As yet unnamed!

A smile and some amusing fashion sense

Finally managed to capture a smile this afternoon! He really smiled for the first time last week but I went for the camera and he didn't do it again. This time I wanted to get photos of him in his cute monster sleepsuit and he happened to smile. It's pretty cute huh? I'm looking forward to more smiles so his future photos look a bit less shell shocked looking. 

 

While I was looking through my camera memory card I found these photos from a few days ago. Charlie wearing a "Viking" outfit with the fancy hat. He wasn't too convinced about the hat... neither of my kids seem to like hats. Hopefully that changes as I think hats are so cute in the winter time. The other photo is of model-in-training Noemie with an outfit she chose herself. Actually I dressed her in the very normal looking red skinny jeans and white shirt and she added her mittens and rainboots and struck a pose. Now if only she would wear a hat, the outfit would've been complete. I have my postnatal appointment tomorrow morning (8 weeks after the fact!) and then in the afternoon the mother's help person is coming from 3-8pm for her trial. It will be interesting to see how we all do as I'm a bit unsure about having someone in the house and caring for my kids but at the same time fully realize I need the help and once I get used to it will wish I had done it a lot sooner. I think I was overly protective of Noemie as she was so sick at birth and for the first few months of her life that I can't imagine anyone other than family taking care of her. Otherwise we would've had help with her as well. As with anything it will take time to get used to the change.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

I only managed to take one photo today but then it's all I really need in order to do a layout about the day. It was a lot of fun and the food was really yummy. My favorite has to be the candied sweet potatoes. It's my usual contribution to dinner and I'll admit I had 3 servings! Noemie looked a bit confused by all of the food on the table but she ate a few bits. She had just gotten up from a nap and it was a lot earlier than her usual dinner time so she wasn't starving. Charlie had no idea what was going on. Shame the wine bottle is blocking his face but at least we can see he is there. It'll be more fun next year when Charlie can have more than milk and perhaps Noemie will want to try more as well. 

We reminisced about some past Thanksgivings as Kirk and I used to have 10+ friends join us when we hosted each year. One year when my MIL was visiting, she had asked Kirk if he was sure the turkey didn't need to be in the oven so we could eat at a decent hour. Kirk insisted it was fine, that the 17lb turkey only needed about 5 hours. Well, we ate at around 11pm that year. One friend passed out on the couch long before dinner. This was back in the day pre-kids so now if we hosted it would be a totally different scene. 

I'm looking forward to Christmas lunch which is our next family get together. We usually have some really good roast beef which Kirk cooks up for everyone. Can't believe I need to do more Christmas shopping soon. Must get down to Tiffany's to buy Charlie's silver ornament. Noemie got one last year so I figure I'll get Charlie one this year, have them both engraved and it can be a keepsake for them.

Happy Friday

Yay, it's the weekend again! Had a good day yesterday and today. Noemie went for a walk with Grandma J without the stroller and she took her grandma straight to the park. It's about a 1/2 mile walk round trip so she did really well. They went to the playground, Noemie went on the swings and then they ran around through the leaves. No one stepped in anything stinky. Grandma J was a bit worried that Noemie might not be able to walk all the way home but apparently Noemie didn't seem to even remotely be tired. That kid has so much energy so I'm not surprised. Charlie was a good boy on Wednesday night and slept from 9:45pm straight through until 6:45am. He didn't repeat it again last night though. Hopefully he'll go longer stretches as time goes on. This photo was taken this evening before he went up to take a bath before bedtime. He almost always has a bib on him as he often spits up and then it gets all over the place. Ick.

I met and interviewed the potential mother's help today and the woman was wonderful. Noemie took to her right away which was a good sign. We chatted for about an hour and a half and she knows her stuff and we saw eye to eye on many things. I had her do the talking about various things rather than me say what I thought and have her just agree with me. We are trying her out next week starting on Monday afternoon to evening and then again later in the week in the morning just so I can see what she's like with the kids and she can see what the day is like around here. The kids were both on their best behavior today so I am sure she thought she was looking at the dream job. Clearly paid off that I warned both kids about going out on the doorstep in the rain if they acted up and scared her away. Charlie even went down for a nap without a fuss. If we still like her and she still likes us then we will offer her a position for around 25 or so hours a week. She'll start with evenings to help me get the kids to bed as that's what I need the most at the moment and then also some afternoon hours. Once the nighttime is less of a nightmare we'll shift her to daytime hours so I can get a break, go out and do my own thing while she takes care of both of them for a few hours, etc. She's got a lot of experience and is more of a nanny but we're calling it mother's help as I don't go to work so she is not in sole charge of the kids for 10 hours at a time sort of thing. I'm looking forward to having the help but at the same time it's a weird feeling that someone else is going to be helping with my babies and that there will be times that they go out with her without me, etc. I guess I'll warm up to that in time but I haven't been apart from Noemie for more than a few hours ever since she was born. Fingers crossed it all works out as this person was lovely and I think I'd learn lots from her as well which is nice. She's cared for lots of newborns and toddlers so has a lot of experience and has also worked in nurseries, etc. 

We're having Thanksgiving lunch/dinner tomorrow and my parents are coming over. My MIL made the apple pie, pumpkin pie and limpa (swedish bread) today, the turkey is just about defrosted and Kirk will deal with that tomorrow and I'm doing the side dishes in the morning. It's a low key dinner this time around as there are only 5 of us adults and then Noemie and Charlie (who will just want milk anyway). It's both the kids' first thanksgiving so that will be nice though they'll have no idea what's going on.

 

Charlie update and Mama Noemie

Grandma J brought a stroller so that Noemie could push Paul around, like I push Noemie and Charlie. Noemie spent at least 2 hours yesterday, walking Paul around the kitchen/dining room. I took him up to the living room and he got walked up there as well. This morning when she woke up and came down, she took Paul for a walk right away and cried when I put her in her highchair for breakfast as she wanted to keep walking Paul. It's the cutest thing to watch. She did however pull him out of the stroller at one point yesterday and threw him onto the floor. These photos show her sweeter "Mama" side though, checking to make sure Paul's harness is securely fastened so he doesn't fall out while on their walk. I think I might buy a little cot and highchair for Paul to see if she continues to play with him. We'll take her out to the park hopefully tomorrow so she can walk Paul outdoors. 

Charlie finally got weighed today. He's 7 weeks and 2 days old and weighed in at 6.06kg/13lbs 6oz (91st percentile) and was 61cm/24" tall (98th percentile). That's pretty amazing as Noemie was 19 weeks old when she weighed exactly that amount. When I read the feeding guide on a box of baby formula, his weight group is that of a 4 month old I believe. My big boy. He gave me a massive smile yesterday that went on for several minutes. He just kept smiling and cooing and of course once I got the camera he went all serious again. He smiled more this morning as well while he was waiting for someone to measure his height. 

After the health center I registered interest for a nanny (the baby shop is in the same area). I'm interviewing someone this Friday morning! She sounds good on paper with more than 15 years of experience and is fully trained in child minding. Her references from previous employers sound good as well. She would be more of a mother's help for me as it's not like I'm going to hand my kids over and go out all day long. It's more so I don't have to do it all on my own. I was very flexible with what I needed in terms of hours per week as I figured it would be easier to find someone that way than to be overly specific about what days and what hours I wanted someone. I don't have to go to work or have anything specific I need to do so there is no schedule for someone to fit into. I also don't need this person to do any cleaning type work as we have a cleaning lady as well. I think this job is a pretty good deal as Noemie and Charlie are good kids and are happy and pleasant to be around. I really hope I like her and more importantly, I hope Noemie reacts well to her. If she is good in the interview I will trial her for a week or two and see how it goes. I want this to be a long term thing so the kids can grow with this person around rather than hiring the wrong person and having to keep starting over. Seriously am SO thankful we can afford to hire someone and really feel for those who can't and have to struggle on their own. It's hard work. 

On a scrapping note, I started a new blog just for my craft stuff to keep it separate and this will be my diary of daily life. My crafty blog is here.

Another pair of hands...

Grandma J arrived this morning from the US much to my relief and Noemie and Charlie have been enjoying the extra attention as well. It makes such a difference not to have to do it all on your own and I got to take a shower in the middle of the day! The kids are both napping at the moment so it's nice and quiet in the house. Charlie was even a very good boy and slept from 10pm-6am straight through! Long may it continue (for Kirk's sake as he does nighttime duty every night. VERY lucky me!). With the arrival of Grandma J was some Martha Stewart paper punches I had my eye on but can't get in the UK. I tried ebay but the postage was incredibly insane so I was going to do without but luckily my MIL braved Michaels craft store and got them for me. It's probably a good thing we don't live in the US at the moment as I'd buy a LOT more stash than I already do.

One of Noemie's favorite activities at the moment is to play with stickers. I bought a few sticker books on Amazon where you get something like 700 stickers for next to nothing. She tends to stick them on paper but I entertained myself by sticking them on her. She thought it was kind of silly of course and ran around the kitchen tearing them off. Poor little girl to have a Mom who sticks things all over her! She was very sweet this morning and helped me pat Charlie on the back when I was burping him. She's very gentle with him but I can't say that Paul (her baby brother doll) gets the same respect. Usually when I change Charlie's diaper, Noemie sits in the hallway with Paul and turns him upside down, pats him on the belly to burp him and hits his head repeatedly on the floor in the process. Not sure Paul likes the fact we have wood flooring but so far he hasn't cried about it. 

Layouts

Here are the two layouts I managed this weekend. I used sketches from the SketchThis blog for both though I can't remember which sketches. Both are fairly recent though. I love that blog as it always kick starts me into scrapping when I'm having a mojo-less moment. I wanted to do some pages toward the Cathy Z class but most of them call for different size photos and at the moment I just don't have the time to be editing and printing things out at random sizes. I get about 1-1/2 to 2 hours a night to scrap (if I'm lucky) and that includes having to take my stash out and tidy it back up as I scrap in the dining room now, so the last thing I want to be doing is printing stuff out. Maybe this week and next I'll get more done when I have a spare set of hands here to help with the kids. 

I also got 2 cards made last night. My other mission is to do a card using the scraps left over from whatever layout I've done. So far so good. I still have left overs though so I'll put those in a baggie and send them to someone else who makes cards or can at least make use of the scraps. No chance of me using them on another layout or card anyway. There are so many papers out there that I don't want to use the same ones twice or else I'll never make a dent in my stash.  

I just ordered this tree skirt kit on ebay after thinking about making one ever since I saw the one Anso is working on. I remember her telling me about it and showing me a photo much earlier in the year and thinking it was cute back then and seeing it again on her blog made me decide to at least order a kit and when I found one with the snowmen, I was sold. It's coming from the US though so it won't be here for a week or more, not that I have time to work on it at the moment but maybe it will be done for next Christmas. I figured the kids might enjoy it when they are little but luckily neither understand Christmas just yet so they won't remember the tree skirt not being around the first few years! 

I've already managed a shower, breakfast and put away laundry this morning. Just waiting for the kids to wake up and start the day. Cleaning lady is due this afternoon so at least our house will be clean again. Hope it's not too hectic a day and that naptimes work out so I can have a break!

Holy moly it's cold today!

We woke up to a dusting of snow today but then it all melted when the rain started. Not a bad thing really as snow tends to melt and then turn to ice when it gets cold at night anyway. We're having a nice lazy Sunday though Kirk and I are getting stuff organized, decluttering a bit, etc. I've cleared off most of the dining room table so I can scrap again tonight. I managed a page last night and hope to do more once the kids are in bed tonight. Yet another day when both napped at the same time, long may it continue. It does make the awake time a lot more hectic but Charlie still sleeps more often than Noemie so I get alone time with her and I get "me" time when they are both asleep as well. I get plenty of time with Charlie so at the moment the "routine" isn't too bad. Evening/bathtime is a nightmare but I can't see that changing until Charlie gets over his "happy hour bingefest". Luckily my MIL is coming back in less than 48 hours to help us for another 2 weeks. 

I've already started thinking about my new year's resolutions though a part of me thinks what the point is as they never really get accomplished anyway. I do love the feeling of a clean slate in the new year though, so perhaps that's why I make resolutions. I wonder if it would make a difference to start then early, like on December 1st, after all there isn't any real reason to wait until January 1st to make a change right? I know two of the things I'd like to do is set myself a challenge to finish off a few projects and to think a bit more before I buy loads of stash. It helps that I have limited space now to store stash but I could still do with less stash anyway. I've gotten rid of around 75% of my stash this year already and it's been a lot easier to decide what to use when I do get time to scrap. Even so, I feel like I have too much choice so I wouldn't mind owning even less as it might make me more productive. It might not and in that situation I can just buy more until I reach my comfort zone. I considered setting a goal like "do 100 layouts, finish 2 quilts and only spend x amount per month for the year" but figured I might get too focused on the number rather than just enjoying the process. I used to have two blogs, one for my crafty stuff and one for daily life stuff and then I merged them together. Now I wonder if I should have separate ones so it shifts my focus a little bit or maybe I can just create an album on this blog. It might be motivating if I have a place to go back and look at what I've managed to get done in a year as I spend so much time feeling like I get nothing done (though I know it's not true and I do get more done than a lot of people). I'll have to have a think.

Freezing cold Saturday!

Brrr it was cold today and tonight is meant to get even colder with snow forecasted in some parts. Kirk took Noemie out to play in the park today and he sent me some photos from his iPhone. The first one is her throwing leaves up in the air (so glad there was no dog poop in what she scooped up) and the next one is my fav I think, with the leaves in her hood. I am sure other parents thought Kirk was a bad Daddy as she wasn't wearing a hat or gloves. Gloves she might wear but no way will she consider a hat. She tends to like non hat objects on her head but try and put an actual hat on her and she pulls it right off. Charlie isn't too keen on hats either. I tried the nice cashmere one on him and he grimaced and then cried. It might've been too warm when I tried it though and perhaps when it's really cold he'll thank me. 

Charlie smiled his first real smile today. He's done a few "it might've be a smile or it might be wind" type of smiles, but today was a real smile. I wish I had the camera on me but alas, it was upstairs and we were downstairs. Noemie was having dinner and Kirk was paying attention to her and Charlie was in his bouncy chair cooing away. I leaned over to chat to him and said "Charlie Bob Marley Farley Warley Barley riding on his Harley looking kinda gnarly" and he smiled, then he did a funny little giggle and I half expected him to either burp or puke after that but he didn't. He didn't smile again though no matter how many times I repeated the above. I'll have to come up with something for tomorrow to see if we can get another smile. 

The kids are both in bed and it's 9:30. We're waiting for our dinner to be delivered and then I hope to get a page scrapped before I go upstairs and sew some more. I got more stitching done during afternoon naptime again when both of them slept for a while. My Making Memories Carousel arrived and I've put most of my stuff away already. It's not as massive as I thought it would be and I actually quite like it. Definitely a good purchase. Tomorrow we have no plans so with any luck I'll get to scrap or do something fun.

Poop!

Woo hoo! It's the weekend! Had a really poopy day yesterday... literally. During the day we went to the park as Charlie was passed out in the stroller and it was a gorgeous sunny day. Noemie got to go on the swings and then I decided she should run through the leaves as I could follow her around with the stroller. Not a great idea in retrospect. Luckily no one stepped in anything but the front wheel of my piece of crap stroller (the P&T Vibe, I still hate the thing) did. It got onto the wheel cover plastic bit. And no amount of rolling on grass got it to come off. So when we got home I had to use a bunch of baby wipes to clean some irresponsible dog owner's dog shit off the wheel. I swear I can still smell it. 

Then later in the day, Charlie had the mother of all blow outs. I am surprised I didn't throw up on him while changing him. It was literally UP his back and all over and I really should've put him in the bath but it happened when Noemie was due to wake up from her nap so I just wiped him, and wiped him, and then wiped him some more. I had just changed his diaper before he ate as I was getting him ready to take a nap so it wasn't like it was a multiple gut bomb. I threw out the clothes he was wearing, there was NO way I was touching any of it to wash it all out. He's already in size 3 newborn diapers which are like up to his armpits. Maybe we just need to saran wrap him over his diaper to contain things. I hope he grows out of this blow out habit... it happens a few times a week so I'm often having to soak things in Vanish powder to make sure nothing stains. Probably has something to do with the sheer volume of milk he consumes. Luckily today was a bit less poopy. One tiny blow out but nothing even close to yesterday. 

Moving on... today I somehow managed to get BOTH kids to nap at the same time for TWO hours. Yes, TWO WHOLE HOURS. It was bliss so I made good use of the time and worked on Charlie's advent pillow. It's amazing how long it takes to stitch but at least there is some progress to share! Had I known that I'd get two hours, I would've scrapped as I'm 7 weeks "behind" on the Cathy Z class. I'll work on that this weekend!

Noemie, Charlie and Stash

Busted! You'd think I never feed this kid considering how she's always in the food cupboard looking for stuff and then finding what she wants and helping herself. At least she hasn't started digging through the trash can just yet. Then I'll know we're in trouble. Better add more Ritz crackers to my shopping list for tomorrow, assuming timing works out and we get out the door. I have a one hour window of opportunity when both kids are dressed and fed to run errands each day. Otherwise the rest of the day it's one thing or another and before you know it, it's pitch dark and too late to go out. 

Thank you for the sweet comments left for me on yesterday's blog entry! Glad (most) others understand that kids can be hard work no matter how much you love them. Charlie was a tiny bit better today but he still did his looney tunes act from around 6pm until 9:30. He tends to binge drink (must be the 1/4 Brit in him!) between those hours so when Kirk came home he took over so I could get other stuff done. At least he napped today which is an improvement on yesterday. Noemie on the other hand was a little angel though yesterday she wasn't so sweet. It amazes me how much she understands stuff, more than I realized. She was playing with a toy tonight and it was REALLY loud and was unsettling Charlie when I was trying to relax him. I asked Noemie if she would mind turning it off as it was overstimulating her brother and much to my surprise she looked at me, reached over and switched the thing off. Last night I asked and she didn't understand so I switched it off and she kept turning it on until I gave up. Then a little later tonight I said "clap your hands" and she did. So I tried a few more like "wave" and then "hooray!" and she waved and then she did hooray (raising both arms up and waving them). I asked her where her ears, nose and eyes were and she pointed them all out. I said "nice hair" and she patted her head. I then asked "Charlie kiss kiss?" and she came over and kissed him. Next time around I'll try "Charlie feed, nappy change and soothe?" and see what she does.  

I had a bit of a spending spree in the past 24 hours. I got the new QK Storybook 4"x8" alphabet die and also got a few of the shaped dies (2 owls and a butterfly), and then I succumbed to the Making Memories desktop carousel. Never mind that I don't actually have a desk (other than the dining room table) but I figure it can sit on top of my scrap cupboard or whatever. I've had my eye on it for a while and decided I may as well get it now as I'll end up wanting it later on and then not be able to find it or something. I ordered it from a UK shop and it went out of stock with my order. I saw the person had posted tonight about having one more left so I went to look and interestingly the price has gone up since this morning. I paid £35 for mine and it's now showing as £40. Perhaps it's common practice but it just seems so wrong. Oh well, glad I got mine at what appears to be market price rather than with a bit extra added on. 

I have one more purchase to make tonight: the Making Memories Slice. I wasn't sure I wanted it but have been watching some youtube demos and showed Kirk (my enabler or my disabler, enabler in this case) who also thought it was pretty darn cool. I figure I'll start off with a few cartridges and hope they come out with more cool ones. I better go and order it and then go to sleep. I hope I don't "need" anything else for a while as I'm getting poorer every day. Ok maybe not, but it sounded kinda dramatic.