B-Fab

Long time no see, here's baby number three!

2015-05-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Wow so it's been like a year and a half since my last blog post? I have had a lot going on. Like, a lot a lot. I'll do a quick little overview and then (maybe?) do at least some sort of periodic updates.

First up: I now work outside the home full time. I'm in "Documents and Records Management" which is essentially lots of computer and database work. I like it; it's something I'm good at, and I have some great coworkers.

Second: we bought a new house. We needed some more room, and this house delivers. We love it! There's still some boxes to unpack and spaces that we have to figure out how to organize, but so far so good.

Third: We had a third baby!

Not only did we have so much going on, it was all happening at the same time. I started working in January, at the beginning of my third trimester, and worked right up until the day before I delivered at 41 weeks 6 days. I was pregnant, working full time, we moved in with my MIL for a little bit to sell our old house, got our house sold, bought a new one, moved again, bought a new truck for my husband, and had a baby. The new house, truck, and baby all happened in April, while both of us were working full time and sharing childcare duties at home, and while I was very pregnant.

We have opposite schedules so we only need help with the kids for 3 hours Monday and 3 hours Tuesday- the rest of the time there's a parent home. It's been working really well for us, and we're managing to still find time to be a family together most days. Everything has been so frantic, it's time to try and find our new groove.

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Tagging up the Holidays

2013-11-19T11:35:00.001-08:00

The holidays are quickly approaching which means there will be lots of family, food, and GIFTS!! I love giving gifts and seeing my family open them, and I'm usually just as excited as they are for their presents. I will admit though, that I've never been a huge fan of wrapping. I'm more about what's inside than presentation, and I like the ease and convenience of gift bags.

I was at the craft store recently and when I saw these brown paper gift bags I had a great idea!! I decided to find myself some pretty glittery paper, use my Silhouette Cameo to create custom tags for the gift recipients, and my work would be done. Cute, personalized gift wrapping without all the folding and trying to make neat corners and smooth out the lumps in my wrapping paper.

I just used my text tool to create a name (my sister, Tania's), added a .5 inch offset, then a .25 inch circle in the corner of the offset background for a little twine to go. And that's all!! Super quick and easy :)

~B
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My DIY Woven Wrap and Grad Dye- Part 2

2013-08-19T16:03:00.000-07:00

Moving on to the fun part! Color. In my part 1 post I went over babywearing in general, fabric choice, and prepping my fabric. Next it was time to dye, and since I've never dyed anything before, I was nervous. And I experimented (and failed), but I did my best to fix my mistakes and while it's not perfectly smooth, I have to say I love love LOVE my colors!! I'm so excited.

LOVE

I did tons and tons of reading, asked questions of experienced dyers, and spent way too much time in a Dyed Baby Carriers Facebook group. Then I went shopping for equipment.

Equipment:

Rubbermaid storage tub (I got the tallest one I could find, and I figured the dark purple wouldn't show staining)
Tension rod
Salt- lots and lots of salt
Soda Ash (aka pH+ for your pool)
Rubber gloves
Bucket
Diaper sprayer (optional)
Wooden utensil for stirring that is now for dye only and no food
Hangers
Hanger clips*
Dye**

*You can use pant hangers with clips already on them, or binder clips, or perhaps clothespins, but it has to be strong. This much fabric gets heavy when it's wet and you don't want it falling in and ruining your grad!

**I used Dylon because I could find it at Joann's. My fabric (weighed on my kitchen scale) was just under 2 lbs so I started with 4 packets of dye; 2 Flamingo Pink and 2 Intense Violet. I ended up buying more to redo my dyeing, but that comes later.

The setup:

My dye attempt #1 was done post-bedtime in my kids' bathroom. So it's late at night, crappy bathroom lighting. Plus, I am nowhere near being a photographer of any sort so you're stuck with what I could manage picture-wise. Sorry.

I hung the damp wrap along one rail, accordion folded in the hangers. I think there were like 3 layers of fabric on each hanger. Then I held the wrap in the tub and set the tension rod up so the bottom rail of the wrap hung about an inch above the bottom of the tub. I ended up using spare hanger clips to keep the ones holding the wrap from sliding back and forth on the hanger, but when I re-did my dyeing I found that rubber bands were much easier and worked much better.

I used a bucket because it made the math and measuring easier. I measured out 2 gallons (by filling a gallon jug with water and dumping it into the bucket) and marked the outside of the bucket so I had a reference for filling. In each 2 gallon bucket of hot water I added 1 lb of salt (4 cups) and 2/3 cup of the pH+. I'd stir to dissolve the salt and soda ash and dump that into tub with the wrap and the dye. I think it took about 4 gallons to cover the bottom rail an inch or two. I mixed 2 packets of dye in a jar with hot water to dissolve it, then carefully poured it in with the wrap, then set my timer for 5 minutes. While I was waiting, I got another 2 gallons of water ready with the salt and soda ash. When the timer went off, I carefully poured in the water (trying to avoid splashing), re-set my timer, and got the next bucket ready.

Somewhere in this process I realized that the center of the wrap was well above the top of the tub I was dyeing in. So when the tub was filled, at the next 5 minute mark I lowered the tension rod a few inches- not exactly easy, let me tell you- and continued that way until the middle. Then my pink was done!! It looked pretty good, and it was time to rinse. And rinse. And rinse and rinse and rinse. It felt like it took forever for the water to run clear, and I was sweating and aching from all of the wringing and working with the heavy, wet fabric.

By this time, it was late, I was tired, and I got lazy. This was a mistake. I could have just closed the bathroom door and waited to do the purple side until the next day but I was all "I need to do this tonight and it will be so awesome!!" so I took shortcuts that came back to bite me in the ass. I decided that the tension rod and accordion fold and hangers were just too much work, so I just folded the wrap up and laid it in the tub. I even thought I was clever for using the tension rod to hold the wrap in the middle of the tub instead of against the side! Then I proceeded with the Intense Violet dye in the same adding water method I used on the pink side.

That's a white tee on the other side of the bucket. I was tempted by all that dye water just sitting there, lol.

I didn't take pictures of the resulting purple, but it was awful. It was soooo uneven, splotchy, and there were huge sections that weren't dyed at all because the fabric folded all over itself kept the dye out of the middle sections. I was so upset. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed, and decided I had to redo the purple.

The next day I lugged the kids to Wal Mart to stock up on salt and more soda ash and then I set everything up in my bathroom (more room, better light) and went to my dye stash to see I didn't have enough purple! But I did have one extra packet of Flamingo Pink. Even though I liked the look of the pink side of my wrap, I figured I'd overdye to make it deeper and maybe blend some of the lines. So I filled the tub (I wasn't doing a grad this time, I was just redyeing the entire side), set up my tension rod and hangers, and overdyed the pink with one packet of dye. Not enough to totally change the look, but enough to make it brighter and richer.

Then I figured out a genius way to rinse without having to work out while doing it! We have a stall shower (in the same bathroom as the shower/tub combo, I don't get it but whatever) so I put the tension rod across the top of the shower, hung the wrap in the middle, and just turned the shower on! It rinsed the wrap, all the excess dye went down the drain, and I was able to do other things. I'm really quite proud of myself for it.

Later that day I loaded up the kids again and made a Joann's run for more purple dye. Then I waited for bedtime so I could work without my little helpers. This time I was much less exact, even though I was meticulous with using the tension rod and hangers, lol. I added more water per level, used 3 packets of dye, and was really just hoping for enough pigment to even everything out. Then I set it up in the shower to rinse.

It was so much better!!! I'm thrilled. It's not perfect, I have some fuchsia lines where the pink particles floated to the top of the purple dye (I'm not sure what I did wrong there, maybe I needed to stir more frequently?) I laid it out along my stair railing to dry overnight.

At this point I was unsure of the colors. And please excuse my non-vacuumed, cluttered hallway.

The next day I cut tapers, pressed, and hemmed. There are a couple places on the hem that have some looping from the bobbin, so I'm going to rip out those sections and go over them. I used purple thread for my hem. Note: if you want to hem before you dye, make sure you use 100% cotton thread. Polyester thread won't take the dye. Since I did my hemming after dyeing, I didn't have to worry about my thread's fiber content.

Today, I wanted to try out my wrap! The more I look at it the more I love it; the colors are just amazing and it's 100% my style. I had to chase down M to get her on my back since they were running around in the backyard and playing in the pool and I have a migraine so we both look a little rough, lol. But my wrap is gorgeous!!

Yes, the camera is resting on top of my grill. I don't have a tripod.

So there you have it! My long, tedious adventure and I am absolutely thrilled with the results. I can't wait to do it again, but I think it would be more fun with a friend or two to work with. Next time I make a wrap I think I might shoot for 25"-28". This finished product is 30" and even wrapping my toddler there's a lot of width to work with.

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My DIY Woven Wrap and Grad Dye- Part 1

2013-08-17T18:45:00.001-07:00

I'm a babywearer. It's fun, it's a great mommy hobby since I have two toddlers trailing me 24/7 (may as well include them!), and it's just a great way to keep your babies close and to carry them without lugging around a heavy infant carseat or loading and unloading a stroller every time you have to go to the store. It can help you get dinner cooked when you have a kiddo who just needs to be near Mommy right this second, it can bring forth wonderful naps when you've given up hope of naps, and for me right now with a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old, it means I can actually run errands and go to the store and keep track of two crazy active littles. I'm even one of the leaders of a babywearing group here in Las Vegas; the Vegaroos.

Giving my big boy snuggles in the ring sling at the ER while we waited to get stitches.

Used ring sling to put M on my back for a quick checkup at the doctor's office.

I started wearing C in the Moby when he was days old, then we moved on to the ring sling and the Ergo when he got heavy for the Moby, and then when he was almost one and wanting to see everything that was going on, he was just too low in a back carry in the Ergo, so I ventured into the world of woven wraps and got my BB Slen Blueberry, which I LOVE. BB Slens are gorgeous, one of the most affordable woven wraps out there, and nice and supportive. I'm going to keep mine forever; maybe one of my babies will use it to carry their babies someday.

Awkward bathroom pic when I first got my BB Slen, and tiny bald C!

There are mamas who have thousands of dollars invested in their stash of woven wraps, ring slings, SSCs (soft structured carriers, like the Ergo), and other types of carriers. While I very much envy their pretty piles of fluff, it's just not something I can convince my husband that I need. I have a wrap, I have a ring sling, and I have an Ergo. Why in the world would I need more than one of any of those (he doesn't seem to understand how PRETTY some of those wraps are). So, filled with stash envy and under budget constraints, I decided to make my own woven wrap! I'm going to share with you what I did, where I screwed up so you can avoid my mistakes, and what worked for me.

Let's start with fabric choice. I used osnaburg. It's 100% cotton, and basically a heavyweight muslin. It washes up so soft and fluffy, but it also supportive and strong. It's very popular in the DIY babywearing community because not only does it do a great job at what we're using it for, but it's CHEAP!! I got 6 yards for about $15 from Hobby Lobby; shipping included using a 40% off coupon from the iPhone app. You can use a bottomweight linen, a linen/cotton blend, even pretty woven tablecloths as long as they're long enough for what you want (usually a long tablecloth will get you a ring sling or shortie wrap). The important thing is to look for sturdy woven (no stretch!) fabric that's heavy (bottomweight= you'd use it to make bottoms like pants instead of a top or blanket) and natural fibers, like cotton or linen. Please PLEASE stay away from the quilting cotton*. I know it's so pretty and there are so many awesome patterns and designs, but it's just not strong enough to hold up against the beating it'll get carrying babies around. And since these are our babies, we want to make sure that the fabric won't fail because that could be dangerous and scary.

When I got my osnaburg, the first thing I did was serge the cut ends and wash and dry the fabric on hot three times. Osnaburg can shrink quite a bit, so I wanted it to get all of its shrinking out of the way before I cut or hemmed it. Then I washed a fourth time with a squirt of blue Dawn dish soap to remove any factory chemicals or residual oils. Then I trimmed it to 32" wide (it should end up 30" wide after hemming) and serged all four sides. Then I tried out a quick carry with 35 lb 3 year old C so see how comfy it was:

Hey look, an awkward bathroom pj pic! With a much bigger C testing out the support factor.

The next part of my adventure was dyeing. My plan: a pink to purple grad dye. It was gonna be awesome. I made a few mistakes, and I'm still trying to fix them, so I'll save the dye part of my journey for another post :)

*You can double layer quilting cotton into a ring sling; it will be bulky, but should be strong enough with two layers. Personally, I'd rather just avoid it altogether.

Edit: I finished! Here's Part 2

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Go me!

2013-06-16T22:06:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! Remember my last post where I entered my project into Silhouette America's weekly challenge? Well guess what? I WON!!!! I'm so excited, I won credit for the Silhouette online store so I can download new designs for my machine. Yay!!! I feel so special :)

~B
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Silhouette Weekly Challenge- Fonts

2013-06-09T23:29:00.001-07:00

I love my Silhouette Cameo that I got for my birthday! I've been asking friends and family if they need anything labeled or made just so I can use it and get the hang of it. I've made stencils for shirts using freezer paper, boxes and cards out of card stock, and I'm labeling everything I can with vinyl.

Silhouette does weekly challenges where they want to see what we can do with the machine. This week's theme is using any font on our computer, so I wanted to show how I labeled my jar of homemade laundry detergent!

It says "Laundry Soap" and "2 Tbsp per load" in Harlow Solid Italic font, cut onto pink adhesive-backed vinyl. I love it, and on the rare occasion that my husband starts laundry, he knows exactly how much to put in! It makes me smile every time I go into my laundry room, and that's always welcome when I'm doing laundry :)

~B
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DIY Mail Orgnization

2013-05-22T11:51:00.002-07:00

I have a confession: I'm not a tidy person. Clutter is something that I battle (not successfully, I might add) constantly. I get easily overwhelmed and just don't know where to start. Then when I do start, I have two toddlers either undoing my work or needing my attention within 5 minutes of starting. This leads to lots of piles of mail. All over. Which gets really confusing, especially when it's time to pay bills. So I decided to create an organization center with the family calendar, mail organization, etc. as step one.

I'm going to give a mini-tutorial on how I made my mail organizers out of cereal boxes!

I got a whiteboard calendar for around $10 at Wal Mart, and I turned to cereal boxes for mail organization. here's what it looks like:

When I get the mail, I open the bills and write the date they're due on one end with a sharpie, then put them in order (soonest to latest) in the bin so it's easy to see what's coming up next . Miscellaneous goes on the bottom, everything else is tossed. The coupon bin is actually a baking soda box! These were super simple to make, here we go:

Cut your box like so. I used a ruler and pencil to draw out the lines, the back is 1" taller than the front. Then I just used scissors to follow my lines.

Next, you need to cut out paper to fit. I used patterned scrapbook paper but you could also paint them or use fabric to cover! Since they were going up on a wall I only did the front, sides, and bottom, skipping the back and inside. You can definitely cover more, but I was trying to finish up before bedtime :)

For the smaller coupon box, one sheet of paper worked fine. For the larger mail boxes I had to cut each piece out because they were too big to fit on one piece. I just measured out the size of panels I need and drew them out on the paper like this:

I cut along the top and folded along the lighter lines down the sides.

Next, I used solid colored paper to cut out the words using my Silhouette Cameo and put everything together using Mod Podge (regular paper glue would probably work just fine, but I had Mod Podge on hand and thought that it would help the paper stick to the glossy box better).

To attach them to the wall, I used some leftover strips from a package of Command hooks I bought, so they're stable but won't ruin my wall if I want to move or take them down.

I'm really happy with them! It's a super basic craft, but I'm proud of it :)

~B
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High/low day.

2013-05-21T00:35:00.002-07:00

Today (well, it's past midnight so technically yesterday) was C's third birthday. My sweetest baby boy, I can't believe he's three. My husband had to work so it was a low key day. He got to open the truck he picked out at the store this weekend, we took him to lunch at a restaurant that serves GF pizza AND GF deep dish cookies with ice cream on top so he got a really yummy meal. We came home, hubs left for work, and C, M, and I hung out and watched Wreck It Ralph all day while C played with his new truck. It was a pretty good day overall.

GF pizza and strawberry lemonade

Yummy Cookie

Lately my grandpa hasn't been doing well. He's been very sick, in and out of the hospital with a multitude of health issues and complications. He's about an hour and a half away; tomorrow well, today) I was planning on driving out to see him with my brother. It's my husband's day off so he would be able to keep the kids since I can't take them into a hospital and the drive would be rough anyways because poor C gets carsick on long trips. Except at 11:41 pm my mom called me to let me know that my grandpa had passed.

I can't believe I missed him by 12 hours. My Papa, who played the guitar and sang and cooked for us. Who always had a joke, was hilariously sarcastic, and had an impressive collection of cowboy hats. A master carpenter who would sketch something on a napkin at breakfast, disappear into his garage shop, and come back at dinner with a new piece of furniture built. I remember collecting quartz in the desert with my grandma to go on the big elaborate fireplace he was building for their house, and how excited he would get when he showed us his latest project and how it worked, or how perfectly it held whatever he built it to hold. He was a history buff and I always loved his stories. He was one of my favorite people to be around, and I'll always cherish the many happy memories of the time I spent with him growing up. I love you Papa, you will be missed. I wish my kids would've gotten the chance to know you the way I did.

Prayers for a friend

2013-04-29T22:47:00.004-07:00

A fellow autism mama friend of mine had a baby girl this week at 24 weeks and 3 days gestation. She is so tiny, about a pound, and her name is Ellie Grace. I've been thinking and hoping and praying constantly for sweet little Ellie to grow and stabilize and thrive. This family lost a son born at 23 weeks last year, so this is especially stressful and heartbreaking.

Have you all heard of prayer shawls? They're often made for people suffering from serious illnesses, and the person who makes it will pray for the recipient while they knit or crochet, infusing it with prayer and hope and love. When the person wears the shawl, they wear the prayers and support of someone who loves them.

Well, little miss Ellie is so very small, I decided to make her a prayer hat. I crocheted a sweet little preemie hat (pattern here) to send her. It seems so tiny, but I think there's a good chance it will end up being too big for her! I also made a name sign, in the hopes that they could use it on her crib or incubator in the hospital. They'll be spending a lot of time there, so I thought that a little personalization might be welcome.

Look how tiny!!

The hat alongside her sign

Everyone out there, please pray for sweet Ellie Grace when you can. She and her family need all the love and support they can get. Micropreemies have many ups and downs, and Ellie's parents are driving back and forth to the hospital (45 minutes away from their home) and trying to balance time with their new tiny daughter and being at home with their toddler son who has autism. They deserve a break, and a miracle. Please keep them in your thoughts.

~B

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Back to Blogging

2013-04-21T16:17:00.001-07:00

I've been horribly absent from the blog, and even worse, no recent pics! I'm here to fix it.

Disneyland Trip= grumpy babies?

So after SIX MONTHS of back and forth with our insurance company and jumping through hoops we finally got approval for C to receive ABA therapy. We've started 10 hours a week in our home (he does a two hour session every day during the week), and we're hoping to expand that to 20 hours a week once he adjusts and gets used to the new schedule.

We've done two full weeks of ABA and... it's tough. It's really draining for C, emotionally and mentally. He's gotten super attached to the binky again and has a bit of a temper, but we're learning to cope. Overall, it's amazing to see the progress that he's made. He's understanding and talking so much more, it's just constant progress. We're doing lots of chill time and play time throughout the day to counteract the stress he's feeling from the therapy and learning to find the balance.

C loves the teacups!!

Love that sweet smile

M is getting so big!! She's keeping up with her brother in running, climbing, and getting into things. She's so smart and figuring stuff out that frankly, I wish she wouldn't! Lol. Counters are no longer safe, because she finds a stool or a chair to push around and climb on to reach what she's looking for. She is silly and sweet and funny and a drama queen! She's hard to keep up with, that's for sure.

Trying on swimsuits on Easter

She loves Elmo

~B
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No 'Poo

2012-11-30T18:59:00.003-08:00

Have you heard of the "no 'poo method"? It's a haircare routine that uses NO shampoo or conditioner. Various words may pop into your head. Probably along the lines of: what, gross, dirty, stinky, etc. But guess what? Turns out it's pretty awesome.

I used the same measurements and method found here. She has links and some great information on the how and the why of cleaning your hair without shampoo. I use vinegar every single time, and I use more of that because my hair tends to be drier and the vinegar is an amazing smoother and detangler. I can tell you that my hair does not smell dirty, it definitely does not smell like vinegar. It has no smell at all!

I'm 2 weeks in, my hair is happy and healthy and manageable. I used to have to use mousse or hairspray constantly to control flyaways, but now a little water on the tips of my fingers smooths it down just fine. I haven't gotten to that point yet, but if I get desperate I think a TINY amount of coconut oil would fix everything. So my recommendation is: give it a try!! It can't hurt anything, and it's very cheap (or, if you're like me and have baking soda and apple cider vinegar on hand, it's free!!). What do you have to lose? Except for the expensive products.

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M is a walker!!

2012-11-09T23:23:00.002-08:00

I can proudly say my little girl is walking :) She's not zooming across the room on her two legs quite yet, but she is getting very close and taking more and more steps every day. 10 months and 5 days old (C was 10 1/2 months, she had to show him up). I'm so proud of her, she is so cute on her chubby little legs! Here's a video!

I love how proud she is at the end and she claps for herself.

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Family Changes

2012-11-03T18:35:00.002-07:00

Our family has been going through a lot of changes lately. Everything has been confusing and up in the air, and still is a little bit, but we have a few answers. Maybe.

At the end of August, C was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He's tested as very age-appropriate or advanced in the areas of fine and gross motor skills, physical development, etc., but his communication was behind. At the age of 2 he was almost silent most of the time. Very few words, no babbling, no repeating, and he didn't seem to understand much of what we were saying. We've been doing speech and behavior therapy, and he has been on a gluten free diet for about a month now. He has made HUGE strides with both talking and understanding. We're constantly amazed at how quickly he's progressing. He's babbling like crazy, talking much more, putting together 2-word sentences, and repeating everything like a little parrot. It's so exciting and awesome!

We're trying to get ABA therapy, which is a more intense behavior therapy program (10-20 hours a week), but of course insurance is a hurdle so we're working on that issue at the moment. Soon we will be getting him evaluated through the school district, their special needs program starts at age 3, so we're preparing for the possibility of C starting school next year (eeek!!).

M is getting so big!! She is cruising all over the place and has taken a couple steps by herself, but is still afraid to let go of the couch or wall or toy that she's holding onto to try and walk on her own.. She is so sweet and happy and friendly, and will be 10 months old tomorrow!! I can't believe it.

Some days I go a little crazy with both of them getting into everything and constantly under my feet, but they also make me smile every single day. They are so funny and sweet and awesome, it balances out the frustration. You can see pics to the right in my Instagram feed :)

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S'Mores Cupcakes... kinda

2012-09-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

I've felt like baking lately. I thought the idea of a s'mores cupcake sounded amazing, so I mixed and matched a few different ideas I found on Pinterest. Verdict? Semi-fail. I thought I'd use this chocolate cupcake recipe, add marshmallows like this for a marshmallow center, and use this stablilized whipped cream recipe (with graham cracker crumbs added) for the frosting.

I didn't take any pictures right out of the oven, but it wasn't pretty. I overfilled the liners so there was cupcake everywhere and then the marshmallow centers that had puffed up so nicely during baking collapsed so they were all sunken in and complete disasters. It was ugly. But, also yummy! The graham cracker whipped cream frosting was amazingly delicious. AMAZING, I tell you! I wanted to just lick it out of the bowl. Then... I tried to pipe it on the cupcakes to camouflage the ugly, but apparently my piping tips were too small and that didn't work out too well either. So, they're ugly. Really ugly. But also so, so yummy! I guess I'll just need to keep practicing until I can get them right :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I used the whipped cream recipe and once it was whipped I added a cup of graham cracker crumbs (about 8 full crackers run through my food processor) and mixed until it was just combined. YUM! I'm not a fan of cream cheese frostings, so I'm excited to try all different variations of this recipe.

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August is Busy

2012-08-27T18:23:00.002-07:00

I've totally been slacking on exercises (surprise, surprise, right?). But, M is pulling up on everything and I'm sure will be cruising any day now, she has TWO teeth (came in just a few days apart), and is just getting super mobile and active, which is keeping me on my toes constantly.

C loves loves LOVES swimming and is completely fearless. We have to make sure he has floaties or a vest on any time we're at a pool because he will just jump into the deep end no problem. He's doing really well, kicking and can almost swim on his own, but not quite. He doesn't care if he goes underwater or anything, he just loves the water. It's gotten to the point where he spends most of the day wearing a floatie (usually just one, lol) because he finds it and brings it to me to put on him. It's pretty hilarious.

I've added a way to share pictures with my blog more easily. If you look to the right ---> on the sidebar, I have a slideshow feed of my Instagram pictures. So I can upload pictures of the kids on my phone, and it shows up here! How convenient!

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August Ab Challenge

2012-08-21T20:49:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'll admit, I'm not doing too well with this ab challenge. BUT, I am being more active, which is good, right? We've gone swimming 3 times this week, which has been a ton of fun (not to mention a great way to burn a ton of calories!). C is fearless, jumping into the water and trying to swim on his own even though he can't yet. We have to keep floaties on him at all times at the pool because he will go in without us! Of course we're working very hard on safety and making him wait until an adult is in the water, but he is just so excited!

I plan on swimming at least once these next few days, maybe twice (unfortunately I'm confined to my husband's days off since I'm not willing to brave the pool with 2 littles by myself). The good news is, I've lost 2 more pounds, and am down 16 pounds total! It's so encouraging to see the numbers going down, and it really helps me make better choices every day.

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August Ab Challenge; day 16

2012-08-17T12:01:00.002-07:00

Ok so yesterday (the 16th) I didn't do the specific ab-targeted exercises I've been working on, but we did go to the pool with the kids for 4 hours, so I'd say I got my exercise in, lol. And today my shoulder and ribs are sore on one side because M spent the entire 45 min drive home from book club crying because she was overtired and refusing to sleep. So I was reaching around to the seat directly behind me to try and stroke her face to calm her down, while keeping my eyes on the road and still driving carefully. Bodies aren't supposed to bend that way, FYI. Overall it was an ok day; hot sun and lots of swimming, while fun, led to some overtired, exhausted, cranky children, but in the end everyone fell asleep at a decent time and all was well.

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August Ab Challenge

2012-08-15T16:24:00.001-07:00

What is today, August 15th? I've been a huge slacker. The 11th, I didn't do any exercises. We were leaving for home the next morning so I spent the night furiously packing and hunting down tiny shoes and lost sippy cups.

The 12th was a day full of traveling. 3 hours in the car, wrangling 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 bags, and 2 carry-ons in the airport, a 2 hour flight, then having to get everything back into a car, to drive across town, eat out, and finally go home. I didn't do ab exercises but I did go on a 30 minute walk in the morning before we left, and I had a good 30-45 minutes of walking around the airport with a 20+ lb baby on my back and various bags I was carrying, so I definitely got a workout in!
The 13th, I again did nothing. My sister and her 2 kids are staying at our house, so we haven't been able to get back into our routine yet, and things are just plain hectic.

Last night, the 14th, I did a few, but not as much as I should have. 25 In n Outs, 25 Bicycles, 25 Reverse Bicycles, and 50 Kayakers.

Today I did 25 deep squats while I was getting ready in the morning. I haven't done ab workouts, but it is in my plan. I usually wait until after the kids are in bed, so late at night. I have to keep my motivation going!!

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August Ab Challenge; days 9 & 10

2012-08-10T22:42:00.001-07:00

I skipped day 9. Foiled again by a cranky M who wouldn't sleep anywhere but on my chest. She wins again.

But today, day 10, I am doing I think my best workout yet!! I did 25 In n Outs, 25 Bicycles, 25 Reverse Bicycles, 10 Crunchy Frog, 10 Cross Leg/Wide Leg Sit ups, 25 Scissors, 25 Hip Butt Ups, 25 Heels to the Heavens, 24 Leg Climbers, and 50 Kayakers!! On a couple I did lower reps, and I skipped only one exercise. I'm very proud of myself :) It's so nice to see that 10 days ago, I couldn't even get through 4 of these exercises, and now I've done 10!! I'm getting stronger and that is so cool.

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August Ab Challenge; day 8

2012-08-08T23:03:00.001-07:00

Skipped exercising today, it's my anniversary! Four years, 5 houses, 3 cars, and 2 kids later, and I'm so, so happy. I can't believe how much has changed and how much we've done.

I'm so excited to be spending my life with such a wonderful man, and as an extra bonus he's such a great dad! Couldn't have done better :)

August Ab Challenge, Day 7

2012-08-07T23:29:00.001-07:00

Hello!! Today was another day of a super grumpy M who needed Mommy and ONLY Mommy all day long. I hope it eases up a bit tomorrow, since it's the hubs' and my 4th wedding anniversary! We don't want to do anything very special, but we were hoping for a dinner out alone, and babysitters are required, but I feel so guilty leaving if she's going to be upset the entire time. Poor girl.

Today I finally got her asleep and resting, so I got to do ab exercises until I fatigued (which is still an embarrassingly few number of exercises, but I feel the burn!). I did 25 each of In N Outs, Bicycles, Reverse Bicycles, Hip Butt Ups, and Heels to the Heavens.

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August Ab Challenge, days 5 & 6

2012-08-06T21:56:00.004-07:00

Once again, my children foil my fitness plans. Yesterday (day 5) I didn't do any ab workouts. Remember how I was supposed to do 2 to make up for the day before? Nope.

Today, I think I should get a little credit for having 20+ lbs of baby attached to me all day. And I mean ALL. DAY. I don't know if M is going through a growth spurt or not adjusting to vacation well or the altitude is messing with her or what, but she has been a huge grumper pants. She's napped off and on basically all day, but if she's awake, she wants me. No Daddy, no Gram, no Auntie, even if we're in the same room or sitting right next to each other, Mommy is the only acceptable baby holder and that's that. Dude, my back hurts. I love having a healthy, chunky, squishy baby, don't get me wrong, but when my 7 month old is the size of the average one year old it makes the constant carrying difficult. Most kids this size are walking! My whole body hurts, but especially my back. Arg.

Anyway, I did do something today. I did leg climbers (10 on each side), 25 In n Outs, 50 Kayakers (at this point I had to stop because M woke up- not so easy to keep up with anything when your momentum is killed in the middle of it), 25 Scissors, and 25 of the Hip Butt Ups.

Overall I'm finding myself using my abs more in everyday life. I'm paying closer attention to my posture, trying to tuck my pelvis back so the front pooch I have isn't as prominent, and trying to keep my core supported as much as I can. I know I'm not doing great, or nearly as much as I should be, but I'm happy with my baby steps for now :)

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August Ab Challenge: day 4

2012-08-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a fail. I had like 3 hours of sleep, followed by a disastrous morning. Leaving the house to go to the airport for vacation, we see our tire has a nail. Sticking out. And it's making an ominous "ssssssssssssss" noise, so not drivable. We pull the car out to change the tire real quick and it turns out we DON'T HAVE A SPARE. How is that possible? Excellent question, and one we will be asking the dealership when we get home. Ok, let's put it back in the garage and just take my mom's car since she's driving us anyways. Except wait, our car battery died!! So we had to jump the car just to back it into the garage. Oh man. So we get both carseats and all of our luggage somehow Tetrised into my mom's little Camry, and I was squished in the back with the two carseats, off to the airport, thankfully with time to make it to our plane.

Security was a breeze, they let me keep M on my back in the Ergo (did you know as long as you don't set off metal detectors you can do that now? It's awesome. SO much easier) and we got to the gate fine. But then we were on a plane for 2 hours. Both kids were wonderful, but it's a plane. Not the epitome of comfort or ideal napping location.

Off the plane, grabbed some lunch and a quick Target trip for diapers, and it was into the rental car for a 3 hour drive to our destination. I think I managed a 30 minute nap, but still. Not comfy. So my body is angry.

I tried In-N-Outs and felt like my lower abs were tearing in half. Not like "ooh, good workout," more like "ow, impending injury." Along with the pulling in my lower back, I pushed through 15 but felt like I was going to hurt myself.

So. Fail. I'm hoping to get a semi-decent night of sleep, and I will try and work in an extra Ab session tomorrow to make up for today. Blah.

August Ab Challenge, day 3

2012-08-03T22:03:00.002-07:00

Still sore. Is it weird that feeling sore makes me more confident? It's like I've been reminded that I actually have ab muscles, somewhere, hidden under layers of not-pretty stuff. Anyway, today I did better. I didn't almost die, and my ribs stayed in place, so yay! (Here's the exercises, by the way).

Ok so I did 25 bicycles, 25 reverse bicycles (and even maintained decent form!), 15 of the crunchy frogs, and then I did two 30-second planks. The second plank was hard, I almost didn't make it, but I was staring down that clock, man. I'm improving and doing something every day (so far), so that works for me. All I can do is keep trying.

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August Ab Challenge, days 1&2

2012-08-03T01:33:00.002-07:00

Ok, when I stumbled across this pin on Pinterest, I was encouraged. Visible results with no lost weight, just toning up. Doesn't she look fabulous? That led me to this blog that has the actual workout routine for you, laid out and presented in pictures. I thought, "I can do that. Just me and the floor, no equipment 15 mins a day? Cake. Bring it on."

Day 1: I was wrong. So very, very wrong. I didn't realize how out of shape I actually am and how 2 pregnancies back to back completely obliterated my core. I have NO abdominal/core strength. At all. it's like I'm forging brand new muscles because my old ones are just gone. I got through the first four exercises (mind, there are 11); In-N-Outs, Bicycles, Reverse Bicycles, and Crunchy Frog. And "got through" is being very generous. My form was awful. My legs were bent, my feet were on the floor, and I literally could not manage to get them done. My reverse bicycles were a hot mess, I could not for the life of me coordinate that cycling motion backwards, so it was more like a desperate flailing of legs. It was pitiful. And after my 4 sets of completely terrible exercises, I was beat. And the next day? Sore. Not, "can't move or get out of bed" sore but definitely a noticeable burn. This is going to be a long month.

Day 2: Ok, since yesterday, was a fail, I'm going to go into today with lower expectations. I did Scissors (25 reps), Hip Butt Ups (15 reps), Heels to the Heavens (15 reps), Leg Climbers (6 each side), and finally 34 Kayakers. An improvement since yesterday, but still pretty lame. My abs were screaming, but what I did not expect to happen was my ribs slipping out of place. several times. On both sides. Ouch.

The crunching up paired with complete and utter lack of abdominal muscle support means my ribs basically folded in on themselves (thank you for loosening those up, M) and holy crap it hurt. It would happen a couple times, I'd move on to another exercise, be ok for a few reps, then it started happening again. Ouch. I'm determined to keep up my ab challenge and do something every single day, at least a few minutes, because obviously I need it. Maybe planks or something that will keep my torso straight. I think I'll factor in a few yoga stretches as well. I will continue trying the exercises from the above blog, and hopefully by the end of the month will have worked my way up to that level.

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