Blessings

Andy and I were pregnant again.  We were due on July 4th.  We found out on October 24th.  Finding out you're pregnant is a bittersweet moment when you've miscarried before.  Instead of it being the beginning of dreaming about baby, it is the beginning a most mentally challenging time.  You don't allow yourself to dream about a healthy pregnancy and a baby because then it seems it will hurt all the more when it's taken away.  Those dreams that are just too beautiful, too right, too good to be true.  For me, up until about 8 weeks (the latest we'd miscarried) are just hellish mentally.  I worry over every symptom or lack thereof.  About the waxing and waning of symptoms.  I wonder every time I go to the bathroom if this will be the time I see spotting.  There is scarcely a moment of the day where I'm not thinking about the fact that I'm pregnant and about what could happen.  And as the days tick by on the calendar, it seems as though the worry only gets worse, not better.  Up until the first sonogram, when things become clear one way or the other.  In our case, there's either a healthy heartbeat, or a very slow heartbeat and sub-chorionic tears.  And so we know whether we will have a baby or a miscarriage.    

We scheduled our first sonogram for November 15th.  I felt nauseous many, many days (which I hadn't with our 3 miscarriages), so on occasion, I allowed myself to dream about having a successful pregnancy.  I dreamed about how we would tell people and when.  I thought that Christmas would be a wonderful time to share our news.  We'd be right around 13 weeks, through the awful, worry-filled first trimester.  I thought how delightful it would be to feel the baby moving inside of me.  I dreamed about telling people on Facebook and all the wonderful happy comments.  I dreamed about watching my belly grow and wearing maternity clothes.  About those awkward hugs from Andy as my belly got "in the way."  I dreamed about baby names and about labor and delivery.  About nursing and baptism and Godparents.  About Ruby being a big sister!  About Ira being a big brother again.  About a lifetime together.  I let my mind wander to those blissful things on the days I felt nauseous.  Because I actually like that nauseous, sick feeling, because for me that's a sign of a healthy pregnancy.  Those nauseous days are good days - even great.  Which also means that those days that most would consider "good" - the days when I felt fine - those were some of the hardest days.  Those days I just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep, because when I was sleeping, I couldn't think about what could happen.  But as the pregnancy progressed and the nausea didn't, I wondered.  My mind tried to rationalize why I wasn't feeling as sick as I knew I should (eating healthier, staying busier, hormones being just right where they should be, etc.) but in my heart of hearts, I wondered.

We went for our first sonogram on November 15th.  I was right at 7 weeks pregnant.  We were hoping to hear a healthy heartbeat but instead saw an empty gestational sac.  The sono tech thought maybe I was off on my dates, but when you practice NFP because you've struggled with fertility and miscarriages before, you know that you aren't off on your dates.  Not even a little bit.

My doctor wanted to repeat a sonogram the following Monday to see if anything had changed.  Nothing had.  I was diagnosed with a blighted ovum, meaning that essentially as soon as the egg was fertilized, the baby stopped growing.  Makes you really think about the fact that life really does begin at conception.  Because I wasn't pregnant with nothing.  I was pregnant with a baby who is now up in Heaven glorifying God.  And so we began Thanksgiving week knowing that we were losing another beautiful baby and waiting and hoping, even praying for a natural miscarriage (because apparently sometimes with blighted ovum, it can take weeks for your body to recognize that the pregnancy isn't progressing, sometimes so long that you're at risk for infection, in which case a D&C is required - not something I wanted to go through.)

We told our parents right after we found out on the 21st, but it just felt weird to tell anyone else at that point.  Saying "we're going to miscarry" just feels a little weird, because in the back of your mind, until it actually starts, you hold onto that miniscule hope that maybe, just maybe everyone is wrong, that maybe you'll actually see all those things you dreamed about come to fruition.  And in case you're wondering, it turns out it hurts just the same whether you let yourself dream those dreams or not.

I finally, thankfully, started miscarrying on Saturday, November 26th - Andy's birthday.  My niece had a birthday party that day and I didn't want to ruin the day with our less-than-upbeat news.  And then, the longer we didn't tell people, the less I wanted to tell people.  You probably know the feeling, you're just tired of sharing some sort of news, good, bad, or indifferent.  I remember feeling the same way after Ruby was born.  We called our immediate family and one of my best friends (her godparents) and then I just wanted to be done.  It wasn't that the news wasn't wondrous and miraculous, I was just sick of telling people.  I just wanted to spend time with my newly-born miracle.  Same with this, I didn't want to tell anyone else. 

So it wasn't until Tuesday that I basically had to tell my younger sister because I invited her over to learn how to make yogurt.  Tuesday was the day that the miscarriage really started in earnest.  The bleeding became very heavy and the cramping was comparable to post-birth when baby starts nursing - you other moms know the cramps I'm talking about.  Plus, there was just a lot of pressure "down there", making it difficult to stand for very long.  So it wasn't like I could just not tell her - despite really not wanting to.  Then of course, I had to tell the rest of my family the next day.  I didn't want anyone to feel "left out" by not knowing.  Didn't even feel like telling my best friend (Ruby's godmother who has experienced multiple miscarriages as well.)

I knew in my head that I really wasn't facing the grief well - basically just in denial still.  I hadn't even really cried.  Part of it was that we were busy with the holiday, but part of it was that I just wasn't ready to come to terms with it all.  Friday though, a number of things happened that brought me face to face with the fact that we'd truly lost another baby and I spent much of the day sobbing.  And I called my friend and we cried together.  And it was good.  And healthy.  And necessary.

I will say though, this miscarriage has been totally different than the three that we experienced in 2008.  Part of it is that this miscarriage had somewhat of an explanation (blighted ovum) and although we certainly don't know why this particular pregnancy developed into a blighted ovum, we know that it did, and that that's why this pregnancy wasn't successful.  That's much more knowledge than we have, even still, about our three other miscarriages.  And most of it is that I'm in a much better state mentally.  Ruby's birth was therapeutic and redeeming in multitudinous ways.  Before we had Ruby, I worried that Ira would be an only child.  No offense to only children out there, but that is just not something we ever dreamed of or wanted for him.  I felt regret over not relishing my pregnancy, labor, delivery, and early days with Ira.  I just wanted to be done with them, because I naively thought I would get to experience them over and over as our family grew like I just knew it would.  But with Ruby I did relish all those moments as if I would never get to experience them again.  So that if I never got to again, I'd at least have those precious, sweet, beautiful moments committed to my heart.  Before Ruby, I needed another pregnancy to ever feel "right" mentally again.  God, in His mercy, granted me that, although I certainly didn't merit it.  And I don't take that fact lightly.  I was given her and her pregnancy as a pure, undeserved gift.  And it was SO healing.  And although I long for a big family, I feel so grateful for the two precious, beautiful, fearfully-and-wonderfully-made gifts that I have been given.  And I rest in the peace that God's plans for our family are better than my own.

Yellow Dello

I couldn't help but take a picture of the gorgeous view out the kids' bedroom window this afternoon.  We are certainly blessed with some BEAUTIFUL trees on our property.  The picture as usual, does NOT do the breathtaking colors of this tree justice.  Nonetheless, I wanted to share a little view into our world.

Bookin-it

Last night when Andy was putting Ira to bed, he asked Andy to ask me to wake him 10 minutes early so that he could read one last book to finish up his 10-book "Book-It" goal for November.  I could not have been more proud!  Sure enough, when I woke him this morning, he was ready to read.  I just thought that was too sweet not to share!

"Soup"vember

Let me start by saying that I am a meal planner.  I just have to.  If I don't, I end up being totally unmotivated to fix dinner for my family.  Which means that we either eat last-minute something or Andy has to deal with the pressure of fixing dinner after he's been at work all day.  Neither of those scenarios are ones that I like to deal with on a daily basis.  (Don't get me wrong, Andy is an awesome cook, I just don't think it's fair to him to get home from a long day of work and then deal with having to come up with/thaw out/prepare a meal.) 

Therefore, I have to plan our meals.  We are "weird" and only go grocery shopping once a month (except to pick up eggs, apples, etc. that we run out of), so at the beginning of each month, I sit down with either a recipe book or a cooking magazine and plan out 15-20 meals. 

It works well for us on many levels.  First off, it takes care of the perpetual "what's for dinner?" question.  Secondly, it allows me to know what we need grocery-wise for the entire month.  And lastly (and perhaps most importantly), it is a major budget-saver.  #1 it seems like the more we go to the grocery store, the more we spend, so the once a month thing helps with that, #2 it allows me to plan a variety of meals, some with more-expensive ingredients and some with less-expensive ingredients all while staying within our overall monthly budget.  Does that make sense?

Well, this month, the cupboards and the freezer were looking pretty bare, and I knew if we stocked up on everything we needed that we would go way over our grocery budget for the month.  So, I decided that I would plan only soups for dinner this month (Dinner, by the way is the only meal I plan.  Breakfast is usually cold cereal, oatmeal, or toast, and Lunch is usually sandwiches for the boys and leftovers for us girls.) 

Soups are just economical in so many ways.  Typically, you can use less and less-expensive meats, or even no meat at all, in which case you can use beans to meet your protein needs.  You can also use a lot of canned/frozen vegetables, which are not only healthy, but a bargain as well! 

So we're seeing a lot of this at our house lately:

And quite honestly, it's been AWESOME to be able to get dinner ready in the morning and have minimal work to do in the evening during the dreaded "witching hour."  You fellow moms know what I'm talking about... that last hour before daddy gets home... aaarrrggghhh

And just in case you were curious, here's our line-up of soups for the month.  Let me know if you'd like me to share any of the recipes!

Lentil Soup

Mother's Nurturing Chicken Soup

Deb's Potato Vegetable Soup

Linda's Spicy Chicken Soup

Barley Beef Soup

Hamburger Vegetable Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Meatball Soup

Split Pea Soup

Jambalaya

French Onion Soup

Minestrone

Cabbage Patch Stew

New England Clam Chowder

Monica's Mexican Chili

Mom's White Chicken Chili

Happy "Soup"vember!

All Hallows Eve, a week late

Goodness, it's been awhile since I blogged!  I do have an excuse though! 

It all started when we got a note from school saying that Ira would need a saint costume for the All Saints Day party at school.  Being the over-achiever, can't-ever-do-anything-halfway type that I am, I decided I would make him a cassock for his St. John Baptist de la Salle costume.  He also wanted me to make him a ghost costume for Halloween, which I thought would be easy enough... unless you're me who has to complicate everything...

Initially, I thought I could make up my own cassock, but after looking at more pictures of them online, I decided they were actually kind of complicated and I might want to go off an actual pattern.  Problem being, there's not much of a market out there for size 5 cassocks... who would've guessed?   I did find a Butterick pattern for a men's cassock, however, and I knew with Andy's mad spatial skills that he would be able to modify the pattern down to Ira's size.  So I bought the pattern and fabric the same day as our zoo trip and Andy set to modifying the pattern that night.  When he finished, he let me take care of shortening the pattern pieces to Ira's height.  Now mind you, the only things I have ever sewn have been for myself, and you can guess that the direction I need to go with patterns is not shortening...ever.  I lengthen... shortening is a whole different ballgame, and I obviously missed something, because although I tried to make it so that I had 6" to take out at the bottom and 4" at the sleeves (you know, so I don't have to go through this rigamarole every year) it ended up such that it just fit him this year, and unless he doesn't grow at all, it will most likely not fit him next year... grrrr....  See, I do not have mad spatial skills like my hubs does.  I'm just special...

Cutting it out wasn't too awful bad, it's just my least favorite part of sewing.  I just like to sew.  Laying out, cutting out, lining up, pinning, blech... I mean, I deal with it, because you can't really sew without doing those things (I've tried. It doesn't work.)  I just don't like it, and there might have been some cursing involved...  Sewing it together went pretty well actually, modifications and all (which is crazy because we and by we
I mean my husband had to take 10" out all the way around)  Some things were literally lost in the translation (like a lot of the notches and markings) and it was tough because there were pleats, which I've never done before and they were tiny because they were for someone with a 20" waist, but all in all, I'd say it turned out really well.  The pattern definitely left some questions as far as finishing the sleeves and the bottom hem, but I figured it out well enough to make it look good.

Needless to say, it took about 2 weeks of finding time here and there during the day and after the kids went to bed to finish, then it took about a week afterwards to catch everything that I'd let slide (like housework, laundry, etc.) back up.  Finally this week we're starting fresh with a clean house and not much on the to-do list, so I thought I'd catch up the old bloggeroo.  I'm hoping to get back to the Photo of the Day type posts because they're just less overwhelming to me, but what do you all think of them?  Are they too boring/uninformative?

In the meantime, here are some pictures from All Hallows Eve!

Okay, this one isn't from All Hallow's Eve, this is Andy modifying one of the 6 pattern pieces

St. John Baptist de la Salle was not acting very saintly while I was trying to take this picture...

A back view so that you can see the pleats on which I worked SO diligently!

Classic Ruby face. Pardon the red-eye.  I don't have photo software on my laptop and did NOT feel like turning on the beast just to blip out a couple red eyes.  And in case you're wondering what the red streaks are all over our pumpkin, those are Ira's doing.  He said he wanted to put chicken pox on our pumpkin... not sure why, but who am I to stop him?!

Ira ghost and Ruby "lily bug" (as she says it.)  Ready to go trick-or-treating.

 

Just like the good 'ole days

Ira was off school last Monday,  so he, Ruby, and I headed to the Zoo for some animal fun.  It was the first time Ruby'd been to the Zoo since she was like 6 months old, so really her first time of really experiencing it.  She was pretty intrigued.  She loved peeking over the railings and saying "boo" to the animals.  She had a lion about 40 feet away (behind glass, obviously) drop some kind of animal it was eating to run and check her out.  It was kinda creepy, but I guess they are still wild animals and they still appreciate an easy target. 

Ira was also fun to watch since he could read all the informational signs about the animals.  He was also very interested in the world maps showing where the animals are typically found.  (He has a new-found interest in world-geography thanks to my uncle who sent him a huge world wall map.)   We learned lots of cool facts.  I sure hope he continues to have such a love for knowledge as he grows.

We had a wonderful time and it made me miss those days of having him around all the time.  Both kiddos were troopers, walking around the zoo for several hours (Ruby insisted on walking, not riding in her stroller.)  I guess I tired them out pretty good, because both of them fell asleep on the way home.  Ruby woke up enough for me to change her diaper and get her a cup of milk when we got home, but then I laid her back down (around 4 o'clock) thinking she'd sleep for at least a little longer.  Boy was I wrong!  She slept until the NEXT MORNING!  Didn't wake up 'till 6:45!!!  I think it's the longest she's ever slept in her life.  It was nuts!  Ira woke up in time for dinner and then went back to bed.  Who knew that the Zoo would be such a great sleep-generator!  Maybe I'll start going everyday...
 
I was also thrilled to get some cute pictures. 

'Tis the Season

We're well into autumn now (actually having some cool/cold days even!) and you know what that means... It's time for PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.

I am really not typically a pumpkin-aholic, (just ask the three expired-two-years-ago cans of pumpkin in my pantry) but last weekend I was looking for a dessert recipe for having my sis's family over and found this utterly delicious recipe that I already had most of the ingredients for.  So I set about making "Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake" out of the Kraft Foods Busy Family Recipes cookbook that my MIL gave me for my b-day.

It was ri.dic.u.lous.ly good.  I would eat it any day over pumpkin pie.  Don't get me wrong, I like pumpkin pie and everything, but it can be so heavy and rich.  And although this cake was plenty rich, it just sat very lightly in the 'ole tum-tum.  I'm hoping to make this again to share at Thanksgiving!

Here is the recipe:

Luscious Four-Layer Pumpkin Cake
Prep: 20 min
Total: 1 hr. 50min. (including cooling)
Makes: 16 servings (or four generous ones...)

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin, divided
1/2 c. milk
1/3 c. oil
4 eggs
1.5 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided  (I made my own)
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 c. powdered sugar
1 tub (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping (again, made my own)
1/4 c. pecan halves

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit

2. Beat cake mix, 1 cup pumpkin, milk, oil, eggs, and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice in large bowl with mixer until well blended.  Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch round pans. (I only have 8"x1.5" pans, so I just divided it evenly between the two and it worked great.)  Bake 28-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.  Cool in pans about 5 minutes.  Remove from pans to wire racks; cool completely.

3. Beat cream cheese in medium bowl with mixer until creamy.  Add sugar, remaining pumpkin and spices; mix well.  Gently fold in whipped topping.

4. Cut each cake layer horizontally in half with serrated knife (I used my awesome cake-leveler); stack on serving plate, spreading cream cheese filling between layers (you can be pretty generous.)  Do not frost top layer.  Drizzle with caramel topping and top with nuts just before serving.  Refrigerate leftovers.

5. Heartily enjoy!

This isn't the greatest picture of it, but we were all ready to dive in, so I just quickly snapped a picture for all you devoted readers. HA!

Great day

Seriously, how can you not have a great day when this is what you find upon taking the lid off of the unopened container of marshmallow cream?   Wishing you a smiley, marshmallow-creamy kind of day!

Make your own Swiffer Wet-Jet resusable cover

So, after using the Wet-Jet covers in this post for about two weeks, I decided I could make something a little better on my own.  I recently got new towels for my kitchen but couldn't bear to just throw the old ones out.  They are nice, absorbent bar-mop-type towels, and I thought they might be good candidates for Wet-Jet covers.  I am thrilled with how these covers turned out, and thought I would share my process with you.

First off, my Wet-Jet is fairly old, and I'm not certain they're made exactly like this anymore.  It has a "bump" on one side of the head that originally had a scrubber on it.  It makes making the cover a little more difficult than if it were flat (as I suspect the more recent models are) but really, it wasn't hard to work around.  So, check your Swiffer Wet-Jet first, because if it's different than the one I have, your directions will vary from these slightly.

See the little "bump" on the right side of the head?

My old dish towels measured 18.25" by 16."  I wanted to utilize as many of the finished edges as possible, so my only cut was to make a rectangle 18.25" by 6.75"  (You will be able to make two covers with each towel!)

I LOVE my Gingher brand scissors.  They were a little pricey (I got them half price for 18 dollars) but they cut through everything as if it were butter!  Well worth the money!

Next, so that you don't have fraying when you wash them, turn the cut edge under (about 0.5") and iron, and then under again and iron. I chose to use the "terry" side of the towel to be the bottom (the part that will scrub the floor.)

Using the rick-rack stitch on my machine, I sewed along the turned-under edge to secure it down.

Then I folded up one side 3.25" to make a "pocket" to go over the "bump" side of the Wet-Jet head.

Now, if your Wet-Jet head is like mine (with the bump) you'll want to just tack the corners of the pocket down so that it can easily slide over the bump.  (If yours doesn't have a bump, you could just sew along the edges of the pocket.)  My machine has a cool star stitch that worked really well for making a nice strong stitch here.

For the other side, fold under 2" than under again (just so you don't have to cut and make another hem.)  This will make the pocket for the flat side of the Wet-Jet head.

Using a zig-zag stitch, sew down both sides of the pocket, making sure to catch all 3 layers of fabric.

Pardon my messy zig-zag.  My machine wasn't very happy with me for sewing through 3 layers of finished edges.

And voila, you're done!  You now have a cheap, easy, reusable solution to those expensive disposable Wet-Jet covers.

P.S.  If you're like me and hate to pay for the bottles of Wet-Jet solution sold by Swiffer, use a vise-grip to take the cap off of one of your existing bottles and clip off the little flanges around the inside of the lid with a fingernail clippers.  You will now be able to easily remove the cap in the future.  Fill it with your favorite floor cleaning solution.  I use 1 quart of hot water and 1.5 teaspoons of borax on my linoleum for a great clean shine.

Um... really?

Ok, so I know they say things like "babies learn by watching what you do" and "babies love to imitate."  And then there's the 'ole "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."  But seriously, who exactly did Ruby learn this recipe from: "Sprinkle banana heavily with hot sauce.  Add to hot tea.  Stir. Enjoy."

So Proud!

Yesterday, my dad completed his 8th Marathon.  That's a LOT of running! (26.2 miles x 8 marathons = 209.6 miles; but that doesn't even come close to how many miles he ran training for them all.)  I cannot even imagine the sense of accomplishment  it would bring to complete something monumental like that.  And I'm sure yesterday it wasn't just the accomplishment of finishing the marathon, but also of completing the training for it this summer in the record-breaking temperatures.  So proud!  Way to go Dad!

Two Less

We have two less of something around here.  Nope, it's not our kids.  We plan on keeping them for awhile yet.

Ira "lost" his first two teeth on Thursday - 10/6/11.  I put lost in quotes because it was more like "yanked out after much wailing and gnashing of teeth."

Ira had noticed right around when school started that his two bottom front teeth were loose.  Not loose loose, but loose nonetheless.  Some time after that, he noticed that his two adult teeth were coming in behind the still-there baby teeth.  On the rare occasion that he would let me wiggle them, they didn't seem that incredibly loose to me - not loose enough to pull at least.

Well, we had dentist appointments on Thursday and the dentist told me that we really need to get those teeth out because the adult teeth are supposed to come in under not behind the baby teeth.  They come in behind when the baby teeth get loose and don't get pulled in time.  (Boy did I ever feel like the mother of the year...)  So he said we need to get them pulled asap.

Not being one to have to be told things twice, I set after pulling them when we got back to my parents' to pick up Ruby.  When (after 10 minutes of the wailing/gnashing bit) Ira finally let me put my fingers in his mouth, it took about 4 seconds to push the bottom left one forward and out.  Well, you can guess that the second one wasn't going to be that "easy."  It took him about 40 minutes of fighting tooth and nail (he he he I so punny) to let me even come near his mouth again.  I only got close to it when my dad finally stepped in and helped hold Ira so that he couldn't really move.  Again, once I finally got my fingers in his mouth, it took like 4 seconds to push the right bottom tooth forward and out.

It was quite the ordeal, and he's not real keen on the whole thing even still.  He didn't want to show/tell anyone at school on Friday (but accidentally his teacher saw when he smiled once.)  He wasn't happy that the tooth fairy didn't bring him "a 10 pound box of trains."  And he wasn't real thrilled with the idea of me taking a picture.  Luckily, he relented and I was able to capture this gem.  You can hardly tell he's missing teeth because the adult ones are already so big!  And for the record, those baby teeth came in almost exactly 5 years from when they came out. (10/2/06[R] and 10/8/06[L])  To sum up the whole experience: "It was like pulling teeth." Literally.

Gpers

It's one of those mornings.  You know, the mornings where you can hardly get out of bed.  It's a sleeping kind of day, and if it'd been up to me, we would've slept all day.  Alas, Ira's in school and Ruby's not real fond of spending the entire day in her crib, so up and at 'em we are.  And the title of this post?  Well, that's what happens when you try to type "flowers" and your fingers would rather be in bed still...

Anyway, this past weekend, I added 12 more plants to my perennial flower bed that I started this year.  I have never been one to do well with keeping flowers alive (I like to say that I have a black thumb.)  But the front of our house was in desperate need of something, and after devouring the book "Prairie Lands" from my Mother-in-Law, I decided to make a go of planting prairie-friendly perennials.  Boy, did I pick the year to start a flower garden!  Luckily, thanks to these awesome soaker hoses (and a nice deep well) we were able to keep everything except one plant alive (which is pretty good considering I planted 34ish plants in May.)

The garden now includes: 3 Mums, 3 Salvia, 3 Rosebushes (already there), 1 Butterfly bush that is not there anymore, 2 Blanket Flower, 5 Garden Phlox, 3 Aster, 4 Black-eyed Susans, 3 Stella de Oro day lilies, 3 Purple Coneflower, 3 Sedum, 1 (beautiful) Russian Sage, 7 liatris spicata, 5 Yarrow, and 5 coreopsis.  I cannot wait to see it grow and spread from year to year.  This first year wasn't too impressive flower-wise, but that's normal with perennials, and I was pretty much thrilled with the fact that they stayed alive all summer (perennials are an INVESTMENT!)  I still need to find something to replace the Butterfly Bush with.  I may just replace it with Russian Sage because I love how it looks so much (it's the fuzzy purple at the far end of the garden in the pic below.)  The honeybees and butterflies LOVE it (seriously, the plant buzzes when you walk past)  and it's just such a pretty color and texture.  (Look at me talking like an actual gardener! he he he)

Here are some pics of the garden that I took this morning while it was RAINING!!!  I liked the first pic because all the flowers that I planted are in focus, but I had to include the second one too because I love how only the roses are in focus.

New Toys

Ira and Ruby were both excited this past weekend when Andy brought home some "new" old toys that he had when he was growing up.  Among them was a wooden farm set complete with tractor, animals, silos, and fences.  The kids have been having a lot of fun playing with them, and I know it's special to Andy to see them playing with toys that he enjoyed so much growing up.

Notice who (what) is driving the tractor?  That's Ruby for 'ya!

Homecoming

My college had homecoming festivities this weekend.  We've always wanted to attend in the past, but have had other commitments.  Finally, this year, we didn't have anything else going on.  So we decided to go.  Part of the festivities was a coloring contest for kids 0-5 and 6-10.  I printed out the page for Ira on Thursday and he was pretty excited about coloring his picture so that it would "come to life."  (After, that is, he got over his fear that he might not win... seriously.... we're talking tears and everything...I told him to sit in his room and think about it for awhile, about if he was going to be that devastated if he didn't win, that maybe he just shouldn't do it at all, that he'd have to decide if it was worth it to him.  He sat in there about 3 minutes and came out calmed down and had decided he was going to color it and he was going to win.)

Homecoming at my college is awesome and SO family friendly.  First off, it's in the late afternoon, which works great for parents of kiddos who still take naps.  Secondly, everything was FREE!  From the parade (where we collected at least a half gallon of candy,) to the carnival (with inflatable rides and carnival games and prizes,) to the tailgate dinner, it was all free.  Ira turned in his coloring sheet and scoped out the competition, and I've got to say, his page did look really awesome.  I was under the impression that they were announcing the winner at halftime of the football game, which we had decided not to go to (because it did cost money.) 

We watched the game for awhile from behind the chain-link fence, and were getting around to go when a couple of alums walked out and asked if we wanted their alumni passes to go to the game.  Hooray!  So we ended up going in right around the end of the first quarter.  After we walked in, the Alumni Director walked past us and said excitedly, "Hey did you hear the announcement?"  I wasn't sure what she was talking about, so I said, "No, what?"  And she said that Ira WON the coloring contest!!!  He was absolutely, positively elated.  It was so adorable, and I was so proud of and happy for him.  We ended up staying through half-time and then headed home because Ruby was ready for bed.   The kids both fell fast asleep on the way home and slept like rocks all night.  It was a WONDERFUL day and I hope to return to Homecoming for many years to come! 

Here's a pic of Ira with his fun prize!

Broke

Good GRIEF!  In the last 15 days at our house we have broken glass 4, yes that was FOUR times.  

When my sister and her fam was over two Fridays ago, Ira accidentally tipped a glass over on the bar and it shattered.  (That was fun to clean up with 4 kiddos 5 and under.) 

Last Sunday, as I was getting plates out of the cabinet, one slipped out under the stack I got out and hit the counter top and shattered.  Mind you, it was Corelle, which I thought was supposed to be durable (we knocked one off the half-wall in our apartment and it fell a whole story down and hit the linoleum at the bottom of the stairs and it didn't break.)  Apparently it's not durable enough to hit a counter top two feet below the cabinet...

Yesterday, as I was making my grocery list, somehow (I'm still not sure, b/c Ira was across the room and Ruby was 3 feet away from it) my big tri-fold 9 frame picture stand got knocked over and crashed to the ground (thank GOODNESS not on anyone) and two of the frames of glass shattered.  All over the carpet.  And toys. And Andy wasn't home yet.  Ugh...

Then this morning as Ruby was finishing up her breakfast (cheerios, one and a half scrambled eggs, and a big piece of toast) she knocked the Corelle plate she was using off of the bar and onto the floor.  And guess what?  It SHATTERED too!  We don't often give her Corelle plates to use, but you can bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow... she'll be back to using her plastic plates.

So basically what I'm saying is, if you plan on coming over to our house, make sure to wear shoes... and bring your own dishes to eat off of, 'cause we're getting down to slim-pickings here!

Photo of the Day

Recently, I've been thinking about this blog.  I really do like to blog.  It's just I am not very good at getting to it each day.  I think it just seems daunting to me.  But I do want to do it, because I think it's a great way to document/"scrapbook" our days.  I read this article, and although Evernote sounds like a great site, I just really don't want to ADD anything else, so I'm going to try something new.  I'm going to try posting a "photo of the day" several times a week (I'd say every day, but I doubt I'll be that consistent) with a brief description/explanation for the photo.  

Ready?  Set?  GO!

I have been scrubbing our floors on my hands and knees since I ran out of Swiffer WetJet Refills, knowing that I'd seen a tutorial at one point for making them out of cloth diapers.  Well, finally today I'd had enough so I got my Gerber prefolds out of our storage room (previously used as burp cloths) and went after it!  I originally made one using this tutorial but was disappointed with how it fit.  Plus, there was a lot of waste (one diaper made one cover.)  So I decided to just make my own up and was able to get two covers out of one diaper!  Hooray!  (If you're interested, I basically just cut the diaper in half, made a 12"x5.5" rectangle, used the excess to make the little pockets for the sides 5.5"x2.75", then used a zig-zag/straight stitch combo to make sure it didn't fray.)  I haven't used it yet, but I'm getting ready to.  EDIT: I just finished using it and it worked GREAT!  Possibly even better than the stupid disposable ones at picking up dust/dirt in the edges/corners of the room.  I used the one from the flitterbug website that I had cut down smaller length-wise but not width-wise and I'm glad I made the widths on mine narrower, it doesn't slide around as much, potentially covering the spray nozzle.  My hopes are that I can use one of them for major cleaning and the other two each night during the week just with water on them to maintain the floor (which would be a MAJOR improvement over the once every six weeks whether it needs it or not situation we have going on right now (kidding...sort of...)  It might even be a great chore for Ira...

Take care!

School Days

As many of you know, Ira started Kindergarten this year.  Here are my reflections on the subject in general.

When I found out last year that Kindergarten would be all day for Ira, I cried for days.  Seriously.  But then over the course of the year, things changed.  I still wholeheartedly believe that it's ridiculous for kindergarten. to be an all day affair.  I think that 5 year olds would be much better off if they had a half day of school and a half day of play.  But over the course of the last year, I became comfortable with the fact that come August, Ira would be in school all day.  And at some point during the summer, I started to look forward to school starting.

Because you know what, Ira was R.E.A.D.Y.  He was "bored" (my words not his) at home.  It was like no matter how much I did (and I'll admit, I could have tried harder), I couldn't keep him content.  He would read in his room for an hour and a half each day (sometimes more), but then the rest of the day, he just wanted something to do - something to sink his teeth (and by teeth I mean brain) into.  So yes, I began to look forward to him being able to have that constant mental stimulation that school would provide.  And the structure too.

You see, Ira is the opposite of me.  I like it when my days are completely unplanned, unfettered.  We don't have a schedule.  A routine certainly, but our days are pretty "free-spirited."  Well, in reflecting about it, I came to realize that Ira is a schedule kind of dude.  He likes to have something to do all day and thrives in structure and schedule.  (Seriously is he my kid? - Don't get me wrong, it's not that I can't perform in a scheduled, structured environment, it's just that naturally that would not be my first choice.)  So, school is truly the perfect fit for him.

Now back to his first day of school... We double-checked all of his supplies the day before and then went bowling (his favorite thing to do) before going out to dinner at Olive Garden.  It was a nice good-bye to summer.  We also made up a schedule (gasp! me?!  I know...) for school mornings to make sure that we had plenty of time and didn't feel rushed in the mornings (I hate feeling rushed.)  So, I woke him at 6:50 and he was quite cheery and excited for the day.  Then the trips to the bathroom began.   

You see, the week before school started Ira got really really sick (sicker than I'd ever seen in 5+ years) (a trip to the ER, bloodwork, bloody stools, a CT scan, (concerned about appendicitis), and 4 days of 103 fever, we find out it was just a bug... a nasty nasty bug.)  Even a week later, Ira was still complaining of his waist hurting (his bowels I'm sure) and still had diarrhea.  He was in so much pain that morning that I wasn't positive I should send him to school.  But I took a chance guessing that once he got to school it would take his mind off of it - which thankfully I was right about.

So back to trying to eat breakfast that first morning.  Ira probably had to get up and go to the bathroom 7 times.  He didn't even finish his breakfast, and I only got halfway through "Oh the Places You'll Go."  We hardly had time to take pictures before heading out the door at 7:45.  Yeesh, and I said I hated rushing...

However, Ira's spirit wasn't dampened by the whole thing and he had a WONDERFUL first day of school.  I didn't even cry (surprised even myself there.)  He came out of school with the hugest smile on his face and couldn't wait to tell me all about his day.  It was wonderful to see him so happy and excited.  I am truly excited for him.  And it's amazing how much time I feel like I have during the day now.  I love having one on one time with Ruby.  It's so nice to have time during the day to myself too.  I've gotten a lot done around the house lately!  And it's fun to go pick him up each afternoon and hear how his day went.  My little boy is growing up and I couldn't be more proud!

And, lest you think I would subject you to an entire post without pictures.  Here are his pictures from the first day of school!

Seriously, could he look any more excited/proud?!

 With sissy...sort of...

 At his desk.

 Finding his name on the SmartBoard.

Crazy for this girl

Ruby has not always been the easiest kiddo to take care of.  She cried a lot when she was a baby.  She wanted held a lot, but only wanted me to hold her.  From very early on, she wanted to go to bed at a time that even bar-hopping college students would find unreasonable.  She didn't like her car seat.  She didn't like diaper changes.  She didn't sleep well at night.  And she had crazy sensitivity issues with a number of foods.  She did always nurse well (and fast,) so I guess she had that going for her.  But she was not what anyone would describe as a "happy baby."  You know, "oh what a happy little baby you have there."  "She's just so easy going," etc.  HA!  I don't think anyone ever uttered those words about Ruby.  Probably because she gave anyone other than mamma the good 'ole stink eye (see nearly every picture of her from her first many months of life.) 

Like I said, not an easy baby.  It was a good reminder for me that love is a choice not just a feeling.  (Sometimes the last thing I wanted to do was nurse her/get up with her/hold her for the thousandth time)  It also made me appreciate the love that our Heavenly Father has for us (whiny, complainy sinners.)

Really though, this post wasn't meant to be philosophical, I just couldn't help reflecting on how far we've come when I sat down to write.  Because now, Ruby is a pretty stinkin' easy toddler.  She loves both sets of grandparents and doesn't even cry when we leave her with them for babysitting.  She has such a great and easy routine.  She is an excellent sleeper.  She goes to bed SO easily.  She eats well, does well in the car, and has an incredible vocabulary (like, if I were to take a guess, I would say that at 18 months she probably says around two hundred words as well as about a dozen signs)  She sings songs and says rhymes (5 little monkeys jumping on the bed.)  She loves LOVES ice cream  She plays well by herself. And has the cutest, funniest personality.  She is constantly doing things that make me smile and crack me up!  And she is just the happiest little girl so much of the time, so I just wanted to take a post to celebrate the sweet and silly little girl she is becoming.

Here's a glimpse into that silly sweet personality:

 Ruby LOVES the Little People school bus.  On any given day, I see balls, binkies, baby wipes, or batmans riding in the bus.

 She really REALLY wanted to ride the bus one day.  So much so that she was crying while trying to cram her head through the door so that she could get in.

Laughing while mommy was trying to take a picture

 I was going through our clothes for fall/winter the other day.  Ruby kept bringing me clothes to put on her and this is the outfit she ended up in.

 There was apparently something really hilarious about eating tzatziki.

 This is how I found her after a nap one day.  She had pulled her shirt over her head but her arms were still in it so it looked like a shawl.

 She pushes her baby, (or her duck, doll, batmobile, stuff from the recycling bin) really fast in her stroller.

 Here she was trying to climb in her highchair so she could play with the buckles. 

 I see you!

So yeah, praise God for this sweet, silly, (and smelly at the moment!) little girl! 

Well hello there!

Hey bliggity-blog friends!

I hope everyone had a great summer.  I know we sure did (despite the 46 and counting days of 100+ temps - outside, not in my kids... although last week...)  I thought I'd catch everyone up on our summer with some pictures.

We played in our kiddie pool

 Ruby loved the water

We planted a perennial flower garden in front of our house.  Thankfully, all but the butterfly bush (top left), and one of the phlox (bottom left) made it through the oppressive heat!

 

Andy and I left the kids with my parents for a day and went to the Sand Dunes to ride our dune buggy.  It was a wonderful break from the kids and was SO nice to spend some one on one time with the hubs!

Here we are out on the sand.

 Andy & I celebrated our 6th Anniversary!  God has blessed us so immensely these past 6 years!

 Our parish celebrated its 125th Anniversary with an outdoor mass.  Yes, it was 100 degrees outside, no, nobody that I know of fainted.

 We babysat for my niece and nephew for 4 days.  It was a lot of fun and gave me a good idea of what life would be like with 4 kids.  I LOVED IT!

 My nephew celebrated his 5th birthday.  He and Ira are just 10 weeks apart!  Hopefully they will be lifelong buds!

 We played slip and slide!

 We went to Paradise... er... Galveston, TX.  It is our very favorite vacation spot of all.  Here are the kids at our favorite restaurant, Bennos.  Ruby was kissing Ira over and over.  He couldn't stop laughing.

 Again with the kissing.  Sheesh, it's like they love each other or something!

Sweet Ruby is growing up so FAST! 

 We rented a condo in Galveston right off the beach.  It had 2 awesome swimming pools.  It was our first time down there in a condo as opposed to a hotel.  I don't think we'll ever stay in hotels again!  It was AWESOME having a room for the kids, a room for ourselves, and a full kitchen!  It was a vacation for us too!  When the kids went to bed, we got to stay up and hang out instead of the hotel, where it's lights out for everyone at 8:00!

 

 We had a street artist on the Strand draw a picture of Ira and Ruby.  I think he did a pretty good job, don't you?

 We got to ride on a ferry from the island to the Bolivar Peninsula.  And for the record, I was copying Ruby's expression, not vice-versa.

We got home from vacation to this produce from our garden.

My sister and I dressed our daughters like twins.  They are a 14 weeks apart in age, but couldn't act more like each other.  I'm pretty sure they could pass as twins any day of the week.

 We hosted the girls when our parish had the Totus Tuus program.  It is always a joy to be a part of that program!

 Ira took swimming lessons.  I can't believe how much his skills/comfort level/abilities in the water grew over the summer.  He'll be ready for level 2B next summer!

 Ruby ate holes in her toast.  I don't know why, but that is how Ruby eats toast (or muffins, pizza, rolls, breadsticks) every time.

We got us a new baby cousin! 

Well, that just about sums it up!  Like I said, I hope your summer was as great as ours!  I hope to get back to more regular blogging now, but as always, the fam. comes first.  God bless!