My Two... maybe three kids.

When I said I had two kids I think I lied. I really have a third child whom I take with my almost as often as I take the other two is an 80 lb black lab name " Jack Sparrow". Jack was dropped off at friends of ours when he was just a little 20 lb puppy. We thought he'd grow to a decent 40 lbs or so... when he doubled that I was a little disappointed. He is a sweetheart who loves everyone and just about everything. He had one besetting sin which has earned him the nickname Harry, as in Harry Hudini. A master of the escape, Jack introduced us to all our neighbors for miles around. We would shut him up in the house for the day and go to work, Jack would consider this his opportunity to go visiting. He loved sitting on our neighbors porch. So we locked him in the house with all the doors closed. The house we were remodeling and had removed the basement stars. Jack jumped down to the basement and escaped out the storm doors and introduced himself to the lovely lady down the street...He brought her a 1/2 gallon of milk .  We aren't sure where he got that but we knew something had to be done. So... Justin, my middle brother, came and installed an underground fence for us. Jack ran away from Justin a couple of times and Justin had to carry him home! He never left us again and to this day we can let him out and he just relaxes in our yard. Well, he  does visit our neighbors occasionally. He was my first baby. I loved him dearly but we knew it was time to try and have a real baby the day we went out for ice cream and took him to the kiddy park to play!

Enter Hailey the Hiccup Monster!


Around this time we decided to take a two-three year assignment in UT, where we currently reside. We had tried for a long time and had disappointments in our objective of getting a child and our plan was to adopt out of the foster care system. We had decided at the very least we would be able to help one or two children out and maybe grow our family. While in Price, visiting and deciding if we wanted to make this our home I contracted the worst flu ever. I was sick for days, then weeks, then I realized it had been about a month. I threw up everyday, several times a day. I ate weird stuff like salt and vinegar chips with lemonade. Now you have to understand that as a general rule I am not an idiot but for a whole six months, due to medical tests and my own hopefulness of my own I had a pregnancy test every month right up until two months ago. Before I went to the Dr. I thought I would cover my basis. Two seconds after  peeing on that stick it said clearly " You are STUPID. How could you not know you're pregnant?!?!" I went out and said to my husband. " I'm pregnant." He said, " You probably read it wrong." Then he went to investigate. He came back and said " lets go get some more and take them." Three test later we were pretty sure it wasn't a fluke. As it turns out I was 2 months along. We had a few scares and spent a few weekends on bed rest and spent 8 months vomiting with such force and volume that it was alarming. I made some very silly assumptions such as " no first baby ever comes early." She was ten days early. The day I planned to get her room in order my water broke but I didn't have any contractions. So they induced me. 8 hours and 20 minutes later a very bruised creature with tufts of red hair entered my life. She wasn't all that pretty but she was full of personality from day one! Also hiccups and screams. She wouldn't have anything to do with anyone but me or her father. Two years later and she is still full of personality, she's improved a great deal in looks and as she often tells me, she is my pretty princess. She's also a lot more friendly...She'll tell you that too!

Baby brudder Blake

My husband and I still planned on adopting. We didn't want Hailey to be an only child, or have her only sibling be a large black dog that she constantly climbs all over. I had begun babysitting when Hailey was three months old so that she wouldn't be a lonely child. She wasn't. I babysat two boys about a year older than her and she loved them ( and loves them still). We went through all the paperwork and processes in order to become foster parents but for reason only God knows we were never able to get any kids. My husband really wanted our kids to be close, but not too close, in age so we started trying again. And once again gave up but kept up all the fun and as seems to often be the case that was when it happened. After Christmas shopping I was sooo tired. I'd been kind of grumpy for the last week or so and I had been feeling very well. My husband said, jokingly, " I bet you are pregnant." That was Saturday. Sunday morning... after thinking about it I thought, hey, I bet I am. Can't hurt to take the test ( I was all stocked up from "trying" months). So I took one. Hey, HEY! Baby number two is on the way.

Randy believed me this time. We only used the one test. This pregnancy took FOREVER!!!! My daughter was informed right away and thus the rest of the world. She talked about her brother for months. After I stopped babysitting (about week 35) she started standing next to my tummy shouting " come out, come out NOW!" In scant three weeks later I was completely of her sentiment. This baby boy didn't want to come out but my body wanted him out. These next few lines are pretty gory so if you are of a week constitution skip them. My hips hurt so badly I couldn't sit or lay down for more than an hour at a time. My all day sickness returned, with a vengeance. I became so ill about 4 days before he was born that there was splatter on the wall BEHIND me. I covered the bathroom... then of course I had to clean it up. That was a BAD day. However Hailey helped me out by sleeping though that. She got so that every time I coughed she'd ask if I was ok. The next day was my Dr. appointment and I was 5 cm. He said you'll be back tonight to deliver. I said “Do you want to bet? If I'm not when can you induce me?" At this point I had lost 3 lbs (jump starts that post baby weight loss) and had been bleeding for two days. Friday morning he said. I waited with great anticipation. I'd been having contractions for a week so Thursday I ignored them. I made bread, I cleaned my house, I mopped the floors, I made cookies. I was almost ready. That night my daughter got sick all over me at about 10:00. Not feeling very well I was moving pretty slow and my husband, being a factual guy and all about gathering information, decided it was time I laid down and timed those contractions. Every two minutes I had a contraction that lasted two minutes. We decided to go. We didn't wake Hailey up we just dropped her off at a friend’s and went to the hospital. My stubborn son decided he wasn't going to be forced out. He also decided I would suffer for trying that move. No drugs. Nothing! There was a lot of leg tapping and deep breathing, but no yelling, screaming, crying or cursing like in the movies. Just two hours after we arrived, before all the registration paper work was done, Blake Christian entered our lives. He was blue. He was wrapped in his cord, but thank God he was screaming bloody murder. Hailey loved him. She adores him. She wanted to hold him for hours. Jack was not as impressed but I hope with time Blake will grow on him as Hailey did. It's been five weeks and Hailey's adoration has not abated. As for me...well I always say that as far as babies go "Better out than in!"

Getting back into shape after baby...the art of working out just getting there

I have not yet formally introduced my two adorable children but we are going to talk about them anyway and I'll introduce them later. Just five weeks ago at 1:36 AM without any drugs and no sleep for two days my son was born. I was in a euphoric and happy place for about two weeks. Then I realized I have no clothes to wear. My maternity clothes made me look like a commercial for some kind of a weight loss drug and my regular clothes made me look... like nothing because I couldn't get them on. A kind and wonderful woman, whose teenage daughter was given clothes about eight sizes to large, mailed me some pants. This however had me chomping at the bit to get into shape, and improve my mood, through exercise. Graciously giving my body two more weeks to recover I began my campaign on Tuesday. On Tuesday I jogged 1.5 miles. I enjoyed it.. my right knee and calf did not. They said don't run anymore. Incidentally so did my Dr. when I called about something else. So what is a girl to do? I get up at with my son between 4:30 and 5:00 everday. That should give me time to exercise... Don't laugh moms. It really doessn't. I took up swimming. The pool opens at 5:30 for a lap swim. The first day I was there at 5:30 with two ladies in their late sixties. They each lapped me four times. I had left my husband asleep with the baby fussing in the living room so after only 8 discouraging laps I slogged out of the pool ( where I had been doing a fantastic impression of a drowning bird for the last 10 minutes) and hobbled out to the car. I was home by 5:45. The baby was still crying and had spit up all over himself. My husband has become a very sound sleeper.

My second attempt to swim never made it off the ground, or to the pool. Little man rose at 4:00 AM on the dot and protested the hour until 6:00. At this point my daughter will be up at any moment and for my little man's safety I need to be there. She would love him to death if I didn't keep a close eye on her. Yoga! I could do some basic yoga! That would make my calf and knee feel better. Did you know that some people are such over achievers that they can hurt themselves doing yoga?  You don't even have to do it very well ... just push that leg a little two hard and you and your two kids will hang out on your bed while you ice your leg and read Curious George 80 times. Defiantly trying to swim again.

Today was the day. By 5:45 my son was fed and reasonably happy in his swing. I would have made Superman proud with the speed in which I slipped into my suit and sped like a speeding bullet to my car. There my progress was hampered by the speed limit and the fact that I can't go anywhere without the cops following me. They really work hard at keeping me honest. I arrived at the pool at 5:47 ( We live very close). Eagerly I jumped into those icy waters. No longer eager I began to slice through the water like a true athlete.  Ok, that part isn't true. Once again I appeared to be a drowning flamingo. I swam a lap, adjusted my maternity suit ( it's kind of big everywhere but in one place and I don't have another suit) and realized that I only have ten minutes left. Ten blissful minutes all to myself. I splash giddily across the pool 9  more times relishing my freedom. The clock strikes six... I turn into an adult with responsibilities... bummer. I leap from the pool energized and ready to face the day! Actually and I kind slip up of the steps and begin thinking about the laundry and groceries and how I can multi task to get at least a few chores done. Once again I must do my super man impression and get home before my angel gets up and decides to get her brother out of his swing. I do a great superman changing impression except I'm sure super man never knocks his noggin off of the door to his changing room or slips on the water he's dripped everywhere. At least my drowning flamingo is pretty good. It seems to amuse the lifeguard anyway. I arrive home at 6:10 to find my son fighting his blanket and in a rage. It's now 6:40 and while I have written this great work and snuggled him I realize... I get more exercise trying to get exercise than I do actually working out!

Starting this Blog over..

I'm a  terrible blogger. I have tried to blog on a number of subjects. I have tried blogging a projects. I find my projects to be boring to myself so why would I blog them for others to read. I do lots of projects all the time and I've only blogged two. Those blogs are basically pictures and boring how to details. So I decided to start over and only blog about the things that most interest me... and I spend the most time on. That would be my dear sweet husband and our two kids. Since I never told the story on here I shall now recycle a facebook note so you can all read about how our lovely, but eccentric, family began. I wrote this for a friend whose husband is also and engineer .
 
For Alyse : My Engineer ( the acquisition)

Noticing my Engineer:

I'm not really sure when I noticed my engineer was anything more than a pest. It had to have been at some point during that first year of our acquaintance, when he still belonged to Sarah. I think the first thing I noticed about Randy, other than the fact that he was a pest, was how he cared for Sarah. He was very sweet to Sarah even when being intolerable to everyone else. He was the kind of boyfriend one would want to have. Since we began our relationship I have discovered the reasons an engineer makes such a great significant other. However we our now entering the sappy portion of our story. Please take warning it can only get worse from here.

Randy and I became friends, really good friends, during our junior year. I believe this friendship developed because we sat next to each other in chemistry class. Randy torchered me for a year, and discovered me to be implacable. I could take it. What was more I was able to ignore him and I think that for him that was a direct challenge. He drove me nuts. I vacillated between enjoying the friendship and enjoying the idea of killing him. I began to notice good qualities in him. Senior year brought a change to our relationship and I discovered a great deal more about my engineer.

Senior Year (Equally sappy):

Senior year rolled around and was very similar to junior year except Randy and I became very good friends, the kind that talk about everything and try to think of people for each other to date. (at this point we were both single however he did date a couple of girls briefly during the period. Engineers are not meant to be alone. They do not function very well without a significant other. They must have someone to assist in their study, help them communicate with the rest of the world, and tell them that they need to get a haircut and wear clean clothes.) About March Randy began to act weirdly. He began to study me carefully . A girl knows she is in trouble when an engineer begins to study her. Shortly after that he began to rehearse the reasons we should not date. Being the agreeable sort I concurred.

Through a series of mishaps ( he accidentally asked a girl to the jr/sr banquet to had a boyfriend and consequently felt uncomfortable taking her and she going with him. Me not able to obtain the date I planned on for him, as she acquired a boyfriend.) we attended the banquet together. He spent the whole evening explaining to me that while he really liked me and all our friends thought we'd be a very nice couple it would never work out so we should just be friends. I quit agreed. We made very good friends. A scant two weeks later he was very eloquently requesting that I consent to date him. I told him I would have to think about it but I would let him know as soon as possible. However he still maintained that the relationship would never work. Three weeks into the dating he would begin to say things like " when we get married" and then hasten to state that it would never happen. He would go to college and we would break up. Quit frankly if I was not so accustomed to ignoring him when the occasion required I think I would have broken up with him then.

Randy went away to college to become a full fledged engineer and prove to me that our relationship would not last.

Eating and not heating!

Hailey's Daddy is in Pennsylvania, a fact I am forced to tell her every morning at 6:30 AM, so we are eating leftovers. I don't think I'm going to cook once the whole 10 days that he is going to be gone. I do have to vary the leftovers though. Hailey will tell me " I ate that lunch already." At this point in her life all meals are lunch. The best way for me to change meat leftovers is to make them into various quesedillas on our George Forman grill. I can make burgers, shredded cheese chicken burgers ( we call them that because I really don't have a name for them), and delicious grilled veggie dishes.  I love that thing. I can make so many meals with it! I do find that some members of the house aren't as thrilled with my hot weather cooking... This person still prefers to steal the peanut butter Jar and share it with her best friend. That suitcase has carried much contraband out of the kitchen and , as she often tells me, its all on its way to either Nana's or Grandma's house.

New twist on an old favorite!

Everyone remembers warm and yummy cinnamon sugar toast. A taste from my childhood. My daughter, ever contrary, remembers the warm and yummy cinnamon sugar doughnut! This morning, with the help of a plain bagel I convinced my daughter to love the cinnamon sugar "toast" that I once loved. She still thinks she's having a doughnut, but this one is special because " Mommy make it."  Just look at that face!

Recycle Jeans- The Picnic Quilt

This year one of my husbands birthday gifts was a new picnic quilt.This is a very simple project that takes only one day to make! If you have kids it takes one day to make it and one day to fix your house after the kids have run free for a day. You can make these out of new denim in some very cute designs but the whole point here is to recycle and get something useful for "free".
For this quilt I used a 6 1/4"  quilting square. To make it easy on yourself you should use a rotary cutter. My blade was dull so I used fabric shears... it takes a lot longer with shears.

Once you have cut your squares all you have to do is sew them together! Make sure, if you want the silverware holding pockets, that you sew the pockets so the top is facing inward.Check out the mess that my helper made! It is dangerous to let a two year old loose while you sew.

Once you have your rows sewn together all you have to do is sew a stitch around the edge to protect from too much fraying. My sewing machine is very old and doesn't have a lot of stitches but the newer ones will have some really pretty trim! You can eliminate fray by hemming the quilt but my husband likes the frayed edge. You can make this quilt to go on beds, all you have to do is find a soft flannel for the back and a fun binding!

Recycling Blue Jeans part 1

This blog is for my SIL because she loves blogging and she loves projects.

I have been super busy with blue jeans lately. It's time to recycle the ripped, the stained, the old, and the ones that no one knows who they fit in the first place. We restyled a pair of my daughter's flipflops, made a picnic quilt, and made baby Blake a diaper bag. The bag is unfinished. I needs a great big red B. C. A. embroidered on the back pocket. So here is my unfinished project and how to do it if you want to recycle your blue jeans too.

Start with an old pair of jeans. These were actually in reasonable condition but my husband tore them working on one of his projects. Cut off the legs! I used a quilting square and rotary blade to even this out.

 Take one leg, using a quilting square and rotary cutter and cut to length. You can cut it to any desired width.

Set aside on side of the leg for the bottom of your bag. Use the other side to "widen" the bottom of the pants to the desired width. To do this you will cut two triangles and rip the seam of the pants up to the pocket, or further if you need to widen the bag a lot. Make sure the bottom of the triangle is the width of the bottom of your bag.

Before attaching the bottom of the bag, like the jeans with your desired fabric. I used what I had on hand the bag cost me $2.00 for a heavy duty zipper. I made and interior pocket but I decided that I like a more open diaper bag.  I used some elastic that I had on hand and made interior bottle holders. You can't see the inside but on the sides there are holders for medicine, and one for diaper rash cream.

 The front pockets are roomy enough for baby powder, more bottles, or my stuff! I like shorter straps but if you want something longer steal your husbands belt ;)