A winner

After feeding all three comments into the random number generator, the winner of the $50 gift card is Erin. Thanks Jocelyn, Jill, and Erin.

I am so grateful this Father's Day for my dad,

for Evan's dad,
and for the dad that is helping me to raise our kids.
Thank you for the help you give. We love you!

How is this possible?

Maisy empties out her dresser drawers and her closet on a regular basis. She also dumps out her toys, then tips the box over and uses it to climb up and either take things off the wall or her dresser. Kind of a problem.

So I took out anything she could climb on, which included her cute rocking chair, and put her toys in a basket with a handle. We also installed a latch up high on her closet and child locks on her drawers. Well, she figured out the child locks rather quickly. So Evan suggested placing a dowel through the handles of the dresser drawers so that she can't open them. That was two days ago.

Yesterday she figured out how to get the dowel out. Okay, I thought, but it still might slow her down a little. Tonight he figured out that once she got the dowel out she could use it to undo the latch on the closet. Now we really have a problem.

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway. Just so you know.

I was talking!

Jack used to cringe at the idea of sitting in the "baby seat" of the shopping cart, but just recently he realized that when he sits there he has my undivided attention. He loves to sit there and talk and talk and talk. And if I stop listening he reaches up and turns my face to look at him and says, "Mom, I was talking." As if I had forgotten.

I could watch this over and over

For me there is nothing better than this.

It means a lot to me to see her walking. There are so many questions that I don't have an answer for, but the answer to the question, "Will Maisy ever be able to walk?," is "Definitely."

A Little Treat

After finishing Maisy's room, I am eager to decorate the other bedrooms. It seems that decorating upstairs has taken a back seat.

Sadie and Ella share a room, so I need to make it please both, but still be cohesive. I've been trying to decide on headboards and I think I've decided on two of these from the CSN website.

CSN stores would also like to give one of my readers a gift certificate for $50 good at any of their sites. (How cool is that!) I can think of a few ways I could use $50 from CSN stores. Maybe a pillow:

Or a chair:

Or a porch swing (hint hint Evan):

So, shop around, then leave a comment telling me what you might do with a gift card, and I will randomly select a winner. For shipping purposes, you do have to live in the U.S. or Canada. Have fun, I'll announce a winner on June 21st.

Dressed for Success

Little miss Maisy is really into getting her self dressed lately. She pulls everything out of her drawers and picks out something to wear and then puts it on. Sometimes pants are on her head, sometimes legs are through the neck of shirts, but most of the time she gets pretty close.

This was her latest ensemble. She had two shirts around her waist. The orange t-shirt is just over one shoulder and the purple shirt must have been an after thought. The only one I put on her was the white one.
She was pretty proud of herself and her fashion sense.

Another race

Evan had a triathlon last weekend, this time we could walk to the race because it was in our neighborhood. I think his cold was a little more than just a cold, it acted more like bronchitis. He was pretty sick and it was quite cold, but he did a great job.

We hung out by his things from the time he came out of the water until he got back from the ride. I knew that he would have to return there to change his shoes.
We caught sight of him a couple of times on the run.
Then we headed to the finish line and saw him finish the race.

And I didn't even cry this time.

A fresh coat of paint.

So, what do you when you're blue? Paint a room to match. It actually felt good to finish something and have a reason for the mess. And I think it improved Maisy's spirits as well. Although her new favorite thing to do is crawl across the street and ring the neighbor's doorbell. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw her on their front porch. She truly is going to give me a heart attack.

Maisy loves Strawberry Shortcake and strawberry yogurt, so this seemed like the perfect inspiration. (image courtesy of Decor8)

I had some blue paint that was too youthful for its original intention, but was perfect for Maisy's room. The curtains were out of necessity because her room gets the first and last light of the day. So here is her ladder before (not that that is a big deal, but now she can't climb it and pull things off the walls and break the blinds):
And after:
Her shelf (everything has to be out of reach) before:
and after:
Her bed and window before:
and after:
The lanterns were leftover from our block party, the tiebacks were a fat quarter that I had fallen in love with but never used, and everything else was just stuff I had. So, this is my $30 (for the curtain fabric) bedroom makeover. And she loves it, although she has already pulled the curtain rod out of the wall.

Making waves over at A Little Great today.

I have kind of been down in the dumps today. Nothing big, just sick kids for too long, a lack of meaningful conversation, messes, unfinished projects, no time, and the knowledge that no matter what I seem to fail at most things I try lately. No one thing, just a lot of little things. Still it could be worse, and it just might get worse before the week is out.

A Baby Shower

My mom, my sister, and I had a little baby shower today for the cutest soon-to-be parents, Evan's brother and his wife.

I made them a quilt in the colors of the nursery, brown, green, an orange.

They received some really beautiful things.
We made little onesies,
ate yummy food that my mom made,
and visited. It was really nice to meet their friends and see family we hadn't seen for a while. Some in the group were deaf, and my sign language is limited, but the conversation was great. I am even more determined though to improve my sign language. I think that once things settle down I need to take a class. And I can't wait to meet this little addition that almost arrived before her party, maybe soon.

Racing Stripe Blanket

I just finished a baby blanket I love. I almost had a hard time giving it away, until I held the little recipient, then it was so worth it.

With a capital B

Evan has worked 72 hours since Saturday and will work another 48 before Monday, when he calls me today and says they need him for about four hours tomorrow.

I am a Compassionate Service leader at my church, which means that I organize service for those in need, like dinners for families that have had new babies. I love it, and I pray every day that I will know of those in need so that even those who don't speak up will not be left out, but this month there have been two babies born and three more on the way and I am a little worried that I will neglect someone.

My mom's sixtieth birthday is Saturday and we are having a party. My brother-in-law and his cute wife are expecting their first and we are having a baby shower (which I haven't finished the invites for yet.) Oh, and if Evan comes home he'll have a birthday too. So there is a lot going on. I like to be busy, but this is Busy and it requires some extra list making and prioritizing and hopefully not neglecting my kids. Some things will have to take a back seat. (And even though I caught a glimpse of my backside in a photo from our trip to Colorado one of those things has been running.) So, I am off to finish a baby blanket and clean my kitchen. Then I need to bake a cake and finish the invitations, but I really need to get off this computer...

Missing: Four front teeth

After waiting, impatiently while all her friends lost their teeth, Ella has lost four front teeth in a month. She lost the two bottom ones at Livy's birthday sleepover and then lost the top two about 10 days ago (both times, two in the same day.) She looks so cute with all her missing teeth.

I'm over at...