Before/Afters

Master Bath

before

after

Office/Stairs

before

after

Cluttered corners in the master bedroom

before

after

And no befores on these, but this is my pantry (with new spice/wrap racks on the bottom part of the pantry door), and my cupboard that just had a bunch of random stuff in it that now has stuff in it that was taking up space in my pantry and a new mail organizer so I can get the mail off of the counter and hidden away.

And here is the start of my craft room. They were out of the big unit we need for the middle section when we went to Ikea on Saturday, so I can't get this room fully organized yet.

the scrapbooks aren't hanging over the edge of the shelf anymore! I love how deep these bookshelves are!

There are still some little places here and there that need to be cleaned, so more picture will be sure to come!

17 weeks

About time we had some pictures around here!

and last week at 16 weeks

wanna know how big I was at 17 weeks last time?

This photo was taken during memorial day, and I was due a month earlier than I am due this time. This was right around 18 weeks. I felt like I was just starting to show... the picture with my sister kind of exaggerates the belly. I feel like I've been showing for at least 2, if not 3 weeks.

Oh! I forgot something!

I am feeling this baby move!
I started feeling it for sure at the 3D ultrasound (something about seeing the movement on the screen helps you realize that those little flutters really are the baby) on the 27th and possibly for a few days before then, but I wasn't totally sure.

I can't wait for Jon and Alex to be able to feel the baby moving!

Regular Milk and a Big Bed

Alex now drinks regular milk without problems!!! YAY!
He just doesn't drink a lot of it, so I thought he would gulp down the soy milk that I got on Monday (I got 3 packs of Kashi twin packs on clearance and they came with coupons for free soy milk).
Today he'd rather drink my milk from my cup than drink his soy milk.

He still likes the soy milk, he just doesn't drink it like he used to. It's a good thing unopened soy milk stays good for so long!


Alex's other big accomplishment is that he slept in his big bed last night! He was quite insistent on it. He stayed in bed all night and when he woke up this morning yelled for daddy to come and get him out of bed. I guess we should teach him that in the morning he can get out of bed by himself.
This morning when I was talking to him about him sleeping in his big bed he was very excited that the new baby would sleep in his crib, so that's good. The baby just won't be sleeping in his crib for quite a while...

Baby Shopping

I think most people have figured out that I am pretty picky in what kinds of baby gear I buy. Strollers, diaper bags, and carseats are all things that I've spent a lot of time looking at all there is out there and weighing all of the options. So why not blog about my latest baby shopping adventures?!
Sounds like fun, right?
Well I think so.

So today I got Jon to come with me to a store that carried some of the higher end strollers (and diaper bags) I was looking at that you just can't see in regular stores.

Having something compact and lightweight is a big deal for me. I never did a travel system or bulky stroller with Alex. I didn't care if my carseat could hook on... I just needed something to recline to put a young baby in. I ended up with a great slightly upgraded umbrella stroller which we have LOVED having. I recommend going this route to everyone I know.

So how do you get something compact and lightweight for 2 kids?

I was considering a Phil and Ted with double kit like this:

The other obstacle I have is that Alex doesn't like riding in a stroller. I try to deny this, but the second we tried to get him in the Phil and Ted to try out, he just wasn't going for it. He LOVES walking. I can imagine this would only be more so the case when he's 3.

So the Phil and Ted was out.

So side by side?

I was considering a Combi Twin like this:

The thing I love about this is that it's light and would fold up small similar to an umbrella stroller.
The thing I worry about is, again, with Alex actually wanting to get (and stay) in the stroller.

Jon wasn't in love with the wideness of the side by sides, although they really aren't that wide.


Our third option was the Sit and Stand style.

There's the Joovy:

We loved the canopy on this. It's really big. I also loved the orange. Alex did much better on a sit and stand stroller, but still wanted to get on and off. At least he was willing to get on this one though!
It was pretty lightweight and was mostly compact when folded.
However, with an infant seat in the front, there wasn't much room for Alex to sit in the back.

After trying out the sit and stand style, we knew that would be the only thing that would fly with Alex.

So we headed over to Target to check out the Baby Trend Sit 'n Stand.

Ideally, I want this exact one because it matches out Baby Trend carseat.

We really liked the Baby Trend because with the infant seat in there was still a lot of space for Alex to sit. And it's a great price (and I actually saw one on CL for $60)
So even though the canopy wasn't as great and it was slightly heavier, having the space for Alex sold us on it.

So there you have our search for the perfect stroller for a family with a newborn and a 3 year old. It was awesome to be able to go to a store that actually had the higher end models to see and try out. For those in the Austin/Round Rock area, Babyearth is a wonderful store!


On to diaper bags.

My pickiness on this one comes in with the fact that I want a diaper bag that looks like a purse, or at least not like something that greatly resembles a diaper bag.
This meant that messenger bags with the flap over the top were out. So were a LOT of prints/patterns.

So why not just get a purse and use it as a diaper bag? Several reasons.

• Interior Pockets. Have you seen the pockets in good diaper bags? There are usually at least 4 lining the interior of the bag. I don't know why they don't put more pockets in purses. I actually told my sister that SHE should buy a cute purse looking diaper bag to use as a purse mostly for this reason.
• Wipeable lining. Between spills, crumbs, and lingering smells, I want something that I can wipe out with soap and water without fear.
  
• Also, exterior pockets. There are usually end pockets or something to hold a sippy cup or water bottle (which, as a friend discovered, having a drink in a separate pocket is a good idea to keep your cell phone working). Did I mention that most of the time these are insulated? Even better!
• Grippy shoulder pad. Ever tried to carry something somewhat awkward or heavy (read: infant carseat/toddler/grocery bags) and keep a bag on your shoulder on the same time? Grippy solves the problem. All purses should have them. Seriously. I'm in LOVE.
  

Anyway, I went in to Babyearth to look at this bag (Fleurville Lexi):

I liked the bag, but didn't end up loving the print as much in real life.

BUT I did like this print!

I'm sorely tempted by all the cool features of this JuJuBe (the "between"):

BUT it looks more like a diaper bag than a purse. I do think the print is really cute though.


The lady at Babyearth showed me a couple from Skip Hop that were cute and looked like purses, but I wasn't in love with either of them. Here's the one I liked best of the 2. (the Studio)

I also really liked this one. (Fleurville ReRun Hana)

The price was quite a bit lower on this than the other ones... and a lot lower than the 1st one. I love that the exterior insulated pocket is zippered in, so if I have a bottle or sippy in there it won't scream diaper bag. Overall, it doesn't really look like a diaper bag, but it wasn't exactly the traditional purse look like what I was thinking I wanted. It also doesn't have a grippy shoulder.

Check out this great review of it:



My final option is this bag (Babymel Amanda):

Here is a link to a website that has a video of the interior and a few more pictures so you can see the size.


I love the zip in insulated pocket in the side and that the straps have velcro to make it easy to hook onto the stroller (you can see this feature in the video). Pleanty of interior pockets, but once again, no grippy shoulder.
I think this one looks enough like a purse to pass and it would fit my style.


So now I just have to narrow it down over the next few months and figure out which one I would like the best. Easier said than done!


Sorry if this wasn't the most interesting post. It's just that strollers and diaper bags have been consuming my mind for the past few weeks and I've spent a lot of time searching through SO many different things, so of course I want to share my findings! Hopefully this will helpful to at least one person out there!

Is Your Mama a Llama?

I randomly asked Alex this one day a couple of weeks ago because, let's face it, it's fun to say.
It has since turned into one of Alex's favorite things to say.
We hear it at random times and it usually goes back and forth between Alex and I with lots of laughter.
Yes, we will have to soon own the Is Your Mama a Llama book (we did recently check out Llama Llama Red Pajamas, but it's just not the same).

I'll have to do a video of the Mama Llama exchange cause it's funny. Which reminds me, I have a few other great videos I need to share too! Hmm... I'll work on getting those up sometime soon.

Mouse hunt

On Friday night, Jon and I, out of the corner of our eyes saw a mouse dart out from behind the TV and back behind a few times.
Great.
So we put some D-Con out and hoped for some good to come of it.

On Saturday night, Jon and I, out of the corner of our eyes, saw a mouse dart out of the toy/under the stairs closet and back in again.
Great.

So we stopped by Wal Mart on the way home from church and got some of these traps:

We cleaned out our toy closet where we have our food storage and didn't see any evidence of mice in there. Well we didn't take out the stuff that was ALL of the way in the back and already organized. Our food storage is in there in #10 cans and no entry was made into those.

Our 72 hr. kits were the next to be checked. They were actually in the closet in the spare room that needed to be cleaned out anyway (it's involved in the room change), so we cleaned out that closet and the 72 hr. kits were fine.


So we've cleaned out 2 closets that we suspected of being the hideout and didn't find anything. My pantry was just cleaned out on Monday and there was not any evidence of a mouse in there.
I pulled my couches out last week and there was not any evidence of a mouse back there.

So either the mouse is a recent acquisition or we haven't found where he's hanging out yet. It's just so weird because we haven't had ANY mice in the 3 years we've been here and all of the sudden we have one hanging out in our family room area of all places? I just don't get it.
The searching for his hideout is driving me crazy though!

I hope these traps do the trick and we can go back to being mouse free!

The move is ON!

I'm sitting in my family room surrounded by various crafty items and books. There are more books and a couple little boxes of toys on our upstairs landing and a bookshelf leaning against my fireplace.

The guest bed is moving upstairs and will be Alex's bed when we decide that we don't want him contained in the crib anymore.
The craft room and exercise bike are moving downstairs. I've been anticipating this move for months and am so excited that my sewing stuff will be easier to access and I can sew during nap time without fear of waking up Alex.

I still have to sand and paint a desk and get the BIG bookshelf, but that should be getting purchased in June.


Oh, and update on the spring cleaning-I took some days off last weekend and have been working on some various projects this week, so I haven't done anything this week. BUT my pantry is done and all of my kitchen, minus the full on fridge scrubbing, baseboard washing, blinds dusting, and window cleaning is done! With the moving of 2 rooms, that is going to take care of nearly all of the bedrooms. I'll just have Alex's left. Hmm... and our closet (plus linen closet in our bathroom). And then all of the baseboards and windows of course.
Eww. I just remembered the toy/storage closet. Great.

Obviously I still have a bunch more to do, but I'm happy with what I have done so far!

Meeting Demands

Today Alex has been rather demanding on what I can say/do to him.

"Don't look at the milk Mama" (he had milk in his sippy cup sitting on the arm of the couch next to me)

"Don't tell me on or off" (I was telling him he needed to choose to have the light on or off)

Right after the lights demand, he told me, "Don't trick me Mama".


In the past few weeks he has had similar sounding demands.

"don't talk to me mama" (when he was drawing on his magna doodle)

and during the same art session, "don't ask me, "what you drawing""

and the classic, "don't look at me Mama".


Luckily, these are all demands that I am more than happy to comply with just because they are so funny to hear come out of his little mouth.

3D ultrasound pictures!

We were lucky enough to help a lady in our ward train on a 3D ultrasound machine and we got some pretty cool pictures.
It was really neat!

The experienced tech said she was 90% sure that we're having a GIRL, but we didn't get any pictures to prove it. She also said that it is iffy since I am only 15 weeks, so it's not a sure thing.

We'll be going in for the official ultrasound at 20 weeks during which we'll check out the gender again.

Here are the pictures!

profile shot:

a little arm:

and some face shots:

8 week weekly babysitting (or other service) swap?

Here's the story. We have to take Bradley Method Birthing classes as required by the birthing center. Not a bad idea since this is the first time I'm having a natural birth and it will be a totally different experience.
The problem is that the class is a weekly 2.5 hour class for 8 weeks that both Jon and I have to be at.

Now, if I had family near by, this wouldn't so much be a problem. But we don't, so what do we do with the boy?

So if you would like a 3 hr. night out (or I can watch your kids for 3 hrs. during the day, bring your family dinner, or we can provide some other service/help to you) and you would be willing do a swap with us, please let me know!


We just have Alex and he is the easiest kid to put to bed (at about 7:30) and then the rest of the night you can spend doing whatever. He can come to your house (we can bring a pack n play or he can sleep in any bed) or you can come here.

Please share this with anyone who may be interested!

Things that are hard to teach a 2 year old

When you have to pee... even a little bit... and you decide to wash your hands instead of going pee, you're going to pee your pants.
This has happened 3 times and the boy still hasn't learned.
I wish he would catch on a little more quickly for this one.

a dream that makes me sigh with happiness

Everyone (or at least I think everyone) dreams of building their own home one day. Tailored specifically for them to fit their every need.

Every house that we have lived in, I have made a list of things I like/don't like and LOVE dreaming of extra features that I want to incorporate.
A year or so ago, I scoured house plans for fun. Well... fun for me, not as fun for Jon since I'd often get engrossed in it and stay up until 2am.

Anyway, I have all these wonderful plans bookmarked, but this is the one that sticks with me.

Thanks for letting me share my randomness with you.

*sigh* I love this house.

Alex is from Texas

He's eating chicken nuggets and carrots for lunch.
Both are being dipped in BBQ sauce.
And Alex just told me,
"BBQ sauce is HEALTHY!!"

Nostalgia

Last time we went to the outlets we went into the kitchen store there.

When I saw that they had these plates, I almost died.

These are the plates I want in my house.
Just like the plates I had in my house growing up.

Spring Cleaning

Nothing refreshes me like going through things and getting organized. I get that from my mom. What I don't get from my mom is the motivation to stay on top of the clutter, so my house often looks messy.
Over on Simple Mom, she is doing a day by day Spring Cleaning party that goes for 10 days. I'm about 10 days late, but I like the day by day lay out, so I'm doing it! Here's the first post for day 1 and the other days are also on her main page over to the right.

Today was day 1 and I've worked for about 30/40 minutes and got the clutter in all of the upstairs cleared (minus the desk area and the craft room. I'm going to spend a solid amount of time another day in the craft room just cleaning, but there won't be much organizing because we have plans to move rooms in the next couple of months).
I even took the effort to make my bed today!

I'm excited to get down to the organizing part, but am glad that I don't feel overwhelmed by it since it's broken down.


I'm going to think about posting my before and after pictures... but I don't know if I want to embarrass myself with the befores (seriously... the clutter that collects on my kitchen counters is scary).

We Love You Alex!

My cute boy today

Alex is very much into balls. We were playing with his velcro mitt and ball today and I had the camera out and he got all excited and told me to take a picture.

So here he is posing with the ball (not perfectly in focus, but the pose is cute!)

winding up!

I did it!

And here he is laying on the couch. Weirdo. (ps... he's in a diaper because he just got up from his nap)

Snack Bags!

Wow... sorry for the crappy pictures. I just did some quick shots and I don't want to go back and retake.



My friend Claire brought these by today. Our Relief Society did a service auction for enrichment and I won these! They are FABULOUS and I didn't have to take the time to make them. Which is a good thing seeing as I have some sewing to do.

Anyway, they are little snack bags that have a waterproof (or at least easy to wipe out) inner lining and the bottom opens up so they have a flat bottom. And they aren't noisy at all. I'm excited to use them! Thanks Claire!

Mmm... Pizza. Grilled.

I've been wanting to make grilled pizza for a while and finally got around to making the dough tonight.
DELICIOUS!!!

The crust was crisp and the cheese wasn't all burny/crispy like it tends to get (at least for us) in the oven. Also the flavor was just different. Very yummy!
We won't be using the oven for pizza I think ever again. :)

I got the recipe/directions from my friend Crystal. Thanks Crystal!

I need sumfing

Alex has recently taken to walking up to me (usually in the morning when I'm laying in bed **side note, he is now waking up at 7 and there is NO way I'm getting up that early!*) and telling me, "I need sum-fing Mama".

I then ask, "what do you need Alex?"

He usually follows with a umm... milk! or umm... cereal! or umm... fishies! or whatever else he needs.
He used to just say, I want _____ or I need ______, so the development of prefacing with the "sum-fing" is just funny to me.

Taking after his mama

Alex is in a mama phase right now. He's quite attached to me and wants me and not Daddy to do things for him.

He recently rediscovered the glasses case that I have that looks like a little purse. And he loves it. Oddly enough, I think it's adorable when we're getting ready to walk out the door and he says, "I need my purse". We went to Old Navy the other day to do some exchanges and Alex insisted on bringing his purse. And he had to carry it into the store. Jon was only slightly concerned, but realizes that he's 2 and just likes to do what mama is (cause I'm the coolest).

Alex also loves to wear mama's church shoes. But what little kid doesn't love clacking around in their mom's heels?

Alex also loves to go places. Every day around 11 he says, "I want to go!" I usually ask him where he wants to go. I have to admit that I was happy when he excitedly shouted "fabric place" and "Hobby Lobby" earlier this week (since we had been to both the week before). I didn't think he had that much fun there...
Either way, Alex is beginning to understand the fabric love.

Today as I was sewing he was having a great time opening up some of my folded fabric and checking it out and declaring them to be blankets. Not as much fun for me to clean up, but he was excited about the fabric so I didn't care as much.

The highlight of the day came when I was ironing and Alex decided that he wanted to sew. He picked out a piece of fabric and hopped up on my chair. He then, to the best of his ability, put the bunched up fabric under the presser foot and moved it around for a minute. Then he would pull it out and excitedly say, "it's fixed!"
It. Was. Adorable.

If this keeps up, this will be his Christmas present:

Big Belly/Little Belly

We get a kick out of Alex doing this... especially his face when he does his big belly.
Oh and MY belly looks quite large in this, but it's because I was slouching. And it may have something to do with the chips and dip I ate yesterday. :)

Anyway, here is the movie. Go to Vimeo to actually see it in HD.

Big Tummy/Little Tummy from Jon M on Vimeo.

Just in case you missed it...

We're having a baby!
I'm almost 12 weeks/3 months and am due on November 16th (we just don't have enough birthdays in November)! We're really excited!
oh and if you click on the widget it actually changes the numbers to either how many weeks/days left and how many weeks/days already completed

Finger Painting

Non-Mom sanctioned finger painting.

I sat Alex down with some yogurt and checked my email/facebook/whatnot yesterday for about 3 minutes. When I turned around, this is what I found.

At least he was still eating it. :)

And I actually just let him continue for a few more minutes while I got dinner ready and then I took him up for a bath since it was all over his belly, legs, arms, and face and even some in his hair!
Not to worry- I did tell him that we don't put food on the table and I'm pretty sure he got it. This is the first time he's ever done anything like this (even when he was a baby), so I'm not terribly worried about it becoming a regular thing. I hope at least!