Bag and Updates

This is the diaper bag that will be in my arms in the next 3 weeks. It was not my original choice BUT this one is much much better. I like the design better. I like the bag style better. And I love the grey and orangey color.

Update on Jocey:

1. She is putting a million sentences together, it is almost like she is a real human... almost :)

2. Mountains, MOUNTAINS, MOUNTAINS. She is in love with the mountains and NEVER stops talking about them. We go up to the canyon once a week and roast marshmallows and make smores , and obviously she loves it.

3. Jocey now says Vivian all the time, and apparently when Jocey cannot physically see things they are sleeping. So Vivian is always sleeping, and so Jocey makes me pull my shirt down so we can leave her alone.

4. Imagination. Jocey has the best imagination ever. She pretends she is climbing.... mountains.... of course. She pretends everything that she can wrap in a blanket is a baby. She pretends she is a cat. She re-in-acts videos she has seen of herself. She makes everyone pretend food and drinks and says they are delicious or so nummy.

5. If you ever ask Jocelynn if she likes something she will immediately correct you with how she really feels. Example: Me," Jocey do you like pancakes?" Jocey," Yeah! I LOOOVE pancakes." Me," Jocey do you like kitty?" Jocey," Yeah I LOOOVE kitty." Me," Jocey do you like scary movies?" Jocey," No....I don't like it, no mommy I dont." The LOOOVE one happens more often, but I just love how she communicates.

blurry but so so cute

Update on Vivi:

1. Her heartbeat is good and strong.

2. She loves to move around all day and all night.

3. She loves to pop in and out of my ribs, which scares me every single time.

4. She only has 8 more Dr. visits left until we get to meet her. Mommy thinks only 6 but we will see.

Update on tiny Panda:

 Andrew has had an interview at his school to work in Financial Aid and has applied for another job at his school for Admissions Rep. He is waiting for an interview for Admissions Rep. The main benefit of getting hired at his school is the rest of Andrew's bachelor degree would be paid for. He would also get benefits like raises, paid time off, sick days etc. He really want's the Admissions Rep job because we would get a raise in pay right off the bat, but would not mind the Financial Aid job either. The staff has really bent over backwards to help Andrew apply and keep him in the " know how" of everything. We are really grateful that Andrew started school when he did, without the schooling that he already has we would not have these opportunities opening up to us.

Bed sheets and another project not listed

I made bed sheets for the crib and Jocey's toddler bed. I did not find the exact color I wanted at Walmart or Target and if I did it was $20 for 2 bed sheets plus $8 shipping and handling along with tax. So I went to Joann's bought fabric and elastic then followed this THIS tutorial. It was the easiest thing of my life and with a coupon of 40% off ( which you can easily sign up for, no spam mail just shear coupons through the mail and email ) it only cost about $15. Not a huge savings, but then you can do it in whatever color or pattern you want! If you want do plain white you can find fabric for $1.99 a yd, which would make 2 bed sheets cost less than $10 without the 40% off, and then there is always the option of dying the fabric.

A project that I did a few weeks ago was a button ball and a flower ball hanging from the girls ceiling. This was expensive. And the button ball is not for the faint of heart. Ribbon was at Hobby Lobby for 50%  off, then you need Styrofoam balls, hot glue, your choice of flowers, a million buttons and "T" shaped pins to put in the ceiling. I put a dab of hot glue at the end of each flower to ensure the flowers stayed in. When you connect the ribbon to the Styrofoam ball, you want to hot glue the ribbon and also use pins with hot glue at the ends of them to ensure the ribbon stays in place. Also, when you pin the top of the ribbon into the ceiling do it on a slant and use 2 pins, just to be safe. I got the general idea from Pinterest. And this project is fairly self explanatory.

I will try and post links when I am done with each of my project's so that you can also learn how to do them. I would do mini tutorials but the websites I get this stuff off of are really good at explaining.

Father's Day

This Father's Day I decided to be a little more adventurous and make chocolate covered pretzels and cute little cards that look like a shirt and tie :) Jocelynn LOVED to help me. We started out the day with a special breakfast made just for Panda, followed by a card and some Marvel PJ's for his liking. Later we went to Andrew's Dad and Kathy's for a Father's Day dinner. It was good!

Awesome shirt cards, with note written on the back

Andrew's Card

Jocelynn SOOOO excited to be helping

She loved dipping the pretzels

... and eating them

Lots and lots of pretzels. I even made some look all fancy pantsy 

Jocelynn insisted on helping me clean up all the chocolate of the floor. Maid in training! haha jk

Note: Jocelynn now knows Left and Right.

20 Weeks

YAY I am half way done!

Vivian:

Baby is 10 inches long.
Baby is the size of a mango crown to rump.
Baby weighs about 10 oz.

Before getting pregnant mom weighs 145.
At 10 weeks pregnant mom weighs 156.
20 weeks pregnant mom weighs 140.

Jocelynn's pregnancy:

Before getting pregnant mom weighs 130.
At 19 weeks pregnant mom weighs 115.
At Jocelynn's birth mom weighs 150.
6 weeks post baby mom weighs 126.
After Mirena  IUD mom weighs 143 and never goes back!

Weird I know, my nurse said pregnancy is good for me. She also told me to NEVER get on a hormone birth control again, all I did was gain weight no matter what I did. And I really did try several times to get it off. I got all Jocey's pregnancy stats from my nurse as well. So this time around I will get the Copper IUD , but not until I am where I want my weight to be.

my current life

I think I have overwhelmed myself with projects this summer so that I can prepare for the new addition coming up here pretty quick. I feel like this pregnancy is flying by and that there is not enough time to get all the things that I want in order. Some things I have done;

Baby bedding, I have the polka dot skirt done and the bumper ties made!
Deep clean my house ( the nitty gritty deep cleaning that happens MAYBE once a year ) / make sure anything we need is bought and put away.
Paint the entire bathroom so all the paint matches. I did that last night and am feeling it today.
Bought all new bathroom stuff. Curtain, floor mat and towels. This is expensive and I am not doing it again anytime soon.
Wash ALL blankets in the house. Stored or not.
Re-painted a mirror for Jocey and Vivi's room.
Sorted through Jocelynn's room and toys.
Finally after almost 3 years of living here, planted a garden.

 Projects I am working on and will hopefully get done by August:

Vivian's bumper bedding.
Jocelynn and Vivian's matching sheets.
Jocelynn's new pillow cover.
Picking out the new crib and double dresser for the girls room.
Getting Vivian's blessing dress made ( more of a goal by the end of September )
Making Anna's curtains for her exciting new apartment!
Getting my Petunia Pickle Bottom bag, that my grandma paid half for! Thanks grandma :)
Make all new headbands for Vivian/ buy.
Finish me and Andrew's room!!!! ( this should be my first priority but I just love doing baby stuff )
Find a RED or GREEN Bumbo. (we ended up getting an aqua colored one)
Get a small blanket with Vivian's name embroidered on it.
Canvas prints of me and Andrew's sealing pictures.
2 Nice scrapbooks for baby books + 2 plate holders to put them on
Make Vivian a car seat cover, this time with NO velcro and only ribbon ties.
Make binkie clips
Dye Jocelynn's old bed sheets

I am sure there is more but, I think this may be all that my brain can handle right now.  If anyone know's an easy CHEAP way to make headbands or flowers OR know's somewhere where they are cheap enough to buy please please please comment. Same thing with the Bumbo. And the embroidered blanket. Oh and if you know where to get canvas prints! I figure if I can get all this done before baby it will be best. Especially since she will be born literally right before 3 major expensive/ time consuming holiday's.

Jocelynn 29 months / 2 yrs. and 5 months

It has been a while since I have updated on little Jocey so here are some things going on.

TALKING

• Jocelynn is an excellent talker for her age. She is referring to herself as me, I and my now. No more Jocey wants or Jocey needs. The only time she uses her name is when she is referring to something that is hers, as in an item.
• She also sings a plethora of songs and rhymes and thinks she are worth singing about.
• She is very vocal when you ask her questions. S:  " Jocelynn it is time to clean up."  J: " Ummm.... OK!"  or " Jocey would you like some more dinner?" J: " No thank you"
• Jocey is also very good at correcting her language when taught to her and does it almost immediately. Such as diction, pronouncing, identifying etc.

CUTE AND HELPFUL

• One day I was doing my usual routine while cleaning our house and Jocelynn decided that is was time she helped as well. So now every time I clean she is right by my side actually helping.
• The other day Jocelynn had dumped her toys out by the T.V. and to my surprise when she was done playing she put all her toys away WITHOUT ME ASKING! Awesome.
• In nursery she apparently is helpful and kind to the other kids. She also repeats other people when they are saying the prayer.

FUNNY

• Jocelynn hates any intro to movies other than the Universal Studio's opening. She will hide every time with any other opening to a movie.
• Jocey is now afraid of the vacuum . Weird. Only because she has never been afraid of it until now.
• Jocey goes CRAZY when she finds out JoJo, Anna/ Rem, Tricia or Ogie are coming over. She also takes this opportunity to boss them around because they tend to give her whatever she wants, we're working on that.
• Jocelynn is a CLEAN FREAK. My sister-in-law Nicia has witnessed this first hand. She HATES being dirty especially if  you do not help her right away. 
• Jocelynn has crazy black lady hair! Seriously it is getting ridiculous to tame in the back.
• Jocelynn makes everybody and her babies food all the time. She is really turning into a mini me and I really like it.
• Jocey rubs my tummy and lifts up my shirt and gives her baby sister a kiss everyday. She does this on her own and is really trying to learn the baby's name

Well those are the main things. We really love and appreciate this cute little girl.

I want to be that person who always looks nice.
I want my kids to be the kids you want your kids around and not the ones who are always mean and you never know as the opposing parent what to do.
I want to be an amazing seamstress.
I want my husband and children to be proud of who I am.
I want my friends to know I am always there for them even though sometimes I can be flaky.
I want my extended family to know that I care for them deeply and wish the best for them even though I do not say it enough.

These are my goals. Hopefully not ones that are too far from my reach.