Good Days

This past Monday I had a special day.  It was the first day in a really long time that I felt like I had my shit together.  Things just fell into place and it was amazing.  These days I am normally fumbling every step of the way.  Tired most of the time and merely pondering (and looking at) all that I have to get done, as I just don't have time to do it.  The boys were all in good spirits for the most part and all napped simultaneously so that I was able to get a little bit of work done, and two rush orders out.  We even walked down to a park that is close by and I didn't panic at all.  Evan walked by himself and the babies were in their stroller.  It was awesome.

I've said it before and I'm sure I will continue to say if for a lot of time to come, but this world is just not made for my family, not as we are now anyway.  It's a struggle to do just about anything.  I get it, it shouldn't be made for us, not a whole lot of people have a two year old and two babies, but it still makes me sad how limited we are.

The last two days a good friend accompanied us first to a great park and walking trail, and then today to an indoor playground.  I wish I could go do these things every day.  Evan would love it, and that's what makes me happy.  But I am so grateful for these past few days where things have gone right, and I have felt at least a little normal.

As I write, the boys are all sleeping soundly, and I should be working.  I am working, just taking a break I guess, to check in, and remember these good days.  

Yogurt Bomb

I started the day thinking I was going to write about changing diapers.  As you can imagine with three in diapers it seems endless sometimes.  I lost count at ten around noon. I'll get back to that later, because what became more important to me was that I share with you a public service announcement straight from my house to yours.  

If you have a toddler, don't give him a yogurt tube and then leave the room to bathe his sibling. 

I almost wish I had been able to see what the F he did in there while I was gone.  It must have been pretty interesting. 

Hand Towel

I thought it might be fun to share the fact that, somehow, despite doing what feels like 72,324 loads of laundry per week, I had the displeasure of drying myself off post shower today with a hand towel.  Now, I'm not talking about a small bath towel.  I'm talking a legit towel that is too small to dry off my babies with.  It was probably the first time in months that I didn't set my towel out for myself before getting into the shower, and I paid for it dearly.  When I opened up the linen closet, there it was, and empty shelf where the larger towels should be.

Most of the time, it's a real luxury to have a relaxing shower these days.  Kids will do that to you.  The shower in itself wasn't too bad, however, I should also note that it was 5:30 in the morning.  Since the babies had their 4 month check up with the pediatrician at 9:00 I wanted to make sure I got a shower in before everyone woke up.  

That brings me to another thing that is strange to me since I became a parent.  Time.  Pre-parenthood, I thought any person who did anything before 9:00 am was ridiculous.  But, when you wake up at 4:30 in the morning most days, 9:00 seems pretty late. I also have no problem going to bed at 8:30.  No problem at all.  Most of the time it's just not possible, but I would do it much more if I could.  

Anyway, the towels are washed now, sitting in a basket in my dining room, but washed.  

Back at it...

Ugh, I just looked back and have seen that it's been way long since I've written.  October of last year.  Maybe I didn't think it was so long because I am constantly writing in my head.  Things happen and I'm like, yeah I should write a post about that....
Clearly it hasn't happened in many months.
I guess I sort of have to start over with this whole blog in a sense, because I'm a totally (well a lot anyway) different person since I first began writing.

Noah and me

I am now a mother of THREE children.  The twins arrived November 19.  They are now four months old, as of yesterday.  Unbelievable still that I have twins, that I have three children, that I have any children or a husband.

Noah, Evan, and Tobey

This is my real life.  I now stay home with the kids.  I love it a lot of the time.  I hate it sometimes too.  As you might imagine, three small children can really bring it in the crying department.  When the three of them are going at the same time, you better believe the stress level is high.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I feel like I missed so much in the beginning of Evan's life while he was in daycare.
My days are filled with diaper changes, and feeding the kids, and laundry, and cleaning (well sometimes).  My nights are often filled with work.  My business is doing quite well.  I reopened my shop after maternity leave on January 2, and it's kept me very busy.  I never thought I would love what I do, but I really love it.  I am often up until way later than I would like to be, sewing away, but I still love it.
I would love to make a conscious effort to write about these days that are going by so quickly.  We'll see how it goes I guess...

Plans for Evan's Room

With our master bedroom finished, I am now on to working on Evan's room.  I feel like I need to get his room complete before the babies room, and that needs to be done soon since their arrival is rapidly approaching.  When I was pregnant with Evan I did the usual registry at Babies R Us.  I had about three options for bedding/room decor and chose the lesser of the evils.  It seemed like you could get sports or cars, which is typical.  I chose an ocean theme, which I never really loved.  This move gave me the opportunity to give his room a makeover.

I had an idea in mind for a while based on some fabric I love, but when I realized what the furniture arrangement was going to be between the two kids bedrooms I decided to decorate the babies' room how I intended to do Evan's, so I'll share that later.  Not surprisingly, Evan's room still ended up being based on fabric.

This was the first inspiration.  His old room was painted light blue, and I despised it.  I am oddly going to paint his new room blue also, but going for one of the deeper shades.  This fabric is from Michael Miller, whom I adore.  This led me to the whole line of coordinates.  But this particular madras plaid fabric is going to be for his bedspread, which I will be making with navy blue minky fleece on the back.

The blue sand dollar fabric is for the curtains.  I am not going to make full length curtains, which goes against my style intuition, but this is for safety purposes.  I can just see him ripping them down and getting knocked out by the curtain rod.  I ordered three yards of fabric, so each panel will be about 4 and half feet long.  I intend to sew a rod pocket at the top, but just for possible future purposes.  For now I am going to be using clips with rings for ease of opening and closing.  I am also going to look into what to use as a backing in order to make the room darker for the daytime naps.

For some reason the floor in Evan's room is atrocious.  The hardwoods in the rest of the house are gorgeous. Apparently in his room the previous owners covered the floor with a rug so we didn't notice until we moved in, and didn't anticipate having to refinish the floors, so for now, he is getting a rug.  I found a room size tan wavy rug online from Walmart that I intend to order, today in fact, for only 59 bucks.

Evan's furniture is a dark wood.  We got the matching convertible crib and changing table as gifts and they are beautiful.  We didn't end up with the dresser, so he has Mike's from when he was a kid.  That needs to be painted, and I plan on making it white.

Since, I was feeling a sort of nautical vibe in his room, I found some art on Etsy, where I spend a lot of my internet time.  This is what I'm thinking of.

Nautical Chevron Trio Print Set

It probably all seems like a hodge podge at this point but I'm hoping it comes out nicely.  I told Mike I would love to have both bedrooms done within the next three weeks because at that point I'll be 34 weeks pregnant with these twins.  Rule of thumb is that if you go into labor after that point, the doctors don't take any measures to stop it.  So I guess in theory we could potentially have these babies in the next three weeks. I'm hoping for a bit more time.  For us to prepare for them, and for them to prepare for the world.

Hopefully in the near future I'll be showing photos of the finished product!

Our Master Bedroom

When we started looking for our house, we decided that once we moved, we were definitely going to get a king sized bed.  We would get a whole new bedroom set in fact.  The pieces that we had included a dresser, bureau and two nightstands that I bought about 8 years ago from Target, and a queen sized mattress that I bought literally when I was 18.  All of it had at least been partially damaged by our former dog and numerous moves over the years. It was time!

We spent a small fortune getting our bedroom in order.  We bought a king headboard, dresser and mirror and bureau from Bob's furniture.  We got a King sized Sealy Posturepedic mattress with Coolsense.  We spent $170 on sheets.  Clearly we had to buy a new comforter.  And little did I know, regular sized pillows just don't cut it on a huge bed.  I don't want to add all that up really, I'm sure I'd weep a little, and I'm not done yet. I didn't opt for the matching nightstand tables that went with our set, because I thought it would be too matchy.  So I bought those elsewhere.  I needed new curtains, and new lamps.

I know it sounds like a lot and it really is.  When you are coming from what we had before, you need a total overhaul, and that's what we got.  I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome.

Is it weird that THIS is what makes me feel like a grown up?
Mike painted the walls so obediently even though he was miserable about it.  It's a fairly small room but there are two colors in there.  Both colors come directly from the comforter.  Slightly darker on the wall behind the bed.

My dresser is fantastic.  It's pretty large and I find it humorous that I wonder if I should put a stool up to it to see into the mirror.  At 5'2" large furniture makes you feel even smaller.

I couldn't help but buy a little basket for all my odds and ends so that it didn't look like a complete disaster on top of there.  I also bought some new candle holders and new lovely smelling candles.  I am a complete candle whore!

On Mike's side of the room resides the only piece of artwork he brought into our relationship.  I thought he'd enjoy seeing it every day when he woke up. It's also currently the only thing hanging on the walls in the room, so I need to work on that....eventually.

I mentioned that I purchased some new lamps and shades.  I am in love when them.

And the only thing you haven't seen.  Our nice big closet.

As you can see it's not a walk-in but a vast improvement over what we have had in the past.  Beside the closet you can see my full length mirror.  Mike couldn't fathom how I needed another mirror when I had just got the new one on my dresser.  Ladies, I would be shocked to know that every one of you doesn't have a full length mirror.  For me right now it's totally necessary for the baby belly shots too!

You might expect that we are sleeping better these days.  Truth is, Mike still falls asleep on the couch a lot since he is working on the apartment upstairs after his day job, so he only gets a few hours in the bed most days.  As for me, I wake up about 3 or 4 times a night to pee, but that would happen even if I was literally sleeping on a cloud.  I do wake up pretty happy to look around my pretty room, and have made my bed every day since we've had it as I'm eager to keep it looking nice all the time.

This is the first room that's been finished in our new house.  It kind of feels a little selfish but so be it.  Our living room is mostly done, but Evan's room is next!

September 21

Weird title for a blog post huh?  Well, I thought about what to write up there to describe what I was going to talk about, and it seemed like I would need to put half of my post up there since there has been so much going on in the 3 months (gulp) since I've bothered to write anything here.  So I figured I would give a brief overview of all of it and maybe try to catch up.. We'll see, no promises!

To start of with, the last post I wrote was when Evan was 18 months old.  Today he is 21 months old.  Really getting up there, I know!  He has been such a great kid through all the crazy changes we have had going on around here.  That is not to say that he is not a challenge.  He is incredibly active and hard to keep up with, but it's worth it.  I know that his mind is working so quickly and I love to watch it.  He is in a stage of not saying much right now.  It's a tad frustrating at the moment, since he was saying so much a few months ago, but I figure there will come a day in the not to far future that he will be blurting out full sentences out of the blue.

Evan's first trip to Parker's Maple Barn, a staple for Autumn breakfast in NH as far as I'm concerned

Next up, Today I am 29 weeks pregnant with our twin boys.  Everyone tells me I look great.  Well most people....Some tell me I am enormous.  A lot of people seem to have pity on the lady pregnant with two babies.  For the most part, folks, I'm doing just fine.  Yes I look like I'm past full term with one baby, and I still have quite a few weeks to go, but that's to be expected, No?  Mike and I have not agreed on a single name for these boys, and we have not done a single thing to get ready for their birth.  This leads me to my next item up for discussion.

I think I look a little larger from this side... yeah, lets go with that!

It's been 22 days since we closed on our new house.  
So far I am completely in love with it.  Of course, there have been a few bumps in the road and there will most certainly continue to be, but all in all it's a great thing.  We bought a two family house with a rental unit on the second floor.  

Haha, look at Evan at the door!

It just so happens that our new tenants as of October 1 will be my husbands brother, best friend, and another good friend.  I continue to tell my husband that I'm pretty sure he is the luckiest man on the planet.  He can't disagree.  I am just thrilled that we will not have strangers in the same dwelling as my family.  Additionally, I think we have made a fantastic investment for our future and for our current living situation, since we have a supplement to help pay our mortgage.  Financial security has never been something I really thought we'd have, but it feels like we are one step closer anyway.


Last up, I've been working my tail off getting things in order for my online shop.  For anyone who doesn't know about it, Hazel Love is my Etsy shop, where I sell baby bibs, burp cloths and blankets. 

Rainbow Chevron Bib Set

I became extraordinarily motivated when I saw how well one of my competitors was doing.  Maybe that sounds a little odd, but it helped me to realize that I will only get out of this endeavor, what I put into it.  It spiraled into my participating in a local event this coming weekend, that I am equally nervous and excited for.  It will be the first time I am face to face with my customers.  It will (hopefully) be a good thing to see reactions to my items in person for a change.  I have gotten great feedback from my online customers so I hope it goes well!  For anyone who is near enough, and has children that would enjoy the event, come check it out.  I will be at Nini-Palooza, an event to raise money for High Hopes Foundation of New Hampshire

That's a brief recap, and yes I realize that I am going to be publishing this post on September 24th as opposed to the 21st as the title may indicate.  Here's the thing.... it took me that long to get my rear end outside to take a picture of my house, which I felt I could not do without!  The only reason I got out there, was because my husband called and told me the insurance company needed the picture.  Two birds with one stone..Yipee!  

I hope to see you again soon!