We were blessed with a new tv for Christmas which led to a major room switch in our house. Joe has always determined we would never put a tv in our room as to not spoil "our time" together. So with the option out of putting the tv in our room we had to come up with another solution. Our office and playroom needed to switch.
Joe was home this week on vacation, so we hired a couple movers for the big stuff and made the switch. We sold some items on Craigslist and bought a new tv stand and a couch with a pull out bed.
I'm still getting used to the big move but overall I think it was a great one! The kids love the extra space upstairs and we like the convienience of having our office stuff downstairs. I'm really looking forward to when the kids are a couple years older and can have all their friends upstairs while we get some adult time downstairs. But we are enjoying watching them grow now and love exploring in the big room.
Judah gives you a tour:
I wonder if I'll start enjoying my time at home more now? If you need a playdate I'm always open on Monday's and Friday's! Come play with us.
I have to admit that my sister-in-law, Lisa, got me addicted to this siteelfster.com - which allows you to create gift wishlists and will even draw names for gift exchanges.
About 3 or 4 years ago our parents decided we were old enough to buy presents for our cousins in a gift exchange format. Last year was the first we used elfster. It's a great tool for drawing names, creating lists, setting price limits, and connecting with those in your exchange. It worked perfectly for our family too. We have 11 people in our cousin exchange including all the new spouses- (and 4 kids which are all get spoiled this year). Then we decided to do it amongst my siblings/spouses as well. The system worked great last year. It paired us all up, we stuck to a $20 limit for our cousins and a $40 limit in our immediate family and all got and gave items that we wanted. It made the shopping a ton easier too.
This year I had my cousin Caleb. He wished for the "Hunger Games" new book. I looked it up on amazon and they had the whole series (3 books total) that I could buy in our $20 price limit. He just texted me the other day that he finished the first book in 2 days and is on to the second one...success right? My cousin Brittan had me and she got me a super cute shirt from Nordstrom's that I have already worn...I'm wearing it in this picture with my niece Ella (not the best picture- i was trying a new technique with my hair that Lisa told me about and I don't have any makeup on...):
The site also works for Birthday wishes too. If you are a hard person to shop for...I totally suggest making wishes on elfster to make it easier for your friends/family and make you a happy receiver too...
If you have time- go check out the site and see if it's useful for your fam!
My two-year old has decided he wants to be a baby again and get special attention in the middle of the night. He wakes up and walks into our room demanding a bottle aka milk around 2am. My two-month old on the other hand sleeps from about 8pm-5am...I should be a happy mom getting lots of sleep, but Judah thinks otherwise in the sleep department.
I think I've mentioned before, I'm pretty sure his love language is physical touch. He loves cuddling and being close to whoever will give him attention. Good news for me since my love language is the same- but bad news since he is no longer confined to a crib which is much easier for the "cry it out" method.
We have tried lots of different suggestions, and I've received lots of great mom advice- but I think I'm officially going for the door lock at this point. Child abuse? I think not. I'm pretty sure it's going to be my sanity at this point. Great for tantrums, bed and nap times.
I'll let you know our progress once they are purchased and installed. My sweet little boy who gets his way now (due to my exhaustion in the middle of the night) is in for a surprise once he attempts his first escape.
My mother & father-in-law allowed us to get newborn photos taken for our Christmas present this year...I absolutely loved them all and will cherish them for life!
Thank you to Tori Wible for your patience to capture these precious moments.
Shutterfly is giving me a $10 credit for posting the card in the blog...so enjoy!
I'm laying in bed on my phone and just discovered the blogger app. I'm thinking it might help me stay a little more updated with this whole thing.
My two kids are crashed in bed and I'm waiting for my husband to get home from a late work deal. So- this is my first lame blog after having my beautiful little girl, Ireland Laine.
Ireland is perfect in every way- a great addition to our family and another huge life adjustment at the same time. I'm pretty sure she is completing our family (meaning we are probably done having children) but they always say now is probably the wrong time to evaluate that situation.
Stay tuned for a more interesting topic to come- but for now...I'm enjoying this app and enjoying our newest addition!
Well, I've only got 7 days left to prepare for a big change in our family. Ireland Laine will be arriving on Thursday, September 22 (I'm getting induced!). I'm ready to not have my big belly swinging around in front of me anymore - it's starting to really get in the way of things I want to do.
So, thanks to my wonderful husband and amazing mom, we made some progress in Ireland's room. I was extremely blessed at her shower, and was able to take a lot of goodies home with me to decorate and update the more boyish nursery to girly frills (thanks to Aubrey Stewart for her craftiness).
Here's a look at our improved nursery:
We just added bows to the curtains (which are really shower curtains but it tied in the Dr. Seuss theme and added some color to that side of the room)...my mom updated the lamp shade with left over fabric and rosettes from the shower...and my sister-in-law Alicia created a bow frame for me that matches all my wild colors!
An upclose look at the frame:
An upclose look at the lamp shade:
The three circle rugs are from ikea ($10 a piece) and cover up three windows that used to let in a ton of light (a brilliant idea my mom came up with). We then hung the "Ireland" banner across them for that personal touch.
We switched out the blue changing pad with a red one:
Probably my favorite part of the room. The "Izzy" letters wrapped in yarn and the hanging fabric that just gives it that girly feel. I still might paint the knobs on the dresser, just not in the mood for another project quite yet.
Well, in just a few short days we will be asking for a table for 4 instead of 3. Excited about our growing family. Feeling ready to meet our little girl!
There are so many names for pacifiers out there...each family has their own catchy name and a good reason for it as well. Ours just happens to be "Wuba"...it's short for the brand of pacifiers we have bought: Wubanubs.
My sister-in-law got us addicted when she picked up the first one at Starlight Starbright in Folsom. Judah took to the pacifier right away and this particular brand was great because they are hard to lose with the animal attached. My doctor warned us to get rid of it before he turned 18 months, but we didn't listen. He told us it would be harder because Judah would be able to communicate what he wanted, throw tantrums easier and the longer you wait, the more addicted they become. He was probably right, but I wasn't willing to give it up at the time because Judah was still teething and it was one of those "easier said than done" kind of things. Judah also is my first, so he's probably more spoiled and catered to than needed...but it's what we chose to do. Poor Ireland, not sure if she'll get the same special treatment :).
Over Judah's first year of life we collected 5 different wubanubs (some we bought, some from grandparents). In the last few months, we were down to 2 (I did lose a couple and he chewed through one as well). We accidentally left Judah's last working wubanub at daycare on Thursday of this past week and decided to maybe attempt to pull him out of the bad habit. He kept asking where it was and finally it stuck that it was left at daycare. We have a couple back up pacifiers without the stuffed animal attachment that we were using for naps and bedtime...but on Sunday, we finally misplaced all the backups as well. So we went cold turkey (cause neither Joe or I were going to go out and buy a replacement at this point). No wuba for naptime or bedtime. He didn't really cry for it...just whined a bunch and talked our ears off. This kid is a talker and becoming a parrot as well. It probably took him an extra hour of talking about where wuba went to finally fall asleep.
He woke up about 1 hour earlier than normal and whined for wuba again. He probably would have fallen back asleep had we given it to him, but we bit the bullet and woke up at 6:30am to much more talking. He hasn't really stopped talking since.
I headed out for a dr. appointment this morning and upon my return I found a pacifier in his mouth. He had dug in a toy chest and found one that we thought was long gone. So, I took the advice from a facebook friend and we went to the street to give wuba to Jesus attached to some balloons. We told Judah that Jesus needed his last wuba to give to a new baby. Maybe even baby Ireland would get it from Jesus. He didn't really cry, just looked a little dazed. We've been repeating all afternoon that wuba is in heaven with Jesus cause he needed it for another baby. Take a look at the video here:
In the car ride he brought it up again, wuba is in heaven with Jesus for another baby to have:
Luckily, Judah loves falling asleep in the car, and we timed his nap perfectly today to make that happen. He is out like a light right now, and we are praying that he takes a nice long one without any random wake ups.
This pretty much is day 2...and I think he's taking it like a champ. Now it's up to Joe and I to make peace with all the extra chatter. At least he's a good conversationalist.
Maybe a Part 2 to follow...I'll keep you updated on the progress.
What's to come in my everyday life: 1. I'm officially getting induced on September 22 if Ireland decides to stay put until then! 2. I'm moving offices at work as soon as a new desk arrives (I've got 1 week to prepare to go on maternity leave) 3. I'll let you know how Judah does at daycare without a wuba. 4. We'll let you know how Judah does with the transition of his baby sister's arrival. 5. I most post the post-laundry party blog...but for now just view pictures on facebook.
