a little bit of this & a little bit of that

Life is busy. Life is good. Toddler boy of my dreams is busy, and cuddly, and happy, and funny, and great. Did I mention busy? Pregnant Mama is sleepy. Blog is suffering! BUT I've busted out the camera again and boy did I miss it. I didn't realize I missed it until I was on the floor all pregnant and twisted in weird ways trying to capture a cute pic of my dude. And the anticipation of bedtime to come so I can upload my pictures.... miss that!

With 2012 quickly approaching I've decided to take on a project. Project 52. If you've never heard of it, it is a picture every week for 52 weeks. Some do it as a photography challenge, but I'm going to focus on the joys, and challenges, of being a Mama.... and with baby #2 arriving very early in 2012 I figured this is the perfect year for it. A fun way for us to capture how our lives changed having a second baby, how Carter becomes a big brother, etc. I also figure it is a great way to make sure I keep my camera out and keep documenting our lives.

It's getting late but I couldn't resist posting these pictures. There really isn't a rhyme or reason to them, they were all on my camera and got uploaded together.

San Diego (yeah, that's how long it has been since I plugged my camera in! Sad)

Christmas cookie decorating with Nana & Papa.... or in Carter's case eating all the decorations! He had fun!

ooooooooooooooohhhh!

Random today pictures. Mama got a new lens for Christmas. Another good reason to take more pictures! I figured it was about time to teach Carter to "smile" for the camera.

Trucks. Seriously this kid is all about his cars and trucks! He falls asleep with one in each hand during most naps and bedtime. Makes me smile.

Running then taking a "rest" - when he plops on the floor, lays on his back for 3 seconds, then gets up and runs again.


It kills me that this picture is blurry. But I love it anyway. I'm starting a fund for my new camera body with higher ISO so I'll be able to capture these pics without the blur.

Carter and his trucks like to look out the window. And he likes to set them up on their butts on the ledge by the window. When I drive by our house I can see his trucks parked on their butts from the road. You better believe that makes me happy!

Another "rest" from building!


B. What I wouldn't give to be one of Carters Bs.

couple quick Christmas pics

I haven't uploaded all of my Christmas pictures yet, but these two are from my parents camera and are favorites already!

Carter with a hammer in his back pocket. Kid loves his tools!

This picture kills me I love it so much! This is exactly what trying to take a picture with Carter is like. Makes me laugh every time I see it.

one of my new favorites

One of my new Carter favorites: he yells for me when he's ready to get up from his nap. LOVE! He is slow to wake up and does not appreciate being gotten up too quickly. He likes to take his time, lay around for a bit, talk to his blanket/puppy/truck/etc. And now when he's ready he yells for me. It makes me happy!

Have I mentioned that 20 months is my favorite age?

You know what else makes me happy? The fact that our Christmas tree is only 1/3 decorated. That 1/3 being the very top portion of the tree. 95% of the ornaments that were put on the bottom 2/3 were taken off by Carter and played with then hidden in some random place.

craftastic update... nesting?

Yesterday my mom told me I was "nesting". This could very well be true. My (and Joe's) to do list is so long these days and it is driving me crazy. All I want to do is check the items off and call it a day. Like I seriously have this crazy desire to cross the items off my list. Yes, this could definitely be nesting. It could also be the result of moving, the holidays, and a baby on the way that has created this never ending list of things to do, things to see, etc, etc, etc. I will say though that closing in on baby girl's delivery date, 4 weeks from tomorrow, has lit a fire in me.

35 weeks pregnant and feeling it. So. Very. Tired. All. The. Time. All I wanted to do during Carter's nap was crawl into his crib with him and nap - even when I'm not tired this sounds amazing. I love snuggling my dude. But I didn't. Instead I made a changing pad cover. Yeay! I think if I'd had more time I would have done two different fabrics to spice it up a bit.

see that pile of pictures in the background... that's on the to do list too

I also pumped out some button letter monograms for Carter and Mya. Lets hope her name stays Mya as these buttons are glued down in an M shape! For some reason I didn't take a picture of Carter's.

No matter what is on my to do list, or how pressing the timeline may be I ALWAYS have time for this.

Snuggling on the couch and reading books, chatting, or watching toons is one of Carter's favorite things lately. He loves to be close. Scratch that. He loves to be sitting on top of me with my arm around him. It is adorable. He will walk me over to the couch, sit me down, and then climb up on my lap to snuggle. Sometime we just sit there and chat and he is totally content. He's normally such an active guy so I make sure I really take advantage of these times. Lately we talk a lot about him becoming a big brother.

This truck is currently one of Carter's most favorite trucks. Sometimes he'll climb up on my lap, sit for a minute or two, then climb down, go find this truck, and climb back up to snuggle. Love him!

I also got out my real camera this past weekend. Although the pictures can't be posted yet as it will ruin a surprise.

Ok, I have to get off the computer and bust out the sewing machine and cross off another thing on the list: changing pad cover #2. Then off to bed!

bulldoze!

The other day Carter and I were playing in his room and he grabs one of his trucks - a bulldozer - and says "bulldoze!" I was like "hmm, did I hear that right?" Sure enough, he knows what a bulldozer is. Carter has some construction trucks and normally I call them trucks and occasionally say what they are - bulldozer, dump truck, etc. But it definitely hasn't been anything that I've focused on trying to teach him. So when he suddenly said "bulldoze" I was totally shocked! It amazes me the things he picks up so quickly and that we may not even realize he is learning.

20 months is seriously such a fun age. The other day he woke up from his nap and played for a bit in his crib (as per the normal) then all of a sudden I hear "mom, juice!" over the monitor. A few seconds later "mom! juice!" Kid cracks me up. Love him!

PS. Today marks the one month count down to Mya's birthday. Crazy! I'm kind of hoping she doesn't come early (we have SO much to do still) but we'll see!

Santa!

Dear Santa,

Sorry I didn't want to sit on your lap. I was much more interested in the train set you had on the table next to you!


Love,

Carter

Here is last year's picture. Look how much smaller he was!

martha!

DISCLAIMER: all photos in this post are crappy cell phone photos. Everything is much more vivid in person. I need to stop being lazy and get out the real camera.

You can just call me Martha! Lately I've been all crafty. Sewing, making mobiles, wall art, etc. I'm not sure what's gotten into me, but I'm all about the DIY crafts, baby bedding, art, etc. And I'm loving it! It has been a fun thing that I enjoy doing and a fun way to put some personalized stuff in our rooms. Plus it saves us money, which Joe likes.

Previously a lot of my craft projects haven't turned out like I thought they would. In my head I envision these amazing things, but then I'd learn that my sewing abilities don't quite aline with the visions in my head. So when I told Joe I was going to make Carter and Mya's bedding he was like "ehh are you sure that's a good idea?" I could see dollar signs washing down the drain in his mind. And rightfully so! In the past that has totally happened, and he had a right to be nervous. Hell, I was nervous! But I decided I was going to do it, come hell or high water, and guess what?! A few hundred bumps in the road later I did it! With some help from my mom and later my dad.

Here's my first project. Sorry these are all crappy phone pics!!! Carter's new bumper. I was SOO sick of his old one and I loved this fabric. It turned out so great! After it was finished I think I said to my mom a hundred times "wow I'm so impressed with our sewing abilities!"

Having success with Carter's bumper gave me the confidence I needed to tackle another bumper, plus black out curtains. (and soon to come a bed skirt and changing pad cover) I was so nervous when I hit the "buy" button on all this fabric. I'd never seen it in real life and it was three different patterns, etc. I was nervous, but all turned out well and I love the fabric!

Black out, custom size curtains. Success! These took some work, measuring, cutting, lots of pinning and sewing and most importantly lots of patience. For 3 non sewers (my mom, dad, and myself) it was the blind leading the blind on the best way to create these curtains. I am so happy with how they turned out.

And her bumper.

Her room is very clustered right now. We have a queen size bed in there too for when my parents come to stay to watch Carter while I'm in the hospital and after she's born. So we can't really put it together yet. But the gray walls and pink are so awesome!

Side note: big thanks to Papa for painting Carter's room to perfection and helping Joe paint Mya's room, also to perfection!

I also made a mobile for Carter's room and am going to make one for Mya too. I don't have a picture of it right now, but I'll post them soon!

Also in the works are button monograms for each of them. Here's a picture of my very rough draft. I need to spray paint my canvas white before I can continue... and yes I know I can't spray paint so I need to wait for someone to do that for me. I'm so excited to see how these turn out!

Carter's

Mya's

We also had Tucker make a paw painting for Carter. This will forever hold a very special place in my heart. One of Carter's very first words was "Tuck". Carter loved loved loved Tucker. That's all this emotional pregnant woman can say about that right now. It's a really special thing and I love it. This will hang in Carter's room.

I've got at least another 10 projects I really want to make. More wall art, another mobile type thing, etc. As these projects get pumped out I'll post pictures.

You may have noticed I called baby girl Mya a few times. We're finally decided on a name! Also, my c section has been scheduled. January 12th. Crazy! That time is coming so quickly and yet we still have so much to do! I do not recommend moving to a new state while very pregnant. I need to go get my car registered and get a drivers license.... just what I want, my drivers license picture to be taken while 8+ months pregnant. Hell even tackling these sewing projects has been a little rough with a huge 8 month pregnant belly to work around.

I realize the blog has been neglected lately and my pictures have all been crappy cell phone pictures. I need to work on that... when I get some time!

One last random thing. Carter's vocab is progressing so much each and every day. This morning he looked at me and said (while he also signed it) "more milk please". Seriously melt my heart cute. A full on sentence and the please... enough to turn me into a sloppy mess! He's such a polite little dude.