Craving Indulged!

When I am pregnant I have cravings and then I have what I like to call "insanity" cravings.  You may know what I am talking about.  It's the type of craving that you absolutely, positively cannot shake.  Oh, who am I kidding?!  I get these cravings regardless of whether or not I am pregnant I just feel a little less guilty indulging them when I have a tiny human growing in me to blame it on ;)  Today's craving took four hours trying to satisfy.  This is how I spent my entire evening.  These amazingly delicious beauties took four hours to make but they were SOOOOO worth it!  If you find yourself with a craving for such deliciousness, here is the link to the recipe ;)  If you want some now, you better get over to my house quick because these are not going to last long!



Photo from the blog "From Here To Paris"

The Big Reveal - The Kiddo's New Bedroom

 
 
I am thrilled to say that the kids' bedroom is FINALLY finished!  Woooo, hoooo!  The hold up has been their bedding.  I've been looking at the material for their duvet covers for months and months and just never had the energy to do it.  Thankfully, I have some German stubbornness in me and this week I decided that no matter how tired I am or how sore my back is (that may be another post in the near future) I was going to get them done this week.  And, I did it!  So, here's their new room.

 

 

I wanted to make a room that was girly yet masculine enough for a little boy as well.  Somewhere along the way I got my mind stuck on the kids having chevron duvet covers.  I could not find what I had in mind anywhere and when I found something close to what I wanted it was WAY out of my price range.  So, after ranting on Facebook about it, a friend of mine sent me a link to making your own chevron duvet cover.  Since the kids beds are single beds and I wanted the print to be quite large the quilts were actually pretty easy to make.  A little time consuming but easy.

The room is SUPER small so I had to get creative to fit both kids plus their clothes into this one little room.  I found some awesome plastic bins at Wal-Mart that slide nicely under the bottom bunk.  We use one for T's diapers and the other two are for dirt clothes since there is no room in the closet for hampers.

That brings me to the closet.  It is also pretty small and there is no room for a dresser anywhere else in the room.  Again, had to get creative.  I was planning on buying a closet organizer but then I found cube shelves on sale at Home Depot.  They fit PERFECTLY into the closet without an inch to spare.  Half of the cubes are for L and half are for T.  We already had the upper shelves and closet bar in that closet so half become L's and half became T's.  Each cube holds a different article of clothing (ie, t-shirts in one, long sleeves in one, pants in one, shorts in one, etc....).  Underwear and socks go in baskets on top of the shelves for now.

L loves books and we have a lot, so yet another cube shelf is out in the room to hold books as well as to be the shelf for the CD player and basket containing CD's, Bible, and T's soothers (yes, he still has soothers).

Then on the wall I wanted each kid to have some space of their own.  So, L's space has some old pics from my room when I was a little girl as well as a painting that our pastor's wife painted for me when I was born.  T's space has a hockey picture from his aunt and uncle and some cars.  I still need to get a letter T for his wall space.

 

 

So, that is the kiddos' new room.  I think it turned out pretty cute and they sure do seem to love it :)

 

This was the kids art project during the winter.  I taped their initials onto canvas and let them paint (clearly I helped T).  Then when the paint was dry we took the tape off.  They turned out really well.

Learning to Make A Difference

A few months ago L was watching commercials during some morning show that was on while I was working out.  The commercial was for an organization called the Children's Rehabilitation Foundation and it was advertising their annual Crusin' Down the Crescent event.  It helps to raise funds which provide children with disabilities with services that enable them to live with independence and ability in their own homes, schools and communities.  It's a great organization.  At the end of the commercial the narrator said, "You can make a difference!".  L turned and looked me in the eye and said, "I can make a difference?" My heart instantly melted as I told her that yes, she could make a difference and then proceeded to tell her what the event was and what the money was for.  I asked if she wanted to participate and without hesitation she agreed.  Over the next few weeks she raised $150 and began to get very excited about the event.  The day of the event was a nice warm Sunday morning.  Our whole family decided to participate together.  L rode her bike, my hubby put on his running shoes to chase her, and I (and baby bump) pushed T in the stroller.  When we arrived L got a t-shirt to wear and there were activities and games for the kids before the opening ceremonies.  When the walk began L was very excited to begin with the huge crowd.  Along the route they had performers singing and playing musical instruments, water stations, snacks being handed out, and (thankfully for me!) porta-potties.  I only had to stop three times all morning to pee ;)  About 20 minutes into our cruise L looked at me with a big grin and said, "I never knew it would be THIS much fun!"


We never did check to see how long this cruise was (I cannot figure out why) and we eventually realized it was 10kms long!  Lucky for us 10km was the goal (5 to the destination and 5 back) and people were encouraged to do just as much as they could.  I was VERY proud of our little troupers, they made it 9km!  L biked pretty much the entire way with about a 1km ride in the stroller and T was very content in the stroller but he ran about the last 3 or 4kms.  When we arrived at the finish line there was a group of people waiting with bells and whistles (literally) cheering for us.  We arrived on our own (not with a larger group of participants) and L was in awe that all these people were cheering just for her.  They gave her high fives and a big goody bag.  I don't know that I have ever seen her smile like that before.  She was so proud of herself.  I was so glad that I was wearing sunglasses because I was in tears watching my little girl so proud of herself for making a difference.

Ready to Make a Difference!

L was thrilled that the street was shut down the vehicles so she could ride her bike as fast as she wanted.

It wouldn't be a complete day if we didn't stop to pick some dandelions.

T was so excited to get out of his stroller.

Arriving at the finish line after 9kms!

Feeling pretty good about finishing.

All done for this year but I'm sure we will be back again next year!

It's OK, right?

Well, I am 32 weeks into this pregnancy and I think I've been doing pretty well so far.  I've re-done our kitchen, I've been the fundraising coordinator for L's preschool, I'm still coordinating our WM group at church, and I'm still working out four times a week.  I'm determined to not be a wuss this time around like I was with the other two.  When I was pregnant with L there were several complications throughout my pregnancy so I was very hesitant to do anything.  With T things went really well and I was much more relaxed during those nine months but I really let myself be lazy (I am still wearing at least 10lbs from that pregnancy).  This time around I am very relaxed about the health of our baby and I've been feeling pretty good.  I don't know if I feel so much better than my other pregnancies or if with two kids running around I have no choice but to feel good and go on with life.  However, in the last few days things have been changing a bit.  I'm exhausted.  I wake up after sleeping all night and I'm still tired.  This morning the weather was beautiful, my kids woke up happy, and I fell asleep on the couch until almost 10:00am.  By the time I got up, fed the kids, had a shower, the morning was almost over.  With such a short summer I feel the need to enjoy every single moment of summer and missing an entire morning filled me with a lot of guilt.  But then I thought about it for a while.  It's ok to have a morning every now and then where I'm too tired to do anything, right?  My kids were happy to play in the family room while I napped and they never asked to go outside and didn't even seem to notice that they missed a morning outside.  So, I think I need to let the guilt go because I have a sneaking suspicion that this will not be the last of these types of mornings.

Going Crazy

I fear that I may be going a little.....er.......a lot crazy.  This pregnancy seems to be sending me over the edge from time to time.  When I was young and pregnant with L I managed to keep my emotional state stable despite some rather scary circumstances.  I also managed to keep my wits about me when I was pregnant with T but this baby is making me crazy..... or maybe it's the other two who are making me crazy and I'm just assuming that it's this baby ;)  Have you ever found yourself super upset about something and getting super upset with your spouse and the entire time you have a running commentary through your head saying, "Why am I so upset?  This really isn't a big deal?  Stop being so upset?  Why isn't he telling me to snap out of this??"  My poor husband has to deal with me like this on a weekly basis.  Bless his patient heart!  I had a little....um....well.... I guess we could call it an episode on Sunday.  I burst into tears over something, I'm not even sure what and my husband responded by planning a date night for us on Tuesday.  My mom even surprised us by keeping the kids overnight so I could have a little time in the afternoon and the next morning to myself.  I'm not sure if my dear hubby mentioned my craziness to her but I sure do appreciate what both of them did this week.  I am going to attempt to get a little more sleep in the next few weeks and go out in the evenings for some time to myself (calling all my wonderful girlfriends, let's go out!) to try and keep the craziness at bay before I drive my poor husband to the loony bin.  Oh pregnancy, why art thou so unhinged. lol. Off to bed I go ;)

Let the Sharing Begin

Well, it may be that time.... time for the kiddos to start sharing a room.  I will admit that I have been dreading this.  One is a wonderful sleeper but the other is not so good.  Because T just turned two I was hesitant to get bunk beds so we decided to go with two low profile beds.  I picked them out months ago and then dragged hubby to IKEA to pick them up.  Hubby spent a Sunday afternoon assembling one of the beds with two little "helpers".  Once the first bed was assembled we quickly realised that two beds were not going to work in that bedroom.  Once both were in there would only be about 6 inches between the beds.  Hmmmm, not exactly ideal.... or functional.  So, my poor hubby had to dis-assemble and drag the beds all the way back to the store.  Poor guy spent the entire day dealing with those beds with nothing to show for it. 

After that little "episode" I finally admitted that bunk beds may be our best option.  So, off to the store we went.  After looking around we found an amazing deal on a nice set of bunk beds that also split apart to become two separate beds.  So, each kid got a new bed in their room.  Here's my theory: we will teach T to sleep in his bed before we move him in with L so that neither kid will lose sleep.  Well, that theory is seriously being tested and not holding up very well.  It's been two months and T is still not staying in bed very well.  Bedtime lasts two to three hours every night.... for the last two months! Ahhhhh.  The strange thing is that nap time is going fine.  Why are kids so weird??  When he does sleep, he is sooooo adorable in his bed.  He looks like the sweetest littlest boy. (insert heart melting here).


The last week seems to have marked a turnaround in T's bedtime.  After we read him stories and give him cuddles in his rocking chair we put him in his bed and leave the room.  He then calls for us for about 10 minutes before he simply goes quiet.  When we check on him later he is never in his bed!  I found him curled up on his rocking chair once, then we found him on top of his baby gate and now we have been finding him on the floor.  When we find him we put him in his bed and he usually sleeps the entire night except for one time when he woke up and went back to the floor!

So, we have a new theory now.  Maybe sharing L's room will make him feel safe and secure enough to sleep soundly in his bed.... at least, that's the theory.  If you know me you have probably noticed that I need to re-decorate a room any time things change.  I have planned the kids new room out, bought all the bits and pieces to put it all together.  So, now I just have to find the time and motivation........

(Winter) Spring Cleaning

Ok, so, it has been a LONG time since I've posted anything on my blog.  Yikes.  I basically skipped writing anything during the winter months...... oh wait, it's still winter here!  Yesterday I was feeling so excited at seeing lots of grass in our yard and the melt seemed to really be gaining momentum.  Then, I woke up to snow everywhere and it is still snowing here at 3:30 in the afternoon.  So I figured I could cry (that was my instinct) or I could just make the best of it.  Thankfully I started my day off with a good workout and healthy breakfast so I had a positive attitude ;)  I've decided that I am going to do some spring cleaning while I wait for spring.  Every day I am going to tackle one room in the house and clean it, get rid of anything we don't use, fix anything that is broken and organize the heck out of it.  I've been wanting to do this for a while but I needed a little push.  I guess 5cm of snow in mid-April was that push.

So, today I tackled our en suite and bedroom.  I am embarrassed to say that I took out two kitchen sized garbage bags full of stuff we don't use, boxes left behind, and broken things out of our tiny little en suite.  Seriously, this room is SMALL!  I am amazed at how we can hoard things.  It feels sooooo good to get rid of all that stuff and know that the only things left in that room are things that we use on a regular basis.

Then I moved on to the top of our dressers and my night table.  Those things were not too bad but I was too afraid of my husbands night table to even go near it.  Seriously, I will not even post a picture because it is so disgusting.  The two drawers are overflowing with everything from books to scrap paper to batteries to...... well, I'm not sure what most of it even is.  Guess what he's doing tonight ;)  Hopefully there is a hockey game on the radio that he can listen to because I think he may be there all evening.

Tomorrow is a busy day so I don't think any cleaning/organizing will get done but I think I may tackle the linen closet and the kids bedroom closets the next day.  Wish me luck!