Crayon on Canvas

I saw an awesome piece of art that I loved on pinterest the other day, and thought "I can totally make that!"

(Said piece of art)

I happened to have a few boxes of crayons and a canvas just waiting for inspiration. I chose to go with a full rainbow for mine. Tater didn't even blink when I grabbed the hot glue gun, a canvas, and his crayons. He knows better than to be surprised. Remember, he has been raised by me so he thinks this is totally normal!

It is a very simple piece to do. Glue the crayons to the top, then let it sit in the sun. It will melt all by itself. If you are impatient like me, use a blow dryer. Be very careful though, it splatters that way. I would also recommend using a flat canvas, not a stretched. The heat will deform those.

I had a small monkey attached to me most of the morning (Madame Britches), so I didn't take pictures for a tutorial. BUT I just saw that one of the awesome moms on my craft board did! Here is the link to Naptime=Craft time for the tutorial.

Here is my masterpiece...

Nursing Cookies

Update: I updated the cookie recipe, so now it is exactly how I make them. I always forget my tweaks until someone else watches me make it. :)

I sent a recipe for nursing cookies to a friend today, when it occurred to me that others might not know about nursing cookies either. They are a great way to boost lactation. The 2 best methods for me are a dark beer, and these cookies. I did a search for nursing cookies, and was amazed at what I saw. Some companies sell cookies with the identical active ingredients for $40 for 30 cookies! Plus shipping!!! Nursing moms, please make this recipe instead of spending a fortune.

Nursing Cookies to boost lactation

Ingredients:

1 C butter applesauce

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

4 3 T water

2 T flaxseed meal (no subs)

2 Lg eggs

1 t vanilla

2 C flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

3 4.5 C Thick cut oats

1 C Chocolate chips

2 4 T Brewers Yeast (no substitutions)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 350

Mix 2 T of flaxseed meal and water, set aside 3-5 minutes.

Cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs.

Stir flaxseed mix into butter mix and add vanilla.

Beat until well blended.

Sift: dry ingredients, except oats and choc chips.

Add butter mix to dry ing.

Stir in the oats and then the choc chips. And Brewers yeast

Drop on parchment paper on baking sheet.

Bake 8-12 minutes.

Funny story about these cookies... I gave this recipe to my mom and asked her to make some shortly after Britches was born. I wasn't able to be up yet, but she sweetly agreed. My husband came home and saw cookies on the counter cooling. He grabbed one and walked into the living room. Just as he was about to take a bite, I told him they were nursing cookies. He froze, and said, "Like for breast milk?" I confirmed this, and he slowly walked over to me, handed me the cookie, and said he was good. I laughed hysterically!

These are perfectly fine for anyone to eat, just especially good for milk production. Enjoy!

The Diaries

My husband and I were driving (hence the pic -->; I crack me up...)

When I received an email from my mom. I just got a new smartphone, so this is still exciting to me. I opened the email and started to read. It was a forward, so I thought it would be funny. It was so sad though. It detailed a common story of a wife's feelings, that I think we can all relate to. I really felt for the wife in the story. Then I reached the end, and I burst out laughing! Grizzly had me read it to him. He looked sincerely puzzled as to why I laughed so hard. Once I reached the end of the story, he got it. He laughed hysterically. I thought you might appreciate this:

Wife's Diary: Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster. Husband's Diary: Boat wouldn't start; can't figure it out. It's all about perspective, and I think we should all reread this from time to time.

The Teeny Tiny Tutu

I got a message from a friend today. A close friend of hers just welcomed a new little bundle of joy into the world. This particular little bundle is an especially tiny bundle. She was born 3 months early and weighed 2 lbs 4 oz. My friend wanted to know if I could make a preemie tutu for her. I am pretty handy with tulle, so I said of course. She requested that it be black and hot pink, and the parents liked zebra print. Not a problem, I have all of those colors. She sent me a picture of this itty bitty princess, and my heart melted.

I am not sure if it's preemies in general, because both of my children were premature I do have a soft spot for them. Or maybe just a baby who is so tiny. Whatever the reason, it melted me. Turned me into a ball of jello. I think it hit me so hard because Britches was supposed to be smaller. The doctors tried to convince me to let them take her out, but I refused. I just kept on refusing. The ultrasound estimate at that time was 1 lb 8 oz. I am so glad I held out as long as possible. Seeing this tiny little human hooked up to machines took me back to when she was born.

So I went to work shrinking my normal tutu dress pattern. I compared sizes to one of Britches preemie onesies, and checked some measurements online. I started cutting the teeny tiny bodice, sewing the small pieces together, cutting baby pieces of tulle, and weaving through impossibly small holes. The tutu started to take shape. It looks like it's made for one of my daughter's dolls, not much bigger than your hand. So small. It makes me think of how fragile this small girl is...

I am sure that this precious little girl will not remember the teeny tiny tutu, or even know the tutu maker, but I hope that some of the love that I felt making this dress for her translates. I have said before that I believe that my love goes into each stitch. In this case, I hope it helps her grow stronger and thrive...

Destash? Um, no...

My husband does not need to know how many diapers Britches actually has... Seriously, he has seen them all, he just doesn't need reminding...

I don't think it's excessive, but it is enough that we could go on a week vacation without washing. I like knowing I have more than enough that if our power went out for a week, we'd be fine. As long as it wasn't wash day of course.

I just put together a loaner newborn stash for little Mr. M (who is due in just a couple weeks) out of some of her smaller gender neutral diapers. He has 16 prefolds, 3 covers, and 2 AI2s (one tester and one mama-made I received free with a swap order). Excuse the terrible picture, but the heathens are at it today...

That is plenty for washing everyday. These will go nicely with the dozen one size AI2s and fitteds that little Mr. M's mom ordered from me. Her oldest was born at just over 8 lbs, and my one size diapers fit Britches about then. That should bump her up to a 2 day wash routine. I should destash, but it's nice to have enough diapers to lend and not worry about it! After all, babies do not stay in newborn diapers long. Britches is the exception though, she can technically still fit in all of these.

Besides the diapers, I am making her a wetbag and wipes. I do seem to have a love affair with cloth wipes, I use them for everything. Side note: I have been sick the last couple of weeks, blowing my noise every 2 minutes. My nose is not raw though, because I have used the awesomely squishy cloth wipes. See, useful for everything!

I can't forget that I just received those last chance bumgenious diapers too. As soon as I convert some to snaps, he will have a one-size loaner stash if they need it too! I love diapers!

Channeling Alexander?

Today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day! I am definitely channeling Alexander today. Most of it has been pretty small, so it could definitely be worse. However, Murphy rules my world.

I can't even recount the entirety of my day. I had to deal with the stupidity of our healthcare system, a screaming drama queen (aka Britches, out of character for her), and I did not enjoy the storm.

I had to borrow my brother's car to take Tater to the surgeon for a pre-op visit. No biggie, he was being an awesome brother to let me use his car, Grizzly had mine (longer story). Tater did have an awesome commentary on our healthcare system though. I'll post that later. Anyway...

His car is not the newest, so it has some big freaking issues hiccups. He failed to mention that the windshield wipers don't work AT ALL perfectly. This wouldn't have been an issue if we hadn't had a complete down pour. So I am stuck half an hour from home with both kids, no wipers, and it is raining cats, dogs, horses, cows, and pigs! We'll throw in a chicken, a 5 foot chicken, for good measure!

Because Britches fell asleep in the car, Tater and I started the doomsday countdown. Otherwise known as the "we have to get our little tushies home before our sweet sleeping baby starts channeling Linda Blair" countdown. Britches is a seriously happy baby, until she isn't. Tater, by the way, was so incredibly well behaved. Especially considering I was stressed. So I opened the car door to get out and fix the wipers, and immediately flooded the car. After several attempts, with the Fedex guy staring at me the entire time--Thanks for the help!-- I managed to get it workable.

--Holy run on sentence Batman, sorry!

We some how made it home in one piece. I made an executive decision to skip the grocery store, because we were done. Seriously, done.

This lovely storm also knocked out my internet, so I totally missed the end of my giveaway! I finally broke down and called my mom and Grizzly (both are out of town, ugh) trying to get someone to update my page. Luckily, my mom called back and was able to post the winner.

Honestly, it could have been so much worse. It was just the little things that just kept piling up. I think I am done channeling Alexander now...

Last Chance Diaper Pictures

I have written a few times about Cottonbabies Last Chance Sale, so I thought someone might like to see what exactly you get with this sale. I purchase 2 sets, a girl and a gender neutral. Each set was 12 diapers for $24. Remember they retail for $17.95 per diaper. I also purchased 12 refresher kits just in case they needed repairs. here are my diapers:

Here is a close up of one of them. It is in average condition for what I received.

I will be using the prefolds from the Update: $100 Challenge for inserts. So if each diaper did need repair (which they don't) it would be a total of $3.50 per diaper!

$2.00 per diaper + $0.50 per prefold + $1.00 per refresher kit = $3.50.

Amazing!

It doesn't come around very often, but it is totally worth it. At least I think so!