Salt Dough Handprints...

...a Pinterest inspired post! I found this post about salt dough handprint ornaments.


Salt Dough Ornaments:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
3/4 cup warm water

Mix everything in a bowl. Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes. You need to do this because it helps the dough to become smooth and pliable. While you're kneading, if the dough seems too sticky add a little flour as you go. Roll out dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out as desired. I used a straw to poke a hole for the ribbon and then used a toothpick to prick small holes for ventilation. Place ornaments on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and cook at 200F for 4 hours.

After they were cool, I painted them with acrylic paint. After the paint had dried, spray them with clear sealant, which gave them a nice shiny look.

My notes:
*After you roll out the dough, put it in the fridge. This makes it easier to work with.
*Put flour on the dough if you're doing handprints, otherwise, it'll get all over babies hands!

Here's what it looked like in the oven:


This one got kind of smooshed and I thought it looked like a ball glove. So I decided to paint it that way with a Cards logo for Papa.


Pretty easy, cheap craft for grandparents and to commerate baby's first Christmas. Plus I think AR liked playing with the dough!

Similarities of AR & the Furbabies...

...ever since AR was born, I have noticed similarities with her and her fursiblings. For instance, both could be sound asleep in the car but the second I turn onto our street, they're wide awake.

I cheer them all on to come to me. I'll walk to another room, stand in the doorway then turn around to AR and say, "Come on AR! You can do it, come to Mommy!" I feel as though I talk to the furbabies the same way.

 They both love to go on walks.

 I love to snuggle and kiss on all three of them.



You have to potty train both.

You have to teach them both to be gentle.

Both are obsessed with my shoes. Now that AR is crawling, if I leave them out, she's crawling to them and playing with them. And all three are fat cats...

When she's freaking out/fussing/crying and I can't figure out why, I immediately go downstairs to her doggies and they cheer her up. She thinks their playing is hilarious and she loves getting kisses from them. Although she does not like it when they nip her on the hinney, she's not a fan of that. 

I'm sure once she gets a little older that the three of them will get into all kinds of mischief!



Christmas Photoshoot with AR!!!

...over Thanksgiving, Nana and I decided to do a little Christmas photoshoot with AR. Seemed easy enough, especially with 2 people, right? NOT! Two adults and a mobile baby is a very difficult photoshoot. The light photo she wouldn't look up because she was too mesmerized or trying to put them in her mouth. Then when we went to the blanket, she was so "exhausted" she wouldn't sit up like the pretty little AR that she is. I still think they turned out cute and once we get our tree up, I'll probably do another photoshoot then. In the meantime, Merry Christmas from AR!



"Did I make the good list?"


"Mom, are we done yet?"

Typical Dinner at Our House...

...pic of a typical dinner at our house. Me on the floor with AR while she is crawling or pulling up on me while trying to get my food.



#lovemyAR

"Perk" of Post-Pregnancy...

...I had another "fun" post-pregnancy surgery today. When I went back to work, I swore all my shoes fit but about a week later, I had ingrown toenails on both feet. OMG! It hurt so bad as in I couldn't get up off the floor or put on flip flops without grimacing from pain.

Then I saw on FB that Jenni had her ingrown toenails fixed. I decided to bit the bullet since I'd met my deductible for the year so I made an appointment. I was in and out today in about 30 minutes. He had to call my OB first to get permissions since I'm breastfeeding. She gave the go ahead so we got started.

He numbed both my toes. Holy heck, it hurt like *insert profanity of your choice*! It was worst than an epidural, probably because it was like 3-5 shots in each toe. But once the med set in, I couldn't feel a thing. I closed my eyes and didn't watch the actual cutting and all that because I thought I might lose my lunch if I did. It was nice to just close my eyes and relax for a bit too.

When he was done, he wrapped my toes up and I had to shove them back in my tennis shoes. I guess I wasn't thinking ahead when I got dressed in the morning. He wrapped the toe up to soak up all the blood but by the time I got home, it soaked through the gauze and even through my shoe!?!

As the numbness started to wear off (right at bedtime for AR), it was a little painful. Once I got her to bed, I went to Walgreens (Matt was home with her) to get soap and antibiotic ointment. I swear I walked back and forth at least three times looking for this soap. After the third Walgreens employee, I said you're coming with me as I hobbled along. I have to soak my feet 2x/day so I'll do it when I pump at night and I guess when I feed her in the morning at 5am, that should be interesting!

I came home after my appointment and unloaded my car. Then I got AR and when we came home, we went to her room and read...it seemed like not much movement or things for her to get into. Of course, she loves to crawl and pull up all over Mommy!

So yet another "perk" of being a mom that's entirely worth it because look at that smile! I love my sweet AR!

Family Pics...

...about a month ago, we had family pics done. They turned out great!!! Here are some of my faves:









This is what my girl does to me all the time! Good thing I rarely wear make-up.



I love, love, LOVE this one!



I spent $7 on these socks/shoes and they were barely in any pics.



She was all into this scrunched nose face.



Although this pic was VERY uncomfortable for me, I think it turned out great.



Christmas card!


I spent almost $15 on this outfit which I think is ridiculous to spend that much on a baby outfit (and it was all on clearance!). But like my co-worker told me, I haven't had to buy ANY clothes yet so it was okay to spend this much on an outfit. Her babysitter gave her the headband as a Halloween gift so it all came together great!



I'm hoping to get a DSLR camera for Christmas so then I can do photoshoots on my own...hint, hint Matt!

Six Month Check-Up...

...Today was AR's six month check-up.

Weight: 16.7 lbs (50%)

Length: 26.5 inches (80%)

Teething bottom lower left

Sleep: Get rid of paci, let her CIO, Matt should put her to bed and get up with her; also needs to nap better (3 naps/day consistently)

Separation and stranger anxiety is all normal (which we all know she has right now)!

Bowels are normal; should start eating more food and feeding herself.

After today, I'm for sure switching doctors and have already called a few places to set up meeting. I typically disagree with the majority of what she suggests (although I do agree that she needs to ditch the paci for bed and nap better but she offers no suggestions how to do this). She makes me feel like a bad mom. I know I'm not perfect but come on, give me a little praise for doing SOMETHING right! The nurses/front desk lady aren't memorable or super friendly. The shot nurse is the nicest and it took her three visits to warm up to me and show some personality!

Tonight I tried to put her to bed without the paci. She started crying and after a couple minutes, I stuck my head back in there and she had pulled herself up and was standing in her bed crying. I laid her back down and she repeated the same thing. I gave her the paci and she was out like a light. So...any ideas how to ditch the paci???

I did make her an appointment at the sleep clinic at St. Luke's. Actually I just go meet with a pediatric sleep doctor and she crafts me a plan I have to follow to a T or else it won't work. Yes, I think it's a little ridiculous to go to a sleep doctor for a six month old but I've already met my deductible so it should only be the $40 co-pay. The way I look at it is if it work, it's the best $40 I've ever spent. If it doesn't work, well, I've wasted $40 on sillier stuff.

My mom took the night shift the last three nights so I should be super rested but I'm freakin' exhausted after the weekend and today. She was so attached to me all weekend so at all the holidays, she was on me (she fell asleep while I was eating Thanksgiving meal at my dad's on Saturday). Luckily, she'd go to my mom most of the time but my mom's and my grandma's both have hardwood so I was hesitant to let her play on the ground much since she's a crawling machine, she hardly ever stays on the quilt any more. Then I thought I wouldn't feed her the peas for lunch to hopefully give her bowels a break. Oh no, between that and fighting a nap, she cried off and on almost the entire two hour car ride home from Cape. Then I tried to unpack the car but with a mobile baby, that's nearly impossible. Then shots and an overtired baby makes for a LONG evening! Whew!!!

Good news though is that baby girl is doing good and growing well and that's the most important thing. Now here are some pics from the weekend: