Kate’s toes look like this:

Weird, right? It skipped my brother and I so I thought the gene had died out. Apparently not! It’s not harmful in any way, just a weird little doo dad.

Ellie Kate: 24 Months

2011-08-28T20:17:00.001-05:00

Ellie Kate, you are two years old now. This is my favorite favorite age!

At your 2 year Well Check appointment, you were OFF THE CHARTS for height. The doctor said you are the average height of a three year old! You weigh 31 lbs now.

You got a piano (peeno!) for your birthday and you LOVE it!

You are such a daddy’s girl right now. One night this week, we both went to tuck you into bed, and you said “No Mommy, go downstairs!”

Mornings: You have been waking up around 6:30 but playing quietly in your room for almost an hour! It is awesome, and I’m so proud of you.

Bedtime: You are still going to bed around 7:30. You have a sippy cup of milk, we read two books, and then you get in bed. You will usually play or read some books in your bed and then fall asleep. We are in the process of creating your Big Girl Room and soon you will have a daybed!

Meals/Solids: Picky, picky, picky.

Developmental Milestones & "Firsts": Oh girl, you have become such a little girl this month! You play with babydolls, doll houses, and princess dresses! It is SO fun for me to watch you delight in these things!

Learning: We are still working on colors and letters and seem to have stalled at the moment. You are learning numbers like crazy, thanks to Sesame Street. You will be starting school in a little while and I’m sure you will learn a lot there too.

Favorite Toys: You love your vacuum, stroller, magnadoodle, and piano.

Sizes: You are still wearing size 5 diapers and 2T clothes. We just bought your fall shoes and they are a size 8.

Potty Training: Stalled.

Birthday Time and What to Get a 2 Year Old

2011-08-27T03:26:00.001-05:00

Josh and Ellie Kate’s birthday came and went like a flash! It was much different than last year on her first/his 30th birthday party that took lots of planning and crafting. We decided to have just our families join us for pizza at a local place called Pie in the Sky. I chose it because they had a back room we could book (for free!)

This year was a very low key party, and I liked it that way. I decided on an Elmo theme because I knew that was what would bring the biggest smile to her face. I purchased some .99 cent red table confetti, red plates and napkins, and two big Elmo balloons. And that was the extent of the decorating!

I was so busy enjoying myself and watching all of the fun faces she was making, I only took two pictures:

Ellie Kate had a blast, and I think Josh did too! I love the fact that they share this special birthday together. It’s hard to believe that next year we will have a 4 month old celebrating with us!

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I did a lot of research, and carefully developed a list of toys that I thought Ellie would enjoy for her 2nd birthday, then I added them to a toys r us wish list and sent the list out to our families. It may sound like a waste of time to some, but researching what is developmentally appropriate and reading reviews on the products were important to me. We hadn't bought Ellie any new toys since Christmas 2010, and she was definitely ready for some new challenges.

So I thought I would share my list of what she got for her 2nd birthday, just in case it gives some of you an idea for an upcoming birthday or even Christmas. (Please note that she got a TON of new toys, and I am fully aware that she is spoiled rotten, just the way we like her! :)

Bruin Light-up Keyboard with Stool

Girl LOVES her some music, so I knew this would be a hit. It totally was! She even sings into the microphone, its hilarious.

Imaginarium Double-Sided Easel

I chose this easel because it also has a magnetic side. We have tons of magnetic letters and numbers, but since we have a stainless steel refrigerator, it isnt magnetic! So we had no where to learn :( We havent gotten this one out of the box yet. I didn’t want to overwhelm her with choices of things to play with.

Melissa and Doug Latches & Skills Board – Houses

Melissa and Doug toys are the best. They are expensive, but durable, and you can usually get your money back out of them if you sell them on ebay. I chose this latch board because Ellie Kate loves to tinker with little things. She becomes really focused on small items with small parts. This toy would be great for a girl or a boy!

Just Like Home Microwave Oven - Red/Blue

Am I the only one with a child that BEGS to push the buttons on our microwave? So we got her her own. Nuff’ said.

Fisher Price Grow with Me Kitchen- Pink

I chose this kitchen because it actually has two height adjustments. When your child is smaller, it folds over itself so that only the oven and microwave (above) show. I also loved the fact that it has a built-in highchair for little baby dolls!

You & Me 14 inch Hugs & Holds Doll

I chose this baby doll because it was one of the only ones with a soft body! A lot of the ones I looked at (yes, I totally scouted out the toys r us store) were all hard and plastic-y.

Graco Room Full of Fun Playset

We havent gotten this one out yet either, but I am so glad we have it! I didn’t know we were pregnant when I put this on her list, I just read online somewhere that it was a great idea for 2 year olds. But now that we have a baby on the way, I think this is going to be awesome for teaching her what babies do, where they can sit, and that she can NOT sit in the baby things : )

A couple of other things we got were a Playdoh playset, tea party set, and dress up clothes, but I’m saving each of these for a rainy day when Ellie and I have nothing going on or she needs some new stimulation.

I hope this list helps!

Pregnancy Deets

2011-08-22T06:23:00.001-05:00

I fully intended on completing an entire week of “Day in the Life” posts, but life got in the way. Josh came home from a trip and stayed the rest of the week, so I really wasn’t living my usual SAHM days anyway.

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Josh and Ellie Kate’s birthday was two days ago, so I will have some pictures up later. I honestly didn’t take a lot though, because I was just enjoying the moment.

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Also- I have been EXHAUSTED! This pregnancy has taken the wind right out of my sails. I have been sleeping for 2 hours during the day, AND going to bed at 8:30 at night. And I’m still tired! Thank you everyone for the congratulations, here are the details:

You may remember that I had a miscarriage/chemical pregnancy last month. I thought there way just no way I would get pregnant again right away. Especially because while I was miscarrying I developed a UTI, had to take antibiotics for it, and a week later developed a yeast infection due to the antibiotics! I had just about had it with the whole process…

I had almost no symptoms during my two week wait to test. My chest was very sore, but it has been since I started Clomid. Anywho, Ellie and I went to Target one evening to kill time before dinner, and I picked up a pack of First Response tests on a whim. I knew it was silly because there was no way I was pregnant, but I couldn’t resist the urge. When we got home from Target I took one of the tests. I looked at it and it seemed negative, so I just put it down and went into the kitchen with Ellie. A couple of minutes later I looked at it again, and I saw a very faint line! I couldn’t believe it. It was touch and go for a while because my tests (every morning) werent getting darker. I thought I was going to have another chemical pregnancy. But, now my tests are just as dark as can be!

I realize that 5 weeks is very early to start “telling” everyone… But I am putting my faith in God that He will take care of this baby. I believe that everything happens according to His plan, and I believe that my miscarriage last month happened because He knew what was best. Also- if something terrible were to happen, I would want to talk about it. That’s just how I am.

Week in the Life: Day 3

2011-08-19T15:23:00.001-05:00

Wednesday morning we woke up and did the normal coffee/tv routine. After breakfast we went to the garage to clean and take pictures of some furniture we plan on selling:

By the way, here’s what I looked like on this day. DEFINITELY wearing the exact same shirt I wore yesterday. And warning: there is no makeup on my face.

After we finished taking pictures, we headed into town to run some errands. I had to stop by the party store to pick up some plates for Ellie’s party this weekend. Afterwards, we picked up my wedding rings from the jewelry store. Can you believe I havent been able to wear these since Ellie was born?? Now they finally fit!

Then we got a call from Josh’s dad, inviting us out to lunch. So we met Gramps, Gigi, Kiki and Audrey at Moe’s for some fresh mex. It was so yummy! By then it was time to head back home for nap.

Ellie slept from 1-4 and then we just hung out and played in the bonus room until dinner time.

(Pants-less and bedhead after nap. Also please notice the number 2 candle that has to go everywhere with her these days.)

We just fended for ourselves for dinner, I had a bowl of cereal and Josh had a BLT. Then it was bathtime, and time for bed at 7:30 for Ellie Kate. Josh and I just watched tv and played on the computer for a while, but I went to bed super early because I was exhausted….

From this…

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A Week in the Life: Day 2

2011-08-18T15:10:00.001-05:00

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday!

We started our morning at 7:15am. I drank my cup of coffee and watched GMA while Ellie played on the floor. You can barely see it here, but she’s trying to give me her number 2 candle. I bought it for her birthday (in 2 days!!) and she has been OBSESSED with it ever since.

After I had my dose of coffee, around 8:00 am, I lit the candle in our kitchen. When I light the kitchen candle, it usually means I’m about to get down to business. I cleaned the kitchen, unloaded the dishwasher, and threw in a load of laundry while Ellie watched an episode of Sesame Street.

I had oatmeal for breakfast and Ellie had some “Eggies”, whole wheat bread (cut with a cookie cutter), and grapes. After breakfast, I got both of us dressed and in the car so we could run some errands/kill time before naptime. We went to the Dollar Tree to pick up some pregnancy tests, then we walked around Ross Dress for Less for a while and I bought a couple of cute tops.

After our shopping excursion, I got crazy and decided to take Ellie to the playground. I literally haven’t taken her in 3 months, because it has been too dang hot! But we stopped by Sonic on our way and picked up a large ice water, and we were good to go.

I thought I would just find a nice bench in the shade and watch her play, but she had other plans. “Mommy! Come WIT me!”

This picture cracks me up because she has a look on her face that says, “Really mom? Another picture?” We stayed for about 20 minutes and then headed home for lunch time.

Ellie went down for a nap around 1:00 and I messed around with a couple of things I had been meaning to get done:

I finished sewing her pillowcase dress for her birthday party on Saturday,

And I put together an excel spreadsheet for a MOPs (Mothers of PreSchoolers) group I’m a part of. Then I layed on the couch and dozed until she woke up around 4:00.

We just played and watched a movie until dinner time (5:45), then it was bath, pajamas, snuggles, and bedtime.

Josh was due to arrive home around 11:30pm, and I tried to stay awake, but would up falling asleep about 15 minutes before he arrived.

A Week in the Life: Day 1

2011-08-15T22:41:00.001-05:00

I tried to take pictures (with my iphone) as I went throughout my day so….I hope this isnt too boring!

Ellie woke up around 6:45am this morning and Josh rolled out of bed to go get her. When he’s home, he usually brings her into our bed to drink her milk, and we snuggle and tickle her while she body slams herself onto us and laughs. After a few minutes, I got out of bed and took my usual place on the couch to watch Good Morning America and drink my coffee. Josh was getting ready to leave for a trip during this time.

I sipped on my coffee and checked my reader while Ellie looked at some books on the floor. Then I decided to go ahead and take a shower while Josh was home to keep an eye on our little booger. This was around 7:30am.

At 8:00am, it was time for Josh to leave for the airport. Today he was leaving for a 2-day trip. We gave him kisses and hugs and told Ellie, “Daddy’s gonna go fly airplanes!” This picture was taken while he was tightening the screws on his carryon bag. It gets a lot of mileage!

After Josh left, I turned on Sesame Street for Ellie so I could do my makeup and fix my hair. I have to completely distract her or she will come steal all my makeup! I let her stay in the living room and watch TV while I went back to our room to style my hair for the day.

Once I had myself put together, I made breakfast for Ellie and I. We both had oatmeal this morning. We also both took our gummy vitamins! Did yall know they make gummy prenatals?! They are delicious!

This morning I decided to take Ellie to storytime at our local library. I hadnt taken her since last summer when she was really small, so I was nervous to see how she would act. She can be very *excitable*.

Our library is always my fallback activity if we have nothing to do, because they have an awesome kids’ area with train tables, bean bags, and computers for them! Plus- I can almost always strike up a conversation with another SAHM. Ellie behaved pretty well during storytime, except for the part where the storyteller lady played her acoustic guitar and Ellie decided to get up and dance like a wild woman while all the other kids sat quietly. She literally stood at the FRONT of the room, right in front of the lady, soaking up all the attention. I think she gets this from her father : )

After storytime, we came home and read the library books I picked out while we there.

Then we layed on the floor and colored with crayons. Check out that multi-dimensional heart! I’m such an artist.

I sat on the couch and surfed my iphone internet while Ellie played in her new Rose Petal Cottage (!!!!!!!) that I got off craigslist for $60 this weekend! This only lasted for a few minutes until she needed more Mommy-daughter play.

Then it was time for lunch!

Ellie had grapes, strawberries, organic turkey deli meat, and a string cheese stick. I had a sandwich. Exciting right?

After lunch I put Ellie down for her nap (around 1pm) and then I went and layed down too. I love the quietness of our room in the afternoons while Ellie is asleep. Sometimes I will read or paint my nails, today I slept :)

Check out that bedhead! Ellie woke up around 4:15pm and we snuggled on the couch and watched The Wiggles while she woke up. Then it was off to Target!

We successfully killed an hour by walking around Target and visiting all of our favorite areas, and left with $60 worth of stuff. We arrived home during “the witching hour” when Ellie is at her crankiest, but today wasn’t too bad.

I fed her a quick dinner (leftovers) and then it was time for her bath.

I took my makeup off and moisturized my face while she was in the tub. I just rub cold cream all over my face, then wipe it off with a baby wipe.

I put Ellie down to bed at 7:30pm and then headed to the kitchen to make my dinner:

WHAT?! Don’t act like you wouldn’t eat Spaghettios for dinner when it is just you home for dinner most nights! Josh called to check in and say goodnight because he wont be done flying until midnight tonight.

I ended the night in our bonus room with a dvr’d episode of The Bachelor Pad. And now I’m going to bed at 10:40pm.

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I feel like this was really boring, I hope it wasn’t!

Swimmin’ Hole

2011-08-11T10:20:00.001-05:00

This summer has been filled with suffocating heat, so we havent been able to play outside much. There’s something about taking kids outside that wears them out! (In a good way :)

The times that we actually have been outside, we have spent at the pool. We are blessed to have both of our parents build pools this spring! It’s actually really neat because the two pools are very different. Josh’s parents’ pool is like a tropical oasis with turqouise water and a waterfall. My parents’ pool is like a lagoon that is tucked into the mountains with dark navy water and grass right up to the edge.

Here are some pics my mom took while we were swimming at her house last weekend.

Can you tell how humid it was? The camera lens actually fogged up when we went outside, because of all the moisture in the air!

The little princess in her swim gear. She is swimming with only water wings now! And would you take a look at that little hiney? Cutest wedgie ever.

Ellie and Boz were playing a “make a silly face” game here.

I just love this last picture. She was wrapped up in her Toy Story towel, sitting in one of those kid-sized papasan chairs. I cant believe my girl will be TWO in 10 days!

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Also:

Most of you said that you would like to see “A Day in the Life” series so I will be doing that soon. I really want to start it on a Sunday or Monday so I can do the whole week. I’m anal like that. :)

I also have a list of topics I’m thinking about writing:

-Toddler Hairstyle Ideas

- My favorite (free) fonts and where to get them

- How I do my makeup every day

What say you?

My Favorite Things: July

2011-08-06T08:17:00.001-05:00

I didn’t have a lot of time to develop favorite things for this month, but the following are things I have been loving. Enjoy!

I’m pretty sure I’ve had this sewing machine in my favorites before, but I have been using it SO much this month and have been reminded of how awesome it is! If you want to get into sewing, or if you are in the market for a machine, try this one. It’s only $99 at Walmart and is so easy to use! It even comes with a DVD that shows you how to use it.

A couple of months ago I discovered mint.com and all of its wonders. It’s a free website that helps you keep track of your money, budget, etc. I cannot explain how awesome it is! You link it to your bank account, and it categorizes every purchase you make so that you can look at your spending trends in a pie chart. So for example, it automatically puts all of my Hobby Lobby purchases into the “Hobbies” category. And I didn’t even tell it to do that!

Josh and I are in the market for a new sofa so we have been visiting local furniture stores. This has become one of our (both of us!) things to do! We love walking around and looking at all of the different “rooms” and dreaming of what we would like to buy some day when we are grown up. :) If you think your husband could handle this, it would be a really fun date night!

I picked up this leave-conditioner when I saw it on sale for $2.50 at our grocery store. I bought it for myself, but I’ve been using it on Ellie Kate’s hair every day! I spray it on her hair after bathtime (while her hair is wet) and then I use it on her dry hair before I pull it up into a ponytail. It really tames her frizz and it smells like Pina Coladas!

Feel free to link up your monthly favorites below. I love to read them!

Little Things I’m Into Lately

2011-08-04T20:46:00.001-05:00

There’s not much going on around the Jones house these days, and I’m grateful for it. But lately there have been a couple of things I have been focusing on and I just thought I would share.

Remember how I recovered Ellie Kate’s nursery bedding? Well, I offered my services to my friend and neighbor, Samantha, when she was getting ready to decorate her nursery. She already has one daughter and wanted to reuse her bedding in some way, so I recovered it in some fabric she picked out. You can see the actual fabric in the picture below (hanging on the crib). This is just a mood board I threw together to represent baby Lila’s room. And happy birthday Lila! (She was born today!)

Anywho, it has taken me for.ev.er to finish this bedding because I decided to not take the easy way out and use ribbon ties. That means I had to do a TON of sewing, so I have been working on it every night after Ellie goes to bed.

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Josh has been home a lot this week. He actually took two days off to be in town while I’m ovulating…he he! So we’ve been um…..trying to make a baby this week. We will find out later this month :) Both of us are not expecting to get pregnant this month, since I just had a miscarriage last month, but we will see.

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Ellie Kate and Josh’s birthday is coming up in 16 days! I have gone back and forth about throwing a party at home, having a party at a local jumpy place, or just saving our money and not doing anything at all. I finally decided today to reserve a room at Pie in the Sky (a local pizza kitchen) and just to invite immediate family. Of course I’m itching to do a full-on themed birthday party, but I’m trying to keep it budget friendly so I’m really going to cut back. Pictures will be to come!

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Also- random question. I’m thinking about doing a Day in the Life series where I will write about what I do all day every day for a week. Is that boring? Because I LOVE reading what other moms do all day. Let me know what you think.

Hot.

2011-08-01T15:20:00.001-05:00

This is going to be quick because *someone* is waking up from her afternoon nap and is starting to bang on the wall.

It’s been over 90 degrees here for a million years now. Okay so not a million years, but a long enough time for us to be imprisoned in our semi-cool upstairs playroom. Ninety degrees isnt really that bad, it’s the humidity that kills me. As soon as I walk out the door, my face melts off and a trail of back sweat starts trickling down my spine. Despite the heat, we decided to put Ellie in her swimsuit and let her run around the yard in the sprinkler.

We’ve had a rough month her in the Jones Household. After my miscarriage in mid-July, we struggled to get back to normal. Then, earlier last week we got the call that Josh’s sweet grandfather passed away unexpectedly. It was a huge shock because although he was 88 years old, he was in terrific health and very active. Josh was great friends with his Grandad, and it was hard on him. We have spent the last week supporting Josh’s family, attending the funeral services, and sorting through all of his grandfather’s things. We have slept in beds other than our own for 3 out of the past 4 nights, but now we are home and getting back into the routine.

23 Months

2011-07-25T22:22:00.001-05:00

Mornings: Our morning routine has changed a lot this month. We rearranged the living room and now we spend most of our mornings there. You have been waking up between 6:15-7:00am. We come downstairs and you drink your milk while I make coffee and watch Good Morning America. When daddy is home, he gets you out of bed and brings you to our bed to snuggle for a few minutes before we get up.

Bedtime: This month, we converted your crib to a toddler bed! (For the second time, we tried around 18 months and it was a FAIL). You love sleeping in your big girl bed! We had a couple of nights where you slept in random places on the floor, but I DIY’ed a body pillow for you and you have been fine ever since.

Meals/Solids: You have been an awesome eater this month. Tons of variety and fresh fruits and veggies. You are so big now!

Developmental Milestones & "Firsts": You got your first dollhouse this month (Thanks Boo and Boz!) and it is so fun watching you play with the mommy and daddy in the house. You can say 4-5 word sentences. You sing ALL THE TIME now and we love it! You can sing:

- Itsy Bitsy Spider

- Rockabye Baby on the Treetop

- Old MacDonald

- Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”

- and various Wiggles and Sesame Street songs

Learning: We are still working on colors and letters and seem to have stalled at the moment. I am taking every opportunity for you to learn throughout our day. You help me get the clothes out of the dryer and have even started helping me cook!

Favorite Toys: We realized this month that you are ready for an entire new stock of toys. You have outgrown all of the ones we have, so we took you to ToysRUs and bought you a cute little pink vacuum cleaner! You could not be happier. You LOVE your “back-oom!” (vacuum)

Sizes: You are still wearing size 5 diapers and 2T clothes. You skipped over size 6 shoes and jumped right into size 7’s. I recently bought you a TON of clothes for this coming Fall and Winter, and I’m sad to say I purchased a couple of 3T’s!

Potty Training: You peed on the potty for the first time this month! I got very excited and began researching potty training techniques, and quickly decided that *I* am not ready! Thankfully you arent ready either. Although, the past couple of days, you have been talking about “making a poo poo” (don’t know where you got that?) and you will run into the powder room where we keep your little potty. But you don’t sit on it or anything even close. Your are just hilarious and are always cracking us up!

Mommy Guilt

2011-07-22T07:24:00.001-05:00

I’ve been feeling guilty lately.

I think its because for the past 2 weeks I have been ~~obsessed~~ preoccupied with thoughts like, could I be pregnant? I wonder if I’m pregnant? Should I take a test? OMG I’m pregnant! Oh wait, there’s a problem. Oh no….the pregnancy is over.

I feel like I’ve been the most craptastic mommy ever. And I can tell that Ellie has noticed, because she always begins to act out when she isnt getting enough quality time with me.

The past two weeks are a blur for me, but I can tell you ONE thing that is in the forefront of my memory for that time….TV. I didn’t even realize it at the time, but looking back, I have relied on TV waaaay too much lately. I didn’t feel good while I was pregnant, I was tired, crampy, and had extremely sore boobs to the point that I couldn’t even pick Ellie up, so I layed on the couch and let her watch TV. And let’s just face it, TV is a magical machine that stops all crying, whining, and general 5pm clinginess. I do believe that TV has it’s place in the day, but not ALL day like I was using it. Oh- and don’t forget we have a dvd player in the car that she asks to watch every. time. we go somewhere.

So basically I’ve turned her brain to mush.

I’m currently reading “Toddlerwise” and although a lot of it is psychological mumbo jumbo, I’m taking what I can from it. The book talks about giving your child some “blanket time” or “room time” every day where you place them on a blanket/in their room for independent play. It is to help them learn to entertain themselves and to learn boundaries (by staying on the blanket). This got me thinking…

I don’t think Ellie is very good at entertaining herself. Like, AT ALL. She very rarely plays alone, and most times she will beg and whine for Josh or I to play with her. She refuses to just sit and color with crayons or play with playdough. And I think I made her this way by always providing fun entertainment like The Wiggles every morning.

So I need some help. I know I need to teach her to play alone and use her imagination, but I don’t know how. I want to provide some structured play/learning time for her every day, but I don’t know how to go about it!

Any tips would be appreciated! And please let me know if you are going through the same situation so I don’t feel like a complete idiot. : )

Absence

2011-07-18T15:38:00.001-05:00

I’ve been MIA for the past week.

You may remember that Josh and I are trying for baby #2. Well, for the past two weeks I have been feeling VERY pregnant. I’ve had heartburn, nausea, night sweats, horrible volcano-under-the-skin zits and cramping. I knew I was pregnant before I even took the test.

Three days ago I saw this:

A very faint line on a pregnancy test! From all of my research I knew that “A line is a line” and the I was indeed, pregnant! This test was taken after only holding my urine for 2 hours, so I couldn’t wait to take another one the next morning with more concentrated urine. I wanted to see that dark line!

The next morning, the line was barely visible. That afternoon….same thing. The lines were getting lighter and lighter and I knew what it meant. My pregnancy was fading away. A quick google search told me everything I needed to know.

So I cried. I said it wasn’t fair. And I detached myself from the thought of Ellie becoming a big sister in March 2012. I waited for the inevitable to come.

And this morning, it finally did. I am miscarrying as I type this. I went to my OB this morning and had an ultrasound and some tests done. Apparently this is just one of those things that happens very early in pregnancy. It’s called a chemical pregnancy.

I’m really not sad about it today, because I knew it was coming. But I’m in a lot of physical pain, and very tired. And of course Josh had to leave for a trip early this morning, so I was left to deal with it alone. We always joke about how I get sick/air conditioner breaks/ things go wrong ONLY when he is out of town :) Luckily, my sweet friend Shannon kept Ellie for me while I went to the doctor this morning. I’m so glad I didn’t have to entertain her while going through all of the waiting and testing.

Josh just called and told me he never actually made it to his destination though, because on his flight up to Detroit, a passenger had a heart attack and they had to divert to Indianapolis. When they finally got in the air again, they had to divert AGAIN to avoid bad weather! Geez…this is just not our day in the Jones household.

On the bright side, we are happy that we even conceived, because that means my Clomid treatments are working! We are excited to try again next month so wish us luck!

Pictures of What We’ve Been Doing

2011-07-11T16:32:00.001-05:00

Josh was home for 4 WHOLE DAYS!!! Woo hooo!

We spent the entire time just hanging out and soaking up our time with daddy. Here are some pics of what we’ve done in the past week:

The new (awesome!) trend in our area is pay-to-play indoor playgrounds. We have four that have opened up near us and let me tell you, they are a mom’s best friend! You basically pay around $7 per child to go in, and the moms all hang out on couches and chairs, or play with the kiddos, while the kids go crazy! These places are so much fun because they are a smorgasbord of activities. They have treehouses, slides, dress up clothes, ball pits, train tables, doll houses, everything!! So last week I took her with some friends to a new one called The Monkey’s Treehouse.

Of course, Ellie Kate went straight for the train area. She is so much like her daddy! She has a very logical, tinkering mind.

Ellie and Kalynn had such a great time playing with this little fire truck.

When Josh came home we took Ellie to a nearby Childrens “Museum” in a really rural town near us. I say “museum” because it was literally just another playplace except for the astronomy and U.S. Presidents posters that were placed throughout the play area. Boo….But Ellie had fun!

Love her little button nose.

One evening this week Ellie and I helped Josh wash my car. Okay so I didn’t help, I just relaxed in a chair with a fan blowing on me. Yes, I’m that girl. : )

We had a great week with daddy and enjoyed so much quality time with him. He just left for another trip about two hours ago and OF COURSE I just found out our air conditioner isnt working!!

My Favorite Things: June (And an update!)

2011-07-07T13:37:00.001-05:00

Everything is A-Okay in the health department! I had a mammogram and ultrasound and both were completely clear. The spot on my chest has faded a bit and I’m pretty sure it’s going to go away on its own. So yay!

Now onto some more fun things. Here are my favorite things that I used in the month of June:

Ohhhhhh my goodness these are so good. I bought the mojito flavor and it tastes exactly like a real mojito! The only drawback is that they only come in large packets that make an entire pitcher, and I prefer the small water bottle packs.

We have been buying these PJs for about a year now, and I am so in love with them. They come in a brown cardboard box and they are only $5. I like them because they are a stretchy cotton, no itchy tags, and they come in cute (non-cartoon character) designs. They do have cartoony ones, and I have to admit that last week I gave in and bought Ellie the boys’ Toy Story version of pajamas. She loves them!

I am so sorry that I don’t know what this is called. I picked it up in the seasonal section of our grocery store and it has been wonderful for our time at the pool. Here is what I’ve figured out: Ellie is Miss Independent when it comes to being in the water. She does NOT want you to touch her, and she’s a huge fan of jumping into our arms from the edge. So I went on a journey to find something that will help her “swim” on her own. We tried life jackets (too big, rode up), floats to sit in (didn’t like the constriction) and water wings (not enough float-factor) and we finally found a combo that works. The swimsuit above is awesome because it has a float made into it, but its small enough that she can move around on her own and not feel like she has to stay in a big bulky plastic ring. But here is the key: She has to wear water wings WITH this suit. The water wings hold her upright so that she doesn’t tilt over onto her belly and face. hit. water. Pretty much the longest explanation ever but I want to help

This month I got the bright idea to make smoothies for Ellie and hide healthy things in them. Sneaky huh? It’s ridiculously easy and only takes a few minutes to make a huge batch. I use a pack of frozen fruit similar to the one above, add in some fresh blueberries, fresh baby spinach leaves, flaxseeds, and a little bit of V8 fusion juice which is *only* fruit and vegetable juices. She loves her “juice” and I love that she is getting in her veggies.

I picked up this book at our local library (that’s right, I’ve been taking Ellie to the library. I’m such a good mom, right? ) I like it because it’s written from a no-nonsense, humorous standpoint and it’s helping me learn how to react to her terrible two-ness.

This site is The Holy Grail if you are trying to conceive. Or even if you are trying NOT to conceive! Its completely free (there is a paid VIP section, but it’s mostly message boards and you get 30 days free when you register). I have learned so much about my body and the magic of being a woman from this site. Sounds corny but I had no idea how precisely our bodies work, like a synchronized machine every month, and it just reconfirms the fact that we didn’t evolve into this….we were purposely designed like this.

If you have some favorites for the month of June, link up below!

Aaaaaand BOOM.

2011-07-02T22:14:00.001-05:00

That is the sound of my head exploding.

This morning as I was rubbing self-tanner on my chest area, I noticed a small raised patch of red skin. I wont go into details here, but after a quick Google search we decided it would be best to pop in our local walk-in clinic and have it checked out. I need to be careful about things like this because I have a VERY strong history of breast cancer in my family.

So we spent the majority of the morning trying to entertain Ellie in the waiting room of the clinic, but finally we got in to see the doctor. She examined me and advised me to get it checked out as soon as possible. She wanted to get me in for a mammogram (at 26 years old!) and ultrasound today, but most places were closed on Saturday. And because of the holiday on Monday, I will have to wait till Tuesday.

I will be having a diagnostic mammogram (again…..I’m 26….mind blow) and breast tissue ultrasound and then immediately heading to the local Vanderbilt surgery center for a consult with a surgeon. Sounds like fun huh?

At least while I’m there, I can head up to my OB/Gyn’s office and get my blood drawn to check my progesterone levels. Because yeah, we are trying to conceive another baby right now and this isnt stressful at all.

To top it all off, Josh JUST ARRIVED home at 12am this morning, and will be leaving for another 4-day tomorrow afternoon. Which means that I have seen him for a total of 3 days in the past two weeks. So yeah, I will be celebrating the 4th alone. Yes, we have family around but its just not the same. It almost feels better to ignore the holiday, because then I don’t have to look around and see all the cool stuff and fun moments he is missing out on. And because ever since Ellie has gotten older? Its just easier for us to stay home. Its exhausting enough for me to do everything alone with no backup, but its even harder at someone else’s house, on a holiday, with lots of people around.

So prayers would be appreciated this week. I need emotional strength. I will keep you updated.

And here’s our little tiny dancer shakin’ her bon bon.

TTC and Neighborly Love

2011-06-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

Long time no blog!

Josh came home VERY late (midnight) Sunday night and was only home for 36 hours before flying out again. Most of you know that we are TTC #2, but you may not know that this cycle we are using Clomid for the first time. This meant that we had to use the time Josh was home *wisely* : ) Unfortunately I think he went back to work right as my body was “ready”, so we will have to wait for next month and try again…

The control freak in me is cursing the stupid airlines right now…

*****************

In other news, Ellie and I had a fun-filled summer day yesterday! We woke up late (yay! please let this be the new norm) and walked down to our neighbor’s house for an early morning playdate.

I just have to show yall my sweet neighbor, Samantha and her daughter, Ava. This picture was taken a while ago (I stole it from her facebook because she looks so pretty here). She is now 30ish weeks pregnant with baby girl #2!

Its kind of a funny story how we met. Ellie and I were on a walk and just happened to be standing in her driveway when she pulled up to her house. We exchanged “hello’s” and I asked her how old her daughter was (12 months at the time) and that was it….we went on our merry ways. The next day I was determined to make her my friend, so I left a note in her mailbox with my facebook info! We have been best friends ever since. (That’s right Samantha, I just said we are best friends. I just took it to the next level.) Ellie and Ava are cute friends, too. Ellie is usually a little rough with Ava, but lately has been kissing and hugging her more.

It’s so nice having another SAHM right down the street to hang out with!

Anywho, we spent the morning together at a local indoor playplace with some mutual friends, then met up again after naptime for a walk in our neighborhood park. We even got the chance to try out her new double stroller with both girls in it! It was so fun pushing both of them together.

They thought it was so cool that they could see each other through the seat!

Here’s a couple of pics I snapped of Ava before we left. Of course I took some of Ellie too, but sweet girl does NOT do well with candid shots. 99% of them have her eyes closed!

Once we arrived at the park, Samantha and I sat in the shade and just let the girls run around. Ellie’s favorite game is chasing Ava around, and this picture is the perfect example!

I love this picture of Ellie because she looks so much like Josh, but she is acting so much like her Mama! We both LOVE to crunch some ice!

After our walk, Ellie and I took an emergency trip to Target for diapers, frozen pizza, and we spent about an hour just browsing around. Am I the only one that heads straight for the dollar section and picks up a couple of books for Ellie to read while I shop?

I was beyond excited when we came home and the clock read 6:00pm because that meant we were done with the dreaded Whiny Zone that happens every night between 3-6pm. I gave Ellie a bath while our pizza baked, then we chowed down while watching Toy Story 3. After dinner I let Ellie run around naked and at one point she said, “uh oh…pee pee!” so I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. “Nokay” (her answer for no thank you), she said. I told her that if she pee pee’d on the potty she could have a cookie, and she jumped right up and ran to the bathroom! And yall……..

She peed on the potty for the first time ever!!!!

I had never thought to bribe her before, but it totally worked!

22 Months

2011-06-24T21:12:00.001-05:00

I’m taking a forced break from the Life as a Pilot Series because the hubs is in Canada and we cant really communicate till he gets back in the States. Expensive phone calls!! Plus- Ellie turned 22 months old four days ago and I want to go ahead and write down what she’s like at this age before she gets any older!

Mornings: You wake up at 5:30am evvvvvvverrrrry day now, but I don’t get you out of your bed till 6:30am. You will usually talk to yourself and pull the string on your new Woody doll for the first thirty minutes, then you start the bored whine. When it escalates loud enough for me to hear it through the wall (and once I’ve had my coffee) I come and get you. You don’t cuddle much in the mornings any more, and that makes me sad. The first thing you say in the morning is “Whaht Moo-wah?” (watch movie) because you are OBSESSED with Toy Story 3 right now. I usually just tell you we are going to watch the news and you are happy with that.

Bedtime: Not gonna lie girl, bedtime is no fun anymore. We eat dinner around 6:00pm and then take a bath. The hours in between are spent reading books, playing with blocks, and mama laying on the floor while you dive head-first onto me (you love this). Around 7:30 we go up to your room to rock in your chair before bed. This month we have had to limit your choices of books before bed, because if we don’t set a limit you will read ALL of them!

Meals/Solids: You are still eating the usual things. I’ve found myself in a food rut this month, but I have started making smoothies with frozen fruit and fresh spinach leaves and you love them!

Developmental Milestones & "Firsts": Your imagination has begun to shine this month! You have started to pretend feed Elmo, and you read to Woody. You also do the cutest thing with my phone now. You will pick it up and “talk”, mostly babbling, but you mix in words about what we are doing that day. For example, if we are watching your movie and playing with beans, you will say “Blah blah blah whaht moo-wah, blah blah mama, blah blah beans.”

Learning: We are still working on colors and letters and seem to have stalled at the moment.

Favorite Toys: You are IN LOVE with your new Woody doll. You sleep with him every night and are very concerned that he keeps his hat on at all times. You also got your very first Barbie this month! You call her “Garbie” and we think it’s hilarious.

Sizes: You are still wearing size 5 diapers and 24 months/ 2T clothes. You skipped over size 6 shoes and jumped right into size 7’s.

Potty Training: We still mention the potty to you, and sometimes when we ask if you want to sit on it you will, but mostly you are not interested. That’s okay with us. We know you will get there eventually.

Life as a Pilot Series: Behind the Scenes

2011-06-21T22:46:00.001-05:00

So…….sorry for the lack in posting. Josh was scheduled to arrive home at 2:30am Father’s Day morning, but his flight was going to be so severely delayed, he chose to get a hotel room in Detroit for the night and just fly home the next morning.

We had a great Father’s Day weekend and Monday we took Ellie Kate to a local blow-up jump zone. But now were back into our regular routine and I’m ready to get the show on the road again : )

**************

Today I’m going to give you a peek behind the scenes and answer the question, “What is your Pilot doing when he’s not flying”? Well, here are the answers.

When a Pilot is not flying, he’s probably…

Eating. Alone.

It takes a special person to be able to eat alone in a restaurant. I did it once, at Cracker Barrel, on a Sunday morning. You KNOW everybody and their mamas be going to Cracky on a Sunday morning! I did it to prove to myself that I could do it. It sucked and I was embarrassed. The end. But a Pilot has to eat alone multiple times a day! Or worse, when they have to eat with their crewmembers. Imagine going out to dinner with 3 people you just met that morning. Awkward!

Another thing your Pilot is probably doing while he’s not flying…

Walking FAST.

These guys KNOW the airport like the back of their hand. They know exactly how long it takes to get from one gate to another and they don’t do anything without calculating their allotted time first. This includes calculating how long it will take to stand in the Burger King line, and use the restroom before their next leg. They are focused and determined to get where they are going.

What else is your Pilot probably doing?

Chillin’.

Crew lounges are provided for Pilots to wait for their next trip to begin. Sometimes they spend hours in here! They are usually filled with computers, TVs, and Lazyboy chairs to “rest” in.

And the last thing you’ll see your Pilot doing?

Shmoozing with the ladies.

Okay so I lied. But this is the stereotype that plays in everyone’s mind about Pilots. The truth is, most Flight Attendants (at Josh’s airline, at least) are older and MUCH less attractive than the ladies you see above. The airline industry just isn't the soap opera that people think it is.

Tomorrow I will be having Josh write A Day in the Life post, so stay tuned!

Attention: We are experiencing some turbulence

2011-06-18T21:46:00.001-05:00

If you are wondering where the next “Life as a Pilot” series post is, I wanted to post a quick update.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, *cough cough* THE AIRLINES, the hubs will not arrive home until 2:30am tonight. He’s stuck in Detroit till then, and I need his help on my next piloty post! So until then, here’s my new desktop background:

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Life as a Pilot Series: The Crashpad

2011-06-16T22:14:00.001-05:00

When Josh proposed to me in November of 2007, he had just been awarded as a Captain and informed me that he would be on reserve for the next six months. Well, thanks to the recession, here we are in 2011 and he JUST NOW got off reserve.

What is reserve, you ask?

To put it simply, when you are “on reserve” it basically means you are an on-call pilot. The company assigns you 3-5 days a week (its different every week) to be on-call, and if they don’t call, you can just stay home and still get paid. Sounds great right?

It IS great, if you actually live where you work, but since we live in Tennessee, and Josh was based in Atlanta, this meant that any time he was on-call, he had to be in Atlanta. And LET ME TELL YOU how hard it is to hear that they don’t need him to fly so he is sitting around playing xbox while you are taking care of a baby by yourself for 5 days. It’s difficult to not build resentment, but we muddled our way through it together. And lucky for me, he is an absolute angel-baby-strawberry-gumdrop-macho-man when he is home.

Enter…………the crashpad.

The video pretty much explains it all, but this is where Josh has lived for half of our marriage. I took this video while we were on our Ikea trip and it was his last day there because he recently got off reserve. Yay!!!

No more RESERVE!!!

In case you missed it, yesterday’s post was all about pre-trip routines. And tomorrow’s post will be a behind the scenes look at “What Your Pilot is Doing When He’s not Flying”, so come back for that!

Life as a Pilot Series: Pre-Trip Routine

2011-06-15T21:59:00.001-05:00

If you are married to a pilot, you know about The Suitcase Rack. This is where the magic happens. There is a whole song and dance that has to be performed the night before a trip begins. Josh usually finishes any last minute laundry, packs his suitcase, does the BCLP (badge, cellphone, laptop, parking pass) check, and irons his uniform.

The uniform shirt. Josh goes out the door with this one shirt on and doesn’t bother packing another one. That’s right folks, he wears the SAME shirt for 3-4 days at a time. Don’t stand too close to pilots. : )There are so many hidden clues on a pilot’s uniform. For example, see those striped things up on the shoulders? Those are called epaulettes and they display the pilot’s position. Three stripes means he is an FO, or First Officer, commonly known as the co-pilot. Four stripes means he is a CA, or Captain, and is responsible for the entire aircraft and crew.

The pin above the left pocket indicates what airline the pilot flies for. Below that is a name tag, and the pocket holds a pen for filling out checklists and paperwork in the cockpit.

You will notice the lanyard hanging on the neck reads “Air Line Pilot’s Association Int’l” which is the union that Josh belongs to. If you want to see a pilot get fired up, just ask him about company policies, unions, and contract negotiations. They are PASSIONATE.

Ellie and I usually hang out on the bed while Josh packs for his trip. I like to think of it as our little mini bon voyage party for him and I want to soak up every last minute of time with him before he leaves. On this particular day, he was packing while Ellie had just woken up from her nap.

Check out that nap hair.

Here’s what goes into The Suitcase. Josh packs it the exact same way with almost the exact same things, every time. He can actually just wave his hands over the bag and *feel* if anything is missing. Like a Jedi.

Okay, so he cant really do that, but he CAN tell if something is missing just by glancing at his bag. : )

And here’s the finished product!

Once he’s packed, he’s out the door! Ellie and I always give him big kisses and hugs and wave goodbye as he walks out the door. It doesn’t usually hit her that he’s leaving until a couple of hours later when she says, “Dada wok!” (Dada work) and “Dada fwy pwanes!” (Dada fly planes)

And that wraps up our pre-trip routine. Tomorrow I will be back with a tour of Josh’s crashpad!

Life as a Pilot Series

2011-06-14T22:05:00.001-05:00

**First I would like to thank everyone for their awesome advice on my last post. There’s nothing like having a huge community of moms at your fingertips! **

This week I’m going to do a small series of posts to give you a peek into our life as an airline family. I’ll show you some tricks of the trade, secrets of a pilot’s wife, and what goes on behind the scenes while your pilot isn't flying.

But first, you must watch this video from tonight at dinner:

Just when you think its all Sunshine and Rainbows…

2011-06-09T22:06:00.001-05:00

a storm comes.

Prepare thyself for a massive complaint session because friends? I need to brain dump. Oh, and I also need some mama advice down at the bottom of this post so feel free to jump in.

So first of all, you may remember that I had to switch my antidepressant medication from Pristiq to Zoloft because we are trying to make another baby (!) and it’s a safer medication.

So yeah, did that. Slowly weaned myself off the Pristiq while adding in Zoloft every day, little by little. I was a pill-crushing, medicine mixing chemist, let me tell ya. Everything has been great with the Zoloft, no depression whatsoevah (yay!) but I have developed two major side effects:

Insomnia and Anxiety

The anxiety is juuuuust enough to be annoying. No panic attacks or anything, just a general anxious feeling that causes me to hold all of my stress in my chest muscles. So they are pretty sore, but whatever.

The BIGGEST problem is the insomnia. Let me just go ahead and say that until now, I was a professional sleeper. I loooooved me some sleep. But now that the insomnia has reared its ugly head, my life has been turned upside down. I have been able to go to sleep at bedtime but cant stay asleep and my mind wont shut off. Most nights I just get up from about 1-4 am. Last night I did not even go to bed until 4 am, and Ellie woke up at 5:45 am. So there’s that.

Anywho, I have an appointment with my psychiatrist to work all of this out, but I’m guessing she is going to say “take a sleeping pill and grin and bare it”. But I’m okay with that. I would take anxiety and insomnia over depression any day. I may be tired, but I’m not sad about it! : )

*****************Here’s where I need mom advice:*************

We recently thought it would be “fun” to introduce Ellie to the movie, Toy Story 3. We didn’t think she would care too much for it since it doesn’t include constant song and dance or her favorite 4 guys…

But yall. She is OBSESSED with it. She wants to watch it every day, all day long. It’s the first thing she asks for in the morning and the last thing she asks for at night. Problem is, I prefer that she not watch a lot of TV. I have been letting her watch her “moo-wah” (movie) in the afternoons during The Hours from Hell (also known as 3-5pm) since we are usually worn out from the day and have nothing to do. But she asks me for it all day long and tantrums it up when I say no.

My question to you is…

How do you let your child enjoy a movie once in a while without them becoming obsessed with it? Its to the point that I don’t want to introduce other fun movies in fear of what will happen. Help me!

Seriously, leave a comment with your advice. I will be up all night reading anyway : )

My Favorite Things: May

2011-06-07T21:03:00.001-05:00

I cant believe May is over and it is already June! May flew by and we had tons of things to keep us busy. And the most important thing that happened? I turned 26! Here are some of my favorite things from the month of May.

I am a chronic sunglasser-loser-sitter-on’r-breaker, so I don’t even bother buying expensive ones. I bought this summer’s pair at Forever21 for only $5.50 and they have an awesome selection!

I had a lot of makeup favorites this month, mostly because I had run out of some of my makeup staples and I decided to try some new brands. I love this Hard Candy blush! It’s a shimmery highlighting color and I layer it on top of my regular blush to give it a pretty pop. You can only buy Hard Candy products at Walmart and this one was about $7.00

This is the END ALL sunless tanner. I slather my important parts in it every other day and it keeps me looking tan! I have even had a few people tell me, “wow, your eyes are so pretty!” but really……its just the tan skin on my face that makes my blue-grey eyes pop. I highly, highly recommend this tanner! *Important note: it does have golden shimmers when you first put it on, so don’t use it first thing in the morning unless you want that sparkly vampire look*

I realize that this is the second #3, but I photoshop the numbers and I’m too lazy to fix it right now : )

You may remember from my March Favorites that I absolutely loved the Too Faced “Naked Eye” palette. This month I received a Sephora gift card for my birthday and I decided to pick up another Too Faced palette. I chose the “Romantic Eye” box and once again, I’m in love! I use these eyeshadows every single day. ($35)

Just look at these colors:

Alright ladies, don’t forget to link up your monthly favorites below!

Ellie Kate’s Toddler Room Reveal

2011-06-06T00:13:00.001-05:00

Well, we finally finished Ellie Kate’s room redo.

I say *finished* but you all know I’m never finished. :) Here’s the view from her doorway.

We finished painting the faux board and batten (I say faux, because we never actually put up the vertical mdf strips, we just got tired and figured it looked “good enough”). I picked up the chandy for $5 at a local garage sale and spray painted it white. I still would love to cover the shades with the brown polka-dotted material, but eh…… maybe someday.

Here’s a view of the other side of her room. I had the artwork above her changing table just chilling on the floor of the guest room (never give away art! you never know when you will find a place for it!). I realize its not traditional “nursery” décor, but that’s why I like it. The curtains are some Target panels that I had in my stash. They are red and brown paisley and don’t match the room AT ALL, but we needed to block the morning sunshine in the hopes that our little sunshine will sleep past 5:45am. Maybe someday when we win the lottery I will make some matching drapes out of her crib bedding fabric, but for now these will work.

And now for my favorite part of the room! I painted Ellie Kate’s monogram on three separate canvases to match her bedding. It’s hard to tell, but I used the light green as an accent color around each letter.

Ooh! Here’s a better picture.

So that’s my girl’s room and I hope you loved it as much as I do!

Master Bedroom Reveal

2011-06-03T20:57:00.001-05:00

Since so many of you asked about the little green chairs in my last post, I wanted to fill you in! They are actually a pair of Fisher Price chairs that I bought at a local consignment shop. They came in a set like this:

Moving on…

Josh and I finally got around to painting our bedroom last week and I have been dying to share it! Ignore the words on the pictures, I had to steal them from a previous post.

Before:

And after:

The paint color is from Lowe’s and its actually a grey. I don’t know the name off the top of my head but if you are interested let me know. Everything in this room was either made by me, or brought in from another spot in our house.

The curtains were hanging in our playroom and are actually two of these shower curtains from Target that I cut in half to create four panels. *It saves mega money!*

I made the sunburst mirror using this tutorial and it only cost me about $12. It’s my favorite piece in the room!

Here’s a better view of the chair corner:

Before:

After:

Excuse the blown-out white light, its HARD to take a picture of a window.

Here is Josh’s corner of the room. I used Melissa’s leaning and layering technique here and brought in my diy coffee filter wreath from the kitchen.

And lastly, here is the view of our marriage bed.

Ha!

Doesn’t it make you feel uncomfortable when I call it our “marriage bed”? : )

Hope you enjoyed the tour and stay tuned tomorrow for the tour of Ellie’s new toddler room!

Ikea is my BFF and it made our playroom rock.

2011-06-02T22:03:00.001-05:00

First of all, can I just say that I NEVER thought I would have a “playroom” in my house. I always thought we might have a play corner, but I didn’t want my house to look like a preschool, ya know?

But then I became a parent. Of an almost-two-year-old. And I learned that she needs….she deserves…to have a place that is fun and inspiring for her little mind. So when the hubs said that we were going on an Ikea trip for my birthday (plus mother’s day, plus our anniversary) present, I had the idea to focus on our bonus room and turn it into a proper playroom.

So here’s a little tour of the room where we spend most of our time, with my Ikea buys along the way. Enjoy!

Let’s start with the little corner you see as you come up the stairs. We picked up this transportation mat for only $12 and the three cars for only $9.

Somebody *cough cough ellie kate* is obsessed with cars, trains, and planes right now. Don’t EVEN try to give the girl a dress-up gown or baby doll. Not. Having. It.

Look out from the reading corner and you will see this:

Mama’s play area!

I finally bought a proper desk (instead of a card table) from Ikea for only $63. I also purchased the wall sconces ($15 each) and the organization rods you see on the wall.

The cups on the top rod hold all of my paint brushes, sewing notions, and gluesticks. The bottom rod holds my headphones, scissors, and some of my acrylic paints.

Finally my paints have a pretty place to live! : )

To the right of my desk (in the top picture) you can see our cube organization system. This one wasn’t bought from Ikea but they do have similar items. This is where we have our nighttime ritual of putting lotion on, combing wet hair, and getting our PJ’s on. I’m currently gathering ideas for some montessori-esque learning trays that will live here soon. Right now I’m working with Ellie to get her own diaper when its time to be changed.

Directly beside the cube organizer are Ellie’s new play tables! I picked these up at Ikea for $5 each. I also bought the two red circle rugs for $8 each.

Here’s another view of the tables. I love how small and portable they are.

Homegirl loves her trains!

Turn around from the play tables and you will see our couch. This is where I’m planted at night after the elliemonster goes to bed. Hopefully this will soon have a beige slipcover because I’m SO not in love with that green microsuede.

Here’s a better view of the new Ikea rug ($35) that will eventually tie the room together. The walls will be painted the same blue-grey as our bedroom, and I’m on the lookout for some muted orange curtain panels.

Come back tomorrow to see a tour of our freshly-painted master bedroom redo!

21 Months

2011-05-26T12:21:00.001-05:00

Mornings: You have reverted back to your Early Bird ways this month. On a good day, you will sleep till 6:30, but most days you wake up just before 6:00 am. When I get you out of your crib in the mornings, you always say “Dada wok!” (daddy work). I think you have figured out that when I come get you out of bed, daddy is out of town, because whenever he’s home he is always the one to come get you. We spend the mornings having a brief snuggle on the couch while you drink your milk, but before you can even finish it you are jumping out of my lap saying “weeyah weeyah weeyah!” (Wiggles) or “Tommah Tain?” (Thomas the Train).

Bedtime: We eat dinner every night at 5:45, then we go straight to bathtime. You love to practice the alphabet with your floating foam letters, but not matter what letter you are holding you always say the same thing: “E…O… I… P!” It is so cute! After bathtime we dry you off in your monkey towel and then we go to the playroom to put your pj’s on. You don’t like having your hair blowdried anymore, which makes me sad. But you make up for it with your sweet bedtime disposition. Around 7:30, I tell you it’s time for night night, and we say goodnight to the TV, the kitchen, and the stairs as we walk up to your room. You will only let me read one book to you while we rock; Thomas the Train. After 3 times through (I may skip a few pages :) you always ask me to sing “Wok Moon” (Walking on the Moon) by the wiggles. I love this part of our day but it doesn’t last for long before you start to wiggle out of my arms and I have to put you in your crib. I tuck your blankets around you and say Night Night and you always smile and say “Nigh Nigh…..”

Naps: You take at least a 2 hour nap every afternoon and it is soooooo great. There is no feeling like knowing your baby is safe and asleep in her crib.

Meals/Solids: This month your meals have grown! You love eating sweet potatoes, raw broccoli, raisins, and peas. You still eat the staples: organic deli chicken, whole wheat bread, fruit, and veggie burgers. You still don’t like to dip anything in ketchup/ranch because you don’t like anything sticky touching your fingers. Sometimes you ask for “meat mo” (oatmeal) but when I cook it, you never eat it. Little booger!

Developmental Milestones & "Firsts": You language skills are soaring, as usual. You can say somewhere between 200-250 words now. Well, scratch that. You can say anything we can say :) You have started talking in 3 word sentences such as “mama oh-oh doohr” (mama open door). You have also started referring to yourself as Kate Jones or Ellie Kate Jones. Its pretty much the cutest thing ever when you see a picture of yourself and say “Eyah Kate Jones!”

Learning: Right now you know all of your shapes, some colors, and some numbers. We use flash cards to learn these and you love doing it!

Favorite Toys: You are obsessed with trains, trucks, and cars. You also love sitting in your pottery barn kids chair that we got you at a garage sale this month. You don’t just sit in it, you full-on LOUNGE in it. Oh- and let’s not forget the Elmo tent/house thingy I found for you. You love for me or daddy to get in the house with you. If you are playing with something and you want me to play with you, you will come over to me and take my hand, lead me to the toy and say “mama play!”

Sizes: You are still wearing size 5 diapers and 24 months/ 2T clothes. You outgrew your size 5.5 shoes almost overnight! All of the sudden your toes were hanging off the front of your sandals! So we have moved on to a size 6. Unfortunately for you, they will just keep growing and growing, because your mama has huge feet!

Making Changes

2011-05-23T16:09:00.001-05:00

I don’t talk much about my faith here, but I’m going to today. Because something amazing happened to me. This post is going to be a bit long but hang in there, because something shocking happened!

Sunday morning I did NOT want to go to church. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, wasn’t motivated, and was mad at God anyway. I had just been feeling disconnected from Him. Like I was reaching out, asking Him to come into my life, but He was ignoring me.

But the Hubs said we should go, so we went. I was in a bad mood for the duration of our drive. As we pulled into the parking lot I asked Josh if we could just turn around and go home. Nope.

We dropped Ellie off at her classroom and joined everyone in the sanctuary for singing. STILL BAD MOOD. I was hating life, yall! After a couple of songs we had a time of prayer and I was not feeling it. So I decided to just tell God how I was feeling. My prayer went something like this:

God? I’m mad at you. I don’t understand why you’re ignoring me up there and I don’t like it. Why aren’t you doing anything with me? I’m all, “Hey God, come into my heart!” and you’re all, “Nana nana boo boo, I cant hear you!”……

Right then, out of nowhere, God told me to do two things:

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Now I realize that the above statement may be a bit confusing, so let me explain.

First off, when I say that “God told me” to do these things, I mean it. I was literally standing there with my head bowed in prayer and then {POOF} these two ideas popped into my head. Although I believe that God “tells people” things in this way, I rarely have Him tell me things in this manner. Usually I get my answers through the use of other people, reading my bible, a series of events, etc. How did I know this was God talking to me, and not just my brain? Because the two things He told me to do, I would have never EVER come up with on my own. This is what He told me to do:

1. Find a women’s bible study group somewhere (anywhere!) around me and DIG IN.

Now, I realize that this sounds like a logical “sunday school” answer. But I had literally never considered it before! It was like God was telling me, “Katie, you are a stay at home mom. You have ALL the time in the world! You are always looking for things to do to fill up your day. You have been missing the point. I GAVE you the opportunity to stay at home so that you could spend more time with Me. You NEED to do this.”

*small disclaimer that just because I say I’m a SAHM and I have all the time in the world, it doesn’t mean I sit around eating bon bons all day. I’m just saying that I have nothing in my life that should get in the way of this.

2. Simplify your life. You are focusing on the wrong things.

This was the kicker, y’all. God told me to delete. all. 27. decorating. blogs. from. my. reader.

:: I’ll let that soak in for a minute::

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:: sadness ::

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God told me to DELETE my beloved home décor/interior design blogs. The ones I spend the first 30 minutes of my day with. Just me, my coffee, and beautifully decorated home pictures. The ones that keep me company every night after Ellie goes to bed and the house is quiet. The ones that I have “collected” for the past two years, always bookmarking so that I never will lose out on a creative idea. BUT- the same ones that have made me discontent, dissatisfied, and unhappy with my home.

You see, I had begun to stress over the fact that our furniture doesn’t match, we don’t have the money to buy A, B or C, our house doesn’t look like a model home… I know to many this sounds ridiculous, but to me it is a hobby and something I enjoy.

These thoughts were actually starting to affect my relationship with Josh, because by me always talking about What We Didn’t Have, it made Josh feel inadequate and like he wasn’t providing enough for us. The list of how this was poisoning our life as a family goes on and on, but here is the point:

God told me that if I will LET GO of all these things, I will have more time, energy and thoughts to focus on Him and my family. The things that are IMPORTANT. Like sitting on the floor and doing a puzzle with Ellie, or learning how to coupon so that I can be a better steward with our money, or finding new recipes to bless my family with instead of making the standard tacos and spaghetti every week. Or enjoying a TV show on the couch with Josh instead of sitting at the computer contemplating our next big home project.

On the ride home from church, I shared all of this with Josh. To my amazement, he told me that he hadnt wanted to go to church either, but that while we were in the service he felt like God was telling him to do almost the exact same thing!

This post is getting long enough so I will share more of my ideas on this later, plus I still need to do Ellie’s 21 month update, PLUS tomorrow is my birthday!!!

peace out.

Ellie’s First Performance!

2011-05-18T21:28:00.001-05:00

Ellie finished up her year at Mother’s Day Out this week, and with that came The End of the Year Performance. Her teachers told me that all of the kids were doing great in their “practice” music classes, where they have been learning their performance songs all year…but we expected the kids would probably get spooked at all of the parents watching them and act pretty shy.

Not my girl!!

She turned on the shine, let me tell ya! She was LOVING every minute of the attention.

As if she isnt already just like her daddy in every way, now we know that she has inherited his talent for on-stage drama. Let’s just say that he used to be a member of a kids group called Showstoppers and it involved one of these:

So………yeah.

And can I just show you the back of Ellie’s little outfit? Because I FREAKING MADE IT! I know. I’m pretty much the craftiest mom ever. Do you not just die?!

Peace!

Surgery FAIL

2011-05-17T16:23:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I was all….

Here’s a picture of my belly so you can see where exactly they cut me:

(What??? Of course that’s MY belly! I don’t lie….)

Anywhoo, they rolled me back to surgery and OF COURSE I had to have an anesthesiologist that resembled this guy:

And he would be the one to tape my eyes shut and stick a tube down my throat. Thank goodness I was asleep. Embarassing!

After surgery was over, it was revealed that THERE WAS NO CYST. My doctor couldn’t find it. She talked to Josh afterward and told him something like, “We didn’t see the cyst so it may be on the inside of her ovary, and I would have had to slice through her ovary to find it. Surgery went well, and you guys are good to start trying for #2 after her next cycle.”

When I got out of surgery I was TICKED!

A simple pre-op ultrasound or even a CT scan would have given her the exact position of the cyst in question. She didn’t come talk to me after the surgery but we. will. have. words at my follow-up appointment.

I have so many questions left unanswered…

No Soup for You!

2011-05-14T21:30:00.001-05:00

Lets all give a collective sigh for the fact that the “terrible twos” are indeed, real.

I thought having a newborn, surviving the first three months of chaos, and adjusting to my new identity as a mama was hard, but yall? Having a toddler is HARDER.

Because babies are cute, and snuggly, and tiny, and portable. When you take a baby out in public, people ooh and aah over them. People like babies.

But people do not like toddlers.

And I really cant say I blame them! :)

Some time this month we crossed over the line. You know, the line that marks the point where you CAN take your child out to dinner with you at a public restaurant, and where you CANNOT. After spending an entire evening fighting Ellie to stay in her highchair, finally giving in and walking around the restaurant with her, and ultimately taking her outside so that she wouldn’t disturb everyone, we have decided that we will no longer be dining out with our sassy girl. At least not until she has learned her boundaries.

So for now, we say “Bye Bye” to our dinners out with family.

If you don’t SMILE after this post, you’re DEAD.

2011-05-13T13:23:00.001-05:00

I’m not going to apologize for the randomness of this post, because it’s that awesome.

Firstly:

Go watch this. I’ll wait.

And now I need to introduce you to this piece of hilarity. Try not to pee.

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Also can I get an Amen to the fact that The Hubs is coming home tonight and he will be home for ten Ten TEN DAYS!!!

Gah!

2011-05-09T16:01:00.001-05:00

There are about elleventy billion things swirling around in my head right now. And here are some of the ones you need to know about:

I’m going to have to stay inside for the entire months of May and June because the freakin’ cicadas are coming. What is a cicada, you ask?

THIS. HORRIBLE. CREATURE. with a dark green body and red beady eyes, is a cicada. And yes, that is the actual size. These bugs are HUGE! Every 13 years a new “brood” hatches and swarms the southern states. Lucky me, I got to experience them when I was born in May of 1985, on my 13th birthday in May of 1998, and now on my 26th birthday in May of 2011! The next time they come I will be 39 years old.

And when I say that they swarm, I mean it. These guys coat every tree, every bush, every car, everything! I will NOT be leaving the house without a towel over my head, lest one get stuck in my 7 layers of hairspray.

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May is a big month for me, celebration-wise. We have our wedding anniversary, Mother’s Day, and my birthday all wrapped up into one 30 day time period. Josh usually isnt the *best* gift comer-upper-wither, but this year he surprised me with the best present EVER!

He is taking me on a trip to Atlanta, Georgia for a (small) shopping spree at……

I know! He speaks my love language!

I have pretty much decided that this trip will be dedicated to the redo of our play/bonus/family room. We have a very large bonus room that we spend most of our time in, and I have had the hardest time decorating it! It’s a multi-use room and we have mostly hand-me-down furniture to fill it, so I’m hoping to pick up some accessories and storage from Ikea to tie it all in together. If you are interested in what’s on my shopping list you can follow my ikea pinterest board.

And I’m also planning on splurging on an e-room design from a interior design blogger whoshallnotbenamed because her prices are super-cheap and I don’t want yall to clog up her work queue before I can scrape up the money to order mine! Ha! But I promise I will tell you ALL about it when the time comes :)

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And if you aren't a member of Pinterest yet, what are you waiting for? Its so awesome! Leave your email address below (or email it to me) and I will send you a Pinterest Invite. Otherwise you have to wait for the pinterest founder to invite you and that takes forev. See you on the boards!

Good Things…

2011-05-03T22:07:00.001-05:00

come in THREEs!

Happy 3rd Anniversary to my awesome husband!

I’ve loved you since our second date!

Till death do us part!