Halloween 2015

So, I just realized that I never posted about our family costume last Halloween.
I do realize we are 2 months out and I am already planning for this year but that's life.

W was Pebbles from the Flintstones



I made a pinafore dress and stuck black felt on it and some blue bloomers.
The car behind her was made over a cozy truck we got for free and used as a base.
It's amazing what some cardboard, paint and wood could do.

We took the car trick or treating, although she can walk it's not very far.



This is the family.
P's costume was orange felt sewed in a tube made longer with black felt triangles a and a blue felt tie.
My dress is also made from felt.
The necklace is styrofoam balls cut into geometric shapes to look like rocks.
I used felt because it's sturdy and doesn't need hemming.


What were you for Halloween? What are you going to be this year?

~Steph~

Dear Willow: YOU ARE GOING TO BE TWO!

I can't believe it! 

Two years ago today I was feeling like such a cow

and now I look at the little girl you are becoming.

You are independent and strong willed.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that's a bad thing.

Credit: echo photography

Currently when I ask you how old you are,
 you say three and think it's so funny. Then you correct it to two. 

You have quite the personality already.

Credit: echo photography

Tickles, chunkies or gotchus are your favorite and you always demand more.

You are polite and usually say please and thank you.

I love you so much, my Willow Leigh.


~ Mom ~

oversharer: feeling lost part 2

So we left off with taking a village on this post here in case you missed it.
This is an over share post with feelings, so if thats not for you this post isn't for you either.

Since we have had W; we have moved closer to my parents, hired a maid, been going to a therapist, and recently I have joined a baby hiking group. 

A VILLAGE.

Yup! That's what I said. 

It's not just P and I making this work. 

I work 12.5 hours at night, so 14+ hours to get there and come home. If P is here he will watch W, but if he is at work (he works 20 days a month) my mom and dad will watch her. They are both retired and we dont know what we would do without them.

I have never been one to keep an maculate home.
This has caused several fights during the 10 years P and I have been together. Once W was born cleaning was no longer a priority and I just couldn't keep up. Although at first I felt like I failed at being mom because I couldn't do it all, I realized that I am just human and allowed P to hire a maid. I would not change it and now I have more time to worry about it.

Alright, the hard one.. a therapist. We have talked about going to therapy for YEARS. It's not that we are broken or that there is one thing wrong, we just want to make things better. At first we were going a lot and the communication between us became awsome and the fighting and frustration became less. We have both given up something in our marriage life and we are able to make things work for us.

In the last few months, as I wrote in the first post. I found a local hiking group where I can wear W, get our of the house, have mommy conversations and get exercise all at once. I love it and it has really changed how we do things.

Having these people in our lives has really been awsome and feeling lost I hope is a thing of the past.

oversharer: feeling lost

Hello people of the internet.
This post is another over share of emotional mommy thoughts. If this is not your cup of tea than skip over this post. Thanks.

(source)
Update: this was written about 6 weeks ago..

Somewhere in the time I had a baby I have lost myself.

These feelings have slowly taken over my daily train of thought. I don't want to be P's wife or W's Mom, I want to be Steph again. I want to feel like I am good enough or that thing I do ìwhen I do something I love. Lately that has not been the case. I have written this on mommy boards and it seems to be common and that I am not a lone. Don't get me wrong, I love being a wife, mom, daughter, etc., but sometimes you need your own thing.

I constantly get asked how I do it with working full time, being a stay at home mom part time and still keeping it all together. It definitely takes a village to keep this family up and moving.

Stay tuned for part 2 and what we are doing to keep it together. 

Fun Friday: Liebster blog award

This is a post that got lost in the shuffle, so for funsies. Here you are.. I am not nominating anyone because I have been out of the blogging world for awhile and don't even know.

The Liebster Award is given by bloggers to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. It is to show new bloggers that they are appreciated, and to help spread the word about new blogs. 

Back in November 2012, I know I know I am way behind. 

I was nominated by Shannon from Sewing Barefoot here, thanks shannon!

The rules:

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

4. Choose 11 blogs you love (with less than 200 followers) and link them in your post.

5. No tag back (but please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster post so I can learn more about you)!

11 Things about me:

1. I have been married for 1 1/2 years to P

2. I have 2 pets: a cat, Daliah, and a dog, Alex

3. I play roller derby

4. I often get a crafty bug to do something around the house

5. I don't often finish those projects

6. I like making unusual crocheted items

7. I love running for the sake of running

8. I will be running my 8th marathon in march

9. My favorite number is 8, my derby number is 88

10. I was born in Hollywood, Ca

11. pinterest is my downfall

Here are the questions I'm asking the blogs I nominate:

[1] What are a few blogs that you read on a daily/weekly basis? Young house love and Bower Power

[2] What is your favorite TV show? Parenthood and Grey's Anatomy
[3] How long have you been blogging? 3 years [4] What project(s) are you currently working on? Crate bookshelf [5] What is one of your New Years Resolutions? Be happy, healthy and spend more time with the hubby [6] What is your favorite pin on Pinterest? that changes daily [7] Are you a dog or cat person? both [8] Where do you buy most of your clothes? thrift stores [9] What is the #1 item on your holiday wish list? didn't have one [10] Do you need coffee to function? Or are you more of a tea person? coffee daily [11] How long have you been blogging and what inspired you to start a blog? my bf from high school

Mommy review 1.5 years in

So, I want to start with .. being a mother is easily the hardest thing I have ever done.

As Willow quickly approaches 18 months I just wanted to reflect on this wild adventure we have taken.

I love being a mother and it has given me a new sense of self worth and gratitude. Being a mother is unlike anything we know or want to know. You can read and prepare, but you don't truly know what it will be like until you are in the moment.

This also comes from being a postpartum nurse now, because I do see it EVERYDAY. 

Both P and I are pretty relaxed on our parenting methods.

This comes from several places, but we want to shower our baby with love.

We both work full time and want our daughter to know us so that also plays a role in this.

Mostly we try to take her lead and let her go with some corrections when needed. 

There are so many things, products, opinions, etc., out there  and we have found what works best for us, our family and, our needs.

Here are a few things we did..

We clothed diapered for over a year until she started to develop a chaffing rash because she is too tall/big so we had to switch to disposables. We use seventh generation free and clear.

We supplemented her from birth with Enfamil AR. This is just what worked for us.

We started solids  around 5 months, she was so interested in food earlier than that, but could not handle it. Now she eats everything and is food motivated. She had a real interest in eating with utensils so we let her and now she can feed herself.

We weaned her off the bottle just after 13 months.

She still mostly takes two 1-2 hour naps a day and sleeps 10-12 hours through the night in her crib. We give her milk in a sippy cup before bed (I know, big no no but that's what works).

She has slept in her own room from around 4 months and in a crib since about 6 months. We just all sleep better with this arrangement.

At the 18 month mark, she has about 20 ish words and some signs such as thank you, all done, more, etc. She runs, climbs, likes to feed her dolls and wipe their faces. She loves being outside and playing. For the most part she is a pretty happy and relaxed kid.

Having a toddler though, is like going on a blind date every day,

you do not know what your going to get.

~ Steph ~