6 months ago...

six months ago today... he was one day old. he weighed 9 pounds. he was tiny and warm and cuddly. he could barely keep his eyes open. only long enough to feed and perhaps notice a sister whiz by.

six months ago today... we were a brand new family of four. we were figuring things out. we were exhausted. newly in love with a tiny human. wondering with great curiosity how other families did this.

today... D is her world. he is my little buddy. he weighs 19 pounds. he is bright eyed and bushy tailed. he grabs and reaches and screeches and coos. he is awake and alert and sweet. he has a serious set of lungs. ryan calls him 'mariah carey'. moo and i call him 'nizzy'.

today... we are comfortable in our skin as a family of four {most days}. we are surely {and most likely always will be} figuring things out. we are semi skilled at juggling two babies. finding ways to sooth two at once. adjusting, compromising, changing.

six months ago i couldn't imagine my life today. today i couldn't imagine it any other way.

i am blessed.
thankful.
humbled.  

23 months

i have 25 days left to use the term 'two under two'. she will be a big girl. i am amazed. she knows all the letters of the alphabet. she can count to 15. she sings songs and uses the words. she says 'thank you, you're welcome, ready?, bless you, excuse me'.

she will let you know if she approves of her food with 'yummy'. she still tosses food and bowls overboard. she uses her fork. then her hands. 

she can put up one darn good fight while getting stitches removed. 

her little eyes light up when she sees daddy. sometimes she calls him 'dad'. that just feels too grown up for me. she plays hard to get. she doesn't want to give him kisses... but always seems to give in. she loves to lay with him. read with him. snuggle in his nook. 

she loves her brother. she still smiles and talks and kisses him. she gives him things to hold. let's him in on story time. i'm hoping this never changes.  

my war story ~ the baby D edition

baby D was due september 16, 2011. he was always right on tract at every appointment. he wiggled and squirmed and kicked... up until the very end. i never did kick counts. i didn't let my mind worry incessantly. i was too busy... with moo. and his constant movement eased my mind.

on wednesday september 13 i thought i was in labor. i was having contractions and some other fun stuff. we lined up auntie m to watch moo. headed down to the hospital. got checked and nope... not in labor. she stripped my cervix, sent me on a walk, and told us to return in two hours. ryan and i walked the neighborhoods. i swore my water was going to break every step i took. nope. we ate at rubios. i swore it would be my last 'pre baby D' meal. nope. we went back into the hospital. she checked again. nope... not in labor. she sent us home.

so the big question was... how did i get it right on baby number one and wrong on number two?

friday the 15th rolled around. my mom and i took a long walk around lake murray. we fed ducks. moo played at her house. it was pretty uneventful. i felt good. that evening we ate dinner. moo and ryan were playing outside. i started having contractions. i got in the bath. it eased the pain. i called kaiser. they said contractions needed to be closer. i was NOT going to be sent home. nope... not doing that again.

i was in bed. on the floor. in the shower. i downloaded the contraction app. i recorded my evening. they were getting closer together. we called the twins. they were to watch moo this time. it got pretty real when i was rocking on all fours in the corner of our room. ryan asked me to get in bed. i asked why. he was worried about spiders. he saw one the week before. i still find this amusing. i stayed on the floor.

when contractions were three minutes apart we loaded moo. dropped her at the twins. checked into the hospital. i walked up and asked to be checked in. it was around 1 am. i did not want to be sent home. i was so worried i was going to be sent home... again.

the nurse checked me. i was 8 cm. i cried through the next contraction out of relief, excitement, pain. she was shocked. i was shocked. i was in transition and nowhere near the pain i had with moo. we got all comfy in the delivery room. my parents arrived. my dad stayed behind the curtain.

the cnm broke my water. a few pushes. at 4:01 am sweet baby D arrived. he was 9.2 pounds. he was perfect. he was a boy. he completed our family.

he latched and loved me. he latched and i loved him.

i knew this was different. not better, just different.

funny facts:

ryan almost passed out during both deliveries.

ryan was snoring 5 minutes after being transferred into recovery. i looked at the nurse and said, 'you would have thought HE just delivered'... she laughed and said most husbands do that. 

our high school buddy smuggled in home brewed beer to celebrate. he brought me yogurt mill. 

we saw our pediatrician on the way out. we notified him that we had a new patient for him.  

i'm in stitches

i never had stitches... until i had one sunny side up baby and one 9.2 pound baby. ryan would say... 'i'm in stitches' to make me laugh, which then hurt.

stitches aren't really funny. especially when your {almost} two year old gets them. in her tiny chin. 

she was freshly scrubbed and slippery and as she turned to go get dressed, she fell. and split her tiny chin open. she got four stitches. it was my first trip to the ER. hers too. 

the doctor was amazing. he worked wonders on our 'moving target' as he called her. 

brave little soul.

labels

cotton twill labels to be exact.

i have a problem... well, probably a few. i have a slight addiction to pinterest. i see things. i pin things. then i want things.

somehow these 'wants' turn into 'needs' and... my day of chores turns into a day of crafts.

since i have {nearly} two quilts completed, i need labels.

quilt labels.  so i thought... what kind of labels do i want? well, i like rustic things. i like homemade looking things. i am drawn to fonts and colors and textures. and i don't like my handwriting.

i was browsing around on etsy. i found cotton twill labels. i wanted them. all of them. but then i realized i don't have a company name. or brand. and each of my quilts is different. and i want my quilt labels to reflect the date and the person and the significance. i really didn't need 300 labels that have a corny 'hand made with love' design... not me, and never will be.

i searched 'twill labels' on pinterest and to my surprise found two tutes {tutorials}... i guess this is the new age term and i kinda love it. so... here is my tute.

go to joann's. grab candy. bribe the {almost} 2 year old.

buy twill. in the ribbon section. grab two sizes. one yard of each. it will run you about $6.

go to stamp section. grab a set of letters. grab a stamp pad. i bought the StazOn brand, solvent ink.  it's meant to stamp things like ceramic, leather, and crazy/non-paper stuff.

i made my labels two different ways.

{stamp version}
cut twill. stamp your design. done! the StazOn ink worked like a champ. after washing it, this is how it looked...

{printer version}

find fabulous fonts. i use this website. in pages or word type up your label name or brand or picture. i used different fonts and different versions. print it. cut out your twill. tape twill on top of the original document. send it through the printer again. cross your fingers and toes. luckily my printer didn't jam. but i was expecting it to. it did get a bit smeary on the wider, thicker twill.  

{i saved the document. i can pull it up and print more when i need to without recreating it. unless you want to}

remove twill from paper. iron to set in ink. done.

i have not washed the printer versions yet. i will before i sew anything to my quilts. i'll get back to you on the results. 

p.s. font 'MTF Itty Bitty Baby' has that little boat that kinda got cut off on the bottom label. i love it. all of baby d's labels need a little boat. 

i am also loving the 'typical typewriter' font. very rustic on the twill. exactly what i was going for. and honestly, i am considering adding a few labels to his quilt. would that be weird? 

SSB

if you know me in real life, you probably know my love affair with sex and the city. hands down my favorite show. i was in college when i started watching it. we didn't have hbo. i would go to ryan's house. i would highjack the tv from his dad. somedays i would be the only one in the living room watching it. is that weird? kinda, now that i think about it.

one of my favorite episodes was SSB. secret single behaviors. the girls all had their own. miranda's {my favorite}... paraffin wax treatments while watching infomercials.

although i am far from single... i have some secret and not so secret behaviors of my own.

- i am so captivated by sister wives on tlc. i can't wait for the new season. i get it and don't get it. all those kids. the thought of 'sharing' my husband boggles my mind. and seems super gross. ummm... germs?

- when all i want is a break from babies i go grocery shopping. and while i'm alone i stare at other babies. and miss mine.

- when babies fall asleep {at the same time} i lay down to nap. and then my mind spins. i'm not tired anymore. then they wake up and i've never felt sleepier.

- i over wash the kids. there is nothing better than a soapy scented child. i would literally wash baby D after every burp up if i could.

we have 5,000 bath time photos 

- and... i read the 'missed connections' page on craigslist. it's so silly and sappy and addictive. it hurts my heart when i read about lost love. i guess it steams from reading books like jane eyre and the time traveler's wife... love stories. ryan laughs at me when it shows up in the history of my computer. 

thankful

on any given day {in my classroom} you will probably hear me say... 'please stop whining.' mostly to one particular little darling, but nonetheless you will hear it. so i will practice what i preach.

despite various hiccups today, i am thankful.

i am thankful for:
my partner in crime/team teacher/friend/buddy. she never even bats an eye as she gracefully deals with classroom shenanigans that roll into her days. she has my back, as i do hers. she puts out fires, reassures me, inspires me. i learn from her. i feel more confident because of her. i couldn't be happier that our professional relationship blossomed into a personal one :)

deep breaths and calming strategies while hanging with {an almost} 2 year old. when... she poops in the tub. when... she covers herself in mud. when... she screeches and screams and grabs his tiny hands in hopes of waking him in the car.

i am thankful for binkies. they soothe both child and parent.

for my mom. who wrangles babies at target so i can browse the dollar section.

for the target dollar section! a teacher's dream come true.

for teacherspayteachers.com and the wealth of creativity... for sale. for being inspired my my cohort next door. her willingness to help me. to bounce ideas off of. for answering first grade questions.

and... the much loved sap {this is for you future mrs. english paratrooper}
i am thankful for my husband. for letting me be me... regardless of how neurotic i can be. hey... that rhymes. i've been reading entirely too many dr. seuss books this week.

{aptly applies to both work and home}