beginning a new decade

Today is my birthday. I'm 30-years-old. Officially, a real adult. I feel good about it. I'm excited to begin a new decade in my life. I was thinking about everything I've done since I was 20-years-old. How many guys I dated (to find the right one), how many hours of classes I sat through, how many miles I've driven and ran, how many times I've laughed and cried, and how much I've had to sweat. And now to think I have another decade to live my current life as a mother and a wife. Watch my kids grow up and even have more kids. So far, 30 seems pretty darn exciting...

Friday night I went out with some friends and my sister to play BINGO downtown. It was a blast!! I didn't win but one of my girlfriends won $750....she was pretty happy and even shed some tears of joy.

This morning was the kiddie Halloween party at our house. We had 12 toddlers and their parents over. It was a full-house here but we all had a blast. The kids have been friends for 2 years now so they play well together. I really love this group of friends. We have so much fun with the kids.

toddler gang in halloween costumes

charlotte dressed as ariel (little mermaid)

On another note, Gretchen turned 9-months-old on Thursday. She is crawling all over the place and follows me when I move to the kitchen. She's quick and has multiple things in her mouth that she shouldn't. It's nearly impossible to keep this place clean. The leaves keep jumping off the dog. She's still not sleeping as well as I'd like. She eats 2x/night sometimes. I just remind myself that Charlotte did the same thing and now she sleeps like a dead person for almost 10 hours. Just breathe...

gretchen playing with charlotte's animals

the cabin is finished

This weekend we all moved our stuff into the cabin. Grandma and Grandpa LaPean had been working so hard on things and it sure paid off. We went up with the kids and got our bedroom all set up, including the beds in the loft area. I thought for sure Charlotte would be afraid to sleep up there so she slep with me on Friday night. I should have known better, she was dying to sleep up there and stayed in the loft with her Dad on Saturday night. She had a blast and keeps asking, "Where's my bed?"

The weather was perfect and more family came to check out the place. We had dinner on Saturday with the family and enjoyed their company all day. The kids did super this weekend. Of course, it was easy to feel at home in the new cabin. I think I can spend lots of time up there.

Gretchen rocked on all-fours a few times this weekend. Sadly, that means she'll be crawling even faster, and very soon. I already have my work cut out for me! It's gonna be a long winter...

Charlotte is Mother Nature's child. She spent all weekend outside going for Ranger rides, looking at the huge wasp hive, looking for spiders, playing in the dirt and killing bugs. My Aunt Susie had a 9-week-old puppy over and it was a perfect toddler-size. Charlotte sure was loving that little thing. Next thing I know she'll be asking Santa for a puppy!

My quilts look fantastic in the cabin. It's a good place for them and I'm happy they have a good home.

felt advent calendar

Another project complete and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. If I were to ever make a second one, I'd do a few things differently, but this will look great in the house. I made a felt advent calendar for the count down to Christmas. The girls are going to love it! I think I'm also going to read a story each day when they can remove the candy and move the day marker. I was trying to mimic this one from Land of Nod. They charge $70. So, mine cost a lot less. I guess I can't complain too much.

felt advent calendar

I had a woman do some embroidery for me and I'm pretty happy. The numbers were a little too close together so they are not all the same size felt square. I would have also like to cut them in circles, but that would have been much harder to sew one. Going at it again, I think I would have had her embroider the numbers onto each square and THEN decorate it. Also, when sewing the numbers to the background I hot glued them down first. I think this was causing my needle to act up-- a little too sticky. The other idea was to have her embroider the numbers directly to the background, but that would have been more costly and require a lot more planning.

The advent squares shifted when I stitched them down. You really need to pin well for it to not shift. I did not glue those down because I wanted them to be open pockets. There is a wood dowel in the back to hang it by.

Fun fall day at the zoo

My Princess, a photo by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

Today might have been our last day at the zoo for the season. It was a bit windy but ended up being a wonderful morning to spend at the zoo. We bundled the kids up (babies included) and headed out with three other friends.

Charlotte has known these friends for 2.5 years and they all play so well together! Not many other people were there so the four toddlers had free reign to run all around the place. It's great seeing them burn energy. Ending the day with a nice carousel ride, I don't think we got home until 2pm!

Gretchen....what a trooper! She had fun too and even got to go on the carousel too.

video: army crawl action

video: army crawl action a video by [griff] [griff] 'n [chuck] on Flickr.

I know, I've been sincerely lagging in the blogging department. It just doesn't seem to be too exciting around here right now. Things are great and normal.

However, a little Miss Gretchen has learned how to army crawl-- all over my family room. She can even make it into the bathroom. Nothing is safe around here anymore. We have to be super aware of what's on the ground and Charlotte's small toys must remain in her bedroom. In addition, with a dog and a back door, I think I vacuum like 2x a day. Argh. Nothing seems to stay clean around here!

Charlotte is doing really good with the potty training. We are on our 3rd potty chart. She still can't tell me before she has to pee but if I put her on the toilet on a regular schedule I can usually get her to go. I find when I space out and forget she always pees in her diaper. Charlotte is turning into a big kid for sure. Even though sweet at times, she continues to press our buttons. Lately, her favorite saying is, "What happened?" She asks that about everything!!

Oddly enough, we were at the Harry Potter movie last night and there was a little kid (not old enough for the movie in my opinion) who kept asking, "What happened?" after every scene in the movie. I guess Charlotte isn't the only one...

a fish story

I feel as though all my friends' toddlers are potty trained and want to wear fancy underwear. Mine, not so much. The potty chart worked for awhile and then lost it's appeal. I know Charlotte knows how to tinkle, but will not cannot tell me before she needs to go. For awhile now she's been one sticker shy of getting her fish and today I just knew how to make it happen.

We went to Pet Smart to look at the fish. Oh, the many fish! We even bought a fish bowl, rocks and a plant for the bowl. However, we did not buy a fish. I told Charlotte that if she tinkled when we got home and put a sticker on her chart, we would go get a fish.

Sure enough, we get home and she peed twice on the potty! (Note: I don't thinks she empties her bladder.) After that, she then filled three diapers all in a matter of like 40-minutes. But, after her nap, as I promised, the three of us (Gretchen) went to the store to buy a fish. Charlotte was SO excited!

Meet Eric Dorothy the fish

Here is Charlotte with her Beta Fish, Dorothy. At first she named him Eric (a.k.a. Prince Eric) and then changed it to Dorothy. Not sure she understands the concept of naming things. But, anyways, I then decided to put her on the potty every 30 minutes-ish. She's tinkled a total of 6 times this afternoon. I'm so excited. We have a new potty chart with new prizes to work towards. After all, I want my kid to wear fancy underwear too!

central park quilt finished

 First quilt I've actually finished for myself. I am loving it!! Fabric is Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda. It's so bright and friendly. Not sure on the measurements, but it's a great lap sized quilt, extra wide to snuggle with. It's all straight line quilted. In the middle I followed the lines of the half-square triangles and on the outside I quilted straight lines about 1/4" apart.

Here's my model, Gretchen, enjoying the sun on such a lovely October day.