Valentine's DIY: Craft of the month

 I'm linking up with Becky at From Mrs. To Mama today to show you guys a couple little Valentine's decorations I put together.

We say "my love" all the time in our house so I thought a little banner with that on it would be fitting.  I had everything on hand to make this.  

This one is easy.  You only need four things to make it:

-embroidery hoop

-target $1 dish towel

-small peice of ribbon

-decorative pin

Thanks for stopping by!

~Megan

Just Pictures. Our Sunday Fun Day

Just Pictures. Random Fun

The Decision to Stay Home

Today I am linking up with Melissa at I Pick Pretty on how we decided that I would be a stay at home mom.  So here it goes.

Back in 2010 after Arty(husband) received his master's degree we found out that he was accepted into dental school in West Virginia.  At the time we were living in Arizona.  We had been talking about having babies for a while but we decided that when he got into any dental school it would be the green light to start trying.  I got pregnant in February, on just our second month of trying for real.  I know how blessed we are!

So at the time I was working as a property manager for single family homes(and had been for a couple years) but in April I lost my job.  So there we were, I was suddenly unemployed and my husband had just finished school and was preparing for a move across the country to start school in August.  We barely scraped by that summer, barely.  Needless to say things worked out.

We both knew that I would definitely not make as much money as a property manager in West Virginia.  Even if the salary was the same, I'm not sure that I could imagine having anyone else watch Sullivan daily.  When I was in college taking classes I had a hard time committing to a specific degree because I couldn't decide what I wanted to "be".  I always knew I wanted to be a mom.  There was never any doubt in my mind about that.

That's not to say that I still don't feel like I want to contribute and help us financially.  I love taking pictures and I am exploring that possibility.  I may get my real estate license up and running here sometime so that I can help people buy homes, which is my favorite part of the real estate business.  I also love making things and sewing so that is another place for me to grow.   I am trying to figure out ways to use the things I am passionate about as a way to provide a little extra money for us because if I am being honest things are tight in the money department.  And that's ok, I know things could be so much worse.  Like the time I was 21 and lived by the beach in California and was out of money and on the "donut diet" where all you eat is a donut for each meal.  I also did the "big lunch diet" where you eat the biggest lunch you can find for the cheapest amount of money and that's it, I always picked nachos.  That's a story for another day :).  Right now we have everything we need, a great townhouse, cars that work, yummy food in the fridge, and so on.  We are on a student budget with a family of three but we make it work.  I like to think that this experience will make us all around better people.  In fact, I know it will.

~Megan

Just Pictures. First Sled Ride

First sled ride 1.20.12 at 10:30am

Just Pictures. Play

Thoughts.

Here are some of the thoughts swirling around in my head lately.

-I wonder when Sullivan will start to wean himself.  He is about to be 15 months old and he is obsessed with nursing still.  I have nothing but good things to say about breastfeeding but at this point he is rougher, heavier, and harder to wrangle, lets not mention the nipple twisters (TMI alert) and I am tired. 

-He's not sleeping through the night.  Our nights usually go a little like this.

7:00 to 7:30 bath time

7:30 to 8:00 I rock him to sleep

11 to 12 he wakes up, I rock him and put him back in his crib.  Or if I am functioning on autopilot I bring him into bed with me.

2:00 to 5:00am he wakes up and I almost always bring him into bed if he is not already there with me.

7:30-8:00am wake up to start the day.

There is definitely room for improvement here.  I am not worried about it because we all get plenty of sleep and honestly that is all that matters.  

-He likes to eat:

apples

carrots

brown rice

blueberries

grapes

ice

orange peels(true story)

mushrooms

pumpkin and sunflower seeds

quinoa

-I am also pretty sure Sully has an allergy to milk.  

This picture was taken after I tried giving him baby yogurt in November.  He gets contact reactions even when he touches milk with his fingers.

Sad!

-I started working out at the student rec center here.  They have child care for a few hours each day and it is  so nice to exercise again!  The first time I took him he cried but calmed down when he was held, the next time he cried for thirty seconds when I dropped him off and then started playing.  Yay!  I also took him to the pool three times last week.  He absolutely loves it and always has a great nap after.  

-We got a juicer and have been enjoying all kinds of fresh juice!

This one was:

carrot

celery

ginger

 lemon

cabbage

apple

I just add ice and enjoy!

Well that is about all I have at the moment.

~Megan