Christmas Craft Attack

After reading Running from the Law's post about Celebrating Baby's First Christmas, I thought I'd get on the craft wagon and ordered a kit to do a handprint ornament.

Well, truth be told, I ordered a kit to do a dog paw print. Same one I used a few years ago on our pup, Roxie. I figured it was a great choice. I knew it worked, easy, nontoxic and even came with ribbon to hang it on the tree. Score!

Boy was I wrong. Craft time turned into one big 'ol mess. Apparently I got a defective bag of this stuff. It was super sticky and ended up on my hands, the table and anywhere else I touched as I was trying to get it off my hands.

I have about 100 craft things pinned on Pinterest. I have always envisioned myself as the crafty mom that loves to do craft projects with the little one. I am beginning to realize that this fantasy might be just as far from real life as Cinder-freaking-ella. 

On the upside, the place I ordered it from was great and refunded me the money after I emailed them and claimed I got a defective bag. They told me I didn't need to worry about sending back the product. Thank God,  have you seen the lines at the post office this time of year? No way.

Sorry Baby C, mom tried. Maybe next year. 

 

Holiday Photos - part 2

Here they are! You ready for some Baby C cuteness?

Holiday Photos

We had photos with the lovely Megan Boyles Photography last weekend. I'm never quite sure how things went after we have photos done. It is such a toss up... did we smile good? Am I going to have squinty eyes? What will my hair look like? Are my fat rolls hidden? Double chin? And the list goes on so I anxiously await the Facebook sneak peek to see what we're working with.

Well I was more than excited when this bad boy came up on the newsfeed. Little man didn't give many smiles, but he still looks super cute with serious face.

And then there were these...

More coming soon, I should be getting the CD in the mail today or tomorrow. Now the hard part, picking one for our Christmas cards.

Like a camel

You know what amazes me these days, how much water I can drink and how little I have to pee.

I'm like a freaking camel. Before Luke was born, I'd have one sip and almost instantly have to pee. These days I drink way more than the daily recommend amount of 6-8 8oz glasses and rarely have to pee.

In other news, look who looked super cute this weekend in his new hat.

4 Months

Baby Luke is FOUR months old. Wow. He is growing like a weed and is such a joy. We are so lucky to be his parents. He is such a happy baby, unless he's hungry, and starting to interact and really notice the world around him.

A few nights ago I woke up to him crying on the baby monitor and stumbled down the hall to his room for a middle of the night feeding.

As much as I dislike getting up in the middle of the night, these are some of our sweetest moments. The house is quiet and he is so peaceful when he eats. Eyes closed, little arms and hands over his face and eyes. Apparently he likes his privacy.

When he finished and I put him back in his crib he was full of smiles. As if to say, "Thanks milk lady, that was delicious!" Instead of making a beeline back to bed I stood there for a few moments and tried to take every second of it in. He was babbling and rolling from side to side with his legs up in the air just grinning up at me. He shrikes his shoulders up and brings his hands together infront of him when he gives a really big grin and it is simply adorable. I kept thinking these are the moments I never want to forget. Never. Ever.

He was a little stinker for this photo shoot and every time the camera went up, down his smile went. Someone is already learning how to play games ;)

Sugar, sugar

So after my last post when I claimed I wasn't eating like a fat kid, it made me tune in a bit more to what I was really putting in my mouth. And, maybe the truth is that I really wasn't eating the best.

Hello, my name is Amber and I'm a sugar addict.

It's a real thing! I watched a 60 Minutes special where Dr. Gupta talks about how sugar is a toxin and has a similar effect on the brain as cocaine does.  If it was on tv, it has to be real, right?  

Anyway, I am happy to report I have cut out sugar and bad for you carbs since last Thursday and doing a healthy version of the famous fad diet, Atkins. It is generally the only way I can loose weight. 

Well, what do you know, I've lost 5 pounds. FIVE freaking pounds. I'm super happy and sure most of it is water weight, but at this point, I'll take it! Now just 8 more to go to get back to pre-preggo weight and then 30 to go to get back to pre-fertility drug and stress-of-not-being-able-to-have-a-baby weight. 

And the best part, everything is still going good on the nursing front. I was worried my supply would take a hit if I tired to diet, but I guess eating right and cutting out crap isn't really dieting. I'm keeping an eye on my calories too, to make sure I get enough and so far so good. 

We have family pics on Saturday and that's honesty what kicked my motivation in high gear. I'd like to not have a double chin in this year's Christmas cards :) Now if I can just find the time to do something about these roots. It's only be SIX months since I had my hair did, no biggie.

BFing & Weight Loss is BS

Dar readers,

I feel compelled to let you all in on a little secret... all those people who tell you a great plus to breastfeeding is weight loss, well, they are liars. Liars. All liars. Dirty. Little. Liars.

I've even gained a few pounds and I'm not eating like a fat kid. In fact, baby C has a dairy sensitivity so I'm not able to eat/drink all the things I love.... milk, cheese, yogurt or FROZEN yogurt, gasp! None, zip, zero.

I a little every month or so hoping maybe it's gotten better, but then sadly regret my decision as I'm cleaning spit up off the furniture, baby, floor, baby, dog, baby, play mat, baby and anything else that comes in a 2 foot radius of little man.

So we're still breastfeeding, but I guess I've got to start an exercise plan. Ha, yeah right. Off to buy bigger clothes.

xoxo,
Baby Weight

Gobble, Gobble

Thanksgiving was a great time. My oldest brother and his family came to visit from out of state and my mom cooked a great meal.

Hubby had to work, so that was a bummer, but we did get to go visit him at the station that evening. He gave us the grand tour of all the trucks.

Here are a few pics.

And the littlest one said, roll over!

Luke is on the move! He started rolling over last week/weekend. He has been working on rolling from his back to his stomach this week - oh my!

Here's a video of the little guy.

3 months!

And just like that, Luke is now 3 months old! It just so happened it fell on election day, so I shared my "I voted" sticker with him.

Happy Halloween!

We took Luke to a pumpkin patch last week and purchased his first pumpkin. It is not carved yet, but we hope to do it tonight and let him put his hands in the pumpkin mush.

Here's a pic on our pumpkin with the pumpkin. My aunt made the hat, so stinking cute! 

Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work I go

Well I'm back at work.

The first day back came with great anticipation and worry. Add hurricane Sandy to the mix and I was a mess. I was hopeful the storm would delay my first day back, but then I remembered I had a job that required me to work during disasters so that little fantasy quickly ended. Luckily, I got spared the 12 hour shift in the Emergency Operations Center and only had to work a half day.

Everything went well and we all survived, the storm and my first day back to work. Here's a pic I took right before leaving of my three loves.

Two months, too soon

Baby boy is already two full months old! He is smiling a lot these days especially at diaper changes. He loves laying there and looking around the room. He is still finding his voice and we are getting more and more sounds that aren't cries! Can't wait for a laugh :)

Here are some pics of his two month photo shoot.

The Nursery Reveal!

So here it is, in all its glory :) Not going to lie, I was probably just as leery on how it was all gong to turn out as the rest of you. I felt pretty good about it since I was basically just copying this fabulous nursery, but was still a little apprehensive the fabric decisions and accessories I picked were going to mix well together.

 

 

 

Sheets on bed (below)

 

Crib Bedding 

Everything but the sheets are made by my momma. It is all Premier brand fabric ordered from fabric.com at about $8/yard. Below are links to each print I ordered and be sure to do a google search for a coupon code before you place your order. I think I got 15% off and they usually have free shipping on orders of $35 or more. They were super fast and I got the shipment a few days after I placed it. In total, I spent about $80 on all the fabric after the discount.

• Blue and White Zig Zag - http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=b75472c2-f75e-4345-907a-b8db1acaa3eb

• Blue, White and Green Dot - http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=62cd12d8-2855-4e07-9ea9-80d57efb2520

• Orange with White Circles - http://www.fabric.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=ed9a8a8e-6d00-489d-8b11-7cca18363b37

My mom made the orange piping on the bumper pads with cording from the local fabric store ($0.95/yard) and the orange and white circle fabric I ordered.

Sheets - They are from Target and part of the Come Ride with Me crib bedding collection. They are about $12/sheet. I can't seem to find them online and only one of the local Target's carried the sheets in the store. So, if you cant find them, try a different Target and you might have some luck.

Bed bedding

Comforter - from Ross Dress for Less and was less than $20. I had found one on Walmart.com that I almsot ordered and here is a link to that one-  http://www.walmart.com/ip/Your-Zone-Reversible-Comforter-and-Sham-Set-Cobalt-Light-Blue/10877972

Sheets- Good old Walmart find, I think they were about $15 for the full size set!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-MicroFiber-Sheet-Set/20531616

Bed skirt - made by mom from the blue and white zig zag fabric.

Wall Art

Dr. Seuss quote artwork, Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/listing/102882455/dr-seuss-nursery-wall-art-4-oh-the

I then had the canvas printed from shutterfly.com. Warning, getting a canvas this size IS on the expensive side, but I knew what I was getting myself into and wanted it anyway. The size I have is 24 x 36 and 1.5'' thick and was $150. They had a promotion for free shipping on orders over $30 and I had a $20 voucher from some maternity gift bag I got so it helped bring the price down a bit. Also, they do go on sale from time to time so keep an eye on it. I've seen them for as low as $120. There are less expensive places online, but many require you put the canvas together yourself and I honestly didn't want to mess with it. 

And I found this tutorial on Pinterest after I ordered it, you could always try to make your own - http://www.howdoesshe.com/diy-canvas-prints



L is for Luke, Etsy - http://www.etsy.com/listing/46624675/wooden-block-print-personalized-with
Frame is from Ikea

Furniture

Crib is the Babyletto Mercer 3 in 1 Convertible Crib with Toddler Rail and we ordered it from amazon.com

Book Cases - Both the one under the window and the one we are using as a changing table are from Ikea, the EXPEDIT collection. Super cheap and easy to put together.

All the inserts in the changing table are part of the EXPEDIT line. This gets a little expensive, the inserts range from $20 - $35 each, but we already had the book case and I liked that getting the white inserts made it match the crib. The cloth baskets we already had too, but they were originally from Target. I would suggest looking at some of Ikeas's cheaper dressers. You can pick up some cute white ones for about $200 - $300, being about the same price as buying the bookcase AND all the inserts. 

Light Fixture - Another Ikea find. The FILLSTA pendant lamp, the 19" one.

Chair - Ikea POANG chair and it really is comfortable. They make it in a rocker too, but I didn't like it as much when I tested it out. This one has a little bounce to it and I think will work just fine.

Toy thing - Ikea kid section, I think it was less than $10.

Laundry basket - Ross Dress for Less find - it was $12. This is a great time of year to search for this stuff. All the dorm room items are out and in fun colors.

Windows

Cornice Boards - these came with the house and this is the second time I have recovered them. Super easy to do, just some fabric and a good old staple gun. Covered these with the orange and white circle fabric from fabric.com.


Drapes - I looked long and hard for these. I wanted to get the blackout drapes but had a hard time finding white ones, go figure. I guess white isn't too room darkening. So, after LOTS of trial and error on colors, I chose these Eclipse green ones. They have a bunch of versions which are different shades of green. I found these at Walmart for about $12 a pannel, they aren't too bright of a lime green and I'm pretty pleased with the color. Mom made the tie backs with the left over blue, white and green dot fabric.