Ta-da!

You may have heard me mention that my sister and I are starting a sewing blog. Well, it is finally up and running! It's still a work in progress but we have tons of ideas, so we will be posting more soon. Check it out and follow us!

pintucksandruffles.blogspot.com

Trapped

Yesterday morning, just after baby #2 came over for the day, our management informed me that they would be replacing our stairs. Then they told me not to worry, because they would put replacement stairs in place while they were working. And here is their idea of replacement stairs: Anyone want to carry 2 babies down this? These stairs are literally the only way to get to my aparment. So I was inside, all day, with 2 babies. And I had to send baby #2 home in our hiking back pack, because that's the only way her dad would take her down that ladder when he picked her up.

Luckily, I have no problem scaling a ladder with a baby. I went to say goodbye to Bradon for the night, because he was staying in a hotel for his competition the next day. And after that, I had the best time ever with Jennifer. We ate awesome barbecue, shared a seriously enormous slice of chocolate cake with Violet, and watched a movie at my house. I almost invited her to sleep over but she needed to spend some time with her boyfriend before she moves. Crap. I'm going to miss her.

Bluebonnets

This weekend we went out to Mom and Dad's to try to find some bluebonnets. The ones out there weren't spectacular, but Brandon got to come, so it was fun. Last night I stopped at a bluebonnet field at Rice that was much fuller. The sun was going down, so I had to hurry and snap some pictures of Violet.

Totally worth it.

How to be crafty (freezer paper style)

Since Bexie asked, and it's St. Patrick's day, I thought I'd post the shirt I made for Violet. Being a non-Irish, non-Catholic, non-drinker, my relationship with St. Patty's day is strained at best. But I am a lover of the color green. And last night when I went through Violet's wardrobe, I didn't find a single green thing. So for today, I skipped the four-leaf clover and did a green Celtic knot on her onesie instead. And if that's not Irish, then I'm not Mormon.

First step: draw (or trace, I won't judge) your stencil pattern on to the papery side of freezer paper. You can get this at your grocery store-- it has a plastic side and a paper side. Then cut it out. This is where an X-acto knife comes in handy.
Step 2: Iron the stencil, plastic side down, onto the onesie. The plastic will melt and stick to the shirt. Make sure all the edges lay flat, because they can get caught and cause problems. Then dab tons of acrylic paint on the cut out part. Check that you aren't missing any spots.

Step 3: When it's dry (or before, if you're impatient like me), peel up the freezer paper and see how cute it is. Then put it on your kid, because it looks even cuter that way.

GRRR!!! Why does blogger mess with my pictures?

This semester I have been making a big deal out of day-to-day things. Because maybe, if I occupy myself with enough trips to the zoo, and visits from friends, and craft projects, I will forget about the missing 1/3 of our family. Too bad it hasn't worked. But who am I to complain; I'm not the one going to school on Saturdays, or waking up at 4:30 to do homework. Brandon has been nothing but a hard worker; I have been nothing but a hard whiner. I totally don't deserve him.
Moving beyond my frustrations, this "keep busy" mentality has resulted in a couple of fun things. First of all, we now go to the zoo so often that I made Violet an official Zoo shirt. And for some reason, blogger decided that the picture needed to be vertical. Drawing the stencil was easy, cutting it out was a different story. It was also supposed to be purple, but I guess the zebra wanted to be anatomically correct and it came out black.

And let it be known that I took my punk rock husband and baby to a country music concert at the Rodeo. Thanks for taking us, Mom and Dad.

That kind of mom

Because of my job, I often have to tote around 2 babies. And because I'm cheap, I'm not always equipped for 2 babies. (Sorry, I just don't want to invest in a double stroller so that I can use it on someone else's kid.) I'm pretty sure I'm the kind of mom that makes other moms feel good about themselves, because I always end up being the mom that no other mom wants to be. Yes, I'm the mom that uses a shopping cart as a stroller. I'm the mom that ignores a tantrum while I shop for groceries. I'm the mom who holds a baby and eats an ice cream cone while the other baby runs wild through TCBY. I'm the mom who leaves her wallet in the car when she's about to buy $5 worth of clothes and comes back from the car with a wallet that's obviously not hers and makes everyone think she's on welfare.

This whole experience has taught me a lot about not caring what people think of me. What they think about me probably isn't true, anyways. I actually don't have 2 babies from 2 different dads. Only one of them is mine. When I do have another one, I will get a double stroller so that I don't have to use a shopping cart. I will care a little more about the behavior of my child when he/she throws a tantrum. I can afford $5 of clothes, and the wallet I used was Brandon's. I didn't stick someone up in the parking lot so that I could buy Violet a dress. And most of all, I'm really proud of the fact that I am able to take care of Violet and contribute to our income so that we don't have to get loans.

Yep, I'm proud to be that kind of mom.

Herding cats

That is the best metaphor I can think of for what I did today. My family was all together for the first time in more than 3 years. Our photo session scheduled for this morning was cancelled due to inclimate weather, but I was not about to accept defeat for a family photo. And guess what I learned? 2 grandparents+ 6 siblings+ 4 spouses+ 9 grandkids= 1 overwhelmed Shady. But you know what, considering we did it in a backyard with my camera on a tripod and a 10-second timer, I think it turned out pretty well. (Of course, only after we re-shot because the first round was blurry and I almost cried. Do you know how hard it is to tell if something that far away is in focus?!?!) Thanks for cooperating, everyone!

Funky time

My sister and her kids came into town a couple of days ago and we have been having a blast. We went to the Rodeo and got to see baby animals and pet bunnies. Here are some of the cousins having fun at the fair grounds. Today we went to the park and the zoo. Uh oh! Is that Graham touching something pink?

He and Devin were more interested in the floor than the animals.

Caroline and Devin got a little crazy in the tunnel. Seriously though, look at the reflections of their faces. Hilarious. Everyone had fun on the carousel.

Single mom

Here is what Brandon's schedule has been like:
Last week: at school till 7 or 8 almost every day.
Last weekend: on a field trip
Sunday night: I thought he was supposed to come home that night, but I found out that he wasn't coming home until Monday at 9 or 10 PM.
Monday (well actually Tuesday): Comes home at 12 AM.
Tuesday: Off to school at 10 AM, still not back. And this week is spring break.
I hate this semester.