Non-Toy Toddler Gift

LW happens to have a lot of friends, and they all happen to have birthdays around the same time. Since I am no longer in a salaried position, I needed to get very creative with the gifts we gave this year. I couldn't just go on Amazon and order whatever looked cute for $30 or even fill a basket of snacks from World Market (another favorite gift option of mine).

I found this article on Pinterest of 18 Non-Toy Gifts for Toddlers and knew I needed to create something from it as our gift to all of these parties. Because really, what toddler *needs* another toy??

I opted for something somewhat practical and educational – a bird feeder!

I like to give "packaged" gifts, so I also bought some bird seed in bulk: 

And each child got a book about birds. Every book was unique because I scored them at Half Price Books – my favorite book store. 

To me, for toddlers and any age, it isn't about what is spent on the gift monetarily but the thought that counts. Maybe I'm tooting my own horn but I feel like this is a really thoughtful gift and I did it for a lot of kids on a very tight budget! 

I'm so proud of how they turned out! 

Of course each gift needed its own hand made, coordinating card! I used scraps for the cards (as I always do) so nothing was spent on them. 

For the bird seed in each gift, I used mason jars I had on hand (because everything looks cuter in a mason jar!) and decorated them with scrap fabric, tags and twine. Again, all things I already had in my craft supplies. 

I bought bags and tissue from Five Below in really fun, bright colors so each gift would be wrapped in an exciting way. 

 Three down, more to go!

The feeders were on sale when I initially placed my order so each toddler gift was less than $15 total - including wrapping materials, feeder, book and bird seed. Hopefully this post doesn't make me sound too cheap...just creative :) 

Each toddler I've given the feeders to so far seems really thrilled with the gift (at least their parents do!). It's something that doesn't clutter their house, since it hangs on the outside of the window, the bird seed all goes into the feeder so in the end they can recycle the card, save the jar for something and save the bag/tissue for another gift!

Read More

Guest Post: A Natural Birth Story

Two of my friends delivered their babies naturally this week and one was willing to share her birth story. I don't know about you, but birth stories are the most inspiring thing ever to me!!! Especially natural births. These moms are truly warriors. Enjoy! 

I woke up around 6:30 am feeling fairly rested compared to nights past.  No one else was up, so I went to the bathroom and felt the need to pull myself together (I.e. oil pull, brush teeth, hair, wash face, etc.)  

I had been having contractions on/off for a week now with bloody show and overactive bowels so I had added deep squats to my morning routine to try and entice him down.  I put in an extra effort that morning.  This pregnancy hurt and I could tell babe was bigger than I had hoped.  

Everyday I told him I can't wait to meet him.  That morning everything felt different.   LO1 woke up and I brought him out to the family room recliner for his morning milkies.  Cosmo (the dog) came to join us and snuggle between my legs right next to LO1.  I made sure to give extra love and attention to both as I had this feeling that moment may not last.  

Sure enough, as LO1 switched sides, I felt a pop low in my uterus, and whoosh!  There goes my water.  I yelled to Hubs who was sleeping in (lucky guy! It was 8 am) to hurry and bring me towels.  

As he raced to the linen closet, LO1 climbed down and followed.   He brought me his box of Jake bandaids for Mommy's boo-boo and dumped out the box on the floor in front of me.   

I called the Dr's office and waited for a call back, called my aunt to come stay with LO1 since she's closest,  changed the sheets on our bed so Hubs's mom could sleep comfortably as she would be staying with him, and made sure I had enough towels between my legs as this gushing kept flowing!  

Slight contractions started around 9:15 shortly after my aunt arrived.   Everything seemed to work out perfectly (except for our poor recliner!).  20 minutes to the hospital in the pouring rain.  

Checked into labor and delivery at 9:50 am.  They brought me to my requested tub room. I was checked (5cm), baby monitored,  iv set up, then took off for the halls.   

The first lap, I had one easy contraction.  The next was two. The next the two I had lasted a minute two minutes apart.  They needed to start the antibiotics for GBS+, so we headed back to the room and I climbed in bed.  

I refused to labor in bed with LO1 as the contractions were so bad in bed.  What I didn't realize back then is that's a good thing.  This time, I sat up in a position to press hard on my cervix.  I was able to push myself up with the bed rails to make it through each one (these guns are aching today!)  

Once they let me out of bed at 6.5 cm I realized my dream of laboring in the tub would stunt this progress so Hubs and I took to the halls again. 

Another hour, another 2 cm. 

That last half hour was absolutely horrific. I was standing next to the bed choking Hubs with my right arm and pushing on the bed layered with pillows with my left.  Contractions came every two minutes still lasting a minute.   Every time one that came, I started doing calf raises to try to ignore the pain...ha..ha.... in between the nurse suggested to sway my hips to get him to shimmy on down.  

By the time I felt like pushing the doctor had been ready with his boots on, I must have been pretty loud. Hubs had been fanning me as I was getting super hot and remembering my breathing, not just sounds, was getting difficult.  That felt amazing.  

I got in bed and while the idea of stirrups and laboring on my back freaked me out (I refused both ideas with LO1 - then I was an acrobat), I figured I'd give it a go.  

Even though I didn't have an epidural the first time, I didn't figure out how to push then either. LO1 Came out after 45 minutes.  After the past 3 weeks of fully emptying my bowels several times a day, I finally understand what it meant to push a baby out (poop him out!!).  No I did not poop on the table, but those 10 minutes of pushing that baby out felt like an eternity!  Ring of fire lasted that entire 10 minutes.   Dr offered to snip and I said no way, so instead he stretched the skin around the baby. Holy hell!!! 

This kid is built like a linebacker with very broad shoulders. His head was nothing.  Waiting for the next contraction to push was horrific.  Hearing that little cry (1:14 pm) and feeling his goobery body plopped on my chest really did make me forget the previous 10 minutes especially as the doc was tugging for the placenta then shooting me with lidocaine for stitches (2nd degree tearing and nothing compared to the first).  

Baby refused to feed in the beginning,  so I passed him on for vital checks and got my stitches and cleaned up.  Apparently that table was super clean and the nurses joked I should teach a class on natural child birth – which at the time, all I could do was chuckle because I was so sore and exhausted I thought they were just blowing smoke up my you know what.

Baby finally nursed for about 20 minutes on each side, then I got the nurses to move us early to our Mother Baby room as I was starving!  After eating, I was up hobbling around and felt absolutely amazing. Thighs were extremely sore (apparently a good sign in labor that baby's head is engaged with your cervix) still but I just lost 20 lbs and felt like I was walking on water.  

Today is a different story as I'm feeling drained and very sore all over.  Uterus is larger the second time so contractions to shrink it are harder to deal with, and the mommy diapers are oh-so glamorous, you know. 

Last time was the best I could have hoped for (10 hours natural 7 of that in the hospital). This time is the best I could have hoped for (5 hours natural 3 1/2 of that in the hospital). Next time, I hope to not have the baby in the car on the way to the hospital.  

I'm so happy I was able to do it naturally.  My mindset was where it needed to be.  I kept telling myself that my body is made for this and I kept envisioning my mom.  The past few weeks really wore me down and made me question myself and what I wanted. Adrenaline + visualization.  It's not a perfect combination that works every time, but it worked for me this time, and it makes me believe in myself more for next time....but I seriously recommend the stool softener they offer... 

Read More

Pregnancy: 33 Week Update

How far along? 33 Weeks

Size of Baby:  I don't even know. Enormous!?

Weight Gain: See above. 

Nursery: I sewed his crib skirt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sewed. his. crib. skirt. 

I feel so awesome that I did it. I used this tutorial for an adjustable crib skirt. Hubs needs to tack it down because using thumb tacks didn't work and right now it's stuck on there with duct tape... BUT I DID IT. Also: I screwed up the pattern direction. If you look closely, the front is horizontal pattern and the sides are vertical. The quilter in me tried to utilize the most fabric when I cut it all out, then I realized I biffed it hard.... so I just went with it. It's "optical interest" my mom says ;) 

And speaking of Nana - she finished Mo's quilt this weekend too!!! 

I haven't seen it in person yet, but it sure looks stunning from the photos!!!!

Hubs hasn't hung the curtain rods or curtains yet, but hopefully just me writing this line in this blog post will inspire him to do it a day this week after work ;) 

Movement: He's a crazy man. Moving alllllll the time. I can always SEE his movement too, which I don't remember being the case with LW. He's like *right there*. This morning in church I could feel his head down low, his booty up almost to my ribs and his toes wiggling over on my side. He is not small.

Symptoms: I've been feeling really great this week. Like, really great. Part of it may be the weather has been garbage so we've had to stay inside - which gives me a lot of opportunities to keep my feet up and relax vs. chase a toddler. The weather also coincided with LW getting his canines so it's really just been snuggle fest over here. All reasons that I feel pretty great! 

Mo is getting really big and up in my ribs lately though, which is a feeling I did not miss. It makes sitting upright for long periods (ex: dinner) very uncomfortable. 

Cravings: Nothing really. I'm so boring :)

Looking forward to: Snuggling little Mo and seeing LW interact with him. I take a lot of opportunities to snuggle my friends newborns when I can and LW seems to have adjusted to that very well. He listens well and is very understanding when I tell him to back away or be gentle. We're working on the same manners for him and dogs since lately he believes our dog is actually a drum :-X Or a pony. 

Things I can't stop thinking about: We could have a baby. In a month. or two weeks. Or six weeks. Or tomorrow. The end of pregnancy is the most exhilarating time emotionally because anything could happen at any moment. 

Three friends now have had babies in the last week. Two of them were natural births - no epidurals. It's made me think more and more about doing this delivery naturally. Do I want to go naturally? Could I? What are the benefits? Why would I? Just to say I did it? 

Well, for whatever reason I had a flashback of sorts yesterday and the flashback, though totally mental, felt physical. I *felt* the pain of postpartum over again. And that helped reaffirm my decision - I will be getting an epidural this time if time allows it. I don't know that I am emotionally strong enough to brave a natural childbirth (I'm just being honest here) and that wave of pain in my flashback reminded me that epidurals are good. I can have a few hours of not needing to get up to pee. I can not feel that pain for just a few extra hours. I'll know it's there, but I won't feel it. Just for a little while. And if you know me, you know I really love being in my happy place. 

I salute every woman who has their children completely unmedicated. At one time in my life, it was my dream to do so. Now, my dreams have changed. I dream about not having to pee constantly. And being in my happy place :) 

Read More

Nursery Decorations – Paper Mache Letters

I'm so thrilled to have this awesome part of the nursery done: Mo's name is now on the wall!!!!!!

I started with some paper mache letters. I love the brown kraft paper look and wanted to just embellish them enough to be a extra cute.

I used a rubber stamp, paint brush and acrylic paint to add stars to the letters. 

TA DA!!!! I'm thrilled with how the name turned out. It is exactly what I had envisioned when I started daydreaming about his nursery. 

I stuck them to the wall using some 3M strips I had on hand. One quick Google search told me that was the adhesive of choice to put them on the wall. I'm hoping they really do stick! I had JUST enough for the name. 

The curtains aren't hung yet, but the room is coming together. One step at a time! 

For those who don't know, Hubs and I chose the name Simon last Easter (2014) in church. We were studying John over a few weeks and the more we read, the name Simon Peter kept coming up. The more we learned about that guy, the more we liked him. "Simon" just kept ringing through our heads and we decided if we had another boy someday, his name would need to be Simon. Our Simon won't be Simon Peter, but he is named after the apostle. He's commonly known in the Bible as Peter. 

Ironically, today the reading in church was again about Simon Peter. A line popped up that I hadn't thought twice about in the past, but feeling our Simon rolling around my belly while it was read made me feel extra connected to the reading. 

Acts 10: 34-35

34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 

That's why we're naming him Simon. Because in the most important book in the history of the world, Simon is known to be an honest and god-fearing man. A true good 'ole boy. I know our Simon will live up to his name. 

Read More

Pregnancy: 31 Week Update

How far along? 31 Weeks

Size of Baby:  Coconut (3.5lb!!!)

Weight Gain: We all know the answer to that from last week....so let's not talk about it again until next week, shall we? 

Nursery: It is coming together!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. 

This week I ordered the monitor as our item of the week. Only a few things left on the list! 

I did add a white noise machine to the list, however. After some research, I picked this one: 

The humidifier I picked that we've ended up using in LW's room bc his kicked the bucket isn't as noisy as our previous humidifier. I really like it (once I painted over the nightlight which was actually like EXTREMELY BRIGHT HEADLIGHT) because it has great output, is small and lasts all night long on one tank, but I specifically remember needing white noise for LW in his newborn days, and really until recently we had the really noisy humidifier in his room that buffered out sounds. This is the humidifier we have now: 

So since the new humidifier is so quiet, I decided a white noise machine is a good thing to have. For LW we used an old iPhone in a docking station with a free white noise app. Problem with that was the home button on that iPhone didn't work consistently, and if I forgot (in my sleep-deprived state) and hit "play" on the docking station, Carrie Underwood would start BLASTING through the speakers at the volume we had been playing soothing waves sounds previously. 

That made for plenty of panicked mommy moments, LW jumping awake, and a lot of frustration. So, I'm not doing that again. $42 will be well-spent on that little noise maker machine. It's gotten great reviews. 

Movement: This little dude is a WILD MAN. He's moving around so much lately! It's really fun. I feel like he's very long because I already always feel him very low in my pelvis while simultaneously feeling him up at my rib cage. I have a feeling my dreams of a baby under 8lb may just be that....dreams :)

Symptoms: Well, this is where it gets interesting. Thursday afternoon LW and I visited my dad in the hospital (he just had both knees replaced) and I got stuck in traffic on my way home. I had to use the bathroom REALLY BADLY by the time I finally arrived to my door and had been contracting from the need to use the bathroom (or so I thought). Turns out the contractions didn't stop once I "emptied my tank" and continued fairly aggressively for over an hour.

I contacted my midwife and made a plan on what to do if they continued but thankfully after a lot of water, sitting with my feet up and completely relaxing 100%, the contractions slowed and eventually stopped.

That said, we're considering Mo a bit of a flight risk so I'll be taking it easy more often than not the remaining 8 weeks....as much as I can possibly stand to do so.

Also, I have SO MANY BRAXTON HICKS lately! It's like my uterus doesn't realize it's done this before and thinks it needs to practice. Earth-to-uterus: YOU GOT THIS. CALM YO'SELF.

I've had a little heartburn this week, but nothing crazy (thankfully). My back hurts now and then. I'm tired. You know...third trimester woes.

Cravings: I think it's probably just residual from Easter, but CHOCOLATE THE MINUTE LW GOES TO BED. As much as possible, get it in my belly. Just thinking about it right now I think I need to bite the ears off of a bunny.

Looking forward to: Getting the final items done in the nursery. I have a craft list of things I want to do and between that, freelance work (blessed!), Jamberry, What I Feed My Kid, housework, LW, sewing ring slings, and oh, trying to "relax" I don't know how I'll do it all!!! One day at a time, I guess :)

Things I can't stop thinking about: Nothing, really. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and get all of my tasks done on my various lists as I go. 

Read More

Finished Project: Toddler Quiet Book

Remember that time I thought I could finish LW's quiet book for Christmas!? HAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHA. That was good.

Well, now it's Easter and he IS getting the quiet book in his Easter basket. WAHOO!! A finished project. Want to see?

I made it page by page, rather than cutting everything at once then gluing everything, then sewing everything, etc. I like seeing progress and I tend to need instant-gratification when I am working on projects. Working on a page until I finished it in one sitting was both rewarding and efficient for me.

I did learn a few things as I went. The first half of the book took me about an hour per page. I was REALLY obsessed with every stitch and perfecting every cut. The second half of the book took about fifteen minutes per page because I either didn't sew it down at all (hot glue, people! MAGIC) or the pieces I needed to sew were minimal.

From sewing the first half of the book as much as I did, I gunked my sewing machine up pretty badly. The felt letters I used were adhesive backed, which I thought would help them stay extra firm on the book, but in actuality that adhesive screwed up the needles I was using. A little acetone took care of it, but still. Yuck.

Also, felt is a really inexpensive material and with sewing the less expensive the material, the more likely it is to "shed" into your machine.

So, needless to say after sewing this as much as I did my machine is due for a good cleaning.

Here is the cover:

I wanted lots of texture for him to touch and feel and wanted the letters to be big and bold. These are those adhesive letters I mentioned previously. Great for the book. Bad for the sewing machine.

The lion and mailbox spread took me the longest, but they were pages I was most passionate about. I really wanted a lion with a full, unique mane that LW could tousle his fingers through and a mailbox with a "Door" that really opened, plus a flag that really worked. Did them both! And the mailbox has a few surprises inside:

EEP! It's so cute. I used the special stitches on my machine to spell things on certain pages. You can't see in the image, but the lion page says "Lion Says Roar!" and one of the letters for the mailbox says "I love you!"

Then came the Tic-Tac-Toe page. This one took me a while too and was when I decided not to sew those little letters anymore. I stitched a quick little baggie to store the game pieces. These game pieces do not have anything to help adhere them to the felt - they are just sticking with felt on felt.

The caterpillar is a color-matching game. The goal is for LW to match the correct colored pieces to the stuck-on colors on the page. The game pieces have "hook" pieces of velcro on them, so if he pushes them down their little velcro teeth will catch.

This spread was faster than anticipated. The Peek-A-Boo page was just a few minutes to measure and cut the ribbons and fabric plus glue them down.

I worried the fish page would take a long time, but it didn't. The fish all have a tab of magnet on the backs of the pieces, so when he plays it for real it will be magnets facing out. The goal is for him to use the "bait" gold fish which also has a magnet on it, to pick up the other fish with the magnets. There is a little pocket labeled "Fish" to store the pieces in when not in use.

All of the pages are hot glued together and a little mish-moshed around the edges, but to me that just gives character and shows that it's homemade with love. Also, I'm lazy. Felt stretches and these pages were a far cry from their original sizes when I was done with them....so the answer was trim them all down and lose some of my hard work on the game pages or slap them all together and bluff that it's "character". I don't think LW will mind.

I made the back cover in my favorite color with a little love.

I'm thrilled with how it turned out and I can't wait to give it to LW on Sunday to see how he likes it!

Read More

Someday List

My first few days as a SAHM were pretty surreal. The weather in Chicago went from winter to spring overnight, the air smelled cleaner, the house seemed bigger...everything really felt ideal.

And then reality hit.

Kidding, but really, there were a few days of "honeymoon" period where LW and I did everything and went everywhere and now things are settling into a nice little routine for us.

Every morning, we start by having breakfast together, followed by him watching some Daniel Tiger while I do the breakfast dishes and dinner dishes from the previous evening. Then I head upstairs to sneak a shower while he's still enthralled in Daniel. Around 9:30-10:00am we head to an open gym, library or friend's house many days during the week to blow off a little steam. He falls asleep on the way home, takes a solid nap and that's when I can do as I wish.

This is the "golden" time, as all moms know and understand. Nap time is the one quiet, blissful, beautiful time during the day where we can eat candy bars without hiding behind the pantry door or do our nails without also being a jungle gym.

Every day I have a list of things I plan to accomplish. I love having lists - even if I put things on it just to cross them off. I feel so accomplished watching my list dwindle.

In addition to my "Daily Chores" list, I now keep a "Someday List". This list is full of those tedious, seemingly impossible, challenge-packed tasks that when you realize they need to be done you chuckle to yourself and say "Someday". Someday. As in....never. Me telling myself "Someday" might as well be me telling myself "No chance in Hell I will ever actually do that".

WELL, I've actually started the list. AND I plan on doing the items that are on it! Because....if an item is on my list, I mean business. If I share mine...will you share yours?

Read More

One Hour

Yesterday my amazing sitter was here for the morning and spent her time spoiling LW and her son. They colored, crafted, snacked, I'm sure had the usual dance party, read books, played trains...the whole nine yards. So naturally when I had to ask her to stay an extra hour because I forgot to check my conference call schedule prior to having her arrive, I felt really guilty.

She agreed to stay and never bat an eye at my request. That extra hour happened to roll over lunch time, so she also fed her son and mine. I forgot to offer her food for her own lunch.

That one hour changed my attitude for the day. For once, I was able to spend my lunch hour snuggling my child. I could read him a book, watch part of a show and we could cook a soup for dinner together.

I didn't have to make him lunch, or clean up after him or fight to count how many bites he'd taken while I watched the clock to make sure I didn't go over my allotted hour break.

LW spent the entire morning playing, so when it was time for his nap, he just fell asleep without fighting me. I didn't have to take him on a drive in the car or listen to him stomp around his room creating mass destruction for an hour. He just laid down, and went to sleep.

Since I'd already cooked dinner, after work I took our dog to the vet without feeling rushed. I came home and we ate at our leisure...because dinner was ready when we were. Then, I cleaned up and did the dishes from the whole day (a feat that is NEVER done at night, always begrudgingly in the morning before 8am).

Because I had one hour so unselfishly given to me during the work day, I was able to mop my floors that night. Something that (sorry Mom) I hadn't done yet this year. I also folded a mountain of laundry, which may even get put away this week. I did this while LW watched Frozen for the 8,000th time but I didn't feel guilty because I knew he had spent his day playing or peacefully napping.

One hour gave me the relaxation after bedtime to sit and have a conversation with my husband and our company for the evening, a friend who was in from out of town, without eyeing the dishes that hadn't been washed or the laundry that hadn't been folded. Because I'd already done both!!

Hiring someone to come and help me during the day has done wonders for my mentality.

Because of the unselfishness of the person I chose to help me, I am able to be more productive and relax more often.

Whoever your care giver, hug them. Buy them a Starbucks. Remember to offer them lunch. I had no idea the peace of mind an hour would give me.

To our caregiver: As I have said before, we are blessed to have you...and I cannot say thank you enough. Also, I'm really sorry I forgot to offer you lunch. Next time, just eat my food!!! All of it! Any of it!! 

This also goes for Grandmas and Grandpas who spend their days off chasing our wild little beast, changing diapers, battling tantrums, combating naps and wiping snotty noses. You already did your time by raising your own children and still you volunteer your time for your grandchild without a moment of hesitation. Thank you. We appreciate you more than you know.

Read More