Crafts

I just thought this was so cute.  Caroline loves to look out the window in our room.  It's the perfect height for her right now.

Well, I think Caroline's room is done, for now, until we add another kid into it.  Don't worry, I'm not pregnant, nor do I plan on it anytime soon, I'm just thinking long-term here.  I think we could fit three kids in that room.  That would be great to not have to move again.  I hate moving.

Inspired by pinterest, and assisted by my mother-in-law, I made a paste out of cornstarch and water and pasted fabric to her dark, ugly, faux-wood closet doors in her room.  It turned out great!  It really brightened up her room and looks so much better! The paste doesn't leave a residue, so it's perfect for if you are renting.  You can also use it to stick fabric to walls.  I've heard you can do the same with liquid starch, but this was so cheap!  Just water and cornstarch!

Here's a close up of the fabric.  I got it at Hobby Lobby and I love it!  I am so glad Karen was there to help.  I tried it on my own before, but I really needed another pair of hands.   When I did it on my own I could not get all the bubbles and wrinkles out because it was too big of a piece to hold by myself.  Now I have to constrain myself from doing it to all the ugly doors in our apartment.  I don't want to go too crazy and make it too much.  But I am really considering doing it to the laundry room doors. 

I also made a butterfly garland to go above it.  It was really easy to do, I did it all out of scrapbook paper while we watched a movie, then we just strung them on twine and hung it up.  I like it with the door because it's girly without being too girly.

Thanks for all your help Karen.  I couldn't have done it without you!

Close up of the butterflies.  You just cut a square and a circle out of scrapbook paper, accordion fold both, hold them together and tie the middle.  I really like it. 

Today was Great!

Today was a great day!  Lots of really good things happened!  Here is why today was so much fun!

Grandma Rhoads bought her a new swimsuit when she was here.  Yes, those are hearts on it. 

I'm sorry, but this has got to be the cutest picture I have ever seen.  Her little leg and smile.  She is so beautiful!  And that really is the cutest swimsuit I've ever seen.

pig tails.

She was making the funniest faces at dinner tonight.

She's starting to perfect the art of making weird faces.

She loves to stick her tongue out. 

She kept making this silly/creepy face. 

• Caroline started nursing again!  Yay!  She nursed in the morning and before bed.  Also, there was no biting!  That was the best.  It just made me so happy!  She was in a good mood today too.
• The other fun things is that Caroline got to play with two friends today.  First this morning, we had our friend Lydia come over so her mom  could run some errands.  She had so much fun.  Lydia is almost two and they like to play together.  Then in the afternoon Lily came over while her mom went to the doctors office.  Lily and Caroline really love to play together.  Lily took every toy out of the toy box and handed them one by one to Caroline, which Caroline loved.  Lily just turned two on Sunday, and had a great birthday party.  
• I guess those are the two main points.  We had a good dinner, Eli gave Caroline a bath while I took a nap on the couch, and I learned how to do a French twist to my hair off of pinterest. I also got all of the laundry and ironing done.  I think now I am going to paint my nails now and wait for Eli to finish studying so we can go to bed.  I still have a hard time sleeping without him.  

 Good Night!

January Highlights So Far

I feel like a loser for not blogging for most of January.  It's been a pretty laid back month, but we've had some exciting things happen as well.  Here are the highlights (and low-points) so far:

• Grandma Rhoads came to visit.  She came for Martin Luther King weekend and it was so much fun!  Caroline loved playing with Grandma, and her iPad.  We showed her around Louisville, had lunch with Eli at school, did a couple craft projects (pictures to come later), and just hung out.  Grandma even watched Caroline for us one night so we could go on a date!  I just realized that I haven't taken a picture this whole month, and that was really stupid of me!  Sorry Grandma.  We had a blast though.  I kind of forgot what it's like to have an adult around to talk to.  I don't think I've talked that much, all day long, for quite a while!  Please come again soon!
• I went successfully off dairy and sugar, for the first two weeks of the month.  Once grandma visited I went lax, and it's hard to get back on the train.  But I felt really good and I didn't crave things or feel like I was missing out.  I checked out a lot of vegan cookbooks at the library and I am making copies of the recipes that sound good and will create my own master cookbook.  I've also been exercising everyday and that feels really great too.  I feel like over the past few years I've made lots of little steps for our health, and now I feel like giving up dairy will make me feel so good.  When I've given up dairy before I've felt so good.  I just need to do it.  Starting tomorrow, I'm back on!
• This announcement makes me so excited and proud of Eli.  He has honored in his Medical Neuroscience class!  They pounded out a whole course in 3 weeks.  He worked really hard and ended up with a 96% percent in the class.  To honor you must be in the top 10%.  I'm really so very proud of him.  We went to a pizza place tonight to celebrate his accomplishment.  Way to go Eli!
• Low-point: Caroline is on a nursing strike!  All of the sudden, three days ago, she started freaking out when it was time to nurse.  She would scream, arch her back, and fling herself all over the place.  It's very frustrating.  I love nursing her and miss that time with her.  I've been pumping, but I can tell my milk supply is going down and I have never been able to pump much anyway.  I'm giving her a couple of days without trying to nurse, and I'm giving her extra love and attention and I hope that will help her go back to it.  She is a little monster though.  She likes to bite, and then growl and laugh at you after she bites!
• Caroline does have a lot more tricks up her sleeve, along with her biting.  She loves to stick out her tongue, growl, and will now free-stand, she will also take a step without holding onto anything.  Today she started to roll her hands when I sang "The Wheels on the Bus." She also eats a ton.  The other day we had baked potatoes and she ate 1 1/2!  She is also know to eat multiple bowls of spaghetti, lasagna, and rice.  She also now weighs 17 lbs. and has 6 teeth.
• Our lovely maintenance people installed a new fridge and a new dishwasher in our apartment!  The old ones looked like they were from the seventies.  I hated the fridge because it was tiny and you had to dig around to get anything.  The new fridge is 4 cubic feet bigger and the freezer is huge too!  I am so happy about it.  The dishwasher holds a lot more and actually dries the dishes most of the way.  I love it!

That's about all we've been up to so far this month.  We're really proud of Eli and all of his hard work.  Tonight we are going to bed early to try to catch up on sleep.  I plan on blogging more this week!  Here's some pictures, a few weeks old though:

Back to Reality

Our Christmas break in one word: Heavenly.

It was so wonderful.  Although we missed all of the family we usually see at Christmas, dearly missed them, it was so nice staying at our house with our own little family.  And Mom and Dad came for Caroline's first Christmas and it was so fun.  Caroline loved playing with her daddy all day every day! Although he did instill a few bad habits in her that I am trying to fix.  Namely that it is a game to throw her binky out of the bed all the time, and that she has to have someone playing with her at all times (no more self playing), she likes to sit in our laps to drink her green smoothie and even likes to drink it out of our cups (not her own sippy cup).  I guess those habits aren't that bad.  She also got better at cruising along furniture, walking while pushing things around, and eating really well.  Now, the break is over.  We are getting back to our routines.  Caroline and I are getting used to being around each other all day and missing Eli.  But when he comes home at night he is greeted by two girls happy to see him!  Here are some pictures from Christmas!

 Playing with Gammy on Christmas Eve







Pappy read us a nice Christmas story Aunt Alaina sent us. 

Going to church on Christmas morning

 Caroline didn't get as excited about presents as we thought she would.  She did enjoy throwing the clothes she got out of the boxes.  That was about the highlight of presents for her.  We enjoyed opening her presents.  Thank you to all of our generous family for the presents that were sent to us.  They were all great!  Thank you so much!

 I got Eli some much needed Louisville gear, he's been sticking out like a sore thumb!

 Christmas baby!

 Eli's mom gave Eli some great church shoes, along with jeans, and regular shoes. He is ready for cold bus rides to school.

 I loved Caroline's first Christmas.  I got some great presents too: a Chi hair straightener, shoes, tights, Eli gave me some beautiful earrings, bubble bath, and a turbie towel, among other things.  Thank you moms, dads, and other family!

 Our Christmas dinner was so good!  Look at that spread!  Our Christmas miracle was a ham!  A Honeybaked Ham was sent to our apartment to the previous residents.  I didn't know what to do.  I had already sent back mail to the sender it came from.  Some friends in our ward knew the people it was sent to, they moved to Utah and told us to keep the ham!  It was delicious!  Thanks!

Mom and Dad at Christmas dinner.










Caroline and her new walk behind toy from Grandma and Grandpa Rhoads.  She is getting very adept at it!

 Caroline made best friends with Pappy when she ate his whole slice of sweet potato pie!  She loved it and wouldn't leave him alone.  She kept trying to climb up in his lap.  Luckily he was nice and shared with her. 









 

Caroline got some great bath toys for Christmas.  She loves them all!  Bathtime  is a lot more enjoyable.