Who's Who?

I was reminded today that I had taken these 1-month shots to compare the boys with, then never did anything with them... I've always thought Devin looked a lot like Ethan - and he does - but wow, not when Ethan was this age.. 

Ethan's on the right with his giraffe neck, and Devin on the left with his (relatively) loads of hair.. 

And for a better idea of their size difference... 

Check out those skinny little bird arms on Ethan, and Devin's little gut protruding over his waistline..

So there you have it.. My boys are brothers, not clones... good to know.. ;)

Devin: Weeks 5-7

Ha!  And you didn't think I'd be here!  Well, I decided to do the editing tonight (last night) and schedule it to post tomorrow (today).  Here are weeks 5-7 of the little guy...

(I kind of wish he was wearing a sweatband in this one..)

My Growing Boys

I've been meaning to do this post since Devin's 2-week check-up, but we all know how successful I am at following through with my blogging intentions... So, here it is - six weeks later than planned.. :)

First up - Ethan.. 

He had his 4-yr check-up March 7 (Yes, I know that's almost two months late, but hey - his 3-yr check-up was in May the previous year, so at least I'm getting better!)  His pediatrician does these adorable little stats cards at your well-child visits, and I keep them so it's a quick and fun reference to his progress (the backside of the card has parenting and feeding tips, milestones, medicine dosages and vaccination information)...

FOUR YEAR STATS

Weight: 46 lbs. 6 oz - up 3 lbs. from last year - >97%

Height: 45.5 inches - up 2.5 inches from last year - > 97%

And now Devin... 

  TWO MONTH STATS

Weight: 13 lbs. 7 oz - up 4 lbs. 1.5 oz from 2 weeks - 90%

Height: 23.75 inches - up 2.75 inches from 2 weeks - 80%

Head: 15.5 inches - up 1.25 inches from 2 weeks - 45%

As you can see, he's a little porker.. Considering his lowest weight in the hospital was 6 lbs 9 oz, the fact that he passed his birth weight by over a pound at two weeks was pretty impressive.. and he's still going strong - look at the differences in percentile from two weeks to two months.  He started wearing clothes last week that Ethan didn't fit into until he was four months old, and I noticed today they're already looking a bit snug (this is the 3-6 month size mind you) so I guess we'll see how that goes..  (I just checked, and at Ethan's two month check he was 10 lbs 6 oz and 23 inches.)

I'm hoping to get Devin's 5-7 weekly photos edited and posted tomorrow, but I also have quite a list of "around the house" projects as well.. At least I'm taking them, right?  ;)

Weeks 3 & 4

Super behind.. in all aspects of my life.. But finally got around to pulling these off the camera (or Alec's phone because the camera battery was dead and the charger was nowhere to be found - hence the exceptionally awful photo for week 4).. Am planning on being back to post soon - you know how that goes, though.. But for now, I'm off to catch a few winks before Devin wakes up to eat..

(For those of you who have asked - no, I don't have onesies pre-made with all the weeks.. That's just my mad photoshop skillz put to good use..)  ;)

2 Weeks

Hard to believe it's been two weeks already, but at the same time, I'm having a hard time remembering what life was like before Devin was here.. (Don't worry, I'll have an Ethan post in a few days, as well..)

1 Week

I hope to take one of these pictures every week of Devin's first year.. I'm sad that I didn't do it with Ethan, but that's no reason not to, right?  (Hopefully my photography skills will increase, too, no?  It would help if I remember to do them during the daylight, rather than by lamplight at night..)

We are adjusting {mostly} well to being a family of 4.. Ethan REALLY loves his brother - sometimes a little too much, but we're working through that.  Luckily he's always been a daddy's boy so there hasn't been too much jealousy showing through, although he has been VERY hyper the last couple of days - perhaps that's his way of asking for attention.. He's generally really good to help out, though, and we're trying extra hard to spend time with just him and praise him for his good behavior.  One day at a time, I suppose...

Introducing...

Devin James LaBau

 March 16, 2012 @ 9:12 p.m.

7 lbs 5 oz | 20 inches long

{more to come later - this is really for those of you who haven't already heard}

The Baby's Room

Well, I got those last few sewing projects finished for the baby's room and decided that even though there's still a bit to do, I might as well take some pictures and post it anyway.. 

BEFORE

(and this was even after we'd cleaned out a bunch of the junk from moving...)

In case you missed it, those walls are that beautiful cantaloupe the rest of the house was..

DURING (post primer)... 

(Ethan was VERY excited to help paint "mine baby brudder's room!")

 After...
(total NEW cost < $40)

Obviously it's the same furniture as we used when Ethan was a baby (in a MUCH smaller space), and I actually struggled quite a bit figuring out what to do this time around.. My taste has changed so much in the last 4 years - I just really wanted new bedding, but couldn't justify the expense, no matter how hard I tried (including selling the old stuff to make up some of the difference.)  I sat and sat and sat in that green chair for several days "agonizing" over it - it's the important things, you know.. ;)  Finally I settled on yellow - it's kind of the rage now - and knew I could do some fun banners to help make it a little more what I'm currently into.. I think it turned out pretty well.. :)  The little details of the rectangles on the wall were easy enough (although I learned the hard way that chalk lines don't come pre-loaded with chalk) but I think they make a big difference.  We're planning on painting all the doors in the house next week - they're all still that lovely orange color - and I have a couple images I want to get printed on canvases to go in the squares on the wall next to the changing table, but that's kind of low priority now.  I'm still working on having it be Ethan's idea to let the baby use his elephant lamp because it matches the bedding (I stole it during nap time for the photo op).. either way, we've got to get something for one of them.. We also need to figure out some more storage solutions for blankets, diapers, toys, etc., since Ethan has kept all the baskets and other pieces we were using before.. We'll get there, though.. :)

... because you haven't already seen enough of them...

Part of my nesting ADD (see previous post) has been spending a lot of time actually scrapping in addition to designing.. These are a few of my latest pages.. (I felt kind of bad for not including any images last time..)  ...all linked for full credits...

Nesting...

You can't tell it from looking at my house, but I'm nesting.. MAJOR.. I'm just so all-over-the-place it looks more like a tornado struck than a mommy trying to make things nice for her baby.. When I was expecting Ethan, my only responsibility in the world was baby prep, so I had lists and more lists, calendars and check boxes.  Everything was packaged beautifully away into nice and neat little categories, and you could see progress each day...

***************

... fast forward 4 years... I'm working full time, trying to get a lot of scrapping design work stocked up for after baby comes, spending lots of quality time with Ethan now because he won't be getting much for a while come April, and oh - btw - did you know I'm having a baby?  It's seriously almost like an afterthought.. Poor Alec has taken the brunt of the crazy, though.  I'll insist and insist that something has to be done TODAY so it can be ready for everything else that's waiting on that one task.  Once it's finished, though, all those other things have fallen to the back of the line, and he's left wondering what the rush was.

We have the baby's room mostly finished - spent President's Day weekend painting and putting the crib back together.  It did help things feel a little more real, though, and whenever I find myself needing to be grounded again, I'll just go sit in there in the quiet and think.. which is nice.. But now I've also been rearranging closets trying to get everything in it's proper place.  (We used the baby's room/closet as a dumping ground when we moved, knowing that even though most of the stuff would end up in there it still needed to be organized a bit.)  So it's been a shuffle between our closet of storage stuff, making baby stuff accessible in his closet and finding homes for everything that doesn't fit.  (Currently that home is lining the walls in our bedroom, so we have a nice little cardboard box motif going on in there... again...) 

A good number of those boxes contain picture frames and other decorations I just haven't taken the time to unpack yet, so now - of all times - I have this great need to hang things on the walls when my time could be so much better spent on baby stuff, but I want those boxes gone, dangit!

It probably took me two weeks to get all the baby's clothes put away after they had been washed because I kept getting distracted with other projects. We need to replace a bunch of the storage items we used when Ethan was wee because he's still using them, or because one of the drawers on the changing table/dresser is broken beyond repair, so can't be counted as usable space, or there were a lot of built-ins in KC that we've forgotten how much we relied upon them.  Still need to get that checked off the list...

I was able to spend tonight ironing and cutting fabric for some fun decorative projects for baby's room - will hopefully finish that up tomorrow and can post pictures later this week.. I also have a blanket I'd like to get made, too - we'll see how that goes..

I should also prob'ly get a diaper bag packed to take with us to the hospital.. I've been so scatter-brained lately, I wouldn't trust myself to know where to tell Alec to look for things if he had to do it by himself..

And speaking of going to the hospital - last Thursday marked the beginning of the weekly doctor's appointments (everything looks great, still measuring big, but I have been the whole time), so it's going to be a real joy fitting that into my day while I do last-minute prep stuff for people to cover at work while I'm gone.. Right now the plan is that I won't come back after Spring Break (week ending March 17) so hopefully those 10 days or so of being at home will help me calm down a bit, get ready, and feel more prepared.. HOWEVER, Alec and I were talking about things last week and realized that {while every baby is different} if this one follows in Ethan's footsteps of being 2.5 weeks early, he could be here as early as next Sunday.. EEK!  Needless to say I've been a little more anxious since that popped into my head - resulting in all the crazy pregnancy dreams people talk about, most of which consist of people coming and taking the baby away because we're "unfit parents" (that was the major theme when I was pregnant with Ethan, too).  Last night, though, I dreamt I was going into labor, and it was SO real, I had a spend a fair amount of time after I woke up convincing myself it really was just a dream.. 

Anyway, this has been a novel - scattered all over the place - and now you have a better idea of what's going on in my crazy head... the end. .

Ethan Turns 4!

I'm going to start this with a disclaimer that it's not as awesome of a post as it should be... Apparently the lighting in the new house isn't great for photos, and aside from that, things moved so quickly (like they do when a house is filled with five kids under the age of 8) there wasn't much time for photos anyway.. Everyone had fun, though.. ;)

Actual birthday morning.. The kid pretty much hates having his picture taken, so this is the best I got..

Some fun party favors.. I can't take credit for these, because they came with the digi kit I made the invites out of.

The party was super hero themed - this was them dashing across the bridge to rescue.. well, not really anything.. (The plan was all the stuffed animals you see in the background, but the kids just did their own thing before the "official instructions" could be given.. They prob'ly had more fun doing it this way, anyway..)

Opening presents... (love that tongue!)

Some more decorations.. The kids also made capes and masks, had sugar cookies decorated with various super hero logos and colors, and generally just played.. **Special thanks to my mom and dad for all their help getting things ready - especially my mom and her mad skillz with the scissors...  ;)

I'm hoping to get a decent photo of Ethan sometime this week (yeah, I know it's like 2 weeks late) and will do a legitimate "Ethan's Four!" post then.. :D

I love Daddy..

Another page - sorry for those of you who are bored by these.. But it deserved a post all on it's own because the story is just so cute.. (and it's more fun to look at than just the text, right?)

{linked for full credits}

Just for fun...

... here are a few pages I've scrapped this month.. THREE!  Can you believe it?!  (I've also designed an alpha pack, template set, and created 1.5 fonts.. that's crazy-talk!)  You'll also note this is my THIRD post THIS MONTH!  Who am I, and what did I do with the other me??!

 

{all images are linked for full credits}

Ethan's NEW Room!

This is basically the only room in the house that's "finished" .. even though there are still a few little things here and there to do.. But we're SUPER excited with how it turned out..

BEFORE:

 no window coverings

 boring white walls (oh, and see that beautiful cantaloupe colored door - that's what the ENTIRE rest of the house was painted)

DURING:

 He really liked painting at first, but after 2 consecutive weekends, it was the LAST thing he wanted to do.. {Thanks to my parents for keeping him after Thanksgiving so we could come finish up a bit.}

AFTER:

Big boy bed with NEW bedding, lamp that will need to be traded out once baby comes so it can be in the nursery, re-painted nightstand from Heber, desk that used to be in the office (no office in the new house), hanging wire for art - he LOVES this!  I'm also planning on getting some of his art framed to put above the bed to help break up that huge red wall.

Special Ethan-sized hooks to hang his things on - so far it's been very effective at keeping his coat off my living room floor.

 Pillow I made for his birthday last year, rocking chair from when I was wee, spice racks from IKEA made into bookshelves (thank you Pinterest), old wire racks from my dorm days for toy storage.

 More of the same wire racks - we need to come up with a better storage solution, but this was free so we're working with it.. It also wasn't until all his toys were unpacked on the shelves that he decided he liked this house, so that's always a good thing.. :)  Also a new roller shade to help with light control.. I have a sheet set I plan on making into curtains, just haven't made it that far, yet.  We're also going to do white chalkboard paint on the closet doors so he can have even MORE space to be artistic.

Like I said, we're super thrilled with it.. You walk into the room and you're instantly happy.. Alec and I frequently have the discussion that when we were kids our rooms weren't this fun - not because our parents didn't let us or want them to be - that's just not what you did back then.. Bedrooms were for sleeping in, and if you were really lucky, you got an "awesome" quilt with matching wallpaper border or something... And I think we got a lot of bang for our buck, too - including the paint we used, by re-purposing a lot of things we already had, the total came in at just under $150 for the whole thing... Yay new house!  :)

2012 Week ONE

As with everyone else we know, the last few months have been a bit busy for us.. to quickly recap before I get to the meat of the post.. 

• Nov. 15 - closed on house
• Nov. 16 - had to put Sasha down because she had lukemia  :(
• Nov. 24-25 - spent Thanksgiving in Heber
• Nov. 26 - Dec 3 - finally got to spend some time painting the house... Ethan managed to be sick every weekend since we closed, so that slowed things down more than we had hoped.  Alec also put in 110+ hours at work for the two weeks previous (yes, that's including Thanksgiving week where he didn't work Wed-Sat.)
• Dec. 10 - moved "into" new house - still had lots of things at the apartment, but the basics were here
• Dec. 11-16 - another super busy week at work, also spent every extra moment clearing out and cleaning the apartment - new house was still a box-filled disaster area. {Sometimes I feel like a huge slacker when I think that it took a month for us to move, but then I remember how busy work was - remember those 110+ hours for Alec? - and that we really only have the time after 6:00 at night when I get home, then Ethan goes to bed 2 hours later.. Doesn't leave a lot of time for running between houses painting, cleaning, prepping, etc.. Then again, maybe that's just me justifying to make myself feel better...}
• Dec. 17-23 - Christmas in Heber - maybe I'll post pics later
• Dec. 24 - 30 - Christmas in Phoenix - again with the pictures
• Dec. 31 - I was sicker than a dog from the travel, but we insisted on getting back home - we were all vacationed out... I think I was in bed by 8:00.. Happy new year, all!  ;)

________________________________________________________________________

Now - without even realizing I was doing it, I've somehow managed to take a picture every day this year except Jan. 1 because I was still sick.. I'm not going to pretend to do Project 365 or 52 or Project Life or anything like that, but I figure since I have them I might as well post them.. :)

January 2 - got our amazing pantry mostly organized.. There's still a lot of labeling and sorting I'd like to do, but we're totally in love with the rotating food storage shelves (big thanks to my mom for dumping her extra food storage on us..)

January 3 - Ethan went back to day care and Alec and I had one more day before going back to work so we got a lot done around the house, including putting shelves in the shed so we could get the Christmas and camping stuff out of our living room.  It was also warm enough that we were working outside comfortably in short sleeves... in Logan... in January... weird!  {We also did a lot in Ethan's room, but that will be a post all on its own..}

January 4 - Omelets for dinner.. Even though he's had them before, Ethan realized in Phoenix that he really does like them!  (Don't mind the painter's tape falling all over the place in the background.. We're still a work in progress..)

January 5 - more work on the pantry - why show the same pic twice?

January 6 - Working on Ethan's All About Me poster for day care.. We're not sure when his special day is, but they did the first one with another girl that day and he was very excited to make one just like hers.

January 7 - spent a lot of time playing games with the bug.. Alec also worked on some plumbing in the laundry room with the help of one of our friends.  Oh, and it finally snowed - yay!  :)

 

And there you have it.. Since I'm here, I'm also going to schedule a few other posts for later in the week - why bombard you all at once, right?  And for those of you who have been asking, I promise there are pics of the house to come.. We're still working on getting it all situated.. ;)