Weird & Wonderful Etsy Wednesday

I usually keep me picks for the Etsy to only four, but today I could not just settle on two good ones. 

It also won't be hard to spot the two that don't belong

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sleep as a favorite

Last week I told you about one of my favorite things about being a new mom. 

Nursing.


Today ladies & ladies we'll talk about another favorite of mine during that first year.


Sleep!


For some of you, you may think "Wha? Who sleeps the first year?"


And your right for the most part that is the case.


But then there are those times you get that free pass.


"Sleep when the baby sleeps.........Sleep when the baby sleeps....."


What is more glorious then being able to take a nap smack in the middle of the day and not feel guilty about it?


I love sleep. I hate mornings, I hate waking up. I even have a 30 minute rule that Shawn can't talk about exciting things or important things while I'm still waking or I get really pissed.

I love sleep.


I love taking naps, I love conking out in the middle of an afternoon rerun.


So as a new mom being able to actually schedule in "mommy naps" was one of my favorite things.

I looked forward to being able to fall back asleep even just for 30 minutes at 10 in the morning.


Now that Phoenix is bigger this is hardly possible.


When he does take naps this is my time to catch up on breakfast dishes, or work emails, laundry folding, or blog work.


Every blue moon I'll find myself passing out during All My Children only to be right at the cusp of delicious sleep to hear him go "Ma! Ma!"


Did you have any favorite things about being a new mommy?

 

Vertigo Sleep

Pink Nothings (the blog I was featured on) blogged last week about her little guy falling asleep all on his own on the floor.

Now call me crazy, but I have anxiously been awaiting the day Phoenix decided to play in his ball pit and just conk out.

or

Eat lunch and fall asleep in the high-chair.

Why might you ask do I have such a desire? 

Because this is the best kind of sleep.

Being the oldest of 8 I have always been around kids and because there were so many of us people always assumed my mom wouldn't mind having extra

(FYI: Not always the case. Especially when the extra kids are bad ass)

Anyway all the kids I've ever been around have always seem to sleep well when they fall asleep in unconventional places and at unconventional times.

So to recap. They sleep well and they look so cute. 

Even me! I love when I fall asleep, ok this NEVER happens anymore. I'm a mom! .....when I used to fall asleep like this!

It would be 4 PM and I'd wake up at 9 PM not really understanding what was going on (kind of like a vertigo day) but I would be so rested and I could still fall asleep that night.

Except for two occassions....

Once home from work on Friday (I got off at 12 on Friday's) I fall asleep at like 4 PM wake at 8 PM and freak out because I thought I had missed going to work.

So I ran in my parents room screaming "Why didn't you wake me?!" and calling for my brother (who worked near me so we "carpooled") and everyone is like "Alex what the heck is wrong with you? It's 8 PM!"

And so I nodded and went back to bed.

or


The other time (which I think was the following Friday after the first incident) I woke up screaming and jumping on my bed because I thought there was a dead pterodactyl on my bed....


So maybe I don't want Phoenix to fall asleep this way.

 

Easy as ABC

Reading one of my craft blogs today Little Green Notebook and she introduced me to this really cool website. Daily Drop Cap.

 

 

I'm going to print out all the letters and frame them and hang them in Phoenix's playroom.

And maybe print out the ones for his name and hanging them in his room.


And maybe blowing up the A and the S and hanging them above my bed.


Too much huh? Am I going to turn my house into a schoolroom?!


Well now that I'm thinking about it, I kind of don't care. I actually really love the ideas.

I went to pick up my awesome $20 couch yesterday and brought two more ceramic elephants.

A huge wooden mirror for $4! Have you seen how much these are in stores? All it needs is to be painted.

And this footstool which I'll recover.

I kept fighting the urge (hopefully I don't offend any of you with my next comment. I swear it's not my intention) to feel like really poor. But it wasn't why I was buying the stuff.


I could go out and buy a brand new couch with a triple digit price tag, but it wouldn't really be something I loved.

I love print. I love it print. I love print. I love print.


Have I mentioned how much I love print?


But all the printed couches I've seen in my price range look like Grandma.


This might be slight Grandma. But it's Coco Chanel Grandma.


I honestly see so much potential in things I've seen at thrift stores and Craigslist.


It amazes me what some people find garbage.

Now I was pursuing CL yesterday and stumbled upon a libertor for sale.


If you don't know what one is, that's ok because I didn't either.


But why in heaven's name would someone sell this and who in their right mind would buy it?!

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect end and coffee tables. 

And I also have this idea of getting a big farm house style kitchen table and painting it like this.

Maybe you don't quite see it yet, but I do and I think it could be fantastic! 

Silent Sunday- Monkey Pj Set

Bloggerazi- Amy

Bloggerazzi Blogger is Amy at 

Everyday Mama Drama & Moving on from the Drama

My name is Amy and I am a 30 something, Midwest, suburban mommy to a beautiful little girl named Kaitlynn.  Family and friends describe me as strong, passionate, opinionated, empathetic, loyal, good listener, kind, slapstick sense of humor, goofy and bubbly.  I am married to my best friend, Dave.  We met at a social services agency that we were both working at in 2001. 

Before becoming a mommy, my background was in retail and social services. Dave and I got engaged in May of 2004.  He rented a Jaguar, my favorite car, and took me to my favorite park to propose.  How great is that?  We were married in November of 2004.  We found out we were pregnant with Kaitlynn the day after Father's Day (in 2006).  We were blessed with the miracle of her birth on February 23, 2007.  

The interesting thing about her being born in February, is that both of our birthdays are in February.  My birthday is the 13th and his is the 11th.  Several months after Kaitlynn's birth, it was decided that I would be a SAHM.  It has been a struggle to make it work financially.  Dave is working full-time and in school part-time pursuing his MBA with a focus on finance.  I have been an Avon Representative for 10 years (on and off).  

In January of 2009, I started providing part-time childcare in our home. I am on several local mommy boards and am addicted to blogging.  I started blogging in December of 2007 on my blog Everyday Mama Drama.  In July of this year, I decided to move to a different blog, Moving On From The Drama.  I still keep both blogs up-to-date, but do more posting on the newer one.

My blogs can be described as mommy blogs.  I write about activities we do around town, classes or groups we are involved in, friends, family, product reviews, some giveaways and best of all about Kaitlynn.  I have learned my lesson about being too personal, but strive to make my blogs a true reflection of my life.  

 Alexandria: If you could take your family on an all expense paid    trip for 3 weeks where would you go?

 

Amy: Hawaii.  We would visit all of the islands.  When my husband and I went in 2004, we visited 3 of the islands (Maui, Kauai and Oahu).  Kauai was our favorite of the 3.  We would love to visit the other islands, especially The Big Island.

 

Alexandria:  What is your favorite TV show to watch with your significant other?

 

Amy: We used to watch The Office, How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy, but we just can't seem to find the time to watch these shows anymore, much less watch them together.

Alexandria: Ever thought about homeschooling your children?

 

Amy: I have thought about homeschooling Kaitlynn.  What really drives that is when I hear about bad things happening at schools.  I think the mother in me, just wants to protect her from all harm.

 

Alexandria: Do you have a favorite book?

 

Amy: The DaVinci Code and The Purpose Driven Life.  I am really into self-help and parenting books.  Anything that can give me a better understanding about myself, my family and / or how to be a better wife and mother.  I also like mystery and suspense.

 

Alexandria: Quick! Your grocery shopping and your baby throws up all over you! How do you handle the situation?

 

Amy: I would probably leave the store and either come back later or my husband would do the shopping later.  As a mommy, I am used to having food, throw up, etc on my clothes, but not all over me.  I just don't think I could walk around the store like that and be able to focus on what I needed to purchase.  Hopefully I brought a change of clothes for the baby!

 

 

 

Alexandria: Mini van, Sedan, or SUV momma?

 

Amy: I'm a Sedan Momma, but I would really like to be in the Mini Van Momma's Club.

 

Alexandria: What's your favorite dinner to cook?

 

Amy: Mexican - spanish rice and bean burritos or tacos.  Sometimes instead of the burritos or tacos, I will make quesadillas, nachos or taco salads.   

 

Alexandria: Thing you hated most about being pregnant?

 

Amy: Having Gestational Diabetes.  When I received this diagnosis, I felt horrible.  I was so afraid of how it was going to affect our baby.  Thankfully, I was able to control it with my diet, but the guilt was tremendous.

 

Alexandria: Do you have any holiday traditions you do?

 

Amy: Holidays are very important to us as family is everything to us.

Memorial and Labor Day weekends, we attend a local Greek Festival.

Fourth of July, we spend at my aunt's in the country.

In celebration of Halloween (and fall), we go to Eckert's Farm to pick a pumpkin (and apples), as well as several other pumpkin patches, we attend Spooky Saturday and Boo at the Zoo, and Grant's Farm Halloween event.  On Halloween, we have chilli for dinner.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we make stuffing that was my grandma's recipe.

For Christmas Eve, we attend midnight service.  Christmas morning is just for us (my husband, daughter and me).
 
Alexandria: Do you think the "Balloon Boy"'s family should be charged criminally?

Amy: Yes, I do.  I think it was all made up by the father.  I also think Family Services needs to step in and make sure the children are not being abused or neglected.

Nursing as a favorite

As I was falling into sleep world last night I began to think about a twitter update (do you follow me on Twitter? If you don't, you should) I did this week about remembering how much I love nursing.

My mind then began to wander into another world. 

-Don't you love how I give the background on how I come up with my post?-

Thinking about my favorite things the first year being a new mommy.

Not the standard magical beautiful answers. But stuff like. Did I enjoy having my own personal living breathing person to play dress up with all day? Yeah I did. 

But my two favorite things about being a new mommy was nursing and all of the excuses to sleep!


1. Nursing- I thoroughly enjoyed nursing Phoenix. After the first two months of literally wanting to punch a cat (sorry animal lovers) when he would latch on, nursing was blissful. I never had any type of breast infection. Phoenix never had thrush. I never had thrush. He never got sick.

Yeah the bras sucked balls. The were the ugliest things ever, but nursing made me feel like "Super Mom" I enjoyed also having a handy excuse to duck out of some place early or show up late.I enjoyed that my only job was to sit on the couch watch All My Children and nurse.


I learned how to do laundry while nursing, cook, brush my teeth, eat (sometimes crumbs would fall on his head so I had to throw a nursing cover over him), go to the bathroom, and sleep all while nursing.

I also enjoyed how attentive my husband was while I was nursing. Bringing me water, putting my hair in a ponytail, cutting my food and feeding me.

I had every intention to nurse Phoenix until he was at least a year old. But begrudgingly we stopped. 

Phoenix weaned himself around 8 months old. We had started solids at this point and because of his slow weight gain we were also on 2 bottles a day.

I tried and tried to keep him going but I new in my heart he wasn't having it. 

Sometimes I really regret not continuing, but self-weaned baby is better then having to force a baby to do something they aren't ready to.

This post is getting a lot longer then I like to keep them so we'll save the sleeping post for another day!

While I was looking through the photo folders for some pictures of us nursing (which kind of makes me sad because it seems I don't have any) I came across these and thought he looked so adorable I outta share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our new TV buddy

Yesterday our little Soup Family decided to go to lunch (after our "Save the Marriage" session with our Pastor").

Next door was a Salvation Army and I decided to pop in and see if they had anything good.

And they did. My brand new couch for $20!

 

Am I crazy or is this pattern lovely? I just stared at it for a good 20 minutes before a few phone calls to my mom and Shawn's persistence told me to get it.

The couch was also extremely comfy. 


The only things wrong with "her" was it needed a good clean. But a carpet cleaner will fix that.

The flowers on the front, back side were a bit faded, but some big pillows will hide that.


I also didn't like how low it sat to the ground but Shawn said he could build some legs for it.

I also picked up this little elephant because I saw this post a few weeks ago and had been looking for something like this.

And I also picked up this other piece.

The wood needs to be repainted and the thing in the middle isn't my style but my plan is to pop it out and recover it with some fabric.

I never, ever, ever thought I would be someone who enjoyed shopping at thrift stores but I think it's paying off.

I also stalk Craigslist now as well because I picked up this little gem for $60.

I found someone on Etsy to make me a slipcover I now just have to find a good fabric for it.


I originally planned on doing a real conversational fabric because the other sofa I had my eye of was kind of blah, but the sofa is so "BAM" I don't want it to be a bunch of competing between the lover seat and the sofa.

It could get really messy in here!

But I really, really, really love patterns so the following are a few that I have my eye on for the love seat.


Thoughts? Should I just stick to a simple plain color?