Our New Rooms

Drywall hung, taped, mudded, primed, painted, and some pictures re hung. We are still awaiting some help to move the table back in and have plans to get some new pieces of furniture.

Still a work in progress, but it is an awesome face lift on the house. I forgot how wonderful color is and how it makes things feel.

The kale green looks awesome in the fining room and the yellow in the living room is so calming... I love it. I don't think that the most comfy couch in the world will be making its way back to the living room, it is so heavy feeling and I am in need of lightness, too many other things weighing me down, don't need the couch adding to it. We are on the lookout for another small comfy chair and hope that the loveseat from my grandma fits the bill.

Needle Felting

The family and I went to a fiber festival southwest of Indianapolis the friday prior to easter and I picked up a lot of fun wool in all sorts of colors to try some needle felting. These are my first attempts at some birds for A, all done without a field guide, so nothing to accurate.

He is most obsessed with papa cardinals these days, and babies, so I made a baby cardinal as well as a nest for them.

Some Sewing

I have been happy to be in my parents home, it is tough on my own, but when they are around, it is great to have toddler players and baby holders. This bag took me way longer than it should have if I had done it in one go but I finished the whole thing within 24 hours of starting it, a rare thing in my life it seems these day.

The pattern is the charming hand bag from Bend the Rules Sewing, I have been wanting to make one since Katelyn finished hers. Easy pattern, I made it more time consuming adding the circles and pockets inside, so when I make a simpler version as a gift it should take a lot less time. Both fabrics are corduroy, clearence from JoAnne's. I have hopes that the raw edges will give a fun looking frill as the bag wears, hopefully it won't just look like crap and bad sewing, it is all intentional.

I made normal person pockets on one side and then deeper narrow pockets opposite for crochet hooks and knitting needles. I think I can carry a couple diapers and a project for quick trips out.

Food Nanny Day

It is a food nanny day around here, meaning we can to ditch the older of the two boys with a friend (thanks Drew) and cook in a bit of a less chaotic state. River is adapting well to being the son of cooks. He loves the new skylights in the kitchen and the general noises that are heard in there. He is content to watch us cook and do dishes and then naps for the duration of our work day.

Asher is of course more than thrilled to head over to his friend Wren's house every Tuesday morning. They live just a block away so we have a cute morning walk and it makes me think about him being older and him walking to school. So excited for the day, being independent and carrying what he needs for the day. Today he sported his sweet new backpack from Amsterdam sent from his cousin Kaylin. I had been avoiding sending it out into the world, but it needs to be used.

River is smiling a lot, he loves when Ben sings to him.
Prepping for passover, I am so happy to be having guests over tomorrow for a sedar, but there is a lot of cleaning to be done. We'll see who shows up unexpected this year.

Brotherly Cuddles

Asher continues his wonderful big brother journey.

While he has acted out a little when R is nursing, he continues to amaze me with how caring he is. He wakes up and comes to nurse, but then wants to know where River is. He wants to hold and cuddle him whenever he can.

River is starting to notice him more as well. He watches Asher play and smiles at the sound of his voice.

and R is a great sport putting up with most of Asher's cuddliness without crying.

Sorting Baskets

Asher and I had a fun field trip this week along with River after him being sick. We headed to the habitat restore in town. My goal to look for furniture but turned into an exploration trip for Asher with a basket in hand he collected their egg (easter decorations) and was sad to leave the store. I found a stash of baskets, something I was going to garage sale for, only a quarter a piece and we came home with our new collection containers.

Asher wanted to carry them all at once, and then handed them over to mama. We collected rocks, sweetgum balls, pinecones, maple buds and twigs and then sorted them into baskets on the porch.

No more barefeet on the porch without caution, I don't know if it was a good thing to invite the pokey seeds into our yard but there you have it. A and I have been building little play things for his frogs. Lots of fun for good quieter play on the porch.

Peeing on the Potty

You may have expected with a title like that, that Asher would indeed be the star. But this post stars our other little one. River has been loving our new baby bjorn potty and pees on it about 5 times a day now. We may be setting a new record today though as he has already peed 5 times and pooped once on the potty and typically he goes more on the potty at night.

Elimination Communication is something we came across when A was probably 3 months old. I had once read a little bit about incredibly early potty training in a book at the coop and dismissed it. But then I met a couple of moms and dads practicing while A was a babe and was interested but going back to work didn't pursue it. Prior to River being born I got a book and while it was incredibly lenthy with essentially the same thing being said in different ways I began to understand the concept and decided to give it a go with River.

I am not a diligent person, so I didn't think anything would come of it unless Ben stepped up, but with minimal work, we have had a pretty magnificent response. Plus he just looks so cute on the potty.

Asher is humoring us by sitting on the potty. I hope to have him potty trained by the end of the summer but am getting no sign from him that that will be the case. He did pick out the potty chair and is proud of River for going potty on it, but he himself does not want to pee on it. Hopefully that will change as we spend more time naked outside this summer. He has bee holding it longer and peeing in bigger pulses, requiring additional inserts in his diapers, and actually woke up dry this morning. I think these are all signs of his readiness. Fingers crossed.

Better Energy

While I have been enjoying fueling my caffeine addiction with multiple cups of tea a day, I have been putting some thought into creating better energy for myself. Simple things like remembering to drink multiple pints of water (failing miserably today, be right back.) actually making time to eat lunch (sick Asher this week has made this difficult) and eating things other than sugar (I am convinced I need sugar to maintain the sweetness of breastmilk and crave treats like mad).

Today though, I made a great lunch for A and myself. Baby sushi with egg rolls for him and a plate with cabbage, spinach, carrot, egg and scallion for myself. We already had the sushi rice on hand from Mondays dinner as well as all the veggies prepped. I think this would be a great thing to prep an evening when you have more time (when is that with kids again?) or to make for dinner one night and make plenty of extra rice to have throughout the week.

I could eat this everyday and it even tastes better as it sits. I started a roll, nursed River to get him to sleep for his nap. Finished Asher's rolls, fed him while I finished my rolls, cuddled Asher and nursed him for his nap and came downstairs to my plate of rolls and peace!! so delicious and nutritious something this tandem nursing mama needs. Oh that isn't intentional, I only thought I would be nursing one, but with Asher sick he was nursing more the past couple of days and I have been feeling the impact. He is still night weened and most of the day weened, but he nurses in the morning for a minute or two and then for naptime, we will hopefully with the help of a trip alone to grandma's be weening the rest, but will see.

Asher wolfs down sushi, so go make some, if you need my foolproof rice cooking method, without a rice cooker, just ask and I can share.

My Guys

We are still working on a decent whole family photo, but at least I captured all my boys in one frame looking cute the morning of Aryeh's Briss.

We were in St. Louis this weekend, it was a little two whirlwind for the newly two kidded family and we were all pooped Sunday night when we got home. Asher came down with a cold Monday, and had his first officially achy, fevery, can't get comfortable, need to be held at all times illness. He is well on his way to recovery and has had some good morning of playing and loooong afternoon naps. I am enjoying some peace and quiet with both boys asleep, tea and blogging with a side of dishes and laundry.

Chores

We have decided to give Asher a present now that he is two... chores!!! Hip Hip Hooray. He likes sweeping, but not very effectively, is okay at cleaning up spills with a towel (they just aren't absorbing well and we are out of sponges) happily helps pick up his toys on occassion and has been delighted to help set the table. But this chore he chose all by himself.

While he is not strong enough to put the trash out, the clever little boy figured out how to bring the trash can in. It is all his. He may need to be a bit taller to bring in the recycling bin, it's significantly bigger.