Long time no see, here's baby number three!

Wow so it's been like a year and a half since my last blog post?  I have had a lot going on.  Like, a lot a lot.  I'll do a quick little overview and then (maybe?) do at least some sort of periodic updates.

First up: I now work outside the home full time.  I'm in "Documents and Records Management" which is essentially lots of computer and database work.  I like it; it's something I'm good at, and I have some great coworkers.

Second: we bought a new house.  We needed some more room, and this house delivers.  We love it!  There's still some boxes to unpack and spaces that we have to figure out how to organize, but so far so good.

Third: We had a third baby!

Not only did we have so much going on, it was all happening at the same time.  I started working in January, at the beginning of my third trimester, and worked right up until the day before I delivered at 41 weeks 6 days.  I was pregnant, working full time, we moved in with my MIL for a little bit to sell our old house, got our house sold, bought a new one, moved again, bought a new truck for my husband, and had a baby.  The new house, truck, and baby all happened in April, while both of us were working full time and sharing childcare duties at home, and while I was very pregnant.

We have opposite schedules so we only need help with the kids for 3 hours Monday and 3 hours Tuesday- the rest of the time there's a parent home.  It's been working really well for us, and we're managing to still find time to be a family together most days.  Everything has been so frantic, it's time to try and find our new groove.


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Tagging up the Holidays

The holidays are quickly approaching which means there will be lots of family, food, and GIFTS!!  I love giving gifts and seeing my family open them, and I'm usually just as excited as they are for their presents.  I will admit though, that I've never been a huge fan of wrapping.  I'm more about what's inside than presentation, and I like the ease and convenience of gift bags.

I was at the craft store recently and when I saw these brown paper gift bags I had a great idea!!  I decided to find myself some pretty glittery paper, use my Silhouette Cameo to create custom tags for the gift recipients, and my work would be done.  Cute, personalized gift wrapping without all the folding and trying to make neat corners and smooth out the lumps in my wrapping paper.

I just used my text tool to create a name (my sister, Tania's), added a .5 inch offset, then a .25 inch circle in the corner of the offset background for a little twine to go.  And that's all!!  Super quick and easy :)

~B
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My DIY Woven Wrap and Grad Dye- Part 2

Moving on to the fun part!  Color.  In my part 1 post I went over babywearing in general, fabric choice, and prepping my fabric.  Next it was time to dye, and since I've never dyed anything before, I was nervous.  And I experimented (and failed), but I did my best to fix my mistakes and while it's not perfectly smooth, I have to say I love love LOVE my colors!!  I'm so excited.

LOVE

My DIY Woven Wrap and Grad Dye- Part 1

I'm a babywearer.  It's fun, it's a great mommy hobby since I have two toddlers trailing me 24/7 (may as well include them!), and it's just a great way to keep your babies close and to carry them without lugging around a heavy infant carseat or loading and unloading a stroller every time you have to go to the store.  It can help you get dinner cooked when you have a kiddo who just needs to be near Mommy right this second, it can bring forth wonderful naps when you've given up hope of naps, and for me right now with a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old, it means I can actually run errands and go to the store and keep track of two crazy active littles. I'm even one of the leaders of a babywearing group here in Las Vegas; the Vegaroos.

Go me!

Hey everyone!  Remember my last post where I entered my project into Silhouette America's weekly challenge?  Well guess what?  I WON!!!!  I'm so excited, I won credit for the Silhouette online store so I can download new designs for my machine.  Yay!!!  I feel so special :)

~B
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Silhouette Weekly Challenge- Fonts

I love my Silhouette Cameo that I got for my birthday!  I've been asking friends and family if they need anything labeled or made just so I can use it and get the hang of it.  I've made stencils for shirts using freezer paper, boxes and cards out of card stock, and I'm labeling everything I can with vinyl.

Silhouette does weekly challenges where they want to see what we can do with the machine.  This week's theme is using any font on our computer, so I wanted to show how I labeled my jar of homemade laundry detergent!

It says "Laundry Soap" and "2 Tbsp per load" in Harlow Solid Italic font, cut onto pink adhesive-backed vinyl.  I love it, and on the rare occasion that my husband starts laundry, he knows exactly how much to put in!  It makes me smile every time I go into my laundry room, and that's always welcome when I'm doing laundry :)

~B
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DIY Mail Orgnization

I have a confession: I'm not a tidy person.  Clutter is something that I battle (not successfully, I might add) constantly.  I get easily overwhelmed and just don't know where to start.  Then when I do start, I have two toddlers either undoing my work or needing my attention within 5 minutes of starting.  This leads to lots of piles of mail.  All over.  Which gets really confusing, especially when it's time to pay bills.  So I decided to create an organization center with the family calendar, mail organization, etc. as step one.

I'm going to give a mini-tutorial on how I made my mail organizers out of cereal boxes!

High/low day.

Today (well, it's past midnight so technically yesterday) was C's third birthday.  My sweetest baby boy, I can't believe he's three.  My husband had to work so it was a low key day.  He got to open the truck he picked out at the store this weekend, we took him to lunch at a restaurant that serves GF pizza AND GF deep dish cookies with ice cream on top so he got a really yummy meal.  We came home, hubs left for work, and C, M, and I hung out and watched Wreck It Ralph all day while C played with his new truck.  It was a pretty good day overall.

Prayers for a friend

A fellow autism mama friend of mine had a baby girl this week at 24 weeks and 3 days gestation.  She is so tiny, about a pound, and her name is Ellie Grace.  I've been thinking and hoping and praying constantly for sweet little Ellie to grow and stabilize and thrive.  This family lost a son born at 23 weeks last year, so this is especially stressful and heartbreaking.

Back to Blogging

I've been horribly absent from the blog, and even worse, no recent pics!  I'm here to fix it.

Disneyland Trip= grumpy babies?

No 'Poo

Have you heard of the "no 'poo method"?  It's a haircare routine that uses NO shampoo or conditioner. Various words may pop into your head.  Probably along the lines of: what, gross, dirty, stinky, etc.  But guess what?  Turns out it's pretty awesome.

I used the same measurements and method found here.  She has links and some great information on the how and the why of cleaning your hair without shampoo.  I use vinegar every single time, and I use more of that because my hair tends to be drier and the vinegar is an amazing smoother and detangler.  I can tell you that my hair does not smell dirty, it definitely does not smell like vinegar.  It has no smell at all!

I'm 2 weeks in, my hair is happy and healthy and manageable.  I used to have to use mousse or hairspray constantly to control flyaways, but now a little water on the tips of my fingers smooths it down just fine.  I haven't gotten to that point yet, but if I get desperate I think a TINY amount of coconut oil would fix everything.  So my recommendation is: give it a try!!  It can't hurt anything, and it's very cheap (or, if you're like me and have baking soda and apple cider vinegar on hand, it's free!!).  What do you have to lose?  Except for the expensive products.

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M is a walker!!

I can proudly say my little girl is walking :)  She's not zooming across the room on her two legs quite yet, but she is getting very close and taking more and more steps every day.  10 months and 5 days old (C was 10 1/2 months, she had to show him up). I'm so proud of her, she is so cute on her chubby little legs!  Here's a video!

I love how proud she is at the end and she claps for herself.  

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Family Changes

Our family has been going through a lot of changes lately.  Everything has been confusing and up in the air, and still is a little bit, but we have a few answers.  Maybe. 

At the end of August, C was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.  He's tested as very age-appropriate or advanced in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, physical development, etc., but his communication was behind.  At the age of 2 he was almost silent most of the time.  Very few words, no babbling, no repeating, and he didn't seem to understand much of what we were saying.  We've been doing speech and behavior therapy, and he has been on a gluten free diet for about a month now.  He has made HUGE strides with both talking and understanding.  We're constantly amazed at how quickly he's progressing.  He's babbling like crazy, talking much more, putting together 2-word sentences, and repeating everything like a little parrot.  It's so exciting and awesome! 

We're trying to get ABA therapy, which is a more intense behavior therapy program (10-20 hours a week), but of course insurance is a hurdle so we're working on that issue at the moment.  Soon we will be getting him evaluated through the school district, their special needs program starts at age 3, so we're preparing for the possibility of C starting school next year (eeek!!). 

M is getting so big!!  She is cruising all over the place and has taken a couple steps by herself, but is still afraid to let go of the couch or wall or toy that she's holding onto to try and walk on her own..  She is so sweet and happy and friendly, and will be 10 months old tomorrow!!  I can't believe it. 

Some days I go a little crazy with both of them getting into everything and constantly under my feet, but they also make me smile every single day.  They are so funny and sweet and awesome, it balances out the frustration.  You can see pics to the right in my Instagram feed :)



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S'Mores Cupcakes... kinda

I've felt like baking lately.  I thought the idea of a s'mores cupcake sounded amazing, so I mixed and matched a few different ideas I found on Pinterest.  Verdict?  Semi-fail.  I thought I'd use this chocolate cupcake recipe, add marshmallows like this for a marshmallow center, and use this stablilized whipped cream recipe (with graham cracker crumbs added) for the frosting.

I didn't take any pictures right out of the oven, but it wasn't pretty.  I overfilled the liners so there was cupcake everywhere and then the marshmallow centers that had puffed up so nicely during baking collapsed so they were all sunken in and complete disasters.  It was ugly.  But, also yummy!  The graham cracker whipped cream frosting was amazingly delicious.  AMAZING, I tell you!  I wanted to just lick it out of the bowl.  Then... I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes to camouflage the ugly, but apparently my piping tips were too small and that didn't work out too well either.  So, they're ugly.  Really ugly.  But also so, so yummy!  I guess I'll just need to keep practicing until I can get them right :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I used the whipped cream recipe and once it was whipped I added a cup of graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full crackers run through my food processor) and mixed until it was just combined.  YUM!  I'm not a fan of cream cheese frostings, so I'm excited to try all different variations of this recipe.

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August is Busy

I've totally been slacking on exercises (surprise, surprise, right?).  But, M is pulling up on everything and I'm sure will be cruising any day now, she has TWO teeth (came in just a few days apart), and is just getting super mobile and active, which is keeping me on my toes constantly.

C loves loves LOVES swimming and is completely fearless.  We have to make sure he has floaties or a vest on any time we're at a pool because he will just jump into the deep end no problem.  He's doing really well, kicking and can almost swim on his own, but not quite.  He doesn't care if he goes underwater or anything, he just loves the water.  It's gotten to the point where he spends most of the day wearing a floatie (usually just one, lol) because he finds it and brings it to me to put on him.  It's pretty hilarious.

I've added a way to share pictures with my blog more easily.  If you look to the right ---> on the sidebar, I have a slideshow feed of my Instagram pictures.  So I can upload pictures of the kids on my phone, and it shows up here!  How convenient!

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August Ab Challenge

Ok, I'll admit, I'm not doing too well with this ab challenge.  BUT, I am being more active, which is good, right?  We've gone swimming 3 times this week, which has been a ton of fun (not to mention a great way to burn a ton of calories!).  C is fearless, jumping into the water and trying to swim on his own even though he can't yet.  We have to keep floaties on him at all times at the pool because he will go in without us!  Of course we're working very hard on safety and making him wait until an adult is in the water, but he is just so excited!

I plan on swimming at least once these next few days, maybe twice (unfortunately I'm confined to my husband's days off since I'm not willing to brave the pool with 2 littles by myself).  The good news is, I've lost 2 more pounds, and am down 16 pounds total!  It's so encouraging to see the numbers going down, and it really helps me make better choices every day.

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August Ab Challenge; day 16

Ok so yesterday (the 16th) I didn't do the specific ab-targeted exercises I've been working on, but we did go to the pool with the kids for 4 hours, so I'd say I got my exercise in, lol.  And today my shoulder and ribs are sore on one side because M spent the entire 45 min drive home from book club crying because she was overtired and refusing to sleep.  So I was reaching around to the seat directly behind me to try and stroke her face to calm her down, while keeping my eyes on the road and still driving carefully.  Bodies aren't supposed to bend that way, FYI.  Overall it was an ok day; hot sun and lots of swimming, while fun, led to some overtired, exhausted, cranky children, but in the end everyone fell asleep at a decent time and all was well.

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August Ab Challenge

What is today, August 15th?  I've been a huge slacker.  The 11th, I didn't do any exercises.  We were leaving for home the next morning so I spent the night furiously packing and hunting down tiny shoes and lost sippy cups. 

The 12th was a day full of traveling.  3 hours in the car, wrangling 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 bags, and 2 carry-ons in the airport, a 2 hour flight, then having to get everything back into a car, to drive across town, eat out, and finally go home.  I didn't do ab exercises but I did go on a 30 minute walk in the morning before we left, and I had a good 30-45 minutes of walking around the airport with a 20+ lb baby on my back and various bags I was carrying, so I definitely got a workout in! 
The 13th, I again did nothing.  My sister and her 2 kids are staying at our house, so we haven't been able to get back into our routine yet, and things are just plain hectic. 

Last night, the 14th, I did a few, but not as much as I should have.  25 In n Outs, 25 Bicycles, 25 Reverse Bicycles, and 50 Kayakers. 

Today I did 25 deep squats while I was getting ready in the morning.  I haven't done ab workouts, but it is in my plan.  I usually wait until after the kids are in bed, so late at night.  I have to keep my motivation going!!


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August Ab Challenge; days 9 & 10

I skipped day 9.  Foiled again by a cranky M who wouldn't sleep anywhere but on my chest. She wins again.

But today, day 10, I am doing I think my best workout yet!!  I did 25 In n Outs, 25 Bicycles, 25 Reverse Bicycles, 10 Crunchy Frog, 10 Cross Leg/Wide Leg Sit ups, 25 Scissors, 25 Hip Butt Ups, 25 Heels to the Heavens, 24 Leg Climbers, and 50 Kayakers!!  On a couple I did lower reps, and I skipped only one exercise.  I'm very proud of myself :)  It's so nice to see that 10 days ago, I couldn't even get through 4 of these exercises, and now I've done 10!!  I'm getting stronger and that is so cool.

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August Ab Challenge; day 8

Skipped exercising today, it's my anniversary! Four years, 5 houses, 3 cars, and 2 kids later, and I'm so, so happy. I can't believe how much has changed and how much we've done.

I'm so excited to be spending my life with such a wonderful man, and as an extra bonus he's such a great dad! Couldn't have done better :)