The Little Man is One Month Old Today!

Can you believe it? Already!

He's surprised too!

The Kiddos

DIY Breast Pads

While nursing Marek the other night I looked into making my own washable breast pads to replace the disposables I had left over from nursing Willa. I'm almost out and though they are crazy absorbent, I find them uncomfortable, almost scratchy, and why not use some of my scrap flannel fabric to save money versus buying more disposables or even washable pads?

Why not, indeed. :)

 First I used a disposable pad to make a paper pattern. Some of the articles I read recommended the inner layers be slightly smaller to reduce bulk around the edges. So I made the second pattern piece slightly smaller.

 

 Then I cut 3 pieces for each pad in the smaller circle size for the inner layers and 1 larger circle size for the inside of the pad all in flannel. I also cut 1 larger circle size in a thin fleece for the outside of the pad. I pinned them all together and then cut a pie shape piece out of all 5 layers so that when I sewed them together they'd have a bit of a cone shape to {hopefully} eliminate any weird shapes under my tops.

  These are the finished product. I intended to machine sew them, but bless my machine's heart, it just wasn't working out! So I hand sewed them instead, which didn't take as long as I was dreading. Easy to do while Marek feeds. They are comfortable and {dare I say} cute, although not as absorbent as the disposables. 

Which begs the question: What kind of madness is in those things anyway!?

Marek!

Handsome Duck

He's a handsome little ducky, don't you think? Marek will be three weeks old tomorrow and already we can't remember what it was like before he was with us!We're all adjusting quite well, Willa especially can't get enough of her little brother. We're blessed!

The Kiddos

Baby E Has Arrived....And He's a Boy!

Our newest member joined the family July 21st at 4:06am. This birth was in some ways similar to Willa's, and in others very different. My water broke at around 830pm July 20th (the Friday before we'd have been at 38 weeks, just like with Willa!). Little brother Ryan happened to be at the house with me and Willa, so he called Karl at work to come home while I called the midwife. I got my first contraction around 10pm (very unlike Willa's birth, which required Pitocin to get things going almost 24 hours after my water broke.) and decided to rest. Karl and I went for a little walk outside around 1am and then decided to go to bed until I couldn't talk through the contractions anymore, around 230am. We headed for the hospital then, and had to stop once on the way because I felt I might get sick (this happened often during my labor with Willa and is a sign of transition into the pushing bit of birth!) and I said to Karl, "Wouldn't it be awesome if I was like 7cm dilated and in transition?". We checked in at emergency and they wheeled me up to labor and delivery around 3am. The nurse checked me and I was at 7cm! The contractions were closer together and very painful and suddenly I was ready to push and 8 or so contractions later
Marek Curtis Burton was cradled on my chest! 

He weighed 6lbs 15oz, was 19" long and has dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Unlike Willa, he doesn't look a thing like me, or much like Karl either, he's seems to have a fair amount of Hanson in him as he looks a little like Ryan did when he was a baby. We brought Marek home the next day and he's thriving! Already 7lbs .5oz at his one week visit with the pediatrician. He's an absolute cuddlebug, eats great, sleeps most of the time and we just can't get enough of him! Enjoy the pics of our son. :)

Rocco

I didn't paint this, first off, I found it in this etsy shop. But Karl and I both thought it looks just like our boy. He's 6 and he's still nearly as cute as the day we brought him home from a farm. He's a good boy, protective of Willa, who offers him hugs regularly. He doesn't like to play with her, and will eventually walk away if she pays too much attention to him, but he doesn't show any distress at her petting and loving on him. She excitedly squeals 'Puppy!' when she sees him or hears him barking outside and she's very strict about him huffing up the leftovers on her chair, scolding him to 'Get down!'. Hopefully he'll gain a bit more affection for her as she gets older, I think perhaps he's holding a grudge against her for coming into our family. Poor guy has no idea he's about to be further outnumbered as we're expecting another baby e this summer. For now he'll no doubt continue to nap and eat and Willa will keep trying to be his friend and throw toys for him to fetch.

Happy Sunday!

Happy 1st Birthday to Our Sweet Baby Girl!

Circles Circles Circles!

I'd Almost Forgotten I Have a Sewing Machine

It feels like forever since I've done an art project, and a couple of weeks ago we got a big bib in the mail from our friend Bob. I thought the design would be an easy one to replicate, and I that it might be nice to add a pocket, as our Willa sometimes lets the food fall right out of her mouth and down her front!

Front view

Close up.

The pocket.

The back.

Adding the tie was the hardest part, I had a difficult time getting the bib sandwiched between the folds of the tie and then pinning it in place, the tie fold isn't very deep, so the pins were hard to get through all the folds. After a while I managed it. I used scrap upholstery fabric, and I like how well it stands up to the food she gets all over. It's also pretty large, so it covers all of her shirt front.

I think I'll make another.

Willa gets her hair 'did'!


The girls at the Y gave Willa her first Pebbles hair-do. How cute, right?

A cute Willa sequence.





She sees me!



And then she comes after me. So cute!

EDIT: I took this video with my phone and uploaded it to the blog from my phone, I couldn't rotate it or add text... but it's funny right? :)

When It Rains, It Pours. Or Snows.

Peanut has conjunctivitis, so she's home with Daddy today. She also has teeth coming in, so her nose has been running for weeks and she's started coughing...though most of the time the cough sounds fake. After 11 months of great health suddenly she's getting stuff. Ugh.

We've also been in daycare limbo, our in-home daycare gal wasn't able to watch her the last few weeks. Then we learned they were moving, but hoping to stay in the neighborhood. Today I found out she's just closing. So now we have a new daycare dilemma to solve.

We've decided to keep her at the Y. It's a great center, she's been spending three days a week there already and they won't be closing (God willing). The hours are more convenient and it's still in our area. The only drawback is the additional expense...but we've decided it's worth the extra money to avoid the uncertainty an in-home can bring. Solved.

I wish being a parent didn't cause such feelings of guilt. Guilt over being home with a sick baby. Guilt over telling your boss you aren't coming in. Guilt over feeling guilty when you should be taking care of the previously mentioned sick baby. Guilt over worrying about the expense of day care. Guilt over sending your child to daycare. Guilt guilt guilt, blech.

Good thing her little angel smiles go a long way in easing the guilt.

Oh, and it's snowing. Boo.

Again, with the door. Her daddy's trying to get her into soccer already! The pics have been a little grainy, my camera was on a weird setting. Newer ones should be fixed now!

Angel Face

Willa is really getting around these days, she holds onto whatever she can and sidesteps her way around the house. Yesterday she spent some time under the kitchen table. :)

She's 11 months old. Almost a year already.....amazing!

Guess what I can do!



How grown up is she? Almost 11 months old now!!

Someone knows where her toys are kept.

She rolls back in there.

And pulls things out.

And pulls things over.

And looks like an angel doing it!