Henry: Art

Henry continues to be prolific in his artistic attempts. 

Pages and pages of computer paper fill our home.

Sometimes it stresses me out.

When it does, its time to sort, scan and file away.

 Angry Birds and Star Wars continue to be reoccuring themes. Here we have Darth Vader and the Emperor battling Obi Wan with light sabers. 

 Here are some Ewoks--I drew them and they are pathetic--standing in front of doors. Where do those doors lead?

 To the Endor forest on the other side of the page, of course!

 Here we have him spelling Pigs and Angry Birds. This is something we do a lot of, he'll tell me what word he wants to write and I will spell it. He does pretty good actually. 

 This is Jabba the Hut's lair. The green guy is Jabba, the yellow is C3P0 and the guy in the blue box is Han Solo in carbonite. The guy on the left with the green lightsaber is Luke Skywalker and thats Han Solo after being rescued from the carbonite. 

 Here we have Ewoks on the planet Endor. 

 This is Darth Vader in the evil red cloud and the Emperor in some spaceship level. 

Henry still loves writing his letters and started working on an ABC book. P is for pizza, K is for kite, X is for X-ray.

Y is for (we don't remember what this is), Z is for Zebra.

H is for Henry, E is for egg, N is for night, R is for rock, D is for dog, B is for ball

Vivian: One Month

At one month, Vivian has been a wonderful and sweet addition to our family. 

She now weighs 8 lbs 9.5 oz and is 21.5" long. 

She is 25% for weight, 50% for height and her head is 10%.

I never said anything on here about how we came up with her name. I have loved the name Vivian ever since Angelina Jolie named her daughter Vivian. It just caught my eye and I have always liked it. Its feminine but not frilly. Its just reminds me of a beautiful and strong woman. I love that it sounds like vivid, vivacious and vital or full of life. Its also kind of old fashioned or a glamorous movie star. 

And I never mentioned any other name to Steve so when she was born, it was the only option :)

Marcela is a name that Steve came home with. Its also a variation of my grandpa's name Marcelo. And since it went great with Vivian, we loved it.  

Here are some of the things we know about her so far:

• When she gets mad, she gets really red. Like super red. She is already pretty pink, a nice rosy color when she is sleeping or happy and then it only gets red from there. Actually I am happy that I opted for less pink in her wardrobe because when she wears pinks pjs, she is all one color. 
• She doesn't like to be tickled.
• At one month, she suddenly got very loud. Her crying used to be more whiny but now it is full out screaming. 
• She can roll her tongue, something she got from Steve. Both Henry and I cannot. 
• She has been sleeping up to 5-6 hours for her first night shift which is a HUGE blessing. But not always and sometimes she wakes up and refuses to go back to sleep. 
• She hates sleeping in her crib. She loves sleeping in the rock and play and in our arms.
• To get her to sleep, Steve holds her against his chest. It really calms her down.
• She seems to have a witching hour from 8-11 pm and refuses to go to sleep. 
• She likes to be free to move her arms and legs around and she already has increased strength in her kicking. She also really likes for us to do bicycle legs with her and move her arms about as if dancing. 
• She has spit up in 4 weeks more than Henry has in his whole life. Luckily I made a ton of burp cloths for Henry that are practically still brand new. 
• She doesn't seem to care about singing when she's sleepy.
• Swaddling helps her calm down unless she is already too upset and then it just makes her mad. 

28 days into Motherhood: Can't catch a break

It was 7:06 am and I was stumbling back into bed after hours of being awake and trying to get Vivian back to sleep, hoping to get a few more minutes of sleep for myself when Henry ran into the room. "Its morning time!" I found myself muttering, "Man, I can't catch a break." This seems to be the theme of our first month of parenthood.

Day 11: I start to feel a little sick to my stomach, the kind of sick you hope goes away after a trip to the bathroom. The kind of sick you hope is just related to overeating or something you ate. After going to the bathroom, I head out to Bunco with Vivian in tow. We stop and pick up Chelsea and I feel fine. During dinner I start to feel sick again and one of my fears is realized, I have to go to the bathroom and I am NOT at home. There is always a small paralyzing fear accompanied by going #2 in public or in someone's home. Its something we would all wish to avoid. Its loud, messy and smelly; something better reserved for our own personal toilets. Well, diarrhea waits for no one. Once done, I decide it is time to head home before I am too weak to drive or I throw up or have another explosive episode. I feed Vivian, say good night and thankfully make it home before anything dire happens. The next twelve hours are spent in a perpetually weak state laying in bed or hovering near the toilet. I have a bug that would eventually run its course through most of Athens and its a killer. Too weak to really leave my bed, Steve brings Vivian to me for feedings and I semi-lay/sit propped up in bed by pillows. My favorite part of the night is when Steve went to help Henry fall back asleep and I was left to drag Vivian's rock and play into the bathroom so I could rock her to sleep while sitting on the toilet. Yuck. Its also fun to try and change a diaper with zero energy. Luckily it passed by mid morning and I was up and about again that day.

Day 19: The kids and I try our hand at going to Sandy Creek Beach. Everything goes well and we have a great time in the sun. Its tiring sitting in the hot afternoon and I immediately fall asleep on the couch when we get home. After my nap I get up to prepare for babysitting that evening and realize I can't stand up straight and my back is killing me. I somehow threw my back out. Talk about feeling old. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before so I am at odds as to what to do. Should we go to the doctor? Should I pump myself full of drugs? I take some ibuprofen and it does nothing. Over the course of the next four hours I become more and more limited in my movements due to intense pain. I can't sit up straight, I can barely walk and I am even uncomfortable laying down. It is the closest I have ever come to going to the doctor for a non-wellness check up.
The real fun begins when we go to bed. I have to slowly sit on the side of the bed and then in one swift painful motion, roll my legs up and over. It hurts so bad to move that I am literally counting down before each movement. A mental preparation: "I'll move in 3..2..1..." but mostly I can't even follow through with the planned movement. Now I get to breastfeed my baby. Again I rely on Steve to bring her to me and I sit, hunched over with one leg tucked under me and one leg dangling off the side of the bed, the only semi-comfortable position I can get myself into. During the night, Henry wakes up and Steve goes to be with him. Guess who else wakes up? I lay in bed knowing that I need to get across the room to her but imagining how I am going to do it, terrifies me. I rally myself and try to stand up. Leaning against the bed I am able to step with my right foot and then have to drag my left foot to move. When I reach the end of the bed I can't make it without support so I have to kneel and crawl/drag myself to her bassinet. Miraculously I can lift her out and place her on the ground. Since I can't sit down and I can barely hold her, I kind of hover over her and lean my chest into her mouth. Seriously, its funny thinking about now but at the time it sucked. When she is done eating, I have to call Steve to rescue us from the ground. Thankfully Henry stayed asleep for the rest of the night so Steve could continue to help me.
Luckily the next morning, Steve brought home serious back pain medicine and within 30 minutes I am walking around and soothing my back with ice packs. Do you know what the best ice pack is? The packs that come with your breast pump. Also another humorous incident was trying to get into the shower without putting any weight on my right side. My back incident took me out of commission for a couple of days and I am still sore over a week later but I can move and sit and carry my baby again.

Day 28: Steve wakes up with pink eye and is forbidden to touch the baby. I'm flying solo with her and crossing my fingers no one else gets infected. And Vivian decides its the best day to get a cold.

baby crafting: circle skirt

Oh hi there!

I have a few more baby clothing reviews I never finished from way back when I was pregnant. And guess what? I have a baby to put in these clothes now so I can update with cute pictures. 

Today we're reviewing the Circle Skirt tutorial over from Danamadeit.

This skirt was everywhere years ago but since I didn't think it appropriate for Henry to flounce around in a skirt, I saved it for my future daughter. 

These are super easy to make and take such a small amount of fabric, I had to hold myself back from making dozens of them. Now that Vivian is wearing them too I love how you don't have to remove the skirt to change her diaper, just flip up with the onesie. So convenient. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 months

I found this colored elastic on sale at Joann fabrics and bought it in every color. They were on sale and I haven't been able to find it since. And speaking of elastic, her tutorial on making the band is really helpful and I am happy with how the band lays against Viv's tummy. 

Circle Skirt:3-6 mons

If you are a novice sewer, this is the perfect project to start on. 

And with summer in full swing, a simple skirt really dresses up onesies. 

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

Circle Skirt: 0-3 mons

This is my favorite one!

Circle Skirt: 3-6 mons

This one is made of an applique on white cotton. I just loved this floral and was happy I had saved a bit. 

26 days into Motherhood: a normal day

Vivian and her friend Harper chilling at the beach!

Today I had the most normal day I have had in months. I guess I didn't realize how out f it I was until this day happened.

It all started with Vivian sleeping two four hour stretches in the night. Consecutive hours are bliss. I woke up and fed her at 5:45 and then headed off to seminary. It was the last day of the school year and I went for the breakfast party and to finish out the school year. I hadn't been to seminary since Viv was born and I was actually surprised at how much energy I had. I was in charge of the breakfast casserole which I had assembled the night before and it turned out delicious. Only a few students came and the bishopric but I had fun chatting and joking with them and I realized I had missed that energy and spirit that comes from working with the youth.
After seminary I planned on coming home and going back to bed but I felt fine. I started putting together our stuff for the beach and even worked on a Star Wars bed skirt for Henry. Getting two children out of the house by myself is a little harder than I thought it would be but with a little preparation anything is possible. Also starting way earlier than you think you might need to helps, I am determined to be on time as much as possible. In fact, we were only 10 minutes later than I wanted to be at the beach. I was even able to cry through the season finale of Grey's Anatomy before leaving.

I saw this brilliant thing on pinterest to help your baby sleep on the beach. You dig a hole in the sand, long and narrow like a cradle, then you set your towel over it and place your baby in this "nest" of sorts. It totally worked--after a couple of reswaddling-escape attempts on her part. The hole puts the baby in the cooler sand and worked perfectly under our shade tent. Pinterest for the win!

We went to the beach with lots of friends which made it much easier for me. I had figured out how to get all our stuff down to the sand in one trip by using the stroller and having Henry carry his beach toys. Then I set up our sun shade with minimal help--it had been over a year since I had used it--tucked Vivian inside and we spent almost three hours there. We ate lunch, Henry swam and ran around with friends and played in the sand. I had prepared and bought Henry the best floaties so I wouldn't have to worry about him as much and with all the other moms around, it turned into a breeze. Getting out of there was a little trickier but easily managed with the other moms and I drove away feeling pretty great about being able to handle both kids.
Steve and I also managed to go on a date with Vivian as our neighbor was kind enough to watch Henry for a couple of hours. We ate pizza and gelato, chatted and walked around Target. It was nice to be out and practically alone.

So this day has given me a glimpse of what our life can be like, what it will be like once we find our routine and rhythm. And the normal-ness of it gives me hope. Not that our days have been bad but this was just a good day. Simply a good day

Henry's Last Day of Preschool

We were so blessed to have Henry in a wonderful preschool this year. I can't say enough good things about our experience and its great to see how much Henry has grown. We've had some rough patches and we have overcome them all. I only hope that when Pre-K starts, we don't have to deal with all of those issues again. There were weeks where I would leave him crying, being physically held inside by one of his teachers, hopefully that doesn't happen. But if it does, we'll get through it. 

Starting top left: Zane, Noah, Danny, Ms Jody, Ruby, Evie, Miss Mary, Maeve, Will, Molly, Anders, Henry, Abigail and Erin

His class took a class picture during the school year but Henry was sick that day and he wasn't in it. I asked his teachers if we could get one and they happily obliged. 

Silly faces!

Here is Henry with his two excellent teachers: Miss Mary and Miss Jody. 

He loved both but I think he had a special place in his heart for Miss Mary. 

On the last day of school they sent home an evaluation of his progress. Most of the "skills" they worked on this year he already knew like colors and shapes but they really firmed up letters and numbers. We do need to work on lower case letters. He did come home with a knowledge of the days of the week, the months and opposites. 

A cute story of him writing his name in the red pen. When Miss Jody saw that he was taking a long time to write his name, she asked what he was doing. He replied, "I'm just writing it like you showed me." And he was putting the dots on the letters like she does. 

His last week of school nicely coincided with being 3 weeks postpartum so I was a little emotional. I didn't cry but it was sad. I've just loved him going there and how much fun he has. 

After school we took Henry out to lunch to celebrate his first year of school being done. He, of course wanted to go to McDonalds'. 

Gramma and Grandpa

Some final pictures of my parent's visit. 

We were beyond blessed to have my mom come for two weeks and my dad come for a week after Vivian was born. What a blessing family is!

We were also thrilled to have Steve's mom come but for some reason we didn't take a single picture while she was here. Thanks again everyone for your love and support.