Halfway to a Year

  Wow, I could say where has the time gone but I know exactly where its gone.  In and out of carseat.  Naptime.  Holding.  Rocking.  Bathing. Pooping.  Cleaning. Laundry. Lots of Laundry.  Feeding.  Oh yeah, and lots of Loving.
 

JJ who I like to call "my buddy" at 6 months has really let his personality shine.  He is a a happy baby unless you take something out of his hands like the remote.  He will let out some grunts followed by a cry that stops as soon as the remote is placed back in his hand.  Loves to smile and laugh - except for when I try to take a picture. His smile will last about .002 seconds in front of the camera. Lots of "raspberries" and squealing. And he is very ticklish. Oh, and we call him Mr. Sweaty Feet because his feet are really sweaty!!  Eva calls him stinky feet and they do kind of smell sometimes which makes me really nervous how bad they are going to smell when he's 16!  Good thing I splurged and bought odor barrier in his carpet pad.

"tickle tickle"

JJ's favorite things at 6 months:
squash (dislike apple/pear)
Sophie the giraffe (chew toy)
Eva
Remote
crinkly noises
bath time
laughing
being outside especially in ergo carrier

"not big on smiling for the camera"

   We are sleeping better except sometimes after his 3am bottle he thinks its time to party.  Must take after his Dad. Baahahaha.
  He has 2 nice chompers (I forget the technical term for which teeth they are).  Since breaking through the gum (doesn't that sound pleasant), the drooling has stopped and the late evening fussiness.  Hopefully, we get a little break before the top teeth come through.

 

  JJ can sit unassisted for a few seconds with the help of his hands but then topples over.  He has really out grown his infant bathtub but not ready for the big tub with Eva.  What is a 6 month old to do?
           I love my buddy so much!  Truly is a joy and I hate when I cannot be with him because that's all I think about (thankfully, I'm usually with him 24/7).  Hoping these next 6 months slow down. Ha!

                   


 

JJ 1st day at PDO & Craft of the Week

  Today was a big day for baby JJ and for me when he went to PDO for the first time today at St. Lukes.  This morning showed me that I am truly grateful that I do not have to get two little ones ready for school 5 days a week.  I give big time props to those parents that do it because it is STRESSFUL.  I would be getting JJ ready and I look over and see Eva pulling all the covers off my bed I just made.  It was like one step forward and one step backward. frustrating.  Anyway, we finally made it out of the house and made it to school by 8:30.  Its so nice to be able to drop both kids off in the same place.  JJ will only be going on Thursdays which is so nice so I can do stuff like go to dentist, vacuum car, or maybe a lunch date kid free!

   I was walking down the hallway to get JJ and could hear his giggles :) makes me so happy that he's so content there.  Also, on Thursdays only one other baby is in there so he gets lots and lots of attention. I am very pleased.  I picked him up early so we waled to the gym where Eva was doing gymnastics.  I knew that by letting me see her I was potentially creating a disaster, but to my surprise she waved and kept on going!  She would get on the bars and afterwards look at me for approval and I smiled and clapped.  She's getting to be such a big girl. 

I always like to add my craft thing of the week so here are the painted plant containers i did.  Now, all I need are plants to go in them.

What its like to have a 4,3,2, & 5 month old

  As I hear the thunder boom, it sounds like we lucked out and got some outside play in before the rain rolls in.  The cousins came over for a day of crafts, hide-and-go-seek and lots of playing.   Its so much fun to see how far they have come with sharing and their language development.  The days of "use your words" every 5 minutes are over.  Thank goodness! It used to be non-stop "mine!mine!" so we've come a long way. 

 I bet Eva will talk for JJ for at least the first 5 years and he won't be able to get a word in. I think my sister translated my mumbled words for at least....wait....she still does! 

The one thing I know for sure is that as difficult and tiring these early years have proven to be, it is flying by way too fast.  I guess that's why I seem to take a picture every 2 hours.  Jay is always telling me to put the camera down, but I know that one day he'll thank me when he looks back at all the pictures and says, "I can't believe they used to be so little."

Everything was good until the princess castle came apart

I told them we couldn't go outside until someone put Olivia's shoes on.  As you can see, Eva was quite the helper.

JJ wearing the shirt I painted - he's thrilled!

                                          

Weekend Fun

We had an awesome weekend!  My friend Anne came over to watch the kiddos - thanks Anne! - so I could go see my very pregnant friend ,Katie, at her baby shower. She looked fabulous as she always does.  It was a rushed day as I had to leave early to get to Alaina's reveal party which I will blog about later because she wanted to wait until today to tell her co-workers.

          On Sunday we had a family outing to Shelby Farms (our first time actually to take Eva).  It was a little windy but walking through on the trails it was fine.  Eva pretended she was little red riding hood and we were running from the big bad wolf.  It was a gorgeous day - not a cloud in the sky.  JJ slept the entire time in the ergo on me (love the ergo).

 

Eva on Hay

Eva did great walking about 2 miles!!   We even got really close to a hawk!  It was in a tree and it never flew away even when we went right beneath it.  Eva said, "that's a big bird!"

 
  Eva was so tired at the end, she forgot about going to the playground at shelby farms.  oh, I almost forgot, I gave Eva a haircut!

 
   She looks so much older now :(  Not ready for Eva to grow up.

Weekly update and yes, more chevron...

  The week started off with another trip to the per office for JJ. His ears were fine but he had a virus and his throat was bright red - which was causing all his fussiness.  His doctor explained to me that he he is basically living inside Eva's classroom.  With that in mind, JJ will start going to PDO next Thursday at St. Lukes.  I love the fact that the PDO is very small so he'll get plenty of attention.  We re-enrolled Eva for 3 days a week - st. lukes has really grown on me and I really like it. And more importantly, Eva loves going.   They have a soccer team for 4+ but with Eva already in dance and gymnastics, I don't want to overwhelm her with activities.

"DAD"

  Eva enjoys drawing and she is getting really good at dawning faces and is practicing letters on her own.

  JJ is getting very close to sitting without help and continues to try new foods.  He is also very alert and likes to "play" at 4:00 am after his bottle.  How nice of him.

We finished the photo collage on the wall - it came out great.

this step is a must in order to not put lots of holes in the wall

haven't removed the paper 

I also completed my middle bathroom curtain by painting my own chevron design on it. I'll never do it again but it came out fantastic!

My not-so-perfect maxi dress

  With warm weather approaching, I decided to attempt my first try at sewing a maxi dress.  To make this I "simply" attached knit fabric (if you have ever sewed on knit, you know there's nothing simple about it) to a tank top with elastic thread. I was nervous about this, but elastic thread really is a MUST! I used this tutorial as a guideline:

asmallsnippet.com/2011/09/wanna-make-dress.html

1.) I picked this fun green and navy blue stripe knit fabric.  Measure 1.5 times your waist to know how much fabric you'll need. I made sure the stripes were horizontal so I didn't end up looking like beetlejuice.

2.) measure using a yardstick (mine came out to about 45 inches) and cut away

 3.) Sew with zigzag the two right sides together to make your "tube".  Place elastic thread in bobbin and sew the top of your "skirt"

4.)  Cut a tank top where you want to attach the skirt.

 5.)  Place tank top with straps in first and sew using the elastic thread.   I did this wrong because my skirt is came out inside out. oops! luckily both sides are the same (probably why I got confused) so despite seeing the seam its ok.  I'll probably redo it.  Hem it and waaalaaa! You got yourself a maxi dress!

And with the left over fabric you can make a turban. ok no, not really. 

     

week at a glance

 Its been a busy week in the Schwartz family...

1.) I went to work last Saturday for the first time in 6 months.  I was surprised how everything came back to me and I cannot believe it but I actually enjoyed it! I never would have thought.  I'm still only able to work about one Sat.  every month because of Jay's busy schedule.

2. JJ had his first ear infection which is most likely the result of constantly being congested. Thanks RSV.  I have a mother's intuitive feeling that he will have asthma.  Doctors at leBonheur hospital explained that many babies who have RSV will develop asthma - they aren't sure if these kids are at a genetic predisposition anyway to get asthma or if the RSV actually causes it.  I noticed that he has a kind of wheeze to his breathing sometimes - so, lucky us.  But so happy to have JJ feeling better an sleeping again! :) And he loves to eat! Loves sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots!

3.) In preparation for Spring clothes, I cleaned out all of the kids closets and drawers and consigned them. What a chore but its so nice to have lots of room again.  I went to Kidstown and found lots of goodies.  What is great about having an embroidery machine is that I can make an appliqué or patch to go over these pre-owned monogrammed clothes.

4.) I think I possess a magical pregnancy vibe because lately it seems everyone I am friends with is or just was pregnant.  I just found out another friend of mine is expecting and I am so happy for her.

5.) Zulily - Jay told me if I buy one more thing from Zulily he's sending it back. I hope he doesn't notice  that swimsuit.  oops!

Eva's  "purple handkerchief dress" from Zulily

6.) Can't wait to post the fun crafts I'm making for my friend Alaina's reveal party!  Yes, she is actually waiting to find out the gender with her closet family and friends.

7.)As I watch the huge storm in the Northeast, I think to myself how much I love the South!  Cannot wait for more warm days outside!

Boys Need Pretty Burp Cloths Too

   'Tis the season of boys or so it seems.  I was thrilled when 3 of my buddies (Andrea, Katie, Laura) told me they were expecting in March (partly because my bday is in March).  I did my usual 50/50 guess and to my surprise all are going to be boys. Did you know that in 2010 the global sex ratio was 986 females per 1,000 males and trended to reduce to 984 in 2011 (expedia). Who knew? I have to say, I'm very much in love with my little boy so I'm very happy for them. 
   My new obsession is monogramming/sewing fabric on burp cloths which makes great baby gifts. They are super fast to make and fun because it calls for lots of fun fabrics.  Now, to some people I'm sure the idea of decorating a burp cloth seems impractical.  That's probably because it is.  Its a decorated piece of cloth that gets puked on.  But in the days of sleepless motherhood when you fell disorganized and crazy, you can pull out that beautiful burp cloth and it somehow makes the puke seem better and you seem somehow more organized as a mother. Oh, and its freakin cute because your baby's name is on it!  

 

             
       

playing at Nana's House with cousins

  On Wednesday, we had a  beautiful sunny 70 degree day here (yes, it is Jan. in Memphis) so we decided to get out of the house and go to Nana's.  We love going to Nana's house because there's lots of fun paths to walk on and trees to climb outside. 

smelling tree branches

dinosaur Eva hiding in the bush

Unfortunately, most of my great outside childhood is gone now.  The "bamboo forest" in which I would hold Greenpeace Jr. meetings with old friends like Anna Lockwood, Vivian Jaynes, Anne Bailey, etc. (sorry if I only referred to you as etc) is now gone.  The treehouse that we would spend nights out under the stars that my Dad built is now gone as well when the huge hackberry fell over in Hurricane Elvis.  But the old magnolia tree in the front still stands - missing most of its branches - but its still there.  And as Eva marched in the leaves and climbed the low branches, I remembered the fun times as a kid when Laura Bandura and I would sit high (and I mean really high) up in the tree and make animal sounds as people walked by and laughing hysterically to watch their reaction.

Later on that day, cousins Olivia and Maddux came over while Shannon ran an errand.  The kids had a blast racing in the back yard.

Olivia didn't stand a chance against competitive Eva and Maddux. 

lots of yelling was involved - usually about who won