Parenting at its Finest

I am not a perfect parent. Far from it in fact. I think a lot of people are afraid to admit that. Actually, I don't think people are afraid to admit they're not perfect but they are afraid to admit they do things they shouldn't. Not me, I'll lay it out for you.

On several occasions Sawyer has had a popsicle before he's eaten breakfast. Why? Because it's what he's want and I'm preoccupied with other things. Does that make it right? No, but it happens.

75% of the time I go to Walmart/Costco/Any store at all, Sawyer comes home with some type of treat or toy.

I give lollipops to my kid to shut him up keep him quiet.

Sawyer has watched several movies in a row plus a few episodes of jake and the neverland pirates. What am I doing? That's none of your business.

If we stay at home all day Sawyer is probably still in his pajamas or only in a diaper. I probably am too... not the diaper of course.

He eats in front of the TV.

I let him color with markers... *gasp!* ... and yes he has drawn on things he shouldn't.

I've let him him 5,6,7 gogurts in a row.

Bedtime is when we've decided we've had enough of him.

Now all of this is only Sawyer, we'll leave Beckham for another day.

Why the sudden desire to admit this? Well, the other day I caught myself saying to Sawyer, "You can have a banana when you finish your lollipop!" As soon as the words left my mouth I started laughing realizing that was one of the silliest things I could say to a child. But let me explain...

Sawyer doesn't like to ride in grocery carts anymore which I don't mind as long as he stays with me. Do I have to explain how hard it is for a 2 year old to stay with his mom, especially in Walmart at Christmas time where it seems like there is a toy placed every 10 feet? Well, I've found that if I offer him a lollipop, as long as he stays in the cart, he's a happy camper.

So yesterday we were finished shopping and on the way home and he still had his lollipop. I had grabbed a banana because I was hungry and he saw me and wanted one too. However, he still had the lollipop and the only place for him to put it was on the seat, on the ground or in my hand. I didn't want it to I told him he had to finish it before he got the banana. Does that make the statement seem any better? No? Well, let me ponder that while I go get my son a bowl of ice cream and sit him down to watch Jake.

Crafting it up!

I knew I would do this. My last blog post was over two weeks ago and I've really had no motivation to write another one. I even made this adorable wreath, and as we've seen in posts past I'm pretty proud of my craft accomplishments, and I didn't even take a picture of it. Well, that's not true... I did send a picture to my mom and sister so they could be jealous of my awesome new wreath. Don't worry, they are... they were all like "oh Victoria, you're amazing! How do you do it? Can you make me one? I'll pay you 100 dollars!" That whole conversation may have happened in my head but with two kids distracting me, I can't be sure.

So now I bet you're all like, "Victoria, you made a wreath! I bet it's way cool, at least as cool as your Halloween one! You should show us a picture!" Well don't worry adoring fans, I will ease your troubled souls and show you my amazing new wreath.

Wa-bam! Here it is!

Now, remember to ignore that ugly grey door as it's basically the worst backdrop for this really amazing wreath. Jealous much? No? Oh, well that doesn't change the fact that I still really like this wreath. Plus it only took me 2 hours to finish and it gave me a reason to finally buy a glue-gun. A glue-gun that Sawyer was eying pretty greedily the other night so I've stashed it somewhere he'll never find it.

The only sad thing about this wreath was that I had to put my Halloween wreath away. And speaking of Halloween I bet you're now saying to yourselves, "Hey, doesn't Victoria have two adorable children who would've looked adorable in Halloween costumes?" and to that I would have to say, "You are correct, dear sir!"

Here's my adorable tiger who wouldn't keep his head on. We went trick-or-treating with his two cousins out in Boise. Parker, the monkey, was born on the same day so the two have them are always fun to get together. Then there's the Princess Brooklyn who enjoys being the ring-leader of the bunch.

Beckham was the cutest Giraffe you'll ever see.

I think he was a little scared of being a giraffe but I'm all for stuffing cute things into a cute thing to make a doubly cute thing.

Now, the parents of these two children didn't quite achieve the level of cuteness that our children can. What's that? You want to see... alright, but just remember that these were Halloween costumes.

Laughing? Well, it's well deserved. And don't worry, I'm very aware of how well this costume looks on me. Chris made it very clear that I was a very good nerd, scary good. Like... this could be me on the inside and I'm just really good at hiding it. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggh.... what does it say about me that a nerd costume is very suiting? I don't want to talk about it.

Oh My Husband!

One thing you can say about Chris is that he's always entertaining. One of the reasons I married him so I must say that I've enjoyed this entertaining quality of his for the past five years.

Always on the lookout for the next thing Chris discovered that Zion's bank was having a competition to find the "cheapest" person. After narrowing it down to 10 finalists they then compete in a web series to win 10,000 dollars. So, in true Chris like fashion, he's sitting in class when he comes across this and decides he's got nothing to lose. Well, he made it to round 2!! So yesterday we spent the little time we had together, between school and meetings, to film a 60 second video. Here's the unedited version since it's a little funnier.

The beginning is a bit boring but make sure you watch the whole thing since the end is much funnier... I mean it's only a minute long, what else do you have to do with your time?

Pinterest Love (plus a baby)

So, as from the title of this post, I am going to be delving into another pinterest project. However, before I do that I need to announce that Beckham is smiling!!! He's been doing it for a week now but I FINALLY was able to get the timing right and snap a picture. There's nothing like having your baby smile at you to form an instant bond. No matter what you feel for your baby before that moment (hopefully it's love) everything changes when you get a smile.

How goofy is that smile? Loooove it! I was so happy when I got this picture because when I pressed the button it was a much smaller smile but in the second it took my camera to focus he whipped this sucker out. Looks like I have a poser. 

For the record, I'd like to point out that he is smiling early. So basically, what this means is Beckham is a genius and will probably solve world hunger, cure cancer and become president all before the age of 5. I don't care if you can't become president until your 35.... Beckham will smile and they will change the law.
Besides, he already has his presidential pose worked out. Don't believe me?

I'm pretty sure that he's dreaming about the masses cheering at him with adoring faces. And he's all like, "Ugh, it's so tiring being this loved."

Well, baby or no baby, pinterest projects must be completed. And since Halloween is coming up I thought it would be appropriate to make a Halloween wreath.

Inspiration, courtesy of ourbestbites.

 This past weekend we stayed at my in-laws since Chris's brother and his fiance were going to be in town. And it's probably pretty important that I actually meet my future sister-in-law and give my approval. Because, as we know, my approval is puh-retty (un)important. But, I also figured this would be the best time to get a project done since I'd have helping hands. At least with Sawyer because, as you will see, newborns are fun to oogle at but not hold.

Yes, Beckham decided that he only wanted to sleep if he was being held so I obliged but didn't let that get in the way of my crafting. What you can't see is that this is a three person couch and I'm taking it all up with my supplies. In the course of me making this wreath several people walked into the room looking for a spot to sit and I decided to keep my eyes squarely on my project as to avoid that awkward situation.

And here is the finished product:

I wish the door wasn't such an ugly metal gray but I can't help that. But look at that awesomeness!! I wanted to throw in some color since it is Halloween and how can you not use orange and black? Love the spider too... the only time in my life I will ever say that since spiders are devils incarnate.

I have to admit that I'm a little scared to put this on my door since I fear it might get stolen. I mean... if I walked by an apartment with this on it... I would take it. Be warned, if I'm ever your neighbor and decorations go missing... I took them. I'll deny it... but it was me.

Missing Components

I think babies are missing a few key components in their design. Here's a few things I think should have been included.

1. An indicator light: I've fed him, changed his diaper, rocked him, walked him, cuddled him and he's still crying? I think an indicator light would be really handy in these situations. Heck, they would be convenient even if it's just because he's hungry because then I could solve the problem much faster.
2. Poop on demand button: Just put him to bed and you're walking away and hear the pppppttttt? Just changed him, put on his onesie, put on his pants, put on his socks and then buckled him into the car seat and you hear a ppppptttt? Um... yes, a poop on demand button would be REALLY helpful.
3. Snooze button: Self-explanatory.
4. Mute button: Okay, before you judge me on this one... sometimes babies just cry and there's nothing you can do. So... in these instances a mute button, or maybe just a volume button to slightly turn it down for the neighbors (riiiiiight, for the "neighbors" *wink*).
5. Spit up alarm: You've used the spit up cloth/blanket/towel the whole time you were feeding him, you get a few good burps out of him and then you keep him upright for several minutes just to make sure. Then, you get up and bleeeeeh all over the clothes you were planning on wearing out that day plus a little in your hair. Where's the cloth/blanket/towel now? Not where you need it. An alarm would be nice so at least you could maybe dodge it or grab that cloth/blanket/towel in time.

These things would be nice but sadly I was not consulted when it came to the design of babies. I guess you could argue that God - being omniscience, omnipotent and omnibenevolence - might not need my held but I like to give my opinion. Oh well, I still love my little Beckham even if I could've used a mute button for the past 5 minutes.

And Life Goes On...

Tomorrow will be four weeks since I've brought Beckham home. I think anyone who has had a baby can understand why I've waited so long before writing a blog post. Primarily I had to get past the period of return. No going back now, right? I mean, I guess that technically the period of return expired over nine months ago. You know, THAT day. However, for my own sanity, I'd like to believe that the hospital could put him back, for at least a little bit. But... four weeks of growing and he's not going back anymore.

You would think having had Sawyer would make having a second child easier. Pfffffffffffffffffftttt.... no. Nothing in the world can make waking up at 3am to feed a child any easier. It doesn't change the fact that when he's crying at me incessantly I hold him at arms length and declare he is the last child I'm ever going to have. Or the fact that after I've fed him, put him in his bassinet, turned off the lights and am almost asleep and that's when he chooses to poop. Of COURSE I'm going to question if it's REALLY necessary to change him or is it really that evil to wait until he wakes up again. (If you're wondering what path I choose on that one then I plead the 5th.)

Babies are hard. Is that news to you? It shouldn't be. And if you think for some reason it's going to be different for you... it won't. In fact, if you are under the assumption that having a baby is easy, I predict that you will be the one crying every night and wondering what you ever did to deserve this. And what did we do to deserve this? We were babies once and we did it to our mothers so it's only fair.

You want to know what's not fair? Men and the fact that they don't have boobs. Men should have to grow them when they have a child. Not only to nurse but also so they can understand the excruciating pain they cause. Because then maybe they'd understand why that area no longer belongs to them and has become the sole property of baby. Also, they'd understand that just because we carry portable milk containers, it does not mean that I want to whip them out at every public place for the baby to nurse (like the state fair.... Chris). No, I prefer to nurse in the comfort of my home because then I can just whip it all off and not worry about some strange man ogling me while I feed my child. Why couldn't milk come from an easier part of the body... like the tip of my finger.

On a lighter note, Sawyer has reached the milestone of leaving his crib for the big boy bed. We weren't quite ready for that but as Sawyer had taken to doing suicide dives out of his crib we thought it was necessary for his survival to make the switch. I was a bit worried because we didn't have a guard rail for the twin bed but for four nights now he has stayed solidly in the middle of the bed.

So, for now, I'm surviving. However, never ask me how I'm doing at 3 in the morning. Primarily because that would be creepy. But also because if you ever want to see where zombies reside you will find them nursing a child at 3 in the morning. Which, in retrospect, might be the only reason why might survive. But, then again, I think I could nurse with one hand and still kill you.

Had a baby, it's a boy!

With Sawyer's labor I've always felt that I didn't have the right to explain to pregnant woman what labor was like. You see, with Sawyer, I went in before the contractions were really painful, got an epidural, watched TV for a couple of hours and then with only 15 minutes of pushing I had a baby. That is not typically how it goes. I literally didn't feel one contraction and had to look at the computer for it to tell me when to push. I must admit, I didn't mind. But, it left me questioning what my other pregnancies would be like.

As a side note, if you are close to your due date and want your baby out, I suggest moving. Nothing like some heavy lifting and stress-filled moving to pop a baby out.

Want the low-down on how I just had a baby? No? Well, too bad.

Sunday, 2:00 pm : Chris finally gets back from D.C. after driving 32 hours straight across the country.

Monday, all day : Packed up the rest of our stuff, loaded it into in-laws mini-van, drove to Pocatello, unloaded everything and unpacked, went to Wal-mart to stock up on groceries and other essentials, Sawyer falls asleep on Chris so we can't have two grocery carts, pay and unload first grocery cart, go back and load up a second, (at this point Sawyer is puh-retty upset with us), back to the apartment to unload groceries, drove back to Idaho Falls, go to Sam's to buy a TV (since we know it's impossible to live without a flat screen HD tv, right Chris?), go back to house to load up remaining items in our car and then drive back to Pocatello to unload again. Crash into bed and hope for some sleep.

Tuesday 3:00 am : Waking up to use the restroom is such a drag when it's early in the morning. I always face the question on whether I can go back to sleep and make it to morning or if I should just get up and get it over with. Well, this time I didn't have much of a problem deciding when I realized that not only did I wake up to use the restroom, I woke up because I was having a contraction. Not only that, but I realized I had been waking up to contractions for the past hour but had been ignoring them as I REALLY wanted to sleep. So at this point I'm already past where I had an epidural with Sawyer.

Now, with Sawyer, it was my first child labor and I wasn't really aware of when I was supposed to go to the hospital and ended up there a couple day early only to be sent home in disappointment. So this time I wanted to be doubly sure. So after sitting up for 30 minutes, timing my contractions and squeezing my toes to deal with the pain, I decided it was time to wake up Chris.

Now, as I am sure most of you have never woken up my husband, he's pretty hilarious to wake up in the middle of the night. All I have to do is whisper his name and he shoots out of bed like somebody's attacking him. Then he utters some incoherent phrases which always make me laugh and the next morning he never remembers any of it. I should really film this sometime and prove to him that he does this. Anyway, I walk into the bedroom and say "Chris it's time to go". Well, in true Chris-like fashion, he shoots up out of bed with his hands around his head, like I'm attacking him, and then with a bleary eyed expression asks why he has to get out. Later, he explained that he thought I was mad and telling him to get out of the apartment.

"No, the baby is coming, get up." "The baby's coming!" Then he really shoots out of bed.

Now the next 30 minutes was a bit confusing since I'm packing a hospital bag and trying to decide what I'm going to do about delivery. Technically, I'm supposed to be delivering in Idaho Falls, an hour away. However, there is a brand new hospital in Pocatello only 5 minutes away, or 10 minutes if your my husband and miss the exit. But, my doctor, obviously, only delivers in Idaho Falls. So what do I do? I call my doctor. How do you call a doctor? With a phone number. A phone number that I've failed to put in my cell phone or have anywhere that would make sense. Well, how do you find a phone number? The internet! The internet that I haven't set up yet. Boo.

Thank goodness we have internet on our phones. Although, it took us awhile to remember that. Not that it really mattered because upon calling my doctor her advice is. "Well it's up to you." Thanks doc.

Chris wants me to go to Idaho Falls so we can drop off Sawyer at his parents house which I was totally fine with as long as I wasn't having contractions. Then a contraction would hit and I would come to the conclusion there was NO WAY I was sitting in a car for an hour with these things only getting more intense. So, we stayed in Pocatello, a good decision.

As I mentioned before, we are on our way and Chris manages to miss the exit. The exit that is literally right across from the hospital. The hospital that I could've gotten out of the car at that moment and walked up the hill to get to. When I explained to Chris that he missed the exit and there wasn't another exit for several miles he declares he's pulling a U-turn on I-15. I explain to him that is not going to happen and I would be fine for a few more miles.

Arrive at the hospital, the hospital that doesn't have my records and won't have them until the baby is 20 minutes from being born. Oh well.

Laying on a gurney the nurse is explaining that she thinks I'm in false labor. Why? I'm handling the pain to well. Ask my mother, I have never been good at handling pain. In fact, as a kid, I was quite dramatic about my pain. I guess that doesn't apply to labor? Not that this nurse REALLY cared since, as she explained, it was the middle of a shift change and she was going to let the other nurse check to see how far I'm dilated.

Meanwhile, I'm curling my toes dealing with the pain. Maybe if the nurse could've seen my toes she would've realized that it wasn't false labor. I guess science hasn't progressed far enough to accurately predict pain based upon curled toes.

So the next nurse comes in and to her surprise I'm dilated to a 5 and YES, I AM in labor. Now, mind you, I had received an epidural with Sawyer when I was at a 4, barely a 4. I won't receive my epidural until a 7 this time. So, my experience with labor has widened slightly and now I can explain what a contraction feels like. Simply put, it doesn't feel good. I don't advise them. I advise an epidural at a 4. GET an epidural. Don't ever let some crazed woman tell you the joys of a natural child birth. They are lying, they only want you to share in your misery. Epidurals are a gift from God, never view them as anything else.

So, epidural in, an hour later baby comes with 4 pushed in about 3-4 minutes. Yes, 3-4 minutes, I kid you not. Apparently he was ready to come. Which is fine with me because I was hungry and you're not allowed to eat until you have the baby.

Get this... he had hair! Hair? Yes, hair. That's a surprise because Chris and I were bald as babies. Plus, when we did get hair it was blonde. Sawyer was bald and is blonde. Not only did Beckham come out with a full head of hair but it was dark. Very dark. Almost black. So giving him my dad's name (Becham Steven Bramwell) was accurate because my dad, according to my grandmother, came out with a head full of dark hair as well.

So, Beckham Steven Bramwell was born on August 14, 2012 at 8:02 am. He weighed in at 7lbs 4oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. (forgive some of the pictures, they were taken with a phone as we forgot the camera in the car. Can you tell this is a second child?)

You can tell from his expression that he didn't really enjoy his first bath.

We were worried that Sawyer might not respond well to Beckham. Especially since he spent all summer with his dad gone so he became super attached to me. However, Sawyer was thrilled with his new brother. When he held him he would stroke his cheek and gave him several kisses while calling him "my baby. Hopefully that continues to be his attitude.

Here he is with his proud dad and excited brother.

Leaving the hospital.

So now we're back at the apartment adjusting to our new addition. I could go on and on but I'll leave that for another time, shall we?

Pregnant? Who?

These last few weeks of my pregnancy seem to be really getting to me. Of course this is common among pregnant woman in their third trimester, or so my pregnancy app tells me. After completing that massive library cart project, I thought I might have got rid of the whole "you can't tell me what not to do" bug. Not so. In fact, I think I've only enhanced it.

This week was a bit of a stretch for me. Physically and mentally. Monday I spent all day assembling the furniture I had just taken apart. Tuesday I spent all day unpacking all the boxes that we've had in storage for almost two years now. That included washing all my dishes again. I don't have a dishwasher.

By the time Wednesday has rolled around I'm pooped. More than pooped, I was actually sick but refused to admit to it because, guess what? I decided to take on another Pinterest project. Well, not directly from Pinterest but it was from the same site I got the library cart from, Ana White. I mean, why not take on another wood working project when you're two weeks away from your due date.

Now, before we get into pictures... I know this isn't perfect. In fact, within the first few minutes of starting this project I determined there was no way this was going to be perfect. Why? Because I was starving but since my stomach was upset I wasn't eating anything. Plus, I had a two year old. Plus, I was using scraps from my cart project that were slightly warped. Plus, I was really doing this because I was bored and not because I needed to. Plus... every other excuse in the world.

You're now asking, if you looked at the above link, why I'm building a step stool. There's a lot of answers to that question, one consists of me sticking my tongue at you and saying it's none of your business. However, a better answer might be that I've been looking for one but all the nice ones are too expensive for a piece of plastic and all the crappy ones make me picture my child dying in a horrific stool accident. So, I decided, with all my wood crafting experience, I would do a much better job. And I did.

Ta-dah! See?

 

 It only took me a couple hours to complete but that's partly because I had given up on the perfection aspect. You see, it's not exactly square. Will Sawyer ever know? No. Will it ever affect his ability to climb up it? No? In fact, if I had left well enough alone you would never even know it wasn't square until you opened up the lid. However, for reasons unbeknownst to a sane person, I decided to try and "fix" a mistake and it didn't turn out. That's all I'm saying because I don't care for you to know what I did and my picture will never show it. 

I actually could have finished this in less than four hours but at this point I was feeling a bit nauseous. Partly because I hadn't eaten anything and partly because, in a few hours, I'm going to find out that I have a stomach virus. A nasty one. I could go into the details but let's face it... if you have had a stomach virus you know what happens and I don't need to explain anymore. And if you haven't, then there is no words to explain how utterly nasty it is. 

So, did I finish it the next day? No. I decided to be on the safe side and not eat anything because, well, above reasons. So, at 38 weeks I haven't eaten anything for two days... excuse me while I'm passed out on the bed with the delusion that my 2 year old is going to behave. 

However, after eating like a ravenous wolf this morning, I decided to go ahead and finish the project.

I'm quite happy with the result. Sawyer is too. 

Having a step stool in the bathroom now means he can gargle. Seriously. The first thing he did was climb up on the stool and grab a cup and start gargling. I guess seeing me using mouth wash has had him wishing he could do the same thing. It was pretty hilarious until he stopped leaning over far enough to actually spit in the sink. Once he started spitting on the floor it wasn't so hilarious anymore. 

That's okay because he moved onto brushing instead. I'm hoping that this will be a trend because he has fought me on brushing his teeth. I guess we will find out tonight.

Moving! (Kind of...)

I hate moving. Hate it. What other words do I have that could express to the world how I feel about moving. Loathing, despise, an abomination, filled with disgust, and if you so desire go look it up in a thesaurus and every synonym will apply. I've moved WAY too many times in our 5 years of marriage. And with each move we have more things to move.

When we first were married I moved to California, then to Washington, then to Philadelphia, then to Utah, then to Idaho and now we're moving again. Staying within Idaho, but still moving. Plus, there is the eventual move that comes in May when we are, most likely, moving to D.C. And, since I've expressed to my Chris (on multiple occasions) that I'm only committing to two years in D.C., we will have another move then. Insert the biggest sigh possible rriiiiiiiiiiiggghhhhht <here>.

And this time is annoying in a different way since I'm moving everything two weeks before I will actually be living there. Plus, this move was especially painful since Chris is, luckily, still in D.C. and didn't have to participate. Luckily, a pregnant sister-in-law is pathetic enough to incur the sympathy of her brother-in-laws and I had myself a moving crew.

So this last week, while I was (successfully) building my bookshelf, I was also rounding up all of our stuff and attempting to pack it up. Although a lot of procrastination was necessary for sanity to continue, I did manage to pack everything and disassemble several items of furniture. One of them, my bed, tried to kill me in the process but the idea that my obituary would state that I was smothered by a mattress was incentive enough to live.

Oh, let's add in the fact that I'm in the basement and discovered several dead spiders throughout the process. And while a dead spider is better than a live spider, the difference is so slight that you couldn't tell the difference through my reactions.

Well, moving day came yesterday and we got the U-haul loaded up. Luckily I pulled out the big bucks (10 dollars) and got the bigger truck because we needed it.

 

I also advise a better packing job at the entrance to your truck because when I opened it at the apartment things preceded to try and kill me. 

Unpacking went much quicker and I found out that we are going to have awesome neighbors. When we arrived they moved both their cars so we could back to truck up so it was directly in front of our apartment. Then they offered us several water bottles and helped move all the stuff in. By the way, when I say "we" moved everything you can subtract "me" from that equation. I realized with two weeks left til Chris gets back and three weeks until the baby is due, I better not make myself go into labor by handling heavy loads. So, I was more of a director than a participator. And honestly, I'm OOOOOOOOOOOOK with that.

After everything was unloaded we are left with the handy dandy moving crew tired and worn out.

Thank-you Meg, Greg, Jeff, Jon and Braden for being such great sports and helping out. And thank-you Sawyer for not being too difficult.

Then it was off to dinner at the Chinese restaurant around the corner. I have to admit, I was hesitant but Jon and Braden insisted it was really good. And it was.

I'm just still trying to figure out how Sawyer knew what to do with chopsticks. No one has ever used them in front of him before but he managed to pick up on the concept. Well, chopsticks plus a few fingers.

All finished!

I am FINISHED!!! I thought it would take me longer but with yesterday and today I completed it in four days! I actually didn't have many other options as I'm loading up a Uhaul on Saturday and moving down to Pocatello. And since all the equipment to do this project is at my mother-in-laws, if I hadn't finished it this week it never would've got done.

So, I know you must be SUPER curious on how things went these past two days so let me fill you in.

 First off, I had to put the wheels on. I thought it would be more difficult than it was but I got them attached in less than 10 minutes. Then after that, we moved on to paint... let's just say I was hesitant to do so with a 2 year old. Not that I had any other choice.

At first my thinking was, "I'll just give Sawyer a cup and a little foam brush, he can't do much damage with that, right?" I was pretty proud of myself for this idea. Even if he painted on the cart, I could just use my paint brush to even it all out. Plus, we were outside... nothing he can hurt with paint, right? Wrong on all accounts.

First off, Sawyer was more than excited to paint the side of the cart for a little bit. He was actually, beyond thrilled since he NEVER gets to paint. This whole summer I've been painting and it's always been NO! However, he quickly realized that there was a lot more to paint. The picnic table, the house, the trees, the dog. Yes, the dog. Sawyer was adamant that Iris needed to be a healthy shade of baby blue instead of her white. Luckily, the dog is faster than him and I was quick to spot him heading off to paint the dog.

So, as if it wasn't enough that he wanted to paint the dog, the part of the cart he did paint dried much faster than I thought it would. Is that a problem? Yes, when your son has left large globs all over the side of the cart. Luckily (If you can call this luck) I was able to sand it out before I did the next layer. It's not perfect but it's not to the point that it would ever bother me.

I had meant to take a picture of Sawyer in all his painted glory but I kind of forgot in the race to clean him up before he started touching furniture.

Next step, the letters.  Which, I thought would be the easiest step but I forgot that I had a 2 year old.

 Those letters, literally, gave me heart palpitations. After spending way too much time at the craft store I settled on a pack of these letters. I didn't even pause to think that they were the last ones in case I needed another pack.

After painting them, while Sawyer watched in sheer agony that he wasn't allowed to paint these, I did the annoying task of spacing them just right. Once I was done with that I got the glue.... curse you glue and all your stick glory. Everything was going just fine, great, actually. Then my mother-in-law called me over to help her out on a project of her own.

Did it even cross my mind that leaving my 2 year old with my one and only set of letters and a bottle of glue would turn out disastrous? Obviously from my line of questioning, I did not.

After a couple of minutes I turned around to see Sawyer pouring out the glue all over the letters, even the ones I had already glued on. Glue was EVERYWHERE!!! After racing the un-glued letters to the sink, I was able to wash off the glue, and most of the paint (sigh). Thankfully, Meg was able to get most of the glue off of the letters already on the cart and with the help of a few q-tips I was able to get it all cleaned up.

After that I decided that even though Sawyer had not had dinner yet, it was time for a popsicle.

Then, with a few more q-tips, I was able to, painstakingly, repaint the letters and get the rest glued on. And, as we can see from the finished project, it looks quite nice.

A few books, a couple baskets, a stuffed animal and a posing child makes it look even better.

 Is it wrong to be in love with a craft project?

Day 2 of Project

Well, I'm really glad that Sunday was yesterday because I needed a day off. Saturday night I got really sick - headache, pains, runny nose, sore throat, coughing... you know, the works. I am not really sure if Sunday actually happened because I don't really remember it. I think I remember my mother-in-law, Meg, coming downstairs to tell me they were headed off to church. Yeah, that wasn't happening for me. Thank goodness Sawyer decided to sleep in a little bit and give me some time off.

Waking up today I have to admit I still felt pretty sick but if we refer to a previous post... I have difficulty being in situations where I "shouldn't" be doing something. I think that when I'm sick I feel the desire to get things done even more so than when I'm well. That's probably because when I'm feeling fine I know I can do it whenever I want and then procrastinate it. So, even though I shouldn't have worked on my project today, I did. Thank goodness I'm absolutely amazing and can still work a power tool in a haze.

Here we are, just finished the next step of the project - that little ledge there. Sawyer is showing you guys how awesomely level he is. I've never met a baby who could center the bubbles quite like he can. I guess I can thank genetics for producing a level baby.

The next step was constructing the top shelf. I was a little displeased with this step as I had a mishap and got wood glue all over the place. I'd like to blame Sawyer but in reality, he was on the trampoline ignoring me since I wouldn't let him use the jigsaw.

You like that shadow in the picture? That's about the closest you'll get of a pregnancy picture of me. I mean... look how swollen my shadow is. You don't want to see the real thing.
 
And here we have the "finished" project!!!!! (insert every smiley face you can think of here, maybe even one crying tears of joy and you'll get my feelings at the moment. You could actually insert a face of pain here too because at this moment the baby decided to do a high kick to my upper ribs.)

I have to admit I've been staring at this picture for a few moments amazed with myself. I think I'm getting a little full of myself. Is it wrong to think that I should be receiving calls of congratulations from everybody I know? Look at that thing! That is one amazing, working, bookshelf. I even made Sawyer sit on it to test out the top shelf. If that sounds cruel, don't worry, he was already trying to climb it. Which, makes me wonder if putting wheels on this thing is a wise idea. But what's a library cart without wheels? Not a cart, that's for sure.

Now, I would've kept going but I had to go back to the store for the wheels. I even got showered and dressed (in white pants.... don't wear white pants to a home improvement store) only to find Sawyer asleep on the couch. Normally he doesn't take very long naps but he slept for about three hours. He wasn't feeling well either so I wasn't going to wake him up to tell him he had to go sit in his car seat.

I did eventually make it to the store and I now have paint and the wheels. I even went to Walmart to get the letters for the "Library" sign but I was distracted by the candy section. Therefore, instead of buying the letters I bought chocolate. I could spell Library out in M&M's but that strikes me as silly. Especially when, in a desperate situation, you might find me licking them for a source of sugar. You laugh, but I wouldn't put it past me.

Day 1 of Pinterest Project (Well, technically day 2 since I did do some stuff yesterday but... let's not dwell on that.)

Even though I had thought I had everything I needed I found out during my prep work that, sadly, it was not the case. So, first thing I did this morning was make a stop at home depot to pick up a few things. I'm pretty sure this is the pregnancy talking but whenever somebody stopped to help me I think they had their doubts about me and my 9 page long project.

I've noticed during this pregnancy, that I tend to do things that people tell me I shouldn't or think that I can't. For example, I was walking down some steps the other day carrying the stroller (Sawyer was not in it before you even begin to imagine that the pregnancy has ruined me completely). Of course somebody stopped and offered to carry it down for me. I mean... I would do it, so why shouldn't somebody else? But... I stubbornly refused and laughed the person off. Why? If Chris had been there you can bet that I would be laying it on thick that I'm pregnant and can't do anything. So why not let somebody else do it? I'm pretty sure it has to do with pride but that sounds so negative so let's just say it was a temporary lack in judgement. But I digress...

So upon arriving home I gathered everything I needed and laid it out for you all to see.

I have to admit that the only thing I've used out of these is the sander. So, this was somewhat intimidating for me and therefore I practiced on the scrap wood quite a bit. Okay, looking at the picture I realize that I have used glue. You got me on that one. Oh, I see there's a pencil there too. I've never used one of those.

After practice and measuring, lots of measuring, I successfully completed the ends of the bookshelf.

I must admit, I am puh-rettty proud of myself for this. I mean... look at those handles! Sorry, did you look? No? Look again. And, one more time. Are they perfect? Of course not. I was not aiming for perfection (at least I'll never admit I was aiming for perfection) but I think for a first time wood cutter... I deserve a few pats on the back for those ones. Yes, they need to be sanded a bit, especially the corners, but that can wait. I have to put a bottom on this thing.

And... here's a bottom for you. A pretty amazing bottom if I do say so myself.

Woah! Do you see that square in there? How did that get there? I mean, I didn't even know what a square was until yesterday. And now, it's in my picture? I think the square wanted to show you how amazingly, almost, perfect this is. What's the broom doing there? I'm not actually sure about that one.

Up to this point Sawyer was, thankfully, asleep. I don't know if anything would've been done to any degree of success if he was awake. But at this point he woke up. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with the circular saw, the jigsaw, the sander, the drill, or the screwdriver outside his window... but that may have been why he woke up.

However, as we can see, Sawyer was more than happy to be awake and helping me. And before you judge, yes I do put clothes on my son. But prior to helping he had been playing in the sprinkler and had successfully stripped to his diaper. The diaper would have come off but I distracted him with a screwdriver.

By the way, it was very hot outside. And I mean, HOT. Basically, any sane person would have to be naked to do this project outside on a day like today. I thought about it but, since there are one million and ten reasons why a 8 month pregnant woman using power tools should not be naked in a not very private backyard,  I kept them on.

Luckily, Sawyer figured out that we had an easily accessible water fountain for our use.

After a quick run through the sprinkler, a few popsicles and a lot of procrastinating I got back to work. Now in this next picture it may not look like I did a lot, or anything at all, but do you see those bars at the bottom? Well, basically, they sucked.

 

Looking at the picture you might say to yourself that they look easy. Well, in theory, yes, they should be easy. However, they were the wrong length. Wouldn't have been so bad if they were the wrong length by a full inch and then I could've used the jigsaw to cut them but no, they had to be off by centimeters. Therefore, as inexperienced as I am, I feared using the saw in case I cut off too much. Instead, I used the sander to shave a few millimeters at a time. It was annoying to say the least. But Sawyer seems to know that I'm building something for him and is enjoying the project.

At this point I ran out of screws. And, as much as I thought screws were an accessory, they're really a main part to this project and I can't do anything without them. 

Did I have time to go to the store? No, but I do have time to go get a snow cone which is right next to the store. Are my priorities in the right order? Let me check.... snow cone or screws? Sugar or metal? Fun or work? Colorful concoctions or wood? Cold treat or baking in the hot sun? Um, yes, I have my priorities in order.

Pinterest I think will end up being the death of everybody's crafty side. On one end there's the hope that it will inspire people into action. However, I feel the reality is that people spend most of their time creating a list of things they want to do. Then, when they go to look for a project they are so overwhelmed they instead choose to grab an ice cream carton and watch reruns of some show they've seen a million times. I don't blame you, I've done this already.

But, I'm going to venture into the unknown and actually attempt to complete a project. You would think it wise to try something small. Maybe one of the 20 wreaths I've pinned? Maybe a fun picture frame. No, no. Instead, in my 8 months of pregnancy and sheer boredom I decided to take on the task of a wood working project. Oh, let's throw in that my husband is, literally, on the other side of the country for the next two weeks and will have no ability to help me.

Crazy? Insane? Yes. But, I'm 8 months pregnant so those descriptions have applied to me for awhile.

Here's the project I'm attempting courtesy of Ana White.

I've done a few of the things already but for the entertainment of my husband and my mother I will try posting pictures of my progress. Unless of course the circular saw gets the better of me and I lose all my fingers. Then blog posts will no longer be an option.