I must need more sleep!

So last night, Mary was in bed and I was holding Ellie on my lap while she slept. It was almost time for me to go to bed, but I decided to look at some old pictures of Mary. I was looking at pics from around the time we moved. I seriously cannot believe that I pretty much packed everything myself (John did the basement and odds and ends, but since I was home all day every day, I did most of the packing) and moved, etc with a 17 month old baby! Then I looked at pics from after we moved, as we settled in, etc. I found this pic:

That was around July 4th, 2007. We'd taken a similar pic in 2006. I was thinking, yeah, 2008, we took one too. I thought about the 2008 pic and honestly, seriously thought....HOLY CRAP!! We forgot to put Ellie in the pic! Dang it! Where was she? Why wasn't she in the pic? Was she napping? Who was holding her? Why didn't I get her and have Dave hold her????? I was really upset. And why wasn't she in the 2008 pic? BECAUSE she wasn't born yet!!!! She'll be in the 2009 pic though:).

Three years!

I seriously cannot believe that Mary is three years old today! We had a huge party for her yesterday. Eighteen people in our tiny house, but it worked out fine. The party was a lot of fun, but Mary was a bit overwhelmed. She loves her presents though. We played all day today. John and Mary got to go out in the snow a bit too, but it was too cold to stay out too long.

Three days old! (she still makes this same face at least once a day)

Three years old! (and totally overwhelmed by 16 people singing to her)

Notice how I'm singing and trying not to bust out laughing as I keep her from running away? Good times! And see the cake? I had the chocolate icing on it, and got the pink out to write "Happy Birthday Mary!" on it. But she wanted to help. I told her she could watch. That didn't satisfy her. I told her I WAS going to write it, and she needed to stay back. Then I realized that was awful, and that if she wanted to decorate it I should let her. John watched as smoke was coming out my ears. Okay, not really. But it was close. I still wish I could have had it MY way.

Miss Ellie learned a new trick in honor of Mary's birthday!
Three or four days ago I noticed Ellie could almost sit up. Then Saturday she could do it for 30 seconds. Today she could do it for a minute or two. Mary was about 7 months old when she could sit up like this. We're amazed! Ellie is growing up too quick.

rewards

Being a stay at home Mom has to be one of the hardest jobs on earth. I'm overworked and underpaid for sure. But the rewards make it the BEST job on earth.

I've never been more proud of anything in my life.

Ellie pictures and an updated project

Ellie Ruth--4 months old and growing up so fast I can't believe it.



One of my house projects is to finish this my swatch portrait inspired by the purl bee. I started it a while back but wasn't happy with it.

I took it down, painted the hoops (except the plastic one which I need to replace), and added a couple new ones.

I can't figure out how to get them to hang flush with the wall. I think it's because our walls are textured. If I figure it out (and by "I" I mean John since he's better at things like that than I am), I think I'm going to do a bunch more and cover the entire wall. It's in our bathroom. The door on the left hand side is to our bedroom.

I'm thinking of going up and out both directions. Plus I have a few more ideas for embroidered ones I want to hang.

Well, crap, Ellie's going to be up any minute and Mary just fell asleep on my lap.

Blogs I read...and random updates

I updated the "Blogs I read" on the sidebar. Sadly, I probably read a lot more than that. I get sucked in reading crafting blogs and want to do every craft I see. Not that I have time to of course, but it is fun to be inspired. Hopefully over the next couple years we will start working on our house (a 1965 ranch, still mostly original) and so I've been looking at a lot of home decor crafts.

What else is new? Ellie not only learned to roll front to back this week, but she also figured out she can put several in a row! She only did it a couple times and has now forgotten about it I guess. She's really into her hands (looking at them) and her feet (putting them in her mouth when I try to change her diaper which is really fun!), and she can hold a toy with two hands at the same time.

Mary....gah.....Mary's 2 going on 12. Well, going on 3 really. Her birthday is in less than two weeks. Which on the one hand I am really excited about, and on the other I am totally dreading. I can't believe she will be 3! I want to stop the clock, and to let her be a baby a little longer. But just since Christmas she's grown up. I've noticed, John's noticed and even Mom commented on some recent pictures.

Project 33 is coming along, nothing too exciting to report yet. I did manage to workout several times (5?) this week. I used to be in REALLY good shape, oh, 4 or 5 years ago. I lifted weights probably 6 hours a week, and really watched what I ate. I got really into heavy lifting and I loved it. I am not ready to get back to that yet, but I do see it being a part of Project 33. For now, I just need to do some sort of exercise, which is about weight loss, but also about firming up this "Mommy body" AND really about having 20-30 mins to myself at the end of the day (well, the end of the work day...so far the best time to squeeze in a workout is when John comes home from work then I get to run upstairs all sweaty and still have dinner ready by 6pm). We have our workout equipment in the basement and I blast my i-pod over Mary's yelling upstairs. It's great "me" time and hopefully has some health benefits too.

I have some really good pics from this week, but they are on my other computer (yes, I have two that I actively use) and aren't uploaded to Flickr yet. But here are a few overdue from the holidays.

The third day of Christmas parties, and all pretty worn out:

Mary and her new bike!


Christmas morning:
(You can see Mary's gnomes in the background in their cradles John made. They came out great! Also, yes, that is a 20+ pound cat. His name is Stinky Simon)

I still take more pics of Mary than of Ellie. I need to get better about taking some of Ellie now that she doesn't just lay there like a lump anymore (a cute lump, but still a lump. Sorry, Ellie). I have some good ones from Friday. I'll try to upload them later.

Ugh, almost 11am and I haven't done a darn thing today! Mary and John aren't home and Ellie's sleeping on me. Guess I'll surf some more since putting her down would wake her up.

So, last night......

Mary was asleep by 7:45. John had agreed to hold Ellie while I did some crafting. He sat in front of the fire and read a book while I worked. We chatted and couldn't believe it was only 8:15 as I was wrapping up. Ellie woke up and I fed her. We came into the living room, and I was letting Ellie play on the floor without a diaper on for a while......I was watching Y&R and John was surfing......and the POWER WENT OUT!!! argh! I think we were both in shock. I think we both though we'd be in the dark for 4 days again. So John went to get a flash light while I tried to find a diaper that didn't require pins. I got Ellie diapered and John got his UPS shut down (backup power for his computers). We tried to call the power company but it was busy. We tried for 30 mins or so, and finally go through. But there was a recorded message saying they were aware of the outage and that all crews were working as quickly as possible. He did talk to an actual person to log our outage. But it wasn't looking good. We were sitting in front of the fire just planning how we'd handle the night without heat, and what we would do in the morning, etc.... and the power came on! I think we were in shock again. I think it was only out for an hour, but I hadn't done any of my evening stuff (aka, sit and surf without Mary climbing on me) so it seemed earlier. I ended up staying up way too late.

John asked me last night if I made any New Year's resolutions. I did. But it really isn't something I can put into words. It has to do with my b-day in August. It's sort of something that leads up to my b-day and then will change after my b-day. It isn't a secret, just something I can't put into words. It has to do with not having a baby, moving, or having another baby. Them John pointed out I was actually pregnant in 2005. I was focused on '06 when Mary was born. So I've been pregnant in part of the last 4 years. Over half of 2005, 25 days in 2006, 14 days of 2007, and over half of 2008. I guess part of my resolution is to have more me time, and to make myself more of a priority. Sort of a 'done having babies, not a new stay at home mom who doesn't bother getting dressed or combing her hair' thing. It is hard to put into words. Let's just call it "project 33" and I'll have to post updates as they happen.

Still making the same pair of longies. Not really excited about them. I've got another project going. Pics to come.

I have a lot to say, but no time to say it

It's so hard to get anything done when Ellie only takes 20 min naps. But, here goes.

Christmas was good. Tiring, but good. Three days, three parties. Then a trip to Grandma's on the 27th. Then a trip to Indy to have Ellie's hearing tested (it's fine, she didn't pass the state mandated newborn screening, and there is no place here in town to have more advanced tests done). I'm so ready for a normal week that it isn't even funny.

It's a new year and I've been thinking about that a lot. I don't really make resolutions, but do have some things I'd like to accomplish this year. I told John that this year I don't want to have a baby (2006), move (2007) or have another baby (2008). Speaking of my babies, Ellie is 4 months old today and Mary is going to be 3 in 3 weeks! I already have Mary's gifts, and I think I'm just going to serve a big pot of chili for her b-day so that should be an easy party. Or maybe I won't cook at all. Well, the cake.

I'm working on a pair of longies for Ellie. Then I think I'm done knitting for a while. I think I want to make some crafty stuff for the house, but I am not sure what. I want to learn to sew better. I want to decorate and organize the house a little better.

Stuff i want to make this year:
Christmas wreath i started but don't finish
Ellie's blanket
Knitted/felted Christmas stockings for the girls
other stuff I can't think of :)

Yup, hard to blog with two kids needing you. So much for 'rest' time.