Hope this lasts you a while....

So What's New? Ha. Well, we are currently in the stages of "thinking double." It's ironic because just a month ago I had a family member offer me a high chair AND a very very nice crib. I told her while I would love to take them off her hands, I really didn't need them since we already had one of each. And we of course were going to try to get pregnant right away, but when you are breastfeeding you just have to wait until your fertility comes back. And we figured that when it came back it would take a while, since Ardyn took two years. But... we were wrong! We are so lucky to be pregnant on the first try, it seems too good to be true. SO far so good, my Beta numbers are climbing. I have two more blood draws this week and then we schedule my appointment with the RE and get a TVU (our first ultrasound) in about a week and a half from now. We will be looking for all the good parts (fetal pole, yolk sac, etc) and of course a heartbeat. We saw Ardyn's on TVU around 6weeks 5days, so there is a good chance that we will be able to see this baby's. Keep your fingers crossed and your thoughts with us!

SO I emailed that family member and asked if she still had the crib and high chair because I am PREGNANT and because I am not confident that Ardyn will be ready for her twin bed at 1.5 years old when the baby gets here. Ardyn napped in her crib from day 1, and I would like to continue that trend with baby #2, because it made it a cinch to get her into her crib at nighttime once she was ready to be out of the co-sleeper. She slept through the night the very first time I put her in her crib! We never looked back. So hopefully next week we will be picking up another crib and the second high chair, which also straps to the dining room chairs like Ardyn's. There isn't much I will need for this baby, except a few things that we have worn out, like new diaphragms for my breast pump, new stage 1 Avent nipples, and a couple of the swaddles that are my favorites. I tried lots of them with Ardyn, and they were a godsend. I have SEVERAL Halo swaddles but Ardyn could easily get out of them and it was practically impossible to change a diaper without unswaddling her completely... and also she would often wake up with the swaddle part up hear her neck, and that was horrible. So I eventually found ONE that I really liked, easy to change diapers, easy to use, never ever ever came loose. I only own one, so I will probably get two more. And the double stroller. I found a couple locally that are in great shape for around $40-$50, which is awesome considering they are $200-$700 brand new. I would also like to get one of the Cube Organizers from Target with the fabric cubes for some additional diaper storage, since I will have two in cloth. Luckily before I left my job I thought ahead and bought an entire stash of newborn cloth diapers. I took the tote down last week and peeked inside and they are soooo tiny they just make me smile! I started myself an Amazon baby registry for these few things we might need, and will be using it as my own shopping list so that I can spread the expenses out over the next 7-8 months. If we have a boy, I do have one tote full of boy clothes in various sizes, and several gender neutral pajamas for infants. Beyond that I have a friend who has lots of boy clothes in the exact seasons/sizes I need, and I will be buying some from her if I need them. If we have a girl, we are totally set! YAY!

Ardyn will move into her "big girl room"- which basically means we will lose the scrapbook room and office, but not a big deal. We might finish off the attic and move stuff up there, otherwise I will have to put the scrapbook stuff into my sewing room and make it work. No big deal. I already have a Sealy posturpedic Twin Bed that's like new, a brand new comforter set and two new sets of sheets for her new room, and also an area rug to match. We have plenty of furniture, as her nursery is cramped now, so we will likely split some furniture in each room and be done with it. Sounds like fun! It will be fun to put the bumpers and the mobile back on the crib! Last week I just packed away the baby bottles, sterilizer, baby bibs, nipples, etc.

So that's all our excitement. Ardyn is growing like always, walking around the coffee table and the couches, standing up on her own and playing with everything in sight. She reads BOOK after BOOK and knows horses and dogs and ducks. She knows what a ball is, and signs "more" and "milk" when she wants to eat. She recognizes SO many words and phrases. She's been eating table food for a while now so dinnertime is a sharing affair, and we love it. She and I take baths together and play. We got some bathtub markers, and I draw animals and things on the walls and she names them and makes their noises. I have refrained from using the Red marker because it appears to stain, so I will be getting out the soft scrub to see if the lovely red heart with daddy's name in it will come off of the shower surround. :) otherwise I am sure a bleach pen will take care of it.

It's been plenty hot lately but we have enjoyed pretty much nightly walks. Sometimes we call LIsa to join us, or Grandma Deb, or sometimes it's just Ardyn and I, and we take both dogs. I just tie them to the stroller and we roll. Now that I am pregnant I can't walk without water, or I am dying halfway through. But it doesn't help that it's usually almost 90 degrees with the humidity each evening. I really love going on the walks though.

We are planning a picnic lunch this week with a friend and I am catching up on laundry. We were displaced for those couple of days without power last week and that got me a bit behind on diapers and dishes. It's good to be home, and tonight a storm blew through when I was making BLT's on Hoagies, Corn on the Cob, and Rice.... the power went out JUST as the bacon was finishing and I was SO angry, but it came back on fairly quickly. We need a generator! Ha! For lunch Ardyn and I had Baked Tuscan Chicken and Teriyaki Vegetables. Yesterday we had baked tilapia, chicken vermicelli, and steamed asparagus. I am making a huge effort to eat well and keep Ardyn eating a nice and balanced meal with lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

We started to participate in the local SHARE Program. Families get their buying power together to get food at lower prices. With the costs of gas and groceries rising so much, It's REALLY awesome. For $16 we got a TON of stuff last week. A pound of Bacon, Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry, 4 Hamburger Patties, Cheese HotDogs, Pluots, Nectarines, Strawberries, Kiwis, A head of lettuce, a head of cauliflower, radishes, and a few other things that I can't think of off the top of my head. It's a great deal and we will be signing up for August as well. The hard part for me was picking it up at 8am on a Saturday. It wouldn't be a big deal except that I feel more nauseous if I have to move fast in the morning. Lots of times Ardyn and I will lay around in bed and snack on crackers and pretzels and watch TV and read books and just be goofy. If I have to go pick up RAW MEAT at 8am, I am not so thrilled. Or should I saw my stomach isn't. I just brought it home and told Evan to unload it where it belonged and then I checked out what was in the clothes basket that afternoon. That was a good arrangement. He watched Ardyn too so I didn't have to have her ready and out the door with me.

I did get some really cool stuff that I will try this pregnancy. It's called Mommy Bliss Morning Sickness Magic. It's an all natural remedy for morning sickness and it has WONDERFUL online reviews. With Ardyn I pretty much had all day nausea, especially about halfway through or just after my meals. I spent some time laying low, but for the most part was able to function. An online mom friend suggested Jolly ranchers (because they are sour) and boy do they work! You'd never think... but preggo pops are basically the same thing but lots more expensive. I haven't had it too bad yet so I haven't started the Supplement yet, but today I started to notice the texture of chicken (which I had an aversion to early on with Ardyn) and changed my mind about pork chops for supper for the same reason. I remember during a strange bought of nausea while working, I thought that Macaroni Pasta salad was "squeaky" and the way it rubbed against my teeth made me nauseous. So I avoided that for MONTHS.

Once I have been bothered by the smell of rinsing poopy cloth diapers.... but I have been able to work around it and do the laundry when I am feeling well.... so I hope I can continue to do that! Or else I will be more diligent and use rice paper liners in each diaper, or at least each time I know what to expect from her, which is pretty much predictable. I just haven't been doing it, but I bet it would make my life a whole lot easier. :)

Everyone have a great night. I don't anticipate being online for a while, as the evil devil that is Comcast is really charging a holy-hell of a lot for internet and cable these days, and it just isn't in the budget. We are going to try out the "library" internet access for a week or so. That's how it goes when the van payment, power bill, and cell phone bills are more important. Not to mention having some FOOD to eat and GAS in your car. Everyone take care. I'll be back!

Pregnant.

Yep. I am pregnant. Isn't that exciting! Ardyn will be a big sister! Due sometime the end of March or beginning of April. :) YAY!

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Powerless. AGAIN.

So at least once a year, now it seems more like twice a year, we have a big power outage. We had one last winter when Ardyn was a baby, and one the winter before that when I was pregnant. Yesterday at about 6:30am the power surged and flickered for a while before it went out permanently. The outages covered a HUGE area, and we had terrible storms. Ardyn and I stayed at my parents last night, and the power finally came back on after about 9pm. My parents were without power, Evan's parents, my sister, Evan's brother, pretty much every person we knew had no power. There were lots of trees down and power lines down and damage to homes, businesses, and cornfields were flattened. There were 200,000 people without power when the storm hit, and there are still 91,000 without power today.

I just got online at mom's to check my email and such. I had to unload the fridge about 11 hours into the outage as it was getting too hot. I brought everything to my moms house to keep it cool, because I had just gotten about $200 of groceries on Friday. So today Evan will help me haul it all back home and hopefully we can get all settled and relax for a bit. It's been a long beginning of the week!

Sunday

Another weekend over. I need to keep reminding myself that it doesn't really matter to me. Everyday is a weekend. :) Ahhh.

Evan and I went on a date night on Saturday, and had a great time. We ate at Flat Top Grill (the most awesome stir fry ever) and went shopping at the outdoor mall. I got three tank tops for $1.99 each at Old Navy, and a shirt. We grabbed a few clearance items for Ardyn and two pair of pajamas for this fall and winter. I also got a few items for a baby shower that I have to go to in a week.

Thursday I picked a gallon of cherries. Friday we pitted the gallon of Cherries and Friday afternoon, Ardyn and I picked sweet corn and went grocery shopping with my mom. I got tons of stuff for cheap, since I adore Aldi's. Right now our house is overflowing with fresh fruits, produce, and such. Today I made pasta salad before 9am, cleaned up all my DISHES from the making of the salad, and by the time Ardyn woke up from her nap, I shredded a HUGE batch of zucchini and sliced two big cucumbers. Evan was husking sweet corn and then I blanched and froze 2 dozen ears. I washed a huge bunch of green grapes and made pasta with spaghetti sauce in bulk and froze a bunch for Ardyn. She pretty much eats table food, but there is the occasion where what we are having really isn't suitable for an entire meal for her, so it's nice to keep a few things frozen that I can pull out for her.

Saturday I made Sugar Free Orange Jello with Mandarin Oranges for Ardyn. I cleaned house and organized the pantry. I packed away her bottles, her sterilizer, and her infant spoons. I found a mom of twins to give my babyfood stash too, since we don't need them anymore. I pakced away her cloth bibs and burp rags. She is such a big girl!

After this afternoon's escapades, I have more dishes to do, and my compost container in the kitchen is full. Once I get that taken care of, I have apple crisp and cherry crisp to make, and zucchini bars. Tomorow I am going to make Creamy Cucumber Canapes (one of my former Pampered Chef recipes) with the cucumbers, and maybe get some crisp made, although I see that more as a Tuesday project since we have a bunch of other stuff to do on Monday.

I am working on laundry still, and tonight I have to wash diapers. not because I have too many dirty ones, but because I have too many poopy ones!

Brownies and Books

Tomorrow. Is Thursday. This week has gone pretty fast! Monday we went swimming in the afternoon and Ardyn got a horrible case of heat rash while taking a nap. Poor thing. She was in the shade or under a canopy all day, but once she went in the house to nap and the AC wasn't on, she got all uncomfortable.

Yesterday (Tuesday) I can't remember anything that I did, although I think there was laundry involved... and wait I watched two movies (Walk the Line and Ed TV) off TIVO. And I think I wore comfy organic cotton pants and a t-shirt all stinkin day. And Ardyn and I took a bath before bed.

Today we played outside in the afternoon and filled Ardyn's baby pool. She had a great time splashing and playing with toys. We took tons of pictures (Flickr Friends you know where to find them!) and tonight Grandma came over to visit and we went on a walk.

Tomorrow I have nothing planned. If I were smart I would make a small grocery run because we have no FOOD but also that would mean money would be needed and I need gas in the van and DAMN money sucks.

Friday we have produce to pick up from a friend and I can not wait for that because I already am wrapping my head around what I want to make with it.

I haven't done any sewing since last week. I am spending every spare moment keeping up with the fucking dishes. DAMN I want a new dishwasher. I really really do. It sucks that I had to use my dishwasher fund to pay household expenses. I was already up to $125 in the fund and now it's sadly GONE. Tis life.

This weekend it's supposed to rain and I am not happy because last weekend my camping plans got cancelled because Evan had things he needed to do and now this weekend it's supposed to rain so we have already just decided against it. We will go see the new batman movie this weekend though.

So I am just sitting here watching Chris Angel bend forks and lift taxis on cable, thinking my lap is going to melt from the overheating of my laptop, and that I SHOULD be reading Julie and Julia for my bookclub and going to bed. But now I am thinking about the Ghiradelli Brownies in the kitchen.... mmmmmm....

Guess it's time for me to go!

Longgggg weekend

Ugh. My stomach just started hurting. Don’t you just hate that? I am sure it will be gone shortly, but I still hate it. As soon as I became a mom, it doubled my hatred for sickness because there is no possible way for me to relax and feel better with a baby to take care of, and because that usually means that at least one other person in the house will be sick, if not all of us. But this is more of a come and go stomach ache. But I hate those too.

Ardyn has had a rough weekend, she has been running a fever since Wednesday evening, due to teething, and today is the first day that she hasn’t been running a temp or on Motrin to keep it down. No teeth yet. Of course. She has a signature teething repertoire, like most kids. Instant Diaper Rash. Loose Stools. Gnawing and sometimes Drooling. Excessive crankiness and irritability. Crying at the drop of a hat. Eats less solid food and increases her nursing sessions. Gets overly tired very easily and stumbles around like a drunk. Takes long naps that require me to convince myself that she is “still breathing in there.” Right now we are having the 354 thousandth random crying bout today. She will cry when she drops something. When she looks at something. When the vacuum moves out of her reach. When her macaroni gets too cold. When the barn door won’t un-velcro to allow her easy access to the animals inside. It must be torture for her because it’s pretty near torture for me. She doesn’t want me to hold her and doesn’t want me to put her down. She doesn’t want to cuddle but then seconds later is laying her head on my shoulder and clinging to me for dear life. Actually, it’s a lot like PMS.

Of course this past weekend was the Wyanet Festival. We watched the parade and ate too many corn dogs. But besides that we took lots of long naps in the air conditioned evenings and pretty much avoided the festival. It appears we have officially outgrown the beer gardens and Ardyn isn’t old enough to enjoy the type of rides they have here. The parade was fun. She did some waving and some clapping, sucked on a few popsicles that she got handed, and watched as the adults scampered around like her drones and picked up the candy that she can’t eat yet. She got papers for vacation bible school, and to vote for Don, and to come to the kid zone. We got sunglasses that offer us a chance to win $$ from our bank and Frisbees and fliers for the upcoming Tiskilwa Pow Wow Days.

As I am typing this she is repeatedly closing the barn door and then screaming when it won’t un-velcro for her immediately. She’s really just torturing herself. I feel badly for her but I let her struggle because tonight I am making her stick to her bedtime. All of our late and long naps and being out and about every day have got her in the habit of a midnight bedtime and a 7am wakeup. Ugh. I don’t know how she does it, because I sure can’t. So today I am trying to wear her out so that we can go back to the usual bedtime. The problem with being out and about is that she falls asleep at her regular bedtime but then wakes up an hour or so later, feeling refreshed like she just had a power nap. Not good. And since we are usually out and about, there is always something to look at besides her own room and her crib sides, so she opts to stay awake. It’s nice to have a baby so amiable and so portable, because at previous times, sticking to her “schedule” meant that mom never left the house after 8pm. Sometimes earlier. But now that she is older, I have no guilt about watching my sister play softball at a late game or going for a walk once the summer sun goes down and it cools off. I can make a late night run for ice cream or a wal-mart trip… But too much of that starts to get the little one thinking that she can stay up late every night, even if mom is exhausted. If that also meant that she was sleeping in later, that would be great. But with the ability to pull her up to standing every 3 seconds, she doesn’t want to lay down long enough to go back to sleep, and so as soon as her eyes see the light of day, it’s time to move. And now that she has decreased to one nap a day, it makes it harder for her to be herself for the 15 hours a day that she wants to be awake. So I have decided to go back to Gestapo bedtimes for a little while. Unless I want to go for a late walk. That always seems to get her relaxed and often puts her to sleep anyway.

She has really been a terror today. The word No seems to be just random chatter in the background of her mind. No matter what tone of voice or volume it is spewed forth with. She has been into everything, to a whole new level today. Reaching for mixing bowls in the kitchen, undocking the roomba vacuum, pushing buttons on the DVD player, opening and closing the TV Armoire doors about 500 times more than usual, finding the ONE clump of dog hair that I missed and putting it in her mouth, pulling my neatly organized papers off the coffee table, pushing the TV remote so far under the couch that even mom’s “go-go gadget arms” can’t reach it. Oh and then there is the bazillion microscopic paper scraps and cheerio pieces that the naked eye can’t see, but she can find and get into her mouth before you can get two steps to her. It really is amazing, and annoying, and exciting. But I am sure that many of you remember those days.

What is sometimes the most frustrating to me, is that my husband fails to see the value in babyproofing. I mean, I AM a SAHM, right? So why do we need anything babyproofed? Because I do have those eyes in the back of my head, right? So even the things that we have babyproofed, like the under the sink cabinets, he doesn’t feel it necessary to secure them and leaves them open CONSTANTLY. It makes me SO FURIOUS and I am considering just making him walk in there and secure them again every time I find one, instead of just doing it myself. I mean seriously. If he doesn’t like the strap things, than he can install one of the two sets of under cabinet locks that I have been handing to him repeatedly for the past month and a half. The outlets are only covered in the living room, dining room, and Ardyn’s bedroom… even though I have the stuff to do EVERY outlet in the house. And the blind cords are only wrapped up in her Room, leaving Seven blind cords that are hazardous. This also infuriates me. And whenever I remind him, I get the “I’ll do it, don’t worry!” and weeks go by, and nothing happens. The only reason that Ardyn’s room is babyproofed is because I did it, and when I was trying to screw the blind cord wraps in, he saw me and decided that he should do it instead of me.

Ardyn loves TV. And she hasn’t watched any all day today, but I just put in a Little People DVD about animals and she is locked in to it and all frustrated screaming has been delayed….

She has finely honed a new type of scream and cry in the last two weeks, I call it the “bloody murder” or “tantrum” scream. No one believed me until she started trying it out on grandparents and in public. I have never seen people cover their ears or clear a room so quickly. She really gears up for it, with about 15 seconds of airless, soundless, open-mouthed, close-eyed, red-faced preparation. If you don’t see her getting ready, you have no reason to suspect something is wrong. You have no time to prepare yourself. I have started to say “wait for it….” And then the blood-curdling scream happens. I am sure that the whole neighborhood is sitting at home thinking “child abuse” when really all I have done was tell her that she can’t eat an electrical cord or push all the buttons on the Playstation 2. Hysteria. She even has a thing that she occasionally does… putting her head down on the floor between her legs and feet and acting as though the world is coming to a screeching halt. It’s all about the drama. And Evan picks her up. EVERY TIME. That does not help. I just walk away. And if she starts a tantrum when I am holding her, and arches her back and thrashes and throws her head back and then bashes me in the face with her forehead, I just put her down and walk away. That really gets her going, but in a few minutes, she gives up and starts something else that keeps her attention. But apparently I am the only one who feels like it’s okay to ignore a tantrum of any proportions. Everyone else says “she’s just a baby!” and I say “Sure, and now you’re her bitch.” It cracks me up that she is almost a year old, and she DOES know the meaning of no, but people don’t think she is old enough to know anything. That little stinker is a hundred thousand times smarter than anyone else gives her credit for. But she isn’t fooling mommy. No way. No how.

When she makes the same bloodcurdling scream because I walked ten feet into the kitchen to get her some cheerios, I know that it isn’t something to take seriously.

So tomorrow we are supposed to go swimming, but we have no gas in the van, the fuel light is on, and we have zero pesos until… well until we start to have money. LOL. How do you tell your mother in law that you can’t come see her because you don’t have gas? It’s kinda embarrassing but at the same time, it’s just a fact of life. If it were my own mom, I’d just tell her, and if she wanted to give me gas money, that’s be cool, but she would understand that I am not trying to get money out of her, but I just am stating a fact and telling her that I will have to stay home. But with your mother-in-law, it could sound manipulative. So I am not sure if I just stay home and keep my mouth shut and miss her get-together at the pool, or if I tell her that I don’t have gas so I will be staying home. Gas prices these days really do suck. And it would be great to walk or ride a bike, but you can’t just not drive around when it is 20 miles to anything. Seriously. That’s life in a small town.

At least once a day, I convince myself that it’s not practical to invent a self cleaning high chair tray. It may seem lazy to not want to clean a high chair tray, but when you scrub hardened macaroni, slimy asparagus, and sticky peaches three times a day, it can get to you a tiny bit. And what really bugs me is that the tray is dishwasher safe. But I don’t run my dishwasher three times a day, and even if I did, the damn tray is to TALL to fit in the dishwasher. It’s SO annoying. Can you say “design flaw?” Of course, none of it really is relevant, considering that my beloved dishwasher is totally and utterly done for, and I have to wash all my dishes by hand. I would rather wash a thousand poopy cloth diapers than 10 dirty forks, so you can already tell that I hate dishes. They pile up. And I wash them. And as soon as I get them all washed, My husband makes late night stir fry and leaves 22 pieces in the sink to be washed the next day when he is conveniently busy or gone. Kinda like how he drinks the last of the Culligan Water and leaves me an empty 5 gallon jug of water that needs to be carried from the back porch and tipped upside down and refilled. Woe is me. My mind is a constant honey-do list that I end up doing myself.

I recall being totally excited about nice weather and how much money I would save by hanging clothes on the line. I was even willing to forgo that misery that is crunchy bath towels and jeans that stand unaided. But then the logistics of it frustrated me. How DOES one carry a wiggly child and a clothes basket of laundry clear out to the back 40 to hang them on the line? It takes like 5 trips. And you can’t take the kid out there first, because then she is unattended outside on a busy road while you go grab the laundry. And you can’t leave her unattended inside while you take the clothes out because in that 1 minute that you are outside, she could severely injure herself in the house that your husband feels it is unnecessary to fully babyproof. So I don’t get NEARLY as much laundry hung out as I would like to. I kick myself for being excited for the moments when she can walk out to the clothesline with me. And then I stop myself from figuring out how I will ever get anything done with two small children. And I hope that my house is childproof by then. And bigger. And cleaner. Ha.

As long as I am writing this never-ending post, I should mention that I was able to make homemade play-doh today, in addition to cleaning. And I dyed it four different fabulous neon colors, green, purple, pink, and turquoise. It looks great. I can’t wait to use it this week. And the plan is to also play outside and fill up the baby pool and hook up the elmo sprinkler mat for Ardyn. Good things to do when you have no gas and no money.

I recently made her a new dress, and have everything finished except the button holes and the final turn under of the hem. It was a super cute and easy dress to make, and I see myself making many more. I also sewed myself a backless apron-top, with a nursing flap and nursing openings beneath. But something that I didn’t really consider when I came across the fabulous free pattern, is that a nursing mom with DD cups doesn’t fare well in a backless braless top. Really. Not good. And it’s super super cute fabric, so I am still trying to figure out how to attach a front only bra to the damn thing. LOL. Lots of work. Cute final product. Not so realistic. It really is great though because instead of just copying a pattern, you actually measure yourself and use your measurements to figure out the pattern pieces. Great in theory. Fits well. Needs a bra. It irks me a bit that I worked so hard on it, staying up till almost 1am so that I could start and finish it in one day… only to not be wearing it anywhere.

I am awaiting a few packages that I paid for back when I had money. 2 yards of organic sherpa fleece to make my own wipes, since mine aren’t the best for an older baby… and a custom order of fleece soakers from the PeaChicNest. (mmmmm can’t wait!) They should both be here anyday now! It’s so exciting I can barely stand it. I also need to sew my cloth napkins. I have the fabric. It may be a week of spending time outside and in the sewing room. I have lots of projects on my list.

Long Weekend OVER!

We made it! The long weekend is OVER! When I was working I never would have thought that there would come a time when I would be happy to have a weekend over. But that was fairly exhausting! Thursday night we went to Fireworks in Mineral... my mom, my sister Liz, my friend Lisa, Ardyn and I. We got home sometime around 11pm. Friday we had a 1pm cookout at Evan's Grandma's, but lots of people arrived late, so we didn't eat until like 3:30 or 4pm, by which time Evan and I were both STARVING because we hadn't eaten yet that day. Then Friday night we came home after 7pm and RELAXED... washed diapers, dishes, etc. Saturday there was an unexpected flat tire on the van. The SAME tire that was patched two weeks ago when we got a flat. Of course I had everything, including the baby, the camera, the diaper bag, the food we had made, packed up to go to a pool party and cookout... and had to call Evan to come back and get us and change the tire, which was stuck on the rim and had to be pounded off later with a sledgehammer... so we had to unload everything into Evan's vehicle, and install his car seat, etc etc in order to go to the party. And they had a crazy day over at Evan's parents too, with the golf cart not starting that morning, and a hose breaking on their brand new pool. So we finally got there (2 hours later than we intended) and Ardyn and I ate lunch. Then Ardyn took a nap and Evan took a nap, and I settled in to read the paper and my book. I got the book open and Ardyn woke up. Ugh. So we swam, and then we cooked out. It was nice! We got home around 7pm that night too, and Ardyn and I relaxed and stored up for the next day.

Sunday I was sewing her Fireworks tank top to wear to the fireworks that night and with just the hem left to sew in, my machine started acting up. It messed up the hem (loads of knots and loops on the bottom thread) and I had to tear the entire hem out. Then I tried to complete it and my machine was totally haywire. It must need serviced and cleaned. SO I called Evan's mom and asked to borrow hers, and she was generous enough to say YES but it wasn't at her house but at her sister's, so I called there and Evan went to get it while Ardyn and I ate lunch and took a bath and got ready for our NEXT cookout. Then Evan brought the machine back. It is WAY newer than mine (only two years old) but much more complicated because it is a White, so it doesn't thread like a Singer does (which are all the machines I have experience with) and the bottom bobbins are not only different (which means I had to rewrap my thread) but also go in on their sides and require you to take pieces of the machine off to get to the bobbin, also unlike a Singer. So it took me almost 40 minutes to get it threaded and sewing right. Then it took about 5 to put the hem into the tank top and adjust and secure the straps appropriately. Ugh. Looks like my machine needs to get serviced soon because I don't think I can be without the comfort of your own sewing machine for long. But I am eternally grateful to have an alternative to get me through.

So Evan wasn't feeling well on Sunday, so we loaded up and Ardyn and I headed for my cousin's house for a cookout and fireworks. Of course by myself, that meant that I had to carry everything by myself. I had to park down the street a ways, and then carry everything up the hill to their house, and up lots of steps to their front deck. So I carried (in one trip) The Diaper Bag, The Camera Bag, Ardyn, a folding chair with no bag, A bowl of crunchy cole slaw, the dressing for the cole slaw, a sippy cup, the van keys, Ardyn's Blanket, Ardyn's Pooh Bear- and her Star-Spangled Headband. All with two hands. Down the street and up about 25 stairs. Yeah. Eventually a very nice little girl came and asked if I needed help, and she carried the cole slaw into the house for me. Thank God.

So we had the cookout and watched Fireworks there, and didn't get home until almost 11pm. Then I put Ardyn to bed and went to sleep right away myself. Today we get the van in for a new tire, and to have the passenger side door and the passenger side window serviced. Thank GOD for that.

So really, it was a crazy weekend. A long weekend in which we were SOMEWHERE every single day. It was lots of packing and planning and getting cleaned up and dressed and getting the van loaded and unloaded. And then throw in the flat tire and the sewing machine breaking.... and it was pretty hectic feeling. I think that overall I maintained a pretty positive attitude, and only felt stressed a couple of times here and there.

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Exhausted.

I totally should be asleep. Right now. And I am tired. I have to get up by 7:30 tomorrow morning, and won't have a single chance for a nap.... so I will regret this later!

Today Ardyn and I went swimming at Grandma's. It was great. The water was nice and cool and we tried out mom's new swimsuit and also Ardyn's speedo swimhat and her new ladybug floaty. Awesome. It was apparently exhausting to swim, because Ardyn was plenty tired this evening.

This week I need to get sewing Ardyn's tank top to wear this Friday on the 4th. I have it all cut out but haven't sewn any of it yet. I also have my cloth napkin project to get moving on. I have two yards of a really nice microfiber twill, super soft, and khaki colored. I hopefully will get around 20 napkins out of it and we will cease using disposable napkins in this house. YAY!!!

Let's Recap the 2008 "Going Green" Resolutions that I have accomplished so far, shall we?

January: Reusable Grocery Bags (including produce bags)
February: Cloth Diapers and Wipes
March: Cloth Mamma Pads
April: Recycle Newspapers, Magazines, and Cardboard
May: Line Dry Clothes and Diapers as much as permitted by Weather. Make Homemade babyfood to reduce expenses and packaging waste and provide more variety and healthy foods for Ardyn.
June: Compost Home and Yard Waste
July: Eliminate Paper Napkins and replace with cloth napkins (which I will make myself to save money)
August:
September:
October:
November:
December:

Does anyone have any suggestions for the upcoming months? We have done lots of other small changes that I don't believe qualify for large monthly goals, but every little but counts.

Tomorrow I will have Ardyn and my 7 year old visitor, so I hope that we get to spend some time outside (watch out for doggie landmines!) and also enjoy the shade some. We moved the swing to the front yard so that I can sit out there and relax and read with Ardyn and watch the girls play. And it would be nice to get started on the tank top. Maybe while Ardyn naps I can sew a bit.

We have had a bit of borderline not feeling well going on over here, mostly just Evan and I. Mostly Evan, and a little bit of me. Evan went to the doctor today and I have started taking fiber supplements and acidophilus and being especially careful of what I am eating, in hopes of smoothing things out. Not sure what is causing everything to be a little on the questionable side. I am partially convinced that I am already getting old and falling apart. This may be due to the fact that even though I am not yet THIRTY, today I received my AARP membership card in the mail. Yep. Evan joked that now that I have "retired" I must be eligible.

I also think that the recent news of several people I know battling cancer has me a little on edge, and worried that I someday might be facing the same fate myself. I know that my mom's cancer wasn't considered a hereditary type, but it seems that cancer is everywhere these days. That reminds me I didn't drink any green tea today. Bummer. I have enough health paranoia as it is that I am never sure if my stomach upset makes me panic or if the panic makes my stomach upset. It's probably an endless cycle of both.

Well, everyone have a wonderful week. I will be back!