What I've been working on

There hasn't been much going on in the Etsy shop lately. One because I feel like I don't have time to crochet (maybe a little less Pinterest would help that) and number two when I do feel like I have time I am acutally working on something for my own daughter. I have only crocheted her one other thing, a sweet hat for when she was tiny, she wore it is these pictures. Besides that, nothing, I started a bunny for Christmas but he's still not done. 

I have had some projects that have kept me busy though. Here are a few:

Sweet Seminole hat and boots

She makes an excellent model I think!

Super soft baby blanket

Organic cotton baby hat

 I just finished a little bow headband but I haven't added it to the shop. I would really love to make a pair of little sandals since it's summer time. We will see what I can come up with!

Grocery Store Struggles.

Today was grocery store day. I went prepared with my list and my reusable bags and this morning the hubby got to come along to help! The Little One loves the grocery store but it is sometimes difficult to shop with her so I was thankful for the extra hands.

When we reached the eggs I grabbed the organic eggs. My husband quickly noted the significant price difference. My response was yes but it is important for us to put more healthful food into our bodies rather than eggs that have come from chickens who are fed a diet with hormones and have no access to the outside. My husband is frugal with a degree in finance so paying more for food can sometimes be a battle. He really has to be convinced that it is really important and even then I think it pains him to know what we pay for certain items in comparison to mainstream. This is why he usually does not participate in the grocery shopping.
I won't lie I still cringe when I compare prices or when conventional items are on sale and organic seems to NEVER be on sale. For example those really good deals where conventional chicken is $1.99/lb I am tempted to just give in and stock up on cheap chicken.

Since the Little One has entered the picture I have gotten much more passionate about food and nutrition. I really enjoy cooking now and reading about our food system. I worry about what goes into her little body and I want to do my best to give her the healthiest start that I can. I read this post awhile back about how as the one who does the grocery shopping and the majority of the cooking I am responsible for the health of my family. That is a huge responsibility and one that I take very seriously. This is why I take the extra time to make whole wheat rolls from scratch, bread from scratch, make my own chicken broth, granola bars and to buy as much organic produce as I can afford! So we do pay more for some items but it is worth it to me to do my part to keep those I love healthy.

This is not to say that delivery pizza does not show up in our house or that we completely abstain from fast food because we don't! I love a good pizza and as long as it is in moderation I'm OK with it.

Homemade garlic and rosemary rolls, mmmmm

If you are on the fence about processed food or organic vs. conventional produce I STRONGLY recommend watching Food inc.. Knowing what is going into your body and where it comes from is empowering!

She enjoyed her sample of the roll!

Grumpy mornings and Seperation Anxiety.

You know how I said I missed sleeping in and being on time? Well I really missed those things today. Getting us all out of the house for church on Sunday morning is always a challenge, but lately it seems to have gotten worse. Both the mister and I woke up grumpy this morning, it probably had something to do with the Little One waking up at 6:00am for the past two mornings instead of her usual 7:00am. We get through the morning and I put the Little One down for a nap-she got a good hour in before I had to wake her up, but because I HATE to wake a sleeping baby I didn't go in until late, which of course makes us late to church. This usually isn't a big deal but when we're both grumpy everything is a big deal.

The Little One's separation anxiety is getting worse. The hubby and I had a date night last night (the second one since the Little One's arrival) and my sister and her hubby came out to babysit. All was well until after dinner when she decided she was done for the day- maybe because she woke up an hour earlier than usual. My sister called to tell me she wouldn't go to sleep and was quite upset, thankfully we were already on our way home. Once we got home she calmed down and I put her to bed no problem. Then this morning in church the nursery worker came to get me and let me know that she was screaming and inconsolable, so we got her, calmed her down and headed home. It was the end of the service so we didn't miss anything but we barely got to talk to anyone but the people in the nursery since we got there late and left early.

I think we are slowly rebounding and everyone is feeling much better this afternoon but gosh I'm wondering if we are ever going to be able to go out to dinner AND a movie.

Cuteness.

 I just had to share some of the pictures of the Little One that I've taken recently. She is such a cutie and I can't resist sharing some of this cuteness!

The light was just so perfect one evening- so we had a mini photo shoot!

Look at that sneer!

Rainy day

Easter morning

Gardening with mom. Look at all of those carrots we got!

We are having a good time...except for the other night when she was up screaming for 2 hours, but I guess that comes with the territory. 

 This parenting thing is a lot of fun but it sure is a lot of work too. I really miss sleeping in, I do think that is what I miss most, that and being able to get out of the house quickly- I am late everywhere!

I'm back!

Yes I know it's been awhile. There are lots of excuses, the main one being that the computer got a virus and I thought I had lost ALL of my pictures. Yes there was some yelling and lots of calls to the husband to see if he could help me fix it. He couldn't. Luckily someone at church who is much more computer savvy offered to fix it right up, and she did! Yay for no lost files and a usable computer!

Update on what's going on in our little world. The roof is still not done, it is the never ending project. I cannot wait until it is over with and all cleaned up. Our yard looks like a mini tornado went through it with all of the debris.

The Little One is doing great, she is learning so fast and getting the mobility thing down WAY too fast. She is getting into everything, I had to move one of the lamps out of her room since she pulled it down twice. I think I took her lack of mobility for granted those first couple of months- she is wearing me out, and it is only going to get worse!  Right now she is attempting to crawl into her car seat and is yelling about it. She has also cut two teeth! Eating has become a little bit easier now.

This was the very first time she pulled up on anything!

We had a lovely Easter! We went to church all dressed up in our Springy clothes, including the Little One. However she did not leave in her pretty clothes since she of course, peed all over them. We dried them out and salvaged them for pictures later. We ate of yummy lunch and had an egg hunt with the husband's parents and the aunts, uncles and nephews.


This week is the hubby's birthday! I'm excited to celebrate with him and there will be no shortage of celebrating! On his birthday there will be our little family celebration, then on Friday a dinner with his side of the family and then on Sunday we will celebrate again with my side of the family! Lucky man he is!

Time Flies.

 We have been going through a BUSY time here, hence the lack of blogging. My sister-in-law got married this past weekend and this week we have been replacing our own roof and my immune system has evidently gone on strike.

The Little One is growing like a weed and acquiring new skills way too fast for my liking. This week marks seven months since she made her entrance into the world. Here are a few things that she is doing:

She babbles Mama. I know she doesn't know what it means yet but it still melts my heart

Scooting around doing 'the worm' was her main form or mobility but she now does the text book baby crawl.

She has also gotten down how to go from crawling to sitting and vice versa.

Last week she pulled up! She is now attempting to pull up on everything.

She has taken to solids and feeds herself, her favorites are carrots, oranges, spinach and potatoes. She does not enjoy bread or pancakes- I will take this healthy eating while I can! 

The Little One with one of her best friends!

Time is flying, I cannot believe it is already spring! I am behind on so much and I'm trying to catch up. In the next week or so I hope to get our spring garden going and add some items to the etsy shop. We will see how it goes. I hope things slow down a bit soon!

Valentines with the Little One

 My husband and I have never celebrated Valentine's day but now that there's a little one in the house Valentine's day seems much more fun. So I decided this year to do a little Valentine crafting on the Little One's behalf. I got my idea from here. It looked easy enough, but the part that she doesn't mention is that getting your almost 6 month old to press her hand to the paper is likely to cause a paint mess disaster. My Little One wanted to grab and eat the paper, eat her hand with the paint on it, paint her high chair tray, anything but press her little hand to the paper. 

Right before the paint fun!

I feel like I should have known this was going to happen, I have worked with kids. I was even prepared (or so I thought) with baby wipes, a paper towel and extra paper. Well let's just say she got a nice bath after and so did  the high chair.

After the paint disaster

It really could have been a lot worse, but it made my Type A self a little crazy. The valentines did turn out pretty cute though if I do say so myself. 

Hopefully grandparents won't see this until they receive their valentine, if so I'm sorry for ruining the surprise!

Crazy Week.

This week was a little crazy and today we are recovering. We did get some cleaning done since the house was a wreck but the rest of the afternoon has been spent being lazy. Here are some pictures from our week:

I made these delicious waffles early this week, my husband who is NOT a fan of breakfast for dinner even enjoyed them. 

My Grandma turned turned 90 this week and we celebrated with a little party. The Little One was enamored with her aunts sparkly sweater, hence the crazy baby look.

All of that partyin' wore her out!

We let her try a sippy cup this week!

We are doing Baby Led Weaning and we started this week. Watching her learn how to eat is very entertaining!

The Little One's Nursery

I just posted details about the Little One's nursery here, take a look!

Our after Holiday Fun

I told you all that the Little One was sick, now she has so lovingly decided to share that sickness with me. boo. Being sick and being a full-time mom is not fun. All I want to do is crawl in bed and sleep but there is a baby that needs to be fed, have her diaper changed, and watched over. Right now she is refusing her nap and I do not have the energy to much about it so she is laying in her crib doing her new favorite thing- spitting. No one is upset and everyone is safe, so that is what we are doing right now.

Having a sick baby is a hard thing so all of last week was hard. Watching her be poked and prodded, watching her scream as they x-rayed her chest, administering medicine that she HATED, all of this was a little heart breaking. I felt helpless as she wailed during her breathing treatments. I cringed as I discovered the very red and painful diaper rash caused by her antibiotics. I am thankful that what she had was mild and there was no hospital visit because I know that as hard as this was that would have been worse. I am thankful that we go to a doctor who personally calls to check on us. Though I am exhausted I am thankful.

Waiting to pick up our nebulizer last week, I could NOT get her to smile.

At home breathing treatment- at least the mask is cute.

Finally feeling better! YAY!

Our Christmas in Pictures

Yes I know I am behind. We have already made it through the first week of the new year and I am just now looking at our Christmas pictures. Let me tell you it has been a little crazy, I am hoping this next week is a little calmer.

The Little One is in the midst of her first illness, she caught RSV and has been to the doctor three times in the past week. We had to get our very own nebulizer (just what every family wants) and we are doing breathing treatments at home. There has been coughing, snot, diarrhea, horrible diaper rash and a lot of just being plain pitiful. We are on the upside though! She is seeming much more herself and we are trying to regain some sense of normalcy.

So this is why Christmas pictures are just now appearing. Enjoy!

Our Sugar Cookies:

Opening presents:

Otis even got in on the action.

Game time!

 We had a really great Christmas, busy, but great. It was wonderful to be with family and have a good time!

Emergency room and McDonalds

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that I did not post anything this last week. That is because things have really gotten crazy busy around this house! I have been finishing up all of our handmade gifts, attending Christmas parties, going away dinners, pre-school Christmas plays and trying to enjoy the season! I would post pictures of all the lovely things I've been making but I don't want any family to get a sneak peak of their Christmas present.

Photo credit

This time last year we just figured out that I was pregnant with the Little One and I was in the Emergency Room on Christmas Eve for spotting and almost a year later we were in the ER again! I got the worst migraine I have ever had and nothing would make it better. I was nauseous and a complete mess. I stayed in the bed for the majority of the day and Steven had to take care of Emma Rose except for feeding her. I just breastfed her while laying down because that was all I could manage. Finally around 7:00 I called my dad who gets bad migraines and asked for suggestions. He told me to stick my head in a bucket of ice water, as I was contemplating how to go about that, hubby ended up talking to my mom and we decided to head to urgent care.

Making a trip to urgent care is a big deal when you have a four month old and you live 40 minutes away from where urgent care is located. We had to pack up all her gear, plus a bottle of breast milk that I pumped earlier in the day since we were not sure I should breastfeed her with the medicine I had taken that afternoon (that did not help at all).  At urgent care they ended up sending me to the ER since I had never had a CT scan of my head before. The total trip took about 7 hours. Some of the highlights:

On the way I had to have hubby pull over so I would not get my vomit all over the car.

Emma Rose took her bottle at 8:00 like a champ even though it was not heated at all

We managed to change her diaper while she was sitting in her car seat in the middle of the ER waiting room, where she promptly peed all over herself as soon as we got that diaper off. 

Since we did not eat dinner hubby got beef jerky from the vending machine- it smelled AWFUL and did not taste at all like he remembered it, I wonder how long it had been in that vending machine...

I did not think we were going to end up at the ER I did not worry about pumping- I figured I would just do it once we got home. Since I was not sure about breast feeding her I had not nursed her since around 5:00pm, well around midnight I was leaking like crazy! Even with breast pads in my shirt began getting a little spotty. I ended up replacing my breast pads with panty liners, and if you were wondering, they don't work too well as breast pads.  By the time we got home I was soaked. 

We didn't leave the ER until around 1:30am and still had not eaten anything. What is the only place open that late? Oh yes- McDonalds. I had not eaten McDonald's in years (minus an ice cream sundae I had while I was pregnant) and the last time I ate there I got sick. I got a hamburger and nothing else and I was sure that I would throw that up as well. Though it did not sit to well with me I managed to keep it down.

The doctor said it was fine for me to breast feed but I still was more comfortable pumping and dumping since I had so much medication throughout the day. Thankfully I have good freezer stash of breast milk. 

We made it home around 2:00am, fed the Little One, I pumped (what a relief!) and then put her down and finally made it to bed! 

What a day! I will be happy if I do not have to see the Emergency Room in the next year! 

I am hoping to get another post in this week before Christmas, but we will see, it is a busy time of year!

Christmas carols and Crafting

Today has consisted of trying to wean the Little One off swaddling for nap time (total disaster), Christmas music, crafting and play time. I still have clothes to fold and dishes to do but I think being crafty sounds more fun!

These are for my kids at the after school I volunteer at. This set is still a work in progress.

I love me some Rooiboss tea!

Oh, by the way- Little One is rolling over front to back AND back to front now! Exciting stuff for this first time mommy!

Hair loss, Stretch marks and Pudge

The Little One is now about 3 1/2 months and my body is still out of whack. The most recent development is hair loss. During pregnancy my hair did get a little thicker and I rarely shed, but now the great shed has begun. My hair is EVERYWHERE. It is in the sink, in the bed, clogging the bath tub drain, all over my clothes and I keep picking it off the Little One. My husband even found it in the sandwich I made him for lunch last week- it is gross and annoying.

I have lost all of my baby weight (please don't hate me) but my tummy sure doesn't look the same as it did pre-pregnacy. I now have this pudge where flat tummy used to be. In addition to that pudge I have some nasty stretch marks adorning my stomach. I have been using some stretch mark cream since having the Little One but I do believe it is just hoax in a bottle. My husband keeps telling me that they've faded but he has to say that.

I strongly dislike exercising but I do know that it is necessary. Right now I take the Little One and the dog Otis on walks and go to Mama Baby yoga once a week. Now I know that this is not a strenuous enough workout routine to get me very far, but it's something. I'm also breastfeeding so that is burning a ton of calories, but it's doing nothing for my ab muscles.

I am hoping in another couple of months my body will settle down and start to feel more normal. I know it will never quite be the same again and I just have to learn to embrace that but it sure is hard to get used to!