Nightmares

For the past two years or so, Bubba's been sleeping in our bed.  There have been a few nights here and there where he slept in his own bed (and it cost us quite a few Hot Wheels too), but for the most part, he's been with us.  It's interesting, because I've never been one to be into co-sleeping.  I personally think, and I know that not everyone agrees) that with all the research that's out there, the increased risk of SIDS isn't worth it to sleep with your baby.  Not only did he only spend nights in his own crib, he also had no crib bumpers,  no blankets or toys in the crib, I ran two different fans in the room, there was a motion sensing monitor under his mattress that detected if he went more than three seconds without movement, he always had a binky (he was bottle-fed breastmilk) and he slept in the same room as us.  I wanted those odds to be as much in our favor as possible! (Hooray for OCD!)

Granted, that doesn't mean that when Bubba was a baby I didn't have nights where I just wanted to scoop him out of his crib and bring him to bed with me, because I did.  It was just one of those situations where I weighed the pros and cons and decided I'd rather not take the chance.  That means for the entire first year of his life, my child always slept in his crib, or on a blanket on the living room floor with me watching, or occasionally in our arms.  This worked well for us and he was a decent sleeper for most of his first year.  (Hooray for Baby Wise!)

Well, at about a year old the poor kid started to have night terrors.  Anyone who has had a child who experiences these can tell you how awful they are.  Your child will wake up from a dead sleep screaming in pure terror and it seems like almost nothing you can do will calm him down.  It's horrible. 

We talked to the pediatrician about it, and she said that what happens is that they kind of get "stuck" in between being awake all the way and being asleep all the way, and it's scary for them.  Our instinct is to calm them and try to get them back to sleep as quickly as possible, but according to her, the best thing is to wake the baby up all the way so they see they are safe, then go ahead and put them back to sleep.  

What we were finding though was that by the time we got to him in our crib he would be so worked up that it would take almost an hour to get him calm enough to sleep again.  Being extremely tired ourselves, what we would do was to just bring him back to bed with us to help him get calm, and then we'd all end up falling asleep together.   We also found that if he did have another bad dream while he was with us, it was easier to just roll over, snuggle with him, and get him back to sleep right away since he didn't have as long of a chance to get all worked up.  

It started getting harder to get him to sleep in his crib because he would want to sleep with mom and dad in "the big bed," so what we would do was lay him there to fall asleep, then move him to the crib later.  Well, since my husband would put him down most nights, he'd end up just falling asleep with him, and Bubba would stay in our bed all night more and more often.

This is how Bubba went from being a baby who slept almost exclusively in a crib to one who co-slept as a toddler.

Now he's three, and I'm pretty sure he's just having plain old nightmares at this point.  Same deal as the night terrors though - if he's in bed with us, it's easier and faster to get him calmed down and back to sleep again.  However, when he's on his own, by the time we hear him crying and get over to his room, he's worked himself up so bad that it can take an hour to get him back to bed again.

Some people have mentioned separation anxiety, but I really don't think that's what's happening here.  For one, he has had no trouble in the past week that we've been putting him in his room falling asleep alone.  The first couple of nights he cried a little, but after that he was fine.  Nary a peep from the boy and he was right to sleep.  He will sleep for an hour or two, and then wake up full on crying.  His eyes are usually still closed when we get there and he will sometimes manage to squeeze out a word or two when asked why he is crying, but we can't really understand a lot through the sobs.  Tonight, for instance, when I went in he was reaching for something almost frantically, with his eyes closed.  I picked him up and gave him a hug and he squeezed me so hard!  I asked why he was crying and he kept saying something about "that one" and the window.  He also pointed to the window a few times.  The blinds were closed though and there are no drapes on them to create shadows, so it had to be something in his dream.

I used to be a "bad sleeper" when I was a kid.  Not only did I have awful nightmares, I had them often.  I also was a sleep walker and a sleep talker.  Even if I didn't have a bad dream, it wasn't uncommon for me to go knock on my mother's bedroom door to ask her a random question, or to wake up on the couch or something like that.  It wasn't terribly surprising to me to find out these sorts of things can be genetic.

I don't know what to do at this point.  He can't sleep with us forever, and certainly not with the new baby coming.  I don't want him to spend most of his nights crying and upset either.  We play gentle music for him, he has a night light in his room, we leave the bathroom light on with the door cracked for more light, we have   a good bedtime routine, and above all, we try to be gentle and understanding because this isn't a behavior issue.  My mom was kind of mean about it to me when I was a kid, and I remember how hurtful it was because it's not like I did it  on purpose, you know?  

Obviously he's dealing with something in his sleep because even when he sleeps with us I can hear him grinding his teeth in his sleep.  It worries me, knowing my own anxiety issues, and I don't want to make things any worse for him than they have to be.

Why yes, as a matter of fact I AM hungry!

The Bump says Kelly is somewhere between the size of a pomegranate and a grapefruit at about 11 inches long. Baby Center says she is about the size of a large ear of corn. I like to think of it in these terms instead:

Yeah... it's dinner time here at Casa de Fehling.  My husband ran to the store because I was craving Parmesan Cheese Pasta Roni with asparagus.  I know, that's random, but you know how cravings are.

I've been reading this awesome book called Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman.  Basically, this American moves to France and marries a Brit who lives there, so they raise their kids in Paris.  She observes the differences between child rearing in France and what she saw in the States.  It's really quite fascinating.  I read it the first time in two days and now I'm re-reading it again before taking it back to the library.  It's funny, because one of the main criticisms that I've seen repeatedly in reviews for this book is that the author is saying French mothers are superior to American mothers, but that's not what I got from it at all.  She points out the differences.  In some ways, I think the French methods come across as better, while in others I'd definitely go the American route.  I mean, a four year old with a pacifier??? Not in my world; you'd better believe it!

So anyway, the reason I mention it is because she says these Parisian mothers treat pregnancy differently than we do.  Here as soon as you  see two pink lines it's like society gives you the go ahead to eat; after all, you're eating for two now!  Got a craving?  The baby must be telling you that you need some missing nutrient (even if it is Vitamin Cheesecake).  Better go satisfy it!  But in France, they see them as nuisances to avoid.  There, it's got a craving?  Go eat an apple instead.

Yeah, I'm pretty glad to be an American.  :)

I don't give into every craving though.  For instance, I've been craving ham sandwiches something fierce since I got pregnant.  My doctor said no lunch meat though, and I agree.  Processed foods can have so many things wrong with them, but it's pretty common for them to carry listeria.  Now, in a regular healthy adult, if you get some of that crud, usually the worst that will happen is an upset stomach, or maybe a little diarrhea.  But if you're pregnant, it can cause you to miscarry.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I gave into a craving for a sandwich and I did happen to be unlucky enough to get tainted meat and something did happen to the baby, I could NEVER forgive myself because I knew better and ignored what knowledge I had.  To accidentally kill your child just because you wanted a sammich?

Yeah... could not live with that kind of guilt!  So, just like when Bubba was born, that ham sandwich will probably be the first meal I order at the hospital.  Of course, there are always those people who try to make you feel bad about what you choose to do to protect your baby.  I can't tell you how many times I've heard "Oh, I ate it the whole time I was pregnant and my baby was FINE!"  Well, good for you.  I'm sure that there are lots of people out there doing lots of things that are potentially unsafe (remember when it was okay to drink and smoke while pregnant? and no one had car seats?) that have emerged fine.  Like I said though, I try to think of the "what if" and what the consequences of my actions could be.  From there I consider how I would feel about those consequences and move forward from there.  My baby is worth more than satisfying that particular craving to me.  I know not everyone thinks this way though, and that's fine.  That's their business, even if it does make me cringe a little.  To each their own.

(oh, and I know that you can eat it "steaming hot" but that honestly sounds foul)

Germaphobe Justification

This.

This right here.

THIS is why I will NEVER let anyone make me feel bad when I don't want to touch or put my child in a grocery store cart without cleaning and putting a cart cover on it first:

You know those carts rarely get cleaned, much less sanitized.  Think about it.  Have YOU ever seen an employee bleaching those bad boys?  Everyone knows that diarrhea spreads bacteria that makes you sick - I've even seen signs near lakes and swimming pools prohibiting you from even entering the water if you've had it (which I'm sure people ignore) within the past 72 hours.  Just because you can't SEE it doesn't mean it isn't there.  THIS is how you and your kids get sick and end up with (sorry for the grossness but...) it coming out both ends .  Terrible.

I've had people roll their eyes at me when I stop to clean my cart.  I've had people look at me like I'm dumb when I say I will just let my kid walk because I don't have my cart cover with me, rather than stick him in a naked cart.  Even my husband sometimes acts like I'm overreacting when I gripe at the boy to not pull it off the handle or to not touch the bare cart.  I don't even like to set my purse on those seats if they're bare, and this is why.

PEOPLE ARE NASTY, YO.

This is the reality.  These nasty people EXIST.  These people don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom, or they just sorta run their hands under the faucet for a few seconds (it's 20 seconds of lathering MINIMUM folks!) so they may as well not wash their hands at all.  They cough and sneeze into their hands, congratulating themselves on being so great at stopping the germs from spraying all over, then proceed to touch every chair, doorknob, and soda fountain in sight.  They rub their noses before grabbing the salad tongs at a buffet.  They think their kid pooping on stuff that other people have to use too is funny.

I will NEVER let someone make me feel bad for being germaphobic in certain situations.  If you're ever with me and you think I'm being over the top, I'd like you to remember the above photo (from STFU Parents, may I never be enough of a clueless turd to end up there) and know that I'm NOT crazy, and I have reason.

(PS - this is also an excellent argument as to why it's so gross to put your purse on the kitchen counter or dining table.  Think of where that thing has been.)

Twelve of 12 - February 2012

Yay!  I finally finished my layout for this month:

You know the drill:  it's twelve pictures of your life taken on the twelfth of the month. You document the real, routine, normal; in other words, everyday life.  Check out the 12 of 12 Facebook group to see how others are documenting these.  It's pretty cool!  In the past I've only put the photos up on my blog, but since this is the "Year of Twelve" I decided to go ahead and put them on paper so I can add them to my Project Life album.

Here are this month's photos:

1.  First thing this boy does when he wakes up is to ask where his father is.  If I say he's at work, he'll lay in bed with me.  However, if I say he's probably in the living room, he will waste no time bolting out of bed so that he can run and snuggle on the couch with his dad.

2.  Both of the guys were in dire need of haircuts.  Since we're trying to be more frugal (ahem) I took the clippers to their heads.

3.  The boy is not particularly impressed with my skills, I'm afraid.  I think I did a decent job considering all my previous experience has been on dogs.  I'm getting faster at it and also better at blending the sides and top.

4.  What's in my shower?  Not a whole lot, actually.  Husband's shampoo, Bubba's shampoo (he gets the good organic stuff), husband's face wash, my shampoo, my conditioner, Johnson's baby shampoo for washing my face ( I read on someone's blog that it was awesome as face wash, and no wonder - it's full of formaldehyde to keep my skin fresh and young!  HA! Feeling pretty good about paying more for the hippie stuff for the Bubs now), Philosophy Guru body scrub (I don't think they make this anymore, it's really old), shave cream, a pumice stone thing, and a hair clip.  I clip up my hair after I put conditioner in it because I read somewhere that conditioner can clog the pores on your back leading to "bacne."  YUCK!

On the shelf not pictured I also have a razor, my bar soap, husband's bar soap, and deep conditioner/hair mask.  I know, some people are like EW BAR SOAP???  But I use the nice stuff from Lush and bar soap is more environmentally friendly than body wash because it has way less packaging.

5.  Most of the makeup I use when I put it on.

6.  The twelfth was a Sunday so we went to Mass!  Guess who has not mastered the new responses yet?  Oh yeah - this girl.  Thank goodness for the cheat sheets tucked into the backs of the pews with the hymnals!

7.  The fountain in the courtyard of our church.  I don't know what it is about this thing, but it holds some sort of irresistible draw for the boy.  We got him to sit pretty still for the whole hour by promising he could play by it after Mass.  He likes to drive his Hot Wheels around it.

8.  After church we went to the McDonald's by our house for some soft serve since it was too early for dinner.  Ours has a special "toddler" play place with NO icky tunnels or climbing tubes which I like.  He gets to play with other kids and work off some energy.  It never ceases to amaze me how little kids will just jump in there with each other and play together.

9.  While we were there, these three kids came over to play.  The littlest one was SO FREAKING CUTE I just could not get over it.  Also, he was wearing a cute little Seattle Seahawks jersey, which I pointed out to my husband.  After a few minutes, the kid's dad came over to join them.  My husband says, "OH, that makes sense... " and then leaves me hanging.  Finally I'm like WHAT makes sense?

Turns out their dad was #26 for the Seahawks.  How my husband remembers all the names and faces of those players I do not know.   I joked that we should ask him for a picture, because it would be great for my 12 of 12 and he said no way.  I asked Facebook on my wall if that would be bad, and of course Facebook said to do it, so I did.  I did wait until they were done eating and his kids were all playing again though.  I'm not a total asshat.  He was very nice about it.  :)

10.  On the way home we had to stop by the grocery store to grab something for dinner.  There is no food in my house!

11.  We weren't home for five minutes when I looked over and saw the boy passed out on the couch!  Guess we wore him out, huh?

12.  Perfect end to the evening - Oreos, milk for dunking in the vintage milk glass Batman mug, Pinterest, and some Mad Men.  Yay!

Project Life Update - Week of 2/5 to 2/11

I totally slacked off on getting these done in a timely manner.  I had been doing them on Sunday and then photographing and posting them on Monday.  However, we spent almost all of Sunday evening away from home, so I never got my photos printed.  Then Monday the website was giving me issues so I didn't get my pictures until that night.  Yesterday was Valentine's day so I really didn't feel like working on them...

You know how it goes sometimes.  

They're done now, however it's dark out so you get slightly wonky photos taken in my scraproom instead of the better lit ones that I usually take by my patio door.  Such is life, eh?

You can click on any picture to be see it larger.  Usually if you click on that larger version it will get even a bit bigger still so you can see details such as journaling.  I love reading other people's journaling!

I took a LOT of photos this week.  Like, I took a lot of photos as in it shocked me how many I had taken.  I swear I get to Saturday when I start pulling pics from my memory cards and phone and panic slightly that I didn't take enough photos that week, but then when I have them all in my working folder they surprise me.  This week I had to narrow it down from about 45 pictures!  Thank goodness for Instagram, the PicFrame app, and Photoshop.  Oh, and also for labels that I can stick over my pictures because otherwise I would have no room for journaling at all.

I think this is my favorite card that I have on these pages this week.  I scanned the page I wanted to write about and then cleaned up the image (the pages are really thin so you could see parts of the other side through the paper) a bit.  I made my canvas the right size in Photoshop and added journaling in a font (Century) to match the font in the book.  Finally, I added the little flag on the bottom in the same shade of blue as the bugs with the date in the same darker pink as the top of the page, in a font called Doctor Soos.   I love it!

On the facing page, I took a few liberties with the basic layout, most notably on the bottom right where I put photos of our Saturday picnic.  It's slightly awkward, but I think I made it work for the most part.  I'm really liking using my typewriter for the journaling.  I find that I can fit more words in a smaller space this way.  Of course, I'm still trying to get my handwriting on each set of pages a little bit so it can be recorded for posterity.

Here are the cards I did for the free download this week.  I used one of them on my Super Bowl @ home block.  I haven't really done any 4" x 6" cards so I thought I'd add some to the collection.  As always, they are available on the Facebook page for this blog absolutely free if you "Like" the page.  Please keep them for your own personal use, as they are not for resale or distribution.

Enjoy!

My Heart

How does it go?

Your heart... I carry it in my heart?

Only, I'm carrying it in mah belly, just like a few years back I carried this guy's:

Today my favorite heart-related item of note would have to be my OB appointment.  Normally, I go to these by myself and my husband stays home with the boy, but today they opted to join me since Bubba was clamoring for a "road trip."  Once I was taken back into the exam room, the nurse commented that since it was just a well check with no exam (if ya know what I mean ladies) that they were welcome to come back and join me.  Since my husband hasn't gotten to attend any of my appointments or ultrasounds, I thought it would be cool for him to get to hear Kelly's heartbeat for the first time.

So today as a family, my two loves got to hear the heartbeat of the third for the first time.  If that's not an awesome Valentine, I just don't know what is!

I knew she was measuring slightly ahead of schedule from the ultrasound.  When the LPN (my OB was out doing a procedure today) told me that my uterus should be up to my navel by now, I laughed and told her it was higher than that for sure.  I can see this child kick and bump a good two inches above that point, easily. Sure enough when she felt around and took measurements, I was measuring a week or so ahead.  She double checked with the ultrasound report and according to that, she's at about the 89th percentile.

Bubba was in the low 30th.

I had a scary dizzy spell that lasted almost 15 minutes on Sunday but after I described what happened she said that's actually quite normal.  She said there is so much additional fluid in my body now that it's easy for it to throw me off if I stand for too long.  I guess that means the tiredness in my body after any sort of activity isn't all in my head after all, which is nice to know.  She said if it happens here and there, it's not a big deal, but if it starts to happen on a regular basis to let her know.

I'm a little behind on my Project Life/12 of Twelve layouts this week.  I have the pictures stuck down for 12 of twelve and just need to add some journaling.  One side of the PL is done, the other has the pictures cropped but that's it.  I'm hoping to have it, along with a new printable, up tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes!

We laid pretty low today - my mother in law sent us a box of chocolates and we've been nibbling on those.  My husband made pizza for dinner and I had a Drumstick for dessert.  We're all fancy like that.  No fancy gifts or anything since we're budgeting for this baby.  Carseats and cribs ain't cheap, yo!  What matters is that I have my two guys (and the new kid, of course) here with me and we're happy.  What more does a girl really need?

Hope you all had a great Valentine's day!  :)

The Picky Eater

I always told myself I wouldn't be one of those moms who let their kids exist solely on chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese.  I wasn't going to be one of those moms who made a special separate meal for the kids.  I wanted to raise adventurous eaters; eaters who even if they had a list of foods they didn't like that was a mile long would still be willing to try something new.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Joke's on me.

I did everything right.  As my child was able to eat more solids without issue, I started to introduce him to the foods that my husband and I ate.  He didn't get special kid meals of pasta and veggies while we dined on other things.  He ate what we ate, and more importantly, he liked it.  This kid would clean his plate at almost every meal.  He was such a good eater we couldn't believe that he was only in the 8th percentile for weight.  By the time he was 15 or 16 months I had fed him sushi (just California rolls though), curry, tamales, various pasta dishes... just lots of stuff you don't normally hear about toddlers eating.  

I was so proud of my "good" eater!

Then he hit 18 months and something happened.  I'm not sure why, but he started to turn up his nose at stuff that he had previously enjoyed.  One by one, fruits and veggies were eliminated from the list of foods he deemed acceptable.  Forget anything with any kind of sauce on it - if he ate pasta it had to be plain.  Meats were not welcomed on his plate either, each being eliminated like other foods had been until not even his beloved shrimp remained.  The pizza that he once devoured with glee was now left behind in favor of a few bites of dry crust.

His preferred foods became carbs - plain pasta, plain breads (ooh how the boy loves croissants!), crackers, chips, plain rice.  You can't raise a healthy human on that!  Thankfully last year a friend of a friend told us about those Plum pouch baby foods.  By telling him that they were "juice" we were able to get a little bit of fruits and vegetables back into his diet.  Even so, after a year of getting him to eat most of the varieties they make he is now refusing all but the pear and mango flavors.  All the other ones that were good to him before are suddenly gross.

He likes yogurt, but only the baby kind that doesn't have any chunks of fruit in it.  It has to be completely smooth or he won't eat it.  He will eat cereal, but only the "fun" ones and it has to be dry.  The whole wheat waffles that used to be a sure thing at meal time now go uneaten - unless they're paired with syrup, of course.  The only meats he will eat are chicken nuggets (surprise!) and cheeseburgers - but only the ones from McDonald's, and only if they're plain.  Oh, and fried shrimp from the Hawaiian barbecue place.  Random.

We still offer him other foods in hope that he'll simply decide one day to start eating them again.  He just started eating apples again a couple of months ago which really surprised me and made us so happy.  He also ate a few grapes the other night after an almost six month long hiatus from them.  I don't want to force him to eat anything, because I know I wouldn't like it if someone did that to me.  If he takes a bite of something and obviously doesn't like it, I won't make him eat it.  He gags and retches, and I really have no desire to clean vomit.

The problem I'm having is when he will eat three or four bites of something, and then decide it's gross.  How was it not gross before?  How was it acceptable for half a meal and all of a sudden it makes you gag?  Or if it is something that he's been eating all along, like the afore mentioned waffles?  Those were his absolute favorite thing to eat, and then one day they were gross and he almost puked when I gave him one.  What is that all about?

So, he's refusing to eat what we eat at meal times.  He's refusing what I offer him for snacks.  This means a whole day can go by and he will literally only eat four bites of food all day.  This freaks me out!  I know that with a toddler that this can be normal and you're supposed to look at what they eat over a week's time, but over a week's time it still isn't very much.  So, when he does happen to tell one of us that he's hungry and wants something, we jump on that with a quickness, lest he change his mind.

This means he gets crackers.  He gets chicken nuggets.  He gets mac and cheese.  He basically gets the diet that I did NOT want him to have!  Even worse, lately he'll ask for food, take two or three bites, then refuse to finish it.  So much food has been wasted because of this around here lately.  It's making me crazy.  I don't know what to do.  I went online to try to find ideas for things I could feed him.  Here is a sample menu from one site: 

Sounds reasonable, right?  Let's break it down:

The comments in red are things he just plain refuses.  The stuff in green is what I know he will eat.  The stuff in blue is the hit or miss stuff - sometimes he'll eat it, other times he won't, or he'll eat it but only a couple of bites, or I've never fed it to him before so I just plain don't know if he'll eat it.  Honestly, the only things on this list that fall into that category are the dutch baby and the rice cakes.  I really have tried to get a large variety of foods into this kid!

So what can I get him to eat off this list?  Milk.  Juice.  Apples.  A little bit of oatmeal.  A little bit of pancake if I pair it with syrup, which honestly I'd rather not do.  Yogurt.  A few bites of toast.

A healthy child this diet will  not make!

I don't know what to do, and I'm totally frustrated about this and at my wit's end.  I'm tired of wasting food in attempts to get him to eat.  I don't want to force him to eat anything he obviously doesn't like, but I don't want him to grow up thinking it's okay to refuse things without at least trying them first.  I want him to get proper nutrition and a diet of carbs with a fruit puree or yogurt tossed in here and there isn't going to do it.

I've talked to our pediatrician about this and she said since he's growing, and actually has gone UP on the growth curve he was on (HOW???) she's not worried.  She did have us stop giving him the Pediasure shakes we were doing because they were a crutch so he wouldn't have to eat.  So, at least there's that.

How does a kid not like watermelon?  Smoothies?  Strawberries?  Spaghetti?  Pizza?  I swear this isn't normal.  I'm open to suggestions here because I've simply run out of ideas at this point.

I am a Scrapbooker

I've been a scrapbooker for a long time.  It's always appealed to me to stick things other than photos into old-fashioned scrapbooks with notes explaining what happened in each.  I discovered modern scrapbooking around 2000 when I saw a magazine at the Walmarts dedicated to it and was instantly drawn to it.  I started "officially" scrapbooking in 2001.

I used to know every company out there, and what each one made.  I subscribed to not one, but two monthly scrapbooking magazines.  I was on design teams.  I knew all the famous scrapbookers and read their blogs.  I actively participated on multiple scrapbooking message boards.  I worked in scrapbooking stores.  I taught scrapbooking classes.  I traveled to other parts of the country on multiple occasions to meet scrapbooking friends that I knew from online, to attend scrapbooking events, and to teach or help teach scrapbooking classes.  I even had some of my work published in national magazines.

I was a Scrapbooker with a capital S.

Then something happened.  I started to taper off in my enthusiasm.  Where at one point I was cranking out ninety pages a month, I was now lucky if I managed nine in a whole year.  Having a baby didn't help either. He has only a handful of pages in his book.  Seriously, the DOG has a better scrapbook than he does.  It's shameful.  I never quit altogether, I just sort of petered out.

Lately though, since I started with the Project Life stuff, I find myself being drawn back in again.  I've been reading blogs that I find on Pinterest to get some inspiration for my own PL pages and finding that a lot of those blogs belong to Scrapbookers with a capital S.  I'm seeing new techniques, learning what companies are still around, and which ones are new since I last checked.  I checked my Google Analytics a couple of days ago, and found that I was getting traffic from Two Peas in a Bucket again!  So, for the first time in years, I logged on there and poked my head around the message boards.  

Crazy.

A couple of weekends ago was the big Winter Craft and Hobby Association show.  I used to stalk message boards and blogs like a fiend when this happened, because I had to know what new things were coming out, and what new things I needed to add to my stash.  I used to dream of having someone invite me along so I could get to see the show in person, since you can only go if you are in the business.  Of course, with my waning interest in scrapbooking came a waning interest in what was happening at CHA.

Until this year, that is.  While some of the supplies available are still  the same old same old, there are a few new things out there that interest me.  Here are the things for which I'll be searching next time I head to my local scrapbook store!

Glitter tape from American Crafts.  Do I even need to explain this?  It comes in so many colors, and a few different widths.  I'm wondering how loose that glitter will be though.  If it's the kind that flakes off all over I'll have to pass.

Buttons from My Mind's Eye.  Those banner flag buttons at the bottom are GENIUS.  Probably not genius enough to justify paying whatever that package is going to cost, but a whole package of just those would definitely have been something I would have considered.

Clever Handmade mini chevron patterned paper.  One sheet of this would go a LONG way to accent cards in Project Life!  Cute, current, gender neutral, versatile.  What's not to love?

Queen & Co Trendy Tape.  Oh, how I've become enamored of washi tape lately!  When I first started seeing it, years ago, it was only in solid, pastel colors.  PASS!  But lately?  It's in colors and patterns and it's SO PRETTY!  The problem?  It's also SO EXPENSIVE!  Honestly, I don't get how someone can and will pay $5 for a roll of fancy masking tape, plus another $3 for shipping.  It's still just tape, after all.  I'm hoping that with so many companies coming out with their own domestic versions of this product that the price point will become easier to handle.  I'm especially loving the stripes and polka dots in this collection.

Queen and Co Twisted Twine.  FINALLY!  Someone is packaging baker's type twine in smaller amounts.  I don't need a gigantic freaking roll of the stuff for $18.  Sure, that's a smoking deal when you break it down to price per yard, but I'm never going to come even close to using that much so it's mostly a waste of $18.  These smaller spools will have ten yards, which is more than enough for my purposes, and will cost two bucks.  SOLD.

Bella Blvd. tape - I'm loving those two on the bottom!

So yeah... I guess I'm petering back in again!

20 weeks- Halfway There!

I went in for my follow up ultrasound yesterday.  If you remember, I had to have my second trimester/measurement screening early because I slightly failed my nuchal translucency test at the beginning of my pregnancy.  Instead of doing it at eighteen weeks like they normally do, they did it at 16.  Fortunately, the doctors (the one at the Fetal and Women's Center and my OB) didn't see anything that was an indicator of a genetic problem then, but they still wanted to follow up in four weeks.  A baby at 16 weeks is still really small, and it was just to be sure.  I'm all about being as sure as possible, so I wasn't going to say anything!

First off - 

Hooray Kelly is still a girl!  I read so many horror stories over the years of people who found out the sex of their baby early, only to find out later that their "hamburger" was really a "hot dog!"  (yeah, people actually put it that way.  gross, but funny.) As you know, I have a whole lot of little dresses waiting for this child, so to switch now would be a total bummer.  Luckily, everything is still the same in that department!

My child had this stubborn insistence on laying in a position that kept the tech from getting all the photos she needed.  She's also very fidgety - she doesn't move and roll all over like Bubba did, but she wiggles and fidgets just enough so it's hard to get a clear shot of what they're trying to shoot!  Finally the tech had me roll over onto my belly (!!!) and lay that way for about five minutes.  Sure enough, she didn't like that and rearranged herself so we could finish the scan.

They managed to get everything they needed, minus a clear shot of her tailbone.  The doctor explained that was to check for the spina bifida indicator, but since my blood test results came back super low for that she wasn't worried.  The good news is that everything looks good.  There are still no indicators of problems.  She's growing like she should, measuring a whopping three days (haha) ahead of schedule.  She has a good heartbeat and is very active.  Based on all this, and also the previous discussion that I had with my OB, I decided to go ahead and skip the amniocentesis.

The location where I was going before closed down so I had to go to a different office.  It's smaller and not quite as nice as the other one.  The waiting room was tiny and only had ten chairs.  Several women were there with their significant others, which is fine.  The problem was that there were guys sitting in chairs while there was a woman who was very pregnant standing up!  Seriously, if I found out my son didn't at least offer his seat to a pregnant woman in a crowded waiting room, I would kick his skinny little butt!  Some people have no manners!

I do have to say though - the other location spoiled me.  I've gotten CDs of images from my ultrasound but this time I only got the print outs so I had to scan them.  They did do a few 4D images though.

I usually find those extremely creepy, but there's something about getting to (sorta) see your child's face for the first time, months before you know she will be out of your body, is kind of awe-inspiring.  Technology is amazing.

I'm not sure why I got this photo, but COME ON!  How cute are those little baby feet?  I am so looking forward to getting to give them lots of kisses.  I love baby feet.  :)

Project Life Update - Week of 1/29 to 2/4

Here are this week's layouts!  Sorry for the delay in getting them up.  Blogger was giving me issues all day, and then I decided to take a really long (like 3.5 hours long) nap with the boy.

I took a lot of inspiration from Pinterest this week.  The title card I copied from here.  I think I even used the same font!  It's called Wendy Medium.    The "Lap Monkey" card was inspired by a combination of this one and this one.  I just cut a little flag out of a scrap of cardstock, stuck some old Heidi Swapp tape across the top (because I am not cool enough to own washi tape - someone please send washi tape!!!) and then stapled it to the card with my flat stapler.

Seriously, if you like to staple things to your pages, look for a flat stapler.  It doesn't leave those little loops on the back of the staple so it's easier to keep things flat on your page.  It's awesome.

Here's the other side.  I started to do the Photo A Day challenge that's been going around on blogs and Facebook this month.  I don't think I'll put every photo on these pages, but they will be nice to fill some empty spaces.

Something to note - on a few cards (the coonskin cap, pancakes) the journaling card had a "label" of sorts printed on it, but when I added the photo, the picture covered it up.  I just used my X-Acto knife to trim the part of the label that was covered and then lifted it so I could tuck the photo underneath.  Ta da!

Also worth noting - this month I sketched out my pages as I edited photos, to be sure that I had a space for everything and that my photos were the appropriate size for the space.  Talk about a "duh" moment!  It make everything go so much smoother because I wasn't forgetting what went where and what still needed to be done.  When I got my photos back from the printer, remembering what went where was a cinch and things came together much more quickly.

I also made more journaling cards this week.  I really tried to branch out a bit with these.  All the ones I made before were pretty basic, but these have a bit more going on.  I even downloaded the font the Twitter logo was based so I could make a tweet card!  This is how you know I'm a nerd.

I used three of my cards on this week's pages.  As usual, I've added them to my Facebook page where you can download them for free for your own personal use.  All you have to do is "like" the page to gain access to them!  Enjoy!

Oh!  One more thing.  Last week I mentioned that I was bummed that I forgot to leave a space for my Twitter cards on my layouts.  This week when I was cruising through Staples to look at the new Martha stuff buy printer ink I found these:

They were about four bucks.  Keep in mind though, that these are a bit smaller than the 3" x 4" cards, so you will have to trim things a little if you want to use them.

I took one and cut it in half horizontally. Now I could add those extra cards I forgot!  Of course, the holes were too close together to fit in the rings of an album, and the whole thing was too short to span the space between two rings.  What to do?

Well, I measured the distance between the rings in an album first.  Then I cut a strip of paper that long and twice as wide as the area of the protector with the holes.  I folded that strip in half lengthwise, then unfolded it and ran it through my Xyron.  I then folded the strip around the protector.

Now all I have to do is punch holes in it to match the ones in my album.  You know, when I actually get around to buying one.  :)

February Mish Mash

I know there are probably a lot of blog posts being written today that start with something along the lines of "I can't believe it's February already!!!"  I can.  January seemed really long to me for some reason, and I'm not sure why.  Since it is a new month though, it's time to revisit my goals for January and establish new ones for February.

Goal one - Take better care of myself

I went to Lush and bought myself some pretty smelling soaps.  I also replaced the crappy conditioner I was using with a better one and a conditioning treatment.  I can already see a difference in my hair!  I definitely shaved my legs more than twice and even used a self tanner a few times.  The polish on my nails is all chippy though.  Dang.

Goal two - Floss EVERY DAY.

Big fat FAIL.  I started off strong the first week and a half.  It was pretty cool because this time my gums only bled the first three days, not for a week and a half like last time I tried this.  Then I got sick, and all that flossing went by the wayside.  I never took it up again.  Why must this be so hard for me???

Goal three - Take off eye makeup before bed.

Again, this goal started out strong.  I bought some makeup remover wipes and I'd do it while I was watching television at night.  I missed a few nights, but I think I got it off more nights than I missed.  I need to work harder on this.

Goal four - Get organized!

I did really well on this.  I cleaned  out the bathroom medicine cabinets when I switched the  bathrooms, and I also cleaned out and organized under the bathroom sinks.  The pantry got an overhaul and cleaning out too.  It is no longer scary and I no longer drop crap on my head when I look for stuff.  It's nice!

Goal five - Eat more stuff that's good for me

I've definitely been doing better on this one.  My food aversions seem to have gone away for the most part.  I'm eating more regular food at home and have added in a lot of fruits and veggies that I was missing before. I can't even tell you how many clementines I've had!  I do think I need to start eating bananas (gross) though, 

because I've been waking up with my calves feeling very tight and I think that means my old friend Charley Horse may be ready to start making his visits soon.

Here are my goals for February:

Goal one - Participate in the February Photo A Day Challenge.

All through January I kept seeing this little prompt pop up on Facebook and Twitter, but I ignored it at first.  After a while though, I thought it looked fun how people were putting their own interpretations on the prompts for each day.  I decided I'd try it for February.  At the very least it will help me to have more photos in my Project Life album, right?  Details here.

 Here's my photo for day one.

Don't worry - I don't plan on posting them each day.  I may just do it once a week.  I will be doing them all with Instagram.  You can follow me there - my name is splendidmissm.

Goal two - Work on the before bed routine for myself

This includes the flossing and makeup removal things.

Goal three - Clean out the misc. cupboard in the kitchen and swap it with the pots and pans cupboard.  I think they'll work better this way.  Also, we do NOT need that George Foreman grill anymore.  We haven't used it once since we moved in here!

Goal four - Finish the December Daily.  Really.  Get some printer ink and another package of photo paper and just do it already!

Also I wanted to note ...

I was 19 weeks on Sunday.  I started to feel the little baby flutter movements near the end of week 17.  By the end of last week, the kicks were more definite and would happen in little groups.  Last night, this baby was kicking hard enough that I could see it from the outside.  My husband saw it too.  She's just growing so fast in there!  I checked my blog archives (which is yet another reason why blogging is awesome) and I didn't see Bubba move until 23 weeks.  Crazy!

Last year I posted this photo of a very simple garland I made.  This year, I was too lazy to decorate for Valentine's day.  However, I would like to offer you those vintage Valentine printables again in case you'd like to make one for yourself.  Just "Like" my Facebook page to access the free downloads!