Just Jude

Seems to me that Jude has been just a wee bit neglected in my blog.  Guess it is a case of Second Child Syndrome . . . but with Jude hitting 10 months on Sunday I decided to do a post dedicated all to him.  I even edited out anyone else in his pictures!  So here's the little buddy, birth to 10 months.

You'd  never know that a couple days from now Jude was going to turn

into a little screaming banshee . . . 

One month old, in his favorite recliner already.

Two months, hanging in his "Man Chair."  He and Sophia hung out in it a LOT when he was awake.

Three months, starting to turn into the happier version of Jude that we know and love today!

The big man in his first dress up clothes, at four months.

Merry Christmas, five month old Cuddler!

Back in the chair for some six month old lounging . . .

And I know these are the same pajamas six month old Jude was wearing, but he really is a month older . . . seven months!  

Eight month old Jude, trying to work up the motivation to head for the toy . . . nah!

Why bother when big sis will get anything you need?

Nine month old Jude taking a bath, his favorite activity outside of eating.

Especially bubble baths with sister . . . yellow belly = soap paint fun!

Had to do another nine month picture . . . he sits up!!!

Ten month old Jude LOVES to eat grass.  Or anything else he can get in his mouth!

And another 10 month picture . . . frozen custard beats grass hands down!  I guess the upside of being child #2 in the birth order is that your parents are a little less uptight about NO SUGAR UNTIL AT LEAST ONE! and a little more go with the flow . . . 

I never would have thought when in the middle of Jude's first four angry colicky months that he would turn into such a happy, smiley, cuddly, charming little guy.  Even as I type this he is grinning and waving at me from his high chair while he chows down some pasta, watermelon, and hot dog (no comment on the balancedness of today's lunch!).  He and Sophia are great friends . . . we were at BJ's the other day and they kept alternating putting their arms around each other for hugs in their dual front seat.  Love this little guy, and love watching him grow into such a fun big boy.

Money money money . . . money!

This post's title has to be sung ala The Apprentice intro . . . ABBA didn't do any great songs about couponing, so I had to make do.

In an effort to save some money to go toward our ongoing effort of paying off John's grad school loans, I have ventured into the world of coupons.  Yesterday I put together my coupon notebook, thanks to the Krazy Coupon Lady, and started getting my coupons organized into their little baseball card organizer pockets.  Then last night I went on a coupon adventure!

I first went to RiteAid, where thanks to my handy calculator I learned that the deal advertised even when combined with my coupon really wasn't such a great deal.  No purchase there, and I moved on to Hannaford.

Can you guess how much I spent on the above groceries, worth $19.25?

Drumroll, please . . .

That's right, $7.33!

Now, I have to admit, this transaction was not made with your average Sunday newspaper coupons.  I had a bunch of $2 off Hannaford coupons that I got from their table at my half-marathon.  Each one was for a different kind of item (Close to Home, Hannaford brand, Inspiration item, etc), so I had a mini-scavenger hunt around the store to find items we needed that fit in those categories and cost as close to $2 as possible.  I ended up getting meat because we are having a family cookout this weekend, and that was the most cost-effective way to buy meat to grill.

While I may not have used traditional coupons, getting such a great deal has motivated me to keep plugging away . . . perhaps one day soon I will be getting deals like a gal I know who walked out of Shaw's with five bags of groceries and $8 more than she went in with!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Don't forget, when I get to 50 followers I will enter you all in drawing for an Amy Butler bag, made by yours truly!  As soon as I get my next Joann Fabrics coupons in the mail I will be able to whip it up and will post a pic on here to motivate folks to follow my blog in exchange for entry into the drawing . . .

Bag time

A friend loaned me an Amy Butler bag pattern book around Christmas time, and I finally got around to making one.  Amy Butler is a "designer known for her sophisticated yet relaxed modern approach to printed fabric and other products for sewing, fashion, home, and craft."  I LOVE her designs.  Fortunately, getting ahold of this book had coincided with my receiving a Joann's gift card, so last week I finally went off to buy some fabric to make a bag.

I decided to make the "Cosmo" shoulder bag, and found some fabulous blue and green modern fabric that  I loved . . . it isn't actually Amy Butler fabric, but it still worked perfectly.  And instead of covering a button with fabric I found a big jazzy shimmery one that popped, and really finished the bag well.

I couldn't be more pleased with how the bag turned out . . . it was one of the more technically difficult things I've made in a while.  I am looking forward to working my way thru some more of the patterns to increase my sewing skills.  In the meanwhile, this one has already become my library/outing/everything-else-under-the-sun bag.

Here you go!

This picture doesn't really do justice to the modern bling of the button, but trust me, it's perfect!

I LOVE all the pockets, two on each end on the outside . . .

. . . and four on the inside!

Now, I haven't done a drawing in a while, but if I get to 50 followers by the end of May, I will do a drawing for an Amy Butler "Origami" bag made by yours truly on June 1st!  Those of you who are followers of my blog, tell your friends, and those of you who aren't . . . sign up!  All of my followers will be entered in the drawing.  I will post pics of the bag as soon as I finish it.  Good luck!

Little miss

As of today Jude is officially transitioned over to 100% formula, and it's amazing how much better I feel now that I am not putting most of my time and energy into continuing to breastfeed him.  Happier baby, happier (and saner) mama!  Some of you may have noticed that I have actually started blogging again, now you know why.

But this post isn't about Jude and his feeding issues, it's about the other Munchkin.  About 12 seconds after I wrote this post, Sophia regressed in a big way, and a month later she is now back to sleeping in the crib. Possibly for the rest of her life.

The day after I wrote about Sophia having transitioned to her big girl bed (again!), she woke up with a cold.  For the average human being, that means cuddling up in a blanket with a big box of tissues and steaming mug of tea in hand.  Unfortunately, Sophia didn't get the blanket/tea memo.  When she gets a cold she turns into super-hyper kid, running around the house like a crazy person, and worst of all . . . she doesn't sleep.

Sophia with a cold equals non-sleeping naps, and hearing singing and talking coming from her room long after John and I have gone to bed.  So of course it also equals climbing out of her bed.  Which is quite easy to do when you are in a big girl bed complete with a handy dandy stool pulled up to it.

John and I dealt with the climbing out of bed a couple times the first two nights of her cold.  We walked her back to bed, sternly told her to stay in bed and go to sleep, and that was it.  Then came Thursday night.  Thursday, April 12th.  I remember it like it was yesterday.

Sophia was in bed at 6:30 that night (with usual bedtime being between 6 and 6:30).  We could hear her singing and talking, but it didn't seem to be bothering Jude, so that was fine.

But then we heard the patter of little feet on the floor just before 7.  Out into the hallway she came, to the top of the stairs.  "I'm awake, mama!"  "Back to bed, Sophia, time to sleep."  "Okay, mama," and she headed back to bed.

And got back up . . . and back to bed . . . and back up . . . every few minutes for the next hour and a half.

John and I tried everything we could think of to keep her in bed.  We sat her down for a talking to.  And another.  And another.  We told her she was going to have video privileges taken away the next day.  We tried to reason.  HA!  Not worth your time to reason with a toddler!

We were completely at a loss.  A month later, memory of her antics crack me up.  Not so in the moment.  I'm really not sure how Jude slept thru her noisiness, as neither of my children are particularly deep sleepers.

Sophia varied her out of bed routine, sometimes coming out into the hallway, sometimes staying in her room with the door closed so she could knock on it and then say "Come in!"  Each time John or I would trundle up the stairs to deal with her.  She would hear us coming and whisper a fierce "NO!  Don't come in!" from her side of the door.

What was really ridiculous was that to Sophia, each time she climbed out of bed was as if it was a brand new experience.  I stopped counting how many time she told me "I'm awake!  It's time to get up!" which is what she tells me in the morning when I go in to get her.  Each time I would tell her it was not time to get up, that she hadn't slept ("Yes, mama, I did sleep!"), and that she couldn't get up until it was morning.  "It's morning, mama!"

We gave her ibuprofen, in case some of her cold symptoms were keeping her up.  No go.  Extra stuffed animal in bed.  Board book to read in bed.  "You can read in bed.  No getting up, though!  You can only read the book in bed!"

Ha.

Finally at 8:30, I had enough.  John was trying to get in some guitar practice in the den, and I banged in and told him that if she got up one more time THAT WAS IT!

And she did.  And it was.

Up the stairs we went, tools in hand.  Out of the crib came poor little sleeping Jude.  Out came the mattress.  Down went the frame of the crib, as far as it could go.  The mattress went back in, and in went the Snuggler.  Then the pack'n'play made a reappearance, this time being set up for Jude.  Five minutes of silent but furious activity later, these two frustrated parents had finally gotten the upper hand!  I don't think I can describe how very happy it made me to have finally outsmarted the Snuggler and won that battle, but anyone with kids knows exactly what I mean.

Sophia has been back in the crib ever since, and Jude has been in the pack'n'play.  And I am NOT going to say that she hasn't tried to climb out, because I know exactly what will happen then.  But should she attempt to escape her new sleep prison, I am going to have a crib tent on speed-order from amazon.  At least for when she has a cold.

Spring Cleanup

Our town is doing spring cleanup tomorrow . . . yay, the couch that has been sitting in front of our house for two months will be gone!  John and I have been joking about entering a "Most White Trash Front Yard" contest, but I suppose we would have needed more than just a couch . . . maybe a car on cinder blocks, or something dangerous like barbed wire, or maybe a tire and some brush.  Oh, that's right, we did add the tire, brush, and a mattress box spring!  At any rate, our house will have some added curb appeal tomorrow after all of our crap gets hauled away.

And so in honor of sorting thru all of our stuff, I decided to sort thru some pictures of the last couple months and put a few of the survivors in a blog post . . . enjoy!

"Mama, don't come in yet! . . . . Go get the camera!"

Still working on consistency with "please."

Not much that the Snuggler enjoys more than cuddling with her brother.

Oy.  This is what happens when I leave the room for two minutes to put Jude down for a nap.

Jude having "eggs and toast" like his sister . . . hard boiled egg yolk and cheerios.

This boy will eat anything I put in front of him, what a chow hound!

The new tire swing we put up a couple weekends ago, along with our hammock.

Outdoor cuddle time!