On being crafty

Ive never considered myself crafty. I'm surprised I passed home ec. I don't sew, didn't cook (working on this one), and sure as heck never made hair bows before. It took me a year to finally get a little crafty and decide to stop buying bows for Juliana and give making them myself a real shot. Really, the prices for one bow at a boutique are incredibly rid-donk-ulous. Ive paid upwards of $10 for a large bow and Juliana takes it and throws it out of her hair when I'm not looking and it gets lost forever. I was faced with a situation recently of either cutting Juliana's bangs or finding a better way to keep her hair out of her eyes. Being a tad opposed to bangs myself as I'm a little scarred from having the most unattractive bangs growing up (Thanks Mom!), I decided that Id either have to go buy her more bows or make them myself. So, I took a little trip to hobby lobby a couple of days ago and bought an assortment of ribbon and alligator clips (and they were having a 50% off sale on all ribbon... score!). Last night I decided to put what I bought to good use, watched two YouTube videos (so of course I'm an expert now and everything) and gave it a go. I stayed up until 3am and by the time I went to bed, I had made 30 bows. I'm excited to say the least. Some of them turned out a little rough, but I made about 3 that look pretty darn cute. 3 out of 30.. not bad right? Actually... I have no idea what I'm doing.

So here's the finished product. Don't laugh at any of them... its a work in progress!

Needless to say, any tips one has to offer on bow making... or anything cute and crafty (Id like to make Juliana a tutu next. Or maybe headbands), I would certainly appreciate it.

I love having a little girl to dress up.

Rambling on...

Gosh, it seems I never just blog for the sake of blogging anymore. Which I miss. I really miss laying in bed at night and recounting my day. There is just so much that you forget when you dont write it down. Especially me. I do believe I have the absolute worst memory. Maybe not. But it soo feels like it sometimes. I cant remember half the time what I ate for dinner the night before or the name of the people in my classes in school. Anyway...

So a year after I had Juliana (A year and 2 months EXACTLY... ya know, to be exact and all) I am still at home. I have LOVED spending this past year with my children. Ive said it so many times, but I missed out on so much of Noah's first year. And they change so very much in those first twelve months.. Everyday they do something new and I missed quite a lot of that. Working as I nurse, I would leave for work around 6:15 or 6:30 at the latest, before Noah got up for the day. Every day before I left for work I'd tiptoe in Noah's room and make sure he was covered up and rub his head for a minute before leaving. I didnt get off work until 7:30 pm and that had to be one heck of an awesome day because I think I only left twice at 7:30. Most times I left around 8:00 or 8:30 and many nights I had to stay much, much later. Noah was already in bed by then and once again, I would have to tiptoe in, make sure he was covered up, rub his little head, and that was it. Noah of course was his dad's little boy which is great. But I remember one night I came home a little early from work and Noah was still awake. He looked at me and cried. He cried! Not because he wanted me to pick him up but because I was a stranger to him. I was working 5 days a week, atleast 13 hour days and slept a good piece of the day that I was off. I didnt want that to ever happen again. I want to raise my children, I dont want daycare to raise them. I want to potty train my child. Not the teacher at daycare. I want to be there for all their firsts. I dont want to hear it from someone else...

That being said, I know that in order for my family to move forward, the time has come (badum dee dum...) for me to go back to work (though Ive said it before, the time has REALLY come). Ive applied for jobs, spruced up my resume and I'm waiting on a callback. Please pray. My nerves are, at times, on the verge of being shot. The idea of dropping my kids off at daycare and listening to them cry (especially Juliana... Noah warms up quickly) kills me. Though I dread it, I am also excited about this new chapter in my life. I cant wait to stop struggling AS MUCH as we do now. I owe that to my family. I owe it to them to find a job where they can have health insurance (as opposed to right now). I have applied for jobs outside of the hospital setting. While I LOVED (Loved, loved, LOVED, L O V E D!) my friends and coworkers at Trident (Did I mention LOVE) I dont feel like I can go back to being a floor nurse. The daily codes, the MRSA, crash carts, IV pumps, chest tubes, ventilators... nothing I miss. Ive applied at a few rehabilitation centers in the area for third shift (would prefer 1st but there were no openings).

Im ready to get the ball rolling on buying a house and helping to provide for a "better" life for my family. Though, I dont want to forget all my lessons in thriftyness that Ive learned in the past year (and 2 months). Before taking this past year off (and definitely before I started buying my own groceries) Id throw whatever in the shopping cart. Id go for the name brands, the flashy packages. I wouldnt take the time to compare prices and I definitely would not look in the newspaper for deals so that I could price match at Walmart. Anytime I go to the store, I now think on a budget. I dont want to forget that. I dont want to stop asking myself "Do we REALLY need this?"

So ready for new changes, but so not ready to let my children go... *sigh*

To end, I just wanted to post a few recent pictures from a recent mini vacation we went on during labor day weekend to visit the kids grandparents (and my Ma and Pa-in law) at a camground they were staying at. It was great seeing them and I know it was a good change of scenery for all of us. Juliana was quite the little fuss bucket and erupted a shiny new toofy the day after we left.

You know, one of the first things Id like to spend money on after I go back to work is a real vacation for my husband and myself. Thinking now... we've never been on a real vacation together. Things to consider!!

Trip to the State House

Today we decided to drive to downtown Columbia and see what all we could get into with the kids. Our first stop was the State House grounds where we ran into (almost literally) what seemed like hundreds of (very tame) birds and squirrels. They would come right up to your feet and even try to eat out of your hand... the kids got a big kick out of getting so close to these animals. A guy walking by gave us a handful of roasted peanuts to feed the squirrels and we soon found out that the birds were pretty fond of the gerber graduate little puffs we had in the diaper bag for Juliana. We finished up there by letting the kids climb up the State House steps (allll thoseee stepsss... whew!).

We rounded out our trip by walking a few blocks down to visit USC (Memories... ). We spent a lot of time walking around reminiscing about our old school days and where we took our classes at. And all the walking we had to do while we were there. I remember it taking me 15-20 minutes to walk from one class to the other. Allen of course reminds me every time that he has me beat as he had to walk at least that far carrying an upright bass for school (taller than he is, mind you!). Oh the good ol' days. They were good then, and they are good now.

And yes, we forgot Juliana's shoes. She didn't mind. ;-)

Wordless Wednesday Wobbly Wednesday

I shot a little video with my camera a few weeks ago as Juliana was just learning to walk at the ripe old age of 12 1/2 months. Though the quality is pretty bad, I thought she was just the cutest little wobbly walker (and you can hear me getting a kick out of it).

Also...

Im a tad bit late (Im always late... I just wouldnt be ME if I wasnt late to and late on everything) on this but we took the kids at the end of July for their 1 and 2 year physicals. We decided to be super brave and take them both at the same time and have them in the same room. What a handful! Neither one of them are overly fond of going to the doctor but Juliana was still too young to REALLY know what was going on. As soon as we pull into the parking lot at the doctors office with Noah in tow, he knows where he is and remembers getting his immunizations all too well and he is NOT a fan. I think it went about as well as could be expected though. Noah was 32 lbs ( 90th percentile) and 50th percentile for height (I didnt quite catch his height while they were measuring him; I was more concerned with the ear piercing screeching but he is between 34 and 35 inches). Juliana was 21 lbs and close to 28 inches making her 50th percentile for weight and 10th for height. She has stayed consistantly 10th percentile since birth so I think she may just be a little shorty- and thats fine with me! Everything else checked out A-Okay with them too. They are both doing well in the speech department, Juliana now has well over 50 words and occasionally puts two words together while Noah is stringing along full sentences and adds more words on daily. Some of Noah's words are starting to become more clear and I can pretty much understand everything he says. I guess all that worrying I did over Noah talking was not warranted after all... but Im a mommy and worrying is my job! I think... But so far, so good. No more checkups for Noah until hes 3 (::Whew!::) and Juliana doesnt go back until 18 months. I cannot believe I have a 1 year old and a 2 year old.

Birthday party

A family friend created this slideshow for me with pictures from the kids birthday party this past Sunday at the Saluda Shoals spray park. I'll upload some pictures that I took later but for now I'll share this! Thanks Rick!

My girl

My baby, my youngest, my little girl, my princess, my Juliana is 1 year old. One whole year has passed since the moment I saw her sweet little face. Love at first sight, without a doubt. Born on a hot wednesday evening at the hospital where I was working at. I came in early that morning to be induced and pitocin was started at 8:30am. I wanted so badly to go into labor without the aid of medication, in the familiarity of my own home. Around week 34, my midwife realized that Juliana had stopped growing well inside of me and the best option for her at that time was for me to be induced when she was full term. The ultrasound that I had before she was born showed that she would weigh very little over 5 lbs full term. My dream of my water breaking and going into labor naturally didnt happen. My dream of a daughter to love, did happen. My little girl came into this world a little after 7:00 that night with a head full of jet black curly hair and she weighed..... 7 lbs 1.6 oz. Not bad for what was supposed to be a 5 pounder. And you know who she looks JUST LIKE... Thats right, her daddy. While Noah is my mini me (for the most part) Juliana is a little girly clone of her daddy. We celebrated her first birthday by taking a trip to the beach for the day, just like we did with Noah last year. The kids had such a great time playing in the sand and water and we ate hot melted cupcakes in the sand and enjoyed the day. Happy Birthday Juliana.

Juliana always has a ready smile, showing off her 6 teeth.

3 bottom teeth, 3 top.

Born with blue eyes but now they change between blue, gray, and hazel.

Black hair was replaced with lightly curly brown hair.

More social than her brother.

Will let a stranger hold her, depending on her mood.

Prefers still to be carried around the house.

Still not walking but swiftly cruises all over the furniture and can stand alone briefly.

Has an amazing vocabulary including mommy, daddy, kitty, puppy, ball, eye, nose, ear, hair, toe, bottle, no, all done, thank you, duck, papy, milk, shoe, jump, and much more.

She hits (yikes!)

Is a water bug... loves to swim and even goes under the water.

Wears mostly 12 months clothes. Some 18 month tops.

Size 4 shoes

Hates her carseat... still.

Counts to 3 "Un... two... teee!!"

Size 3-4/4 diapers.

Toenails painted for the first time a few days ago just for fun.

Sleeps 12 hours at night.

Prefers to be rocked to sleep.

Loves to sing.

Loves to dance.

Loves her mommy and daddy.

And they love her too.

Wordless Wednesday