Murrayed Life

Easy DIY Apothecary Jars

2015-09-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

So, it's been awhile, and a few things have happened in the year plus since I last posted. Most relevant to this post is that we moved last month, and got a fireplace, which we've been starting to decorate with our Halloween decor. After pulling out everything that we brought with us, it still looked kind of...meh. So I decided that I wanted some apothecary jars full of candy to put up. I googled, and all of the apothecary jars were either affordable, but tiny, or large and far too expensive for my personal tastes and budget. I decided to see if I could make some myself, and, spoiler alert, it worked out perfectly, and cost less than $20 for the decor (and another $25 for candy...but that was definitely my own fault). So, in case you want to make some jars too, but didn't have the idea before I did--here it is. I feel silly even calling this a "DIY" or a "Tutorial," because it's so easy.

Supplies :

1. Some candlesticks. I found this cool metal pair.
2. A Vase with a shape you like.
3. A jar that's probably from someone's candle (this one had a lid!)
4. Another jar of some sort, with a lid you can steal to fit the vase.
5. A cool jar that just needs to be sterilized.
6. A really strong-holding epoxy-type glue.

I got all these supplies from my local thrift store except the glue, which I got from Walmart FOREVER ago. I believe the glue was about $5 for the tube, and it also comes in black. For this project, you want the clear, so make sure you grab the right one.

For me, I saw the candlesticks first, and tried to make sure that the vases and other containers fit into them nicely so that gluing would be as easy as possible. Peel off all stickers and labels. Then, pull off any plastic pieces on the lids. For me, the former candle had a plastic stopper around the lid that smelled really strongly of cinnamon (which I discarded), and the square-ish jar had a plastic stopper around the glass lid which I removed and washed. Both came off easily with a little pulling. Then run everything through the dishwasher with a "sanitize" cycle included, since you'll be putting food into them, or scrub them really, REALLY well if you don't have a dishwasher. Once everything is clean, be sure to dry them thoroughly. Lastly, glue the jars/vases to the candlesticks, following your glue's instructions, fill with candy, and display!

You'll have to decide if also gluing the lids shut is a better choice for you...

Happy Halloween!

I'm most excited about the versatility of the jars. They will definitely work beyond Halloween! Red and green candies for Christmas? Red, White and Blue for 4th of July? Honestly, maybe I'm most excited about having an excuse to have candy at my fingertips all year round.

Alana Kay Murray

2014-06-30T18:09:00.003-07:00

The first portion of this birth story is mostly back story leading up to the actual birth...skip the first three paragraphs if you don't care. And, as always in birth stories, there are a lot of details, and possibly TMI.

This pregnancy had been rather uneventful. We had decided to keep the gender a surprise, but other than that, everything had been basically textbook. We were hopeful that this baby might make their appearance early, like their brother had, but that didn't happen...then we were hopeful that the baby might come on her due date (father's day)...which also didn't happen. Starting the Saturday before Father's day, I had regular bouts of false labor, which are the worst! Not because they hurt particularly badly, or anything else, but because Nate and I would get hopeful that we were having a baby...and then everything would stop, and we'd feel disappointed, despite our best efforts not to get excited about it. Two rounds of false labor had me convinced enough that I even said, "I think this might be it." Clearly, this cursed us, and the contractions would stop just a little bit later.

So, Thursday, the 19th rolls around, and I had my last prenatal appointment. I was dilated to 2 cm at this point. Because I was past my due date, they decided I needed a non-stress test. I had both Katie and Grayson at the appointment with me, and we'd already had to wait longer than normal, so everyone's patience was running a bit thin. Throw in about 45 minutes on the monitors (with a couple of people getting concerned because the baby wasn't moving around enough and throwing words like, "send you to the hospital" and "uh oh" around), and the non-stress test was, in fact, anything but. Eventually, after buzzing my stomach with some kind device, the baby started moving around enough to get a good pattern of heart rate increase and decrease, and we were sent on our way.

That night, I started having some contractions. I finally packed a hospital bag for me, and timed them for about an hour and a half, and they were coming consistently, This was one of the times I said, "I think this might be it, we should go to sleep just in case." So we go to bed, and I keep having some contractions, but they're very far apart at this point. Friday morning, I asked Nate if he'd be ok staying home from work, just in case, and because I was feeling really sick--super nauseous, achy, etc--so he did. We just mostly sat around on Friday waiting for contractions to get closer together, but, by the afternoon, they weren't even coming in a consistent pattern anymore, and I was starting to be convinced that I would be pregnant forever (clearly, not possible...but that's just what it feels like at the end.).

Saturday morning rolls around, and I'm having contractions that are consistently 10 minutes apart, and actually a bit painful. Looking back on the rest of the time leading up to that morning, I'm convinced that it's probably not the real thing...again. We try to go about our Saturday like it's any normal day. We took the kids to Mariano's for groceries and gelatto, and hit a couple of other stores too, and then head home. I keep hoping that my contractions will get closer together, but they don't. They do, however, start getting more painful, and, after breaking down and crying to Nate after the kids were in bed about how sorry I am that we still haven't had the baby, and he's probably going to have to go to work on Monday, I decided to call the doctor, and see if he had any suggestions. The doctor on call wasn't my doctor, but he looked at my chart and suggested that I come on in and they could see what was going on, and that he was pretty sure that once I hit active labor, I'd be having a baby pretty quickly. I decided to go in with the expectation that we'd be getting sent home, and called my friend to come and sit in our house so the kids could sleep. She came over around 9:30 (thank you Dayanara!!) and we headed out to the Hospital.

It's probably not actually the case, but it seemed like as soon as the doctor said that we could come in and see what was happening, my contractions started getting closer together. I had quite a few on the drive to the hospital, and I had to stop in between contractions every few steps once we got to the hospital. I even got wheeled up to Labor and Delivery in a wheelchair, and asked Nate if he felt like enough of a stereotype yet. We were checked in at 9:53, and they started monitoring, checked me (I was at 4cm), and so we got to stay.

In the bed being monitored...and having contractions.

Are you really taking a picture right now?

I had to stay in the bed for kind of a long time while they established a good trace on the baby's heart rate. This wasn't my favorite thing, but everyone at the hospital was so nice and helpful, that it didn't really matter. After we'd been there for about 45 minutes or so, I was able to get up and stand next to the bed. My contractions were coming really intensely at this point, and I tried sitting on the yoga ball (awful this time! Great with Grayson, but I really, REALLY hated it this time around), and ended up mostly just leaning over the bed with Nate applying counter-pressure to my hips the whole time. During one contraction, I totally managed to pee all over the floor. The nurse who came in thought that my water might have broken...but it hadn't, I had just lost control...which would happen 2 more times, unfortunately. Bless those labor and delivery nurses who see you at your worst and don't make you feel like a gross freak.

Also, is it over yet?

Quite soon, I felt incredibly nauseous, and asked for something to throw up in. I threw up, and my water broke, and I instantly felt like I really needed to push. This time around, the nurses flew into action immediately. The doctor was called into the room (he had apparently come to the hospital shortly after I had called him, and decided to sleep on the couch. He was THAT certain that I would be having the baby quickly), and they started a file for the new baby. This happened around 11:50 or so, I climbed up on the bed, on my hands and knees, pushed a few times, and at 11:57, our baby was born! I was able to do it without an epidural again, which is nice. Having the most painful part of the labor go SO fast both times is definitely the factor that allows that to happen.

Nate immediately said, "It's a girl!" And the delivering doctor said, "It's a boy!" I don't know if he was kidding, or what, but it was definitely a girl. Our little Alana Kay.

She was so alert right off the bat, and spent a good portion of the hour or so we had together before they took her to be weighed or anything just looking around. Nate had made sure to request that I got to hold her right away (they'd taken Grayson away for a bit before they'd let me hold him) and they did.

While the doctor was helping to deliver the placenta etc. He looked at me, and at the time on the clock, and he said, "So...did you really NOT think you were in labor?" From the time I'd checked into the hospital until she'd been born, it had only been 2 hours and 7 minutes. She squeaked in on the first day of summer by 3 minutes.

She was a big baby too! 9 pounds, 3 oz. Bigger than Katie (who was also born 6 days late), by almost exactly a pound. The nurse afterwards told me it was probably a good thing that I had delivered on my hands and knees, because that's one of the best positions for the most open pelvis. Thankfully, I also had no tearing or anything else, so my recovery has been great.

We didn't tell Katie the baby's gender ahead of time, because I wanted to see her reaction when she found out she was getting a sister. She'd been telling us for a couple of months that the baby was definitely a girl, and that she was getting a sister, and we'd been trying to prep her for the possibility that it might not actually be a girl. No need though--she was right.

Grayson was mostly uninterested in Alana, but he did love all the various buttons, and beverages with straws he had access to. Once again, having a baby suddenly aged the children we had by a factor of 100. Grayson seems so much bigger now!

They're always so tiny in the car seat!

We got to go home on Monday morning, which was nice. And, thanks to our friends Dayanara and Tim and Kristen Hughes, Nate and I got to spend a good amount of time together in the hospital, which made it much less lonely than it could have been. The hospital even did a special celebration dinner for us on Sunday night. Seriously, the hospital was fantastic, the nurses were wonderful, and the whole experience was just really nice. I felt like they tried really hard to make sure that our wants were completely respected.

On the way home from the hospital, BOTH Alana and Grayson fell asleep in the car. Here's hoping we can manage to schedule a few more naps this way.

March Happenings

2014-03-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

I keep feeling like this winter will never end (just like everyone else in this area of the country), and so March passed by kind of quickly in a relative blur of sameness. We did manage to get outside a few times.

Chicago River dyed Green

We finally went to the Vault (we've now had Do-Rite, Firecakes, Glazed and Infused, and the Vault). The doughnuts were really, REALLY good, but I don't know that I think they're the best in Chicago. I guess, for me, there's sort of a bliss point for your basic buttermilk cake doughnut. This place definitely hits that, but so do the other places.

Basically, if pizza isn't your thing, and a Chicago Dog doesn't carry any kind of interest for you, just go on a doughnut tour while you're here. We've got a LOT of amazing options.

The yeast doughnuts were SO huge!

After we went to the Vault, we headed off to a Chicago Park to check out a Maple Syrup festival. I had no idea that they could tap trees and make Maple Syrup right in the middle of Chicago, but they can. It was pretty cold outside, but it was still nice to get outside and into a little bit of nature.

Upper Left: syrup tasting and boiling sap over an open flame, Upper Right: Me and Grayson, checking out the tree taps, Lower Left: Katie inspecting the sap (apparently, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup!), Lower Right: Grayson walking in the woods, and Katie and Grayson chillin' (literally) in the stroller.

We got a few days where it was warm enough to head to the local park, go on a couple of bike rides, and be outside for longer than 30 seconds without hating the experience. Today was kind of cold again though, so we played inside.

I took food coloring and white vinegar and put a few different colors in a muffin tin. Then, in the pie plate, I spread out a layer of baking soda. Katie and Grayson both got a medicine dispenser, and then squirted the colored vinegar on the baking soda. Grayson couldn't fill the dispenser on his own, but I bet he could have done it if it were one of the dropper-types. Katie had no problems at all, and really loved her "Foaming Rainbow Lakes."

Grayson also tasted all the parts involved...but that problem quickly solved itself. Neither Vinegar nor Baking soda is terribly tasty alone.

Katie loved the foaming, and then playing in the baking soda afterwards. She wanted to save her "colored sand." We didn't.

Overall, this was a great activity. Both kids could do it, and they enjoyed it, and it was really easy to clean up. These days, that's the biggest win of an activity for me.

Lastly, someone started walking around our house almost full-time! Watching his little teetering wobbles down the hall and his nervous giggles as he tries to go faster is SO much fun. It definitely helps to brighten up some of these still-dreary days.

Here's hoping for April Showers...and maybe a few leaves or flowers?

Easy DIY Valentine's Banner

2014-02-10T09:49:00.003-08:00

We're having a party on Friday, and Katie loves to decide what we do as far as decorations. Honestly, I don't mind at all, because they usually end up staying up in our house for awhile after, and it's nice to add a bit of extra cheer to these winter months.

This DIY is really easy, but does involve a little bit of elbow grease. You'll need the following things:

1. Old book (I used an out-of-date encyclopedia that I rescued from a box destined for the trash by a local store). It should be a little bit thicker to make cutting into it easier, and to ensure that you don't cut into the surface below it. Magazine's might be a nice colorful alternative, but be sure to protect whatever surface you're cutting on.

2. Heart Shape (or any other shape you feel like cutting).

3. Exacto knife, box cutter, really sharp pocket knife etc.

4. Sewing machine, and thread

Open your book up, and trace your shape on the front page. Then, with your knife of choice, start carving the shape out of the book. Just keep retracing the shape over and over and over until you have a stack of shapes that you deem "enough." I ended up getting about 20 shapes for each carving (pushing pretty hard against the pages), and then opening the book to wherever my last shape had ended and repeating the process.

Carved hearts, opened book, and kept carving.

Once you have a stack of shapes, set your sewing machine to a straight stitch, and make the stitch length as long as possible (whatever your basting stitch length is). Then, just push your pedal down, and insert the shapes one at a time as you sew a straight line.

You can do this with regular paper, and do not need to carve up a book, but the encyclopedia gives it some text on each shape, and even the occasional picture. I was sad when I opened it to find that I'd missed this guy's face:

Don't his eyes just beg you to be his Valentine?

And that's all! You can feel pleased that it's so cheap to make, and, if you use the book method, you can feel like it's a craft that's just a teeny-tiny bit hard-core...you know, because you're carving it up with a knife.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Whirlwind Weekend in Chicago

2014-01-27T09:42:00.002-08:00

I love Chicago. Really, I do. It's got such great everything (except mountains...but it IS the midwest). Lately, the weather has been getting me down a little bit, what with words like "bitter," "frigid," "polar," etc. being thrown around with every.single. weather forecast. I wrote this post up for Janssen awhile back, and looking at the pictures of fun spring and summer activities is reminding me that there's hope around the corner, and that, someday, the cold will go away. So, don't come and visit us in the next couple of months (unless you REALLY want to see the inside of my apartment, or the nearest Target because that's probably as far as we'd venture), but, come spring, you should definitely visit!

Hi! I’m Nicole. My husband, Nate, and I moved to Chicago in December of 2011 for his job. He works right in the Loop, and we live in Rogers Park—the furthest neighborhood north in Chicago. The kiddos and I visit Nate downtown a couple of times a month, so we’ve seen a fairly decent amount of the north side of the city. With Katie (3), and Grayson (1) in tow, the things that we usually do are pretty child-friendly, but, honestly, if you’re visiting me, you likely are too.

The lines can be SO long, but the food is really good!

I'd take you out for Chicago Style Hot Dog at Hot Doug’s. It’s a great little cash-only hot dog place that serves not only Chicago-Style hot dogs (which are vastly superior), but they also have a variety of other meat options: Alligator, Venison, Foie Gras, etc. You can order whatever you want, but people don’t line up for hours in the summer just for the normal hot dog. I'd strongly recommend going with two people, and getting one regular (or the Elvis, deep fried), and one specialty. Whatever you do, people will definitely recommend that you get the Duck Fat Fries. Personally, I don’t notice a difference between whatever their fries are normally fried in and the duck fat, but you probably should try it anyway, because it’s different. They’re served on Fridays and Saturdays, and perhaps you have a less plebeian palate than I. We could also go to Superdawgs, if the line is too long at Hot Doug's. Their fries aren't anything special, but the Chicago-Style Hot Dogs they make are really, really good.

They've been around since 1948, so they're doing something right.

Those are giant glass walls that project images--usually faces. About every 10 minutes or so, the face "spits" out a large stream of water all over the children who happen to be underneath it.

It's famous for a reason! You shouldn't miss Millennium Park. Right off the El, and several bus lines, and just south of all the shopping you could want on Michigan Avenue, this fantastic park is full of sculptures and an outdoor concert area where they regularly hold free concerts in the summer. They also have a HUGE pair of fountains that kids (and adults) can run and play in between. There’s ice skating in the winter (bring your own skates and it’s free!), and general awesomeness year round. You can’t come to Chicago and not take at least one picture with The Bean (actually named “The Cloud Gate” but it mostly looks like a perfectly mirrored kidney bean).

Taken from Their Website.

Calories don't count on vacation, so we'll stop in and grab a treat at Lickity Split—The most adorable little ice cream shop in the Edgewater neighborhood. Their custard is so delicious, and they’ve got a bunch of old-timey candies in jars and such. Really, unless you hate sugar and cute, there’s nothing not to love.

Closer to Evanston--but the lake is MASSIVE.

The weather is perfect and getting outdoors is a must. We'll take advantage of the gorgeous day at the beach. I’m sure other major cities love their waterfronts, but I never fail to be astonished by Lake Michigan. I’m certain that, had I been an early American explorer, I would have hit Lake Michigan and immediately declared it to be the Pacific Ocean (yes, I know it’s freshwater, but it has a tide!). Then there would have been a lot of embarrassment back home, and the textbooks would have declared it “Murray’s Malady” or something like that. Anyway—we’ll go to the beach, because it’s sandy, and swimmable, and awesome. We’re all-season beach-goers, so this applies year-round…though I won’t be swimming in the winter.

So glad my two kiddos love the sand and water.

Katie's first Giordano's. The pizza is literally an inch and a half thick.

You're so fortunate to have a Chicago insider showing you around. The locals would stone me if I didn't feed you some Chicago-Style deep dish. Being no respecter of Pizzas, my husband and I have eaten at many different pizza establishments. My dad’s favorite is Giordano’s, but I think I prefer some of the other versions. Exchequer downtown makes a pretty awesome pizza, Pizano’s is great, and if we’re already at Millennium Park, we’ll be placed in a prime location to eat just about anywhere. You’ll get lots of different opinions on where to eat it, so go with whomever you trust, really, just make sure you eat it, and make sure you’re basically starving before you get there.

You didn't ask, but I'll tell you anyway that a trip to Chicago wouldn't be complete without a trip to Navy Pier. It’s SUPER touristy, but, meh. Sometimes you just need to be a tourist while you are one. It’s a great place to people watch, and, if you’re looking for something of substance, they have a stained glass museum which is free, and beautiful. Also, you can ride on a Ferris Wheel and look out at the city, or the lake, and, during the summer, they do fireworks a few times a week.

There is so much more to Chicago than you can do in a weekend (I didn’t even mention the Lincoln Park Zoo, or any of the museums!), so I’d highly recommend coming for longer if you can. It’s really a fantastic city.

Merry Christmas

2013-12-19T09:52:00.001-08:00

It's been cold here in Chicago, just like in the rest of the country. So we've been spending most of our days inside, watching shows, listening to Christmas music, baking treats, and reading Christmas stories. It's really been pretty perfect.

Grayson had his first pickle, and walked around with it in his mouth like this for 5-7 minutes. I could not stop laughing.

He was pretty pleased.

Nate pulled out his trumpet and helped the kids try it out.

Katie was pretty good--and actually got it to make trumpety sounds.

Grayson was sort of lost as to how to work the mouthpiece.

We decorated a rice crispy train

Played in the snow (briefly)

Decorated the tree

...and made silly faces next to it.

Checked out the windows downtown

Took pictures of the tree using Pinterest Tricks

And Self-timer family pictures in the courtyard.

Even though we're not spending the holidays with family this year, we're all really happy. Katie is so excited for Christmas, and Nate and I can't wait to watch her and Grayson get up on Christmas morning. Here's hoping that your holiday season is full of happy! Merry Christmas from us Murrays.

DIY Distressed Boyfriend Jeans

2013-09-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

This post showed up on my facebook feed a few weeks ago, and I immediately fell in love with her pants. I've seen a lot of people wearing the boyfriend jean, with varying degrees of distress. The thing I loved about her pants was that there were patches behind the holes. I just wouldn't feel comfortable (at all) with a large portion of my upper thigh showing. I looked up boyfriend jeans on the Zara website, and was completely unwilling to fork over around $60 for a pair of jeans that's partially destroyed. Then I remembered a pair of jeans that I bought on super clearance at Target (I got two pairs for $9.00). That were bootcut. I thought they'd work, they were the right size, and they fit well, but I just didn't like them. I guess I'm over bootcut? At any rate, I knew I could do something to them and I wouldn't be upset if they were ruined.

I started with a pair of Bootcut jeans, so I had to go through a few steps to get to the distressing part. If you're already starting with straight leg jeans that fit, skip the first parts.

Bootcut to Straight Leg

The first thing that needed to happen was to make them into straight leg pants, not skinny. Rachel at Apple Blossom had a great tutorial for that.

Fold the bottom hem up to the knee of the pants. If it's wider, it's bootcut (or flare). If it matches, it's straight leg, and if it's smaller, it's tapered or skinny.

Easy Peasy.

After sewing the straight line, trying them on, and liking them, I sewed a zig zag stitch along the edge to help the jeans avoid fraying.

Zig Zag

Hemming

Typically, boyfriend jeans are cuffed, so you can just cut the hem off and skip hemming your jeans, but I wanted to do it. To do this, and maintain the original hem, follow the following steps:

Yeah, it was like, 4 inches.

Stitch all around the hem, as close to the top (bottom?) of the original hem.

If the left is top, and right is bottom, stitch as close as you can to the bottom of the original hem.

Cut off the extra, fold down and press, and you're done. Jeans straight and hemmed.

Distressing

Distressing the jeans is really easy, it just takes a lot of time. First, try on your jeans, and use a piece of chalk to mark where you want your holes to be. After you've marked the lines, take the pants off again, fold them in the middle of where you want to have the hole, and make small snips with sharp scissors.

Keep the space between snips about half an inch or so.

If you don't care about your leg showing through, skip the next steps.

Holes in Jeans.

Use a separate piece of fabric to create a patch. I cut some pants into shorts this summer, so I had some denim scraps lying around. Cut a patch that's a little bit larger than the hole you're creating.

Place the patch inside of your jeans, behind the holes you cut, pin, and then sew carefully around the edges of the slits.

Turn your pants inside out, and trim the patch.

Your slits should look like this. The white thread won't matter--but you can use a different color to match if you'd like.

Next, use a piece of sandpaper to rough up the seam you created by making your pants straight leg (if you did that)...

...and the hole you've created. This should make it easier to get at some of the blue threads you'll be pulling.

Jeans are made up of blue threads running vertically, and white threads running horizontally. You want to pull out the little blue threads, and leave the white threads intact (as much as possible). This creates that stringy patched look. This is the step that takes the longest.

Tweezers are vital to this part of the process.

Tweeze out all the little blue threads, and repeat the process with any other holes you might want to add. In the end, you too can take awkward pictures in the walkway behind your apartment!

Meal Planning and Groceries

2013-09-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Lately, we have been making an effort to have a pretty strict grocery budget. This involves actual meal planning, and making grocery lists. Typically, I just go to the grocery store, buy stuff that's on sale, and then figure out what to have later. This isn't a terrible way to shop, but it leads to a lot of last minute trips to the store after I've browsed pinterest, or read blogs and found something that I suddenly HAVE to have for dinner that night.

Honestly, how can you NOT suddenly run to the store for ingredients to make these pumpkin doughnuts?

The beauty of actually planning my meals is that I can pull up my pinterest boards and select meals that I've been intending to cook and (gasp) actually cook them. We're not stuck eating ramen and boxed mac and cheese, and I don't usually hit thirty minutes before Nate gets home and suddenly think, "Shoot...what on earth are we having for dinner tonight?" It's really pretty helpful.

I've created a little worksheet for myself to help me keep on track. It includes the week's worth of meals, and a place for my grocery list. I take the whole thing with me to the store so that I don't stray too far off track, and also so that I can track the spending and split the receipt immediately, if needed. We use Mint for tracking our budgets, but you have to wait a day or so before receipts can be split, so this helps me remember by the time I get around to tracking online. I thought I'd share the worksheet with you, in case you're looking to be a little more diligent in meal planning as well. New Year's isn't the only time for resolutions, right?

Harem Pants??

2013-08-29T10:27:00.002-07:00

I recently read a post by Grace over at Camp Patton, and ever since then, I haven't been able to get the idea of Harem Pants out of my head. I've seen some versions that I don't love at all, but I really liked Grace's. I was convinced that you had to look like Grace (tall & thin) in order to wear them, but I might have changed my mind...

Yesterday, I had the combination of wanting Harem Pants, and really wanting to sew something. So...those two things came together to form these:

Now, in anticipation of these being a massive failure, I didn't really take any pictures of the process, but, if you're interested in doing it yourself, it's SO easy It took me 10 minutes, and 5 of that was spent refilling the bobbin.

DIY Harem Pants

1. Get yourself a pair of really super-relaxed pants. Mine are these, given to me by my mom right after I had Grayson (bless her for that). They're also a size bigger than I would normally get. I only ever wear them around the house, so if they ended up looking funny, it wasn't a big deal.

2. Cut off the bottom 4-5 inches from both legs.

3. Using the part that you've cut off, measure around your ankle. I used one of the leg pieces, cut off both side seams, and sewed it into a circle.

4. Using a loooong basting stitch, sew around the cut leg opening, and then gather so it's the same size as your ankle cuffs

5. Place the ankle cuff and gathered pants right side together. Using a zig zag stitch, (you're definitely going to need it to stretch), sew them together at the top, retaining the original hem of the pants at the bottom. Flip the cuff down, and you're done!

My verdict on them--I LOVE them. I am fully aware that I probably look a little ridiculous (Nate couldn't stop making Aladdin jokes) but they're so different than anything that I own, and they kind of make me want to dance all the time. In the spirit of this fabulous post, I think I'll keep wearing them, and loving them, as silly as I might be.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to learn How to Do the MC Hammer Dance.

Sourdough Bread!

2013-08-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Since this post, I've used my starter, and this sourdough recipe to get the sourdough of my dreams. The pictures are a lot to get through, but the recipe is easy, and turns out a delicious, chewy, and more sour loaf. I highly recommend it if you're looking for more authentic sourdough. The recipe below does make a delicious sandwich loaf.

I love sourdough bread. Honestly. Ever since I was about 10, and went to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, California and had the clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl, it's been over. Sourdough=my favorite.

I've always wanted to make it, and I knew that there was a starter involved, but I thought you had to get it from somewhere. As though there were some ancient sourdough start from the first days of sourdough that was passed down from generation to generation. So I resigned myself to never having my own sourdough because I was not privileged to be born into a Sourdough Starter Dynasty.

But...yeah, that's wrong. You can totally make your own starter. I was browsing through my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook, and there it was--a sourdough recipe, and a recipe for a starter! So, in case you want to make your own sourdough dreams come true, here's the recipe. Be warned, it takes about a week and a half--a week for the starter to be ready, and a full 12.5 hours on the day that you'll be making it. You'll only be actively doing anything for about an hour or so--but don't start it in the afternoon thinking you'll be eating it for dinner.

Unless you eat really late.

Sourdough Starter
1 teaspoon regular active dry yeast (I actually used instant yeast, because that's what I had--it worked.)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour

1. In a 3 qt glass bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, gradually stir in flour and beat until smooth. cover with a towel or cheesecloth and let stand in a warm place for about 24 hours or until starter begins to ferment (it gets bubbly). If you don't get any bubbles within 24 hours, throw it out and try again. If you do (yay!), then stir it well, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave it in the same spot for 2-3 days.
2. When the starter is really foamy, stir it well, pour into a 1 qt crock or glass jar with a tight fitting cover, and put it in the fridge. Starter is ready to use when a clear liquid has risen to the top (this took another 2-3 days for me).
3. Use the starter regularly--every week or so. If the volume of the breads starts to decrease, dissolve 1 teaspoon of yeast, 1/2 cup milk, and 3/4 cup flour into the remaining starter.

Once your starter has reached this point, you're finally ready to make the bread!

Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups warm water
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1. in a 3 qt glass bowl, mix the sourdough starter, 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, and 2 cups warm water with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cover, and let stand in a warm place for 8 hours. To keep your starter going, add 3/4 cup milk, and 3/4 cup flour to the remaining starter in the container, stir until smooth, and let sit for 12 hours before putting back in the fridge.

Add Flour and Water

Let Stand for 8 hours (this is after about 5)

2. Add 3 3/4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and vegetable oil. Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is absorbed. The dough will still be pretty soft--it should be just firm enough to form into a ball and put on the counter to start kneading. Don't add in the extra 1/2 cup of flour unless the dough can't be formed into a ball at all.

3. On a heavily floured surface (seriously, like, one-whole-cup-of-flour, heavily floured, plus more possibly), knead the dough for 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and springy.

You know...in case you don't know how to knead?

Place dough into a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.

4. Grease a large cookie sheet. Gently push the risen dough down a few times to release the air bubbles. Split the dough in half, and form each half into a circular loaf. Place the loaves on opposite ends of the cookie sheet, with plenty of room around the edges to allow it to rise. Cut three slits in the top of each loaf and then cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Unrisen dough

5. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the loaves with cold water, and place in the middle of the oven. Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped. Then, let cool for 1 hour.

Actually, I don't blame you if you don't want to wait, but it's really better if you do. After a week and a half of work, I dove right in...and I was really disappointed. I tried another piece about an hour later, and it was much better. So...wait, just a bit at least. Then it will be sourdough. Delicious (though maybe not quite there) sourdough.

There are several things I might do differently the next time I make it--I followed all the steps almost exactly (instant yeast instead of regular, and I used cooking spray instead of shortening). I bet you could use a machine to do the kneading, instead of doing it by hand, and I hear that your starter's flavor changes a little bit each time. I'll definitely be doing this again, if only to make the week for the starter worthwhile.

Happy Birthday Grayson!

2013-08-16T07:42:00.001-07:00

Grayson, I can't believe you're one tomorrow! You're such a great little person, and we love you so much. You're so quick to smile, crazy ticklish, good-natured about being taken all over Chicago (and so many other places!). You've added so much to our little family that the year has just flown by. We didn't even know we were missing your particular ingredient until it was added, but now our little family recipe wouldn't be complete without you. Happy Birthday!

Fruit Dumplings!

2013-08-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

My husband spent two years in the Czech Republic and Slovakia serving a mission for our church. Apart from a lot of language skills, and some pretty fantastic stories, he brought back a lot of love for some new types of food.

As we've tried out various types of food from his mission, I have to admit that I haven't had something yet that I don't like. The foods are are comfort-type foods. These fruit dumplings are no exception. They may look like somewhat wrinkly dinner rolls, but just wait.

Not impressive looking. Wait for iiiiiiiiiiiit.....

Once you add a little topping (I like sweetened cream cheese and a little nutmeg)...

And then cut into it's fluffy, fruity goodness:

You get something that not only looks delicious, but feels like a hug for your insides.

The visual on that is a little weird...just trust me. They're really, really good.

Yeast Fruit Dumplings (adapted slightly from Kynute Ovocne Knedliky)

Dough

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
¼ cup lukewarm water
¼ cup milk (room temperature)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling
Your choice of fruit--pitted cherries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots--something that will soften quickly, as the dumplings don't cook very long.
Granulated Sugar

Topping
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar (more or less to your liking)
nutmeg

1. Sprinkle the yeast in the lukewarm water with the pinch of sugar. Wait a minute or two, and then stir everything in. Wait 2-3 minutes after that to allow the yeast to get nice and bubbly, and nearly doubled in volume.

2. Add all the other ingredients to the yeast mixture, except the egg yolks and the flour. Mix well, then add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the two cups of flour, to make a medium-firm dough.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead it, adding more flour as necessary. You'll need to knead it for about 10 minutes (possibly longer), or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Count this as your arm workout for the week.

4. Place the dough into a greased bowl, turning to cover the dough. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled (35-45 minutes). If you poke the dough, and the indentation remains, you're good.

5. While the dough rises, take your fruit, and sprinkle it with granulated sugar until it's coated. Cover and set aside.

6. Take the dough out of the bowl, and roll it into a rectangle about 12" x 16"

--I made mine about the size of my silicon baking mat. Cut the dough into 12 squares about 4" on all sides. Place fruit into the middle of the square. We used apricots for the pictures above. Pitted, sugared, and then I placed a whole apricot (so, two halves) into each dumpling. We also did raspberries, and did about 5-6 raspberries in each dumpling.

7. Take the sides of each square and bring them together over the fruit--pinch and seal until you have the fruit entirely inside of the dough (you don't want things leaking out). Really, make sure you pinch and seal them well.

8. The original recipe says that you should boil the dumplings, but we've gotten a more rubbery dumpling using that method. I used our steamer instead. First, I sprayed down the steamer with cooking spray, then stuck 6 dumplings in the pan, and steamed them for about 10 minutes total, with no turning, and the lid on the pot. Then do the other batch.

Lastly, drizzle whatever toppings you'd like to: melted butter and granulated sugar, cream cheese topping, whatever makes your heart happy. Eat them while they're still warm, but don't burn yourself on the hot filling.

Enjoy (probably should say, "Na Zdravie!")!

Oh, and if you're looking for something to do with those Egg Whites, you should try making Kayla's Macaroons. I didn't get enough air out of mine, but they were still chewy and delicious, and I do plan to try them again.

Lemon Scones

2013-08-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

My sister recently came to visit, and so I decided to make us something fancy for breakfast. I've only made scones one other time with a mix that we got for our wedding, and they turned out awfully, so I was a little bit skeptical about making them again. So many people loved them though, that they seemed to be worth a shot.

Oh baby. Were they ever. They were light and fluffy and biscutty and lemony, and glazed...

Now they're gone (just like our visitors, sadly)...but writing up this recipe is making me want to whip up some more. Not a bad idea, considering that they're so easy to make.

Glazed Lemon Scones (adapted slightly from all recipes)

Scones
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water, or as needed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Mix flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk milk, lemon juice, and vinegar in a small bowl and stir into flour mixture until moistened; turn out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough will likely be very sticky.
3. Knead dough briefly for 5 or 6 turns. Be sure not to over-knead it. The dough should be nothing like bread dough. Pat or roll into a 1 inch-thick round. Cut into 10 wedges and arrange on a baking sheet leaving 1 inch between each wedge.
4. Bake in preheated oven until bottom edges are lightly tan, 11 to 14 minutes. Allow scones to cool for 15 minutes.
5. While scones are cooling, stir confectioners' sugar, melted butter, 2 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Add in water, if needed, to make more of a glaze texture.
6. Drizzle glaze over warm scones

Katie was really excited about the cake for breakfast.

Grayson was too!

Sunday Best for Boys: All Tucked In

2013-08-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

I adore little boy Sunday clothes. I've always thought that girls dresses and such are the only cute ones, but I think I've gotten much more giggly over Grayson's Sunday clothes. Bowties! Suspenders! Vests! Little Old Man Hats!! Sunday Best for Boys will be a little series detailing helpful tips and DIY's for boys.

First, I thought of this when Grayson's shirt kept coming untucked. What was the point of getting these cute shirts if they just keep getting untucked when I hold him (which, at church, is most of the time).

If you've got a few spare onesies sitting around that are a bit too small for your little one, you can give them some new life by repurposing them.

First, start with a onesie and a dress shirt.

Then, chop off the bottom. Onesies are historically stretchy, so judge the amount that you cut off the bottom based on the baby that you're making this for, and the size of the shirt you're attaching it to. The sunday shirt is a 12 month shirt, and the onesie is a 3-6 month onesie. Grayson is a bit of a short fellow, so just a few inches of onesie is enough.

Then, button a couple of buttons on the Sunday shirt. Make sure that everything lines up along the bottom well.

Now, here you have two options. The simplest is to match right sides together, pin, and sew around the circle, removing pins as you go.

Here, I turned the Sunday shirt inside out.

This will completely work, but can produce a little bit of a bulky seam, so if you want a slightly flatter look, then try option 2:

Option 2: Turn the Sunday shirt inside out. Pin the right side of the onesie to the back side of the shirt. Your goal is to sew the top of the onesie into the shirt so that the original hem of the shirt remains flat.

I'm a little bit of a lazy seamstress, so I just skipped pinning, and sewed a basting stitch all the way around. I matched the side seams together, and stretched the onesie slightly as I went. Then, you turn both the onesie and Sunday shirt right side out and sew a proper seam along the existing hem seam from the Sunday shirt. Feel free to use actual matching thread instead of white. Either way, the point is to make the shirt stay tucked in, so hopefully you won't see it.

Now, to wait for Sunday, and make this messy little guy wear his new shirt!

Have a great weekend!

Short

2013-06-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling really short lately. Not height-wise (though 5' 3" does not qualify as tall), but in just about every other aspect of my life. I've felt rushed (short on time), grumpy (short on happy), tired (short on sleep) and I've been really short with my kiddos--Katie in particular. Somehow, she's managed to find all the buttons that irritate me the most this past week, and has pushed them repeatedly. This is probably a combination of her being 3, and me being irritable. As a result, we've had some less-than-stellar days since coming back from vacation.

So innocent.

This is often how coming home from vacation feels. You do a lot of prep work, you have a great time, and then you come home and are thrown back into the realities of making your own food, doing laundry, buying groceries, etc. Vacation clean-up is the worst.

Those are Ninja Turtle socks.

So today, instead of planning a bunch of things to do, and then making myself crazy as we were running around trying to accomplish them, we mostly hung out at home.

Katie's outfit is 100% her pick today, and she did a great job!

Grayson got all his naps in, we went on a longer walk with Indy, got some groceries, and a bubble machine. After Grayson's second nap, we spent a good half hour to 45 minutes outside in the beautiful weather in our courtyard playing with bubbles.

I love this picture--it's exactly why I wanted a phone with a camera.

I was reminded, as we all had fun just playing with bubbles, that it's probably good to pay attention to some things that are short in life. Grayson is already 10 months old, and Katie is 3.5 at the end of this month.

I love how those two bubbles by his eyes look like glasses

Hopefully, they'll be amused by simple things like this for a long time yet, but I probably should make sure to savor afternoons like this just in case.

Because bubbles don't last forever.

Easter, In Pictures

2013-04-03T13:35:00.003-07:00

Katie and I got to go outside to take pictures, because the weather was so nice!

Grayson and basket--and bowtie!

Katie at the Playgroup Easter Egg Hunt. She was a pro!

Katie with basket--Thanks Grandma for the dress!

Nate got Good Friday off, and we went to Sam's Club. While leaving, he was holding Grayson in his left arm, and holding Katie's hand with his right. This was my attempt to capture the sweet moment...unfortunately, it looks like someone had a wedgie.

Easter weekend this year really seems to have marked the start of Spring...thank goodness! We've been getting outside again, and exploring new parks, and we're all (especially poor Indy) SO excited for winter to be over. Hooray Spring!

Super Delicious Banana Bread

2013-02-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Genuine reaction to eating it.

I found myself with 4 extremely ripe bananas yesterday, and so, clearly, they needed to become banana bread. I started trolling pinterest, and all the recipes looked good, but so....fancy. Fancy wasn't what I was going for. I resorted to googling "Best Ever Banana Bread" and was led to All Recipes, which I have a love/hate relationship with. Usually, the things that I've made from there are good, and the recipes are simple. The ratings are where I get frustrated. It seems like every comment on the recipes says "This recipe is SOOOOOOO good!!!!!! I added 3 cups of sugar, cut out all the oil, substituted in half a cow, and turned it into meatloaf instead of banana bread, but seriously, 5 Starzzzz!!!!!!"

I'm pretty sure when you change the recipe drastically, you can't rate the original recipe based on whatever came out of your oven.

So, rather than rate a recipe that I changed drastically, I'll just throw another banana bread recipe up on the internet.

Oooh, it's banana bread that looks just like all the other banana breads!

Super Delicious Banana Bread

4 very ripe bananas
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil (this could easily be cut to 1/2 cup)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 cups oats
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, grease pans. (2 regular bread loaves, or 8 mini loaves, or 4 mini and one regular...you can figure it out.)

Peel the bananas, place them in the bowl of a mixer with the eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix on medium-high until really well combined.

In a blender, put in the 2 cups of oats. Pulse a few times until the oats resemble flour. Add in sugar, baking soda, and salt, and flour and pulse a few times to mix the dry ingredients well. Add all the dry ingredients into the bowl of the mixer, and mix until everything is just combined. Be careful not to over-mix. Make enough batter for 2 large loaves, of 4 mini loaves and a large loaf. Once you've poured your batter in, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top, and stir it a little bit right in the bread pan. Bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on the type of pan you use.

Then I kept trying to take more pictures...she got tired of it. Also, she does wear other shirts...but this is her Valentine's Shirt

Perfectly Pink Frosting

2013-02-08T12:41:00.002-08:00

Do you all remember the big, pink, Granny B cookies from high school? Well, yesterday, I sort of accidentally recreated the pink frosting for Katie's cake: texture, thickness, and all.

In case you're searching for a bit of the super thick, very pink frosting yourself (just in time for Valentine's Day), here's the recipe:

2 sticks of butter
1 pound of Powdered Sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup flour
1 t of Vanilla
7 drops of red food coloring
enough milk to thin

I had one stick of butter in the fridge, and one in the freezer. I took the stick from the freezer and microwaved it for 30 seconds, which made it a bit melty in the middle. I put both sticks in a bowl and beat them with the hand mixer until they were blended together and fluffy, and it was perfect--I'm sure you could just have two, non-melted soft-ish sticks of butter and be in great shape. Either way, beat the two sticks of butter until they're soft, and then add in the powdered sugar and mix until the mixture resembles small crumbs. Add in the flour and mix, then then add in the vanilla and food coloring. At this point, the mixture will be very thick. Start thinning it out with milk until it reaches your desired consistency.

By using flour in the mix, you end up with a more stable frosting, and you don't have to keep adding in more and more powdered sugar. This also keeps the sweetness down a little bit, and helps it mix nicely with a cookie, or with a cake, that's already got enough sweetness in it.

Happy Valentines Day!

Firmoo Glasses Review

2013-02-04T13:09:00.003-08:00

Hat: Forever XXI, Shirts: Target, Old Navy, Watch: Ironman (thanks Nate!), Glasses: c/o Firmoo

You've all probably heard about Firmoo by now, right? They're a glasses company that offers prescription eyewear for pretty cheap, and a virtual try-on feature where you can upload a picture and get a rough idea of how the frames will look on your face before you buy them. Overall, very similar to Coastal Contacts or any other online glasses store.

Anyway, Firmoo contacted me about doing a review of their glasses, and I'm all about free stuff (especially glasses with a girl who LOVES to dress up in any of my things and say, "I'm a mama!"), so I happily agreed. I went to their website, used my webcam to upload a VERY unflattering picture of myself, and started "trying on" glasses. I decided to hop on the nerd glasses trend, and chose these frames. I got a confirmation e-mail and a tracking number soon after that.

Once I clicked on the link, I saw that the glasses were being shipped via the Flying Leopard shipping company, and that's when I learned that the glasses were coming to me ALL the way from China. I don't really have a problem with getting things from China, but I was surprised. I expected things to take a very long time as a result. Happily, I got the glasses about a week and a half later.

Looking So much more hipster than I ever thought possible.

I've ordered glasses online before, so the process wasn't new or scary to me--and it's really easy. The most difficult part was figuring out my pupil distance, which I didn't feel like the website explained terribly well. There are a lot of resources for doing this online though (like, here, for example). Overall, the process was easy, and the quality of the frames and lenses is as good as the glasses that I paid $200 for a couple of years ago from Sears Optical Center (which I do not recommend, if you ever find yourself in Central Pennsylvania).

Also, as a bonus little tidbit of information, Target optical center will adjust your frames for free if you find that they're a little too tight or anything like that. Just try to stop by when they're not busy.

Here's a somewhat terrible video review, so you can see more angles, but with the video comes a Giveaway! You can have your very own free glasses from Firmoo too! Just leave a comment below before Friday, the 8th at midnight Central Time, and a winner will be drawn at random (I'll use random.com to pick a number, I promise not to be biased in who wins).

Also, if you don't win, don't be too sad--Firmoo recently launched a First Pair Free program. Using this you can get sunglasses or regular glasses for free, and just pay the shipping.

2013

2013-01-18T11:46:00.003-08:00

It's been a little while here, but I think I'm ready to do the 20 second catch-up version.

So Grayson was born. He's really cute, and super sweet and smiley, but we had some issues with sleeping.

Not to worry--Swaddling to the rescue!

Actually, he probably just sleeps like a normal newborn. Katie spoiled us with sleeping really well from the start. Grayson liked to sleep for about 4 hours, and then get up every hour and a half or so. Couple that with a pretty hot summer, and we had a lot of slow, lazy type of days around here after he was born. Lots of family came to visit us including Emily and Jordan, My mom, and Nate's parents

Supervised Sibling Love

Grayson got blessed

Bow Tie, and little Short-alls? I die. Didn't think I'd ever feel that way about short-alls...

We toured Chicago with various visitors. Thank goodness that nursing has been pretty much a snap this time. Grayson has eaten at just about every tourist place in the city, and on the train.

Two sleeping kids

We took a road-trip down to Missouri to visit with Emily and Jordan and My parents (Maybe all of us next year? Ashley and Lance? Ryan and Rie? Jared?) The drive down was great! Grayson surprised us all by sleeping for most of the trip, and Katie played on the iPad the whole time.

Katie is VERY good at mimicry.

Then we moved to a new place, which is great! We're on the first floor, so there aren't any neighbors to bother below us, and we have a hallway that is literally about 30 feet long, which both Katie and Indy LOVE to run up and down to no end.

After the move (11 days after, to be precise) I flew out to Utah with Katie and Grayson. I was a bit nervous about it, since flying with two kids sounded a bit daunting, but both were really great little travelers and we met so many people who were very kind and willing to help us out when we needed it. After getting to Utah, we enjoyed 3 weeks of family and fun. Christmas was wonderful, the Cabin was great, and so was Katie's birthday.

Family Picture at Aspen Grove

Speaking of Katie. She's 3! I'm amazed at how much older she seems to me since Grayson's been around. Clearly, she can do many things that he can't do, but it seems like having a baby brother turned her into a kid, and not just a toddler. In fact, she'll gladly remind you that she's a kid, and not a snickerdoodle, ladybug, sweet pea, or any other pet name.

Also, right before we left Utah, Karly took some amazing pictures of my children. It makes me so happy to have these. She's so talented!

A smile, even though she didn't really want Grayson leaning on her.

Right in the middle of her attempts to make a silly face

Such a handsome kid.

Love these two!

About 5 days before we left, the kids both started sleeping in until about 8:30 Utah time, which translated to 9:30 Chicago time, and hasn't really stopped since we've returned. They've been getting up just a little bit earlier in the last couple of days, but we're certainly not in any rush to ring in 2013.

Oh, lastly, Nate and I had our 6-year anniversary. We've now been married longer than I was in college...and I have a feeling I've learned a lot more in that time period too. Happy New Year!

Welcome Grayson!

2012-08-23T20:34:00.002-07:00

One week ago, I had my last prenatal appointment. Less than 24 hours later, Grayson Reed Murray joined our little family, and it was wonderful.

First family picture.

I started having contractions that were about 10 minutes apart Thursday evening around dinner. I thought I might be experiencing labor, but since I had been induced with Katie, I wasn't really sure of the exact process when it wasn't started for you. Nate and I were both reluctant to get excited, but I decided that packing the hospital bag couldn't hurt. We went to bed that night around 11:30.

After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, I thought that it was possible that I might really be in labor. I took a bath, to see if the contractions stopped, and then decided that I would start actually timing them, and tell Nate that I thought he might be missing work that day. Starting around 2:00, my contractions were between 3 and 5 minutes apart, and quite uncomfortable. After timing them for a couple of hours, we decided to call the hospital and see what they suggested, since I was group b strep positive, and would need antibiotics. They said we should go ahead and come in. We called a friend who Nate picked up to watch Katie (bless you, Sahily), and headed to the hospital between 4:30 and about 5:00. We ended up parking kind of far away, and had to walk to a different entrance. At this point, I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes, and we stopped about 4-5 times just getting in the door, and a few more times in the halls and elevator up to labor and delivery. They admitted me, and then I had to sit in the bed for about 45 minutes while they took vitals for me and baby, inserted an IV, and checked me. The conclusion was that I was 3-4 cm dilated, fully effaced, and that the babies head was pretty low (although there were also two ultrasounds at the bedside from two different residents that wanted to confirm he really was head down). All of this was really uncomfortable, and I was really, really relieved when I was finally allowed to get up and walk around.

We liked what the nurse put under "Patient Goal"

It was about 5:45 at this point, and I was in a lot of pain. Nate was right by my side the whole time, usually applying pressure to my hips or lower back, and just hanging out with me. Neither one of us could believe that we were there, having a baby. Around 7, the nurse shift changed over, and the nurse who was leaving said, look, you've probably got a long way to go, you're maybe a 5 or a 6 at this point, and you don't have to be in all this pain, breathing through the contractions. It's probably going to take about 45 minutes for the epidural to get here, so you should keep that in mind." I was feeling a little frustrated with her, because I knew that I could get an epidural, and that it wouldn't make me a failure etc. etc., but I wanted to go without one. Thankfully, Nate, in his perfectly reassuring, no-frills way just said, "I think you can do this." Then he stepped up to put more pressure on my hips. At this point, I moved to kneeling on the bed, and holding onto the back, and things got really intense. Nate even gave me a quick blessing that I could have the strength I needed. I threw up a few times (worst...ever.), and my water broke. We called the nurse to tell them, and thankfully, Nate talked to them, because I was in a pretty terrible state. They had me climb off the bed so they could change the sheets, and I told them I felt like I really needed to push. They sort of acknowledged it, and stated prepping the room, but with much less urgency than I thought was needed. My nurse notified the doctor that I was feeling pressure (serious understatement), and she told me to climb back in the bed so she could check me and see if I was ready. I crawled into the bed on my knees again, and didn't make it any further. The nurse was moving things around on the bed and sort of tossed the tv remote/call button thing and it hit me in the head. I was fairly distracted by everything else going in, but Nate was properly annoyed on my behalf. The nurse then checked me (most painful part of the whole experience) and then just kept her hand there until I asked if she could please stop. She said, "Ok, but just don't push!". I don't actually believe this is possible, and within 2 contractions, Grayson was born at 7:59 am, with a doctor running in right after he was out. They cleaned him up, gave him to me, and just like that, we were a family of four.

Nate, shortly after Grayson was born.

Katie, Grayson, and me on Saturday.

Grayson, coming home from the hospital.

7 pounds, 14.2 ounces, 19 inches long, awesome.

My recovery has been great. I really felt like I could have gone home Friday afternoon. Grayson has been a great eater, and sort of knowing what I'm doing has made breastfeeding pretty smooth this time around. Katie really loves her brother (at least for now:), and Nate has been such a perfect support and father. We're all doing so well, and we've got dinners and well-wishes to last us for a good long time, as well as visitors to look forward to in the weeks ahead. Life for us, is wonderful. Thank you so much to all of you who have helped us so far, and for all the congrats and well-wishes too.

As a bonus, here's Katie meeting Grayson for the first time:

OTI: Voted Choice

2012-06-14T13:54:00.002-07:00

Today's Choice is one that I actually pinned back in January or February...and then forgot about. I'm so happy that it got picked, because I really love the combination of colors.

Shirt and Cardigan: Old Navy, Jeans: Forever 21

Here's to a super awkward pose, but an outfit that I kind of love. I had to go with green stripes, because I don't own any gingham, actually, and I went with Blue on the bottom and pink on the top. I also had a yellow watch on, but my adorable niece needed something to chew on, so that got lost in the car for now.

In other news, visiting family is awesome, and I really, really love them all. Hope your week is as good as mine is going so far!

To see more creative interpretations, check out Erica, Grace, Kayla, or anyone else who linked to their blogs!

OTI: Kayla's Choice

2012-06-13T08:01:00.002-07:00

Super boring interpretation from me.

Shirt: Shade (one of my favorite Maternity Shirts, and free shipping both ways!), Skirt: Made by me.

I went with the, "slightly neutral colors on the shirt, brighter skirt, similar silhouette" interpretation. Check out Grace, Erica, and Kayla for more inspirational interpretations.

OTI: Grace's Choice

2012-06-12T06:34:00.001-07:00

Day two! This one was Grace's pick, and I thought that I had the perfect idea for it all.

T-shirt embellished by me, skirt was a hand-me-down, belt stolen from Husband.

"The shirt is blue! And it has that navy and blue patterned fabric on the bow thing, and the belt could be the interpretation of the bag, and my hair is long enough for a side braid, and I have a skirt that's white!!!"

These were my excited thoughts as I saw the picture. Then I put the outfit on and started taking pictures this morning, and it went a little bit downhill from there.

Yeah...the white skirt is not helping me look any smaller.

"Hello 29 weeks baby boy!"

So, yeah. It was good in theory, but in practice it might need to wait until there's a little less of me...or just one person in the outfit photos. Good things though: hiking the skirt up like that covered up the mysterious grease spot that appeared right over my belly button that won't seem to leave. Guess it's good that I got at least one more wear out of the shirt.

Check out Grace, Erica, and Kayla for more ideas on how to channel the fabulous Reese Witherspoon.

OTI: Erica's Choice

2012-06-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

It's another round of Open to Interpretation! Yesterday was Erica's Choice, and here's my attempt

Gap t-shirt, Old Navy Maternity Shorts, Ralph Lauren Sneakers

Yeah...it's a white T-shirt and Jean shorts. I tried on another day to interpret this with more exciting and daring options (stealing husbands clothing, wearing a shirt as a skirt, etc.) and they were all pretty miserable failures. Every outfit just made me look more like a Walrus...which is not what I want to feel like right now (even if the thought of lounging around on an ice float is very appealing at times). I went with the "White Shirt, Cuffed Shorts, Sneakers" interpretation, and had a grand time at playgroup.

Sneakers...I tried.

Erica, Kayla, and Grace interpreted it much better. Check them out for the real deal.