My first rag quilt

It's not perfect, but it's certainly a step up from my first sewing project! I had just the right amount of this flowery fabric to make a small quilt, and it was a good practice run for other quilts I may make in the future. I used a little bit of minky, which was tricky, but it's so soft and too hard to resist! I basically spent every night this week cutting fabric, sewing, etc. I just set up in front of the TV, spread out my stuff, and took advantage of the boys being in bed (or in their room, at least). And with David being gone, I didn't feel bad about spending so much time working on things. It's been great! (I am really glad he's finally coming home, though. He's been in Spain for almost 2 weeks!)

As I teach myself to sew I'm definitely learning from my mistakes... I'm already thinking about my next project and what I will do differently. I'm sticking with blankets and burp cloths for a while - not quite ready to tackle dresses or anything quite yet - but I'm really enjoying it. And the idea of actually using them with Baby Girl in a couple months is the best part! :)

A whole new kind of bedtime

A couple weeks ago we graduated Matt to a toddler bed. I found this fun car bed to ease the transition, and while he really likes it, we're still definitely in the transition stage! He used to go to sleep so well in his crib, even in the same room as Bryan. It's the newfound freedom of being able to get out whenever he pleases that's causing trouble now. It certainly doesn't help having both boys share a room AND having all their toys in there with them... The room usually looks like a tornado's hit by the time they finally do go to sleep. The mess drives me nuts - that and the playing, laughing, jumping, etc. that lasts for at least an hour now after "lights out." If I stick my head in to remind them that they need to go to bed, Matt runs over to his bed from wherever he was playing the room and flops down into a kneeling position with just his upper body on the mattress. He grins, of course, like it's all a fun game and only scoots himself up an inch or two if I yell at him to really lay down. Bryan, of course, lays innocently on his bed, though I know in these situation he's seldom as innocent as he seems...

It may be mean, but I do put up a gate at the door to at least keep Matt from running all through the house. Of course as soon as I put it up Bryan suddenly has to pee or Matt somehow drops his pacifier onto the other side and needs my help getting it back to him. Right now Bryan's yelling that Matt's poopy and stinking up the room... I'd really love to just ignore the yells and not have to heft my pregnant body over that gate one more time tonight, but at the same time, how can I resist this face? :) Bedtime, I'm sure, is never going to be the same again, so I think I'll just get some earplugs and let David take over the bedtime shift. There's only so much chaos in a day's time that I can take!

Learning how to sew - finally!

David gave me this sewing machine 2 Christmases ago, and just yesterday I got up the nerve to take it out of the box and figure out how to use it. :) My motivation was to make some baby blankets for the baby. After looking at so many cute things on etsy.com, I decided I might as well see if I could make some things on my own!

So yesterday morning I took the boys w/ me to Joann's to pick out some cute girly fabrics. We came across this tractor fabric that both boys really liked and I decided that I'd try and make yet another "lovey" for Matt as kind of a practice run w/ my new sewing machine. I've sewn things before, but always w/ someone telling me what to do over my shoulder. It was a whole different story on my own! I read the machine manual and watched the instructional DVD several times before finally beginning to sew. I used tricot on one side so it was a little bit tricky, and the final product sure isn't pretty, but I at least got a feel for my machine and felt so domestic in the process! I'm hoping that with some more practice I'll be able to make some things I'm actually pleased with. Right now I'm just happy that I can tell David his gift is finally out of the box!

Sidenote: Although Matt was excited about the fabric in the store, he won't have anything to do w/ the lovey. I can't say I haven't tried...

Bryan's new friend

So Bryan seems to have an imaginary friend! His name is Don, and he's mostly Bryan's phone friend, apparently. Actually, according to Bryan, they're co-workers at State Farm and have neighboring office squares (cubicles). Bryan talks to Don numerous times throughout the day, usually to give him an important message, or let him know he'll be at the "office" soon. Bryan takes the whole work thing pretty seriously - he insisted on wearing a button-down shirt yesterday because that's what "everyone wears to work." Yes, of course.

The other day Don waited in the van while we ran into the grocery store, but other than that one time he's always only been on the other side of the imaginary phone line. :) I have know idea where the name Don comes from, but at least it's not "Fookie" or some of the other names he likes to suggest for our baby. At first I was a little worried that Don was an old guy, but Bryan says he's a "big boy" like him. And it's sweet because Bryan often ends his imaginary phone conversations w/ "I love you! Bye!"

Kids are just so funny. It's so entertaining to see Bryan's imagination at work! As far as I'm concerned, Don can stick around for as long as he (or Bryan) would like. :)

My Valentines

I know I'm a few days late, but I wanted to say how lucky I am for the precious men in my life. I couldn't ask for sweeter, more entertaining, more loving Valentines!

A little boy's paradise

Just during our 5-minute trip to the library today we saw numerous tractors, trucks, construction vehicles, cows, horses, llamas, and even a couple of trains. Not many people would call where we live a paradise of any kind, but as far as my boys are concerned, it's the coolest place on earth. :)

My solution for a clingy toddler

I didn't think I could do it w/ my preggo belly, but I carried him for close to an hour while I got stuff done around the house. It was great!

What's new?

Well, not much. I haven't taken any pictures this last week, and that's how I usually tell if anything interesting has happened. I'll go ahead and write about a few things anyway.

We've had sick kiddos (again), but everyone seems to be doing okay. Matt struggles with his respiratory problems but I think for now it's under control. I've miraculously avoided getting sick this time (knock on wood), and I'm hoping it stays that way! I'm feeling achy enough as it is from being pregnant and don't want to deal w/ a cold on top of that!

Aside from the now more prevalent achiness, the pregnancy is going along really well. I'm in the last trimester, which is encouraging, at least! I can tell I'm getting bigger because my maternity clothes that I thought would fit me through the end are suddenly feeling a bit tight! That could be due to the huge number of muffins and other things I've been eating lately, thinking that it's all okay since I am eating for 2, right? Well, it's a good thing I don't have to get out of the house much these days so I can just lounge around in my stretchy sweats. That's about all that's comfy anymore.

I did start thinking last night that I need to stop wishing so badly for these next months to go quickly since once Baby Girl is here things are going to change so much! I don't want to miss out on sweet times w/ my boys while I'm anxiously awaiting our new addition. Matt, who still seems like such a baby to me, is only going to be my baby for a few more months, and then he'll suddenly be the other "big boy" in the family. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Speaking of big boys, Bryan never stops surprising me with the things he learns and does. He's LOVING his preschool classes, and I couldn't be happier. I enjoy hearing the random pieces of info he shares w/ me out of the blue like, "Do you know we have spots on our tongue that help us know if something's sweet or sour?" He told me the other day after finishing career week that he wants to go to the "barbie" to get his hair cut. "Barbies" are girls that cut hair, much like the boy barbers, apparently. The ultimate experience for him lately was getting to talk to a real policeman and sit in the police car and push buttons. He wants to be a police man when he's older, along w/ a Home Depot worker and State Farm agent (that last one to please David, mostly). :) Outside of preschool he continues to make us laugh with his interest in fashion. He changes clothes four or five times a day and has recently started spiking his hair mohawk style. We have to be very careful when taking off or putting on a shirt to not mess up the hair! At least it's better than how he was doing it before - brushing it straight down on his forehead "Dumb and Dumber" style. I think he's cute no matter how he does his hair, though I have to draw the line when he asks if he can wear socks w/ his sandals! He's dying for warmer weather so he can wear summer clothes.

We were excited to have David come back from his last week in Arizona on Friday. While he's going to miss being with his buddies down there, I'm not going to miss having him gone! I had some rough moments last week where my patience was a little too thin. Two nights in a row I went to bed feeling like a rotten mother for yelling or reacting badly to a not-so-bad situation (like bath water splashed onto the floor).

I realized/remembered some things about myself, though. I'm a much happier mom when I take the time to play with and appreciate my kids. Also, things go a little more smoothly when I have church music playing in the background. :) It's the first thing I put on in the mornings now to start the day off right. And taking time to talk w/ friends is a huge help for me! Last week I enjoyed taking the kids to our weekly neighborhood playgroup, and I also got the chance to visit w/ a couple of old friends I hadn't seen in a while. It was so great! I love having adult conversations in the middle of the day and not just at night when David's around. And moms just have a way of understanding each other!

So that about sums things up. I was recently called as the Primary Chorister in our ward and have spent a lot of time finding ideas and figuring out how to teach the huge number of kids in our ward (60 something are under 8 years old!). It's been a little stressful, but I'm enjoying it so far. I still have a lot to learn and plenty of adjusting to do, though. That and a couple good books have kept me busy when I haven't been chasing after the kids.

I wish I had cute pictures to post - maybe once the kids aren't covered in drool and boogers we'll be able to take some more. Posts are always much more fun w/ pics!

Yummy healthy eating

This past month David and I have been making a big effort to eat healthier. For him, it's mostly to lose some weight and lower cholesterol and so far he's doing an amazing job! I never thought I'd see him eat so much oatmeal and so many veggies. Knowing that he'll have a State Farm picture plastered everywhere has been good motivation for him. :)

I've been focusing mostly on cooking more healthy things for the kids - using more fruits and veggies and cutting down on sugar, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, etc. It's been good to take a closer look at the things we used to eat all the time and realize that there are better alternatives. I've gotten lots of great ideas and recipes from some great blogs... My favorites are my friend Rebecca's, (who's a master at cooking w/ whole foods and natural sweeteners) and Super Healthy Kids (has easy-to-implement ideas and recipes). I'm also still a fan of hiding veggie purees in meals we're already accustomed to. We had ground turkey taco meat the other day w/ sweet potato baby food in it, and even I couldn't tell a difference!

Snacking has been the hardest thing to change for us. Thankfully my kids love fruit and eat berries every chance they get! I've found that with lots of things if I act like it's a treat they'll think of it that way (raisins, yogurt, apples and peanut butter...) It definitely helps that they're still young and don't know any better. :) My new favorite snacks are homemade granola bars and sugar-free fruit/veggie muffins. I got the granola bar recipe from the Super Healthy Kids site, and while I'm still figuring out how to get them just right (don't overcook them!), my kids love them. They taste like oatmeal cookies, but without the fat and less sugar. (I actually use half of what the recipe calls for, and I think they'd be fine w/out any sugar at all.) They're also a ton cheaper than store-bought granola bars, which is great.

I've always loved quick breads and muffins, and I've been experimenting w/ different muffin recipes this past month. I had really been enjoying these pumpkin apple muffins (I cut way back on the sugar, used whole wheat flour and applesauce in place of oil), but today I made bran muffins from Rebecca's site and I think they're going to be our new favorites! The great thing about these is that you make a ton of batter and keep it in the fridge and then just add whatever additional ingredients you need to get the flavor you want whenever you want a batch. Today we made the banana chocolate chip muffins and they were fabulous! (I'm eating one right now, actually - super moist and full of flavor.) I'm excited to try all the different variations - thanks, Becca!!

Don't get me wrong. I still have a crazy weakness for marshmallows, cold cereal, nachos, Chinese food... and my kids will gobble down junk food faster than anything. But I like doing what I can when I can to help us be a little healthier, especially when doing so can taste so good! If anyone else has yummy healthy recipes, send them my way. :)