What goes on in his little head?

This "sweet" little boy has helped me learn so much about motherhood.  Has stretched me more than I have wanted to be stretched.  Has tried my patience to the utmost.  Has made me feel more love than I ever dreamed.  Has melted my heart into pudding.  And just plain amazes me every day.

He says the darndest things.  Even his Pre-school teacher says, "He is a conversationalist"  And don't I know it!  He is constantly talking and has something to say about everything.  I don't want to forget these moments...so her are a few.

C: "Mom, I said something nice to Maddison today"
Me: "Oh, what did you say?"
C: "I told her she did a great job coloring!"
Me: "Oh, that is so nice.  Didn't it feel good to say something nice to someone else?"
C: "Yeah!"
Me: "What did she say?"
C: (whispering very quietly) "Mom...I saw her smile!!!!"


Picture the scene now...Here I am 6 Months pregnant with baby #3 and going into Motherhood Maternity Clothing store.  The changing room is in the middle of the store separated from the rest of the store only by a mere curtain.  I have the boys...Eli who is trying everything in his power to get out of his stroller, and Carter who just wants to get out of the store so he can get the promised surprise for good behavior.  I just wanted to try something on quick and this is what Carter had to say,

C: "Mom, What are you wearing?"
Me: "Carter it is a dress!"
C: "Mom...YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS!!!!"

(yes I packed up the boys and we got out of there before anyone else heard any other embaressing comments from this boy!"

Next day:

C: "Mom, did you see that guys teeth?"
Me: (noticing the "guy" he was referring to was right in front of us) "Carter, we should not talk about others like that!"
C: (whispering as if that made his comment any better) "Mom, did you see that guys teeth?  They look like Beaver teeth!"


In the last few months:
My mom bought me 3 treatments for Microderm abrasion for my face.  I get terrible acne (sorry if that is TMI) when I am expecting so this was a much appreciated gift.  When I went for the first time I told Carter that I was going to the Dr. so he could help me with some "sores" on my face.  He asked no questions and went about playing.  Then a few days later we had another conversation.

C: "Mom, I don't think the Dr. did a very good job.  It looks like he missed a few!"
Me: "What?!"
C:  (is ALL seriousness) "Mom, let me show you!"
and he proceeded to point and touch my face.  Thanks for your brutal honesty.

I am hoping that this is a "boy-thing" but Carter doesn't like to always wash his hands.  So he tries to sneak out of washing or hopes that you forget to ask.  During the holidays he attempted to do this one evening at dinner-time.  He came strolling out of the bathroom and was asked by everyone at the table(Nana and Pepa were visiting)..."Did you wash your hands?  We didn't hear the water?"

Carter replied whispering but with complete assurance,
"I didn't need to, I held my pee pee with my t-shirt!"
Makes sense right?  In his 4-1/2 year old mind his hands were still clean!  I tried so hard not to giggle!

Now as I am typing this...Eli is taking his afternoon nap and Dad is napping on the beanbag.  While Carter plays on the iPad.  Dad is snoring...rather loudly when Carter leans over to me...

C: "I love when Dad snores!!!"

He is so sweet and I love how his wheels process and understand things.  He NEVER ceases to amaze me and his father.  I am one proud Mom!  He gave his first talk in Primary on January 29th on "Choices".  He was terrified when it came time to actually present.  But with his dad's help he did a great job.  I am proud to call him mine for now and for always! 

Winter Cabin Fever

Though this winter has been extremely mild we still seem to have caught a bit of the "Cabin Fever" bug.  It's too cold to play outside and there is no snow to play in...so here we sit...stuck inside with toys the boys are tired of playing with and our own creativity to entertain us. 

So here is what we have been up to...

 It was "Animal Week" at PAT (Parents As Teachers) which is a local playgroup we attend.  So the boys had spent the morning playing with all the animals in water at playgroup.  It continued at home when the boys had not gotten their fill of being "WET" for the day.

 So I filled up a few LARGE mixing bowls and put all of their rubber/plastic animals in the bowls for them to play in.

 As you can see...that is where is started, but by the end they had stripped down and put on their swim trunks and were "swimming" in the kitchen WITH the animals.

They had a ball and must have been entertained for over an hour.  Nothing a few (10 towels) couldn't clean up!

Eli got a whole Playdough kit from Santa this year for Christmas!  It has been so fun to play with during these last few months.  It has reminded me of my Playdough days when I was young.  This is ONE of the few things that entertains the boys for more than a few short minutes.  I can at least get about 20-30 minutes out of this activity.

 They love SQUEEZING the dough through this contraption...if only they could figure out how to share it and take turns!

 "Mom...look at my mustache!"

 Eli insisted we turn his "snake" into a necklace!

 We have fun with it, but the aftermath and crumbly mess of dried playdough is not always "fun" to clean up.

Anyone who know our boys also knows how much they love when Daddy comes home!  Chris usually gets home a little before 6pm and sometimes around 7pm (depending on his schedule).  And the boys can hardly wait to see their dad!

 Then the "rough-housing", tickling, bear rides begin.

Here is the backside of this bear:)  We are all so glad when Daddy comes home! 

We cannot complain to loudly this winter, it has been very nice!  But coming up with new activities for these two busy boys is always tricky.  But worth it!

Sewing is the Best Therapy...

I know that sewing is not for everyone...I am learning that from working with other women at church!  But I have come to truly love it over the years!  I love designing and creating new things that can be used by my kiddos.  It's not only one of my many jobs, it is also my THERAPY!  I have been wanting to make a pair of pants and vest for my boys for some time now.  So I finally made some time this last weekend.

Sure the time was at 9:30pm until 1am but I finished and Eli wore his outfit on Sunday!  I was quite proud of this outfit because despite Eli being fast asleep and no measurements were made, this outfit fit him perfectly---like a glove!!! I am drooling over nautical themes right now so I added that accent for fun.  The vest is actually reversible (forgot to take that picture).  I used a snap press for the buttons which are so easy to snap quickly for one "on the move" toddler.

 The pattern for the vest came from a sweater vest that he wears right now with some added adjustments.  It has some small issues (which I am NOT pointing out), but with Carter's I know where to adjust the pattern.

He was quite "dashing" in his "Daper Dan" outfit with his bow tie from Easter last year that matched perfectly.  Eli must have felt fancy too becaus he had an added "bounce" in his strut that day!  Carter liked Eli's outfit so well he said to me, "Mom...I want a bow tie too."  so I asked, "What color would you like?" and he replied, "I want ORANGE!"  So I guess that is on the list of things to make this week.  Hopefully I can find some more time!

As many know I chose to do cloth diapers (CD) with Eli.  Which turned out to be a wonderful experience and we just loved it!  Mister "sensitive skin" had not a one diaper rash.  So of course we are going to continue with CD with Baby girl. 

However, all we have are boy colored CD.  But buying MORE when I have about 30+ already is not really an option.  But I wanted some "girlie" colors.  So I am hoping to make some to supplement my stash.  Here was my first attempt.

It is a AIO (all-in-one) diaper with the softest fleece on the inside, PUL in the middle, and a cute Heather Bailey cotton fabric on the outside.

The insert lays right inside of the diaper and stays in place with Velcro.  This diaper is made to fit babies 9 lbs -15 lbs.  I was quite happy with my first try and I am now addicted and want to make more.  I have already adjusted the pattern in my head to make these more like my Bum Genius dipes from Eli.  Plus bought some better Velcro that should last through the millions of washes that these cute things go through!

 Can't you just picture a cute bummie in this dipe?!  I am so excited for her to arrive!  Sometimes I try and picture what she may look like.  Then I think back to the arrival of Eli and how much he looked JUST like his brother!!!  And still sometimes does.  So...here is my prediction...a bald, light-haired baby girl...blue eyes...fair skin...that looks just like her hooligan brothers!  I guess that is what happens when Mom and Dad were both bald, fair haired and skinned babies themselves!!!  We LOVE bald babies!

More projects to come...and maybe someday I will get with my business Blog!  I need to keep up to date on that one...Where can I buy more time?!

It's a....

GIRL!!!!

On December 21st we found out that we are having a baby girl!  I am now 24 weeks pregnant and the belly is growing ever so rapidly!  I am starting to feel her move more and more and with each movement I get more and more excited!

I have loved looking at girlie things.  Here are just a few from my Pinterest Board...

 Yes...these are for Toddlers...they are not adult shoes!  OK so I love buying shoes anyway, just look at my boys collection of shoes.  But now that a girl will be arriving, I will love shoes shopping for those tiny tootsies!

 And these bloomers!  I have wanted to do ruffles and lace for so long, but that just doesn't work for boys.  But now we can dive in, right?!

And this romper...is this ever cute!  I just love this picture and outfit! 

I have not bought much and I have been given a few things!  But just being able to look at girlie colors has gotten me excited and I haven't boughts much at all.  We could be in trouble.

I did make my first girl cloth diaper!  (Pics) to come this week!  Sewing with girl colors is exciting too!  We just can't wait for her to join the chaos...I hope she is ready for this!  We love her already!

Day in the Life...

 Does the scab on this lip tell you what goes on at the Edwards's household?  Lots and lots of boy craziness including rough housing, messes (and lots of them), shooting with anything that can be imagined to be a gun and of course fabric sorting!  I just wanted to fill you in on the happenings of this week which included some of each of these!  (Since I am trying to do better at blogging).

We have been on an organizing/goals kick around here.  This usually happens every january, but it has been very successful this year!  We have gotten much done including in the fabric room.  I sorted all of my patterns and put them in an organized binder where I can find them.  I organized my thread and notions including way too much piping and bias tape.  We even sorted and listed many fabrics this week.  Chris and I spent an evening just him and I on a date night between MANY bolts of fabric.  We were checking and double checking our inventory to make sure it was all up for sale on our site and available for purchase.  It was a long night but very successful!  The fabric business is going very well and keeping us busy.

 Between me being ill for months at a time, my busy season for HBC orders, the holidays and family in town for a few months the boys have watched way too much TV.  Carter especially!  No one is to blame, but me as it was easy when I was puking my guts out and feeling so sick to just turn on the TV to entertain the boys.  Or for me to just finish this one last order.  Well, with my sweet Carter's imagination I have found that he turns into whatever character he is watching on TV.  He becomes a dinosaur, super hero, peter pan, or whomever it may be and he gets very excited and starts acting out when he has spent too much time there.  So...this week we are back into the groove (finally) and we have limited TV to 30-60 min per day and NOT the first thing of the day.  Plus No iPad all week.  What an improvement in everything!  He has found other things to do and things that he has come to love! 

 Playing Playdough has become one of our favorite things to do.  We have made snakes, fish, and even a few necklaces and Mustaches!  The boys love it!

 Oh and the messes that we can make with it! 

 I don't know how many times I have swept up playdough crumbs that have dried on the floor this week!  It was funny, just yesterday Carter sat down on the floor and said, "Ouch...I just hurt my foot!" I said, on what" as there was no object capable to hurting his foot from what I could tell!  Then he pointed to a dried up, crist and now sharp piece of blue playdough I had somehow missed on the floor..."Mom I steped on the playdough and it cut me!"  It didn't cut but yes it was sharp and hurt.

 Eli has been asking his brother to take him to the potty this week. Which I am just fine with!  I love the extra hands.  However, Eli was gone and quiet a little too long Friday afternoon.  I walked into the bathroom only to find this...

 Hard to tell, but he was taking the cup form his small potty chair and taking cups of water from the actual toilet and dumping them onto he floor of the bathroom!  He was in this picture standing in about a 1/2" deep of water!  Toilet water at that!!!  Yuck....i disinfected right after that!

 When Daddy comes home the boys love to play with Dad!  Riding horse is just one of the many Dad plays with them.  They also like going on "Bug Hunts" where they take the fly swatters and flash lights and hunt for bugs in the dark with dad! 

 These boys (all three) are the lights of my life...boy BOY do they wear me out!!!  Constant chaos over here at our house...so if you happen to just stop by...please don't be surprised if one is wearing nothing but undies and the other is in a super hero costume!  Just another day in the life of a mom with 2 wonderfully BUSY boys!  I love it!