Thank you mom

No matter how old I get I will always need my mom.  I really do try to figure things out on my own, but the reality is, I will never not need her. Today, I called my mom in a panic.  My house needed to start looking like a home, or I was going to lose it.  I tried setting out books, a few photo's and some chickens, but it really didn't feel right.  I finally broke down and called my mom.  She show's up with a table cloth and two green vase's.  Within ten minutes she has the room looking like a real dining room, not a bedroom, not an empty room, a real dining room.   My mother has the ability to make anything look beautiful.  She took my books, her two vases, a few little odds and ends and made this construction zone look like a house. 

Late nights, baking and birthdays

So for my sister's birthday I made her a carrot cake, then I made her cupcakes, and that got me going in the kitchen.  I could bake all day every day if someone paid for the groceries.  The other day my mom asked me to bake a cake for her. I got to spend hours in the kitchen making her cake while she watched my girls.  It was wonderful.  I felt almost human.

  Then last night I got no sleep.  You'd think it was because of the baby, but it wasn't.   My loving husband moved his bedroom set into our newly finished bedroom (left in storage till now).  With it came his prized pillow top mattress, that he was so excited to sleep on again.  I will go on record now stating that it is the WORLD'S WORST mattress.  It's like trying to sleep on a marshmallow.  My back was aching within the first ten minutes, and then suddenly my husband snores like a wildebeest.  I'm not sure what a wildebeest is or if it's even real, but if it snores, I imagine it sounding like Texas.  I finally gave up and went downstairs (where you can still hear the snoring) to sleep on my rejected mattress which thankfully he didn't give away yet.  Now tonight it's Elsie keeping me up.  She's suddenly inconsolable and won't sleep unless you swing her in the Amby bed.  I'd link you to their website, but evidently they aren't making them anymore, safety recall issue.  Call me a bad parent, but recall or not, no one is taking this bed away from me.  It's like magic with a cranky baby.

As my last birthday present to my sister please go follow her blog.  I know pretty much everyone who reads this is already on her blog, but if there are a few who aren't it would mean the world to her.

Cold is good

All this sunny weather was making me majorly depressed.  My allergies were so bad and going outside was misery.  The worst part was, I have a new yard with lots of work to be done and I couldn't even go outside.  Thank you yucky cold weather.  I can breath again and hopefully find a solution to my allergies before it changes again.

missing

I'm sure you've all read of the infamous Aunt Leslie.  Well she was just in town for a visit that was entirely to short.  Rooms were painted, art was created, sleepovers were exhausting, gifts were abound and then in a flash she was gone.  The hardest part about Aunt Leslie's visit's is when she leaves.  Suddenly the magic is gone and life seems dull.  There is no such thing as a long enough visit from Aunt Leslie.  The girls were all so excited to see her and wanted to spend every minute with her.  Annie said that she will keep her Purple Sparkle kitty close to her when she misses her.  So purple sparkle kitty went to target and whole foods today.  Who know's where they'll go tomorrow.   Aunt Leslie we miss you all ready.

Yuck!

So I did a deep cleaning of my sofa the other day.  I'm not sure what got into me.  I was sitting on the sofa and the next thing I new I was cleaning the sofa.  Possible nesting withdrawal?  I got the cushions off and all seemed clean, then I started digging into the crease of the sofa and started pulling out all that you see before you.  Completely hidden from sight was all this junk.  It promptly went in the trash and my sofa is now safe to sit on.  I was tempted to check the other sofa, but thankfully Elsie started crying.

My mom and her AMAZING friends

Yes, this is a picture of our bedroom.  My Aunt Leslie is in town to visit, so her and my mom hatched a plan to come help me out with my bedroom disaster.  They even roped in our friend Debbie and little Maddie.  It was so wonderful to have people here just to hold Elsie so I could go paint and feel like we're moving forward with the house.  Texas and I might even have our own bedroom soon.  Just one more coat of trim paint and some caulk.  If you forgot what it looked like before just see the pictured below.

Rashes

Getting into the swing of having a baby is way harder than I thought it would be.  I forgot so much from when I had Annie and no two children are alike.  Trying to figure out little Elsie's schedule is impossible.  I'm pretty sure that the second she thinks I'm catching on she changes it up.  She doesn't eat or sleep in any sort of recognizable pattern, nor does she respond to me trying to give her one.
The worst part is that she has had this terrible diaper rash for a week.  I finally figured out that it was a yeast rash and not a regular run of the mill rash.  So now I have to spray her butt with diluted vinegar water and wait till it air dries before I can put a diaper on her.  Do you know how many times a baby pees in a day?  Not to mention her latest trick, poop right before mom is about to walk out the door with you.  I might as well not diaper her at all.  I should be one of those crazy moms who potty train their newborns (no offense, but how realistic is that anyways?).

Annie's Ballet

Annie has been practicing her dance more and more frequently lately and last night she put on a performance for Texas and I.  It was quite elaborate.  She asked if I could "movie it" and put in on the blog.  So this is a small snippet of her performance.

*No judging me by the background if you can see it.  I made the video extra small in hopes of you all not seeing the giant mess in my dining room/ bedroom.

Eureka!

Last night my very wise older daughter informed me that the baby was keeping her up at night and she would like to sleep in her room upstairs!  I can't tell you how proud of her I am.  Since Annie moved into her big bed 2+ years ago it has been her little nest.  Even in the chaos that is our house, she goes up during the day and sits with Banjo in her bed to look at books.  She decided on her own (maybe a few subtle hits from mom) that she needed to be in her room at night.  Even if that meant being the only one upstairs.  She woke up this morning well rested and ready to go.  I have new hope that I will survive this new baby stage, and that Annie is going to be just fine.

Diapers

So we started up with the cloth diapers.  I forgot how much laundry babies make.  Add not have having enough diaper inserts and I'm running to the basement constantly (please note in order to get to the basement you have to go outside). Evidently over the last four years I lost quite a few of them from Annie's diapering days.  I vaguely remember washing some with an ink pen and having to throw them out, but it was so long ago.  Today, in an effort to make my life easier I went out to Cotton Babies (the high end boutique of diapering gear), and bought more inserts.  I love this store, but I'm not a fan of the their locations, SO far away.  If going there doesn't make you consider at least for a minute that you want to cloth diaper your kids you aren't in the right store.  They have found a way to make cloth diapers appear hip and trendy.  With not only your choice of diaper systems, but a multitude of colors and fabrics.   It's hard to resist the temptation to buy all the bright colored diapers.  I use the boring white system with no bells and whistles, but I love this system.   I just have to remind myself of that before entering the store. It's easy and requires very little thought (I wouldn't want Elsie's diaper to clash with her shoes).  Mostly, I love not having to run to the store at some insanely inconvenient time to buy diapers with money I'd rather spend on something fun because I ran out of disposables.

We need a bedroom!

We are still using our dining room as a bedroom.  It's not terrible, but it is a little frustrating.  The biggest issue?  Our house feels like the size of a shoe box because all four of us are living in two rooms.  We wake up and move from the makeshift bedroom to the living room where any combination of eating, working, playing, and t.v. watching is going on at once. There is no such thing as alone time or quiet. 
Texas is ready to run for the hills; thankfully he's channeling his cabin fever toward finishing our bedroom.  The last two days he's been locked up there mudding, sanding and scraping.  Painting should start any day now!
Annie thinks it's great, but I don't think it's that great for her.  She really doesn't sleep well unless she's in her big bed.  Her and Banjo cram into her little toddler bed and it's like watching a really sleepy game of twister.  They constantly toss around trying to keep from sliding off. 
I just want privacy.  I'm not the wife who makes the bed in the morning every day, and now everyone I know has seen first hand that I suck at putting laundry away too.

Yarnage

Today I got a package in the mail from my friend Heather.  She recently moved out to Oregon, and sadly I think she really loves it there.  I was hoping she'd move back to St. Louis one day, but it's looking like that will never happen.   Anyways, inside the package was this amazing sweater that she made for Elsie (and a treasure for Annie, but Annie isn't home to open it yet).   I'm thinking Heather needs to add baby sweaters to her Etsy shop because I love this sweater.  It's so adorable.
For Elsie's arrival my sister made her an adorable hat and then made Annie and Elsie the sweetest little necklaces with their initial's on it. Elsie is a little to young to wears hers still, but Annie is keeping it safe for her till then. 
Between my sister Greta and Heather I'm thinking my kids will be in handmade yarnage for years to come.  And I'm officially to intimidated to ever pick up a ball of yarn again.

Here is the sweater:

She really hates when I fuss with her clothing

 Here is the Hat:

And here are the link's to the two most talented women I know:
Girl with a hook

GREMADCHA

Update

Out with the old (leaky and smelly dishwasher)

In with the slightly less old (not so smelly dishwasher)

Basically this is my husbands way of telling me he expects me to start washing the dishes.