Projects, Plans, and Procrastination.

Projects
I currently have 2  make that 3 Mei Tai Projects going on! YAY!
These are my first 3 paid orders for Mei Tais and I am beyond excited! My first two orders are for two wonderful moms in my church. The first has a little girl who is around 7 weeks old and the second has a boy who is around 14 months. They've seen me carry Monkey around in the mei tai I made for us back a month or so ago and asked where they could go buy one. The third is a surprise so I am not saying who it is for. :) I can't begin to tell you all how excited this really makes me to have real official orders for these already as they will eventually be going up on my etsy shop when I get it up and going!


Plans
Over the last week Dowe and I have had some really good and very important conversations with each other. We actually had probably one of the best pillow talk times ever a couple of nights ago. It was a topic that could have been really difficult to talk about but it was a sweet time together. The three of us snuggled and hugged and kissed as Dowe and I talked. Monkey was in bed with us as he was all out of sorts with the major thunder and lightening storm we had that knocked our power out. As I've mentioned before we have been doing the FPU classes and though we aren't beyond hope in debt we also don't want to be in our 60's and still paying off debts from our early 20's. If you know anything about Dave Ramsey you know he talks about having "Gazelle Intensity" when it comes to getting out of debt. Dowe and I are currently praying about what that means for our family.  I covet your prayers that we do what God shows us in this area.


Our currently plans with this is giving me a more definitive Work time. This will mean that Mommy goes into the office (which is slightly secluded from the rest of the house) and I will be putting in a good 2 hours each morning while Dowe and Monkey get MAN TIME! I am so thankful that with us being on a better schedule this should make that transition easier. 


Procrastination....
Alright...now I'm getting really honest with you here so don't judge ok?
My house is a mess....no really...I mean it...its a mess.... see?....

Living room exploded with Monkey's Toys 

and you can't see all of the unfolded laundry on the couch.

There is a toy box under that pile there...a bookshelf next to that...and a dining room table somewhere in there.

umm...kitchen counter?...Where art thou?

Dishes Dishes EVERYWHERE!!!

Sigh...I told you...a mess!

I have been quite overwhelmed with how bad its been that I didn't even know WHERE to begin! Quite honestly...I haven't even had any sort of motivation to even try to begin to start.
I have been procrastinating horribly when it comes to all of this. *sigh* 


Not anymore!


Well...Yesterday I started. And though I have a long ways to go....I started.

Monkey's toys are picked up, all of the laundry is folded and put away 

I can see counter top!!!! And the dishes to the far right are clean.

And have been put away since I took this picture.

I had a VERY good and productive day (even with a cranky Monkey).

Dowe was blow away when he came home as to how much I got done around the house and I even spent a good amount of time sewing tonight! YAY! Straps are all sewn for mei tai order number one. :) Oh And I even spent time with Kay last night :) She came over for dinner and just to spend time together as we didn't have our small group Bible study.

I know its been quite a while since I last posted. Sorry! I will post something more soon. But for now...

Happy Father's Day! (ok so it was yesterday...but I was too busy spending the day with my boys to be able to post anything.)

Happy Father's day to my husband.


Happy Father's Day to my dad.


Happy Father's day to my father in-law.






We enjoyed a really nice long relaxing day at one of the state parks. Enjoyed some hiking, swimming below waterfalls, playing games with family. lots of food. good conversation, and beautiful sunshine!

Happy Father's day!

Happy Birthday Monkey!!!

Today my baby turns one!

Today I am thankful for all of the joy he brings to our lives.

Today I am remembering everything from the past 21 months.

Remembering how excited and scared and shocked 

we were when we found out I was pregnant. 

Remembering all of the ups and downs of my pregnancy.

Remembering how scared we were when we thought I was going to lose him.

Remembering our crazy trip across the country while I was 9 months pregnant.

Remembering our disappointment when we came home 

without our baby boy in our arms.

(Twice.) 

Remembering the night before my (second) induction and how Dowe and I just laid in bed and talked for the longest time with the reality of how our lives were about to change forever.

Remembering a year ago today how our lives changed forever.

My Dear Son,

With one flash of your smile, You melt my heart.

With your cry, You make me want to keep you safe from the whole world.

With every "Momma", You make me fall in love with you all over again.

The sound of your laugh when you play with daddy, I can't help but get misty eyed.

Watching you learn, makes me want to teach you more.

You, my dear child, Have given me so much more than I could have ever imagined.

I never knew my heart could be so full.

I can't imagine my life without you in it, nor would I want to!

Your daddy and I love you so very much.

As painfully difficult as it is to believe that you are growing up, 

we are loving every second of you.

We are looking forward to celebrating this first year we have had 

with you over the course of this whole weekend.

We love you tons and tons, and even though this weekend is going to be somewhat

crazy and jam packed, loaded with lots of family...

This weekend is all about you.

No matter what, YOU come first.

I promise you that mommy and daddy will spend lots and lots of time playing, hugging, kissing, tickling, holding, snuggling, and just being all around silly with you.

We love you big boy!

We love you.

ps...one year ago today...at 11:11pm....our wish came true.

Random updateish post....

Well its been pretty chaotic around here lately if you couldn't tell by my lack of posts over the last week.


However, it has been full of exciting, fun, and wonderful moments. Totally worth the chaos.
I have been cleaning up a storm! The house is FINALLY really starting to shape up again. (a lot of thanks goes to my husband who has been helping me out tons and tons.) I was reminded once again on Sunday about how "God is not a God of disorder" and that I need to get my life back in order and living a God Honoring life. 
Not that I'm doing anything crazy bad but I feel like I don't honor God as much as I should with how I take care of my house and my boys. He has given me a roof over my head, a hard working husband with a decent job, made it possible for me to stay home with my son, and this beautiful little boy to take care of. 


The new schedule is going really well and I must tell you that I really am loving it! I never thought that just having a little bit of guaranteed alone time in the evenings between the time Monkey goes to bed and the time Dowe gets home would be so good for me! I'm really finding it makes me a better wife and mother. I find myself spending more and more time with my boys and less time feeling like I'm losing myself. I think I may have found the cure to my identity crisis and found myself again. 


Dowe and I are planning Monkey's first birthday party. I still can not believe that on Friday he's going to be a year. We're having a Fish themed party as our son LOVES fish. Dowe and I got Monkey a 10 gallon fish tank for his birthday. It is in his bedroom and has been quite therapeutic for him. He has started taking better naps again in the afternoons and sleeping better at night since its been in his room. 
We're hosting his party at our church this Sunday and I'm really excited for it. I honestly use to think that throwing a first birthday party was silly and unnecessary, however, it is on Dowe's side of the family, almost a right of passage. And now I'm honestly so thankful that we are throwing one. I honestly believe its helping me be excited and happy that Monkey is turning one instead of sad and depressed that a whole year has gone by so quickly. Don't worry...I will post pictures after the party. :)


Monday was Memorial Day. We went to my sister in-law's for the day. It was WONDERFUL. 
My husband is one of eight kids and so getting all of us together is a lot of times just...crazy. There are 6 kids ages 3 and under with another on the way (Second oldest sister in-law is expecting around August), and when we all get together there is a grand total of 19 people. And that is just the immediate family! So as much as we all LOVE getting all of us together, it is difficult to get good quality time with anyone really. Having just the seven of us together was really nice. My sister in-law cut my hair (THANK YOU!!!), we played games together, sat and chatted, and just all around got to enjoy each other's company. We went to a parade in town which was a blast. Just an all around WONDERFUL day with them. We have wanted to get together all winter and it finally happened thanks to the men having the holiday off.




Monkey and I have been spending a lot of time outside. He really doesn't care for the feel of the grass so he stays put for the most part on the blanket I lay out and just plays with the few toys I take out with us. Its been nice as I've been able to spend time reading while he's playing. More often than not, I lay on the blanket with him and become "jungle-gym-mommy" as he climbs over me.  We have lots of fun though. It really makes me wish Dowe was home during the afternoon/evening time that we go out though as he loves being outside too and its really relaxing. But I am so thankful for his job and how hard he works for us. 


Also a few little fun things about my Monkey as of lately...
Monkey took his first steps on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :) (Can you say Excited Mommy?!)
I am mostly excited about when it happened because Dowe was home and was able to see it with me! Monkey is still pretty chicken about letting go and just walking but he is getting more and more brave and doing it more without being coaxed. :)


(*** Disclaimer: I will be talking about our experience with breastfeeding in the next section so if you don't want to know then skip the next paragraph and we'll catch up again real quick at the end. :)   ***)






 Also for those of you who don't know, I have been breastfeeding Monkey for the past year. We had a little bit of a rough start and a bumpy patch in the middle but over all have had a great experience with breastfeeding. I was very determined from the beginning to nourish our baby that way and had a fantastic support system. (I couldn't have done it without the 1000000% support of my husband and both of our families being supportive as well as my mom giving me tips, ideas, and encouragement.) However, our time with breastfeeding is coming to an end. I have always said that I was alright with nursing up till 2 years of age but then that was my cut off point. Monkey has begun to ween himself and I am ok with it. More than anything I wanted to make it past the 6 month mark as I knew how important that was nutritionally for him. Then we went through a really horrible time with baby food back in January and had to go back to strictly just nursing. When we went to reintroduce baby food Monkey refused to eat it. Finally when he got enough teeth in to bite things we started regular foods with him. He is now down to nursing 3-4 times a day. It is slightly sad in a way as this means my baby is growing up but nice and exciting at the same time. It will mean it'll be easier for Dowe and I to go away for our anniversary in a couple of months and I am greatly looking forward to being out of these nursing bras and back into regular ones. (ahhh to feel like a woman! haha) Plus it does mean that it gives me more freedom of being away for more than 2ish hours and not having to worry about getting back at a certain time for the next feeding. I will miss that bonding time to a certain extent but I am also thankful that he is doing this on his own and that I am not forcing him to stop.  My little boy is getting so big! :)










Well I think thats enough of a random update....I probably should get a couple of things done before Dowe gets home (which will be really soon!) Hope you all had a good Wednesday!




TOOTLES! :)