Projects...

I LOVE making things. LOVE IT. Probably because I feel so productive and have something to show for my efforts. :) Below are the most recent projects I've completed.

We were short two stockings this Christmas and I just happened to have some cute, but very worn out pajama pants... (These got done just in time... on Christmas Eve!)

Growing up we had an advent calendar that I loved. I did my best to recreate it and made one for my sister too (though her's turned out much better than this one).

A sister in our Primary presidency had a baby shower last month and I felt compelled to make a quilt... mostly to utilize my new sewing table (which works totally awesome by the way).

My sister came up last weekend and we all went out to dinner for Valentine's Day. Instead of ordering dessert I decided to try to make it at home. Has anyone had the Molten Chocolate Cake at Chili's? That delectable secret is no longer a secret. Oh man it was GOOD!

Now I've made bread and rolls before. I love to eat homemade bread but I never get it to turn out quite right. Last week I made bread all the way from scratch. From scratch, I mean I ground my wheat into flour and then made the bread. Ooo, it was good. I think we ate a whole loaf the first day. :)

And lastly, around September last year I found out one of my best and long time friends was having a baby, due around Christmas. So in October I bought material, cut out my pieces, and... did nothing. For FOUR months! I kept changing my mind about the layout and just plain didn't do anything about it. But last Friday I finally finished it and got it sent off. Hooray! Though not my finest sewing job, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I especially love the flannel lobsters on the back. :)

The question now is, what should I work on next?? I might try making some bookshelves but we'll see.

R.I.P. or not....

I jinxed it. Because I wrote that Isis had a WEEK of awesome sleep, that night and to date, she has reverted back to the exhausting/irritating/unexplainable sleep pattern. SO... this is my last post ever about her sleep. You can safely assume that we're all tired. And I'll just assume that when she does sleep through the night it is too good to last. :)

I just want my headstone to emphsize "RESTING in peace."

Valentine's Day

Jeremy always says, "why do we need to celebrate Valentine's Day when everyday is Valentine's day at our house." And, really, that's pretty true. But in honor of "the day of love" I have to post about the two greatest loves of my life.

(how perfect that her face was framed by a heart!)

My first few months into motherhood I wasn't sure I liked it. (I certainly didn't love it.) I kept thinking of everything I was missing out on or couldn't do anymore. I hadn't realized how drastically my life was going to change after Isis came.

But I didn't know then how completely I would fall in love with my sweet, perfect little girl. She truly is the absolute joy of my life. I love her giggles and sweet singing and her attempts (and successes) at speaking. I love her contagious smile, and her little nose, and her tiny active hands, and her strikingly beautiful eyes. I love the quite moments I get to hold her close as I rock her to sleep. I love watching her play. I love her excitement for life and everything she does - from going to the park to jumping to taking a bath to getting to drink the milk out of her cereal bowl. Isis embodies all the good, happy, peaceful things of life. I love her more than I ever knew was possible.

And, of course, my wonderful husband!
Jeremy is undeniably my best friend. He's seen me at my best and worst and loves me anyway. He makes me laugh every day. I love how we met. I love how he loves being at home with his family more than any other activity. I love watching him be such a good dad. I love that he is such a good example of patience and kindness. I love spending time with him! I've discovered that there is nothing in the world so comforting as being wrapped in the arms of my loving husband. Jeremy is the love of my life and my eternal companion and I couldn't be more blessed.

I AM SO BLESSED!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all my family and friends! Really, what is life without people to love? :) Enjoy the day!

Ha Ha Ha, the Joke's on Me

Well, first a HUGE thank you to everyone for their suggestions and even more for your sympathy. Sometimes it's easier to get through things just knowing you're not alone and others can commiserate with you.
Having said that I should now note that since my sleeping nightmare post, starting that very night in fact, Isis has slept through the night. The whole night. FOR TWELVE HOURS!!! EVERY night for the last week. I didn't even get to put into practice any of the suggestions I received. Wow. I guess she just needed to take her sweet time and do it when she was ready. Interesting timing though. :)
That got me thinking, if I just need to vent on my blog to get my problems solved I've got a list I could start on.... :)
But again thank you to for your help, concern, and kind words. Now I have resources to draw on if it starts up again or happens with the next kid. :)

Help, Please...

Last night as I lay awake (after getting up with Isis) I decided to solicit my friends for advice for three areas in need of help in my life. However, now I can only remember two of them, so we'll go from there. If you have suggestions, experience, or help, please do!
These explanations will be lengthy so I feel I'm giving the complete picture; so you understand the situation and my reasoning.
1. I was under the impression that once kids learned to sleep at night, that's what they do. I can understand occasional night time wakings (being sick, wet diaper, being startled/bad dream). But isn't that the EXCEPTION?? We're lucky if we get ONE night out of the week where Isis doesn't wake up. Three nights ago she woke up three times during the night, one hour right after the other (not enough time, by the way, for me to actually fall back asleep). So my questions are: **Why is she doing this? Her diapers are not soaked, she's not sick....
**How do I stop her from doing it? I have tried letting her "cry it out." I hate it, but I've done it. Isis will seriously cry and cry and cry for HOURS (I think her record is 3). She does NOT cry herself back to sleep. And she's not really crying. She's making a loud crying/ screaming/ moaning sound so that we'll (I'll) come get her. It's gotten to the point where I'm so tired if I close her door and mine I can fall asleep again.... but then I feel guilty. And during the week, I can't just let her scream because Jeremy has to get his sleep (the little that he does) so that he can go to work. **Where is the compromise?
**Is she EVER going to stop doing this?

And while I'm on the topic of sleep, how much is she supposed to get? Am I a bad/lazy mom if I don't want her to get up and start our day at 5:00am? Is that normal? If it is, I'll readjust my mindset. But sleeping from 8:30pm to 4:50am doesn't seem right. Where's that ideal kid that sleeps 12 hours? Definitely not in this house. I try to keep her on a fairly consistent schedule but... here, look at her schedule and tell me what you think or that I should fix:
Somewhere between 3am and 5am - wake up; I put her back to sleep
8am - awake, read books/play for 1/2 hour
8:30-9am- breakfast; then play at the park, run errands, whatever
Now Isis takes a nap anywhere between 11am and 1pm and sleeps for two hours. This is the next predicament because when do I give her lunch? If she goes to sleep at 11, she just ate breakfast two hours ago. But if she falls asleep before I get lunch to her, she could not eat lunch until 3! Isis is tricky too because she never says or acts like she's hungry.
After her nap we play some more and do whatever we need to do.
7:30pm we eat dinner; yes, it's late but we eat when Jeremy gets home (like right as he walks in the door)
8pm - bath, scripture reading & family prayer, then to bed

Alrighty, what do I fix? Good grief maybe I just need to go to a parenting class. Funny thing is, I took one in college.... when I DIDN'T have any kids! Yeah, that was helpful...
Oh, if you have any great ideas for kids' lunches (like a 2 year old) I NEED them! I'm stuck in a rut of peanut butter & jelly or grilled cheese. We need a change.

Okay, that's enough for one post. If you managed to read this far, you are a true friend. :) I also hope that means you will try to help me out. (p.s.- be gentle, in my tired/emotional state I really don't need to hear what a crummy job I'm doing. I just need some suggestions... or sympathy :) ) Thanks in advance.

A GOLDEN Birthday!

Jeremy turned 30 today, on the 30th!! He had to wait so long for this golden birthday. :)

THIRTY! Wow!! He's not sure how he feels about it.

His awesome cookie cake he decorated.

Daddy with his biggest fan (after me, of course). :)

It was a quiet, low-key birthday but Jeremy seemed content. Jeremy's sister watched Isis during her nap while I took him on a picnic and we played frisbee at the park. (Ah, the good old days...)

I just have the most wonderful husband and feel so blessed to be his companion!! He is a fantastic, fun, and involved father; a hard working, dedicated provider; and a funny, attractive, insightful, wise, kind, loving and my very best friend. Happy 30th Birthday my amazing Jeremy!!!

Amputation!!!....well, almost

The adventure this last week was on Friday morning. Jeremy and I awoke suddenly at 6:30 to Isis crying and screaming. Jeremy got up to check on her and when, after a minute, she screamed louder (as if in pain) I jumped up to see what was going on. I found Isis sitting in her crib with her legs through the bars... up to her thighs.

She continued to cry as we both tried to maneuver her legs back through but to no avail. Why couldn't we push them back the way they came in? She had after all got them through in the first place. Her knees just plain didn't fit back through. Seriously, how did she get them through the first time?? Anyway, she had on zipped, footy pajamas so we couldn't take those off to get her legs slippery.

(Still trying to shove them back through.)

After 35 minutes of trying, and racking our (tired) brains, and Isis screaming in agony, we concluded there was no other choice but to cut the bars off the crib. Jeremy went to get the jigsaw and I called my mom and explained the situation. (Moms are usually helpful in situations like this... you know, having been through everything already.)

She said this actually hadn't happened to her before but she suggested we cut off Isis pajamas and slick her up with soap and water. Man, did I feel retarded. Yeah, let's chop up our expensive crib... but the thought of cutting $5 pajamas didn't even cross my mind. Oh, well, I guess that's what happens when you're tired and your baby's crying and you can't do anything about it. So I cut off the pajamas and soaped up her swollen little legs and in another 10 minutes after more painful screams, we slipped her legs back through the crib slats. She has bruises on both knees but is otherwise fine. PHEW! (Now that it's over, it is amusing. But it certainly wasn't then.)

She was quite happy to be out of her crib after that.

Here's to the drama of parenthood, Cheers!

Best Gift EVER!!!

This year Jeremy gave me... a broken table! An old sewing table right from the thrift store - scratches, broken parts and everything! Of course, part (well, the main part) of the thrill was the project that awaited me in fixing it up, which was Jeremy's intention to start with. :) Yes, he is a good husband.
It wasn't in TOO bad of shape to begin with...

No, better time to get to work than the day after Christmas, right? My new jig saw came in handy too! I do love power tools.

Filling in other people's holes when they tried to fit their sewing machine to the table.

Priming it in the backyard.

And by New Year's Day I had a brand "new" sewing table! Ta Da! Isn't it awesome? I love it!

Now my sewing machine is attached (I can fold the sewing machine down and have a regular desk) and is waiting for me to start my next project. :)

I love the new handles and knobs.

Jeremy was hoping it would take a little bit longer... but I couldn't stop!! I had to work on it everyday during Isis' nap. I just had to. :)

So hip hip hooray for an amazingly thoughtful husband who knows me well enough to give me a broken table for Christmas! I'm a lucky girl! ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas to all our dear friends and family!!

Dressed to woo the Nursery boys! :)

We got about 4 inches of snow, which meant we HAD to go play in it. Only problem, no snow pants. But here, ladies and gentlemen, are budget snow pants. Yea for plastic bags and duck tape.

And a budget sled... but it didn't work so well.

So we built a snowman just her size.

Isis found this giant snowball and didn't want to get off. :)

We made a trip to the Ethel M Chocolate Factory desert garden Christmas display to enjoy the lights. They were beautiful.Isis loved watching the planes fly over us. (We were right next to the airport.)

I gave Isis her 2nd haircut. I still have to figure out how to do bangs but the back of her hair turned out pretty cute.
Isis has found new play places around the house. Her favorite is the cupboard. For lots more of our fun in the last two weeks check out our family pictures.

We hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Christmas and that you were able to make many happy memories with those you love.

AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOHOO!!!! It snowed AGAIN today! In fact it is STILL snowing. AND it stuck (is sticking) to the gound and every where! Yipee!! Here are pictures to prove it!

Our back yard

Right behind our back wall
And those were 3 hours ago and don't do all the beautiful snow justice! I'll post more tomorrow when it's light again and we can see what happens over night!! What a great almost-Christmas surprise! I love it!

"LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!"