Oops, I missed.

Oops I missed my month mark. I had been doing so well. What's worse is that I even felt bad about only posting once a month. Oh well I have other things consuming my time, namely a 20 pound midget.

Hubby and I got some motivation the other weekend to forge on with completing our master bedroom. He has the tedious task of cutting trim and fitting it in the room. I got to demolish a closet and half a remaining wall in the basement. I am still pleased with the openness of it now. The bedroom only needs a few more pieces of trim and some pittly stuff. I also took on the project of making the door to the outside look nice. My husband couldn't seem to imagine a way of doing it without getting a custom door made for it (and spending way too much). The best way we have found to get through our creative differences is to let it become either his or my project.

The colors in the bedroom look so nice. I have a great green color on the walls and the wood trim and door are a dark mahogany. It looks so good.

I have taught myself to crochet. . . a little. I can do some basic stitches and have been making washcloths. Crocheted washcloths go quicker than knitted ones.

The Dells.

We went on our first family vacation. I grew up in Wisconsin and for some reason had never been to the Dells myself. Crazy, but true. So it was an experience for me as well. Some of my husband's family joined us there and a good time was had by all. Here is Erin in daddy's socks.

We had two babies in one condo on two different schedules. It made things definately interesting. Also with the little ones in tow it made our choices for activities limited. I wanted to go to a waterpark, but with how fair Erin's skin is and her two nap a day schedule, it didn't make sense to spend $40 a person to stay for 2-3 hours.

The resort we stayed at had an indoor and outdoor pool and Erin loved them!! She also had stairs to play on in the room. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa also came for a couple of days and let the two couples with the babies get out alone.

Scott and I went to a Japenese restaurant where they cook infront of you. We also had some sushi. I ordered the california rolls. . . which were delicious. Scott went for the raw stuff. We had an excellent time.

After family was gone we had the room for a couple of days to ourselves. We also visited the Deer Park where you get up close and personal with the deer and can feed them. Erin wasn't scared at all and pet them when they got close enough. The food we bought for the deer Erin was convinced it was for her. She kept looking at me and saying "more?"

We are going back next month. This time my mom will be joining us. We will have to figure out sleeping arrangements because she snores very loudly!

I enjoyed myself. It was hard for me when Erin didn't sleep well because of the noise of people in the room. I had two fans going as well as a blanket at the bottom of the door, but sometimes she didn't sleep very long. Sleep deprived babies are not good for mommies sanity. I did manage to calm down and relax. It was nice to be out of the house and out of town. I would have loved the waterpark, but dragging around a tired, crabby baby isn't my idea of fun.

I got some knitting done. I had to rip out the sweater I had started because it is knit in the round and it got twisted when I joined it. I thought I had been so careful. I guess not.

I am starting to look forward to fall. Now that Erin goes to bed at 7pm instead of 10pm like last year, we should be able to have some fun fires outside when it gets cool. We have plenty of scrap wood to burn.

I also got my hair cut before leaving for the Dells. It was just so frizzy I needed to cut it off, and I did. Nice and short in the back!!! Much better for this hot, humid weather.

Tag, I'm it.

These are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I was tagged by Monica who was tagged by Vanessa. I know absolutely no one else that blogs, and I don't have the heart to tag Monica back and make her think of 8 more things to post about herself. So the tag stops here it seems.

Anyway here we go into the weird life of Stephanie:

1. I didn't start drinking coffee until I met my husband at 22 years old. He drank coffee and I really liked the idea of enjoying coffee with him. I now adore it.

2. I look extremely boyish in my gradeschool pictures. Once someone asked my mom what her son's name was.

3. I love lists. I really love crossing things off my lists!

4. I am extremely sarcasatic.

5. Texture with food is a big deal with me. I gag on things that are very mushy even if it tastes good.

6. I love to run.

7. I look forward to getting older and seeing how time changes me.

8. I worked three jobs when I graduated High School. Walmart, Taco Bell/Pizza Hut, and the local bakery. I would go to work at 7am and not be done until 10pm. What a crazy girl I was!

My Baby is 1!!

How did it happen so fast??

We spent the last week doing parties for Erin. Not that she will remember, but I will and I want to make them all special. All of her family enjoyed it and lots of pictures were taken.

I made two cakes, one for each party. One of her very first words was "kitty" so I made kitty cakes. It was my first venture doing a layer cake and I was nervous. But they both turned out great. I made an orange one and a grey one. Erin loved them both and kept asking for more. The grandma's wanted to give her a lot more than mommy allowed. This was the first time she had so much sugar!



She got lots of fun new clothes that I am excited to dress her up in. We also got cash to buy a bike trailer so that we can get out together as a family. I think she is going to love it. Perhaps her favorite gift though was a card from Uncle James and Aunt Kris that played "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid everytime you opened it.



We did have a beach trip planned for the day of her birthday, but that was postponed due to our area being in a tornado watch. But we went the next day and she spashed around and kept leaning over her floatie that I had to hold one side up so she didn't keep dunking her face in. So Erin's first trip to the beach was a success.

Swimsuit

Hello everyone. It seems I blog about once a month. I would like to do more, but there are so many other things to do. =)

Had a little photo shoot with Erin in her new swimsuit yesterday. She is so pretty. She loves to crawl around in circles in her whale pool. I think we will have to make her first trip to the beach on her birthday next week. We will have a busy week. Next weekend we are going to Grandma's for a visit and a birthday party with aunts, uncles, and new cousins. Then another uncle is coming to visit over her birthday, so there will have to be another party. Not to mention the 4th of July is in there too! The weekend after that we will going back to Grandma's for her new cousin Anna's baby shower. Whew! Hopefully I will not be too busy to take tons of pictures.



I am so excited for my baby to be turning one! I'm trying to come up with ideas for a birthday cake to make it memorable. The World Wide Web is so nice researching those kind of things. Plus I got this great cake cookbook for Christmas.


My vegetable garden is growing like mad. Unfortunately, so are the weeds. I have been making stabbing attempts to get some of them out. It doesn't look like I have done much at all. But the plants that I want to grow in there are doing great. I just ate my first cucumber out of there yesterday.




I have been working on my knitting skills too. I had all the pieces knit up for a tank top, but was scared to start the finishing. To my surprise things are going pretty smoothly. I do need some more practice as sewing seems though. I also got some fun knitting books for my birthday. They should arrive next week.

Along with my gardening, knitting, housekeeping, and baby care, we have been doing some remodeling of our house. Just recently we put up a closet organizer in our walk-in closet in our bedroom. We had a little mishap with one of the shelving brackets, but with a little trip to Amazon.com we found some extras to order and they should be here Tuesday. Then another project can be crossed off my list.

And by the way, I need a haircut. So if anyone knows of a place that I can go that they will help me pick out a cut that is right for me let me know!

Until next month. . . .

Busy

Life has been busy but good. We had a garage sale last weekend and did well. It was also our 4th anniversary. We had the grandparents come so we could have some help with the baby while we had our sale, and go out for dinner.

A lot of the bigger things that we had for sale went, so we were thankful for that! I needed some bigger items out of the house because we are quickly running out of room now that we have baby. The more mobile they get, the more room they need. Thank goodness we got our fence built in the back yard. (another of the projects that we have been busy with) We built the fence with 4x4 posts and lattice. I have to say it looks really nice.

I also moved 2600 lbs. of rock into my backyard to create flower beds. It looks amazing. I planted a bunch of perennials as well to have a colorful garden every year. The only annual I planted is dalias. They get nice and big and so colorful. I bought a fountain on clearance last year and it is perfect. I take my coffee, breakfast, and knitting outside then turn on the fountain and relax under our pergola (after baby is down for her first nap). It feels like my own little resort.

Other than all that, just cleaning, purging, and re-organizing my house. The clutter drives me crazy, so I'm experimenting with different solutions. Time will tell what will work for us. I do have to admit that becoming a mother has helped me be more organized.

We are off to my husband's parents this weekend to visit since everyone has a long weekend. My sister-in-law is going to have a baby any minute so it might be a Memorial Day baby! I can't wait to meet her, little Anna Jordan.

Spring

I finished my sweater!!! That last April snow storm gave me the motivation to finish it up in hopes of wearing it. Of course as soon as it was finished it got warm out. I will have to wear it some evening is all. I'm pretty pleased with it as my first one. I have started a capelette for Erin. I'm just winging the pattern, we will see if it turns out. Also scouring the internet for fun summer baby patterns so I can make something for her to wear. I will eventually get a picture of the sweater on here.

We will be tilling the vegetable garden next week. Then I can get my onions, potatoes, cabbage, and peas planted! I am so excited to have endless fresh veggies. Our grilled chicken salads with everything out of the garden (minus the chicken of course) are the best.

Erin is trying to hard to say "kitty". I guess I didn't think she would try to talk this early. It is so cute though. She pulls herself up on everything and is starting to walk along it. So many things to learn, and she likes to learn them as fast as possible.

I can do it MYSELF!

Right now Erin has let me know that she wants to be more involved in the feeding process. She loves to pick up little pieces of bread and eat them. So I have started looking for things that she can eat herself and not choke on them. I've already had a couple of scares with choking. The first was a piece of tape that she found on the floor and she gagged on it and threw it up. I cried. Second was pureed green beans. I had to yank her out of her highchair and tip her upside down and thump her on the back. Deep breathing, but no crying. Third was her finding a stray strand of carpet that I had to dig out of her throat. Needless to say I'm a little jumpy now when it comes to any little cough she makes.

Plus I'm trying to find healthy things to introduce, not just easy things. I won't mind giving her mac and cheese every once in a while, but I want to mostly provide foods that are full of nutrition. So the other day I picked out whole wheat pasta, brown rice, and a ton of veggies from the store. Now to come up ideas on how to make it interesting for her, non-chokable, and flavorful.

I am also trying desperately to make meal time an enjoyable time, not a punishment. My husband and I love food and cooking and I want to pass that along to my children. I can tell when she really likes something and she loves to eat with us.

Rhythm

My days have a rhythm to them now. We get up and play, eat, play some more, then nap. So I measure them by first nap, second nap, and third nap. But my days with Erin are full and enjoyable. In the past 2 weeks she has turned into a baby. Not just a newborn or infant, but the kind of baby that you seen on TV that is exploring their world (generally by putting whatever they find in their mouth) and interacting with the people around them. She makes sounds at me and I make them back. She thinks I'm hilarious and I think the same of her. We are the perfect mother-daughter couple at the moment and I have hopes of it staying that way forever.

Has there been any mother-daughter relationship that hasn't gone through the "I hate you" stage?? God I hope so, I hope ours doesn't have to. I'd like to think that I will be approachable when we get to that stage, no matter the topic. I think one of the worst things a mother can do is to not instill trust in their daughter that they are able and capable to make good choices.

Thankfully that is a lot of tea parties and bedtime stories away!

I'm an Auntie!

My husband's only sister had a baby boy on March 12th! His name is Walker. So little. So cute. As soon as he gets a little older Erin will have somone to play with. It was weird holding such a little baby again. He was 6 and a half pounds when he was born. I had trouble beliving that Erin was ever that small!

All I know is that life changes dramatically when you have a baby. A lot of those changes are good. But it can also be hard when you would like to just go do something for hours by yourself to relax. I think that I will get more time to get out without the baby once she is done nursing. Once she is on her own as far a food goes, then daddy can help out a lot more.

Erin will be 9 months old next week. It really does go fast. She isn't quite crawling yet, more of a scoot. But she is pulling herself up on everything! I predict lots of bumps and brusies in her future. And lots of magic mommy kisses to make it better.

She has also started to play peek-a-boo with me which is so so cute. She also loves to smoosh her face into mine right before she goes to bed. Such a goofy girl, she makes me laugh.

I'm still working on my sweater. Now that the weather is warming up and I won't be able to finish it. The directions were not very good in one part however. It told me to skip something to knit the back, which I did, and failed to tell me that the shaping was what I needed to skip but still put those rows in. So the back is about 2 inches shorter than the front at the moment. I was frustrated so I started on the sleeves.

We also have a list of spring-summer-fall projects a mile long. It will be different doing projects with a baby this year. We will have to work hard during her naps and then break while she is awake. If anyone has tips on how to motivate a husband to get started on said projects, I would love to hear them. Here is the pergola that we put in last year. One of our most enjoyed projects yet.

Da, Da??

So I get pregnant, am horrendously sick for 8 weeks, get big and uncomfortable. I go into pre-term labor and am stuck in the hospital for a week and then bedrest after that. I give birth and take care of this little life 24/7 for the past 7 months without hardly a break . . . and she says Da Da first!!!! I even intentionally would say Ma Ma every time I got her up from naps or throughout the day. My husband Scott always would say Ma Ma to her so that she would say that first. But no, it's Da Da and she can't seem to say it enough.

It really is very cute though. I don't really feel bad about it. Little girls are supposed to love their daddies. Once she gains more understanding and verbal skills she'll being saying Ma Ma all the time. I can't wait.


And whomever ordered this cold weather though can take it back! I was enjoying our mild winter. I'll take snow, but the sub-zero temperatures can stay away.

My sister-in-law is due next month. She's having a little boy and I am so excited. She is going to make me an aunt. I'm trying to pick out very thoughtful gifts, ones that I wish someone had given me or that I knew about. Every mother needs and deserves anything and everything that will make motherhood easier.

Here's a picture of our little puppy. It is impossible to keep socks on her. She thinks it is a game to take them off and stuff them in her mouth. With a face like that who could get mad.

Phases

All babies seem to be are series of new phases. They are growing so fast and learning so much that if you wait long enough the phase passes. Erin has learned how to roll over and for a little while she could only roll over to her tummy and then get stuck there. Not too much of a problem during the day. But at night trying to get her to go to bed was less than fun. Going in there to flip her over didn't do much good either because she had to keep doing her new thing and would roll right back over and start to cry. I think she has become okay with sleeping on her tummy now. I snuck in there around 4:30 am this morning to check on her because she had usually woken up earlier than that to nurse. She was fast asleep on her tummy. So cute!

She is doing so so well with sleeping. Gone are the 30 minute naps from hell. She usually sleeps about an hour and a half now. Those were some long days when naps were so short. Plus she wasn't rested or happy. I didn't realize that babies can't handle being awake that long for so long. She will be 7 months old this weekend and can only handle being awake for an hour and a half, two hours if I push it. It makes it nearly impossible to go anyhwere. By the time you get them up, change a diaper, nurse, feed solids and play a little it's time for bed again.

Making baby food has been fun. Erin's favorites right now are apples and pears. She generally likes any fruit. The green veggies make her gag though. If I mix them with sweet potatoes I can get her to eat them.

I am so looking forward to getting out in my garden this spring. It doesn't seem that far off now that the stores are carrying seeds and starter pots. I love it when they bring the seeds out! I need to get my plans for my vegatable garden done. I won't be starting any seeds this year though. Not enough time and not enough room. I'm just going to buy them. Erin should be crawling by the time I need to get out and starting planting so we will have lots of fun outside!

Sleep. . . or the lack therof!

Parenting is not for the faint of heart! And beware, for those who adore sleep like I do. With any luck you will get a baby who falls naturally into a pattern of sleep where they quickly sleep through the night and get the idea of naps. With any bad luck you will find yourself with an adorable little person who doesn't seem to know the concept. Unfortunately we have found ourselves with the latter, and I am one of those people who adore sleep. Miraculously I have survived over 6 months on a very broken sleep schedule. Recently my husband and I have undertook the vast task of teaching Erin what sleep is and how to go there. It has been a rough road. An emotional rollercoaster.

You can see that what they are begging for is sleep, but that they haven't learned the skills to relax and drift off. So you coax and try to leave them to it and teaching them this usually involves a lot of crying. Things have started to progress with her. She really is a fast learner. We also recently took the paci away because she would wake up after 45 mins of sleeping and want it back after it had fallen out.

The next hurdle it to wean her from night nursing. Lord knows that the girl isn't wasting away. She's as plump as a peach. I have heard that some babies just drop feedings on their own, but not our princess. One baby step at a time.



On another topic, we still have no snow! This is the weirdest winter ever. Usually there is tons of snow by now and the temperatures below zero. Just recently did the temperature go below 30.

I have also began working on my first big person sweater. I'm excited about it. I almost have the front half finished. I am using 100% merino wool in an eggplant color. I really hope that it turns out.