Small Bus on Wheels!

Well, things have been really busy lately. I am finally feeling better. No more morning sickness...Yippee! In the mean time I have been consumed with sewing projects. I guess you could say I have swapped blogging about cooking for blogging about sewing. Well, I guess to say that I actually have to write a post about it..lol! That will come next!

I am almost 1/2 way through my pregnancy and can already tell so many difference between this one and the last. First and foremost, I am not a photo hog like I was last time. I keep meaning to take a pic of my belly for all you speculators, but life is so busy right now. I promise I will post one soon.

In preparation for the baby, I have been on the hunt for the perfect double stroller. Well, I think I found it.



Tada! It is the Mountain Buggy Duo with a carrycot. The carry cot comes out and can be transported anywhere. It is very sturdy! Plus, there is a replacement seat, so, when baby is old enough he/she and AJ will each have their own spot.

AJ absolutely adores it and asks everyday if I will stroll him around the house in it. This one is about a year old and I got an absolutely killer deal on it. Hence, the really early purchase. I have wanted a jogger since AJ was little and I finally have one.

The really cool thing about this is it is only (lol!) 29" wide, so, I can go through a regular door with no problems. It is also SUPER easy to stear! I mean so easy even with just AJ in the stroller I can stear with only one hand! Super cool!

The funny thing about double strollers (besides the weight) is the enormity of them! I am so use to my little Peg stroller that I feel like I am driving a bus around. I am relatively short so, I actually feel like the gramma driving the extra wide cadillac. You know the one...you can barely see her head over the stearing wheel! Yep, that is what I feel like. I told my hubbie that he needs to install those horns that beep as I reverse. He just gave me the side eye! I will get use to the whole double stroller thing, but I am really excited to have this beaut in waiting! I guess I can double check that off the list of needed baby supplies! One thing down a kagillion to go!

What's AJ up too?

Well, it is super hot out, so AJ spends atleast a few hours in the backyard everyday. We are still working on our totschool activities, but we always include time to have fun!

This week, we have a had a lot of fun in our kiddie pool. It is interesting beacuse AJ is scared of the big pool. It takes sometime in his big float to get confortable, but he hates it if you try to hold him in the pool. So, no swimming playdates for us. Only kiddie pools and zero entry pools this year.



He is also fascinated with washing things...like his cars...the windows, ect... Interestingly, I have seen AJ doing lots on montesorri activities lately. He loves to get involved!

He also LOVES the MUD! He ALWAYS makes mud when he is outside. The hardest part is keeping him in his suit! Oh and keeping the mud OUTSIDE...lol!



We also love going to the adventure park. We do lots of learning while we are there because AJ loves going to see all the animals. AJ love going and playing in the water with his friends! It is the only way to keep cool. We just bought out tickets to the water park this weekend, so we will be trying that out very soon!





All and all it is turning into a nice, HOT summer, but we are managing to keep cool! How about you?

Just Goin' with the Girl

I have blog that I love to follow called Prudent Baby. The mama there is SUPER craft and always has great projects. Lately she has been making a ton of simple little dresses for her daughter. Now, please take the term "simple" with a grain of salt. They are simple of you are not a beginning sewer. Well, I am a beginning sewer and I have even been able to master a few of these little dresses. They are just too cute to resist. I started with what looked like the simpliest dress, the pillowcase dress.

I still have NO IDEA what we are having and we are not going to find out again. I also, don't have any really strong intuition like I did with Ante...so for now it is just wishful thinking! I have to have a girl at some point...right!

So, here is what I whipped up last night in a few hours. After I figured out the first one, the second went really quickly. I am still working on how to make the armholes the bias tape perfectly. I just might have to call my Aunt on that one. She is an amazing sewer (is that a word) and has a wealth of knowledge I have only recently started to tap into. Anywho...they first one (blue) has a few flaws, but nothing major. The pink one turned out much better.

A diaper sewing adventure

I have been really busy lately. My aunt gave me a serger she no longer uses, so, I have been a sewing machine lately. I descided to start making some wool and fleece diaper covers for the new baby. They are super easy to make and take very little time. I started with some old sweaters I had laying around and re-purposed them into diaper covers and longies. (BTW, I used Katrina's Pattern)
I am going to stop by Goodwill later this week and see if I can score some more wool on the cheap!

Then, I moved on to the fleece. I had some Elmo fleece left over from other project, but I also went to Joann's and bought some. It was so hard to pick out gender neutral petterns. They had some REALLY cute girley fleece, which I think I will go back and pick up...if we end up with another boy I will sell the unused soakers. They all turned out really cute though (and only cost $9 total). I made newborn and small soakers and longies...


I still have more to make, but I couldn't pass up a chance to make a skirtie. It was truly irresistible. I mean just look at it. But, that started a whole new trend...uh oh!



I just might have to make a few more of those...if I ever make it back up to the fabric store..wink wink!

What a whirlwind....

Between a 2nd birthday party, 3 days of training 3 hours away and morning sickness, it seems like it has been forever since last I posted. I do apologize, but we have been doing some really cool things lately. Here is an overview of our last few weeks...

We got a Thomas the Tank Engine Matching Game and AJ plays it almost everyday. He loves to call out the pictures as he puts them down. He usually does every board before moving on. We haven't played with the spinner yet, but I think we are going to try that soon.



We also played with out transpotation cards. AJ really amazed me with what he decided to do with these. First, he laid them out all facing up. Then, without being prompted he sorted them.
Not surprisingly, he collected all the trains first.

Then we talked about things with wheel and things without. So, he collect (and lined up) all the cards with wheels.




Another day we worked on graphing. We took all the color tiles and lined them up according to color. I thought there would be approx the same number of each...I was way off! We talked a lot about colors and the animals on the tiles...AJ enjoyed naming the sound the animal made.


We built houses out of blocks and AJ happily destroyed them as quickly... For some reason Aj has really enjoyed playing in my room lately. He loves to jump in bed under the covers and watch TV. I only let him do this for one episode of Dora. He would watch TV all day if I let him.


Nothing overly crafty this time, but tons of learning. I have some fun, craft activities I will post later this week from St.Patty's day. We had so much fun and we really worked on green fun!

Lastly, we have put together LOTS of puzzles. Something else AJ really enjoys. His new favorite puzzle is this 6 foot long ABC train puzzle. It is nice to have another ABC puzzle with different pictures. Although why do all my puzzles have to take up so much room!

Exciting News!

I am super excited to share that I am appox. 6 wks preggo! Yeah! I am a bit shocked..not that I am pregnant, but that it actually happened (worked)! I don't think it has totally hit me yet, but the morning sickness definitely has!

Ironically we spent the week in Orlando for training after AJ had his 2nd birthday. My hubbie and I got really sick the first night after dinner. Throwing up the whole bit! A definite case of food poisoning! So we were miserable, but I noticed that he started feeling better...Not me! Even when we got home I was still pretty green, so we decided I would take a test just to make sure I wasn't preggo.

Even at 8:30 at night there it was a very bright + sign!



My hubbie and I are super excited. It is still taking a bit of time for it to totally hit me, but it look like we will have another little one roaming around in November!

A Day with Family

My mom was in town for the weekend. It was so great to see her because she lives pretty far away. So, we went over to spend the afternoon with my mom (Mimi), my aunt (Surgi) and my grandmother (Nana).

On our trip over we stopped by this outstanding educational store that is unfortunately going out of buiness. Their misfortune was our awesome find. I got severl great things for AJ's totschool. I bought 2 different sets of picture cards. One set has everyday words on oneside and a picture on another. The other set was all kids of transportation cards. 1 card had a picture of a type of transportation (like a boat) and the word on the back. Then, there was a second card with a peek-a-boo picture that you could match up to determine the whole pictures (for example: there might be a peek-a-boo picture of a tire and you had to match it up to the truck). I also bought 2 posters that had opposites and rhyming words. I plan to cut those up and laminate for later. But, the big find was a set of foam blocks (orig. marked $45.99, marked down to $25.00 with an additional 30% off). In total I spent only $33 for all our treasure. I am super excited.

Needless to say that was a not so quick detour, but we still made it to Nana's in time. AJ was super excited to see Mimi and Surgi. He immediately ran up to them and held both their hands.

Mimi had a really special present for Nana....it was an accordian names Ruby. You see, when Nana moved her precious accordian was lost over 30 years ago. She still talks about it all the time, so the kids decided to suprise her with a new one. We had no idea if she would still remember how to play!

The moment Mimi opened the case, Nana could not believe her eyes. She could not stop smiling! It was such a beautiful moment! She slipped it right on and started playing!

I guess it is like riding a bike because she played every song she could think of... from polkas to She's comin' around the Mountain (she even played You are my Sunshine and Camptown Racers).


AJ just sat back and listened intently to all the music. Then, while we all ooggled and aggled he dove right in to building with his new blocks!




After about an hour of listening to all the beautiful music (and a few not so great moments when Mimi attempted to play) we decided to head off to get dinner. No Nap AJ did pretty good at dinner, it got a bit hairy at the end so Mimi and Surgi took him outside to ride on the carousel. He loved it!



The next evening, Mimi baby sat AJ so Daddy and I could finally go see Avatar! But, before we took off, I snapped a few pics of AJ and his Mimi. AJ didn't Mimi to leave when it was time for his nap, so he made her lay down and then he covered her up before he snugged up with her. It was so precious!




We were all very sad to drive Mimi to the airport. We just hope to see her again soon! We love you and miss you!