Hunger Games

So I finally caved and asked for a Kindle for my birthday, despite my dream of having a very large library and my kicking and screaming my husband got me a Kindle Fire. And despite my previous reservations with the electronic reader I actually kind of love it. My advice to new mothers especially if breast feeding is to buy one of these. I can read while feeding Riley and I can even get on the internet.

The first book that I decided to read was of course the Hunger Games. There is so much hype going on with this book and I could borrow the book without actually paying for it. I didn't want to pay for a book that was possibly like the Twilight books, sorry for all you Twilight lovers out there. I LOVED the book. As my cousin Christine put it "I am pissed I am out here hanging out with the family rather than in the bedroom finishing that book!" I completely agree, my 15 minute breastmilk pumping breaks at work have become much more enjoyable for me and I can't help but want to sneak in a couple more minutes just to get as far as possible in the book. The book captured me and kind of disgusted me at the same time but I couldn't put it down. And finally the time has come where I can finally borrow the second book for free on my Kindle on the 1st and believe me as soon as I can I will, I can't wait to see what happens with Katniss and Gale and Peeta in the crazy love triangle and what the Capitol will do to her, oh man so many possibilities!

I guess my raving about the book was convincing enough for my husband to be curious, since he doesn't read many fiction novels, that he wanted to go see the movie on his birthday. We went last night and although I liked the book more than the movie, as usual, the movie was still pretty great. I loved hearing all the girls giggling and some of the girls behind us kept saying "ugh how come they left that part out!" It was pretty funny to listen to. So my review of the second book will be coming as soon as I get my hands on it, I have no doubts that it will be as great as the first!

Patrick's 30th Birthday

So yesterday was my wonderful husbands 30th birthday! Despite his anxiety over "being old" he lived and I think had a pretty good day. We did have to do some yard work at both houses but his mom came for a visit and took up to lunch and then we drove out to show her our land. Then my parents called and wanted to watch Riley for the night so we went to dinner with them at the Brik, where Riley got to sit in a high chair for the first time, and then they watched Riley while we went to a movie...the whole movie, first one in over 5 months! All in all I would call it a pretty relaxing and fun day.

1st time in a high chair



Work was weird this week. I worked Friday and it was busy with some interesting patients and one code. Surprisingly enough the code survived and I heard is recovering well, not something that we get to see too often when someone comes in with CPR in progress and no pulse. I was actually supposed to work all weekend but somehow my schedule got messed up and all of the overtime hours I was supposed to work wasn't put on the revised schedule so surprise I get the whole weekend off with my family! I, to say the least, was not disappointed, especially since I got this picture of Riley ready a book from Grandma Kay, made me want to go home so bad.

Riley also started eating apples 3 days ago and...she LOVES them! Thank goodness, she wasn't too fond of the rice cereal after the first time. So one day we went to Andy's and picked up some fresh fruit and we went home and made some applesauce for Riley to have the next morning. The first time I fed it to her I was running a bit late for work and didn't realize until over half of it was gone that she was eating it cold. Oops! But she didn't seem to mind. The next day I heated it up and she ended up eating more of it so that was good. And this morning I added cinnamon and she seemed to like that also! We are going to go get some more fruit today and make some more so that we can freeze it for later. Riley loves to help in the kitchen so that will keep her occupied for some of the day.
Riley also started sitting up by herself with very little help. We sat in the yard and played with her taggies ball for almost an hour and for about 30 minutes of that she was sitting up by herself. It scares me how big she is getting and how fast the time is going by. She is such a big girl and so full of life, it just makes me so happy to be around her!



Very eventful Saturday

Oh my was yesterday eventful. The morning started out wonderful, we decided to feed Riley her first bit of rice cereal. I got out my blender and made it myself, not to hard and kind of fun. I may actually get used to this cooking business if I know it is for my babies! Riley had a blast eating, she was in such a great mood. However it only lasted for a few bites and she still kind of has the thrusting tongue reflex she tried really hard to get that food down, it was hilarious and we were sure to document the whole thing of course!

Then the rest of the day I had to keep Patrick's surprise party a secret which I'm not very great at doing so we mowed the lawns at both houses, finally got someone to come over and look at the house and I think we actually have a couple people interested now! I guess all we needed was warm weather. Riley loved hanging out outside and watching Abby play fetch could entertain her for hours. Nana also came over and hung out with Riley for a bit before she went to Walmart, funny thing she didn't really need to go to Walmart, good excuse to see Riley huh grandma! We went to Walmart anyhow to get something for a diaper clutch that I sewed yesterday, that post is coming soon!

Then we got ready to head to El Sombrero for "dinner with my parents since my dad has the night off." It was actually Patrick's surprise party and my dad didn't have the night off he was at work already. We drove up and I said my parents aren't even here lets go return our Redbox movies. As we are driving off he sees Curtis pulling up behind us and is like "that is weird Curtis should be out spraying it is too nice for him to be going to dinner. Hm I will make sure and talk to him about that when I see him inside haha." So we start driving away and as we are driving down the street I see Kay's car parked behind El Sombrero, oops, oh well he didn't see it thankfully. We come back and by then my mom's car is there but as we are walking up to the door Pat says I think that is Cujo (Scott's dog) and it still didn't connect with him haha, so we go inside and he was shocked to see so many people there for him! It was a classic what is going on reaction, apparently he has never been genuinley surprised so that made me feel good! The people that showed up were Adam and Kelsay Edwards, Elie and Scott Johnson, Curtis and Kristie, Kay, Jeanine and Miranda, Grandpa Bill, Luke Hamada, Ryan Pleasants, Lori and Greg Wardlaw and Mike and Ashley and of course Patrick, myself and Riley! Unfortunately throughout dinner my camera died so the rest of the night was undocumented. Pat probably won't complain about that we ended up going out to the Oasis and watching Whiskey Creek perform, great band and hanging out with more friends while Grandma Kay watched Riley! Pat talked so much he lost his voice but all in all I think it was a successful night!

Diapers and Wipes Strap

As a new mother I have learned that taking my huge diaper bag into public restrooms isn't necessarily the best practice, despite how cute my brown and pink coach diaper bag is! It is rather hard to juggle a squirmy baby and a huge diaper bag while trying to find a spot to change a baby. Have you noticed the lack of changing tables in public places? I used to think there were useless couches in those ladies restrooms all over but then I realized I only shopped at the Emporium or The Bon when I was younger and they were the only ones with couches! The lack of changing tables is actually my opening argument on why I need a larger vehicle to drive, you know so I can change the baby on the seat in the bigger car, with the door closed instead of trying to keep her on my lap in my tiny Mazda. So far my argument isn't strong enough and I am still driving the small car. Hence the reason for this tutorial. This is way easier to sneak off to the bathroom with and then I don't have to dig through my diaper bag to get what I want each time I need to change my baby!

I made this diaper strap with inspiration from Calico. I did it as a matching set with the baby blanket that I did a tutorial on earlier and this is the first one that I made. The dot minky fabric worked perfectly for this project because it is stretchy however it is thicker than the fabric used on the Calico website so I made it differently the second time and that is the tutorial I will provide on here.

What to Buy:

I had some left over fabric from the baby blanket that I made earlier. It is minky blue dot fabric

Matching thread

Button

Sew on velcro

Step 1: Cut your piece of fabric. I did mine 5" wide by 15" long. It doesn't have to be perfect but try to make the lines fairly straight.

 

Step 2: Pin and sew the two ends of the fabric at about 3/8" on your sewing machine. 

 Step 3: Fold the fabric (hot dog way) with the wrong sides facing out and pin. Sew a straight line on the pin side, make sure and make the stitching at the point of how wide you want your strap and make sure the opening is wide enough to turn the fabric right side out.

Step 4: Press the fabric and top stitch. I did two top stitches just to add a little bit of a pattern and it turned out pretty well.

Step 5: Sew the velcro on the respectable sides of the fabric. I tried to stay lined up with my previously done top stitches but I wasn't perfect and it still looked ok.

Step 6: Hand sew the button onto the top of the strap. Voila you are done!

Baby Blankets

My husbands step sister was just recently blessed with the adoption of an adorable baby boy Jonah. We are so happy for them, they are one of the most deserving couples we know to raise a child. It got me thinking about what I would have liked to have when I had Riley and one thing I never got was a personalized blanket so I decided to make one for Jonah and then a couple more for some people that I work with and then I will make one for Riley, you know after some good practice! Here is how I did it, I guess you could call it a tutorial but I have never done this before therefore there may be a different and better way. I got the idea from this wonderful blog, Make it and Love it, and with some changes I made it my own!

What to buy:

2 yards total of fabric, I used 1 yard of minkey dot fabric and 1 yard of soft monkey fabric

Pins, lots of them

Heat bond paper, you don't need a lot just enough for the letters and it is cheap

Matching thread

Step 1: I started out with 1 yard of brown dot minky fabric, it is so soft and babies love it, this is on the bottom in the picture. It was a little bit wider than the monkey fabric so there will be some left over and you will use this for your letters and then later for another project. I also got 1 yard of the monkey fabric out of the baby section. I just lined them up to make sure they were approximately the same size. Make sure to prewash both fabrics and to at least iron the monkey fabric so the edges lay flat.

Step 2: I then went along the edge of the monkey fabric and pinned the fabric 1" up on the bottom so that I could make sure the letters were going to be in the right place.

Step 3: I went onto Word on my computer and printed out what I wanted the name to look like on the blanket. I got a heat bond backing and cut it the same size as the letters. I then had to trace the letters on the heat bond paper so that it was the mirror image, that way when you bond it to the fabric you can see the tracing on the back and cut out the letters the right way. Takes a little bit of thinking huh!



Step 4: I bonded the heat bond paper to the minky brown fabric. When you iron this on the dots will go away and that is ok, it stays so soft and it looks really cute even without the dots. I then placed the letters where I wanted them to be on the blanket (bottom right corner) and heat bonded them to the monkey fabric so they could stay in place for me to hand stitch.




Step 5: I just used brown thread for the hand stitching but on some of the others I used contrasting stitch colors which looked great too as long as you are fairly good at hand stitching.

Step 6: I then pinned the fabric face side together so that you only saw the wrong side of the fabric on both sides. I marked 1" around on the monkey fabric so I was sure to get fairly straight lines. I used a lot of pins because these two fabrics are so different, the minky brown is stretchy and kind of slick and the monkey is not stretchy and sticks.

Step 7: I then sewed all the way around the blanket except for about 6" at one of the corners. If I were to give you a word of advice it would be to leave the 6" on a side and not a corner because it will be easier to hide later. Be careful with the minky fabric because when you are sewing on it it folds up really easily, just make sure it is laying flat on your sewing machine.

Step 8: I cut the extra off of the corners before pulling the fabric through because then all the fabric doesn't bunch up and make the corner bulky.

Step 9: I then pulled the fabric through that 6" and made the blanket with the right sides out. The only thing that was left was the 6" opening and I just pinned it together like this so that I could do a top stitch to sew it together.



Step 10: I ironed the fabric so it would lay flat and then top stitched around the whole blanket which only took about 10 minutes total, minus the few hold ups that I had (aka baby, learning to actually sew, etc.)

It actually turned out pretty good, I feel good about it being my first blanket, now only 4 more to go but all in all if I could sit down and do one without interruptions it would probably take me about 1.5 hours, hand stitching takes the longest on the letters.

Here is another blanket that I made for one of my co-workers Jeffery. I love the colors and actually bought an extra yard of fabric in case I have another little boy to make one for, maybe my son someday! Here are pictures of it! I also made a matching diaper and wipe strap that I think would be very useful for the diaper bag, especially when you are going to a public restroom or just out of the house quickly. This tutorial is coming soon!

Mel's 27th Birthday

My birthday today started out wonderful. I woke up to breakfast with roses from my wonderful husband since he had to go to work. Riley also slept next to me this morning until 7 AM...woo hoo I got to sleep in!

Riley was very awake the rest of the day which made it a little bit hard to get ready today but at noon we finally left the house and went to lunch with my mom at the Cookie Tree. This was all great but we did have a small snafu when we got home, our power had been turned off. After a lot of stressing and talking on the phone we found out that it was because we never switched the account back to our name after our renters moved out. About 2 hours later it was turned back on much to my relief.

My dad and then my grandparents stopped by to see Riley and I and I got several calls from my wonderful family tonight which made me feel really special.

We went to Sweet Basil for dinner tonight. My mom, sister, mother in law and Patrick and Riley were there to celebrate with me. Riley got to ride the mechanical horse which she LOVED! She even tried holding on to the horn of the saddle but then decided chewing on it would be better, I didn't let that happen though haha. I got a wonderful flower pot, already filled, from my mother in law. My family got me 2 gift cards for a manicure and pedicure, much needed I must say. Patrick got me a Kindle Fire which I am soooo excited to use!

When we got home Riley tried going to bed but had to wake up one last time for a photo op, at the bottom of the page, she is such a cheeser! I then got about a half an hour back massage, also very much needed and got to spend time with my husband which doesn't happen enough lately! All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing birthday with very wonderful people!

Days off

I had two days total off of work last week and I was very thankful that the weather was wonderfully sunny and warm outside. Riley, Abby and I spent all of our free time outside taking walks and playing in the yard! Riley loves her walks, she babbles most of the time and when she gets really excited she screams out. It can be pretty entertaining when it is really quite, people are probably wondering what is going on when they hear her but it just makes me laugh! Abby on the other hand does not make me laugh on our walks. She is getting better with

them but the other day she really embarrassed me. She usually has to poop on her walks and she had been doing so well not pooping until we got home, I mean we only go a little over a mile at a time, she can hold it! We got to within a block of our house and she stopped in the middle of the road, coincidentally enough in front of the city workers driving by, and took a large poop. I couldn't believe it, just one block away! So I have discovered if we go for a walk to play fetch for a couple minutes to prevent us from having this problem again, then she goes before

the walk! Riley also got a new chair from Grandma Kay for Easter this year. She loved sitting in it in the front yard while she watched me playing fetch with Abby! It was adorable but Riley loves sitting up like a big girl!    

Another big adventure that we had was going to see Riley's friend McKenna. This was the first time that they got to meet but it was adorable to watch them. Riley is a month older than McKenna so McKenna's mom Courtney and I were pregnant at the same time! I can't wait to see these girls grow up together!

The two days off weren't all fun and games. I also had a work meeting to go to and Riley went too! She has been a regular at these meetings and she has been in attendance more than most of the nurses. It was pretty entertaining to listen to Riley talking and playing during the meeting, she was loving being there and I think that she felt like everyone was talking to her, so adorable! Jodi and Lori of course got their snuggles and playing in!

Chore Chart

Motherhood has shown me a whole new outlook of life. On top of wanting to be the best mother possible to my daughter, I try to be a great wife, spend time with my family and work a full time stressful job in the ER as a nurse. On top of every day life we are trying to sell a house, living in a house that is too small for us, we just bought 10 acres of land that we have to build a house on so we are trying to get those plans together and I haven't even mentioned trying to keep in touch with my friends, probably because I'm not very good at it. If we don't make plans I tend to not make a very great effort which I know is one of my faults, I really should work on that more, note to self.

As much as I LOVE Pintrest, I now believe that I should be a crafty mom, keep my house pretty clean for all those house guests, and exercise to get my pre-baby body back. I feel like the list goes on and on and keeping up is more than I can handle. So what I did is put together a chore chart that I have been seeing so much about on Pintrest. I figure I only have an 800 square foot house and before I move into a house 4 times that size I should start getting a pretty good routine down. So I thought about how I needed to go about this because my 30 minutes everyday of cleaning isn't working when I am doing the same thing, the deep cleaning never gets done. So what I will do is start with this list and continue adding to it and maybe give an update in about a month.

CHORE CHART

Everyday

Dishes

Garbage

Empty diaper pail

Pick up toys & “stuff”

Monday – Kitchen/Dining

Sweep & Swiffer floor

Scrub counter & sink

Clean out microwave & oven top

Clean out refrigerator

Wash windows & blinds

Tuesday – Living Room

Dust

Wash windows & blinds

Vacuum carpets

Vacuum & wipe down couch

Sweep & Swiffer tiles

Wednesday – Bathroom

Scrub counter & sink

Deep clean tub & shower

Wash carpets & towels

Sweep & Swiffer floors

Scrub toilet

Wash window & mirrors

Thursday – Riley’s Room

Dust

Vacuum carpets

Laundry & fold clothes

Clean toys

Wash windows & blinds

Friday – Our Bedroom

Dust

Vacuum carpets

Laundry & fold clothes

Wash windows & blinds

Saturday – Garage/Office

Organize boxes

Sweep floors

Clean washer & dryer

File papers

Pay bills

Sunday – Outside

Mow lawn

Weed flower beds

Sweep walkway & driveway

Clean out car

Grocery shopping

Monthly

Clean under couch cushions

Clean out clothes in closets

Clean out kitchen cabinets

Wash down doors and walls

Vacuum & dust out car

Clean outside windows

Clean inside oven

So my attempt at this scheduling thing is going to be waking up and getting myself ready while Riley sleeps a little bit longer in the morning. When Riley gets up get her ready and play until she takes a nap and then attempt to get most of the cleaning done at that time. We then usually go for a walk before lunch and then another nap, more time to clean if needed or crafting! I have been getting my workout done during my lunch break at work in the physical therapy room so it is uninterrupted and that has been working fairly well.

I am fully aware that this is not a perfect schedule and that some things will come up that will not allow me to always fulfill my cleaning schedule but there are some things on this list that don't get done for months so I figure even if it is once or twice a month that it gets done then I will be pretty happy with myself.

Easter Weekend

Our little family had a wonderful Easter weekend. Right now I am updating my blog and watching my hubby and my daughter take their afternoon nap. Yesterday we did yardwork, OK I lied Riley, Abby and I played and Patrick did yard work, but he did a wonderful job! It was nice and sunny out that we even got to take a little walk.

The Easter bunny also visited our house last night so this morning Riley got up to find her first Easter basket. She got a brand new cute dress, a teether, a stuffed bunny, some leg warmers and a new book! This was the first time that she was completely interested in what she was getting as a gift so it was kind of fun to watch and of course we got plenty of pictures!

We then took a drive out to our land, that is a whole other story, apparently a farmer decided to plow and seed our land with spring wheat despite not having a contract...hmmm. Anyways we will have to see how that all pans out.

We then headed over to Nana and Papa's house for some lunch where apparently the Easter bunny also showed up to last night. Riley got some cute sunglasses, a stuffed animal, cute outfit and a teether! We are going to spend time as a family tonight at home and watch a movie but all in all it was a nice relaxing day. First time in a couple of years that we didn't have to rush around to 3 families today but tomorrow we get to see Grandma Kay so that will be fun!