Week Recap: Potty, Feeding, Sewing, Playing, Crawling, Remodeling

So, I haven't had a whole lotta typing time lately. Three kids in the house, little napping going on,and too many projects. So here's a run down of the week while the two littles are sleeping. First duo nap all week.

1. Potty Learning: Sean has done fairly well with this at home, but only if a) he wears just a shirt and undies and b) poop does not need to go in the potty.

If I put shorts on over the undies, he forgets that he is diaper free and has an accident. If I put him in a pull-up, he forgets that he can pull it down to potty and just goes on the go. So we use pull-ups while out of the house and sometimes have luck taking potty breaks out in public. We also slip a pull-up on for nap/bedtime, but I don't think he needs it then because he is usually dry.

He does not get that he needs to sit to poop. He runs to the potty, stands there, tooting away thinking the poop is going to jump from his rear to the potty. If I run in and sit him down, he lasts a few seconds before getting up to stand in front of the potty again. So, yes, we've been scooping poop off the floor. Or he does it in the pull up. We need to keep working on this, obviously.

Also, with MUCH excitement, Aidan taught Sean how to pee on the fence in the backyard today. Sean is officially ready for keg parties now.

2. Feeding: Sean had a follow up appt with his ENT this week, regarding his tube surgery. Tubes look great and Dr said he wants us to come in every 6 months to keep an eye on them. He feels confident that they won't fall out. I brought up Sean's feeding issues and reflux and asked if we should see a GI/get a swallow study done. Dr E was all over this, he said Sean absolutely needs to get checked out. He gave us a script for Prevacid and booked a feeding study in Wichita. From there, they will refer us for a swallow study and anything else.

At LAST!

We are too bring him there hungry, with foods he eats and foods he has trouble with (um, that would be everything!) They will watch how he eats and make determinations. I AM SO FREAKING GLAD! I want answers! I need to know if the current approach his school is using is the right approach for him. I need second opinions. I NEED ANSWERS.

3.Sewing/Knitting: I have been loving learning to knit and am totally ready to jump into a project. My friend/knit mentor is going to help me get started on my first diaper soaker soon. Hopefully next week. In the meantime, I've been knitting little swatches to practice knit/purl.

My friend Ellie came over yesterday and talked me thru a sewing project I've had sitting in a drawer. I converted a shirt and fabric into a playdress for Ella. It wasn't too complicated and I think I can make one again on my own fairly easily (providing, of course, that said child allows.)

4. Playing: Wednesday was the start of our summer playgroup. We love getting together with my momma friends and their kiddos. I really look forward to Wednesdays in the summer. Week 2 of baseball was a bit of a bummer. Aidan's got rained out and Sean was less than co-operative for his due to a lack of nap. Gotta work on that. Tonight we get to meet up with local families that have kiddos with Ds for a family playdate. Sean starts summer school on Monday, so I hope he enjoys seeing his school friends again.

5. Crawling: Eleanor is just so into crawling! Her current obsession is crawling up the stairs. She doesn't know how to go down them, so this is not so fun for me. The boys find it hysterical and love to crawl up with her. Must make a video.

6. Remodeling: Doug has spent what little free time he's had this week on the electrical work in the bathroom and drywall repair. He had to move the connection wires for the sink light fixture to accommodate the new mirror and also moved the switch plate and a wall outlet up higher so that it wouldn't be in the area where he is going to put up beadboard. Our plan was that I would be able to paint this weekend and then he can use evenings next week to install the beadboard/chair rail. Then we'd do the floor the weekend after this and get the sink installed so he could finish up with the baseboard. Not sure if our timeline is going to work out because he has some freelance work to do this weekend too. Oh well, eventually we will get it done!

So, I hope everyone is enjoying the warm days and having fun in the sun. :)

The Singer Sessions, Vol IV: A Bow to The Rocking Pony

After months of admiring the cute and cool shirts made by Karen of The Rocking Pony and sold in her Etsy store, I decided to see if I could attempt a tie shirt for Sean to wear on St. Patty's day. After all, his middle name is Patrick, he should dress to the nines on his Saint Day.

I took a hand-me-down green shirt we had and found some cool fabric with little bugs on it. I cut out two pieces- one for the knot and the other for the body of the tie. Since I don't have a serger, I thought I needed to fold the edges over to sew down so it wouldn't unravel. Did that and ironed them down. I also used fabric glue to tack the whole thing to the shirt. That's when I noticed that I didn't quit have the knot the right size to line up perfectly with the other part. Did I fix this? NO, I said "It's handmade! This gives it character!"



I sat on my hands waited until the next day to sew around the edges so that the glue would be dry. I did fairly well at sewing it down, only ran off the edge once. LOL I think it is on there snuggly, but I really like the look of serged edges better.



I did roughly the same process to make an initial tee for Eleanor. Only hers took a lot more cutting, folding and sewing. It might be on there a bit crooked, too.



Having given it a go, I am thinking that it would of been nice to splurge for a shirt at The Rocking Pony. I have my eye on those monster shirts, so maybe I can get one of those for Easter. I mean, maybe Sean can get one. And Aidan too, he was disappointed that I didn't make him one.

The Singer Sessions, Volume III, and More Crafting!

We enjoyed a lovely visit from my mom this weekend. Not only did we get to watch her have a great time loving on her grandkids, but we also got some much needed adult time. She watched all three on Valentine's Day so Doug and I could go out for a quick but very nice dinner. And on Sunday, she kept them occupied while I tinkered around on the sewing machine.

I converted a couple of onesie shirts into t-shirts for Ella. She's too tall in the torso to snap the onesies I had, but they were fine as shirts. I played around with different stitch patterns, so the first one I did isn't as nice as the second. Hey, I'm learning, right? Best of all, it was free stuff I was working on.

Then I decided to try making homemade BabyLegs. I bought a 3-pack of women's knee high socks for $7. I cut the feet off and just zig-zagged a hem on the raw edge to make a lettuce edge bottom. They were super fast to make and I think they look pretty cute!

Ella is a dot-to-dot! hee hee

Aidan did a little craftin'. He made a cd cover. He said, "it's a rock guy giving the horns up!" He sounded out and wrote his version of "rock" above the guy. Love it!

Sean brought home his pirate craft from school today. Too cute!

My mom also did a little crafting while here. She crocheted a heart out of the extra yarn I had from Ella's ruffle longies, then sewed it onto a shirt for me. I will have to add a pic of that outfit tomorrow when Ella wears it. It is darling!

And, yes, I did make the V Day shirts for the kids. Gotta love the freezer paper stencils! It feels so good to take time to make things.

The Singer Sessions; Vol II: A Special Gift for a Special Baby

I had a extra motivation for practicing my sewing this week. A friend and fellow La Leche League member gave birth on New Year's Day to her son, Micah. Amy had told me during her pregnancy that she was interested in trying prefold cloth diapers with her new baby. In the past she had used pocket diapers or fitted diapers. I mentioned that I would hold on the Ella's as she outgrew them to pass them along. Amy also asked if I knew someone that would dye them, as she loves bright colors.

A seed was planted in my head and I was happy to see it grow into a finished project tonight.

Last week, I dyed the diapers and a baby t-shirt using Dylon permanent dyes. After washing them several times to make sure the excess dye was washed out, I started embellishing them. I used the Freezer Paper Stencil process to paint a hot air balloon on the shirt, spelling out Micah's name. Unfortunately one of my paint colors is very close to the shirt color so the contrast isn't that great on one letter. Doug teased me that it reads "Mich" instead of "Micah." Hopefully it doesn't look that bad in person!

When shopping for fabric for the prefolds, I knew that I wanted something very colorful and hopefully in rainbow motif without being girly. I was so happy to find the hot air balloon fabric! Just right for Micah.

See, Micah is known in pregnancy and birth loss groups as a Rainbow Child.

A rainbow represents promise and hope. In Genesis, the story of Noah and a flood that destroyed the earth is described. It rained for 40 days and nights and only Noah and his family were saved because of their obedience the God. They listened and tried to warn others to no avail. Well, when it was all over and the water began to recede a rainbow appeared in the sky as God's promise to never destroy the earth by flood again. It gave them hope that they were safe and that the future would be bright in a sense.

Essentially the "promise" would be a living child and hope that it can and will happen for all of those that want it so badly.

Micah is the beautiful rainbow following his sister's death. Emily was such a precious little girl, so loved and adored by her family. I remember Amy bringing newborn Emily to meetings. Her passing was so sad for everyone. I hope Micah brings hope, healing and happiness to his family.

I should see Amy and Micah tomorrow night at our LLL meeting and give her my colorful gift. I hope she likes it!

The Singer Sessions, Vol. 1

And so it begins...

My first sewing lesson on my new The Singer Simple sewing machine. My mother-in-law, Janice, was kind enough to come over and get me rolling. She taught me how to thread the machine and set up a bobbin (Doug has had oodles of fun making lewd bobbin jokes since then.) I decided my first attempt at sewing would be to make some cloth diaper wipes out of old receiving blankets. I figured I had a ton of them and it seemed like an easy thing to start with. I showed Janice my idea and she helped me set up a cool stitch pattern to use and away I went! It seemed to be going well, so she took off so I could figure it out on my own.

Unfortunately, I forgot to ask her how to turn corners, so my first attempt is pretty "reinforced" in the corners. LOL Nevertheless, I was proud of myself for trying and snipped up the strings and edges and showed it to Doug. He said, "Not bad, not bad. Let's see how it works, Ella just pooped" and he handed her off to me. Nice. Well, I am happy enough to say it made an efficient butt-wipe. :P



I called my mom to tell her what I was working on and she told me how to turn the corners. This morning, while the boys were at school, I made another wipe and it turned out much better. I started on the third one, got one edge done, then ran out of thread on the bobbin. By that time, Ella was tired of sitting in the highchair next to me and demanded I pick her up.



Lucky for me, she went to sleep fairly early tonight so I had time to re-fill the bobbin and make a few more. I got six 8 x 8 wipes made out of 2 blankets. Not bad!

Aidan wants me to hem up his PJ pants that he got for Christmas, so that will be my next session. I can see this becoming a very fun and useful hobby!