Things better forgotten

When you have a new baby in the house, you suddenly remember all the details you forgot with your last child. It's best that we forget because that's the only way anybody would have more than one child. Here are some things I forgot until now:

• You have to burp new babies halfway through feedings. Otherwise, they spit up all over your lap. 
• Sleep deprivation gives you a massive headache.
• Newborns poop like 10 times a day. 
• Babies hate baths for the first couple months.
• For the first little while, you're on a two hour timer that resets every time the baby starts to eat. If you can't get a task done in an hour and a half, it will just have to wait until the baby is at least 6 months old.
• Sleep becomes more important than anything else you have to do. 

I also forgot how much you love your children in spite of all this. And how one wide-eyed look can make up for a whole day of crying and spit up. Someday, when I look back on this time of my life, I hope that's the only part I can remember.

A long, long time ago...

Okay, so it wasn't that long ago, but still, it's difficult to remember my life without Chris. We were married eight years ago today. I have to say, hands down, it was the best decision that I ever made. For eight years, Chris has put up with my eccentricities and loved me in spite of them.

In these past eight years, we have lived in three apartments and then, finally, our first house. We have had two beautiful daughters. We have both graduated college and gone through the stress of the PE exam. We have had our share of disappointment, but looking back, I can honestly say that it has only made our marriage stronger. The past eight years have been the best of my life. It's hard to imagine that it all started when Chris finally overcame his nerves enough to blurt out "Will you go to the movies with me?". Thanks, Chris for plucking up enough courage to ask me on that first date and for everything that has happened since. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Sorry for the picture - I'm about five monts pregnant in it, but it was the only recent one of us together - besides the nine months pregnant one that was taken two weeks ago and I'm not about to share that. I think we should get glamour shots for Christmas.

Introducing Jane

On December 10th at 3:28 in the afternoon, Jane became a part of our family. She weighed in at a hefty 5 pounds, 12 ounces and was 18.25 inches long. She is a sweet girl and we are very happy to have her. Despite all the fears of my doctors during the pregnancy, Jane was born with a perfectly healthy heart and is very healthy in all other respects. Jane has one special arm that Emily has dubbed the "cute arm". We love her all the more for it and know that Heavenly Father would never have given her a challenge she can't overcome.

Jane has puffy blonde hair just like her sister did. Her eyes are blue and I have given up hope that I can produce a child that looks remotely like me. That aside, although she looks very much like Emily, I can already see the two are very different in personality.

Someday soon, I will share some unswaddled pictures, but for now, Jane starts screaming everytime I unwrap her. I would rather have a peaceful swaddled picture than an unwrapped screaming picture. For now, anything that keeps her happy, keeps me happy. Although, right now, I am just happy she is part of our family.

Nursery Pictures... Finally

So, now that I am two weeks away from my due date, I finally got around to getting sheets on the crib and taking some pictures. We didn't get many suggestions from friends and family on the nursery decor so we had to fend for ourselves. I hope we did okay. (Thanks for the suggestion of yellow, Ginger. Unfortunately, Emily's room is yellow, so we went with purple and green instead).

Okay, so... drum roll... and here it is...

We still have a couple items to add and for anyone wondering, the twin bed is for me because I have a hard time stumbling down the hall in the middle of the night. It's best for all involved if I just crash in the nursery until the baby learns to sleep through the night for the most part.

Chris did a great job with the chair rail and it should prevent a similar incident to the tinkerbell wallpaper border fiasco of 2007 when Emily's arms finally got long enough to reach the aforementioned decor from her crib. The stripes are also Chris' work. I think they turned out very nicely. I was in charge of steam cleaning the carpet and putting sheets on the crib. I guess I got off pretty light. Thanks, Chris.

Now all we need to do is insert 1 baby (and move the changing table and rocking chair from Emily's room) and we will be in business!

Survival Saturday

So, I know you're all burning with curiosity as to how Super Saturday went for the least crafty enrichment counselor known to womankind. For those of you unfamiliar with Super Saturday, it is basically a day that all the women get together and make homemade Christmas gifts. In case any of you think my crafting ability can't be that bad, please see this post. Amazingly enough, I managed to survive and thanks to help from the crafty ladies of the ward, the internet and my spreadsheet making capabilities, things actually went quite smoothly.

I was directly responsible for two things:

Bath Salts

and

Christmas ornaments

Although I supervised other things, these were the only two things that went directly from the internet to me, to Super Saturday. Don't worry. I won't post instructions or anything. I just wanted to prove that sometimes going outside our comfort zones isn't a total catastrophe.

I was shocked as Super Saturday progressed that no one yelled at me and no one laughed at my efforts. Perhaps it was the lesson I gave a couple Sundays earlier on doing the best we can with service. Or maybe the scrapbooking league is silently planning their revenge... either way, I was still able to show my face at church the next day.

Now I can breathe a sigh of relief and start planning for next year. Trust me, we will not be holding any crafting enrichments between now and then.

A Good Day

Today was a good day. I didn't think it would be when I woke up to a dark, snowy, windy morning. I thought it would be even worse when I realized I not only had to go grocery shopping in this weather, but that I also had a to do list that included visits to at least four stores all with a two year old in tow.

But nonetheless, it was a good day. After the errands were run and Emily was down for nap, I had a couple of uninterrupted hours of work that ended in me printing out and stamping my design and printing copies of my plan sheets for submission.  I am essentially done with my last job before baby. Tomorrow I can focus on getting ready for the baby and finishing up my Super Saturday tasks. I have never felt so relieved. My project is done and the baby is still weeks away.Today was a good day.

Two weeks Later

So finally, here is my Halloween post.

Emily went as Tigger, a choice she made herself despite my lobbying for the cute ladybug costume. When you go as tigger, you get to yell, "Bounce, bounce, bounce!", and jump around like a maniac. That's what Emily does best, so she was very in character for Halloween.

 

She also couldn't believe what a good deal trick or treating is. She went out for almost two hours and didn't want to come home at the end. All in all, Halloween was a great success.

I promise I will post more often once I get this project out of  my hair. Maybe I will even go hardcore and do a post about my Super Saturday crafts... complete with instructions.