July 27, 2009

Finished!


I am on vacation and have had some time to finish the pants that I started over 2 weeks ago...that was started as a 3-4 hour project. I think just over 2 weeks is pretty good considering my day to day and how little time I have to really put some good time into anything! All have left to do is sew in the stings that are located on the inside of the pants, as well as make a draw string. I have some yarn left over and I think I will try to make a hat that matches the pants. I paired these with a simple pink top from Gymboree and plan on giving them to my little cousin Willow for her 1st birthday, hopefully they will fit some time this winter or spring. Next I am going to start that hat and then start onto another set of pants. **Here are the finished pictures**
  



July 25, 2009

Another Great Fluff Friday Giveaway!




If you read my previous entry, you know that I LOVE Gro Baby diapers. They make up the majority of our cloth diapers and both Trevor and Ethan use them. They are a one size diaper that I just adjust snaps depending on which kiddo is going to wear it.

Well, over at The Cloth Diaper Whisperer they are giving away Gro Baby dipes! One with velcro and one with snaps. I have yet to try one with snaps and would love to! Snaps are much harder for a toddler to undo!!! I have to say that I really love the velcro system that Gro Baby has going on, though. It is the best I have tried (and I have tried lots of different diapers), it is so soft and I love how you can get a custom, perfect fit every time.

If you haven't tried a Gro Baby yet, you should! Make sure you get several snap in inserts if you try it out to get the true effect of the Gro Baby System. If you buy 1 system and 1 pack of inserts, it really will seem like you have 3 diapers! Right now I have 7 covers, and 19 snap in inserts that I think were at a great price. I basically got 19 diapers for between $14 and $15 per diaper.

July 23, 2009

Tiny Bubbles, Gro Baby, and a Wet Bag Giveaway!

FEED YOUR STASH: Tiny Bubbles, Gro Baby & a Wet Bag
Since Gro Baby diapers make up the majority of my cloth diaper stash, I am all for this giveaway! I know some are not found of Gro Baby, but they are the staple to my diaper collection. This (along with Bumgenius Organic) is the only diaper that is leak proof on Ethan (my super soaker!), and it fits sooo good on Trevor who is 20 months and 28 pounds but is still on the second setting of snaps because he has such a small rise! And who couldn't use more laundry detergent and a wet bag! Great giveaway!!

Shabby Creations Giveaway!

I know some of my followers also follow Kristen Self's blog, her blog is beautiful and I saw it was made by Shabby Creations so I clicked on it while on Kristen's blog and it brought me to this fun giveaway. This is what you could win: 
The first winner will receive a custom background and banner, package worth $47. The second winner will receive a pre-made design from the pre-made boutique worth $10. 
Head on over to Shabby Creations for your chance to win a beautiful background for your blog!


Ma-Cole & Ted

For the first time in my life it felt strange to hear my own name. Why? Because it was coming out of my three year olds mouth. What happened to mommy, or even mom. Now I am Macole. Landon doesn't refer to me by my name as much as he does towards Ted, though. We don't hear dad too often anymore, because Landon has picked up on the fact that 'DAD' is not Ted's name. Ted asks Landon to call him dad, and Landon replies back that grandma calls you Ted. He has also told Ted that 'Ted' is your real name, and if that's your name shouldn't I call you that? Ted then explains that yes, that is the name that Grandma gave me but that I am your dad and that is why you call me 'Dad'. Landon's not buying it! Ted has now started calling Landon 'Grandpa' every time Landon calls him 'Ted'. Landon gets quite a chuckle out of being called Grandpa. This whole situation makes me sad, and not becuase Landon is calling me Macole but because Landon is growing up.

To sleep or Not to sleep???

I have been awake since about 1am and it is now 4:30am, for various reasons but mostly because I just can't sleep. So now I am sitting here at 4:35am knowing that Ethan ate around 2:15am, and that I probably could get another hour or two of sleep in before he would wake up to eat. Is it worth laying in bed tossing and turning in the hopes of drifting off for a short time before I hear the grunts of little Ethan, or do I risk being completely sleep deprived and stay up?? Hmmm...

July 20, 2009

3 hour project...1 week later & still working on it!

After knitting and crocheting a few soakers (used as a cover over cloth diapers), I decided to try a pair of longies (pants used as a cover over cloth diapers). Although I feel like I can knit better than I can crochet, crocheting is much faster! I am a follower of the blog With A Tangled Skein and I went there to look for a pattern (I had used her soaker pattern) and found one called Little Fire Crochet Pants. This pattern is free, and for a beginner extremely easy to follow! Thank you Amy!!

I am terrible at following gauge, because I am way too impatient and always just jump right into the project. Basically I just grabbed out a pair of the boys' pants that are 12mo size and am using that along with Amy's free pattern to make my first pair of crochet pants. This is my work in progress picture:

I will add another one once I have finished. I did change the pattern slightly (mostly because I messed up and didn't want to undo it!) and made a larger waistband, and then I plan to add a picot cuff to the bottom of these pants. This is what a picot stitched cuff looks like when it is finished:
I think it is so pretty, and adds a very girly flair to the pants! Unfortunately I don't have a girl to wear these, but luckily I have LOTS of girl cousins that can:)! I will updated with a finished picture once they are done. That reminds me, this pattern says it will take 3-4 hours to do. With me only getting 15-30 minutes here or there, I am one week into when I started these pants and hopefully can have them done within a week. It seems like the best time to work on a little crocheting is when I am nursing Ethan, but I seem to always want helpers with the yarn. Trevor always wants to pull it out and wrap it all around him and Landon is always wanting to get the scissors to cut all of the yarn, not exactly the best helpers!

July 12, 2009

I Can Feel the Burn

I am getting back into the 'swing' of things, and have started again at Rejuvenation doing kettlebells. The first week is under my belt, and aside from feeling VERY sore it really feels great to be doing this for myself. It is easy to get caught up in the everyday and put yourself on the back burner, but now three days a week for 30 minutes a day I will be focusing on just myself. Since I have only lost about 15 pounds of the almost 40 I had gained, I am more than ready to see the scale start a downward trend. Kettlebells can and will do this for me, it is how I lost my baby weight after Trevor and I know it will help me loose this weight after having Ethan. 

I am a huge advocate for kettlebells. It is amazing how versitile the workouts are. Whether you are in your 50s and have not worked out in years or you are a 18 year old at the peak of your physical fitness, you can do kettlebells. Not only can both do kettlebells, but they can both do the exact same workout together. Another thing that has me hooked on kettlebells is that you get an amazing workout in a very short time. This is the workout I did on Saturday to give you an example:

Snatch Left side
Snatch Right side
Jumping Lunges/Jumping squats/Jumping knee-ups (your choice, I varied them)
Walk-outs

I did this for 20 minutes, 15 seconds on/15 seconds off (meaning I snatched L for 15 seconds, got a 15 second break, then snatched R for 15 seconds, got a 15 second break, Lunges for 15 seconds, got a 15 second break, ect.) This workout is only 10 minutes of work, but it felt like I was working out for over an hour. I was dead tired! The cardio of this workout is what was kicking my butt.

July 9, 2009

What once was lost, now is FOUND!

In June 2004, Ted and I went to a nice couples house to look at a puppy. We agreed on the drive there that we were just looking. Looking turned into playing, which turned into paying! We drove to Ted's tiny apartment (that did not alloy dogs) with the cutes, spunkiest Jack Russel Terrier in tow. We toyed with many names and nothing seemed right, they were too doggish (yes, I just made up that word). I was pondering Koda, but it didn't fit. Then I asked Ted, what about Kody. It was perfect! I proceeded to give him the title 'Chief Kody Grey Ear'. Kody became a part of our everyday life and our family. Kody has led us onto a roller coaster ride of emotions. From Ted and I getting engaged at the park we took Kody to (of course he was along for the big event), to Kody getting run over and breaking his hip. There is so much more unmentioned that we have been through with him, but our latest happenings had me thinking that this ride was over.

Kody went missing at the end of February. After driving around yelling for him, checking our local PAWS website, as well as the vet, we had come to the conclusion that he had an unfortunate encounter with another animal (he was known to like the badger holes) or a family took him. We had come to terms with the fact we would never see him again. Some silly part of me was hoping for a Homeward Bound fairytale, and that part of me had me still always looking for him while I was driving. That part of me would lead me onto random gravel roads thinking I might just see him. That part of me made my heart skip a beat anytime I saw a dog that even half way resembled Kody. Ted and I still talked about him on a weekly basis. The "I thought I saw Kody today", or "I had another dream about Kody", or we liked to talk about the "remember whens..."

Four months have now come and gone, when Ted gets a call from my aunt Mari. She told Ted that she thought she saw Kody at the vet. Him and his owner were walking out as she was walking in. She stopped and told the guy that she thought she knew that dog, and he told her that she might have because he had adopted it from PAWS. Mari got his name and number and passed that information onto Ted. Ted called up the guy and it really sounded like it was Kody, so he agreed to have us come to his house to see. We get to his house and I make Ted go to the door to make sure it is Kody. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Well, their door was glass and the dog ran right up to it when Ted rang the doorbell. It WAS Kody! If you know Kody, you know that when a stranger came to the door he would jump like crazy. When he ran up to the door with Ted on the other side not one jump, he sat down just looking up at him. Ted picked him up and Kody gave him a big lick on the face. I then went in as well and knelt down by him, he also gave my face a good lick. Unfortunately our reunite didn't come with just smiles and happiness, because as we got our dog back a family that had grown to love him was loosing him. It was the most bittersweet situation I have encountered. The adoptive owners of Kody, who named him Murphy, had two young children that adored him. It seems as if we immediatly jumped back onto that emotional roller coaster once again, to which we call Kody!

July 4, 2009

The Cloth Diaper Whisperer Giveaway

If you didn't already know, I cloth diaper my kids. I have always wanted to, well since Landon was about 3 months old and finally started once Landon was almost 2.5 years old. He was only cloth diapered for about a month and then potty learned. Trevor was about 14 months old when I started cloth diapering him, and now I have little Ethan at six weeks old in cloth as well.

A blog that is a must to follow if you cloth diaper is The Cloth Diaper Whisperer: check it out here http://www.theclothdiaperwhisperer.com/
Every week they have a giveaway, all you have to do is leave comments about the giveaway and such and you get entered in a chance to win the weekly loot. This weeks giveaway is one of my favorites so far (I hope I win!). They are giving away Kissaluvs Marvels One Size Fitted Diapers! As you can see by the picture, they are CUTE! The bottom print is hard to see in the picture, but it is of owls and I really want to get my hands on it!! These diapers are not even for sale yet, so I have no idea how much they cost or where you can/will be able to buy them. I do know that it would be great to get some free ones!

My First Blog Entry!

The name of my Blog says it all. I stay busy from when my first son wakes until the last one is asleep. Because of this beautifully busy life I am living, I have not been able to keep up with our family website. I was hoping that by blogging, there would be much less to maintain and I would still be getting some journaling done. I love going back and reading my journal entries of when it was just Landon, and then Landon and Trevor, and I want to be able to look back at lots of fun journaling about Landon, Trevor, and Ethan!

I am enjoying the quiet in my house right now. It is 7am, Ethan was up at 6am and now sleeping again. Ted, Landon, and Trevor are still asleep. What I hear right now: birds chirping, rain falling, a whimper here and there from Ethan, and the sound of the keys on my keyboard as I type. What I will be hearing once everyone is up, let's just say it will be much louder!

We have a busy day ahead of us. My parents and brother return from Oregon! We are going to Frana's cabin this morning, then taking the boys fishing at Grandpa's pond, and hanging out with cousins, aunts, uncles, and friends at Luke and Heather's cabin. It should be a fun 4th of July!