Will, Sewing and Other Randomness

Will loves to go outside.... get in the car..... basically anything involving "out." When we say "go get your shoes!" He runs and brings them to you saying "shoes, shoes..." the whole time. He also seems to love bags. (I think I've mentioned that before) This day he was insistent on carrying Amy's dance bag to dance class. She wasn't very happy because she wanted to carry it. For the sake of peace, I eventually held it.

I got out my stamps for Amy the other day. I don't know why I thought Will would just sit, eat his lunch and watch her.... WHAT was I thinking?? Of course he got involved. When I saw his audition for the Blue Man group, it sent me in a panic wondering if this crafting ink was toxic. It wasn't. :) (not pictured are his hands that are also completely blue)

I've also been sewing up a storm lately. I tend to go in spurts and once the machine is out... I try to get everything done at once. I've made 2 maternity skirts.... (which I was nervous about. If you remember- I made a few skirts when pregnant with Will and one fell off during church!)

One is called Maxi skirt- it's super comfy and the elastic thread really made the waist-band perfect on this one. I love the long length too.

For the other, I just took a jean skirt from Goodwill, cut it up, added a maternity band and hemmed it. I like it also and it's nice to have a little variation in my church wardrobe.

(yes, that's how big my "belly" is getting)

I also made these little chicks for the kids for Valentine's Day. I thought they were cute and figured the kids would have fun with them. They each have a pocket with a felt heart. How sweet. :)

There are a few other things I'm working on too... I'll post them when I'm done. :)

For Christmas, Mom and Dad gave me/us two of the greatest gifts EVER.

First up was a great pair of fabric scissors. I had NO idea how wonderful these were/are!! It was actually an accident that Mom gave them to me. She thought I had some, and bought them for Anna. Then it turned out that Anna was the one who had a pair, and I didn't. So I got the greatest gift, a little by default. They have been the inspiration for my recent sewing. I just LOVE cutting with them. Who knew great scissors made all the difference!?!? I didn't! (but do now!)

The other great gift was a deep freeze freezer. I have been wanting one forEVER. Several times I contemplated having one in our small Mississippi places (Lee over-ruled me on that). This is a smaller one and is the most perfect size. I think I go to it several times a day now! Getting stuff out, putting more in.  L.O.V.E it.

I had a bunch of potatoes so tonight I made Twice Baked Potatoes. They were soooo good. Lee and I had them with salad (the kids had chicken nuggets. Amy hasn't yet decided she likes potatoes). It was also great because I made a TON and then froze most for future use. I LOVE having the deep freeze!! I've decided freezer meals are the WAY TO GO! Ahhh..... THANKS Mom and Dad!

Our Past Few Days

Sorry for the lack of posting, we've been lacking..... in doing anything! It's been kind of nice. Actually, I've been working hard on keeping the house clean and that takes all my attention. Except for Lee, we all can be kind of messy. :)

Lee has been hard at work finishing his dissertation. He usually only works on it at school, but there were a few nights he typed away in the evenings. This particular night, Will wanted to help. I'm happy to say that it is now officially DONE! He'll mail it out on Friday, and then the process of edits begins. He's hoping for a March defense- and if that really happens (then, as opposed to later) he'll really be DONE! Congrats LEE!! I know he's just glad to have it written.

(I tried to get him to add "my wife is hot" somewhere in the paper to see if his advisors would catch it. He didn't.)

Amy is all about oranges- or "Cutie's" (the little clementines's) I should say. They are easy to peel and she has free reign to the fruit drawer.

I found sweet potatoes at Aldi's for $ .25 a bag! (actually I overheard a large black lady talking about them. She was reallllly excited!) I bought 3 bags and steamed/pureed/froze them to add to sauces and such. yummy!

The other day I had a genius idea to put speakers and an extra iPod in Amy's room, loaded up with Taylor Swift songs. It has, by far, been the one of the greatest ideas I've ever had. Amy spends hours in there dancing and singing. She even made a microphone out of an old toy. (Anyone looking for birthday gift ideas... there's one). This picture isn't great, but it shows an overview of her room. She lays her bedspread on the floor to use as a "huge" stage. Will is usually in there too, being her back-up dancer. This particular day she even wanted to wear a skirt! (If you knew Amy, you'd be shocked too. I can hardly get her into a dress on Sunday's)

On Sunday, right before church, little Will had another seizure. This one was the worst and longest yet, lasting almost 4 minutes. He was climbing onto our bed and fell off, into the seizure. The poor thing. Later that night he ran a fever and had another. It was a rough night for all of us! Thankfully we already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for the next day, so we were able to voice our concerns and ask the neurologist lots of questions. We had lots of video too, which helps tremendously in his diagnosis. Anyway, the Dr basically told us that while we were concerned, Will's seizures are very common ones and we didn't need to worry too much. The medication he's on just needs to be increased. You have to get the right balance with it and that just takes a little time to figure out what that is. He said that although it seems like he's getting a lot, he's really getting a very small dose. We felt a LOT better after leaving his office. We really like this Doctor and for me, I felt even better about him yesterday. He was excited to see the videos and to me that means he really loves his job. He's very researched and seems to really stay up to date on the latest information. We are so thankful for him!

This morning I made mini-cinnamon rolls. They were so cute and good!  They are just as big as a fork. (the bad lighting and plate makes them look green, they aren't :)

I don't know what it is, but I swear that Will grows taller every time he has a seizure. He looks so tall today!

Oh, and when he didn't want to eat his cinnamon rolls, he took to eating his oatmeal with his hands.

So that's our update for now. We have several fun things planned for the week- or at least things that get us out of the house. Which will be nice! :)

New Apron, Georgia, Snacks and a Green Dryer

Ashley made me a new apron for Christmas (they had us for Secret Santa). Thanks Ashley! I love it! (my attempt at an apron wearing self portrait......)

Here are a few pictures from my camera from our GA trip last weekend. I mostly used Mom's because I couldn't find mine- Maddox found it for me, it was in the couch cushions! (Thanks Maddox!!)

Somehow Will and Adeline got a hold of Goldfish bags.

They carried them around while eating their snack. 

Amy likes playing in the shed at Mom/Dad's new place. She called it her panther house

(she was a 'panther' that day) She's posing with her acorn collection. 

Talking about something in the kitchen and the cabinets are up! 

When transferring items to my 2012 calendar, I also included special events that the Discovery Center offers. They really offer a lot of programs, and we've yet to take advantage of them. Today I took the kids to "Snack Attack" where Amy made (to share with Will) an edible snowflake (a cooked tortilla with powdered sugar on it). They have this huge ceiling mirror, so some of the images are from that....

The kid next to Will kept rubbing his head. It was so funny. I have no idea why- but he just kept rubbing it.

Will was so cute "looking on"

Afterwards I let the kids play for a little while. They love the Discovery Center. Although it's getting hard to watch both of them. Amy wants to show me things and I have to keep Will from running off. It's more work for me than intended, I'm sure!

When we went to leave (which we had to a) to get home and eat dinner and b) because they were closing..... Both kids pitched a royal fit. Picture me standing in between 2 doors (like at the mall, where you have an outside one and an inside one) holding Will by one leg, upside down and trying to convince Amy to come through the door, which she is violently objecting to because she wants to put money in the twirly money thing. There was no way I was going to look for loose change at that point, so there we stood. I'm sure the receptionist either thought I was the worst parent ever, or had the laugh of her day.

I was thoroughly worn out by this point. We got home, had dinner, had to cancel on a visit with a friend that I was really looking forward to- because Lee had to be at church tonight..... only to find my dryer looking like this....

Glitter GREEN!!!!!

Apparently a stray crayon got into the wash and now this is what I have to deal with. Sigh. I've looked up "getting crayon off your dryer" online and I'll tell you which method works best.

There are some days I wish I were a drinking woman... if I wasn't pregnant, of course. :)

Happy New Year!

We came to GA for a quick, day and a half trip, to have a late Christmas celebration with my family. Although it ended up being a New Year's celebration.

Opening some Christmas gifts from Meme and Papa.....

For New Years... us, Anna/Stratton and Mom/Dad hung out here, ate pizza and toasted the New Year. Welcome 2012!! Adam/Lauren were hosting a party of their own. They came today (Sunday) for our annual "Surf and Turf" Christmas dinner.

We had the Adam Nagel's for Secret Santa (in our family, we each draw another 'family'). One of the things we gave them was this Basket Case game. Adam willingly tried it out and everyone loved throwing balls at him.

It was a wonderful dinner and lots of fun hanging out with everyone. We leave in the morning, so please no one be sad if we didn't visit. We were here for only a day and a half.

Happy New Year everyone!!