So here's the thing...

A large majority of my family members (50% of my parents, brothers and sisters, AND nieces and nephews) are good at art. They draw and paint and do things that look amazing. This is, much to my dismay, a talent that was not bestowed upon me. Yes...it's very dramatic.

But nonetheless, I get ideas in my head. Yesterday involved an idea wherein 3 year old little jT would help me paint a most wonderful Christmas tree. In my head it was perfect. In 3 year old jT's head, it was something completely different. It was something a little like this....

Wonderful? Yes.

What I had in mind? No.

So, I took it upon myself to create the idea in my head. Then I realized that I couldn't even paint a Christmas tree the way I wanted to, that's how bad I am (in my head, the Christmas tree took up the whole canvas). So, step by step, I came up with ideas, until I ended up with this....

Wonderful? Hardly. But it's growing on me, ever so slowly

What I had in my mind? Not in the least.

Will it work for now? Yes, it'll do.

Does it give me tons more ideas that I probably won't be able to fulfill? Absolutely.

Apparently it's what I do

My last post was THREE months ago! So sad. I know all 2 of you have missed me, as always.

I come to you once again, with a wreath. This is probably my favorite. I love Santa belt decorations. I don't have nearly enough, so when I saw an idea to do a Santa belt wreath on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one of my own.

It was super simple.

All you need is:

wreath form (I know some people get the Styrofoam ones, but I prefer the straw ones that are wrapped in plastic. They are sturdier and cheaper)

red yarn

black felt

something to make the belt loop (I found some self-adhering shimmery stones)

hot glue gun

You just wrap the wreath form in the yarn, cut out a long strip of black felt for the belt and glue it on to the wreath. After that I figured out the center of the belt, and put on the stones in the shape of a belt buckle. BAM! Ya got yourself a Santa belt wreath!

I've thought about putting a "Ho Ho Ho" or something on there, but sick kids have drained all creative juices the last few days.

And maybe I'll post again in another 3 months with another wreath.

me...giving a tutorial...funny

I am absolutely not a very crafty person. So the fact that I am about to give a craft tutorial is absolutely hilarious to me.

So in just over a week we are moving in to our new house. Which would explain why I'm here, blogging a craft tutorial instead of packing and cleaning. It's called denial. But the thing is, I'm so excited to be in our new house and to decorate it. I have so many ideas that I know I won't be able to use them all. But one idea I am determined to do is have a "Wall o' Looooove" in our bedroom. It will be adorned with hearts, and flowers, and sweet antique romantic pictures and postcards. Although, I keep thinking that if it's our room, other people won't get to enjoy it, so maybe I should put it somewhere else. But then I wonder if people will just think that I keep my Valentine's decor up all year long. Oh, the decisions. But I digress...

I saw this super cute wreath a couple of weeks ago, and I just knew that I had to make it, or something like it. I went to Michaels last weekend for other things, and went ahead and got the materials I needed. They didn't exactly have the felt colors I wanted, so I ended up getting a huge sheet of red, and I'm so glad I did. Because now I know it will go perfectly on my "Wall o' Looooove".

And just so you know how not very crafty I am, so this must be easy to do...one of the things I had to buy while there was a hot glue gun!

So with all that said...here is how I made this here "Wall of Loooooove" wreath.

I have seen several felt flower tutorials, and finally figured out the best way for me, that is quick, doesn't require a lot of gluing, and I like how it turns out.

First cut a circle with your felt. Some people use something to get all their flowers an exact size, but I prefer to cut freely so I have different sizes and dimensions.

Then starting on an outside edge, cut in towards the center making it into a spiral. Make sure to leave a circle in the center. I like to cut it somewhat unevenly so that the top of the flower won't be flat.

Start rolling the felt starting with the outside piece.

Once I get the rolling started, I like to keep my thumb at the bottom of the flower to make sure the bottom stays flat and even. Some other tutorials will tell you that you need to give dots of glue every so often to hold it together. This killed my hand squeezing the glue and took forever. Turns out if you just hold it, it will stay together, then the last step will keep it all together.

You want the bottom of the flower to look flat like this. Then the top of the flower has more shape and character.
When you get to the end and just have the center circle left, use a hot glue gun to put a dab of glue on the last part of the outside of the flower to hold it in place.
Then put the glue all over the bottom of the flower.
Once it's covered, push the center circle over the back, thus holding the flower together. Seriously wish I would have figured out this way sooner, it would have saved me so much time!
And viola! Your felt flower.
The first one that I saw on the blog had a wreath covered in flowers that I loved. But I loved this wreath that I found at Michael's (for about 7.99 I think) and I didn't want to completely cover it. I made the flowers all different sizes instead of like the one I saw that had them the same size (mostly because doing different sizes helped use up smaller pieces of felt) and after gluing on the flowers, I added some leaves to some to add a little more color. And donezo!

birthday shopping and house buying

Apparently I break promises, because I promised myself that if I blogged on the Milan Maternity blog, I wouldn't deny my own personal blogs. Clearly, I have not kept that promise. I know all 2 of you are disappointed in me.

So yesterday I had the lovely opportunity to venture out on my own to do a little birthday shopping for little jC. He is turning 3 in a little less than two weeks. WHAT?!?! How in the heck is he already turning 3? That's what I want to know.

At any rate, I don't frequent Toys R Us, but it is the best place to look for toys. Being that they have a million of them all in one place. And it turns out a percentage of their toys are a bit...ummmm...what's the word I'm looking for?

Disturbing.

Now don't get me wrong. I think that being a stay-at-home mom/housewife is wonderful. But something about this just rubbed me the wrong way. I don't know about you guys, but...having a cleaning trolley is not "just like home". There was a whole line of products for girls from this "Just like home" line that had all sorts of unfortunate advertising on it.

And this one. I don't know what to say about this one. I guess your kids have to aspire to be something, right? (Not that anything is wrong with fast food employees.) But really??

Yes, really.

Can you guess which one of those 2 toys I got for little jC?

In non-distrubing children toy news, we are moving. In less than 3 weeks. (Which is why I should probably be spending my time PACKING instead of blogging. But when do I ever do what I should be doing?) We decided that since juC got his new job and we'd be staying in this area more long term, that now would be a good time to find a house that we have more room to grow in. (I don't particularly care to raise the 20 children I plan on having in our townhouse.)

The house is wonderful, and if everything goes as planned, we will be moving in on September 16. The best part about it is that juC will be leaving for 3 days the week we move. That doesn't stress me out at all!

So that has been the extent of my life since I last blogged. Birthday shopping for jC, and selling our house and buying a new one....ya know...the usual.

I put the "er" in expert

Did you know that I am an expert in all things maternity and motherhood related? You didn't? Oh. Probably because I'm not.

But for some crazy reason I've been given the opportunity over the next couple of months to post on the Milan Maternity blog. Milan Maternity is an online maternity clothing store. They also have stuff for nursing mothers, too. They started a blog about a year ago and post about all things pregnancy, baby, motherhood, and fashion related.

I will be posting there on Mondays and Thursdays, and have already done a couple posts! (entitled "kids clothes for less" and "documenting the baby bump"). If there's anything you think I should post about, feel free to let me know. And make sure to post comments on the blog, which you can find here:
http://milanmaternity.blogspot.com/
And I'll let you in on a little secret. They are doing a giveaway right now! So you better go and enter!

I feel the need. The need...for speed.

You know what feels good? Knowing that out of all the children your dad has, that you are absolutely his favorite!


For as long as I can remember, Sundays in our household growing up were spent with my dad watching NASCAR. It was the bane of my existence!! I really, really, really, really wish we had DVR back then. And I really, really, really, really wish we had more than one tv in the house in my earlier years.

MY DAD LOVES NASCAR.


So when I provided for him the opportunity to DRIVE an actual NASCAR car around the Richmond track, I automatically moved into the actual favorite child position. (My dad has this bad habit of telling all of his kids that they are his favorite) but now, I really actually am his favorite. Sorry everyone else.

Watching him speed around the track as he fulfilled his dream was awesome!! Now I just need to become independantly wealthy so I can provide him the opportunity to do this all the time.

Bless his heart

My poor husband.




He has donned the same haircut for years, and has relied on the same barber to maintain his haircut for years. I think he looks mighty handsome with his predictable short on the sides just a smidgen longer on the top style. It's the way I've always known him.

Unfortunately he was in a horrible hair cutting accident! You might think that this happened because he decided to go to a different barber. That is not the case. His barber just failed him miserably. And he is now the proud owner of a mighty long lock of hair right at the front of his head.

He's still trying to figure out what to do with it.

This is when he attempted a faux-hawk but he generally goes with a wave.

So unfortunate, isn't it??

We're calling it a reverse mullet. Party in the front, business in the back. Only problem is, no one is coming to the party.

Luckily, his ability to be a good husband doesn't rely solely on his haircut, so he is still able to make me amazing dinners like this one:

But trust me, he just hasn't been quite the same since the accident.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

When I say that it feels like a lifetime ago that juC and I got married, I mean it in the best possible way. It's hard to believe that it was only 4 years ago today.

I, with out a doubt, married the most perfect person for me. But don't be fooled. Our 4 year marriage isn't with out it's problems.

For instance, he still insists on trying to play footsie with me which I absolutely cannot tolerate.

See? Even we have marital problems.

But the good outweighs the bad. This guy makes dinner when I'm not feeling liking a chef. He does dishes. He takes out the trash. He takes little jC on adventures so that I can have some quiet time with luC. He surprises me with treats. He ends all of our phone calls with "I love you." He takes me on dates. He lets me buy new clothes. He tells me I'm hot (even when I'm not). He works so I don't have to. He fixes things. And I could go on and on. But the best thing is that he loves me...for me. Which is saying a lot, people!

I'm looking forward to all the years we still get to spend together!

Funny face Lula

You all think luC is worth winning a favorite photo contest, right? I know things like this are annoying, but vote for luC! If she wins, she'll get $250. That would buy me a whoooole lot of new clothes for her at my favorite consignment store!


Vote everyday!! All week!! And have everyone you know vote, too! She is currently in #326th place. Booooooo!!

Funny face luC: "Vote for your favorite kids in the Parents Cover Contest! One Reader's Choice Winner will be a finalist at the Professional Cover Shoot! Enter your own child today at http://www.parents.com/enternow !"

How do you know?

How does a wife know that her husband really loves her?

Some women need to get jewelry from their husbands to know. Some women need to be wined and dined to know. Some might need a car or two to know that their husband does, indeed, love them.

While some women only need a smile, a kiss, and a tender whisper of loving words in their ear to know that their husband loves them.

Me? What do I need to know that my husband loves me?

I need to come home on a Saturday afternoon, after spending the morning shopping with little luC to find some boxes, with a little note....


The contents of the box being a dozen cupcakes (minus one that little jC ate) from Georgetown Cupcakes (aka DC Cupcakes from the TLC show)

And then I know, with out a shadow of a doubt, that my husband loves me with every fiber of his being!

It's a big day, people!

You may be wondering what is so special about this day. The 5th day of April. Well, let me fill you in.

It was on this very day, exactly one year ago today that I found out this news:

It was one year ago today that I took a test, found out the big news, quickly made this onesie, and announced the big news to juC. I can't hardly believe that it's been a year!! Such a big day!

But I kept feeling like today was a big day for another reason, but I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I asked luC if she knew.

She just hung her head in shame and said "I can't believe you don't know."

So then I turned to jC

and he was all "Get with the program woman! It's your mum's birthday!!"

And then I was all "Ohhh yeaaaah!"

I had the most hardest time trying to figure out what to get my mum for her birthday. I wracked my brain and wracked my brain more. And then finally I figured out the perfect gift. (Hint: the perfect gift for anyone is always something that you would enjoy yourself) (The perfect gift is also edible and comes in any form of chocolate.)

Unfortunately, shipping is working slowly, so she won't get to enjoy her edible form of chocolate on this, her day of birth approximately 325 years ago, but hopefully she will forgive us and enjoy it when it comes anyways.

Happy birthday, Mum!! I hope you will forgive me for relying on my wee ones to remind me of what a special day this is!

Guessing game

Guess who is sleeping through the night.

And guess who decided to be a big boy and not throw tantrums anymore.Then guess who said he would take me on a super romantic getaway with out the kids.

And the biggest of all, guess who is expecting baby number 3.

I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I do know it is April 1.

Welcome to my pity party!!

I'm so glad you could make it! This past month juC finally found a new job after years of trying to find something new. And if that wasn't exciting enough, I also cracked open my first double yolked egg EVER!

But, seriously...

In all honesty, I have mixed feelings about juC's new job. It's exciting because he will finally (hopefully) have a job that he can be happy with on a daily basis. And hopefully not have to work 10 or 11 hour days. But since it's still right here in Northern Virginny, that means that we are staying...for good.

I never thought I'd be raising these kids here.

For years now I've lived with the mindset that we'd be moving as soon as juC found a job somewhere else. And truthfully, that was my motivation for accepting that we are here now...that soon we wouldn't be. Now that he has the new job, I have to accept the reality that this is where we will be, where my kids will grow up, and where we will truly settle down. And since I haven't been happy living here for years, it's a hard reality to accept.

But I'm trying...and some days are better than others.

Heart Day

I know I promised my next post would be about the old ads hanging in the upstairs bathroom, and I know you are going to be super upset by this...but, I'm not going to post them yet. It's Valentine's Day, which means I need to post about gushy lovey dovey stuff.

I had every intention of posting about my dear, sweet husband who I love with ever fiber of my being. I mean, how could I not love this guy?

And about my dear, mostly sweet kids.

But let's be honest, you know how much I love them and how great they are, so why not post about what comes second on my list of loves...chocolate.

I knew this Valentine's Day had every possibility of being amazing...I just didn't know how amazing. And then a friend posted a picture on her Facebook of a box of cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes (from the series DC Cupcakes on TLC) that her husband got her.

My hopes of an amazing Valentine's Day went down the drain. Nothing could compare to what she got. And I let her know just how jealous I was.

And then, just a few hours later, there was a knock on my door. And there my friend was, standing there. Standing there at my door. Standing there at my door with this...

The most amazingly delicious cupcake known to man. I loved it with every fiber of my being. And it loved me back. It made me feel good about myself. It told me I was the only one. It promised me that all the calories would be worth it.

And let me tell you something: Georgetown Cupcakes don't lie!

You know me

It's been a while since I've talked about old things...ya know...antiques. For a while there it seemed to be all I could talk about.

So here we go again.

Last year, I went to one of my favorite antique stores in Funkstown, MD. I came across some old ads from magazines, and I couldn't help but get some to frame. Unfortunately, the part where I got them in frames took forever, but it finally got done a few months ago.

My favorite of them all is this little guy.I love it obviously because he's the cutest little smart baby. But I also love that there is a recipe on there for creamed spinach. And I also love that Carnation Milk is "from contented cows"I love this ad for pork and beans because...hello! It's an ad for pork and beans. I love that they let you know that they are "Digestible". Thank goodness! If pork and beans still cost 12 cents a can, I'd be eating them every day.

And as someone that loves to bake (however rare it may be these days) I had to get the ad for Pyrex.

Don't you remember when you and your mom would get all dressed up and bake? Those were the days.

I just wish that I could still buy my bake ware for 50 cents!

Now stay tuned and hold on to your seats for my upcoming post about the old ads I put in the bathroom.

My brain at 2 a.m.

Something that I've thought about in the middle of the night feeding a baby when my thoughts are all over the place...

This year I will turn 29. My husband will soon be 33. My husband has a for real job (as opposed to a fake one), we have a house, 2 cars, 2 kids. According to most, we are considered adults, as are our acquaintances. So why is it that I still have a hard time referring to ourselves and others as a man or a woman? Boy and girl still come to mind, and every time I'm talking to someone I so badly want to say "This girl that I know..." and I really have to make a conscience effort to say "woman".

Maybe I'll be over this by the time I'm 50.

I couldn't even make this stuff up

I will admit that I am a huge fan of reality TV. HUGE!

But everyone has to draw the line somewhere, right? And some people clearly just don't know where to draw the line.

Did you know that there is a show called "Bridalplasty"? And the name truly says it all. It's a competition based show where brides compete to win plastic surgery so that they will look "perfect" for their wedding.

I kid you not, people!

Each episode there is a competition, and the winner of the competition gets to choose a procedure to get done, and then gets to spend 2 weeks recovering until they have to start competing again.

Which means they get to compete and do interviews looking like this (Yes, these are actual pictures from the show!):

What is happening to our world today???

No really, I want to know. Because something is clearly wrong.

***images from Google images

jC thinks three's a crowd

I've decided that either I'm the only one who has struggled with having a second baby, OR everyone struggles but no one talks about it. If the latter is the case, then I will be the odd one out and actually talk about it.

It feels very similar to when I was pregnant with jC and people would say "Being a parent is hard." and I'd say "I know." I knew it would be hard, but the reality of dealing with it was a lot different than just knowing it would be hard.

I knew having 2 would be hard, but the reality now of living it is much more difficult than I expected. The funny thing is when jC was a baby, I cried a lot with the struggles I had with him. Now luC is here, and I'm crying a lot...because of the struggles with jC. He, unfortunately, is not too fond of playing on his own. He also, unfortunately, is not too fond of not having all the attention.

Other things he's not fond of: luC crying, having to eat a meal with out me sitting with him, turning the TV off, getting a snack that he doesn't want, making him pick up the snacks he doesn't want after he throws it on the floor...and the list goes on and on....which equals a whoooole lot of frustration, screaming, and crying all around.

On the plus side, luC is a lovely baby. She will actually nap, which means I do get to spend some one on one time with Judson and I'm able to see his happy side, too.

I absolutely love my children (Woah...saying I have CHILDREN is weird!!) They are great, and I just can't wait for everyone to be adjusted to our new family so we can really enjoy it.

She's here!!

Our little luC has arrived.



And call me crazy...



But I love reading about peoples birth experiences. So I thought I'd share my own. Of course if you have no interest in hearing about it, I won't be offended if you just skip down to the end and look at the pictures.


So luC's due date was Dec. 16. However, at the beginning of my pregnancy(when ultrasound dating is most accurate), every time I got an ultrasound they said it was 4 or 5 days later. But they don't change the due date unless it's more than a weeks difference. Dec. 16 came and went, and even though I always said she'd be late, it was SOOOO hard to see the due date pass with out a baby to show for it. But according to those calculations in the beginning, she came just on time...


On Dec. 21 I had an appointment with the midwives in the morning. The midwife talked of stripping membranes, but basically said if the baby is ready, it would speed things up and if the baby wasn't ready it would make no difference. So I opted to not go that route. They did an ultrasound to make sure there was enough fluid, they set up an appointment for the 23rd for a nonstress test, and set up an appointment for me to be induced on the 27th. I really thought all of those appointments would occur.


After I got home from the midwives, juC had to go back to work and little jC was so upset. I ended up taking him for a drive to calm him down. I thought I would take the opportunity to go by a friends house and drop something off for her and hang out a bit. The whole time I was there she joked about my water breaking on her carpet, and it better not because it was new carpet. I assured her we were safe.



At about 11:30am little Judson and I were about to leave. He asked me to hold him, so I was standing there in her kitchen holding him in front of me when all of a sudden I felt something. I thought that with the way I was holding jC and the position of the baby I must have had a little accident....oops! That had never happened before! But I didn't want to ask to use her bathroom because I knew Judson would freak out. So with out saying anything, jC and I left her house and I got home as quickly as possible. My water breaking before labor started had never crossed my mind because I always assumed it would happen exactly the way it did with jC. After I got home I realized that there was a good chance that my water did break.

I called the nurse at the midwives office and told her what happened. She told me what to do to "test" it out and see if my water broke. When I called her back to tell her the results of the "test", she said "REALLY!?" Apparently she didn't expect it to have actually happened. But, my water broke for sure!

I immediately called juC. No answer. I called the babysitter who was supposed to come. No answer. I called juC again. No answer. I called the other babysitter. No answer. I called juC again. No answer.

Seriously...NOW?!?! Now is the time no one picks up?? I called the cell phone of the other babysitter. She finally answered and said she'd come as soon as she could. Called juC's work phone. No answer. Called his cell phone again. No answer. FINALLY got him and told him my water broke.

I quickly finished getting things together that I needed to. juC got home and a few minutes later the babysitter came. We headed to the midwives office because they said they had to do a test to be 100% sure my water broke and it was easier to do it at their office. Of course as soon as the midwife checked, she said we could go ahead to the hospital. When she told me that Margie was the midwife on call, I was excited because that was who delivered Judson and I liked her and it was familiar.

We got to the hospital around 1pm and I fully expected to be there for a looong time before luC was born. I was about 3 cm dilated and luC was still high. They hooked me up to the antibiotics I needed and did a round. After it was done and I could get up, I did. Up to that point my contractions weren't very painful and weren't regular. After I got up they started getting really painful.

The whole pregnancy I had planned to have a natural birth, but the whole time I was never convinced I could do it. As the contractions got more painful, I really started to doubt myself. I asked if I could sit in the tub, so the nurse and midwife got it ready for me. Before I got in, she checked to see how far along I was, but said she wouldn't tell me. It is most definitely a good thing she didn't. I was only 5 cm, and I'm pretty sure if she had told me that I would have asked for an epidural.

I was in the tub for about 20 minutes when things really started getting painful and uncomfortable. And I started feeling a lot of pressure and like I needed to push. juC went and got the midwife. Back in the room she checked me again. As she was checking I went from 8 to 9 cm. Soon after I was at 10 cm and it was time.

I'm not going to lie people. I was in PAIN. I was screaming. (I always said I wouldn't be one of those people screaming, but...) My body took over and I honestly felt like I had no control over what was happening. I pushed through 3 contractions and at 5:24pm....way earlier than I expected, luC arrived.

She was 7 lbs and 20 1/4 inches, and she, of course, was perfect. It's hard to believe it was two weeks ago tomorrow. She's a sweet baby and we are so happy to have her!!