monday ramblings

Only 6 days till my due date. Single digits. How the heck did this happen?!?

Weird to still be pregnant. Especially considering I have been planning on having this baby ANY DAY for the last ... oh 5 weeks or so. Trying to keep the fridge stocked with essentials, the house picked up, toilets clean, etc. We went to the grocery store this morning to stock up ONE LAST TIME before little Luke arrives. Surely I won't need to go to the store again ... surely ...

Some super special pregnancy symptoms have picked up the last couple weeks, namely my funky blurred vision issue and crazy cramps/pains in my inner thigh/groin. Neither are really bad or unmanageable, just kind of annoying to be out with your two small children and have your eye go crazy so you barely see and definitely can't drive. Usually lasts about 20 minutes or so; happening about every other day. I had this with the girls too, but not nearly this much (maybe 3-4 times total). The cramping sharp pain must just be him hitting some nerves, but man it catches me off guard sometimes! I go back to the doctor on Thursday.

Hump day nuggets kind of fell off in November. There was an actual reason other than my laziness :) Corinne decided about 3 weeks ago that getting up between 5 and 5:30 is a good idea. Nothing like chocolate milk and Curious George before the sun comes up ... groan. So, I have been trying to go to bed around 9 since I've been getting up at 5 and this pregnant girl needs her sleep (especially when you factor in nighttime potty breaks, hip pain rotations, etc, etc). With the girls going to bed at 8, I just haven't had time to blog - or spend any "fun" time on the computer - lately. Every night I feel like I have to get the dishes done and the house picked up and ready for my water to break at midnight ...

So between trying to be ready for this baby at any moment and getting up at 5am nearly every day, November has been kind of exhausting. Guess the outlook for December isn't much different, huh??

HA!

So here's some November (pre-Thanksgiving) highlights!

We have only a couple days until she's two. Geez. How did that happen? That means I was in the hospital (for a week) this time just 2 years ago. Now I have a super silly, independent, but ever so sweet girl living with me.

She helped put her outfit together.

She's gone from working simple peg puzzles (where one piece fits in a cut out) just a few months ago to a stinkin' expert. Girl will sit and work 50 piece puzzles with you! Her niche is more 15-24 piece, but still. She's amazing :) Working perfection - one of her favorite "games." We don't turn the timer on ... yet. Maybe next month ;)

I can't resist her coming up to my leg all decked out in mismatched (and often inside out) dress up clothes and asking "Mommy, dance with me?" She's into Curious George all of a sudden. She likes to do everything by herself. She loves to help me cook. And thankfully she's feeling much better after a visit to the doctor last week (another sinus infection).

And then there's this one.

Helping babysit baby Samuel. She loves to hold him :)

We've hit a bit of an ornery streak lately. She's testing limits. Just making sure us parent people will actually follow through and that we are actually in charge. We are talking a lot about listening to each other, loving each other, and I am asking the question my mom asked my sisters' and I when we were growing up (well, technically she still asks it!).

How does that make you feel?

Thanks for that, Mom. I now ask that question 10+ times a day. I am turning into you - dark circles and all :)

In the midst of the ornery outbursts, she's her regular sweet self. Thinking about others before herself and loving just to play pretend with her sister. She's got so much joy and energy for the holidays and special events (like Beetles bday) it's contagious. Her holiday spirit is definitely going to be carrying us all through this next tiring month. I mean, the girl is pumped for SNOW and WINTER and SANTA and COOKIES and EVERYTHING. I love it!

She went to her first movie in the theater this past weekend. Aunt Dan and Uncle David took her to see the Muppet Movie.

She's been pretending to be Aunt Dan - complete with a purse full of pretend snacks for a pretend movie in the living room - ever since :)

The girls got their first girl cousin this month! Yay for cousins! Little Lucy (Lucea Mae) was born November 16th.

We are anxious to squeeze her!

We put up our Christmas decorations the weekend before Thanksgiving. Just another something I wanted to check off my list cause this baby was coming any day ...

Daddy lovingly and sweetly explained that we should try to hang the ornaments on all different parts of the Christmas tree and that we shouldn't hang ones that look like each other right next to each other.

Needless to say, we had some ornament re-hanging to do after bedtime :)

I snapped these one Saturday afternoon in early November. I think they were playing outside listening to the TU football game.

Charlie was not very helpful during the photo shoot, trying to give Daddy a kiss and then pawing at his face.

And Corinne felt that playing with the end of the pinwheel was a good idea.

I tried. Group shot FAIL!

We've been doing a lot of this lately.

The girls play their instruments while Dominic plays his guitar. They love it.

Oh, and I have the best and easiest craft idea EVER to share. Pretty sure I saw it over at Artful Parent first a while ago, but randomly tried it a couple weeks ago and it has been a huge success with both girls. Behold, clear contact paper taped to window for sticking stuff on.

We've done tissue paper, glitter, sequins, and leaves so far. Both girls have really enjoyed it. Way more than I thought they would. I would have done it months ago if I'd known!!

Well, going to aim to get a Thanksgiving post up ... you guessed it ... before baby Luke arrives!

Happy Monday everyone!

hump day nuggets: savor

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

It's been on my heart a lot lately, but then Dominic put it into words one night this weekend as we prayed before bed.

That the Lord would help us truly savor these last days with the girls as our family of four.

And then when I logged into Pinterest early this week, I saw this pinned.

Source: katiedaisyart.blogspot.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Oh how I want that. To soak in every last drop of our here and now in all it's beauty.

And so it's been my sort of mantra this week as we've plugged along doing all our normal things. I've tried to look at things differently. Appreciate them more. Recognize them for the fleeting precious moments that they are. Savor them.

Every morning, with blankies and oj for Juliet and milk for Beetles (who does not talk or take a break until the entire cup of milk is finished).

Every morning park visit complete with sliding, swinging, and pancake making in the sand pit. And every day that she wants to wear that "kitty cat bow" ... which is every day :)

Every kick of this little boy inside of me (pic of me one day shy of 29 weeks).

Every date with Daddy (that Mommy and Beetles totally crashed this weekend).

Every afternoon art project.

Every skipped nap. And extra afternoon playtime outside because of it.

The view from our backyard that can't be captured adequately in a photo.

This face.

And that grin.

And those panties :)

Hey Mommy, take my picture under here!

I want to savor evening playtime in the dirt ... and the trail of sand and dirt through the house to the bathroom.

I want to savor that right now every stumble, every trip to the bathroom, every booger, every tear, every thirst, every obstacle, every pain needs me. Cause that's a beautiful thing. To be needed.

So I am savoring our right here and now ... even when it seems mundane, even when the whining seems like it may never end, even when it I want to take a nap.

As I typed that last sentence, it reminded me of another good quote from a print I saw on etsy a while back.

Source: etsy.com via Dawn on Pinterest

Savor it.



p.s. Some of the infinite sweetness of the two girls playing together can be seen here. It's kind of long ...

p.p.s. Best video I've gotten so far of Corinne singing.

Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

hump day nuggets: adventure

Well I thought about just saving these nuggets for this upcoming Wednesday since it's only 2 days away, but I really did write the majority of this post last Wednesday.  The computer was having issues so things got delayed. Poor computer. It's old. We bought it after college graduation in 2003! Kind of funny that two computer scientists have such an ancient computer!!

So, here's what I would have posted last week ... if I could have :)

hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week

While not my norm and definitely not my comfort zone, it seems like we've been living somewhat adventurously in a few different areas of our lives. So, some highlights from our recent adventures around here.

Adventures in ... CLOTH DIAPERING.
It's something I've thought about a few times before, but finally decided to take the plunge. My biggest reservation was that Tulsa doesn't have a store that carries cloth diapers, so I had to shop online. Don't get me wrong, I love shopping online. But for some things, it's just hard. And having not seen a cloth diaper in over a decade, I just wanted to look at one before buying. So, I met with Tara, an amazing cloth diapering mom who gave me lots of good information, showed me over a dozen different types of diapers, and convinced me that it wasn't going to be difficult. Tara has a blog and also does cloth diaper parties and consulting here in the Tulsa area so if you live around here and are looking for an expert, she's your girl!

So, long story short, we are about 7 weeks in and I must say that it's going pretty well. Hasn't been a huge ordeal like I feared it might be. Really, it's not difficult. I can run a load of laundry every night and stuff diapers in the morning for the day. I can flush my kid's poo down the toilet. That's the rather unglamorous part of it all, but lets be honest, glamorous is about the last thing motherhood is ...

We still have a box of disposables around I wouldn't say I plan to be 100% cloth anytime soon (if ever). I am happy with where we are, our decreased landfill contribution, our financial savings, and plan to re-evaluate once the baby comes along. For now, I love Beetles cute cloth booty and she seems to enjoy selecting the color of diaper she's going to wear. It's the little things in life :)

note: For those interested, a little more about the specifics. I tried diaper covers and prefolds first, but just wasn't happy with the way things were going. Super bulky booty (like so bulky some of her clothes weren't fitting!) and some diaper rash (I think due to the fact that prefolds aren't stay dry) ... thankfully, I had purchased through Tara and the company she does her selling through offers a trail and exchange program. This was perfect. I exchanged my covers for pocket diapers and have been much much happier this go round. Right now I have 4 different brands of pockets: Bum Genius, Fuzzibunz, Smartipants, and GoGreen. I had initially wanted to find one perfect diaper and just order all the same kind. Now, I am so glad I didn't. Each diaper has advantages and fits differently and I think it has been good experience to try out the different kinds. For example, I LOVE the trim fit of the Fuzzibunz, but find them hard to stuff with extra absorbancy at night so reach for my BumGenius or GoGreen diapers. I love the pocket style (open on both ends) and snapping style of the Smartipants. Anyways, I have a pretty good idea what works well on a toddler (at least one particular toddler), and I have an idea of what kind(s) I'd like to try for an infant (based on sizing).

Adventures in ... EATING.
I am somewhat fascinated by nutrition. I didn't discover this until after college or it might have affected my career path :) But, the science behind what we eat and its impact on health is all very interesting to me. Just thought I'd tell you a little something you didn't know ... Anyways, I've been reading and learning a lot lately. I am retraining my brain on what's good to eat and what's not as nutritious as I thought it was.  We've made some changes. I am still learning. I'd say we are in process ... and will likely always be.

I am cooking more. Basically every meal. We don't eat a lot of carbs. We eat a lot of bacon :) We are at a minimal gluten, grain, dairy, and sugar place. I am feeling good about it. I don't intend to create a gluten free or sugar free bubble for the girls to live in (and would argue that this isn't the right approach to take), so we just minimize the amount we eat. Cooking gluten free has been interesting and rewarding. We (Dominic and I) don't really miss the "other" foods like we thought we might. We aren't as bloated and gassy. I don't feel like I'm on an up and down roller coaster all day long when it comes to being hungry and satisfied. Dominic has lost a few pounds.  I haven't put on as many pregnancy pounds.  We pay consequences when we eat junk food ... and Zantac is often involved :)

Here's links to some of the awesome resources I've been reading and learning from: Robb Wolf, Everyday Paleo, Health Bent, Mark Sisson. There are more, but that should more than get you started if you are interested.

Adventures in ... HOMESCHOOLING.
Rather than homeschooling, I thought about titling this adventure ghetto preschooling, but homeschooling just sounds like I have myself together and sometimes I like to pretend that I do :) At 3, Juliet isn't really ready for formal homeschooling and I am not even sure if that is the route we will go when it's time, but what I do know is that she loves to learn. And I hope that as her mom I will always see myself as her teacher, whether she has other teachers in her life or not. In our current daily routine, we have about 2 hours together during Beetles nap time every day (well, most days) and while I love to just do whatever, I have been feeling like she is ready for something a bit more structured. For a while now, we have been doing what Juliet calls her "letter project" at an online website called Starfall. It is a great resource for free phonics teaching (thanks to Aubrey for the site tip!). Highly recommend Starfall.  Juliet has a good grasp on what letter words start with and we have been working on what letter words end with as well as reading some very simple words. But there is so much more to life than letters, right?!

So, my current solution is to do a bit of ghetto preschooling homeschooling.  No formal curriculum or ummm plan, just winging it based on what's she's interested in (or what crafty thing I want to do!).  We have been doing a bit of spontaneous Google searching, gluing random objects to paper, making finger paint, and talking about fun new things like the seasons, ROYGBIV, and the days of the week. I have been trying to keep spending to a minimum and just use stuff around the house which has been fun and challenging. But, if you come over, be prepared that there is a bunch of paper, cotton balls, dyed pasta noodles, and leaves taped to our wall in the living room. Totally ghetto awesome :)

Some pictures from our ROYGBIV (i.e. rainbow) lesson. Homemade finger painting!

Beet Beet loved her some finger paint.

Dyed pasta.

We used it to string a necklace and to make our name.

Recipes for both the paint and the pasta can be found on my Pinterest board.

Adventures in ... CHILD NAMING.
So this one is a stretch as far as adventures go, but I figured I should slip it in here since we actually have a name for this little boy who spends most of his day kicking and pushing at my insides! Naming babies is hard ... or maybe we just make it hard, but it has been a difficult decision every time. Between Dominic's negative name associations and my laundry list of baby name requirements, I am somewhat surprised that we have a name at this point! I'm not going to deny telling Dominic at one point in our discussions that he could name this baby and I'd just name the next one so we wouldn't have to work together ... my brilliant conflict resolution skills right there people :)

But, we have a name we agree on now so that's all that matters. And it's a keeper.

Luke Wilfred Schulte.

(Wilfred after Dominic's grandfather).

So, yay! A name :)  Keep all negative feedback to yourself. I'm not used to putting a name out there before it's on the birth certificate. Ha!

And a couple pictures from our visit to the library this week.

So there are some very late nuggets!  Will check in again soon!

Note: Nugget format inspired by the very inspiring Nici over at Dig this Chick.

juliet turns three - a rainbow princess party

Our big girl is three. Just typing this out triggers all kinds of crazy (somewhat sappy) emotions, but the words just aren't coming. We are so blessed. Juliet is pure joy. So very thankful ... and I'm tearing up.

Man, am I an over emotional pregnant lady or what?

Our celebrations were low key. Yes, I said celebrations. We celebrated twice cause Aunt Dan, Uncle David, and Aunt Deb were going out of town for a mission trip ... and who doesn't want to open presents and be the center of attention for two parties!?

Opening a few gifts at party #1.

My mom and I scored some great princess stuff at a local JBF sale and that's all been a big hit. See those Belle shoes? The heels light up. And they were $3!!

The second celebration was themed a Rainbow Princess Party. I kind of made it up, but I think it turned out fabulously and most importantly Juliet loved it. Juliet had 2 requests for her birthday - a princess cake and a bounce house. On my quest to fulfill the first request, I came across a lot of pink princess cakes. Which are fine and all ... maybe I am just not the biggest fan of pink. I don't know ...

But then I found this cake on Pinterest.

Source: thecraftymamablog.blogspot.com via Dawn on Pinterest

AMAZING right? It's ok to drool :)

I had to make this cake ... but Juliet's request was for a princess cake.

Hmmmm ...

princess + rainbow = rainbow princess!

Here's how Juliet's cake turned out.

The outside (crown made of sparkly craft foam).

The inside (clearly I am not a food photographer).



If you want to make a rainbow cake, I would definitely recommend going to Crafty Mama's blog (cake pictured above) and read all her tips. For mine, I used this recipe for the cake and this basic butter cream frosting recipe from Martha Stewart. The cake is not hard to make, but I would definitely say it's a 2 day project!

To date, I have been able to throw pretty no fuss parties for the girls. I've enjoyed keeping the parties on the small side with some special touches that don't break the bank. In fact, I think I like the challenge of creating big impact decorations on little to no budget! For this year, our rainbow princess party wouldn't have been complete without a big ol' rainbow and of course a castle for our birthday princess!

The rainbow was HUGE and if I'd known how much work it was going to be, I might not have ever started it. Ha! It's made of hundreds (literally) of coffee filters dyed with food coloring/water. It was a fun project. Just time consuming. The girls loved to watch the rainbow grow day by day and it was such a fun addition to the room I was sad to take it down!

I need to find some better photos of the rainbow and upload them ...

The castle is just paint on a big roll of brown packing paper with tissue pom poms for clouds. Lots and lots of tape on the wall for this project :)

Blowing out the candles.

This picture looks innocent enough ...

Until you see this one ;)

Yummy.

Some other pictures from the party.

Eating brunch (before eating cake of course!).

Little princess.

Swinging outside.

Presents!

I somehow managed not to take pictures the day of the party of Juliet's other birthday request - a bounce house. But, that's ok because I have other pictures! Rather than renting a bounce house we opted to buy a little one and I must say that it's a decision I don't regret!

It fits in our living room and playroom and the girls LOVE it. It's been a fun inside activity with all the hot weather we've been having. We've used it a ton so far and it seems really durable ... and did I mention the girls love it?!

Big thanks to Aunt Allie for doing all the bounce house research :)

Well that about covers it. She's three and so incredibly grown up.

Love you big girl.