Emma & Gymnastics

I am pathetic...

yes, it's true. I will never stop entering Emma into contests. I have never considered myself one of those "pageant moms". I would never do that to my child.

I am more of a "photo contest Mom". I have tried to stop in the past but I just can't stop entering my kids in competitions. I just think they are just too adorable to keep all to myself...I want to share them with the world ;)

Anyways, I would love for you to indulge me in voting for Emma in this contest here:

http://apps.facebook.com/next_direct/gallery/show_entry/18593?auth_token=e130a5f69ea6a598c16d9c4515680153

It's a daily vote so if you can remember to do that, that would be AWESOME.

If...IF Emma does win, she gets $100,000 for college, trip to LA and 1 year contract to Wilhemna Models

Not too shabby.

Thank you for your help!

Bookcase Redo

I wish I would have been better at taking before pictures. But just imagine a Walmart black bookcase that was completely disorganized!

Well this past weekend, I was through with chaos! So I went through my books, took away any that I knew I would never read again, regardless if I took a class about it in college.

Then I put some scrap paper on the back of the shelf, giving it an upgraded look. It makes the whole shelf look so much better and adds so much to the room!

All I did was take spray adhesive and spray the back of the paper then stuck it on the back of the shelf. I didn't worry about lining up the pattern on the paper because I didn't have enough to do that. But you can't even tell where i've lined them up! Super easy and makes a BIG difference!

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So Very Cheri

February Cont.

This is what we've been doing today.

We watched "The Incredibles". Later I find Emma in her room. She has put panties on all her animal's heads, telling me they're wearing masks, they are all super heros.

I guess that's where Kate got the idea....

We like to just hang out, be lazy.

I wish Luke was aware of his surroundings. He would find that he has the silliest, weirdest sisters ever.

This is an adorable baby.

Flashback to Valentines Day. My mom gave them these dresses...too cute. And I made Emma's headband! I did something crafty!

Luke is getting pretty strong these day too. He's now rolling like crazy but can't get back on his back...so it makes for interesting nights.

We also made some treats. These are easy and fun for the kids too. Stick some kisses on pretzels and melt them in the oven, low heat until they are melted enough to stick an M&M on top, then let cool. So so yummky :)

And one more before I go....

Crib Bumper Cover Tutorial

My son has graduated from the bassinet to the crib. And he's become a rolling maniac so I needed a boy crib bumper. He's got 2 older sisters so I wasn't going to surround him in pink! So I started looking for a bumper. I looked on Craigslist. But I never found one I liked. And they sell them at Target but for $20. So I decided that I needed to just take my pink bumper and cover it with a fabric that I liked. And luckily, I had just the one!

It's pretty self-explanatory to make.

The bumper measured 9 1/2 inches by like 132 inches...super long! So you will just need to measure your bumper, length and width. So I just cut 10 inch strips of fabric. Make sure to cut enough for both sides of the bumper.

Then you put right-sides together. Sew the ends together. I had cut out 7 strips of 10 inch pieces. I cut one in half...so each side used 3 1/2 strips. So you are left with two LONG pieces of fabric.

Measure the original bumper between the strings. With that measurement, you will mark on your fabric to know where to place your strings or ribbons so you can tie the bumper onto the crib. I used ribbon as strings. Put right sides of fabric together. Cut 8 1/2 inch strips of ribbon and pin them on the fabric where they will be.

Then you just sew them together and you'll make a long tube. Sew one end shut. Take the shut end and safety pin it to one end of the original bumper. Then proceed to make the cover right side out over the original bumper.

Make sure to keep it straight. Then one the other open end, I used some iron-on velcro to close it. Then you set it up in your crib and you have an adorable new bumper!!

Kate, you deserve your own post.

I love my girls.

But we are going to focus on Kate right now.

Being a middle child is rough, but Kate doesn't seem to mind. To her, she has the best position.

She gets to play with her older sister, but also gets to cuddle and talk to her younger brother.

She is very observant. She catches on to things very quickly that she sees Emma do.

She was an early talker and keeps saying the funniest things.

But one of her greatest feats this past week was...

potty-training herself.

Yep, you read that right.

Being swamped with 3 kids, that was the last thing I wanted to do. Last week, however, she had other things in mind.

It started with a big interest in sitting on the "big" potty, none of this potty chair nonsense.

At first it was once or twice a day that she wanted to go potty. But then in the past week, it was every time. I first did nothing to encourage it...well because I was selfish and didn't want to deal with it, especially what I went through with Emma. I didn't want to do that while I was still adjusting to 3 kids.

Yet, to my amazement, I did nothing. Kate held the reins the whole time. She told me every time she needed to go potty...and she would. So then I introduce panties. She loves being able to pick one herself. And for the past week, she wears panties all day. There ahve been a few accidents but she has quickly learned to keep them dry.

Am I dreaming?! Did she really just train herself this week? And I didn't do anything?

The funny thing was my mom told me that I potty trained myself too. I wanted to be just like Jenny that I figured it out myself. And secretly I was hoping Kate would do just that.

So folks, God does answer prayers.

So I haven't braved to go out on errands with her in panties...there will be a time for that.

For now, we are mastering home life.

We took these pics yesterday. I found some awesome frames at DI, 3 to be exact that I want to put my adorable kids in. So I needed to get some updated pics taken.

Which one is your favorite of Kate? I would love to know.

January

Well January has come and pretty much gone. Here's the highlights from January:

I cut Emma's hair. It was a hard decision but everyone was sick of the nightly battles with combing her hair. She had the worst snarles and knots.

So I cut it.

Wish I didn't have to but I did.

Luke was blessed over the break but I finally took pictures at the beginning of this month with him in his blessing outfit. I bought it from Michelle. She did such a great job and it was such a great price! You should see all that she makes!

We like to just relax around here during the day. The kids and I frequently end up on the guest bed in Luke's room. We read books, sing songs or look out the window.

This little guy loves to talk. And he has the most adorable facial expressions while he talks to me. So I had to document every single one.

THese two are just trouble!

Hangin out with Dad in the evenings, the only time we see him!

Tummy time! Luke is getting a lot stronger these days!

In other news, we just sent out about 70 letters to dentists in a few cities in Washington to see if any of them are hiring associates. Next, we are tackling areas such as Missouri and Texas. The process begins again for us. It'll be nice to first have a job and second, know where we'll live next year. I know it keeps at least one of us up at night, worring about it...(geez, Luke must be really worried about it!)

We signed Emma up for a weekly gymnastics class and she loves it!
Both girls are becoming such great helpers around the house. They love to help make dinner or play "Who can pick up 20 toys the fastest?"

Luke is now 3 months old! He weight 15 lbs and is 25 inches long. He is starting to try to roll over. He chews his hands and fingers. She is sleeping much better these days too! A few days ago, he slept from 9-7:30 two nights in a row! He just loves to talk and giggle. He's a snuggler and loves to be held.

I am still on the No Dairy Diet but I am used to it now and LUke has been great ever since I started on that. Not to mention that this diet has helped me lose 10 lbs already....see how deadly ice cream is?!

I am slowly getting my energy back and de-junking my house constantly. Moving day is just around the corner and I want my house free of crap!
If I have more time and energy in the evening, I might start doing or making stuff but let's not bet on it.

And I am considering a monthly post from now on...these blogs are just too time consuming and I don't have alot of that these days!