got boxes?

Anytime we get a big box in the house, Joaquin 'calls it'.  He comes up with elaborate plans, and I have to say 'no' to a lot of it.  (Think indoor spray painting on a snowy day.)

The best part is he's usually making it for Diego.

After much compromise,  this is what he came up with.  It's a car, complete with saran wrap windshield, paper plate wheel, paper cup gas tank, cardboard back seat for animals, and a ribbon seat belt.  We even made holes for a key on the door and the dashboard.


The next day, Isabela came up with this!  A gas pump.  Diego's using his credit card in the slot.



Close call...almost ran out of gas!



He loves it!

diy baby swing cover

The snow this weekend helped motivate me to complete my first sewing project for the new baby.

We were given this hand me down swing the other day.  It was obviously for a boy, but I'm not one to usually turn down free things.

BUT with this being our second girl in almost 10 years, I didn't want her swinging in a boy swing either.  Call me silly.

And my friend had suggested it would be easy for me to recover it.  Never in a million years would I have taken on that project if she hadn't said that.



But one weekend later.....here's the new swing!  I love looking at it now, even though it takes up most of our living room.



Here's a quick rundown on how I did it.  (warning...This is not a detailed tutorial.)

Diego helped me choose the fabric from Joann's.  I had two black and white patterns...and he chose this one.  Love it!  I figured black would hide any stains better.

I slipped the old cover off the swing and turned the top and bottom flaps over so I could get the basic shape of it.  Then I free hand cut it on my fabric.  That was probably the hardest part.  I didn't want to cut into my fabric and mess it up!

After I cut the main piece, I also had to cut the top and bottom flaps.  I guesstimated here, too.  When I finished cutting, I had three pieces...and enough extra fabric to make something else, yay!



I also cut one large main piece out of this batting, so it would be comfy to sit in.  And I decided to add a backing to it, so the batting wouldn't fall apart if I washed it.   So that was three more pieces to cut in a gray cotton fabric I had on hand.   (The original cover did not have a backing.)   Like I said, cutting is my least favorite part.  I just do it on the floor with the same scissors the kids use to cut paper, cardboard, and popsicles open.  Nothing fancy here.



So I skipped a couple of picture steps, but I simply pinned all my pieces together to look like the original cover and sewed around the edge.  It already looked better, but I still had to add the red bias tape.

I've used bias tape one other time in my life...on a dress Isabela never liked, nor wore.  So this was a little adventurous for me.  But I simply followed the line on the original cover and pinned it all the way around the raw edge.

I almost sewed the elastic hooks on the wrong side, but realized it before I started sewing.



The original cushion had a quilted stitch on it, so I made a pattern out of paper and sewed around the edge of the paper to keep my line straight.



And the last step, some holes for the safety belt.  My machine has a special buttonhole stitch, but that stitch wouldn't make a hole large enough for the belt to fit through.  So I improvised.  I did a close zigzag stitch in a box for each hole, then cut the slit in the hole with scissors.  (Again, my first time ever using the zigzag stitch!!)



This is a view of the back of the cover.  That is the gray material, plus you can see the quilted stitch and the three slits for the safety belt.



Do you  think our girl will be this happy sitting here?  Now, if I'd only tested some batteries on the swing before I did all this work...I hope it will actually swing!

join me?

I met with a dietician last week to help me control this gestational diabetes.

Very interesting.

I have four main rules to follow:

1.) No sugar sweetened drinks (soda, juice, sweet tea).  Liquids are absorbed in the bloodstream quicker.  I mostly drink water now, and an occasional glass of milk.

2.) No milk and cereal together.  Somehow, these are partners in crime.

3.) Eat a protein at every snack and every meal.  A protein could be a meat, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, nuts, cheese etc.

4.)  No fruit before noon.  This is definitely the hardest for me.  I love fruit in the morning, on cereal, on oatmeal, on yogurt...plus I would have it has a morning snack.

I also follow a schedule for eating:
Breakfast
Morning snack
Lunch
Afternoon snack
Dinner
Evening snack

These are pretty evenly spaced throughout the day and I don't snack in between.  It sounds like there's a lot of snacking, but have you ever just finished off something the kids left earlier, or grabbed some crackers when you passed the kitchen?  Don't do that.  Snacks have to be planned.

I'm also exercising...at least three times a week, no exceptions.  Walking for thirty minutes or swimming.  I don't break a sweat, but it's still good for me.

The finger pricking is definitely not as scary as I thought it would be.  It really doesn't hurt at all.  Isabela is the most interested in it and loves to pull out my little kit and get everything ready.  So far, my numbers are usually in the good range...although breakfast sometimes runs a few points high for some reason.

What can I eat?

Gestational diabetes is the most forgiving of all the different types of diabetes.  I can eat any amount of protein, non-starchy vegetables (that's most of them except corn, peas, and potatoes), and any amount of fats (olives, nuts, avocado).

I don't have to count calories or portions.  And I even get to add in carbohydrates!  Things like bread, crackers, fruit, popcorn.

There are two things to look at on a label when you watch your carbs.  Serving size.  And Total Carbs.  I'd say serving size is the downfall of most of us.  We definitely eat way more than the amount that all those numbers represent.  For instance, for a snack, I can have six crackers and some cheese.  Have you ever eaten just six crackers?  Since I had cut out all carbs before I met with the dietician, six crackers was perfect for me and quite exciting.  I'll add some carrots or a salad if I'm still hungry, but normally I'm not.

Following my eating schedule, these are the carbs I can have at each meal:

Breakfast 30 grams
Snack 15 grams
Lunch 45 grams
Snack 15 grams
Dinner 45 grams
Snack 15 grams

Basically, 15 grams is a serving of carbs, and I have a special book that tells me the amounts for most foods.  Some examples are 17 grapes, one slice of watermelon, an apple the size of your fist, 3 cups of popcorn.......

The important thing is I can still have most foods.  I even had one slice of pizza last night, along with my spinach salad and half a cup of applesauce.

Speaking of spinach salad...have you tried Panera Bread's new salad?  It is delicious and I recreated it at home since it's something I can eat as much as I want.

Here's my recipe:

Spinach
Hard Boiled Egg (you can leave out the yolk, and there's no cholesterol)
Sauteed mushrooms
Finely chopped tomatoes
Bacon
Crunchy onions (from a package)
A Small Amount Dressing (I use Caesar) tossed over the whole salad

It's delicious!! I make it for the kids, too.  Their noses turned up the first time I served it.  But we've been eating it for at least a week and they're used to it now.  Diego loves the spinach leaves, and it's something I'd never served him before!  Yay, vegetables!

The kids are learning a lot about healthy eating through this, as well.  As the dietician explained, your plate should be divided in half....half should be filled with non-starchy vegetables and the other side divided in half with a protein and a carbohydrate (starch).  Wow, that was an eye-opener!  You can add in a serving of fruit and milk and that's one healthy meal.



Anyone interested in joining me on this temporary diet?  Just until the baby arrives at the end of March?  It's doable.  And I'd love to hear what you thought of it...did you lose any excess weight, find any new foods (especially vegetables) that you liked, sleep better, get a new walking partner?

Just think about it as a fun winter challenge.  No one will know if you cheat, but I bet you'll feel better almost instantly.

And if the baby comes early, then you can finish early!

Here are some quotes to inspire you!  Join me!

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. 
Lao Tzu 


All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
Ronald Reagan 


To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Winston Churchill 


Change before you have to.
Jack Welch 

cloth diapers 101

We're taking the leap into the world of cloth diapers with baby #4.

It started innocently enough.  I was reading through some DIY projects on Young House Love and came across her post about using cloth diapers here.  Really, cloth diapers just seemed like a bunch of poop on material to me.  But she made it sound easy, do-able, and more importantly, worthwhile.

Not only would we be helping the environment, but we'd cut out JP's number one complaint about babies....buying diapers.  (Note:  this would be at the bottom of my list.)

So I filed it away and I'm not sure I even mentioned reading it to him, until....

I happened into Franklin Goose, an enviro-friendly baby store on Cary Street.  Isabela and I were down there for a completely different reason, but we saw the store and decided to stop in.  Their motto is 'raise your child free', which is ironic because the store is really expensive.

But you WILL want one of everything.

We wandered around the store oohhing and ahhhing, and then I happened to see a chalkboard in the back with 'cloth diapering 101' written on it.  There was a free class coming up.  Coincidence?

Guess how long a class on cloth diapering might be?

An hour and half!

On hard wooden chairs, I might add.

But I learned so much!  Mostly, that cloth diapers have changed since my mom used pins and plastic pants on me.

The teacher made it look easy...and colorful...and fun.  Maybe that was because there was no actual poop on the doll baby.  Yes, I think that's exactly why.

But I came home and excitedly told JP and the kids all about it.  We even stopped by the store as a family the next week and hung out in the cloth diaper room, taking turns on the tattered doll baby once again.

So we're in.  We're crossing over.

Check back once the baby's born...I'm sure I'll have updates that may involve the word poop.

PS.  We didn't leave Franklin Goose empty handed.  Have you ever heard of wool dryer balls?  The boys picked them up in the store to play with, but really you put them in your dryer instead of dryer sheets or fabric softener.  They had many beautiful colors...the boys chose orange and turquoise.  Our clothes come out just as soft as before, plus they're supposed to reduce drying time.  And we never have to buy dryer sheets again! 

snow days

I sent them out early to explore the first snow of the year.  Is there anything more amazing than snow?  The sound of it crunching, the powdery softness, the bright white covering the whole visible world.



Diego was well bundled.  Pjs, snow bibs, a fleece pullover, lined raincoat, boots, hat and the best snow gloves ever...no chance of that cold chill when it gets up your sleeve.



It took some convincing to get Isabela out, despite her great love of snow.  She has out grown all her snow gear.  I left her pouting in the chair to head outside and snap some pictures of the boys.  When she finally came out, she looked like this.  I had to laugh.  She's forlorn and shuffling through the snow, head hung down.



The first snowman of the year.



Inspecting the zip line...still looking like a lion in the woods.



This snowman is still alive in our freezer.  The kids are plotting when to eat him.



The spooner board worked well this time around, slipping and sliding even on the flat surfaces.



That's a serious snowball face...luckily, I'm safe behind the window.



Our snow slowly began to disappear as someone ate his way around the house.



Joaquin came shooting off the slide on his board, and soon everyone had to try it.  He has such a fearless spirit and is constantly coming up with new ways to make his mom yell out, "be careful!"



A little snow cleaning and later snow punching were on the to do list.



Oh, to be this happy!   From the wise Benjamin Franklin:  The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself. 



In these eyes, nothing beats a snow day.

diagnosis: gestational diabetes

This week, my midwife confirmed I tested positive for gestational diabetes.

So here's what I knew before that.  I'd heard of it.  I think I'd heard Salma Hayek had it.  (So now we have something in common, *smile*)  And that's all I could tell you about it.

And here's what I've learned in the last week.

How did I get this?
At first, mommy guilt set in with me thinking "I ate way too many sweets."  Really that's not true.  For the first three months, I didn't eat much at all...I was so sick with morning sickness.  And soda, my biggest downfall, tasted awful so I didn't touch the stuff.

At some point, I was able to eat more variety, and we've been on a healthy eating track of no processed foods for a long time now.  That's not to say we don't eat out and don't eat junk, but certainly not as much and only after we've eaten the 'good for you' stuff.

But Christmas came, and I baked cheesecakes and oatmeal cookies.  (FYI, these are not good sources of dairy and fiber, as I was pretending.)

BUT, in reality, moms get gestational diabetes whether they eat well, or not.  It has to do with the placenta blocking insulin that helps break down sugar into energy.  If it's not breaking down, the sugar remains in your blood stream causing the high reading levels.  So basically, right now, my body cannot regulate its sugar intake.

Why is this dangerous?
My midwife described it as 'the baby bathing in a sugar bath'.  This can make the baby grow bigger, especially these last two months.  And previously, I've had pretty big babies:

Isabela 7.8 lbs.
Joaquin 8.14 lbs.
Diego 9.6 lbs.

(I actually think I might have gone undiagnosed with Joaquin....I had unusual swelling that last month with him and he had to be induced three weeks early and still weighed almost 9 pounds!)

But the complications come during and after birth.  The baby could be too big to deliver.  If they know ahead of time, that would mean a c-section, but if they DIDN'T...yeah, that would be real bad.  The baby would be stuck, and it would lead to a crisis situation.  I definitely don't want that happening.

Also for the baby, sitting in all that sugar could mean she would suffer withdrawal symptoms once she's born.  I imagine that would be a very unhappy baby.  And worse, she could become diabetic, as well.

What can I do now? 
We're starting with diet and exercise.

I'm supposed to meet with a nutritionist soon.  She will give me advice on what to eat and what not to.  I, of course, have already researched it and changed my eating habits right away.  She'll also give me a kit to prick my finger four times a day to monitor my glucose levels.  Doesn't that sound fun?

What I can eat, based on what I've read:
vegetables
some fruits
protein (mostly turkey, chicken, fish)
egg whites
high fat foods, like avocado
whole grains, (no white pasta, rice, or bread)
cheese

What I can't eat:
sweets
a lot of carbohydrates
potatoes
corn
soda
white bread, pasta, or rice

It sounds easy, but when you have to do it, it's a little harder.  It means no cake on your birthday, no snow ice cream when it snows, no hot cocoa when it's too cold.

For exercise, I've made it a priority to get back in the gym.  Since last week, I've been swimming three times (thank you, Stacey, for those maternity bathing suits!!) walked a mile another day and then we went to Rockwood Park and walked the trails...some huge hills there.

So, what's the good news?
Even with my tendency to cry over anything, I really haven't been able to cry over this.  (I tried.)

Now I have a real reason to eat healthy and not cheat.  I'll probably discover some new foods I like, and the whole family should benefit from more vegetables.

Best of all, I get to spend an hour in the new, warm-as-bath-water pools at ACAC with Diego.  He's learned to put his head under, and he found out he can stand in the 3 feet area.  Laziness and not wanting to drive was all that was keeping me from doing this before, and I was missing out on this precious time with my soon-to-be preschooler.


And that's where we are now.  I'm looking forward to speaking to the dietician and getting some more details on eating.  And I'm not looking forward to pricking my finger.

How does that commercial go?  Having a baby changes everything.
Why, yes it does.

birthday weekend

My birthday was nearing, and I was starting to get sad.  Not because I'm another year older...I still feel like I'm 25 and I tell the kids the same.

Mostly because my mom is not around (it's been almost 13 years) and really, it's your mom who is the one who knows how to make you feel special on your birthday.

The kids were excited for my day to come.  They kept the countdown.  Juan Pablo always acts like it somehow sneaked up on him, even though I mention it WAY before Christmas.

So the night before my birthday, we were all at the gym swimming in the indoor pool.  Isabela mentioned that she'd love to get me something for my birthday, and the day before we'd seen some beautiful blank notebooks with painted birds at Barnes and Noble, and I fell in love with them.  So I planted a little seed.

I said, "Well you have to bug Daddy to go to the store and get me something.  He's not just going to say, 'Come on, let's go get mommy a gift'."

And boy did that seed sprout.

Two seconds later, she swam over to daddy and let him know they HAD to leave to get mommy a present.  And it worked!  A persistent two minutes with Isabela, and he was dripping on his way out of the pool... with all the kids, I might add.

On my way home, I couldn't help but feel guilty.  It was quite foggy out and scary thoughts started creeping into my head...what if they crashed and it was all because I wanted a present?  But I pushed them out with a little prayer and carried on.

I think I actually might have planted two seeds for my birthday.  I remember heading off to sleep one night and jokingly saying to JP, "I can't WAIT to see what you're planning for my birthday!  I know you're going to be up all night getting it ready."  He laughed doubtfully.

But really, that worked too!  I went to sleep the night before my birthday and daddy and the kids stayed up in the craft room until who knows when.  I woke up to this:


And there were presents, too!  A beautiful bird journal/planner similar to the ones we'd seen the other day, and socks...soft cushiony socks to replace my holey ones that had shared one too many birthdays with me.

Unfortunately, there would be no cake this year.  I had to cut out all sugar from my diet after a high glucose reading the week before from my midwife.  And it's amazing how much birthdays revolve around sugar...a typical birthday involves the cake, ice cream, candy at a movie, soda at a special dinner.  It's a day to indulge.  Not this time around.

But there was one more surprise!  The gift I've been asking for for years:


He even got the cute little straws and cups to go with it.  We added a squirt of cranberry juice, since I couldn't have the sugary syrup.  And later, the kids tried it with chocolate milk, which they loved, too.



After that, the day quickly got away from us with TaeKwonDo practices.  We ended up with a red box movie...Brave.  Fun to watch and practice that accent where 'fate' sounds like 'feet'.  There's only one way to change your feet.  What?

Sunday, I worked in the nursery at church while the family slept in.  By quite a coincidence, I came home thinking we should go to a park and Juan Pablo had the same idea!

I slowly ambled along the mile long trail while the others tested their muscles at each station.

Whoa, the balance beam sure is slippery today.


Look, mom!


How can I get up there?


Here's how you do it, mom.


This is an odd slide.



Happy day.


Joaquin even got to test out his new camelback he got for Christmas.  He was a little stingy with the water, but it was a great gift for him...it kept him going for the whole trail.



So the whirlwind birthday weekend is over.  My family helped me forget about who's not there to celebrate and hey, without the cake, I have no idea how old I am...so 25 it is!

handmade christmas 2012

My favorite part of Christmas....making gifts for the kids.  But I always wait until December crunch time...that part I don't like.

Pinterest is the best source for getting ideas of what to make each year.  I have a board called handmade gifts that I'm always pinning to.  And the challenge is finding something I think they might actually play with, something I'm capable of making, and something that won't cost me a fortune in the process.

I'll start with the BOYS.
In my experience, boys are harder than girls to make things for...Joaquin told me this Christmas, "I don't want anything sewn."  Whoa, that cuts out a big chunk of what I can do.  And sometimes he gets the standard reply of 'too bad'.

Here's what the boys ended up getting:  (I've linked to the original tutorial if it's highlighted.)

1.  Lego table.
Joaquin tends to put his legos together and then never play with them.  Plus he didn't have a big board to keep them from falling apart later.  This seemed like the perfect solution.

At first I thought the track around it might be a little too childish....



...but the Yoshi car and Mario motorcycle are always on the go.  This was one of the most played with gifts this year.



The table I got off of craigslist for 8 dollars (Ikea Lack table)...I think that's almost full price, but I didn't have to drive to Ikea so yay...and the base board cost 15 dollars at target.  Those things are expensive and there's no way around it.

2.  Dragon Tails.
Check out the link here...their pictures are so cute!  These didn't cost me a thing since I already had the felt and the stuffing.



We've since given Isabela's away to a friend.  He liked it way more than she did.  But the boys' tails have found a nice home on the wall and are taken down about once a week to whack each other with.  Tonight I put Diego's three-headed dragon puppet on and began to talk to him.  Before I knew it, he had pulled down his tail and wanted it strapped on so he could be a dragon to.  And Joaquin did the same.
It's not their favorite toy, but these were fun to make and cute to see them running around in.



3.  Train table.
I've always been reluctant to get a train table in the home.  Joaquin, and now Diego, was always drawn to them in the bookstores, but I figured if we got one at home then it wouldn't be as special.

But I loved the idea of a board that could be pushed under the sofa when not in use.  Unfortunately, we made ours way too big...plus we put casters on the bottom so it would roll easier... and now it's also too tall to fit under our sofas.  So it's sitting on the floor in our sunroom.

When it was in the living room, it was played with non-stop.  Then Diego started walking on the board a lot, and now that it's moved, he hasn't touched it much.  I think we're going to go back and add some legs so it will be at kid table height, and it may get the use it deserves.

One thing we learned doing this project....the good wood in Home Depot is sold by the foot, not by the piece!  We couldn't figure out why the smooth, pretty wood was so much cheaper, but we went ahead and had them cut it for us.  It wasn't until check out that we realized our $100 mistake!  Thankfully, they didn't charge us for it and we went back and got the cheap stuff.

Juan Pablo then spent the next few days putting it together on the front porch while the kids wagered their guesses as to what it could be...their final guess, a go-kart.  Hmmm.



I don't have a picture of it in action with the wooden train tracks, but it really is cool.  I painted different habitats so he could also use our bin of many plastic figures to make it come to life.  There's ice, water, sand, rocks, grass, farm, woods and, of course, a volcano, our favorite part.  Joaquin helped me paint the volcano and did an awesome job.

I should mention that Isabela wanted to help, too.  And despite her broken left hand, I let her.  As she was waiting her turn to paint, she leaned over too far in the rocking chair and came crashing down onto the wet board, chair, cast and all.  I was sure it was ruined, but we finally got her right side up again, and there was only one little ding that had to be touched up.  Funny now, but yet one more example of me over-reacting during a crisis.  When will I learn?

4.  Pillow fight.
I pinned this idea last year, but it was much more appropriate this year, as the boys have pillow fights all the time.

There are ninja stars, grenades, and nunchucks.  This was Isabela's gift to her brothers and dad, and she helped paint and sew them.





Here's a picture of the nunchucks in action.  The boys are way too rough with them, and the rope has already broken on one pair.  We're thinking up a remedy for that.



5.  Puppet theater curtain.

My kids have never been into the puppet theater thing....but I keep trying.  While they do like puppets, I think the theater is just too confining.  Diego LOVES his puppets and will hold huge conversations with them, his little face lighting up at their replies.

This was another 'free' gift.  I already had the curtain and the tension rod.  There was no tutorial, so I made it up as I went along.  I cut the hole too big and the bottom of it sagged down, so I had to add those two columns, which I kind of like now.  The good thing about this theater, it is easily put up in any doorway and taken down when not in use.



On to GIRL gifts.

6.  Lapdesk.

This is my favorite gift of the year.  Useful and it was so easy to make!



I let Isabela pick out the material for the bottom, although she didn't know what she was choosing it for.  The hard top is an old wooden puzzle that was rarely played with.  I used ModPodge to add the scrapbook paper and stickers.



The hardest part was making the piping, and really it wasn't all that hard.  Then I just hot-glued it to the board.  She loves it and uses it for her homework each night!



7.  Fancy Pillow.
The original idea had handmade pompoms.  I tried it, even had the kids making yarn pompoms, but they just wouldn't turn out right.  So I bought two yards of the green ones with a coupon.  Would you believe two yards wouldn't fit all the way around the pillow!  It left about an inch gap, but you can't tell because the pompoms are about an inch apart anyway.

The fuzzy fabric was a remnant from Joann's and reminded me of all the fuzzy mess in the Justice store which most 9 year olds love.  Pillow covers are quite possibly the easiest thing to sew, and a fun way to brighten up a room.



8.  Quilt.
This was the most meaningful present of the year.  Isabela and I had started a quilt together, one, maybe even two years ago.  It was mostly her project.  She cut all the squares.  Sewed them by twos.  Then sewed long rows.  We finally picked it up again this year and had sewed about four rows together.

When I saw it sitting in the sewing basket, I thought what a great idea to finish it for her.  It's the first quilt I've ever made, and definitely not perfect.  But it got the exact reaction I was imagining on Christmas morning.  She opened it and said, "A blanket" with an uninspired voice....but then she turned it around to see the front and realized what it was, "You finished it!!!  I love it!!"  (Big smile from mom.)



The colors look more like this in real life.



And the size turned out smaller than we both imagined.  Now we know why those bedsized quilts cost so much!  It might be perfect for the new baby, although I'm not sure Isabela would give it up.



For my HUSBAND:

I even made something for Juan Pablo.  You'll have to click the link because I forgot to take a picture of it.  It holds his phone while it's charging and is made from a lotion bottle.  He doesn't use it much though... I think his phone is a little bulky for it.  But it just occurred to me that my phone may fit well, so maybe I'll start using it.

And that about wraps it up for the handmade gifts this year.  You can check out past years here:
Handmade Christmas 2011
Handmade Christmas 2010 and here.