Mother's Day 2012

me and my girls.  

Now that I think of it, this may have been Easter....No, this was Mother's Day, but those are the dresses that I made for the girls to wear on Easter.  

my view

Big belly, cute girl.  

thursdays

Thursdays are exciting days for us.  My dining room transforms into a complete dance studio.  

Here's the story.  I don't know where she got it, but she has been talking about 'dance class' for months now.  We kept saying that when she turned 3, she would be old enough to go.  Well, I looked into the actual dance classes in the community and found that it was way out of budget for us this year.  I just couldn't let her down.  I spent a few weeks thinking of ideas and then it came to me.  I could teach a 3 year old dance class.  Seriously funny, but Cora thinks it's the real deal because a couple of other little girls come over with their dance clothes on and we learn real dance positions and steps.  I feel a little silly teaching a dance class with so little experience and having such a big belly, but it is working out.  Cora has a blast and even practices on her own outside of class.   The research and planning has created a big mental diversion for me.  I hope to get some pictures of the actual class sometime soon.  Cheers to Thursdays!

Oh, if Cora looks bigger to you in these pictures, it's because she did indeed grow.  She grew 3 inches in the past 6 months and hasn't gained a pound in a year.  Woah.  She looks like a big kid compared to the baby she seemed last year.  I love her so much.  

hello 3rd trimester, i need a nap

29 weeks.  i know, i am unintentionally rapunzel.  need hair cut now.  

coco on her bed.  i know her head board isn't attached to the bed frame.  we push her mattress (the headboard is over as far as the baseboards will allow) against the wall to avoid her from getting sandwiched between the wall and the bed when sleeping. 

here's the crib too.  we can't arrange the furniture any other way because of the 3 doors and the huge old style radiators.  on a good note, the crib is literally 3 steps from when i sleep in my room.  

see that door?  my bed is right on the other side.  

It is way more fun to be pregnant with Cora around.  She thinks that I am having this baby just for HER.  Ryan and I were talking about where the baby will sleep (our room vs Cora's) and Cora got really upset and said that she needs the baby in her room.  When the baby is kicking hard in my belly, I tell Cora to come and feel it.  Before she could feel it one time, she saw my belly move all around.  She looked up at me with huge wide eyes and said, "the baby's going to pop out now."  She was dead serious.  So funny.  On the other hand, I am so tired and can't quite keep up.  I have contemplated hiring a babysitter just so I can lay down for an afternoon.  

The pregnancy is good.  Apparently I am measuring small, but the midwife isn't too concerned.  The baby is really active.  At first I thought the baby was nocturnal, only active at night.  But now, I am afraid I am having another baby just like Cora who isn't much of a sleeper day or night.  I am still running.  It really is the only thing that boosts my energy.  I am glad the super bad heat of the summer is over b/c swelling is setting in.  Trust me on this one: I will never be pregnant in the summer ever again. 

me and my girl

Happy Birthday to me.  The big 27.  We celebrated by making marshmallow and toothpick structures and then ended up roasting the mini marshmallows on the toothpicks over a candle.  It was awesome.  Ryan starts his next externship tomorrow.  Glad the commute is a ton shorter.  Yea for only 9 more months of school/internships!  

7 year itch

megan and ryan, april 2011, Flaming Gorge Utah

We've reached the 7 year mark in our marriage (July 9th).  Just kidding about the itch part.  We are still very very happy.  Happy Anniversary to us!

a little something

Either I've had the flu for 4 months or I'm growing a baby.  Based on the booming heartbeat that we heard at the midwife's and the little wiggles that I feel when I am still, I conclude that it is certainly a baby growing in there.  Cora thinks she is growing one too.  

16 weeks

i need answers

let's see if i have any readers after a few weeks of blogging neglect.  

do you have any suggestions to organize recipes?  i have a mix of binders, notecards, scraps of paper and saved files on computer which makes for a huge unorganized mess.  i need help.  

when do you get rid of the sippy cups?  when do you let you kid eat at the table without a booster or highchair?  when do you let your kid sleep in a bed (even if you don't have a new baby kicking the toddler out of the crib)?  cora seems to be rejecting all baby things and i'm not sure if i'm ready for her to be such a big kid.  

how often do you wash your jeans?  because we dont have a washing machine in our apartment, we probably go waaayy too long between washes.  

i'm on the hunt for healthy snack recipes.  tried anything lately?  in fact, anyone have any healthy dinner recipes?  we eat too many sandwiches for dinner.  

thanks,

megan

ps. what's your blood type?  (nice pick up line, huh?)

lemon meringue and sound of music

you thought this was going to be about dessert and movies, didn't you? nope.

i've been sewing without patterns. frustrating to get the fit just right, but very liberating to sew up exactly what i had in my head.

first, this is cora's Lemon Meringue dress. i like that i have no unfinished edges and i even pushed myself to do a proper hem using blind hem stitch. cora's favorite part is the pocket! if i made this dress again, i'd go to the effort to make it reversible (it nearly is already) and i'd make the skirt more full. (it's hard to photograph a dress on a moving target.)

now, here's the Sound of Music dress. the green floral reminded me of the drapery fabric that Maria made clothing for the children on the movie, so that's where the name comes from. i really like how the bodice fits perfectly, the straps are angled in the back, and the gathers in the front nicely accommodate that giant toddler belly. i'll be sewing this one up again for sure.

i really enjoy sewing, but sewing for this little girl has brought an added element of pleasure. it's so cute when cora points to one of my sewing experiments and says, "dress dress dress." It pretty much just melts me to see her wearing a finished product. fortunately, she willingly wears whatever i want her to so i am enjoying it while it lasts as i know this opinionated little girl won't let mama dress her forever.

hum.......

Any Progressive Pioneer readers out there?

I'm a little embarrassed to say, but I am the featured Progressive Pioneer Mama this week.



FYI, don't know if any guys read my blog, but if there are, you probably won't be interested. That's my warning.

time to brag

i am so proud of the gift i made for cora that i had to share. spurred by the wear & tear cora was putting on our family photo albums and inspired by an idea in The Creative Family, i sewed a fabric photo book using fabric printer paper and fabric from my stash.

add one more to the list

boy oh boy, what a memorable Christmas. between a not-so-enjoyable case of lactational mastitis and a flooded kitchen, i think this Christmas was for the record books. we did enjoy some family time, chinese take out, and watching cora being her crazy self.

christmas is so much fun with little kid. speaking of kids...cora is finally weaned. that has to be the hardest thing that i have dealt with since being a mom. i know no one really wants to know the details, but cora is a champ and i am the one with issues. my body did not want to cooperate and i ended up with lots of pain and on a round of antibiotics which induced another allergic reaction. awesome. in regard to my allergies, the doctor's words were, "add one more to the list." we are all doing better and i am sure a year from now we will be laughing about how comical Christmas turned out this year.

crazy little girls

we do yoga. this was a little impromptu session.

what a weird day and mini update

today:

the fire alarm went off in the building. apparently there was an actual reason for it to be going off. the fire truck and bunch of firemen showed up and everything. after 20 min we were allowed back inside. it was a good way to meet lots of the other people who live in our building.

cora took two 1 hr naps!! it was awesome for me because i was finally able to clean the bathrooms and she was such a happy little girl.

i bought a half gallon of chocolate milk for 75 cents. and it wasn't expired. that is an amazing deal considering milk is well over $3 a gallon.

last little while:

cora is walking really well now. she is still hilarious and does the cutest things. including: 'woof woof' and real kisses.

ryan started school again after a week break. breaks are awesome, but horrible because i just dread him going back the whole time. it's ok. we'll survive and it certainly won't be as bad as the first year.

it was my birthday again. really, i could skip that day every year. i don't really like all the attention. especially this year because i had been sick for close to 2 weeks. Also, it means we have lived here for an entire year. i just kept on thinking of what my life was like a year ago feeling overwhelmed with having just had a baby, still not well from that crazy infection, moving across the country, and having a husband who was extremely busy. glad that is over. i just really hope this next year is a little easier.

ryan's parents came for a visit from seattle. it was nice because we haven't seen them since last august. we did a little exploring around philadelphia, but we mainly enjoyed quality grandma, papa, and cora time. it was fun. hope it wasn't too hot and humid for ya...haha.

all in all, it is nice to get back into the groove of things. i love summer, but i think i am ready for this hot weather to cool down a bit. i'm excited for the adventures that fall brings our way...(like halloween. i love that 'holiday.' i'm sure cora will too.)

that's our life for now. weird, but good.

Monday, July 27

I woke up this morning almost as excited as I was waking up to my water breaking exactly one year ago today. Cora is ONE!!! Have I really had her by my side for an entire year? In some ways it feels like it has flown by, but in others I can't even remember what it was like before we had her in our little family. I love this little girl. She is such a crack up.

Today is extra special for me. Not only is it the day that Cora was born, but it was the day that I really became a mother. Sounds lame, but so much happened for me on that day, that I can't help but reflect on the day and how it has changed me for the better. Just as the labor and delivery had it's unexpected challenges, this past year with Cora has had it's unexpected challenges. Things that I thought would be easy, were in fact a lot harder than I thought. And fortunately, some things that I thought would be difficult proved to be easily manageable. Motherhood has been a relatively natural thing for me. Even though I've had my less than perfect moments, we have survived and we're better for it. I look forward to helping Cora learn and grow just as I am learning and growing right along with her.

mama's day

(me with the darling little girl who calls me "mama" on my very first mother's day as a mom)

mother's day takes on a whole new perspective now that i am really a mother.  i guess i more fully appreciate my own mom.  i think this is the first mother's day that i have been not able to be with her.  i hope my phone call did the trick.  miss you.  

anyway, i have been thinking about how lucky i am to have a great mom who has taught me and loved me well.  i also think of my grandmothers.  they each have a special place in my heart and i hope i make them proud.  i think of my mother-in-law who raised my husband to be the wonderful man he is today.  i have gratitude for all of these women who play such an important role in my life.  

lastly, i have been thinking of ryan and cora.  ryan because he is my partner in this whole parenting thing.  he supports me and helps me be the mother i am.  (thanks ry for the yummy strawberry love cake today.)  and cora, i just love her to pieces.  she is the only one who truly has the privilege of calling me "mama."  

cheers to having a mom, being a mom, and working on being a better mother everyday!