Cold Front

Yesterday and today we had a cold front in good ol' South Texas! We did not get a chance to take advantage of it yesterday because Holly was busy coughing up a lung (after-effects of a nasty cold), but this morning I decided to go out and take a walk.

I got myself and Holly dressed for the cooler weather (63 degrees!) and then hauled the stroller in from the garage. I propped Holly on my nursing pillow so she could watch me get ready for our walk. Once I got the stroller in, I remembered that the tires were flat and I needed to pump them up. No problem, right? Uh, maybe if you're anyone but me. I usually don't think it necessary to read or follow instructions when attempting new things. Then I get angry when I have an extraordinarily difficult time accomplishing simple tasks, like pumping the tires on Holly's stroller. By the time I finally figured out how to fill them, I was sweating profusely and thought about giving up on our walk. But no! I had to get out in the cooler weather. By the time I was finally ready to go, Holly was asleep.


Would you believe she slept through our entire walk? She woke up about 30 seconds after I dragged the stroller back through the front door. Crazy kid.

Here are some more Holly pictures, just because I think she's cute:




She always has that "deer in the headlights" look when I use the flash on the camera. It's so funny.

Homemade Cloth Diapers

I have been working on a project: making cloth diapers and diaper covers for little Holly. Am I crazy? (Don't answer that.) My mom gave me her old sewing machine awhile back which I convinced Andrew to fix for my birthday; ever since then, it's been up and running and I have been trying to think of new projects for myself. So...diapers!

I want to start out by reminding you of the earlier post and my not-so-awesome diaper wrapping skills. Well, I have had numerous opportunities to practice since then and I am getting way better!

Notice how it's not completely baggy and begging for a leak? Awesome. It's mostly due to the fact that I bought diapers that actually fit, and I'm not using diaper pins anymore.

Here is a picture of Holly in a diaper cover that I made. This is version number two. It's kind of messed up a little bit, so that's why the picture isn't too close! I finally got the cover the way I wanted it on the third try. I have made a total of five covers, but a few of them are too big--hence, no pictures. Anyway, I'm really pleased with how they have turned out and I am kind of teaching myself how to sew as I go along. I have always been an okay seamstress, but I'm getting much better now that I have a reason to practice.

Also (as you can see in the picture), Holly is starting to get interested in playing with toys! It's pretty fun to watch. She just started doing that this week. She is getting so much more interactive and fun.

Okay, one last bragging picture of my sewing projects: a diaper that I made last week. I am really proud of this one, because it looks really good and pretty professional (if I do say so myself).

I made this one afternoon while Holly was napping. That's another reason I like making diapers: they come together fairly quickly. I like projects where you can see the results rather quickly. It's very rewarding. This one is also too big for her right now, but hopefully it will fit her soon as I am anxious to see how well it works.

Sewing can be so addicting! Lately, it seems like it's all I think about. But it does give me something useful to do while Holly is napping.

Labor Day

I've been feeling bad since I have not updated our blog in awhile, and feeling even worse because we haven't taken many pictures lately! Holly is getting to the age where she is much, much more fun and interactive. I've been spending all my time playing with her and forgetting to take lots of pictures!

We didn't have a very good Labor Day weekend in our house--Holly and I had really bad colds. Yuck. I woke up on Labor Day feeling like the living dead. I had just enough energy to drag myself from bed to the couch and back again. Poor Holly got the worst of her cold on Tuesday. She spent most of the weekend asleep in a little nest of blankets Andrew made for her on our living room floor.

Andrew took one for the team over the weekend and changed diapers, gave Holly a bath, and put her to bed so I could lie on the couch feeling sorry for myself. Thanks, hon! Luckily, Holly and I are both feeling 100% better by now.

For the first 2 1/2 months of her life, Holly was the catnapping queen. Just as I thought she was going to be asleep for awhile and made plans for a baby-free hour or two, she would wake up. (Probably sensing that I wanted to do something without her.) However, in the past couple of weeks, she has started taking AMAZING naps. She sleeps for an average of 3 hours at a time! Sometimes a little more, sometimes less. As I am typing this, she has been asleep for almost 3 hours. I almost don't know what to do with myself! Notice I said almost. It certainly has made my life a whole lot easier since I can get stuff done or take a nap myself during her naptime!

This picture was actually taken just a few minutes ago. She looks so peaceful and cute when she's napping! Especially when I've had a few moments to myself.

By the way, I am totally loving Andrew's new job. He comes home in the middle of the afternoon, we can eat dinner by 5:00 (when I can get it together), and we have the entire evening to relax and spend time together. Except...we always seem to be at a loss of what to do, exactly. We are not the most exciting people in the world, so usually we just eat ice cream and watch TV. Fun, but we should expand our horizons a bit, don't you think?

Holly has really started showing a preference for her mommy. Sometimes she will only want to be held and cuddled by me. I have to admit, it makes me feel good to feel needed. But sometimes I just want to hand her to Andrew for a few minutes! Here she is in one of her less cheerful moods:

Still very cute, but very cranky. She was on Andrew's lap and, obviously, not happy about it.