He's Here!

Dusten Matthew

7/7/17

2:02AM

8 lbs, 7.6 oz

20.5"

Welcomed home by his 3 big sisters!

(Two of which surprised us with a stomach bug!)

Everyone is well now and we are counting

our blessings!!

We're Still Here!

We are still here, I just haven't made the effort to post on the blog in quite a long time!

Eloise finished up first grade (second grade, here we come!)...

and Dinah finished up pre-K.  Not sure if we'll move on to Kindergarten

or not yet.  We may just focus on learning to read this year as we adjust 

to having a new baby!

Speaking of new baby... he/she is due any day.  

We are impatiently waiting!

Today we are headed to a 4th of July parade!

Hope you have a wonderful, safe holiday with your friends

and family!

Sticker Baby!

I decided to let Eloise decorate some cards to send out for Easter to friends and family.
Nothing elaborate... obviously, since she is only 14 months old!

Eloise absolutely LOVES stickers and crayons... wonder why? hee hee
I thought it would be something fun to do... and a break from the normal routine.

(Which is now snapping baby Jenna, baby Julia or Minnie in the car seat ten trillion times a day!
And then clapping extensively! Then getting upset when she can't unbuckle it and has to wait for Mommy or Daddy to help... it's rough being a kid!)


Anyway.

When we were at Walmart the other day...
I looked high and low for stickers.
Easter stickers, of course.
I. could. not. find. any.

Ok, there were some little egg stickers...
but they weren't really what I wanted.
Surely, in the loads and loads of Easter crap they sell
in the aisles, there would be a selection of stickers!?

And we don't live in a place with tons of craft stores...
which is why Walmart is pretty much the place to go.
(Ugh.)

It wasn't until we were ready to check out that
I just happened to scan the greeting cards and
found that they had TWO options.
Neither of which I was overly thrilled about...
but Snoopy won out for lack of anything else to choose from.
I guess Snoopy isn't so bad.

Anywho...

If I were more prepared, I suppose I could've made my own
stickers with my sticker maker thingies...
BUT... oh well - maybe next year!

Either way it went down... Eloise had some fun!!



She tried eating the stickers a couple of times...
but decided it was more fun to stick them on paper!



Of course, I forgot to take a picture of any of the finished cards...
but this smile makes that not matter to me one little bit...


Do you (or did you) do any kind of crafty projects with your kid(s) for the Holiday?

Fun > Fashion

My daughter is obsessed with shoes and hats.
I know that eventually this may become a problem as she gets older.
My husband already thinks that I have too many shoes in our small house.
I can only imagine how it will be when Eloise is a teenager!
Assuming she keeps up this fascination!!

I have to admit though...
it IS cute (at this stage).

Just today she brought her black dress shoes to me.
She wore them with socks and jeans.
I tried to get a picture but she kept avoiding the camera!
I let her wear them to town... even if it wasn't necessarily "fashionable". :)

I'm not at the point of letting her pick out her own clothes...
though I imagine that will be next...
But I WILL let her pick out her shoes - and if she decides to wear a hat - all the better!
(We make sure she wears a hat outside since she still has barely any hair--but she likes to wear them INSIDE as well!)

All of that to show you these pictures of her from earlier this week:


She loves those boots.
If the ground is mucky, she wears them outside...
but mostly, she likes to wear them IN.


And the hat was a gift from my aunt for Easter...
It's so cheesey - but she likes to play with it...
and it has been quite the laugh generator in our house
as she tries to put it on our heads!



Again with that hat... and her "cow girl boots".
Love it!

Hopefully she'll develop her own creative flare...
Lord knows, if she follows in my shoes...
she will continue to be fashionably challenged as I have no clue!


My Shoe Blog

Who's Going for a Ride?

My parents bought Eloise a red wagon for Easter.

I know it's not Easter yet... but who cares!
The weather was so nice the past couple of weeks (though now it's cold again!)...
we had to bust it out on Friday evening!
(Thanks to my father in law for putting it all together!)

I wasn't sure if she was going to like it...
but now I can say that she definitely LOVES it!

Getting ready to roll!

Back in my high school days I had a belt that was a "seat belt"...
(I know, WEIRD!)
So we strapped her in with that... just as a precaution!
Knowing her, she would try to climb over the side!

And she is off!!


Can't wait until the weather warms up so we can go
out for another little jaunt around the yard!!

I have a feeling that this wagon is going to
be a big hit for a very long time!

Our Day at Grammies

Eloise is 14 months old today!

We had to have some work done in our attic,
so my father-in-law came over to hang out while the work crew was here.
Eloise and I went to their house to spend time with Grammie!

It was a nice change of pace!


Eloise raided a stash of stuffed animals...
(remember I have told you that Cory and I are crane game addicts?...
lets just say there is more left for her to get into at a future date! haha)



There was lots of coloring!


Lunch!

And after lunch we went for a walk.
There are no pictures of that because I was too pooped to grab the camera.
I really should exercise more!


Grammie and Eloise read...
and then it was time to come home!

We haven't seen my mother-in-law much lately
due to her crazy work schedule, so today was just what we all needed!

A great way to spend a Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Slow and Steady

We are slowly, but surely, getting better in our house! There are the lingering coughs and runny noses... but not NEARLY the horribleness that we felt late last week and over the weekend!

Eloise has been happily playing to her hearts content!


She loves her blocks! We only pull them out now and then... and
put them away as soon as she is done. So they are definitely a treat for her!

We didn't go outside for quite awhile... even though the weather has been
super fantastic around here!

Eloise wanted to go out... but since we wouldn't let
her... she settled on looking out the windows at the chickens.


Or as she would say, "Chi! Chi!"

She's quite enamored by them! Especially when the neighbors
rooster trespasses.... I mean, comes over for a visit to the girls.
Thankfully with this nice weather, the chickens have
been FINALLY laying eggs!!


Eloise has been using a fork for awhile... that is, when we can
get her to eat! But lately she has been trying to use a spoon.
It's slow going as she can't seem to keep the food on the spoon
by the time it gets to her mouth, but hey, she's getting in some good practice.
If she is anything like her mama, she'll figure out how to shovel food into her mouth sooner rather than later! haha

I love this picture... I just had to post it.


Also... Eloise got this adorable shopping cart for Christmas.
She wasn't quite ready for it then, but she is enjoying it now!


I'm sure that shopping cart will entertain her for years to come!

Oh, if you look on my right sidebar...
you can see the blog I started for the shoes I sew.
It's nothing special, but I wanted a
separate place to post pictures and such.
I hope you'll check it out!

Our Sick Sweetie

It's finally happened... Eloise has caught a cold.

We have had brief stints of panic over the past year when her nose would run for, like, 2 whole seconds. We'd think she'd be getting sick, but THANKFULLY she never really did. This week has been different though. She woke up coughing on Monday... and it's progressed with a runny nose and a slight fever. Today was the worst (hopefully that means it'll start to get better tomorrow!). I spent most of the afternoon trying to calm her as she was crying and crying... she seemed soothed the most as I wiped her head with a cool wash cloth.

(No make up or hair-do for this mama today.. and you can't see it, but I'm wearing sweatpants... and so is El!)

We bribed her with cheese to get her to sit in her highchair and eat some dinner. But after dinner, she was again in my arms and very, very tired. I held her and read to her as Cory wiped her head with the cool cloth. We played some lullaby music and eventually she fell asleep in my arms.

She is now tucked away, all snuggled in her crib with Minnie Mouse.
I anticipate that she'll be up again in a couple of hours or so... but I don't mind. At least I'll know that she is still breathing! And I want to comfort her as much as I can.

Cory went to the store to get some OTC baby medicine in case we need it. I am kind of hoping he will bring some sort of junk food home. I try to eat healthy as much as possible, I really do... but when I'm stressed... I just CRAVE sugar and JUNK! I'm crossing my fingers for a Shamrock Shake... but even just a cookie or something would help! haha

I know that kids get sick all of the time, so I shouldn't be stressed...
but what can I say! No one likes to see their child suffer!

Oh.. and to top it off, yesterday she hit her chin off of a little end table we have... and now she looks like this:


It's not a scrape, it's some weird bruise.
I hope it goes away soon!
And her poor little runny nose and glassy eyes.
I wish it were me and not her!!

If you think about it, please say a little prayer for Eloise!
It would be much appreciated!

Giveaway Time!!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***


In honor of Eloise turning 13 months old (yesterday)....

I am having a
GIVEAWAY!!

She just learned to say "Cheese!" and this
was the picture I snapped when she said it!!

Anyway... you are probably wondering what the giveaway is for, right?

Well... if you read a few posts ago... you would know that I have
started sewing baby shoes.
(thanks to the awesome Shauna for selling her tutorial and patterns!)

It has been a great creative outlet for me while Eloise naps.
I've made about 10 pairs so far... but have given most away as gifts!

So, here is your chance to nab a pair!

The winner will have their choice of either the Froggies..


or... the sweet Blue Flowers...


The shoes only come in size 0-6 Months.
(may not be exactly the shoes pictured)

Here is how you can win!!

Leave a comment on this post.

That's it.
No special hoops to jump through or links to follow.

Just leave a comment!
Make sure I have a way to get a hold of you in case you are chosen!

If you would like an EXTRA entry...
you can mention this Giveaway in a post on your own blog.
Come back here and leave a (separate) comment
with the link to your post.

Giveaway ends Friday, March 2nd at 11:59PM.
I will select a winner randomly and post the results (and email the winner) on Saturday, March 3rd!!

***THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED***

Daily Life

It's been over a week since my last post... and really, that's OK... I don't really have anything exciting to post about. Each day comes and goes... there's lots of playing and reading, feeding "Baby Jenna" 10 million times a day, running, laughing, learning... cooking, baking, sewing, laundry, dishes - and the list goes on.


So, I hope you are doing well... and don't give up on me.
I WILL keep posting!

And soon... I will be posting about a giveaway... so stay tuned for that!

None for this girl...

Well, it happened.
Our first trip to the E.R. with Eloise.
This is probably new news to you.
But it's old news to us...
since it happened back on Jan. 25th.
I never made time to post about it.
So here I am now.

Let's just say...
I had a dumb-o mama moment...

But in all reality...
it was inevitable...

Let me start at the beginning.

At Eloise's 1 yr appointment we got the OK to
try cow's milk and cheese and eggs.

In my mind I am doing the happy dance for 2 reasons:

1.) Though I am doing "baby led weaning"
(I don't think you should force your child to wean until they are completely ready)...
there is a sliver of hope that once we start on cow's milk,
Eloise will want to wean sooner rather than later.
Come on, now. Any of you nursing mama's can relate
with wanting to wear a NORMAL bra again!

and

2.) I was excited that Eloise and I could have the same breakfast!
Scrambled eggs and toast! YUMMO!

So, the morning of the 25th, I do the unthinkable.
Because... really.. I knew better...
I just wasn't thinking.

I gave Eloise a mix of 1/2 mama milk and 1/2 cow's milk.
She took a big swig and tossed it on the floor.
Typical.

I also gave her scrambled eggs and toast.

Can you see where this is going?
You should never introduce more than one food
at a time. And I did TWO of the worst
allergy culprits at the same time!

What WAS I thinking?

So... laa dee daa.. the morning goes on...
when about an hour and a half later I notice
Eloise getting kind of sluggish.

She will drape herself on me when she is tired...
and she started doing that...
but it wasn't nap time.

So I decided to take her temperature.
98.2*

Ok... hmmm...
She coughed a few times...
no biggie.

But I get online to look up milk and egg allergies anyway.

Eloise is playing near me...
and when she gets up and comes to my side,
I look down at her and notice that her face is pink...
(like she'd rubbed it).

I looked back at the computer...
30 seconds later, I look back and El...
and she is super red and puffy with hives!

Commence silent panic.
I didn't want to freak her out...
and I was trying to stay calm but
I have never dealt with allergies before, so
I admit... I was a little scared!

I called Cory (who flew home) and the Pediatrician's office.
Of course I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the Ped's
office, so we went straight to the E.R.
where it took forever to get signed in.
Seriously... EMERGENCY means URGENCY.
But what can you do?

A nurse came about 5 minutes later...
we went through the whole checking the vitals thing.
Eloise did NOT like that.
At one point, her pink puffy face went white and she
went limp in my arms. It was only for a brief moment...
but it was scary! I think perhaps she had worked herself
up so much into an overheated tizzy that she almost passed out.

The nurse gave her a kitty cat (pic above)
which entertained Eloise for about 30 seconds...
and then we were off to another room.

20 mins later... a doctor came to check her out.
He didn't seem overly concerned, though I am sure he didn't
want to make us panic any more than we already were!

20 mins after that... Eloise was given Benadryl... went home
to nap for an hour and the hives were pretty much gone.
PHEW!

The next day was a follow up appt at the Ped's office.
"No Milk or Eggs until 15 months."
(So much for weaning)

But a few days later the office called and wanted to set up
an appointment with an Allergist at a place over an hour away.
We gladly accepted the appointment!
Of course we want to find out what was causing the reaction!

Fast forward to yesterday...
We made it to our appointment.
Eloise got tested...


... and she is officially allergic to...

EGGS.

So. We have to avoid them altogether...
she can't even touch an egg in it's shell!!

There is hope that she will grow out of it since I eat
eggs all of the time and it hasn't bothered her system via
my milk... but we have to wait a year to have
another test!

In the meantime, I have to carry an Epipen
in case she has a severe reaction by accident...
and also Benadryl in case she has a mild reaction.

On the bright side...
she didn't cry at her appointment!
We figured she would FREAK!
...AND...
We get to try cow's milk again!
(Weaning... here we come!?)
Yea!

Do any of your kids have allergies?
What a trip, huh?

Baby, It's [not] Cold Outside!

What in the world is going on?

I am not a believer in the whole Global Warming thing...
I mean, Ok, maybe if I had time to research it and
really give it a good go with the brain cells...
But, let's face it... I don't.
So therefore, I'm just not fanatical about GW and the cause/effects of it.

HOWEVER... 58* in January.
In little old Central PA.
Well, that's just plain FREAKY!

Eloise, Boo and I took advantage of it though!
Oddly enough, I forgot to take any pictures of Boo!
Oh well!


Since it was kind of mucky out, Eloise donned her moon boots...
I mean, SNOW boots.


Boy, does she love clompin' around in those things!
And I have to admit, they are kind of cute!


We didn't stay out too long.
It was kind of windy....
But it was nice to get out for a little bit anyway!
I'll take 58* over 15* any day!!

Somebody's Been Having Fun!

... and is now wearing Easy-Ups!

That is one busy girl!

A Minnie Mouse Party for El!

Sunday, the 22nd was Eloise's Birthday Party!

Seeing as how she loves her Minnie Mouse the best,
I did what I could to make her Minnie Party special.
Not having a huge budget to work with, I am pleased with the results!
And I think everyone enjoyed themselves... Eloise especially!!


Though our house is small and most people had
to migrate to the living room to eat,
I still decorated the table!!


We had "picnic" type foods... burgers, dogs, mac salad,
deviled eggs... and well, you can see for yourself!


I made homemade cake (chocolate ears/bow and a yellow face)...
I also made Minnie Oreo cookies... which are hard to see
in the picture... but they were cute!


Eloise wore this adorable Minnie Skirt that I bought off of Etsy.
(Yes, I could have made my own... but I didn't have time!)
I DID make the Minnie Ears though!
Eloise liked them for a couple minutes... then that was that!!



Eloise opened lots of presents!

She LOVED this gift bag...
and was constantly putting things in it and
carrying it around like a purse!

(Yes, I know.. my face. Haha)

I think her favorite gift, by far... was her Baby!


And she pretty much instantly knew how to "feed" it!!

We sang "Happy Birthday"...



But Eloise didn't get to eat any of the cake!


I know, I know... Boooo Hissssss!
But we are trying as hard as we can to keep
her away from unnecessary sugary treats
and white flour.

So I made her a whole wheat maple syrup carrot cake.
Without any icing!

Her "smash" cake turned out to be more of a "neat" cake...
since Eloise didn't make much of a mess... at all!!


Can't complain about that!

Here is the banner I made!


And also the "Minnie Tree"!


It's hard to see the decorations... but I
made Minnie ornaments, decorated with ribbons
and as the party went on... it accumulated
birthday cards in the branches!


Eloise had fun running around...
there was lots of laughter and chatter from guests...
so I'd say that we had a
Minnie Party Success!!


For more pics... visit my sister's blog post!!