Nap time!

Because I'm their mommy and I can't decide which picture is cutest, I am posting all three.

I love nap time :) We all got to take a nap yesterday! I nodded off nursing Levi, he nodded off while nursing, and Elli nodded off, well, because I made her lay there beside me. I'm glad my camera was handy when I woke up!

He's getting big!

Is it just me - or does time FLY by these days? Can you believe that this little man was 2 months old yesterday?! I certainly have a hard time believing it.

About a week old:

2 months old! :

Be still my heart.....

Milk issues

This morning Elli decided that she wanted 'Grape Nuts' cereal for breakfast. They are hard enough on my teeth, I can't imagine that they would feel very well on hers...but whatever. I'm not awake in the morning, so she can eat whatever cereal she chooses. Anyways, she apparently got up to see Mike or I while eating, but forgot about her cereal. So when she did finally remember, and went back I hear,

"Ooooh! My milk melted!"

"What?"

"My milk melted!"

What is she talking about?

"I want to eat my cereal, but my milk melted. Oooh. I'm so sad."

Apparently, the grape nuts soaked up all her milk. So, clearly, it melted.

We made cookies!

I was browsing the web and came across these cookies.

Now that I have a big kitchen, I've enjoyed baking and cooking more - I almost don't mind cleaning up either. Almost.

So anyhow. I have been dying to try these! They look so cute! What a clever, creative idea! Elli had a lot of fun making them.

Yes, they look like play dough. Yes, they kind of taste like it too. The actual cookie recipe is not that great, edible, but not that tasty - I think it could easily be transferred to a regular sugar cookie recipe or something. Actually, the cookie would taste really good dipped into coffee.

It was a fun little thing to do with my girl regardless :)

Featuring me!

My kitchen is featured on Craftster!

I love that website! It is fun to browse and see what crafters around the world are doing and creating. There is seriously everything on there. You can trade/swap crafts, but it's not a purchasing site. It is merely a bragging/critiquing site of what you can do!

I have been stalking it for at least a year, but have never posted anything. My very first post was my kitchen re-do and it made it to the front page! I am so excited :)

Feeling like a failure

*I am writing this out for my own good, but feel free to read along*

Okay. So about 6 years ago I got a dog. A 3 month old deaf puppy. Actually, my sister found her around some dumpsters and I took pity on the poor thing and took her in. The vet said that she is deaf probably from abuse as a young puppy.

Her name is Cali.

She is a good dog. She trains with hand signals very easily. She is currently up for adoption.

Let me try to explain myself.

See, when I took her in 6 years ago, I had just been married and had a house with a doggy door - so clearly, I needed a dog. And I love dogs, have always been around dogs, and wanted one so bad- so this was perfect!

I wasn't thinking about my future.

I was raised to think that I can do anything that I put my mind to. And in most respects, I can!

This, though, is too difficult for me in this chapter of my life. I have a toddler, an infant, and a husband who works all of the time. I now don't have a yard with a fence, so now Cali has to either be taken for a walk (which isn't going to happen from me) or put out on a 20 foot chain. This is no life to live. I can't pay any attention to her - I have too much going on! I wipe my childrens' butts all day everyday, I don't need to clean up pee from the carpet or poop out of the yard from the dog. I also don't need to clean up dog food that she's drug everywhere...I do enough picking up cereal and drink cups off of the floor from Elli. When Cali does something around the house that she shouldn't, I yell at Elli when she comes around (because I'm mad and probably because Levi is screaming and I had to lay him down because Cali did something in the floor that she knows better than to do), and it's not fair to Elli that I do that. It isn't fair to Cali either, because then I lock her up in her crate. Come spring, I won't be able to just let Elli go out to play because I'll have to pooper-scoop the yard. How am I supposed to do that with a baby too? I just emotionally can not handle having a dog right now. She deserves more than I can give her at this moment in my life.

Cali really is house trained. The people before us had dogs, so that is why I am guessing that she has peed in the floor several times.

Cali is also crate trained.

She is good with kids - very tolerant. She is good with other animals and loves people. She never bites. She is deaf, so maybe that's why she doesn't really ever bark - unless she is surprised - and then we are usually surprised because she barked. She is generally well behaved - she goes a little wacky when people come over, but settles down once she's said hello. She is trained to ring bells when she wants to go outside, and there isn't a better behaved dog on a car ride. She knows how to sit, stay, stop, lay down, shake, and roll over with hand signals. She is good at looking where we point and follows that direction - like if we throw a ball and she doesn't see where it goes. She doesn't chew on anything that she's not supposed to. She trains easily. She walks on a leash pretty well - the more she is walked, the less she tugs and usually walks right beside me (well, she used to....when I had time). She likes to know your whereabouts all the time and is a follower. Because she is deaf, when I had her spayed, I had them put a chip under her skin in the case that she would run off - since I can't holler for her - and it was actually put to good use the one time that she ran off!

Anyways. I am, lately, a bad pet owner. Since I started typing, I have flip-flopped numerous times about whether or not to keep trying or to adopt her out. She needs adopted out. It is my pride, and love for animals, that would keep her here - but she needs more than I can give her. I need to find this poor dog a new, loving, attention giving home that she deserves so much.

Kitchen re-do

Though I was told to finish my bedroom first, I decided to go ahead and paint my kitchen. I am actually in that room more than any other in the house, probably, so I thought I'd fix it up first! Hate is an understatement of what I felt for the kitchen before. I will give it a little credit - it is twice as big as my last one...though...I did have more sneaky storage space in my other kitchen and somehow could fit everything in it - this one, not so much. So take that little point with the fact that it was so BLAH, I didn't enjoy it very much. It drained me and it's the hub of the house!

So here's what I did. I painted it purple! As I was painting it, I thought it was a little too Easter egg-ish. For the first time ever, I questioned my vision. But I pressed on.... and I am so glad I did.

What do you think?

BEFORE

AFTER

I painted the top half lighter than the bottom. I drew and painted on flowers and leafy things on the bottom part as well as the back-splash. I am trying to deal with the old appliances for a while and make the most of my space until I win the lottery and can make a few trips to IKEA and get myself a new kitchen (among other things). I've since put plants in my wall holders, and I also painted the art work on the walls too.

I thought about painting my cabinets white. But, the purple almost makes them bearable for a while. I wouldn't do that until Spring if I do it at all.

I kindof live in a fishbowl - my house is in the 'Y' of two streets - and I hate the idea of people looking in my windows, but don't want to cover them up! So, I painted my kitchen window too!

Lots going on

I have had a lot of stuff going on.

Let's see....

• I had a baby on Thanksgiving
• I had house guests directly after
• Elli's third birthday was 2 days after Levi's birth
• Mike's birthday was a few days after that
• I packed up my old house and
• Moved into a new one...in the snow...not so much fun
• Christmas 3 days later that lasted 3 days
• More house guests
• Home improvement mayhem while Mike's family was visiting
• Unpacking is happening slowly
• Painted my kitchen

Somehow I have managed to NOT lock myself in a closet for hours to cry it out, break anything, or strangle anyone. Though, I have considered it.

I have been getting back into a swing of things, and my computer is WAY more accessible to me now, so I should be blogging up a storm shortly!

I miss being here....