In the last three days I decided to try to make a couple of things I haven't made before. I made slippers for Duncan out of some of his old fleece PJs. I used the darling diapers mini mocs pattern.
He put them on first thing this morning and walked all over the house just staring at them. He liked how the non-skid bottoms sound on the hard floors. He kept them on all morning and I would see him look down at them and smile every now and then :) Now I need to make a pair for Audrey. She was quite jealous.
I also looked up how to make baby leg warmers. It was so fun I ended up making 6 pairs!!
I made some of them shorter because I thought that they would be better for an itty bitty baby, but now that I'm looking at the long ones, I'm not so sure. I think I'll make more long ones and just let her grow into them :) The fuzzy ones were hard to work with, but I love the finished product!!
O and I also discovered what happens when you serge a pin. Yikes! I broke my knife! The whole top knife broke off and went flying over my shoulder. I don't have any replacements on hand so my overlocker is now out of commission until I get some :(
It all started about 1.5 years ago. I was sitting at work and my friend who sat next to me started researching cloth diapering. I was soon interested as well. The amount of information was immense, and I soon found myself overwhelmed. Cloth diapers have come a long way since the time of diaper pins and rubber pants. There are all kinds of cloth diapers out there now from your basic prefolds with a cover to waterproof all-in ones. I decided it was too late for me to cloth diaper Audrey and actually save money so I quit thinking about it for a while. Well now that I'm pregnant again I've decided I'm going to cloth diaper this baby. While researching all of the different types of diapers out there (again), I came to the realization that I could just make them. I am thoroughly enjoying myself as I learn! I started out using scrap fabric and old T-shirts and after making a few different types, I decided all-in-twos (AI2s) are what's going to work for me. They are basically a diaper with removable inserts (the absorbable parts are called inserts). This way they resemble disposable diapers enough that the hubbs will be able to use them without having to take a class first (read: He'll actually do it). My first few attempts went all right, but weren't all that cute due to the fabric I was using. Then I made this one:
It's a cotton outer with hidden PUL (waterproof fabric) and pink minky dot on the inside. Audrey only wears diapers when she sleeps now so my testing opportunities are limited (I wasn't ready to potty train!). When I went in to get her this morning she was wearing it and she told me, "It's comfortable!" Of course she jarbled the word all up. It was real cute and made me feel good. She's never told me a disposable diaper was comfy!
I also made a wetbag tonight:
I like how it turned out. Next time I'll make the handle shorter. It was my first time sewing a zipper. I don't think I did so bad.
So now I just need to sew a whole stash of newborn and one size diapers!
That's the sound of me thinking (No it doesn't hurt. Okay maybe a little). I've been thinking about revamping my blog and you know, actually blogging. I started out thinking my transition to being a domestic diva would be fun and exciting and possibly entertaining. Turns out it's not as action packed as I thought. It's not boring in and of itself, it's just that I got bored writing about it. I want to write about other stuff too. At least I'm thinking about writing about other stuff too. I am currently in the process of revamping my life and I keep finding myself wishing I was writing stuff down. Anyways, I've started thinking this may possibly be the place I could do it (like all the qualifiers?). No matter what though I'm going to find that damn summer pot roast recipe I posted about years ago b/c that's the only traffic I get to this here blog, and I don't want to disappoint anymore pot roast recipe Googlers. Good day.
I haven't blogged in a while, I know. However, something has been eating at me and I need to get it off of my chest. How the hell do you lose weight in your fingers? I haven't been able to wear my wedding ring since I was 5 months pregnant with Audrey. That's almost 2 years! I'm down to my pre-Audrey weight, but no-go on the ring. Does anyone know if they offer lipo for fingers?
Are there little finger exercises I can do? What gives? And because a post without pictures is boring, here's one:
Well, there is so much to catch up on! Two weeks ago, I took the kids camping at Mammoth Cave by myself. Well we met some of my family down there, but Brett couldn't come. My Aunt and her 3 kids camped next to us. We were tent camping without electricity on what happened to be the hottest week of the year so far. Let's just say it was sweaty. There is a lot to do near Mammoth Cave, and we went to Dinosaur World first. Duncan had a blast!
This is my Aunt Jen holding Audrey. She just loved holding a baby again (her youngest is four).
After I took this picture I realized Duncan is talking to the mammoth. I'm not sure what exactly he was saying, but they were buddies.
Here are all of the kiddos. Duncan had tons of fun playing with his cousins.
We also went caving. One day Duncan and I went on a short self-guided tour. The next day, we went on the two hour historical tour with everyone. Grandma Carol watched Audrey for me while we explored the cave. It was a long walk to the cave entrance, and Duncan decided he needed to take a break.
Once we neared the cave entrance, we could feel the cool air. It was so nice since it was in the mid-90s that day. It was ~54 degrees inside the cave.
Duncan though the cave was pretty cool.
On our way back to the campsite a deer was standing right next to the road. He came right up to the car. I guess people must feed them often.
Today we went to the Kenton County Fair. Duncan had a blast. He rode tons of rides. The Dragon Wagon was his favorite!
Audrey had fun pulling up on the gates and watching. She also liked pulling out handfuls of grass.
The fun slide was Duncan's favorite last year. This year it must have been really waxed because it was fast!!!!
While we were standing in line waiting for Duncan to ride one of the kiddy rides I heard Brett yell "Duncan!" I looked down and Duncan was standing there peeing! I panicked and just tried to stop it. That resulted in a handful of pee on my part. Oy. So I took him to the bathroom real quick and we stayed on the other side of the park for a while because I was so embarrassed. I don't care who you are, that's funny.
Miss Audrey is now 10 months old and is on the move! Here's a little video. Brett's in the background telling his mom about the pee incident at the fair. :P
As for me, I have some wonderful news. I gave my 6-7 week informal notice at work! That's right, August 31st is my last day of work...FOREVER!!! I'm going to be a stay-at-home mom! I am just so excited. I will be helping Brett out with our store a little bit, but not enough to actually say I work. I can't believe I'm actually going to get to do this! Ever since I informed my boss, I've felt like I am floating on a cloud. :)
That's what Duncan referred to himself as when we told him about being a ring bearer in cousin Angel's wedding. The wedding was this past weekend, and he was quite the handsome little man. He wore the tux Maemae and Popsie gave us last summer. It fit perfectly! Unfortunately my camera is acting funky, and I can't seem to take a good picture. :/ I did get one of all of us together.
I also snapped one of Duncan and the bride. Well, the bride's knee anyway.
I didn't get any pictures of him walking down the aisle b/c I recorded it!
I have finally unpacked my sewing machine (I know, it took me a year!), and I'm starting to sew again. While I was out buying machine oil I found some of the cutest fabric on clearance. It's cotton flannel which is perfect for receiving blankets. I bought enough to make a large blanket for each of the babes. I made Duncan's first because he seemed very excited about it.
While it's not perfect, I think it was a great first project.
Well, here I am again. I took a very long break from blogging (about a year!), but I'm back now. I went back to school and earned my degree. I've been working full-time as a geologist since, but I miss my family tremendously while I'm at work. I recently cut my hours to 32/week, and that has helped some. It has in fact, freed up enough time for me to start blogging again! Along with blogging, I'm starting to feel creative once more. So my goal with this blog hasn't changed much. While I'm not chronicling my attempt at becoming a housewife (yet anyways), I will be recording my attempt at juggling it all (kids, husband, and career) and some of the frustrations that can come with it (hopefully not too many). Soon to come.... Duncan the Ring Bearer!
I took Duncan and Audrey to Cincinnati's Earth Day event and we had tons of fun! I forgot my camera though so no pics :( I've started eating vegan to lose weight, and I haven't had meat or dairy since Monday night! I had the best vegan chicken wrap while I was there. We also bought some Grateful Grahams (vegan graham crackers), and I really liked them too. After dinner, I made a couple of hair bow holders my SIL Jessica posted on her blog. It didn't take very long, and they are super cute. I even made an extra one for my co-worker. I'm either going to hang it on the wall in her bedroom or on her armoire. Now I have a place to put all of her bows without losing them! Thanks Jess!
Today after work, we worked on our gardens. I was pregnant last growing season so I didn't get a lot of landscaping done. All I did last year was throw some annuals into this patch of garden in front of our front porch. Today, I planted evergreens. I planted Heller's Japanese Holly. The reason I picked this particular plant is because it was the only evergreen shrub at a reasonable price that requires only morning sun. I'm sure there are more out there, but they weren't at Lowe's. :) I'm going to plant some annuals in front of the shrubs, but I haven't yet decided which ones. I know it's definitely not going to be impatiens. Last year I planted a row of impatiens along the front border and the NEXT MORNING they were all gone. Only little twigs remained. Apparently deer think they are very yummy. I had no idea we even had deer until the case of the missing impatiens.
When I finished with my garden, Brett started on his. He has built a raised garden for veggies and herbs. He had two scoops of topsoil delivered today so he got busy carting it back to his garden. Duncan was happy to help with his little blue shovel.
Seeing my two guys hard at work was a photo opportunity too sweet to pass up. Actually, it was what inspired me to write this blog in the first place.
Audrey was happier playing inside where she could sit on the ground and play with her toys. I'm sure she'll enjoy gardening when she's more mobile. :)
My blog is still here!! Well I have great news. Starting April 1st, I am cutting my hours down to 32/week. I am seriously considering revamping my blog.....
So I would love to show everyone pictures of our new house and how it's coming along but our camera is lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't been able to take a picture of Duncan in weeks! Even worse, I believe there were a whole bunch of pics on it that I didn't get a chance to upload.
I didn't get arond to posting pics of Duncan's B-day party. It went really well. He had 11 grandparents there!!! So here are some pictures of the party and some more recent ones too:
He's just like his daddy... when we used to have to go to a laundry mat, Brett would put my undies on his head while he was folding clothes!! Broccoli... and here is what our house looks like today!!!!
The outside...
This is looking in from the entryway.
Brett is standing in our formal living room.
This is our dinning room.
This is our kitchen.
This is my pantry! I'm so excited to have a pantry!!
These are the sliding doors in the bay window in our kitchen.
This is the wall of windows in our great room.
This is the other side of our great room.
This is the great room viewed from the hallway upstairs.
This is the master.
This is the hall bathroom.
This is the master bath.
Here is the basement. These are the sliding doors. And this is my husband! He's contemplating the best placement for a pool table :)
