Crafts

This year, I decided to get all crafty and crochet hats for a bunch of people that wanted one. I spent hours online looking at patterns that I liked and I've made a grand total of 14 hats. I'll probably make a few more to cover Neal's ever growing head and I still need to make a warmer hat for myself. I used a variety of patterns and one hat I made up on my own because I'm too cheap to buy patterns.

Then I was lamenting the fact that I don't have any soft rattles for Neal because they are impossible to find. So, I thought of this rattle we used to have growing up and realized that I could crochet my own! So I did, after some trial and error. It's not perfect, but it looks a whole lot better than my first attempts that I never finished because I didn't like the looks of them. I did find a pattern for an owl rattle that I absolutely love and I do plan on making. First, however, I have a different sort of craft to finish.

Last year, I decided that I was going to sew Christmas stockings for our little family. I figured it wouldn't take too long and I bought a bunch of fabric to that end. Yeah. I only made one that year. It took way longer than I thought it would and now I wish I had just bought stockings. However, I have the fabric and I have enlisted Ashton's help so they will hopefully be done this year. Turns out, I'm not a huge fan of all the things that go into sewing something. You can't just sit down with fabric and sew. Nope. You have to cut out the fabric into the desired shape, pin the pieces together, figure out what needs to be sewed first, then you can sit down and sew something. I like to just be able to pick out yarn and sit down with it to create whatever I want. I have decided to put crocheting on hold though until I finish the stockings. That should be motivation enough right?

I also love the fact that with crocheting, I can pick it up or put it down whenever I need to and it's not really a big deal. I also love that I can look up tutorials online. Seriously, there are so many videos and tutorials online that if you want to learn how to crochet, you can do it easily. It also keeps David entertained because he loves to play with my crochet hooks. Taking them out of the case and putting them back in the slots. No need for toys this year I guess.

I have new ideas for things I want to create and I'm so excited to get back to crocheting so I can put my ideas to the test. Just need to finish those stockings!

Neal

I know I haven't posted many pictures of Neal. There are two reasons for that. One, it's hard to get pictures without big brother in them (not that it's bad to have pictures of the two of them), and two, I don't usually put pictures from my camera on the computer until the end of the month and then Neal has changed so much that I need new pictures. It becomes a vicious cycle. However, I took some pictures a couple of days ago and put them on the computer yesterday morning. Then the internet decided not to cooperate with me yesterday, so you get them today!

Neal is such a happy boy. He's already smiling and laughing at us. It's such a blessing to have him smile at us when we go to get him up from a nap. He's been trying to hold up his head from day one and he's had it pretty much mastered for a while now. His strength impresses us. We're all pretty smitten with this little guy.

Look who's a big boy and holding up that noggin

Such a classic Neal look. The boy loves furrowing his brow.

Love the smile

Nothing like a sleeping baby

Living the Dream

From the time I was little, I wanted to be a stay at home mom. It's the only thing I wanted to do. It's the name I wanted to make for myself and now it's the name that I have. I will always have the name of mom and I feel blessed to have it. Besides my husband, my kids are the most important things in my life.

Although I love being a mom, it's not all sunshine and lollipops. There are those moments when your kids are well behaved or doing something that you've been trying to teach them. You get insanely proud of little accomplishments. There are those seemingly perfect moments where all is right. However, being a mom isn't glamorous. At the end of the day, I'm usually covered in spit up, drool, and snot. Sometimes I get peed and pooped on. Getting a shower in at some point during the week is a highlight. Getting to use the bathroom on my own, if at all, is a miracle. I sing songs and babble like an idiot to keep my kids happy. 

I don't have any personal space anymore. If I am sitting, I'm not alone, unless it's nap or bedtime. I sat today and read the same book to my 20 month old at least 5 times in a row because he wanted to. Yeah, I got tired of reading that particular book, but he loved it and that's all that mattered to me. I sit and feed my almost 3 month old every 1-2 hours. I usually sit on the floor, hold the baby, and play with the toddler all at the same time. There have been times that I'm holding both kids in my lap, reading a book or sometimes even feeding one and holding the other. If I dare to try to have alone time, like sitting and typing this, it means that either the kids are asleep or I'm ignoring the destruction going on (like David making a mess with his lunch right now).

I am grateful for a husband who sees it as his responsibility to provide for me and the kids, which allows me to stay at home. I could go out into the world and work if I wanted to, but I wouldn't appreciate that job like I treasure the job I have now. The truth is that I do work. I work hard. I just don't get paid in dollars for it. I get paid instead by having healthy happy kids who give me kisses, laughs, snuggles, and smiles. Some days, there aren't many smiles to go around for whatever reason.

For me, it's worth all the tears. It's worth all the frustration; it's worth all the sleeplessness. It's worth all the screams, poop, and snot. It's worth every last second because I'm doing the work that matters the most to me. I am living my dream.