Last night we were planning to go to the Royals game, then watch the fireworks there afterwards. It started raining so we decided to skip the game and go out to eat instead. We were going to go see some fireworks later on if it stopped raining, but both kids fell asleep on the way home from dinner. Having both kids in bed at 8:30 is way more exciting to me than any fireworks could ever be!

I was able to sew another pair of little overalls for Noah. Something is not right about them, though. The legs and snaps are wonky and the whole outfit just doesn't look good. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

Yesterday I bought a rotary cutter and cutting mat at Joann's, and last night I attempted my very first quilting project. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that in order to actually cut straight lines I'd need a clear ruler thingey. So, this attempt is pretty abysmal, but it was still fun. I was going to make it into a pillow, but I'm sure no one wants this pillow sitting around so I think I will finish it up and make a real little quilt out of it. It will be a good learning experience and Emma will like the finished masterpiece for her dolls. Oh, and today I went back to Joann's and bought the ruler thing so my next project should look a little better. At least I hope.

I also added some appliqué to those other yellow overalls I sewed for Noah. The star is boring, but it was my first attempt at appliqué so I wanted to do something simple. I purposely made the stitches uneven because I thought it would make it look sort of artsy (and I also didn't trust myself to make even stitches) but it mostly just looks like a two year old did it.

Emma and Steve have such a great time whenever it's just the two of them. Earlier this week he took her to the mall because she wanted to go play on the playground there, and tonight while I was gone they went to Target and bought her this outfit. Because if there's one thing Emma needs, it's one more fancy dress-up dress right? He also got me a grill pan I've been wanting, so I think I need to leave the two of them alone more often!

My little brother got married over the weekend. We stayed in the quaint little town of Vandalia, in one really big, cool old house with my parents, brothers, grandmas, and various aunts and uncles and cousins. We had a great time. Emma was the flower girl and I was a bridesmaid. I hope to post some pictures soon, but I didn't get any with my own camera so I have to try to get them from someone else.

I have quite the social life this week, with something going on every single night but Friday. Steve is off all week again, so luckily he doesn't mind staying with Emma while Noah and I go out on the town. Okay, it's not exactly that, but I am having fun at various activities such as Book Club and Mom's Night Out. This Sunday I get to go to a blessingway for my friend Kristen and I am SO looking forward to that!

With everything that has been going on, I have not been so good with the running. I haven't gone in over a week now, and I'm having trouble motivating myself to get back out there. It's so bloody hot!

Remember that whole weaning thing? I was so worried about Emma handling it that I didn't even think about myself and how uncomfortable it might be for me. She was clearly sad about it, but didn't cry any more after the first day. However, by the middle of day two I was so engorged that my bridesmaid dress would no longer zip up and I was getting pretty miserable. I broke down and let her nurse. Of course, she kept wanting to nurse again after that. I told her we could if it was a secret. That was fine for a few hours, but then she started telling people that she gets to nurse when we keep it a secret. Great, kid. I'm going to have to have a talk with her about the meaning of "secret". So now we have reached a compromise that she gets to nurse in bed when we wakes up in the morning - and that's it. I'm really happy with this, and she is adjusting to it very well. Yesterday she only asked to nurse a couple times during the day and handled it really well when I told her she couldn't. I'm so relieved!

Last night, after days of wishing I could have some more iced coffee, I gave in and made some so I would have it this morning. I couldn't wait that long so I had one glass last night. That was a huge mistake. I was bouncing off the walls. I finally went to bed around 3:00. At 4:00, I was still laying there, wide awake, so I figured I might as well get up and do something useful. I sewed for awhile, then did some laundry. Noah woke up around 6:00. I figured I was up for the day then, so I had some more coffee and sat at the computer while Noah slept on my lap until Steve and Emma got up. At this point I have been up for about 40 hours straight. What am I, like 80 years old, that I can't handle a single glass of half decaf coffee? I am really starting to drag now.

Today was Emma's weaning party, and I think it was a success. She had a great time. I was planning on letting her nurse for the last time at the park, but she was sad and crying when we left so we moved the deadline to the end of today. I was sure I'd be elated, but I'm feeling more and more sad the closer we get to the end of the day. Doing it this way is just so final, and that's what's making it hard for me. I got her this plant (during a 1:00 a.m. trip to Price Chopper last night) to symbolize her growing up and gave it to her at the party today. And now I am off to nurse my baby to sleep for the very last time.

Tomorrow is a big day for us. It is the last day, ever, that Emma is going to nurse. Part of me is a little sad, but most of me is SO ready for this. I feel like the teensiest bit of a failure because I was all gung ho about child-led weaning, and now I'm not even doing it. I've been agonizing over the best way to do this for awhile. We're having a Weaning Party for her tomorrow to celebrate this milestone. We're meeting her little friends at a park and bringing treats for everyone. We've been talking about it a lot, and she really seems to understand what is going to happen. Tonight at dinner we were discussing it, and she said, "Nursing always makes me so happy and makes my body feel good and healthy." I hope she ends up with fond memories of nursing, and not hurt feelings from being weaned before she was ready.

As far as the treat for tomorrow, I'm having a slight problem with that. We made muffins, and I must have put too many trays in the oven at once or something, because I just took them out and they are completely burnt. So much so that our smoke alarm started going off when I opened the oven. Swell. It's already 11:30. What am I going to do now?

Last night both kids were asleep by 9:30 (!) so I finally had some time for sewing. I love these little Zutano overalls, and I was looking online to try to get some more for Noah.



















While I was looking, I realized that these would be super easy to sew. I traced the one Noah already has, made a pattern, found some knit fabric in my stash, and voila! (I didn't sew the shirt.)



















Here he is modeling his new duds. The picture isn't great, but do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good picture of an outfit on someone who is so scrunchy? I think I may try to add some sort of applique to make them more interesting. Now I need to make a trip to Joann's to get some cute fabric so I can make some more!

Oh, and that thing about how Noah liked to nap in his swing, giving me lots of time to get things done? He has apparently given that up.

And also that running thing? It's going great, despite my kids' efforts to sabotage any hope of actually doing it. Friday morning Steve was home from work, so I tried to sneak out the door before anyone was awake. Emma came running after me, crying because she wanted to come with me. I loaded her in the jogger, and she spent the entire time whining about wanting to go back home. Then yesterday morning, I attempted to leave even earlier, and still she woke up in time to come running down the driveway after me. I reminded her that she didn't like it last time and told her that if I brought her along she had to promise not to whine. She said, "I swear I promise!" To her credit, she didn't whine until the last ten minutes. After I reminded her about her promise, she spent the rest of the time sighing very long, loud, and dramatic sighs. Nevertheless, tomorrow I will be starting Week Three of the program. Yeah!

Woo-hoo! My fellow knitter and Couch-2-5k runner, Earthchick, has tagged me and I haven't done a meme in awhile, so here goes:

Seven Random Things About Me

1. I HATE onions. With a serious passion. So much so that I can hardly stand to just look at them sitting on a plate without wanting to gag.

2. By the time I was thirteen years old, I had moved fifteen times.

3. I adore Ewan McGregor, and when I listen to his songs from Moulin Rouge, I have to stop whatever else I am doing because they are so amazing that I can't listen to them and function at the same time. Whenever I make a wish - like when I throw a penny into a fountain - I always wish that Ewan McGregor would come out with an album of show tunes.

4. As a kid, I learned how to play the cello, the trumpet, and the piano. I can still plink out a few songs on the piano, but would be completely lost if someone handed me a cello or a trumpet and asked me to play.

5. I can't stand taking a shower with the bathroom door closed. It gets way too hot and clammy in the bathroom. The only time I ever close the door is when I'm at someone else's house or when we have family visiting, because then I really don't have a choice.

6. I ran track and cross country in high school, and played soft ball for five years in elementary school. I'm certain that each of those five years of soft ball, I was the worst kid on the team.

7. In college, I sort of had a hard time deciding on a major. By the time I (finally) graduated, I had majored in psychology, elementary education, graphic arts, and marketing. My degree is in marketing, but if I ever have to go out and get a job, anything in the marketing field would probably be my last choice.

Now I'm supposed to tag seven people, so... Abbie, Nicki, Deanna, Julie, Katie, Jaime, and Steph. I want to hear seven random things about you.

And, because I can't seem to stop taking pictures of these two, more pictures.

Yesterday I brought two big bags of clothes to Children's Orchard, hoping to be able to sell them. I'd never sold any clothes there before, and I was sort of disappointed. I only brought nice, brand name stuff, and I was thinking they'd take most of it. As soon as I got there, however, the lady warned me that they aren't taking much stuff because their inventory is so high. Rats. She hardly took anything. I did end up getting $40 from the stuff she wanted, but now I still have two bags of clothes sitting here. There was a dress in there that we bought from that same place about three weeks ago. Emma picked it out, but when we got home the elastic in the sleeves bothered her so after about five minutes she took it off. I washed it and brought it back, and they didn't want it anymore!

Emma's binkie has been a big source of consternation around here. She is only supposed to have it in bed and in the car, but it never really works out that way because she asks for it when she's sad or hurt or something and I usually give in, or else she'll find one somewhere and try to hide from me while it's in her mouth. So many times I just wanted to throw all the dumb binkies in the trash, but didn't, because before too long we're going to transition her to her own bed and doing that without a binkie would lead to way more crying and whining than I'm willing to endure. Luckily, last week I heard a great tip and now the whole binkie issue is much better. I tied her binkie to a stuffed animal. I told her she can have it whenever she wants, so she was really happy, but it's too much of a pain for her to carry around the bunny as well so she hardly ever has it in! It's great!

I am still sticking with the running plan, and it's going great. Last night I only took Noah along because Emma was playing in the yard with Steve. He started to cry half way through, so I had to take him out of the stroller (which, by the way, I absolutely LOVE!) and just walk home. I was so bummed that I couldn't finish. Isn't that ridiculous? Who in their right mind actually wants to keep running?

When Emma was a baby, she would absolutely not sleep by herself. I think I held her for every single nap for at least her first 18 months. Noah, I am discovering, will happily nap in his swing for long periods of time. I love holding a sleeping baby, but it is nice to be free to do other things sometimes. For example, a couple days ago I was really itching to knit something and I actually completely this lovely, lonely single mitered square. I have several other squares that I knitted over a year ago, waiting to be an eventual blanket, so maybe now I can make some more progress on it.

While Noah is great about naps, he is not so accommodating in the car. Lately, he cries everywhere we go. It's stressful and it makes it hard to go anywhere. I hope it's just a phase - a short phase.

Let's see, what else...oh, yes. Friday was supposed to be Steve's last day of work, then Friday night he said he had to go in Monday, and now that he's there, he thinks he might have to work (and work late) all week. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

No time to write, so I'll just post a couple pictures of (in my esteemed opinion) the cutest kids ever.

I hate McDonalds and I never go there. Never, that is, until they started advertising their irresistible looking new iced coffee everywhere. Once I tried one I couldn't stop and I started buying one of those pretty much every time I drove by a McDonalds. I wanted to see if I could make it at home instead, so I searched and found out that all you have to do is add a can of sweetened condensed milk to six-eight cups of coffee, and toss in some ice cubes (preferably made out of coffee). I have been loving this and have, for the last week or so, been making a pitcher of it every night before I go to bed so it's all ready for me in the morning. I brewed it with half decaf and half half-decaf so the whole pitcher was roughly 75% decaf, and I thought I was doing well. I never looked at the label on the condensed milk, mostly because I figured it wasn't that healthy and I didn't want to know how bad it really was. Today, I looked. Yikes. I have been ingesting 1300 calories and 30 grams of fat every day just from this iced coffee! No more iced coffee for me. I am so sad.

Here are a couple pictures of Emma at the children's farmstead today.

We had a great weekend, although we didn't do anything especially out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary was that Steve didn't work at all the entire weekend! Yesterday we decided to take a mini-road trip to Warrensburg to visit our old college campus. It was fun driving around town and reminiscing. Emma had fun as well, except for the part where she smashed her fingers while playing air hockey with Steve in the student union.

In the past two weeks or so, Emma has learned how to say her s + consonant sounds. One night she was outside with Steve while he grilled, and they both came in excitedly to tell me that Emma had said "smoke". Not "poke". And then suddenly, she could say them all. Now there is nothing she can't say perfectly except for an "l" sound occasionally. I am sad that she will never again tell me that Noah is piling at her, or that she wants to go fwimming at the pool, or that she wants to fwitch pots (switch spots), or tell me that she is brave with takes (snakes). She seems so much less like a little kid now. I am still not used to it and it sounds strange to me when I hear her say ssssmell or something else that she used to not be able to say. At least she still calls napkins "nakumes" and sandwiches "canwiches".

This Kelsey Smith story has been on my mind a lot since it all went down. The girl was abducted in the middle of a crowded parking lot in broad daylight, and her body was found just a couple miles from our house. I feel so terrible for her family, and also really creeped out. On Thursday we were meeting some friends at the park by our house, and when we got there I could see there was no one at the park yet. The park is kind of down in a hole away from the street, and surrounded by woods, and I was too nervous to go there with the kids by myself even though we have been there about a million times before when no one else was there. We just walked around on the street until we saw our friends, then we all walked down to the park together. Then tonight when I was doing my run/walk with the kids in the jogger, I said hi to some guy on the street and he kept talking so I stopped because I didn't want to just ignore him. He kept talking, asking how old the kids were and stuff, and he was probably just being nice but I was getting really paranoid and I wanted to get away from him. Silly, probably, but I am all worried now about the creeps out there who are just waiting for a chance to do horrible things to women or children. Shudder.

Someone told me about this Couch-2-5K running plan (thanks, Melinda!) and it sounded like just what I need. And, since this bad boy (minus the two cute kiddos) was delivered on Thursday I was all set.

There is even a great podcast that is mostly music, but also a voice that tells you when it's time to run or walk. With the help of the podcast and the cool new stroller, I actually really enjoyed my first workout yesterday. Of course, it's pretty easy at this point because I only had to run 60 seconds at a time.

Emma and I (well, mostly me) cleaned up her room a few days ago. I was so sick of her not cleaning up after herself (without lots of prodding) that I just let her room go for awhile and tried not to let it drive me crazy every time I walked by. It finally did start to drive me crazy, so yesterday we got it all picked up and organized. Now every night before she goes to bed, she and I are going in there and spending a few minutes picking everything up. I'm really going to make an effort to stick to this plan, because I can't stand to look at this disastrous mess anymore.

I am so tired these days. Every night I stupidly stay up way too late because once everyone is asleep, I am so happy to have time to myself. I'm usually holding a sleeping baby, but at least I get to sit at the computer or read without interruptions. Then, Noah always wakes up early in the morning and I have to get up with him or he will start to make too much noise and wake Emma. I change his diaper and nurse him, then put him in the swing where he promptly falls asleep. That would be a good time for me to go back to bed, but by that point I'm always thinking that I could get such-and-such done if I just stayed up. For example, last night I stayed up until 3:00, then had to get up this morning at 7:00. Blah. But, since I've been up, I've managed to fold a load of diapers, do the dishes, scrub the kitchen, and now update my blog. However, now Emma is awake so my time to do anything efficiently is officially over.

So I finally decided on a stroller. I had decided on the Joovy Caboose Ultralight, but before I could order it, I suddenly got the urge to start running again. Never mind that I haven't run a single mile in about seven years. So, instead I ordered the InStep Safari Swivel Double Stroller, and am anxiously awaiting it's arrival so the running can begin.

Emma does not want to take naps or go to bed lately. Every day when I can see that she's getting tired, I tell her it's time for a nap, and she always tells me she's not tired. I then tell her that she doesn't have to take a nap, but we do have to lay down and relax for awhile. She, of course, always falls asleep. Today was no different, except that after I told her we at least had to relax for awhile, she looked at me skeptically and said, "You're just trying to trick me! Every day I only want to relax but I forget and I fall asleep!"

Tonight Steve was working at the table and Emma started pushing the buttons on his keyboard. He asked her to stop and she kept doing it. He swatted her hand away, exclaiming, "What did I say?!" Angrily, she retorted, "Something very rude!"

These few months are pretty crazy for us. Just about every life-changing event that exists is happening to someone in my family. I had a baby, two of my brothers graduated from college, my other brother graduated from high school, my dad is getting ordained, and one of my brothers is getting married. All that in a span of three months!

We are going home tomorrow for the ordination, which is on Saturday, and also to have Noah's baptism, which will be on Sunday. My dad is going to baptize him, which will be so cool. He is also going to marry my brother and his wife later this month. Anyway, my hair is looking pretty ratty so I really wanted to get it cut and highlighted before this weekend. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning, and I'm kind of nervous about it. Steve is going to hang out at a nearby shopping center with both kids so he can bring Noah to me if he needs to nurse. The whole thing won't even take two hours, but Steve has not been alone with the kids before, and Noah has not been away from me before. Hopefully they can just hang out at Borders and read books the whole time.

Kids are awake. Wish us luck tomorrow!

Steve took the entire holiday weekend off, and it was wonderful. It was the first weekend he didn't work in probably seven months. We went to a Royals game, watched several movies, ate out a few times, and basically just hung out all weekend. After watching The Pursuit of Happyness on Thursday night, he decided he wanted to solve a Rubik's Cube so we went to Target and bought one. Sure enough, yesterday afternoon he actually finished solving it. Nothing like putting vacation time to good use, right?

The little guy is two months old today. As he gets older and is no longer in that sleep-anywhere-anytime phase, things are starting to get a little more difficult. It's more difficult to go places (although that's mostly because of Emma), and it's near impossible to get any housework done. I used to think it was hard to get stuff done when it was only Emma - what on earth was I doing???? Now that it really is hard to get things done, I can't believe I didn't take advantage of having only one kid and keep my house spotless all the time. Now there is absolutely no chance of that happening. Sigh.

Last week Steve and I decided to take a vacation to Yellowstone in June. We started to get excited about it and even went out and bought a new tent. I haven't been to Yellowstone since I was 11 or so, and he has never been there so it seemed like a cool idea. Today, however, I thought of a new plan so we may end up scrapping the Yellowstone idea. Neither of us have ever been to Boston and we've both always wanted to go. I've never been to the northeast at all past Ohio, but have already made many trips across Nebraska and Wyoming. The Royals play in Boston in mid-July, and it would be awesome to go see them play at Fenway Park! Boston is a 23 hour trip, versus 18 hours to Yellowstone, but when you're already driving that far anyway, what's five more hours? Besides, who wouldn't want to spend 46+ hours in the car with these two?

Ugh. So the other day on our walk Noah decided he didn't want to be in the sling anymore and, because it's impossible to push a stroller with one hand (unless you just want to go around in circles), we had to sit on the curb and wait until he was ready to go back in the sling. After that I resumed my search for a good double stroller, and I'm now pretty certain that one does not exist - at least one for less than $350. Today I drove across the whole bloody city to look at one I saw on craigslist, and I ended up buying it. We went on a walk today, and it's clear that I made a mistake. It was SO hard to push and it kept veering to the right and by the time we were halfway through our walk I thought my arms were going to fall off. So now I have to try to sell that dumb stroller to some other unsuspecting sap, and continue to look for one that will work for us.

The other day I mentioned that Noah outgrew all his small diapers that I sewed for him. I unpacked our old Wonderoos, which Emma wore forever and they are working great for him. They are one-size-fits-all, but Emma outgrew them sixish months ago and we've been using disposables for her since then. Today I was thinking that she seems a little leaner, so I tried one on her and it fit! I'm happy about that because, although her not being potty trained is still a nuisance, at least now it can be a free nuisance. Well, sort of. I need more diapers if they're both going to be using them so I just bought a whole bunch more today from various places. I will have 20 diapers coming in the mail in the next few days. I can't wait! I love getting diapers in the mail!

Awhile ago I got a subscription to Vegetarian Times, and I am loving that magazine! In every issue there are a bunch of recipes that sound really great, and everything I've made from there so far has been fabulous. Lately I think I've been cooking something from there just about every day. Today Emma and I made some Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies that are really good. I was skeptical because they are vegan and I've never made vegan cookies before, but even Steve, who always complains that I ruin cookies by trying to make them more healthy, liked them a lot. Mmmmm!

Noah has already outgrown all of his small diapers and his 0-3 month clothes. I was feeling sad as I packed those things away yesterday. He's not even a newborn anymore - how could that have gone by so fast?

Steve is, of course, still working this week even though he was supposed to be off. He was home for dinner both nights this weekend though, and that was really nice. Both nights we actually ate at home instead of going out, which was also nice. I'm looking forward to doing more cooking than I've been doing in awhile. When I was pregnant I could never think of anything that didn't sound gross, and now I'm finally back to where I can look through some recipes and actually see things that I want to make. Various things on today's menu: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Mocha Chocolate Cake, and Asparagus Quiche. Yum.

Emma has always been a binky kid. We have the rule that she only gets it in bed and in the car, but she still sometimes cheats and will convince me to give her one if she's sad or whatever. I wasn't going to give one to Noah in order to avoid having another three year old who won't give up the binky, but the guy isn't that great about riding in the car these days. Basically, if he's awake, he's crying. I keep having to stop the car and calm him down, but then he just starts crying again when I go back to my seat. Today I brought one of Emma's old newborn binkies with us and when he started to cry, I reached back and put it in his mouth. Silence. And then more silence. I guess he is hooked. I think I'm only going to give it to him when we're in the car, though.

I bought a set of bunk beds at a garage sale today. Since Emma has suddenly become all knees and elbows when she sleeps, I'm getting pretty excited for her to have her own bed. Of course, first Steve needs to finish the bedroom that he (barely) started for the kids a couple months ago. This is supposedly his last week of work for awhile so now that may actually happen at some point.

In a couple weeks my dad is getting ordained as a deacon of the Catholic church. It's a pretty huge deal, and there has been a fair amount of discussion at my mom's house lately about various religious events and things. Emma, who likes to play games where she starts off by telling me that she's the princess and I'm the prince, apparently has been listening carefully to the goings-on. Last night she asked me to play with her and when I said I would, she said, "Okay. I'm the princess and you're the Archbishop."

Placenta

Emma, Noah, and I are at my mom's house again. We came in to attend a shower that my mom had for my future sister-in-law on Saturday, and are staying until Tuesday. Today was a really nice Mother's Day, although I'm a little sad that we didn't get to be with Steve.

Yesterday evening we buried Noah's placenta (which has been in my mom's freezer) and planted a tree over it. We said a couple prayers and the whole little ceremony was lovely. At least I thought so. Afterwards I sort of jokingingly asked my brother if he got choked up, and he said, "No, but I did gag a little bit." Even though my brothers and my dad thought it was lame, I think it's cool that Noah will always have a special tree in their yard.

The placing of the placenta:














The new tree:

I've decided against weaning Emma, at least for now. She clearly still has a need to nurse, and also I really don't want her to start resenting Noah. I did tell her that I'm only ever going to nurse one kid at a time anymore, and that helps a lot. I can tolerate her nursing by herself much better than when she's elbowing her way in while I'm trying to nurse Noah. Nursing them both at the same time was just too many bodies on me at once.

Emma seems to take forever to do anything these days and I often find myself annoyed by her dawdling. Yesterday I came to the realization that I'm being way too grumpy and I should just get over it and let her be. We were at Wild Oats and she was pushing one of the little kid sized carts around while I shopped. I secretly wish they didn't have those little carts because the trip always takes literally five times longer when she has her own cart (and therefore refuses to ride in mine). She stopped (for the millionth time) at the area with the plants, and proceeded to lean over and smell every. single. individual. flower. I said, "Come on, please. We don't have all day to mess around." She ignored me and kept smelling the flowers and I realized what a dumb thing I'd said. We don't have all day to mess around? Really? I'm staying home with my kids so I actually do have all day to mess around with them, and if she wants to smell flowers then why am I not right there enjoying the flowers with her? So I walked over and asked her which ones smelled the best. She showed me her favorites, and as I sniffed them, she told me we should hold some of them up to Noah's nose while he slept so he could have dreams about flowers. After hearing her say that, I would have happily spent the rest of the day smelling flowers with her.

This morning we tried to go to the farmer's market but on the way there it started to rain. Emma was really disappointed so we went to the mall instead of just going back home. I actually managed to try on and buy some clothes while we were there. Noah slept in the sling and Emma had fun being "that" kid (who I'm sure all the store employees despise) playing in all the racks of clothes.

I want this. I really really really do. If only I had $550 laying around.

Here is big boy Noah. I sewed those wool pants for him while I was pregnant and Emma and I dyed them. I just made up a pattern for them, and at the time I apparently forgot what a baby looks like because they are about five inches too long.

Today started out kind of rough, but ended up being pretty nice. This morning I woke up to more rain. I was sort of feeling grumpy because of that, but started to feel worse as soon as I headed downstairs to let the dogs out. Our basement was full of water. I called Steve and he said he'd come home right away. He got here and quickly fixed whatever was wrong with our sump pump. I cleaned up the water and all was well. We went out to lunch, and then Steve stayed home for the rest of the day!

Tonight I measured Noah, and then weighed myself, then myself while holding him to get a general idea of how much he weighs. He is now 22 inches long and weighs 12 pounds, which means he's already added 3.5 inches and four pounds. Sniff sniff.

I have decided to wean Emma. I wanted to wait until she weaned herself, but she wants to nurse all the time and I just can't take it anymore. The wiggling and elbowing never stop. I decided this two days ago, and I've been thinking about it constantly since then, but I'm no closer to coming up with a way to go about it. Whenever I tell her she can't nurse, she really takes it personally and often cries. I'd have no problem with it if she only wanted to nurse five times a day or so, but it's much much more than that. Looking back, I wish I'd have weaned her when I was pregnant. I didn't like nursing through the pregnancy, but I kept holding on to hope that it would be better after the baby came. If Noah is still nursing when I get pregnant again, I won't make the same mistake. So anyway, I'm sure I'll be writing more on this issue as I decide what to do.

Last night, at the last minute, we decided to go to the ballgame. It was the best time at a Royals game I've had in awhile. Every time we went last summer, I spent half the game walking around the concourse with Emma while Steve got to sit and watch the game. Last night both Emma and Noah sat happily for the whole game. I was about to get all twitchy watching the amount of junk that Emma consumed, but I guess once in awhile is okay. There were fireworks after the game, and although Emma has been terrified of fireworks the last couple years, she proudly told us before the game that since she was three, she was "brave with fireworks" and would be happy to watch them. She did get a little nervous when the display started, but as long as Steve held his hands over her ears she was fine.

Since Noah was born, I've had no time to do all the stuff I really like to do. I haven't done a single scrapbook layout or sewed a single stitch. I have attempted to knit, and here is a picture of what I've accomplished. Are you ready for this?













That is the (very) beginning of an I-cord to go around the waist of these shorts that I completed before Noah was born. By the time I finish the I-cord, he just might be too big to wear them.













Emma found a pair of hose somewhere in the basement yesterday and has been having fun with her new "crazy hat". She even wore it to Target yesterday.

My birthday ended up being pretty great yesterday. Steve gave me a really sweet card in which he listed 28 reasons he loves me. He also said I should schedule a day at a spa to do whatever I want there so I could get a break and he would watch the kids. I probably won't actually do that for awhile because I can't leave Noah, but the sentiment was nice. Yesterday I made a Pear Gingerbread Upside Down Cake that I've been wanting to try, but he didn't think that sounded good so after dinner we went to Cold Stone for dessert. That, however, didn't stop me from eating plenty of the delicious gingerbread cake once we got home!

This morning I took the kids to garage sales and found a bunch of fabulous stuff. I just adore going to garage sales, but it's definitely more of a hassle with two kids than one. Still, every bit worth it!

Happy birthday to me! I'm 28 today, but other than the fact that Steve is coming home for dinner, today doesn't seem any different than any other day. Maybe tonight I will be able to take a bath all by myself. I don't think I could ask for a better birthday present.

For the first time, I'm having an issue with only having one bed in the house. If I can manage to get both kids to nap in bed at one time, that is great. However, no matter how fast I sprint back there as soon as one of them wakes up, by the time I get there the other one has been woken up too. Very frustrating. Although I'm not sure a second bed somewhere would make any difference because getting them both down to sleep at the same time in two different spots would be darn near impossible.

I'm implementing a new plan today in hopes of finally getting Emma interested in using the potty. I normally don't think bribes are a good idea, but I'm starting to get desperate. I bought a bunch of cheap little trinket things and wrapped them. Well, okay, I only had time to wrap four so far but I will do the rest soon. I put them in a bowl which I then set in the bathroom. When she asks about it, I'm going to tell her that she can pick one of those presents out every time she pees in the potty. I'm interested to see what she'll do.

Pics of the kids:

So, the keys? The day after I had my car towed in to get my key programmed, Emma and my mom were going to cook some lasagna together. Emma has an apron that she wears when we're here, and the last time she had worn it was a few days earlier when they baked brownies together. My mom got the apron out of her closet and as she was tying it around Emma's neck, Emma reached into the pocket and pulled out my keys! My mom asked her how they got there, and she said matter-of-factly, "I just put them in there with my hand!"

Then, shortly after that, I was taking Noah to Target to pick up some stuff and I stopped to get gas on the way. I got out, just like I always do, and swiped my card then once the gas was pumping, I went to open my door and put my card back in my purse. The door was locked. All the doors were locked and I swear I didn't lock the car before I got out. My cell phone was also locked inside, so I ran inside QT to call the police, feeling very thankful that Noah was asleep and blissfully unaware that he was locked inside all alone. I called the police dept. and told them, then was transferred to the fire dept., so I relayed the story to them as well. I ran back outside to discover that poor sweet Noah had woken up and was screaming as if his little heart was breaking. It was awful. It really tears me up when babies cry, and he was right there, but I couldn't reach him and I felt so helpless. I stood there and cried while I waited for what seemed like forever (but was probably really only about three minutes) for help to arrive. The firetruck got there first and they opened the door in about two seconds. One of the firefighters commented on how red Noah was and suggested we call an ambulance to have him checked. I said I didn't think that was necessary, and he calmed down as soon as I picked him up. The cop who showed up also suggested an ambulance, but Noah seemed relaxed and was happily nursing so I said no. Like I wanted to make that ordeal any more stressful - no thanks.

That afternoon I was supposed to drive the kids and my brother down to Rolla to visit my aunt. Given the bad luck that was following me around, I was a little nervous about it. Thankfully, we went and made it back the next day all in one piece. I did actually hit a bird on the way home, which was sad, but more his bad luck than mine.

Oh, and since the locked car incident, I've had two people tell me that sometimes their cars lock on their own out of nowhere. That makes me feel a little bit better about the whole thing, and from now on I will never get out of my car without my keys!

Emma, Noah, and I have been at my mom's since Monday. My little brother has one of the leads in his school musical this weekend, and we decided to come early and stay all week since Steve was going to be working nonstop anyway.

Yesterday we were all getting ready to go somewhere when I realized my keys were missing. I have never lost my keys before. I always put them in the exact same spot, and they are always there. Not yesterday, however. We searched and searched and searched and searched and still no keys. Emma said she got them out of my purse and played with them, then later she said she never had them. Either way, my keys apparently dropped off the face of the earth. Normally that probably wouldn't be a huge problem, but the key I had for my van is the only key that goes to my van. When we bought it they gave us two keys, but one didn't work because it hadn't been programmed to work with my particular van. The dealership isn't that close to us, so I hadn't brought it back to get programmed yet. Thankfully, I remembered that that useless, nonworking key was still in my purse. This morning I called AAA to come and tow my van to the nearest Dodge dealership. We followed it there and had to wait for a bloody hour and a half while they programmed my key. Now I can drive again, which is a big relief. I do like it here at my mom's house, but I don't want to stay here forever. They told me it would cost $141 to purchase another key. Jeepers. I'm not doing that, so now I just have to guard this key with my life, or desperately hope the other ones magically reappear.

Steve's busy season was supposed to be over at the end of April, but I guess that's not really going to be happening now. Argh! Some of his clients are dragging into May, so he's going to have three more weeks of hard work, although possibly not as hard as it's been lately. The fantastic news is that once that really is all taken care of, he is taking five weeks off work. I'm so VERY much looking forward to that, but probably not as much as he is! He will be off from May 21st until July 5th. Woo-hoo!

This stupid, stupid show. Several weeks ago I started renting Grey's Anatomy, which I had never seen before, from Blockbuster. I thought it was a great show, and I watched the entire first and second season. The other night I finished Season 2, and had no more to watch, because Season 3 is not out on DVD yet because I don't think it's even over on TV. After searching everywhere online, I determined that there is no place to watch Season 3 episodes. So now, because I can't tear myself away from this stupid show, I keep purchasing episodes from iTunes. Watching DVDs from Blockbuster was one thing, but now it's getting a little ridiculous because I have to sit at my computer when Emma is asleep and watch them there for two bucks an episode. Last night after she went to bed, I was going to just watch one episode, but then I couldn't stop, and I was up until 3:00 a.m. because I kept downloading and watching more episodes. On the plus side, I was up when Steve got home from work.

This week has been so much better than last week. We really did get out of the house and go somewhere every day, and I am feeling much more confident leaving the house with both kids. This morning we went to Children's Mercy because poor Noah had to get his heel pricked for the PKU test, and then afterwards I was feeling so happy about my two great kids that we went to First Watch for lunch. I decided it would be nice to go out because for some reason I was thinking that we hadn't been out to eat in awhile. While we were there, I realized that we ate lunch at the mall yesterday, and then met Steve for dinner at Friday's last night. Oops. So maybe I'm losing my mind a little bit, and that's why it all seems so easy now.

Emma had her first check-up/cleaning at the dentist today. She was so cute, and did a great job. As soon as she got in the chair, she laid back with her mouth wide open. She kept it open the entire time, even when no one was doing anything in her mouth. I even had to tell her it was okay to close it after the cleaning while we waited for the dentist to come and take a look. She was very proud afterwards and kept opening her mouth super wide in an attempt to show me her clean teeth.

See that thing around her waist? Lately, she won't go anywhere without a "sash". Any ribbon or strip of fabric will do, but she's very particular about how it's tied in the back. She is so funny.

And, just because he's cute, here is the little guy.

Today was a good day. I took both kids with me while I got my eyebrows waxed, then made a trip to Target without any major catastrophes. Yesterday Emma said, "I am angry that the baby brother used to be in your tummy." When I asked her why, she said, "Because when he was in your tummy we didn't get to have him here with us." I'm glad she seems to be accepting him so well.

Yesterday we had an exterminator come (which I hated to do) because we had ants taking over our bathroom and kitchen. Armies and armies of them. Today, one day later, I've seen five or six lone ants crawling around. Nothing like before, but if there are five now there are bound to be more soon. There is one crawling on my keyboard as I type this. Darn those ants!

Some pictures...

The nap thing worked great again today, but I'm already feeling less than optimistic about the scheduling plan. Last night Steve came home to work, instead of working at the office. It was so nice to have him here that we all stayed up until 2:00 a.m. with him while he worked. Well, Noah slept off and on during that time, but Emma and I were up. I think we are just sort of weirdos in that we're the only people in the world whose kids don't have a regular bedtime.

You know how you hear of people getting "baby blues"? Well, I don't have that problem, but I think I have a touch of the "three-year-old blues". I feel like I'm spending a good part of every day telling poor Emma to "please stop" or "quit messing with that" or "don't be so loud". I'm sure she's just going stir crazy here because we haven't really been going anywhere due to my being a little nervous about taking both kids out and about. This week I'm going to attempt to get out and do something every day, even if it's just storytime or a trip to the park.

Something amazing has happened today. I have spent the last 3+ years nursing Emma to sleep for every nap and every bedtime. That is fine, of course, but now with another baby that is not so easy to do all the time. For Emma's nap today, I read her two books, then hung out and cuddled with her in the bed for a few minutes. I then explained that I was going to clean up the living room but I wanted her to stay in bed, and that I would be back to check on her in a few minutes. A couple minutes later I went in and she was just laying there talking quietly to her doll. I gave her a couple kisses, and the next time I went to check on her she was asleep! Incredible! Now that this worked so well today, I'm wondering if we could possibly do this at night time too.

I know I've said this a million times before, but I really want to create some sort of routine and stick to it. Like really really stick to it, unlike every time I've said this in the past. Our days are so unorganized and I'm craving some sort of order. Sometimes we eat lunch at 11:30, sometimes we eat lunch at 3:00. Sometimes Emma naps at noon, sometimes she doesn't start her nap until 4:00. Sometimes we get up at 7:00, sometimes we sleep until 10:00. I need to write out a loose daily schedule, starting with waking up every day at 8:00. I'm going to start setting an alarm to make sure we are awake at that time every day, and then do my best to actually get us all out of bed reasonably close to that time. If we start each day at the same time, it should be easier to do everything else at roughly the same time as well. At least I hope.

Here are a couple cute pictures of the new guy.

I can't believe Noah is already two weeks old today! How can he be growing so fast already?

Steve is a psychopath. (And I mean that in the best possible way.) Seriously. Last night he was at work until 3:30 a.m. This Thursday I really want him to come home early so he can watch Emma while I go see some friends, but the likelihood of that happening is pretty slim. The good news is that his busy season will officially end when April is over, so we don't have too much longer to go. What a relief that will be.

I aced my test of going to the grocery store yesterday. Noah slept in the sling the whole time, and Emma sat cheerfully in the cart. I know it won't always be that easy, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about my mother-of-two skills.

Look at this yummy Malabrigo yarn I got in the mail today! It will be fun to think of something to knit, but slightly more difficult to find the time to do it.

I don't have much time, but I wanted to post a couple pics before they get too out of date.

Emma and my mom made this cute little Easter house together,













and here are the eggs we dyed.



















This afternoon I'm taking both kids to the grocery store alone for the first time. I feel like this is my first real test at being the mother of two.

Yesterday we drove to my mom's house so we could be here for Easter. It was my first time driving here with both kids. I was a tad nervous about it, but it couldn't have gone better. We only had to stop once for nursing and diaper changes. It was SO nice to have a whole van full of space in which to do those things instead of having to squeeze ourselves around uncomfortably in my old car!

I am feeling like the Milk Queen lately with all the nursing that is going on. Emma has been nursing so much that she has almost completely stopped eating regular food. I know that is normal, and won't last forever, but keeping up with her demands, as well as Noah's, is requiring a lot of calores. I'm already back below my pre-pregnancy weight, and am concerned that I am not getting enough calories. I already feel like I am constansly eating all day, every day. The trouble is I am supposed to be eating something like 3500 calories every day and that is hard to do!

Happy Easter!!!

For the last six years, I've been driving this car.













It's been incredibly reliable, and really a wonderful car. I put 90,000 miles on it, and in all that time the only maintenance I had to do was get new brakes. I delivered thousands of pizzas in it, I commuted an hour each way to school for three semesters, and I drove it across Missouri dozens of times. Because of all that, today I feel a little guilty (but not that much) because I got rid of it in exchange for this:













I am SO elated to have this van. It doesn't have the keyless sliding doors that I wanted, but it has everything else. All that, and so much S P A C E, which was my biggest problem in the old car. I am loving it!

So it turns out I am really, really terrible at changing baby boy diapers. Noah hates having his diaper changed and screams the whole time. Not only that, he won't stop peeing! I can't seem to hold up his legs, clean him off, and stop the poor guy from peeing all over himself (and me and everything else around us) with only two hands. It seems that every diaper change requires three clean diapers and new, dry outfit. I hope I get better at this.

Everything is going great here. Noah is so sweet, and perfectly happy nursing and sleeping all day long. He hates getting his diaper changed, however, and screams bloody murder throughout that process. It's hard to believe that a week ago he looked like this



















and now he looks like this.



















My mom and Emma made a birthday cake for him and we had a little celebration. Emma swears that his favorite color is pink, so can you guess what color the cake was? Here is our new little family of four at the birthday party.