Sew Crafty Saturday: New Blog

As you know, "michellesbelles" won for my new blog address. I still have a lot of work to do over on the new blog, but I am ready to start using it. From now on you will be able to access this blog at http://www.michellesbelles.blogspot.com/ Thank you for watching our family grow. I am having such a great time blogging and sharing our life with you!

Wee-One Wednesday: One Month Down

Iris is one month old now. She is such a wonderful baby. She is a great eater and sleeper. She rarely cries, and is just content to be in the world. She loves being held, but can tolerate being put down. She doesn't mind loud noises or being hugged and patted again and again. We are very blessed!

Misc. Monday: New Blog Name

It appears that "michellesbelles" won for my new blog's address. (Nice job, Betsy!) I have started working on it, and will let you all know when it is up and running. In the mean time, here is a lovely pic of my girls.

Sew Crafty Saturday: Gnome Sweet Gnome

There has not been much sewing over here lately, but that doesn't mean we are not crafting. I am almost finished with Lilly's second scrapbook and Lilly is discovering the joy of crafts. Yesterday, we painted a gnome for the garden. It was so much fun and she got pretty into it. She was even SILENTLY concentrating for a few minutes. Amazing! Putting in the garden this spring has been especially fun because Lilly has been a big part of it. She is amazed that the corn is growing and calls the seedlings her "babies" and she loves to water the plants. Even Iris loves to take in the fresh air of the garden. P.S. The gnome is from the dollar section at Target. How cool is that?

Misc. Monday: New Blog Name

Please vote on a new blog name for our family. (This will be our new web address on blogspot, not the header title once you get there). I have listed 4 choices to the right of the posting. Vote for the name you like the best. It has been brought to my attention that IF we ever had another baby and he happened to be a boy, I'd have to do this all over again. But that is a very big IF...

Sew Crafty Saturday: Aren't We Green?

We finally received the Eames rocker for Iris' room and we love it! We actually got two chairs and the boxes were quite sturdy, so Dan decided to build Lilly a clubhouse. I don't know which one of them is having more fun with it!

Wee-Ones Wednesday: Sisterly Love

Lilly sure loves Iris! We are very excited about the welcome Lilly gave her sister.

Here are some of the comments Lilly has said since bringing Iris home:

"Baby Iris is crying. I think she needs me!"

In a very low voice, "She's sooo cutie." "Where's Baby Iris?" "This is for Iris." (tons of stuffed animals piled on Iris). "Baby Iris wants to pet me." Baby Iris needs a kiss." After being outside with Dan, runs in the house yelling "Baby Iris, I missed you." When Iris cries, "It's ok, sister." "She wants to sit by me, Mama. She wants a noodle." Iris sneezed and Lilly ran to get her a tissue.

Misc. Monday: HELP!

I need some help. I am going to have to change the name of this blog now that I am more than "mama2lilly." I was thinking something with the words: garden, bouquet, bunch, flowers etc. I'm not sure. Please leave me a comment or send me an email if you can think of a fun new name for our family blog. Thank you. I'm sure we will come up with something!

Lilly Update

I have never seen a person as sick as Lilly was this week. As you know, it all started Monday. The last time she threw up was 12pm on Friday, and she appears to be on the mend. She is very interested in food now. Yay! We visited the doctor twice this week and talked to her on the phone three times. Lilly has lost quite a bit of weight and has purple bags under her eyes. It was very difficult for Dan and me to witness her demeanor change. Lilly is usually a very happy, active girl and she became a sad, lethargic patient. She was dead weight when held and even asked us at one point if she could laugh. It was heart breaking. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We definitely needed them.

Wee-Ones Wednesday: Mommyhood

It all started Monday when I was trying to get out the door with the girls. Penny and I were going to the mall and Iris had just projectile pooped on my hand when I got her cleaned up and in the car seat. On the way out the door, she threw up all over the seat and had to be changed. As I opened the car door, I hit Lilly in the head causing her to fall to the ground. I gave her a big hug and kiss and proceeded to hit her head on the roof of the car as I lifted her into her seat. Whoops! The girls were great at the mall. I wore Iris in a carrier and Lilly cooperated as Lilly does (walking, eating, running, fountain touching, whining, laughing, talking to strangers, riding in stroller, and asking for me to hold her with Iris). As we were getting ready to leave, Iris woke up demanding to be fed. We live close to the mall, so I wanted to wait until we got home to nurse her. The entire car ride home was filled with two screaming girls, one from starvation and one making fun of her sister.

After putting Lilly to bed that night, she hollered, "Mommy, come back. Daddddy!!" This is not unusual for her because she doesn't enjoy sleep as much as her parents do. After debating about "spoiling" her by going in, my mommy voice told me to check on her anyway. As I crawled into her bed, I felt a yucky mush. I yelled for Dan to turn on the lights only to see myself covered in vomit. Long story short, Lilly has the stomach flu. After a bath and clean sheets, she threw up again. I went to Target to get new bedding (we had to throw out 3 pillows). She wound up throwing up every hour for the next 12. Dan was going to work the next day, so I stayed on the couch with the girls, feeding Iris and cleaning Lilly all night long. She finally fell asleep at 4:30am. On the way to the doctor's office the next morning, she threw up in the car, in the office, and in the street in front of the house.

I apologize for the length of this entry, but I could have made it much longer! There are so many details that have been left out, like having to give her teaspoons of Pedialyte every 10 minutes so she wouldn't hurl and praying for a wet diaper in order to avoid an i.v. in the emergency room. It was a crazy 24 hours and this may not have been the maternity leave I imagined, but there is no where else I would want to be than taking care of my little girls. Mommyhood here I come!

Misc. Monday: He Has Risen!

We hope you had a blessed Easter yesterday. We enjoyed time with family, decorated & hunted eggs, went to church, flew kites, and put Baby Iris in an Easter basket. Lilly is really enjoying church. She knows that Jesus loves her, enjoys singing Bible songs, and looks adorable when she closes her eyes to pray. It's funny to think that Iris' due date was for tomorrow because she has become such a normal part of our lives already. I tried something new this year and made a jelly bean trail from Lilly's bedroom door to her Easter basket. She was soo excited when she came out of her room. She kept saying, "Look at the Christmas lights." I also decided that starting next year, I will put tooth brushes in their Easter baskets every year as a little gift from the "bunny" to go along with all that candy!

Introducing Our New, "Wee-One"

Introducing Iris Ray-Lynn Michael
7 pounds, 8 ounces
19.5 inches long
Birthday: 3.30.09 @ 11:29pm

Sew Crafty Saturday: Little Deer

Here is the deer I told you about in Iris' room. She all done and ready to make a little girl smile. I found an image I liked and drew it on the wall with pencil. It only took about five minutes. I thought it would take much longer. I contemplated painting her white or brown, and Dan said I should use the darker green from the geometric wall. He's so smart!

Sew Crafty Saturday: Iris' New Digs

Here's a glimpse of Iris' room. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE how it all came together. I wanted to go with a "shabby chic" feel, but that didn't compliment the rest of our house very well, so I think we wound up with a more modern/vintage feel. (If that makes any sense). I ordered some vintage illustration decals and made the pink sock hat box on the book shelf. It was just plain cardboard, so I painted it pink, antiqued it, then added the decals. The cubbies over the dresser and the mobile are from Pottery Barn Kids (on clearance) and the dresser is from Wal-mart. Dan sanded and repainted the little end table and the mirror above it. They are from Salvation Army and the mirror was an ugly gold color before. I still have to paint a deer on the wall behind the door. It's drawn and ready for color, so I'll post it after it is painted. We have an Eames rocker that we are waiting to come in. It will go in front of the curtains and we went with deer accents. Lilly's our little lam (her initials), and Iris will be our dear baby.

Misc. Monday: First Haircut

Lilly got her first haircut last week. I had to sit in the chair with her because she was screaming, "I don't want a haircut either" at the poor lady. After awhile, Lilly began to enjoy herself. She said, "She's helping me, and She's nice" about the lady cutting her hair. We had no idea what to expect, but at the end Lilly got little cornrows and flowers in her hair. We were shocked that she sat through it. She kept looking in the mirror and saying, "I'm a flower gurl!" It was so cute. I told her she could have a lollipop when it was all over and she got a balloon & a certificate from the shop. She wound up having fun and she only took out one of the flowers by the time we got home.

Misc. Monday: Second Grade Love

Our second grade class had a little shower for Heather and me last Friday. It was so much fun! The kids really got into it. They got to measure our bellies with ribbon and play some other games. We received lots of new clothes that will look adorable on our little babies. Heather is scheduled to have Reese this Wednesday, and I hopefully have 5 more weeks to go!

Wee-One Wednesday : Snuggle Puppy

Hey all, this is Dan and it's my first blog entry ever but I could not be more excited. Lilly wanted to share her favorite Sandra Boynton book with you all and I was lucky enough to catch the moment. It goes, "Oohh snuggle puppy of mine, everything about you is incredibly fine, I love what you are, I love what you do, Oohh Oohh, I love you!" From Lilly, with love - Good Night!

Wee-One Wednesday: Preparing the Nest

I am super excited to announce that we are finished painting Iris' room. It is better than I could imagine! The paint colors are perfect and my wonderful hubby did a fantastic job mapping out the pattern on the wall. The pictures do not do the colors justice, but the room is a soft green. The entire room is the color of stripes and this focal wall will be behind the crib. I will post more pictures as the room comes together.

Misc. Monday: Diapers, Anyone?

Dan's friend's got together and made us this incredible diaper cake filled with Pampers Swaddlers. I honestly think it is the biggest one I have ever seen. It is resting on a base of plywood! Lilly is in a picture with it, so you can have some perspective on its hugeness. The little flowers in it are matching clothes for Lilly and Iris to wear. They also sent home a pretty dress for Iris, and matching flower Barbies for both girls. We were so touched by their thoughtfulness and generosity. I already asked Dan's friend Jennifer if she would help me make on for my sis whenever she gets pregnant...

Sew Crafty Saturday: It's All Done!

I wanted to show you the completed book shelf. It looks fabulous! Dan did such a good job. The wood quality and stain are much nicer than the one at West Elm.

Wee-One Wednesday: Sicky

Lilly has been feeling under the weather since Penny's wedding. She has an ear infection that will not go away and is now on her 2nd round of antibiotics. Overall, she is still her spunky self, but she tends to tire a bit easier than usual and has been waking us up in the middle of the night. I think she is preparing us for a newborn!

Misc. Monday: 33

I am now 33 years old. Dan and I spent the morning of my birthday painting Iris' room. Then we went over to my parents house to have a summer BBQ in February, complete with the "Mother Load" chocolate cake from Claim Jumper. Yummy! The tablescape was adorable. They got me a bouquet of lilies and irises, so thoughtful. My friends and family really made me feel special. I love birthdays!

Sew Crafty Sat.: Heart Day

Happy Valentine's Day! XOXO