Hey There Stranger....

So it's been ages. I have thought about blogging on one occasion or another but just didn't have the motivation. Or the desire to go stay up after I got the little ones to bed. But here I am, looking for a distraction from my homework. Yep, I said homework. The last few months have been a complete blur but I think I may be on the path to where I will ultimately end up. I'm currently in graduate school trying to determine if I even remember how to study, or write a paper or the very tactful skill of getting all of your class participation points without sounding like a know it all. Turns out I still got that part nailed down, the other stuff, I think it is coming back to me. The good news is that I have a new lap top so my internet life should be much more streamlined. I have an professional organizer coming to my house tomorrow to help me determine a game plan to maximize the space in my house while getting rid of all the crap that I have let accumlate. I want to make stuff. Play with pictures. And maybe get my sewing machine out. I have lots of photos to share and once I get my act together I may even get them off of my camera. I really want to document the next two years as best as I can since I think I will blink and I will miss my kids growing up. Trying to juggle grad school and being a good Mom is a challenge that I know will be worth it. So here's hoping that I get to say hi more often than every 6 months. Maybe once a week? Who knows but gosh darn it I'm going to try. Can you even get over how cute they are?!

Guess Who Got A New Phone....

I have entered the land of constant contact and eternal peace, also known as the iPhone.
Am I overreacting that this phone has improved my quality of life?

Totally Random Thoughts....

I'm eating an apple while blogging on Colin's iPad.
I finally figured out my Pampered Chef can opener. Totally awesome btw, thanks You Tube.
I died a little on the inside when our high speed Internet wasn't working. If it wasn't for my Blackberry I may have totally lost it.
Just got home from the gym and the kids are with their grandparents and Matt is at work. I am so excited to take a shower in peace.
Going to purchase a new car seat today for Miss C, we have rewards dollars and Babies R Us has their trade in event going on.
I love saving money.
I am currently working on my Project Disney book. Each spread will be a summary of each of our past trips. I love that they will all be in one place and I will get see how our family and the park changes over the years.
It's really hard to type with just one finger while eating an apple.
Happy Saturday!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I realize that it is already seven days into January but this is the first chance that I have gotten to slow down all week. I am currently sorting through photos to attempt, again, to be successful with Project Life. If you haven't heard of it by now, you may be living under a rock, or you don't spend a great deal of time on the internet...good for you :-)

So for me this year, I purchased two styles of page protectors, (B and F) and a new We R Memory Keepers album that I was able to use a 50% off coupon. For everything else, I'm going to use what I have. I have so much stuff that has been collecting dust over the last year that it all seems like new product to me anyway. That's the one good thing of getting out of the whole publishing thing for awhile, the pressure to use the latest and greatest is gone. I can just use what I like regardless of when it was manufactured. Don't get me wrong, as soon as I can start fitting scrapbooking into my life again I will start submitting, but for now I am learning to appreciate the break.

Before I go, I just wanted to share a few photos of our Christmas holiday.


This is TJ, our very naughty elf. He is wearing the bow tie I made for Colin's Christmas concert. I originally volunteered to make 155 of them. Don't worry, I eventually came to my sleep deprived senses.


Reindeer Food and Teacher Gifts.


Eating our Gingerbread House.


Colin squeezing Miss C. too hard as usual.
I can't explain why his legs are in the air.


This is a weird face that Charlotte is making but it's the only one where she kept on her headband that I made her. I threw this together 5 minutes before we left for Christmas Eve dinner at my Mom's. Gotta love a glue gun and a cuttle bug.


Miss C. is starting to be much more aware of whatever Colin is doing and wants to sit right next to him or even on his lap. Keep in mind that Miss C. walks around like she owns the place so it is very possible that she thinks Colin is her toy, chair, servant etc but I still think it is cute.

A Few Photos...

Yeah, I'm a terrible blogger right now. It will get better...right?!?

SO over the last several months Colin has started first grade, Miss C has turned 1 and we visited Mickey and Jo Pa. See why it's been tough to blog, lol!

In the midst of everything I also need to make two costumes for Colin. One is a ninja as requested and the other is for All Saints Day for school.

Yeah, somehow I just think that things are going to get worse before they get better.

Have I mentioned that Miss C has started running?

Yep, totally going to get worse before it gets better :-)


Get the FREE Printables here, they are awesome.

Two Posts in the Same Week....

What's even more surprising is that I scrapbooked yesterday.

Seriously, I hardly believe it either.

This is prompted the urge to clean my craft room. I forgot how much being creative gets my butt in gear. All of my laundry is sorted. Baskets that have been sitting upstairs since we left for the beach, in August, are put away and I even baked snacks for Colin.

It feels good to be me again.

So while I'm cleaning here are a few photos from the summer. Enjoy and I will be back with an actual layout. :-)

So Much to Catch Up On....

But first I wanted to post about something that is very important to me. I first heard about milksharing in the news with angry mobs of people denouncing the practice and participating in the traditional mommy wars. I am always surprised at how hot buttons issues can bring out the best in people when they have a computer and internet access.

When I had Colin, I diligently got up each morning on maternity leave and pumped so I could have a large freezer stash ready and waiting for when I returned to work.

Then Colin got sick.

I had no idea what I had eaten the weeks prior and I had to assume that all of my milk was contaminated with milk and soy proteins. So I took everything out of the freezer, defrosted it and poured it down the drain. I cried and cried for all the time and effort lost, but also I now had no safety net. The only formulas that Colin could tolerate smelled of dog food and were extremely expensive. The type of formula he needed we couldn't buy in a store and we needed to get it at the pharmacy. Our insurance would not pay for this even though it was medically necessary.

Thankfully he could tolerate human milk.

So we continued our breastfeeding relationship on a restricted diet and he continued to grow and thrive. There were many a days that I was panicked since for well over his first year of life I was his ONLY source of nutrition. If I got sick or had a drop in my supply there weren't many other options that I could provide.

Oh how I wish I knew about milksharing then. I could have given that freezer stash to a needy mom. I could have found another mom who was on a restricted diet and gotten some milk from her.

Fast forward to me having Charlotte and being a little obsessive about building a freezer stash. Several 100 ounces later I no longer had room in either of my freezers and decided to give it away. As much as I worried about my insurance policy being gone in my freezer, it was never a problem. Charlotte always had enough milk with just a little extra in the freezer for an emergency. I never rebuilt my stash to that capacity again but as she turns 1 year old next week I realize that everything I pump now is a bonus. I am so grateful for that.

I realize that this isn't something that lots of people talk about. But we need to talk about it. This isn't about making people feel bad for choosing formula. It's about human milk being available but not accessible to everyone. I choose to breastfeed, I nurse in public, I milkshare. However, I also let my children play with plastic toys, watch TV, and eat at McDonald's. As parents we all make choices that are the best for our families, it's just so much easier when we know all the options that are available to us.

The End. :-)

Look, I'm Blogging!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I realize that it has been far too long since I shared anything here but life has been a major zoo here. And not a small town zoo either, think major wild life and exotic hard to find animals kind of zoo. Yep, it's been crazy.

Here's a brief run down of what we have been up to. I'm pretty sure my family will be looking for me soon.


I am officially working 40 hours a week. I am anticipating the few extra hours a week will totally kick my butt until I get used to it again.


We got all dressed up and went to a wedding.


We have been spending loads of time at the pool.


At Dutch Wonderland and Hershey Park. Poor Charlotte, we just drag her around wherever we are going. Luckily she travels well. Although by the look of this picture you think I told her we were about to go around the whole park again :-)


We have also been finding things to do inside. Again, poor Charlotte since it usually means we are sharing a chuckle at her expense.


Thankfully she doesn't seem to mind :-)

Hope your summer is off to a great start!

It's All About the Fashion...

As we start packing for Miss C's first trip to the mouse I have noticed one very interesting theme...I'm very concerned about what she is going to wear. :-)
I have always packed Colin's best summer duds on a trip where there are photo opportunities galore but never with as much gusto as I have with Miss C.

Miss C has 5 swimsuits...most of these have ruffles like this one.



She has three costumes, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse and Belle.

We have a pirate wig that I got for Colin that he wasn't too into but we nearly peed our pants when we put it on Miss C. If I have time I may make a peasant dress out of Muslin just for kicks.

I have cut out all the material for a few handmade dresses to take along as well as purchased her clothes for summer.

Now I have overpacked for her mostly out of concern that there will be blowouts. But now that I am thinking about it there may need to be costume changes just for the heck of it.

I can't wait to finally start taking pictures again :-)

Six and Six....

And just like that I have a six year old and a six month old. I can't get over how quickly time is flying right now. Miss C is eating and Colin has matured so much in the last few months. His sense of humor is sarcastic and borderline inappropriate at the same time...I'm so proud. :-) I love seeing him take an interest in his little sister and it melts my heart everytime I hear him say, "I just love her so much!"


Miss C is something else. We just started feeding her about a week before she turned 6 months, mostly because I wanted her to try most of the things we will be eating on our upcoming trip and well she was basically wrestling me for my food.

I'm not even kidding.

You would think I was starving the poor girl. Ummm she is obviously getting enough to eat, lol!
She hasn't turned down anything that we have offered her and it has been weirdly liberating to offer her something without looking for a manager and tracking down all of the ingredients. We just hope and pray that she continues to tolerate everything in her diet.

And just because I was looking though my 4000 photos today realizing that I really need to back my files up and found this for your viewing pleasure. This seems like it was five minutes ago but it was from 2009. I can't believe all of his "babyness" is gone. He is a riot and this totally made me laugh. We have one of these for every super hero.

I'm Baaaack....Kind Of :-)

It's been a whirlwind of a few weeks but nothing that a last minute to do list can't fix. We had Miss C. baptised this weekend and she needed a special dress to wear. This is Miss C. with her lovely Godmother Liz.

I used this pattern to make a simple blessing dress. It took me about 2 hours since it was a little late and I sewed one side backwards since I was getting tired. In my defense I did bake 5 dozen cupcakes this week since it was also Colin's birthday.

Here's the fam after the longest Baptism EVER.

Since both my kids are sleeping and I'm wiped I going to share these photos and hopefully come back soon with words and stuff. We only have a few weeks until our trip and I want to make at least one princess dress out of a knit material. Or maybe two or three.

Poor girl, she has no idea what she has gotten herself into.

This is Colin with his "baby" in our rented Boba. We rented a Boba to try it out and we loved it. We purchased ours on sale here. The owner Jill was a doll to work with and I just wished I had one of these with Colin. We chose this one since you can wear them until 45lbs and it has neat little foot straps to keep their hips where they are supposed to be. Very awesome.

I was going to share this one or the one where Miss C is eating Colin. Those are my favorite. But I think this will be my new facebook profile pic :-)

Okay that's it. I'm going to sleep, have a lovely day, week or month till I get a chance to say hello again!

Have I mentioned that I am ready for vacation?

Yep I'm 30....

First of all thanks to everyone who sent me lovely messages and emails. If it wasn't for you I may have forgotten that it was my Birthday altogether. :-)

Things are so busy right now that it kind of snuck up on me. It's probably better that way...way less traumatic.

Anywho since I continue to get snarky...I mean friendly, reminders that I haven't posted photos here are a few that I can muster together in between getting ready for tomorrow.




Happy Wednesday!

Yeah...So I Went Back To Work...

And my life has kind of turned into a zoo. My Christmas tree is still up in my living room, in all of it's brown glory, and it's starting to get difficult to tell the difference between the clean and dirty laundry. I have officially completed four weeks back at work and I have showered everyday AND Colin hasn't missed the bus to his new school.

Impressed?

Although you can't tell from my house that I am succeeding, I feel like I am SLOWLY finding a new normal.



Well, at least the kids are fed :-)

I'm Thinking About Making Something....

But I have gifts to wrap.
Who am I kidding...I still have loads of shopping to do.
Laundry and packing.
And tons of things that need organized, which is why I'm looking forward to this.



I could use a little, okay a lot of help in finding things in my craftroom and with less time I NEED to know where things are.

Why is this important? Well there is something about completing a project that motivates me in all other areas of my life. Whether it's a scrapbook page or a sewing project, being able to look at something and say, "I made that," makes me feel like I could do anything.

I get that feeling looking at the kids but this feeling wears off quickly. And well, I can find a place for 100 layouts...100 kids, not so much.

So I will be tuning in since my friend Emilie is a crafty genius and I am sure I will learn something that will improve my quality of life. Seriously.

Feels Like Forever Since I Posted...

Probably because it has been. Things are a bit crazy right now as I prepare to go back to work and oh yeah...there's that whole Christmas thing. I knew that my leave would fly by with the extra stress of the holidays but I am trying to enjoy my last bit of time at home while getting that major list of things done that I totally thought I would start weeks ago.

Awesome. Miss C. already woke up from a 15 minute nap. Nice.


Wait maybe she's going back to sleep.

Nevermind.

Wait, maybe she is. Well I'll post the major things and the rest will have to wait.


This is how Colin came home from school one day last week. You would think he was having a pretty good time there. Well he's has been miserable and since I am in super duper protective mama bear mode...thanks hormones. I have been spending as much time in his classroom as I could while I was on leave.

I totally see why he is miserable. Everyone in that school is incredibly stressed. Very few smiling faces, the students are yelled at after they make a poor choice rather than helping them make good ones, the classroom is large and there is little to no extra help for the teacher. Colin is sinking faster than the Titanic at this point. And this is from a kid who likes to do worksheets for fun??? He can tell you what the score will be in a football game with various scenarios...if we get the field goal, the extra point and now he is learning about two point conversions. For him to not like school at this point there is something terribly wrong.

So we have made the decision to pull him out of public school and he will be starting in a private Catholic school after the holiday. Now both my husband and I attended Cathoilic school from K-12 grade so this isn't that far of a stretch. We had just felt that there were so many other opportunities in a public school and that it was good enough. The school he is going to is warm and caring with smaller classrooms, options to do advanced work and most importantly they spend time helping the children succeed instead of trying to corral too many students into the corner in the rush, rush, rush of the day. I really feel like this will be a better fit for our family. However there will be a lot of adjustments for us to make this transition, like uniforms and getting up early. Okay so maybe only two adjustments but they are BIG ones. Think of us if you get a chance. :-)

On a happier note Matt and I attended his annual Christmas party and I found a dress in less than 15 minutes, it was only 29.95 and it had a built in nursing top. I figure that it would be a good investment if I end up going anywhere fancy with the baby. I hound this at H and M which I had no idea had a maternity section.


Well I gotta run...I have loads to do and only a few weeks to do it. And looking at this picture I need to go to the gym. :-)

Embrace the Camera and Other Randoms...

I had Matt snap this photo this afternoon in the middle of Colin playing Toy Story Mania on his Wii and Miss C having a nursing induced coma. This is our new normal.

Although today included a shower, going to the gym, and a parent teacher conference. So generally our new normal doesn't include this much kid free time but we will go with that for the sake of the picture :-)



Also since it Veterans Day I thought I would share a photo of my favorite one.



I finally took a photo of this image so I can make copies. My sister found a way to get copies of the originals and I look forward to ordering those, but for now at least I have this. This is my Dad back in the day and I have to say that he makes a very handsome solider. He served in WWII and Korea. I am very thankful for his service and for everyone else who has come before him and after him.