Baby milestones.

Luca has hit a lot of milestones lately. I posted a while back about him rolling over. Well he can go both ways now, tummy to back, back to tummy. He hasn't realized he can use this method to get to things, which is fine. :) Now he is sitting up by himself. ALSO he has two teeth. He got the first on on Valentines day. The second the next week.

I also took him to the doctor today because he has had an ezcema type rash on his body. It has been there for about a month now. He took one look and said, Yep its something you are eating. Swell. :( So now I get to not eat a bunch of stuff and figure out what it is. So basically I can eat meat and most veggies for two weeks. Not tomatoes, wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts, etc.. I guess it could be worse. Hopefully we will figure it out quickly.

He has also not be sleeping the best, so I hope with the offending allergen gone it will get better.

Bubblegum Making.

For our homeschool class this week, we did bubblegum making. It was really fun and messy. The kids had a blast. I even let Dominic chew gum for the first time. He never swallowed it. He chewed it for about 2 hours. Pretty good! Here are a couple pictures that show the fun. We melted a bubblegum base and the ingredients in the microwave. Then you kneed it like bread in powdered sugar. Fun! We made cotton candy, watermelon and bubblegum flavors.

Fixed a coat.

Doesn't so super exciting does it. Well it was a job! That is for sure. My dad asked me to fix his new coat. It was about 2-3 inches too short for him. It is a heavy duty chore coat for the farm. Quilted on the inside. The coat is green. My mom found a pair of old coveralls, same material but tan. I thought it would look crappy when done, but was assured that it was just for work and they didn't care. Ok. So I put it off for weeks. Then I did it today. It was much easier than I thought and actually came out looking decent. Not something I would want someone to examine for perfection. But it will work and it doesn't look stupid. :)

I also got an order for 2 doll slings. So i did that tonight as well. I can get so much more accomplished when the kids are in bed. On that note I am heading off to bed as well.

Mile-a-minute quilt DONE!

Ok. I made a list 2 weeks ago. I did finish the first task on my list. Finishing my Mile-a-minute quilt. I have to be honest. It was not as fast as the instructions or name makes it sound. I think I do better with a pattern, instead of just sewing all the scraps together. But it is done and looks pretty great.
I used a green sheet for the back of it. This method is nice because the fabric is all one piece and it is actually cheaper to buy a set of sheets than to buy a large amount of fabric. The downside is a sheet is more slippery when quilting it, IMO. So it has a couple wrinkles quilted in on the back. I don't like that but it looks better now that i washed it. Also I quilted it with a leaf and vine pattern. You can click the picture to get a closer look.

Pictures of Gioia's sewing project.

Here are the first items she made. I think pretty good for a 5 year old.


A new picture of the little guy. I can't believe he is 5 months now. WOW!

Sewing girl.

So Gioia has really been wanting to sew. Yesterday I gave her a needle, thread and a piece of material. She folded the material in have and made a little bag. ALL on her own. WOW!! Then I said, how about a pillow. So I got two pieces and she sewed them together. Then put fluff in them and sewed it shut. Today she said she needed to make a bed to go with her pillow. For that we made a bigger "pillow" type thing. It looks great! I have some pictures that I will get put on here hopefully tomorrow.

Also this weekend she went skating with her dad. They went Sunday and had a great time together. He said she was skating fast and doing really well. I think they have a standing Sunday date for this from now on. She got her own skates for her birthday and has been practicing in the house forever.

I had the brillant if not late idea to put some big kid onesies on Dominic. He has a really bad habit (like every second of the day) of having his hand down his pants. Playing with himself. No amount of my yelling at him all day was stopping it. So I put the onesie on him today and he quit! This evening he has been in underpants and I noticed him going for it again. So we will keep the onesies on for a while. Now, just so you know I don't care if he plays with his penis. However, this was like out of control, playing with it at the kitchen table, every second of the day, and out in public. No good. I am glad we are finding a solution.

Works in Progress.

I have too many works in progress and I don't like that. I like to finish things. It gives me a satisfaction. I also get excited to do new projects. I guess that is why I have so many going at once.

1. Mile-a-minute quilt. I am going to finish the quilting and binding on it this week/weekend.
2. KCAP quilt - I am hoping to work on it (possibly finish it) all of next week.
3. Slideshow quilt - I am making the top.
4. Blue Flannel sling - I need to make it in the next week or two.
5. 2 storage cubes - One big and one small. I need more cardboard to put in the sides.
6. Rag quilt. I was starting this, but am putting it off until the first 5 projects are complete.

Hopefully I can update with some finished products soon!

We are mobile.

This morning Luca rolled over from tummy to back. I thought maybe he had a little help from the rug he was laying on. It was kind of fluffy and I think maybe the little edge that drops off helped him. However, he did it again in the living room on the carpet. No help from anything. Go little buddy!! He is not quite 5 months. He is 21 weeks old. Wow! I am really amazed. I told DH we need to babyproof again, and start looking out for little toys that need to be removed.

SSDD

Same Stuff, Different Day.

I haven't posted much because there hasn't been too many exciting things to say. We are trucking along. Gioia is reading well. Dominic is being 3 and Luca is not sleeping as well as he once was. I am trying to determine the cause of the change. My top 3 ideas are Teeth, the rash on his tummy, and him being more hungry/not nursing as much before bed.

I took some cool pictures of my friend at the park the other day. She is pregnant and wanted a couple pictures. They are on my Flickr page.

A follow up to my last post is that we should have new insurance soon. Luca has a 30 day wait. So in Feb. he will finally be covered. What a royal pain in the ass this has been. People against a national health care system need to feel the stress of not being able to get your newborn baby covered until he is almost 6 months old.

BCBS sucks balls.

They piss me off. I don't even have the energy to vent about it fully. Long story short, Luca has no health insurance at this moment. Conveniently for them, its friday, so they don't have to deal with me until Monday.

I am tired of being treated like a number. I am tired of not mattering to some customer service clerk that is reading off a script. I hate it that we have to get angry and speak to a supervisor to get things accomplished.

Wine, Chocolate and in the morning some excellent coffee.

Honey

My moms group does lots of Coops. We are all thrifty mamas and who doesn't like to share a good deal with friends. So my hubby and I did a honey coop. My husbands friend is here locally and sells honey. It is delicious. So he said he would cut us a deal if we could sell the whole drum. That is 55 gallons of honey. Luckily for us this was easy because several of our friends make mead or beer. They use the honey for this. Anyway, we ended up selling that much honey. I collected the money which was also no big deal thanks to the wonders of Paypal. Collecting the jugs was a little more of a headache, but got it done. So Monday the honey was delivered back to us, divided. Today I met with everyone and gave them their jugs back, full of honey.

WHew! Only one jug got broken. It was glass and cold. Also my DH was smart enough to put down a tarp in the car. The honey was contained onto that. The jar of honey was not salvageable because I was afraid the honey would have glass in it. The jar broke right down the middle in several pieces. OY! My friend cut her finger but nothing serious.

All in all it was not too bad. Although next time I think we will up the price a dollar or whatever the cost and just have the jugs provided from the honey man.

Current excitement.

One of my goals with this blog is to keep a record of little things the kids are doing or interested in.

Last night we went to Target to exchange a few Christmas things. Gioia got a My Little Pony that came with two sets of clothes that are plastic and kind of snap on. It is a birthday pony with a cake. So she has been playing with that all day and night. She really is not into dolls. She got a Hannah Montana barbie type doll for Christmas. She was excited at first but hasn't really played with it. I told her you could change her clothes and stuff. She doesn't really care. She likes to play with animals mostly ponys, horses, dinosaurs, etc..

Dominic got new underpants and is excited for them. They are Madagascar themed. Size 4T. Why are underwear sizes so off from clothes sizes? The boy is 3 but wears 2T pants, some 3's are starting to fit now. But size 4T underwear? Weird. Also why are the characters on the butt of the underwear instead of the front? Dominic always puts them on backwards because he wants to see the print.

Luca has obtained more muscle control and can now grab his toes. It was an amazing discovery for him and he talked to them for quite a while. :) He is also trying to sit up. He can't do it alone but he loves to be held up in that position. He is still a smiley guy. He is also still an excellent sleeper.

House project.

I am getting really excited about our house project. We need to finish up some odds and ends around here, mostly like paint touch up and small repairs. Then we are planning to list our house for sale in March! WOO hoO! I know it will arrive quickly so we are doing little by little.

We met with a builder i found. He does these Insulate Concrete Forms to build the house. The prices are great! We are really excited. Our friends that are building came and talked to him as well. For us, it depends on when and if our current house sells. When it does (thinking positive) we are going to move to a rental and start building. It would be super if we were in by next fall/winter. The house itself would go up (walls, foundations, windows) in about a month. Then the roof and finishing the inside would take the longest. I know lots of contractors looking for work, so I think that will not be a problem.

Had Bunco Saturday night. That was fun. A much needed Moms Night out. I had Luca with me of course, we are never apart at this point for more than an hour. He is such a lovebug. A very sweet baby.

Quilt for my sister.

I just realized I never posted the finished quilt I gave my sister for Christmas. I was looking back through my posts and I finished the quilt top in Jan. 08. Got it finished quilting in December. Oy! I will do better with future quilts.

So here it is. I was not sure I did the right thing by picking the pink binding. My sister really liked the pink on it though and thats what matters.

I got some background fabric and was working on a new quilt. I had it all cut out and realized it looked awful together. The background fabric has a print on it and it clashes with the main fabric. UGH. So I am making two of the same quilt now I guess. I don't like to do that. Once I finish on I want to move on. Anyway, I got some other fabric to go with the background pieces and I am working on that now.

January

Lets see. I planned to get a lot of stuff done this week, but not so much has taken place. I am planning on sewing like a mad woman in the next two days. I have several things I would like to get finished. I DID finish two more slings. I have one lent out that I think the lady will buy. I have another mom that wants to buy one. Then a third that I was referred to and I am not sure if she will buy one. I hope so. YEAH! I love it when people buy slings. :)

The sewing I was planning to do was quilting. I have two tops ready to finish. My quilt swap quilt and a mile-a-minute scrap quilt. That one is more difficult because i need to rip out the portion I did quilt (which is AWFUL) and then redo it. Ugh.

For New Years eve, we just stayed home and hung out with some friends. It was mellow and fun. Then today we went to our land and had a weine roast. I am so glad we went. The temp was in the 50's and no wind. It was really nice to get outside.

On the downside, my GPS was stolen out of my car, in front of my house. Assholes. The police took a report and said I have a decent chance of getting it back since I had the serial number for it. I guess Pawn Shops have to call the serial numbers in. We will see. I just wanted it on record in case they had other thefts in the area.

Christmas Hoopla.

Well I haven't posted in a week due to being extremely busy with Christmas and my family. M had 4 days off of work, so that was really fun. We had Christmas day here. Then Friday and Saturday just played with our new things and hung out. Saturday night we went out to eat as a family to the Japanese restaurant Hikari in Overland Park. It was so good. The kids loved the guy cooking right in front of us. Luca was an angel and just watched it all.

I got a new KitchenAid stand mixer. It is really cool. I also got a diamond anniversary band from my hubby. It is beautiful! He had bought a guitar and amp last month, so I got him a DVD player as well to open under the tree. Gioia got a electric guitar and Dominic got a drum. She also got a dollhouse and he got a train table with trains.

Here are a few of the highlights. My moms area got several inches of ice the week of the 20th. It made driving fun.

Rag Quilt

I made this super easy rag quilt this week. It is a pretty small lap quilt, about baby quilt size really. I made if for my Great Great Aunt. She is in her 90's and still doing great. She really liked it.

Tutorial here

Quote of the day!

Quote of the day from my daughter!

"I don't care what Santa brings me, as long as its a present!"

Family Christmas parties.

This weekend we had Christmas at my moms. We had Christmas at my Grandmas (Moms side), and also with my Aunt (Dad's side of the family). You know the drill: more food than we can eat in a week, presents, presents and occasionally a glass of beer or wine. Love it! Here are some of the highlights.

Oh and i don't think I mentioned it yet. My sister is engaged. Congratulations Mel and Scott!


This is my Grandma Leota holding Luca.


My mom Elaine and Stepdad Steve.

Crash into me.

Last night the kids were running around wild like always and they crashed into each other. Somehow Dominic's teeth hit Gioia's shoulder. She had this scrapped place that looked like he sat his teeth on her and dragged them down. It was definitely not on purpose. They were both crying. Dominic's mouth was bleeding from the gums. It was his remaining front tooth that was bumped. This morning the gums look kind of swollen. Poor guy. This front tooth is chipped and filled. The other front was the one he had pulled. I hope he is more gentle with his permanent teeth.