The Third Prayer

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I took a two week break from these 7 Quick Takes because I was just overwhelmed with work and life.  And well, I’ve had an exhausting week, thanks to pregnancy, and I really wasn’t planning on being here again this week.  So these will be…quick.

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God reads my blog and Mary Rene had an amazing three hour nap on Wednesday so we were able to attend the Ash Wednesday Mass.  Mary Rene usually only naps for an hour or an hour and a half.  Occasionally we’ll get a two hour or 2.5 hour nap but I have never had a three hour nap.  So that was my sign from God.  Unfortunately she was very high maintenance during Mass and would not sit still.  But we are very glad we went.

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Yesterday our church was on duty for the 40 Days for Life at the local abortion clinic.  On Valentine’s Day they had the rally to kick off the event and we planned on going but the snow held us back.  I was so bummed out because I was looking forward to it for weeks.  So I wanted to badly to make our church’s peaceful protest day.  But when I got home from work I was exhausted.  Frank called and I planned on telling him that we could go another day but he sweetly talked me into it, without even being pushy.  And I’m so glad we went.  We didn’t stay entirely too long because it started to get cold and we didn’t want Mary Rene to get sick.  But it was very nice to be there and support the cause.  Mary Rene was having fun standing against the fence and looking in the, thankfully, empty parking lot.  We met a lovely family, mother with her four young children.  They were all praying the rosary and standing so peacefully as a family that it just melted my heart.

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I am looking forward to Fish Fry Fridays again!  Are you?

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Awhile back I did a guest post on loyal reader Rae’s blog.  If you are interested check out her blog sometime.  She is a great reader and has very interesting things to say.  I love to read a post that really “gets you thinking” and that’s what she does a lot.

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I haven’t sewn in two weeks!  I’ve been so busy with work and life ya know.  So today I am going over my parent’s house so they can hang out with Mary Rene and I can sew.  I am in the middle of making a shopping cart cover for a baby shower in two weeks, three bibs and two baby slings.  I really need to get moving.

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Mary Rene adores her papa.  She likes for him to carry her around, maybe because he is so tall and she can see more, and she likes to sit on his lap.  On Wednesday, the two of them sat in front of the computer for a good 15-20 minutes listening to music and watching Barney short videos.  I love this picture because she is just so relaxed on his lap and clearly let’s him know that she owns the place.

Tomorrow is my mom’s 58th birthday.  Happy Birthday Mom!  I could say that I’ve always been close with my mom but I think that isn’t necessary true.  Becoming a mother myself has made me closer to her.  I’ve always loved my mom and had a great respect for what she did for us growing up.  But now, as a mother myself, that level of respect has only soared.  I realize now the daily sacrifice she made for us kids, sacrifices that were not spoken of but became a part of life.  Sacrifices that any good mom would do for her children.  But when you are a child, you can’t fully grasp it.  And then you become a parent yourself and you realize how selfish you had been all those years.

So thank you mom, for everything.  The many, many, sleepless nights.  The months of dealing with teething symptoms, with three kids.  The many times you probably gave us your dinner because we weren’t eating our own.  Diaper change after diaper change after diaper change.  Another diaper change.  Washing clothes over and over again.  Changing our clothes over and over again.  All the little things that seemed so mundane but were an important part of the day.

Last year my mom taught me how to sew and now I’m building sewing into a nice little hobby.  I’m so thankful for learning to sew because it gives me something to do while Mary Rene is sleeping besides watch tv or play on the computer.  I get to use my creative side and get something accomplished.  Sewing is great!

But I’ve learned so much more than sewing from my mom.  Without even trying, my mom has taught me a lot about marriage.

My mom and dad are ying and yang and they tell each other everything.  Sometimes I’ll tell her “don’t tell dad,” but she does anyway.  Because, you tell your spouse everything, no secrets.  I’ve implemented that into my own life and it has become very important in establishing trust.  She also taught me, “make your husband think that it was his idea” when you want something.  She is really good at this game and always finds a way to get her way without my dad realizing she is.  I’m still trying to learn how to do that and hopefully someday I will be as clever as her.

My mom loves being a grandma and looks forward to seeing her little pumpkin every chance she gets.  When I pull up in my parent’s driveway my mom usually comes out to greet us.  Mary Rene’s face lights up and she starts laughing and waving when she sees my mom.  My mom and her laugh really good together with their special little games they play.

Mary Rene is spoiled to say the least.  Even though my mom lost her jobs months ago she is still buying Mary Rene gifts like a working woman.  I keep telling her to save her money, but she insist, “it is my granddaughter and I want her to have it.”  Mary Rene is taking grandma’s side on that one.  She loves going to grandma’s house and seeing the new snack or toy that grandma and grandpa got her. 

But my mom doesn’t just shower Mary Rene with love and gifts.  She does the same to me…and others.  Every time I tell my mom that one of my friends is pregnant she whips up a baby afghan in a heartbeat.  When I mentioned that my friend wanted to learn to sew, she quickly offered to show her.  She always has Frank’s favorite soda and beer at the house when we come over.  She gives her heart to everyone.

I hope someday these are qualities that Mary Rene sees in her grandma and falls in love with as well.  And I hope someday these are qualities that I can take from my mom as well.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Yes, necklaces are a necessity and must now be worn in the bath.  I can’t get her to take them off.  This morning, she hid two necklaces under her shirt so I didn’t realize she still had them on until I dropped her off at grandma’s house.  She is a sneaky little girl.

Mary Rene has added four new words to her list: Boo, night, my sister’s name, Tara and my brother’s name, Joe.  Tara sounds more like ‘ter’ and Joe sounds more like “doe.”  We practice all family member’s names and she is starting to try and verbalize them more.  Tara and Joe have the easiest names so I figured those would be coming first.

Mary Rene has decided that she likes when daddy puts her to bed and now as soon as she is done nursing, she sits up, picks up her blanket up and stares at the door.  She knows that I start off putting her to sleep and then daddy comes in about 20 minutes later.  So now she will just sit and wait for him.  He can put her to bed in 15 minutes easily so now we have decided to switch it up and let him come in sooner.  That’s what she wants after all!  Every night this past week, except last night because she is teething again, Frank has put her to bed.  She really enjoys her daddy time.  Do I mind?  Are my feelings hurt?  Not at all!  This is a much welcomed break and couldn’t come at a better time.  When bedtime arrives I am beat myself and sometimes wrangling her to bed can be tiresome.  Now I’m given the opportunity to relax on the couch while daddy wrangles.  Works for me!  Plus, I can start attending both La Leche League meetings each month because I don’t have to worry about her not going to bed for daddy.  I used to only attend one meeting and lately it has been hard to get to those on time because I was working to get her to bed.  Now, daddy does such a good job that I can leave!  A little bit of freedom for me.

Do you like Mary Rene’s new pillow?

I bought this material nearly a year ago and never used it.  When she was an infant, Frank used to talk to Mary Rene in his “Kermit the Frog” voice so I thought it would be cute to make her an outfit out of it.  But a dress?  I thought that would be too loud.  I still might make her a pair of pjs out of the rest but for now I made two pillows for her.  She loves her little pillow.  She was carrying it around the house and kept putting it on the ground and setting her head on it.  She then would give the pillow to Sophie B and tried getting Sophie to sleep on it.  She knows the pillow belongs to her and she kept hugging her pillow and carrying it around the house.  I could eat her up.

Regarding the nursing, I’m not sure how much milk I am producing anymore.  Mary Rene is still nursing about five to six times a day but I don’t hear her swallow at each session.  I was making her laugh during one of the sessions and I saw some milk dribble from her mouth so I know there is milk.  Regardless of the amount there is, Mary Rene hasn’t slowed down and stopped asking for it.  I think for her, it is not about the milk.  She seems to enjoy being in my arms and me talking to her and playing with her while she nurses.  So who knows, maybe there isn’t much there but she seems happy still.

Tomorrow I celebrate my one year anniversary of learning to sew.  Mary Rene was just four months young, so helpless, and needed me so much.  But Frank agreed to watch our little princess while my mom spent the day over our house teaching me how to cut fabric, pin pieces together and final, sew.  Mary Rene cried for me to hold her, and I would stop occasionally to do so, and then get back to learning.  Frank did a good job of keeping his baby girl happy so his wife could learn from her mom all the tricks and trades of sewing.

And it paid off.  My mom helped me complete my first sewing project which was a pair of pants and a hat for Mary Rene.

Later my mom finished the outfit by making a matching shirt.

Slowly, but surely, I learned to sew by myself.  At first it would take me weeks to finish a project.  I had a make shift area in our front room and my sewing machine was on a tv tray.  I would sew while Mary Rene napped or when she was doing tummy time.

But soon, Mary Rene was getting mobile and it was too dangerous to keep my sewing machine upstairs.  So I carved out a nice little section of the basement and made it my own.

I have two sewing machines now and most of the time they both sit on the floor.  When I decide to sew, I pull the machine up on a tv tray.  My sewing inspiration?  A beautiful picture of my mom from her senior year of high school.

In one year I have sewn Mary Rene:

• Two pairs of pants
• Three hats
• One jacket
• Two pairs of leg warmers
• Five dresses (although most of them my mom had to finish because I ran out of time)
• One Halloween costume
• Assisted my mom in making a diaper bag (she did most of the work)
• One shopping cart cover
• One stuffed animal toy chest

Here are just a few samples from that collection:

I’ve sewn my mom:

• a purse
• a heart shaped cushion to hold her sewing pins
• a sewing organizer that fits under her machine and holds various items

For myself:

• a shirt (it will be a maternity top and I will show it off when I get bigger!)

For other people:

• One pair of baby shoes
• One baby cube
• Two shopping cart covers
• Countless taggie blankets

In one year, I’ve done a lot of sewing.  And I’m looking forward to sewing much, much more this coming year.  To celebrate my one year anniversary, my mom will be teaching my friend Nicole C how to sew.  And if I’m lucky, I’ll do a little sewing too.

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Something I thought I would never do: rub Vick’s on my chest and aim my daughter’s nose towards it while she nursed.  Well I did it.  She stopped to sniff but then went ahead and nursed.  I also rubbed it on her chest before she went to bed and she woke up feeling so much better.  Thanks Melissa for the suggestion!

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Since my dad is going to occasionally watch Mary Rene once he retires, we decided to start leaving her at my parent’s house for a bit while I go run errands.  Usually I am always with her when we visit so this was a big adjustment.  But you know what, she did fine.  She loves it at my parent’s house and has so much to do there.  They wore her out and she was so tired that she took a 2.5 hour nap.  The nap would have been longer but I sneezed when I walked by her and she instantly woke up.  I must say, going grocery shopping alone was really nice.  I enjoy Mary Rene’s company, and I know she likes to be out and about, but I was able to really concentrate on the sales and my coupons.  Hopefully my little shopping trips pays off and we stick to the grocery budget this week.

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Two of the gals at work are pregnant and we are having a baby shower for one of them today.  This gal is having a baby girl so I decided to try and make her a pair of baby girl shoes. 

This was very tedious and I’m not sure if I want to make this shoe thing a hobby.  I like making taggie blankets as gifts but I don’t think I’ll be going overboard and making girl shoes as well.   Although they are so cute and the finished product makes me so happy that I might do them again.  Hmm.

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Having a blog is great and it gets people to do things easily.  Case in point, my post yesterday about the deductible led my wonderful husband to call our insurance company again.  They confirmed that I will have a $800 deductible but now they are stating that the baby won’t have to pay his/her deductible until he/she starts making regular doctor visits.  They also said something about me not paying the deductible if all the stars align correctly.  So, now we are praying that all this is true and we leave with a healthy baby boy or girl and a small hospital bill.

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I have decided to delay vaccinations for Sweet Pea.  I’ve been doing a lot of research this week and my fantastic sister-in-law is getting books for me to read from the library, where she works.  So far, I like the Dr. Sears method the best.  Go figure.  For the moms that read this blog, how have you handled vaccinations?

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We have this little hand-held back scratcher that is shaped like a hand and the fingers knead into your back.  It an awesome little thing and I misplaced it several months ago.  Somehow Mary Rene found it and has been playing with it.  I showed her how it worked on her back and she started laughing so hard.  Which got me thinking, I’m going to make this a tickle game.  So everyday this week I have been handing it to Mary Rene and trying to get her to tickle me on the back with it.  She is starting to get the hang of it and is having fun.  Now I just need her to apply a little pressure and go in a circular motion while I kick back and relax during the massage.

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I have tried really hard not to turn on the television much this week because I am just sickened by the disaster in Haiti.  My heart just breaks for these people and all they are going through.  When it comes to natural disasters, are you plugged to the tv or do you steer away?

Well, Mary’s World is filled with a runny, snotty nose right now.  Poor baby woke up Monday morning with it and it drained all day.  All she wants to do is nurse or chew on her teething ring so I think the runny nose is a result of teething.  The main problem is she doesn’t know how to blow her nose very well.  I’ll hold a cloth to her nose and say, “blow” and she will but it isn’t hard enough to do any good.  So instead I spent most of my day cleaning up the snot that was running down her face.  And if I was lucky, she would sneeze and I would be right there to hug the cloth under her nose for a cheat blow.  Last night, sleeping was horrendous because she couldn’t get comfortable.  I could just cry for my baby.  She seems happy and was playing and laughing all day.  It’s just that darn nose.  I’m just hoping it doesn’t drain to her ears and cause an infection.  Hopefully she’ll be feeling better soon!

In other news, about a year ago I bought this adorable cordourey lady bug material and finally put some use to it.

I absolutely love this dress and she looks so super fabulous in it.  When I went to take the picture below, Mary Rene turned her head just as I hit the button.

But I must say, my daughter has a beautiful profile and I love this picture of her.

Mary Rene is still in love with her doggie, Sophie B, and enjoys sitting with her on the couch.  Okay, maybe I should say, enjoys sitting on her.

After sitting on Sophie B for awhile, she will crawl on her, tickle her and then kiss her on the nose.

Sophie B lets Mary Rene do whatever she wants.

Mary Rene is up to saying 18 words now.  I feel like we are constantly adding to our refrigerator list!

My new favorite game to play with her is the name game.

Me: What do you tell Sophie?

Mary Rene: SIT (with complete attitude and pointing her finger)

Me:  What does Theo say? (Theo is my cat)

Mary Rene: meo meo

Me:  What does the cow say?

Mary Rene: mo mo

Me: What does the sheep say?

Mary Rene:ba ba (Just realized I don’t have that on her word list. So now we are up to 19!)

Me:  Where is mommy’s belly button?

Mary Rene:bop (and then walks over, lifts my shirt and touches my belly button)

At this point I start laughing and say, “tickle mommy.”

As she tickles me, she says, “tikle tikle tikle.”

Oh so cute, so fun, I could do it all day long.

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So, we may have pinpointed why Mary Rene was waking up so much in the middle of the night.  I really wish this wasn’t the reason but I really think it is.  All that caffeine was getting to her and keeping her up.  I didn’t start drinking coffee again until she turned one.  By that time she was only nursing four times a day, morning, two naps and at night.  I would time my morning coffee at the perfect time so the highest level of caffeine in my blood stream would not be near the time she nursed.  In October, I went on my soda kick and that lasted until a week ago.  So I was drinking a cup of caffeined coffee in the morning and an occasional soda in the afternoon.  I know some of you will comment and say, “that’s not much caffeine, you are fine.”  But if you think about it, I went caffeine free for the first year of her life.  She was not used to it at all and then out of nowhere I was drinking it like an addict.  On top of that, she decided to start nursing more.  Even though she is only napping once a day, which would turn her nursing sessions in to only three a day, she has started asking to nurse frequently throughout the day.  Yesterday, I nursed her about eight times.  And that’s with going to work for seven hours!  This has been going on for about a month and there was no way for me to calculate when she would nurse next to make sure the caffeine wasn’t at its highest point in my blood stream.  So, no caffeine for me.  And since I stopped drinking the coffee, which gave me a huge headache the next day, she has only woke up once each night.  So we are back where we started.  Now we just need to know what the trick is to get her to sleep through the night. 

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Back in August we were at my cousin’s house and Mary Rene was playing with her son’s Little Tikes washer & dryer.  She was having a really good time putting gumballs in the dryer and opening and closing the door.  My cousin said we could have it since her son never used it.  Well, that was in August.  I kept asking my mom about it and finally…

sweet!  I decided to keep it at my parent’s house because they have more free space there and I knew they would get a kick out of Mary Rene playing with it.

First Mary Rene had to do an inspection to make sure it was in working order.

Then my dad had to show her how to wash the towels.

She ended up washing both of her sippy cups, some mardi gras beads and two washcloths.  She played with it for a bit but had too many other toys to occupy her that day.  I’m sure next time I am over she will be washing everything in sight.

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What else does Mary Rene have to do when she is at my parent’s house?

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I’ve been sewing like a mad woman this week.  I finished a cute Dora the Explorer shopping cart cover for a friend’s daughter, a holiday bib for Mary Rene, I started making a pink ladybug dress for Mary Rene and I finished making her some cute pink reindeer pj pants.

I’m getting so quick at sewing and just loving it.  I really wish I could find a way to do this for a living.

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I coudn’t find my master Christmas sheet so I decided to go through all the cards from last year and rewrite the list.  Mary Rene decided to help.

That was a disaster.  For some reason she loves cards.  When we go shopping, to entertain her, I just go to the card section, put a card in her hand and she is fine while I shop.  Beats picking up toys and ending up buying them.

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(For a minute there, I thought this was going to be an “All About Mary” post.”)  We were invited to four holiday parties and one birthday celebration tomorrow!  And unfortunately they are all at the same time so we can only attend one.  Oh how the holidays get so busy.

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On Sunday, my Goddaughter, the beautiful Beatrice Louise is getting Baptized!  Please say a special prayer for her.

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Frank and I started our spice jars last week and I’m loving it!  Two nights ago, he painted my toes red!  ha!  But the week before he had to prepare a picnic dinner for us in the front room.  So while I was putting Mary Rene to bed he was getting the front room all set up.  When I walked in the front room he had a black scarf tied around his neck to be funny.  Gosh my husband cracks me up.  I had him pose for a picture because it was just so stinkin’ hilarious.

He asked me not to post the picture but I just couldn’t help myself.  My husband is the best!

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On Thanksgiving, my sister took our family Christmas pictures so we can use one of them in our Christmas cards.  Frank asked me not to post these either because he doesn’t like the way he looks but…as you have seen from the first comment, I don’t listen.  

I thought it would be nice to redo the picture we did last year

but as you can see

that didn’t really work.

This could have been a great picture but…

So really it is between the two below.

Personally I like the first picture.  Which do you like?  And please, tell my husband he looks great so we can use the picture in the card.  He wants me to use this picture instead.

You can never go wrong with sending a picture of your child alone.

Did I mention that I made the dress?

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On Sunday, my mom started to give my sister sewing lessons and today we were supposed to have another sewing lesson but my mom is sick.  Once my sister knows how sew then the three of us can sew together.  Talk about having some quality girl time.

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Last week it was so windy that our screen door was knocked open and the glass shattered everywhere.  Needless to say, we are getting a new screen door for Christmas from my parents.  Fun.  Ever since I’ve become a homeowner it seems like my gifts have been centered around the house.  Sounds more like the house owns me then me owning the house.

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The last two weeks I have been craving cherry coke sodas like you wouldn’t believe.  I’ve been purposely going out of my way to get a soda.  And not just any soda-it has to be a fountain soda.  Love, love, love fountain sodas.  But with Mary Rene’s sleeping issues I started to wonder if it had anything to do with all the caffeine.  I already drink a cup of caffeined coffee in the morning so that should be all the caffeine I needed.  I decided this week that I would stop drinking caffeined soda to see what happened.  Two nights in a row, Mary Rene only woke up once.  (The third night, I couldn’t sleep which caused Mary Rene to wake up.)   Of course it might have nothing to do with the soda but I’m going to say it is and stay away.

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 On Wednesday I met an old friend from high school on a playdate with her 18 month old son at the West County Mall.  I must say, West County Mall has the best playground equipment in the area.  It is much more suitable for toddlers and you don’t have to worry about them falling 18 feet from the area because all the equipment is low on the ground.  Can you believe that I didn’t take one single picture?  Mary Rene was in playground heaven too and I had so many great picture moments. 

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 Is it just me or is Christmas shopping over-rated?  My brother, sister and I do not exchange gifts.  Instead we go out to dinner, with our spouses, and enjoy quality time.  Since we’ve been married, Frank and I haven’t exchanged gifts either.  Instead we do a nice dinner (well, we say we will but we don’t end up going to dinner.)  We have a list of about 10 people to buy presents for this year and most of the people we have no idea what to get them.  Year after year we end up giving gift cards or money. In my opinion, two of the world’s worst gifts.  I’m just not a good gift getter.  Most times I am filled with the feeling of “have to” then “want to” buy.  I don’t mean that I dont’ want to buy the gift but most of the time I have no idea what to get the person and I end up buying crap.  So for me, shopping is very stressful and not fun.  Would anybody be willing to do my shopping for me?

Last week, loyal reader Rae mentioned in a comment that I should write a post about time management.  Interesting.  I immediately thought, “oh that is a great idea.  Something different to write about.”  The next morning while I was out for my morning run I started to think about how I manage my time.  And well, I realized I don’t. 

So that day I decided to start managing my time more effectively so well, I could write about how I manage my time.  I decided that in order to figure out how I manage my time I needed to limit my internet usage.  I keep my work laptop on the kitchen table so I can respond to work emails throughout the day.  Sunday evening I  would open the following internet windows for the week:  work email, personal email, facebook, google reader, my blog and an open yahoo to do web searches.  The days I am at home, every 20 or 30 minutes I would walk to my laptop to see if I had a work issue to address.  If I did, I took care of it.  If I didn’t, I would take a look at all those other open windows.  Okay, I’ll be honest here.  Even if I had a work issue I still looked at all my personal windows.  The first thing I did in the morning was check all my windows, first thing when Mary Rene napped was check my windows and last thing I did before I went to bed was check my windows.  I realized that my day was revolving around all those darn windows.

So thank you Rae for the comment because now I am managing my time better.  But to answer your question, this is how I do it.

TV watching: 

I’m not much of a tv person however I DVR four shows. The shows come on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.  I watch Tuesday’s shows on Wednesday while I nurse Mary Rene to nap.  Thursday’s show on Friday while I nurse Mary Rene to nap.  Friday’s show with Frank after Mary Rene goes to bed.  And Sunday’s show on Monday while I nurse Mary Rene to nap.  When she was taking two naps I would also watch a soap opera during the second nap but that nap is gone so I don’t watch that crap show anymore.

In the morning I watch the news so I can know what is going on in the world before I open the front door.  Once the news is over I turn off the television and switch over to the radio.  Depending on the guest, I might turn on Ellen at 1 p.m. but most days I don’t.  We do not watch any cartoons or other programs during the day.  The radio stays on all day until the 5 p.m. news.  After the news I turn the radio back on.  When Frank gets home he turns the tv back on and it is usually on for the rest of the evening.  At this point it becomes background sound and we really should switch back to the radio.  That is something I need to work on with him. 

Internet usage:

Like I mentioned above, my internet usage was out of hand.  So now I open all my windows in the morning before Mary Rene wakes up.  I check my personal email first and respond to anything that needs quick attention.  I do a quick facebook scan and might do a status update (although I haven’t in a week.)  I then will spend the rest of the time on google reader until Mary Rene wakes up.  Once she wakes up all my windows are closed except my work email.  During Mary Rene’s nap or when she goes to bed I will work on my blog. 

Sewing:

Now that Mary Rene is taking one long nap I have been able to sneak in a little sewing during the day.  (I wasn’t doing this before because I was always on the internet!  But now I have so much more free time!)  However, I only do this once a week during nap time.  Physically sewing is out of the question since the machine would wake her so instead I do my prep work during naps.  I can look through my material, pick out the fabric and start cutting out my pieces.  During one of her naps last week I was able to cut out a whole pattern to make my mom a purse!

(I call the purse, “Pieces of Mary” because it is made from different pieces of all the dresses and hats I have made her thus far.)  Depending on our week, I try to sew at least once or twice a week after Mary Rene goes to bed.  If Frank is watching the game or another show that I’m not interested in then I will go downstairs and sew.  I usually sew for at least an hour before I head back upstairs.  (I’m very religious about being in bed at 10:30 p.m.) I’m not much of a tv person and sitting on the couch doing nothing is very hard for me to do.  The only time I really sit on the couch with him is if we are listening to the radio and actually interacting (a/k/a talking.)  TV watching together doesn’t count as quality time to me.  Although we do it on Friday nights while I watch Ugly Betty.  But then again, I rub his feet while I watch my show so we both win.

Workout:

Every morning I set my alarm to go off 45 minutes early so I can get up and go for a run.  Seven out of 10 times I hit snooze.  I blame that on the fact that Mary Rene still doesn’t sleep through the night.  But the mornings I do go for a run…heaven.  I love my morning runs so much and really wish I could do a better job of getting up every morning.  I clear my mind (and lungs) and re-energize.  Plus it is my bonding time with Sophie B.  She needs all the attention she can get.  Besides running, I do mini workouts with Mary Rene.  I have different ways I hold her and play with her so I can work on my arms and legs.  Little does she know that I am using her as a 23 pound weight.

Clean House:

Now that Mary Rene is mobile and more independent, I am able to clean house while she is awake.  I used to clean during her naps but that left little time for me to work or relax.  So now, I save all the chores that I can easily do while she is awake for well, when she is awake.  We load and unload the dishwasher together.  She walks behind me while I sweep.  She runs away when I vacuum.  She hands me clothes to fold.  The only thing I can’t do while she is awake is iron because the board is downstairs.  I either iron when she naps or I iron on the weekends when Frank is home. 

Run Errands:

Working part-time makes life easier for Frank and I.  I try to get all our errands run on my days off.  Mary Rene loves running errands and she does really good at the store.  We start running our errands immediately after eating breakfast and could be gone for at least an hour or two.  By the time we get home and unpacked she is usually ready for a nap.  It does take up a chunk of the day but it is nice to get this done so the weekends can be spent doing family things.

Hanging out with Frank:

We have a stay-in date night once a week when Mary Rene goes to bed.  The nights when I don’t sew we sit on the couch together and hang out.  We do family activities on the weekends.

Hanging out with Friends:

Well I’m not doing as well in this category but I am getting better.  The group of friends I hung out with before Mary Rene was born I don’t get to see that much.  They hang out at night and frankly I’m just too tired to get together.  But motherhood has connected me with a lot of new groups of women and I’m getting some adult time still!  I go to La Leche League meetings to have some womanly conversation and Mary-free time.  For those that don’t have kids that may sound BORING but let me tell you, I love those meetings.  It is a chance to get out and be surrounded by women who share my same views (on so many different levels.)  I also have a few different mom groups that I belong to and I go on play dates occasionally.  That depends on what Mary Rene and I have planned for the week.  My sister doesn’t work on Fridays so we’ve been hanging out during the day.  And honestly, my mom has been my best gal pal lately and I’ve been spending a lot of time with her.  If Frank is going out with friends or when he has a hockey game, I usually call her first to see if she wants to get together.  Unfortunately she lost her job so she has more free time.  But on the flip side, we’ve grown much closer.

Okay, I think that covers everything.  I still could do much better at managing my time but I am getting better at it.  The older Mary Rene gets the easier it is to sew and workout.  I really don’t know what will happen when we have a second baby in the house someday!  That will definately put a completely different spin to my schedule.  But for now, I’ll do what I do.

A couple weeks back someone from my local La Leche League was talking about Christmas gifts on our message board.  She left tons and tons of examples of gifts to make so you could save money.  One of her links was for the website Make It and Love It and it had to do with a caulk board or something.  Whatever it was, I wasn’t interested in making it but oh my word, I am in love with that website now and even added her button to the side bar of my blog.

Let me tell you, as a new sewer, her website is my heaven right now.  I curse her craftiness and then call my mom to tell her what she did.  And of course, I want to make it too.  Oh she is so crafty so darn crafty.

So here is what I have been working on the past couple weeks.

I’ve had this red top for years and love it but as you can see it is boring.  So I followed the instructions on her website, cut out some hearts and folded them over and made this

Okay that is a completely bad view and the shirt looks different in person but I was having a hard time taking the picture.  When Frank took the picture I had a weird look on my face and I didn’t want to embarrass myself by publishing it!  When Frank saw the shirt he said, “it looks like you are wearing a corsage.”  Funny thing is, it is called a corsage shirt.  Love it!

I went to the local Goodwill and found this white sweater that fit me perfect. 

I paid only $1.50 for the sweater, followed the instructions from her website and made this

A sweater dress for my baby girl!  I must say, I am most proud of this dress and of everything I have ever sewed this is my favorite.  The length was absolutely perfect so I didn’t have to cut the bottom.  I just trimmed the sides to fit her body, brought the shoulders in a bit so the neck wasn’t so big and then cut half of the sleeves off.  Next I cut out some satin and made her little flowers for the top and added a button to the middle.  Mary Rene is wearing the dress on Saturday for our family Thanksgiving dinner so I’ll take better pictures then.

This week, Make It and Love It started using scarves to make baby hats, girl skirts and….baby leggin’s.  You all know how I love my baby leggin’s and Mary Rene wears them around the house all the time.  The only problem is I don’t have any scarves that I was willing to part from.  So yesterday I went to the Goodwill and saw this sweater

and instantly knew it would make awesome baby leggin’s.  The baby leggin’s I bought Mary Rene were $12 and this sweater was only $3.  What a steal.  I loved the sweater and it was perfectly soft and I easily could have kept it for myself. 

During Mary Rene’s nap yesterday, I took her purple baby leggin’s and measured them against the sweater and cut out the amount I needed.

I have so much material left that I am going to make her a skirt and then maybe use some for baby blocks.  Talk about making your $3 stretch even further!

I was able to cut out the material and sew the baby leggin’s all in a matter of 20 minutes.  And here is the finished product

Love it! 

I have three more of these projects that I am currently working on and can easily see many more to add to the list.  I got the sewing bug, can you tell?