Georgia's Quilt, Finished!

Guess what's done?

Boom! You'll recall the post I made a few months back about my determination to finish Georgia's baby quilt by her 2nd birthday (March 20). I'm proud to say, despite my tardy blogging of the event, it did happen, and with time to spare. I was laying here snuggling in it on the couch just now and realized I never shared it, so here are my beautiful cell phone photos of the masterpiece. I'm proud to say that this is my first "real" and "big" quilt I've finished! I've pieced real quilts, but small ones; and I've made big quilts, but just big patchwork squares - nothing cut and pieced from a designed pattern. I'm so proud.

It's not going to win any awards, but I am so pleased that I was able to piece and free motion quilt the whole thing by myself. My mom, quilter extraordinaire (she says no, but I disagree) helped me through the bits that were holding me back - applying the borders and sandwiching the batting & backing to the front - but I did the rest.

I will say this - it's going to be a long time before I attempt machine stitching down the binding again. I tried it down 1.5 sides of this piece before deciding how much I hated it - it looked awful. Maybe I just need more practice, but I also really enjoyed sitting under the weight of the quilt for awhile while I mindlessly handstitched the back down. I'm so glad I ripped out the machine work.

It's been in heavy rotation with the kids, and already been through the wash a few times (suffice it to say, not only do we allow eating in the living room, but we've been through our share of sicknesses the last few months). It's held up beautifully so far. I hope it gets super soft over the years, washed and tumbled over and over again, and that Georgia takes it with her to college, like I did with my favorite quilts - they were one of my biggest comforts away from home.

Next up? I have a little blue lap quilt ready to piece from blocks into rows, and then I intend to make a really large, king size (or bigger, because we cannot share) quilt for our master bedroom. So naturally, based on the timetable I set with Georgia's quilt, it will be about um....6 years before those are complete. I'll keep you posted.

Happy 1st Birthday, Ryland!

Our sweet angel boy Ryland turns one year old today! I cannot believe a whole year has passed. I can honestly say that this has been the hardest year of my life - but also the best. Ryland brings so much joy to our lives, and every day gets better as we watch our two children grow up together. Time is already flying, and I know in about 5 seconds, they'll be teenagers. I can hardly stand it.

We intended for the party to be up on Monte Sano Mountain, at the state park playground; but we'd had heavy rain, and even though no rain fell on Saturday, it was so wet and muggy outside that we ended up just moving the party to our house. We didn't clean much, really, and went easy on the food; ordered Ted's Barbecue and made a box cake with premade sugar decorations. It all worked out great, though - everyone loved the bbq, and I got tons of compliments on my cake. Thanks, Betty Crocker & Duncan Hines! This was no Pinterest-worthy party, but I couldn't care less; it was a great day with family, and Ryland had a blast.

It was supposed to be a cars-themed party, we just pulled out every single car and truck toy we could find in the house. Anything with wheels was set out in the living room, and Ryland and the rest of the kids had a blast. Ryland especially had fun stealing toys from his cousin Isaac - they're about 5 months apart, and we know they're going to be best buds! Poor Isaac - Ryland mostly just wants to "pat" (slap) his head.

My favorite part was singing "Happy Birthday" letting Ry dig into his smash cake. Georgia didn't want to touch hers last year, but RyRy will eat anything and is our little china shop bull, so he loved it. He was so adorable & kept that hat on for the longest time!

He spent a good 30 minutes shoveling icing and cake bits into his mouth before we wiped him down and set him loose again to play. He loved having so many kids around. (Cannot wait to send him to daycare in a few weeks for the first time because we know how much he's going to LOVE having other little kids to play with all day!)

For favors, we sent everyone home with a few die cast racing cars that I found in bulk for cheap at Party City. It was a hit...and easy.

This sweet boy...one year old, starting to stand on his own, and he'll be walking soon. Wow. How is that possible, when it seems like just yesterday I was spending my days of maternity leave snuggled up in bed with him for hours on end? I love you so much, little guy! You'll always be momma's baby.

plans...big plans [before pictures]

Before Ryland was born, we switched rooms around in our house so that he could have the nursery, Georgia could have our old room and we could move into the "Man Room." Our room is still in a sad state of disarray, and though Georgia's room is not a total mess, it's a long way from being all decorated (at least the way I see it in my head). We made a lot of progress when my mom made her new curtains and my parents bought her a rug for Christmas, but the walls are still almost totally blank, and I really want to get that squared away. I especially have big dreamy plans for this wall:

I have an Ikea brand wire + clips curtain "rod" I want to hang low over the record bench where she can display her artwork, and then I keep envisioning a salon gallery-style arrangement above that. We have a collection of some posters and artwork, and I have some canvases prepped for more. Of course, in my head, this is all so much more perfect and amazing than it will be in real life, but whatever. Georgia will like it. (Speaking of real life, how about that mess, eh? This is actually pretty clean compared to usual.)

There's also a space above her little bookshelf where I plan to hang all her little circular items - we have a handful of framed hoops and some little plates that I think will look cute here. On the wall to the right, I'm not sure yet - it's an odd space because the bathroom door covers half of it when it's open (which is most of the time).

I don't hate what we have going on over by the crib - it's a cute corner shelf that I painted gray, and there are some little collectibles on it. Then there is a baby picture of her on the left, and her yellow Andy Warhol high heel print I got for her nursery. I guess these might stay, but I need a way to incorporate some more color. Everything is still primarily yellow and gray from her original nursery, but I don't want to limit it and I plan in starting to pop in some blues, reds and greens like in the rug.

Anyway, over on the right is her glider - which is covered in quilts to protect it from Spike the cat, who pretty much lives on it. There are a couple shelves that used to be above her changing table, but they're not very useful anymore and I may take them down to put some other artwork in its place.

So that's that - I have some neat pieces I've been saving to go up when I get ready to "do" her room, and I can't wait to put them to use. Now that Ryland is a little older and the kids are getting easier to manage, I can see me finally having the time to spend on it! And speaking of house projects, we are spending lots more time in our dining room with ever before having family meals, and I've got to do something with this mess.

We bought paint a few years ago that we never used - gray for the bottom and a light blue for the top - and I plan on either reusing some old red curtains I have, or making some new curtains. The table and china cabinet will stay, but the Coca-Cola cooler may go somewhere else for storage. We've got some art ready to go up (mostly Civil War prints of Nathan's), and I truly hate the chandelier - I at least want to paint it or something.

For perspective, here is from the dining room window facing the kitchen. That's the door to our pantry on the left, and the jukebox poking out from behind the wall in the hallway going into the kitchen.

So that's what's on my docket for house projects in the next few months. I'll keep you posted as I work on Georgia's room especially!

on motherhood

My sweet girl Georgia turns 2 years old next week. I am trying to wrap my head around that.

My life has changed dramatically in the last two years, and by default, so have I. I'd say I've done a pretty bang-up job of rolling with the punches and making the best of it all - good and bad - but really, I worry I've just made it through with more good days than bad. If that's true, I'd be okay with that. I'm proud of that.

I read a BlogHer post this morning by Janelle from Renegade Mothering on how motherhood changes you, and it really resonated with me. It's called Beautiful Catastrophe: The Death and Rebirth of Becoming a Mother.

Beautiful catastrophe. I don't think I have ever heard someone describe my feelings on motherhood as succinctly as this.

Let me first say, without hesitation, that I absolutely adore being a mother to my two rugrats. They are the light of my life, and I wouldn't change a thing. But just because I love our life and our family doesn't mean it's not tough or that I don't question myself on a daily basis. And at the end of the day, I think we do a pretty good job...but who am I to guess whatever it is I'm doing today that will send my daughter into therapy when she's older? Ah well, that's something I try not to think about. We do the best we can do for our children day in and day out, and that is all we can do - nothing more, nothing less.

I am extremely lucky to have a husband whom I adore to tackle this journey with me. He's really and truly an amazing dad and spouse and teammate; now, I'm the first one to forget it, and I should have my hand smacked for that. He deserves all of the grace he gives me, imperfect and difficult as I am. My goal since we got married has always been to choose my battles wisely - love more, criticize less. You know the saying - our thoughts become our beliefs, our beliefs become our actions...so in reminding myself to appreciate everything Nathan does instead of getting irked for how he does it, I think I'm able to save myself a lot of frustration and heartache. (Granted, this isn't a perfect system, but it does tremendously help me in keeping a positive perspective.)

But you know, although he's super hands-on and involved with and responsible for our children, I found there to be something very alienating and lonely about becoming a mom. This is just my experience of course - but in that Beautiful Catastrophe post I mentioned, Janelle shares her feeling of jealousy at how her husband got to leave and go to work while she stayed, attached to a newborn, feeling like she'd never get to leave again. That struck a huge chord with me; the first few weeks of Ryland's life, I felt suffocated in this house. This tiny, perfect baby that wanted to breastfeed constantly, something I didn't have the responsibility of with Georgia since I pumped and bottle-fed (that had its own difficulties, but someone else could always give her a bottle and share the responsibility). I started to resent that Nathan got to leave every day for work and come home in the evening after 8 glorious hours away. I even grew jealous of my daughter, only 14 or 15 months old at the time, because of how much freedom she had that it seemed like I would never get back. And don't even get me started on my friends and coworkers. How dare they continue living their lives and leaving their homes and going out for coffee while I was jailed like this?

All the while, during this time I would lose myself gazing in amazement at my angels, joining my husband in adoration of our little family that WE created. We'd gotten everything we'd ever dreamed about. The rollercoaster of emotions was almost to much to bear.

And of course, I did get my freedom back, in my own way. Ryland started sleeping longer stretches, I was able to start pumping and share feedings with the help of bottles, and of course, I went back to work (which is still like a daily vacation to me). My hormone-laden, cabin-fevered hysteria quickly wore off and I eased back into normalcy of both schedule and mental state. I quickly regained the luxury of a glass of wine and more than 2 cups of coffee. What seemed like a black hole I'd never come out of was, in the grand scheme of things, quite a short-lived panic.

But fast forward to today, and while I contentedly travel through our day-to-day of morning sounds, workdays, evening family time, thank-God-they're-asleep time and my head hitting the pillow, I still struggle with an ache for the old me. What happened to her? I refuse to accept that she just died, gone forever, but I don't know that she's here with me, either. If she is, she's a shadow of the girl I once was, hiding inside the woman I am today. The mother I am today.

And is that a bad thing? I don't think so. I believe changes of self are not only inevitable, they're necessary and important. It's called awareness and growth. Mindfulness and thankfulness.

While I joke as much as the next tired momma, I get very frustrated at singular interpretations of what it is to be a parent. Jest I might, but motherhood is certainly not drudgery and struggle and wistful thinking; and in the same breath, it is certainly not sunshine and laughter and bliss.

No, motherhood is not any of these things; it's all of them mashed up together in unequal parts and zero regularity, and they equal joy and engaged living and honesty about what I'm going through as I begin this amazing journey.

And I have to remember that, too -- it is just the beginning. Nathan and I were having a tough time a couple months ago managing our expectations with reality, and together we came to the realization that this is our life, we wanted and want it, we chose and choose it. Therefore, constantly waiting impatiently for the next break or nap or vacation and constantly wishing for the hassle-free days of our past weren't going to do us any good at all. We needed to snap ourselves into the present and just live it, good and bad, sickness and health, richer or poorer, you know that old rhyme...

Things have been exponentially better around here since we made that discovery. A simple change in perspective is all we needed to fill our minds with healthy thoughts and healthy attitudes.

Motherhood really is a beautiful catastrophe. Parenting and family and children and life are beautiful catastrophes.

I would hardly call all my internal change over the last two years a disaster or chaos or any other number of phenomena with negative connotations. But I think to avoid the strange woman I see facing me in the mirror is a mistake. She's here to stay, so we might as well get to know one another.

I'm finding that I actually quite like her.

What we're eating: Breakfast

As promised (weeks ago), I am going to start sharing some of our healthy eating options we've been using at our house since the first of the year. We're both on a health kick - partly for weight loss, but mostly to just be healthier in general for ourselves, our kids and our future. We know that we get away with making unhealthy choices because of our age, but that won't last forever. I've been doing Weight Watchers (online), which I love and had a lot of success with a few years ago pre-kids. Nathan's just tracking his food using MyFitnessPal, which never worked for me because I found it to be too restricting and I was always starving -- but to each his own! And we're both hitting the gym. He's always been a workout warrior, but I just joined a health club close to our house for the first time in years and years. I have no idea what I'm doing, but there are individual TV's on the cardio machines, which is pretty amazesauce. I'm trying to work up the courage to try a class - I don't know what it intimidates me so badly.

Anyway, one of the biggest changes for us is that I have been cooking us breakfast nearly every day. We have been destroying some eggs, and we've been going through our favorite staple veggies (mushrooms, onions and tomatoes) like crazy.

One thing I have been love, love, loving is these cheap little egg rings. I have read negative reviews about how they stick (I've never had that problem with plenty of cooking spray) and that they leak (just a tiny bit, but nothing horrible), and they've made it really easy for us to make breakfast sandwiches. These are awesome for us because we can eat them on the go, whether we're running around the house getting ready with kids under our feet, or driving to drop the kids off at grandparents' houses or school on the way to work.

I tried bagel thins once or twice, but as much as I love bagels, I just didn't love them. They seemed too dry and tasteless to me. We have both been really enjoying Arnold brand Sandwich Thins though, of which we like the multigrain and flax versions. For mine, usually I put a slice of part-skim mozzarella cheese down and top it with a hot egg, which melts it a little; then sometimes, I'll throw on some additional veggies like some mushrooms and onions that I've sauteed on the side of the same pan. Nathan likes to load his up with jalapenos and hot sauce (yuck to me, but whatever floats his boat!)

Other times, I'll make a bunch of eggs omelet style with half and half whole eggs and egg whites. We like to mix in chopped up mushroom, onion, spinach and/or tomato and a little fresh minced garlic, and we'll split it up to eat either by itself or on sandwich thins.

Chopped up Hormel turkey pepperoni is yummy in eggs too, and really low in fat and WW points. Occasionally, I've used turkey or venison, ground or sausage, since we usually have deer on hand in the freezer or leftovers from supper.

Cheese-wise, if I'm not serving the eggs with a slice of low fat mozzarella, I'll chop up a wedge of WW cheese (it's just like Laughing Cow wedges) which melts down really nicely and adds some rich flavor. Or, I'll just add some straight sharp cheddar, chopped up really tiny - you use so little that it hardly adds points value or calories at all.

Of course, we do love scrambled eggs as well, which are fantastic on a whole wheat tortilla. I've also tried the "Extreme Wellness" sundried tomato tortillas, which I wasn't a huge fan of for burritos (they just seemed a little too moist or something, and fell apart really easily) though they tasted pretty good.

If I have to grab something to eat at work instead of cooking at home, I like Greek yogurt with granola and sugar free fruit preserves. A go-to for me is a 1/2 cup fat free plain Greek yogurt, a 1/4 cup Bear Fit granola (I like the vanilla flavor) and a tablespoon or two of Smucker's sugar free raspberry preserves. Mixed all together, it sweetens the yogurt and has tons of protein.

So there's my boring breakfast food post. :) What do you do for breakfast on a healthy-eating diet?

DIY @ SCC: Shoebox Receipt File

You guys, I really do blog. I promise. I just do it for work so much more than myself! I've got to do a better job of not just blogging for my job. Anyway, I figured that when I have a DIY post up over at the Stitch Craft Create blog, I'd link to it from here as well, which is probably cheating but I have no shame. So here is numero uno of this new sneaky tactic to force myself into blogging...

Last week, I shared an easy way to make a little receipt file using a children's shoe box. This was actually my husband's Valentine's Day gift, because isn't budgeting everyone's first thought at the word "romance?" No? Okay then.

But seriously, this is great for us because we really do keep up with every single receipt and track it on a giant spreadsheet that Nathan keeps up with, bless him. But things can get a little disorganized when we divide them out across our debit card, our flex medical benefits card, and each of our individual credit cards. We'd been throwing our receipts into a little wooden box for him to go through, but it was really just chaos. Now, I can file my receipts for him really easily and he has way less questions to ask when it's spreadsheet updating time.

It's gotten rave reviews from him the last few months. And isn't that paper to die for? It's a new line from Fancy Pants Designs called Park Bench. Love love love. Check out the full how-to right here.

Alright. More blogging to come this week. Maybe.

a new toy for ipad blogging

So, I treated myself to a new toy - a new Bluetooth keypboard and case for my iPad. It's red, and I'm using it right now. I bought a fairly cheap one to see how I liked it before dishing out lots of cash for an expensive one. I paid for a blogging app (excellent, btw), but it's a little difficult to type a lot on the touch screen keyboard. So this one? So far, so good - the spacebar isn't extremely sensitive, so I'm backspacing a bit to go back and hit it harder to correct mistakes. That's a tad annoying. But setup was a breeze, and the case is really nice and sturdy. Plus, I love that the keyboard is removable in its magnetic sleeve - I'm typing this from the couch while my ipad is propped up a few feet away on the ottoman.

Alright, just wanted to do quick post on my new toy. Planning on a post later this week about my Weight Watchers-friendly breakfasts of late. Until then!

 

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