Rainy Days

With all this spring rain/snow we've had, we've had to get pretty creative inside the house. I have been brushing up on my domestic skills..sewing, cooking, crafting, laundry, laundry, and more laundry. Did I mention laundry..because I cannot believe how much LAUNDRY a tiny little baby can create..especially one who tends to spit up often. But I don't mind, she's just so damn cute. She's been really constipated and having some sniffles so I took her to the doctor. Yes, with a preemie, you really do just go to the doctor for EVERYTHING. I'm glad I did. She has an upper respiratory cold, which is good, her lungs sound great, she just has a hard time breathing through her nose, even after we suck it out. (ew, gross! I know) The doc had us get hooked up with a monitor for nighttime. I was so stressed about it, but it really is no biggie. It's nice having that reassurance that if she were to have an apnea episode(quit breathing) during the night, we would know about it and be able to go in and stimulate her to breathe. Sounds scary, huh?..it is. 

I had her weighed on Wednesday too, she's already 9lbs 7oz! She still seems so tiny, but with a double chin and chubby legs:) Her newborn clothes are getting kinda tight!!

 I found the cutest pattern online  for a baby dress, so I decided to try it. I've never made anything more complex than pillow cases, curtains, or straight skirts, but I figured that a baby dress might be small enough that if I ruin it I won't waste very much material. I bought a fat quarter at Joann fabrics for around a dollar..and the pink is from some material I already had. I didn't have any piping or bias tape so I just used  some fabric and sewed it to do basically the same thing. Total cost for this dress: $2 

When I went to put it on her, it wouldn't go over her head. She was crying, I was crying(just a little bit) and then I added some fabric to the sides so that it would fit her and it BARELY did. I'm not so good with measuring, no. She will most likely not fit into it for Easter Sunday, but that's ok. We're not going anywhere, at least she and I aren't..and I figure she can use it for her dollies later on. I WILL be trying this pattern again, this time measuring correctly. I didn't have a measuring tape, so sue me!

There was a nice day last week(in Utah, a nice "warm" day is anything above 55 degrees and sunny!) so we went to the park at the end of our street. Pepper loved it! When we got back and went to take her out of the stroller, her beanie had fallen down over her eyes..so cute!

Jared loves his baby sister and is constantly baby talking to her in jibberish..even when she's asleep.

This little lady has Daddy wrapped around her little finger. She wimpers, Daddy comes running. We are in TROUBLE. 

 She loves baths, and the boys love to help..er, watch.

 I've been trying new recipes..my favorite sites for recipes are AllRecipes and Paula Deen.

These are a variation of THIS amazing recipe from Paula..I used lemon cake mix instead of chocolate, and they were really good. I had used devil's food cake mix for them the week before and oh my holy goodness...who cares about your figure when you can eat this good? I like what Elizabeth Gilbert said in Eat, Pray, Love about food..

I don't recall her exact words, but it was put it very well here:

"Liz convinces her new best friend Sofi that life is about indulging pleasure, in this case, a craving for pizza. After musing over their inevitable muffin tops & both worry about bulging over the waist of their jeans, each succumbs to an entire pie with double mozzarella. Afterward, Liz orders each a second pizza. For dessert, they float down the streets of Naples in search of Italian pastries.

As for her tight jeans, Liz declares, 'I'm going to eat and then buy some big lady pants.' "

You really have to put this cream cheese filling in between two cookies: 

• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2-4 C powdered sugar

Jared and I made finger puppets from felt last week. We had so much fun and just kept coming up with more and more..We made 12 total. Then Dave and I had a contest to see who could make the best alligator, the kids being the judge. I spent a total of 5 minutes on mine, Dave spent about an hour, putting every little detail into it. I love that man. (It was a tie by the way, we decided mine was a croc and his was a gator)

This is Ashton's latest hobby. He loves jigsaw puzzles. And video games..Lego Indiana Jones is his favorite..or "Indian Jones" as he calls it. I have to turn on a timer for him or he will play all day. Sigh. I very much dislike video games. I think they are a waste of time. I know, because I've spent a good amount of time playing them myself!  I definitely encourage the jigsaw puzzles.