Please and Thank You

Ayden has really stepped up his manners game over the passed week or two.  He consistently says please and thank you.  He says sorry (even to Maverick) when he does something worth apologizing for and even asks if we are okay when we get hurt.  It is the cutest, sweetest thing and we LOVE it!

Some other language developments:

When he sees a familiar toy at a friend's house he'll say, "I have this my house!"

He says, "It's so _____!" (It's so cold!  It's so spicy! It's so big! etc.)

Yesterday, he wanted to make some green juice.  He's been wanting to make some for a few days now but we've been out of ingredients.  After asking me for the fourth time if we could make green juice I got down at his level and said, "Ayden, we do not have what we need to make juice." to which he replied, "Yes you do!"  This was a first and I couldn't help but chuckle while I told him, again, that we did not.

This isn't language related but Ayden is officially day-time potty trained, #2 and all!  Not sure how exactly it happened so soon and so quickly but it has.  He only wears diapers for naps and night time (and I'd imagine we'd put one on him for a long car ride if we were to take one). He is also decreasing the amount of time he "cry's wolf" before #2s which has been a much needed change.  He still does it a little but he is getting better at recognizing which sensation is the real one I think.  It is really awesome not to be changing diapers but now diaper laundry has gotten awkward.  I have pushed to every third day and still hardly have a full load.  As always, you have to give a little to take a little.  Nature's way of maintaining that oh so important balance in our lives!

My posts lately have been more about what we've been doing rather than what is going on with Ayden developmentally so I thought I should take the time to note these new skills for memory's sake before I forgot.  I just love watching him grow!

~Sarah Ladnier

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Nursing Machine"

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Erin Condren Giveaway Winner!

It's the moment everyone has been waiting for!  Well... at least everyone who entered to win my Erin Condren $50 gift card giveaway.  

Now, without further adieu: *drumroll, please!*

click here to see the original post.

Congrats, Sara Jane!  I can't wait to hear what you decide to buy with your gift card.

It was COLD here today.  The day started around 7 degrees and only dropped.  The low tonight is -5.  We are trying to stay warm!

Sweet, sleepy baby!

Hope you all are staying warm too!!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Big Plans"

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DIY Felt Doll Diapers

My two year old niece is kind of obsessed with babies.  She is the youngest in her family at the moment so until that changes (if it changes), baby dolls are second best.  She feeds her babies, nurses her babies and even loves to put her own diapers her babies.  Part of her Christmas gift from us this year were these super inexpensive and easy felt doll diapers.

First, I purchased 50 cent felt sheets at Hobby Lobby in coordinating colors.

I already had fusible Velcro from a past project so I was ready to go!

I used my rotary cutter/cutting mat to do the measuring, and straight edge cuts then cut out the legs with scissors.  I would recommend folding them in half vertically and cutting the leg opening once for symmetry (like you would cut out a paper heart).

Here are the measurements I ended up with.

This seriously took me all of 20 minutes I think...  My niece's favorite doll is her Baby Alive.  I just so happened to have mine from my childhood handy so she was my model and size reference.

Next, I cut my Velcro strips and ironed them into place.  Like with actual hook and loop cloth diapers, I put loop (soft) side of the Velcro across the front and used the hook (rough) side on the tabs.

After testing them out I found that if you didn't pull the actual Velcro when you unfastened the diapers, the hook side would peel away from the felt and stay with the loops.  Since my niece is only two, and because I wanted these to last her a while, I decided to do a little whip stitch on each end of the hook velcro on the tabs.  

Could use a matching thread but I thought the white was kind of cute.
Gave it that hand made charm.

There you have it!  This project cost us $2 since I had the Velcro on hand but would probably still be under $10 if you had to purchase all of the supplies.  Having the velcro strip run all the way across the front makes them customizable.  These will fit most standard size dolls.

Can you believe the modern Baby Alive's have plastic hair??
I'd take these blonde curls any day!  Haha.

Is there a lucky little girl (or boy!) in your life who would love some felt fluff for their baby dolls bottoms?  Be sure to come back and let me know how it goes if you give this a try!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Shifting"

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Plant A Tree. Or Three!

David and our dad's planted our Christmas trees today!  We have officially begun our own tradition of planting live Christmas trees every year and both sets of our parents donated their trees for the cause.

Ayden helped us take the decorations off of our tree to get it ready for planting and everything. He loves being involved in whatever we are doing for sure! Our home place is slowly beginning to look like home. All we need is to replace the stakes and strings with our very own little cottage!  

**Don't forget!  There is just one day left in my Erin Condren $50 gift card giveaway!  Click here to enter if you haven't already!**

Today's Project Simplify 365 task:  I had some full, travel jewelry cases from the passed couple of trips I took sitting on the dresser next to my jewelry box for weeks.  I finally emptied them all and put everything in its place.  Every time I passed them I thought about how I needed to do that.  I was getting tired of seeing the clutter on our dresser!  It feels so go to have crossed it off the list.  Just one tiny thing a day yet I can really feel the progress.  If you are feeling like you need some motivation to purge, organize or otherwise simplify your life, I'd highly recommend starting your own Project Simplify 365 challenge!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Moving Forward"

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Project Simplify 365

I recently read about something called Project Simplify 365.  After reading about it, I thought it would be a great way to help us work towards downsizing before moving.  In a nutshell, you do one thing a day, big or small, to purge from or organize your home.  For day one, I sorted through Maverick's overflowing toy basket and bagged up half of them to donate to the puppy room at a local pet store.  Day two (today), I went through my reusable bags to see which ones I wanted to part with.  I got two really nice canvas bags for Christmas and in an effort to start a "one in, one out rule" I chose two to give away and put them in our Good Will bin.  

Out with the old (on the left) and in with the new (on the right).

After all was said and done, I was thinking a one in, two out rule might be beneficial in actually downsizing since one in, one out would inevitably maintain our current status of stuff but this is a journey and I am still working on letting go of the stuff that is weighing me down.  At least I have used all of the bags that I kept in the past few months.  It is holding on to things that I never use, or haven't used in over a year, just for the sake of keeping it that I would like to avoid.

I had a fun evening out with my mom.  Since she has her fair share of "stuff" too, the only item we gave her for Christmas was an updated family photo of us.  With it, I gave her a card inviting her on a date with me tonight.  We don't get a lot of one on one time.  As soon as David got home I was off to pick her up.  We went out to eat and to see Saving Mr. Banks and had a really nice time.  I missed Ayden since I didn't get to help put him to bed but did enjoy the break.  Crazy how our kids can do that to us, isn't it?  It really is the most difficult yet most rewarding thing I have ever done. Now I am snuggled on the couch with David.  We have the fire place going and are going to watching something on Netflix.  TGIF!

Have you ever done anything like Project 365?  How did it go for you?

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Flashbacks"

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Chicken Run

We had a very wintery day here today (and it's about time since it is January and all...).

Glad we had some new toys to keep us busy inside!

It started out rainy and as the day passed it got colder and colder. Puddles froze and the rain turned into snow. Our entire brick patio was like a little ice skating rink  I had to hold on tight to Ayden while he walked across it. Whenever I looked out, I rarely saw the chickens which is not the norm. I figured they were being smart, staying out of the frigid air and hanging out on their coop. David got home a little late because of the road conditions. I usually go ahead and put them up for the night when he runs late but tonight, I didn't want to take Ayden out with all the ice and temps in the teens. By the time David got home, changed out of his work clothes and all bundled up, it was dark. He went out and there were only 7 chickens around the coop, ready for dinner. The others were nowhere to be found.  David looked around a bit and found a few in our neighbor's barn, a field away. Then he found a few more under our shed (he had looked there earlier but must have missed them. Once it is dark, chickens go to sleep and there isn't much you can do to wake them. I guess they were seeking shelter from the weather and waited it out a little too long. 

I took care of Ayden's bedtime routine and he fell asleep by 7:30. My mom is on standby to come and sit at our house in case he wakes up while I go out and help David find the rest if he needs me. It is getting very cold tonight and we would sleep much better knowing all of our girls are home, safe and warm. 

This is part of farming. It comes with the territory. We have living creatures under our care and it is our responsibility to do everything in our power to keep them safe, even if that means trudging around in the dark with flashlights, in teen temps.  I guess while we are in this cold spell, we might need to leave them cooped up if they are just going to seek shelter elsewhere all day anyway. Something to think and talk about his evening.

**Edited to let you know that we finally found all 14 chickens and got them nestled into their coop for the night.  David was able to get all but one on his own and after Ayden was asleep I went out and helped coax the 14th out from under the shed with a rake.  A taste of the farmer's life indeed!**

And now I will leave you with a clip of the most infectious laughter you've ever heard. And all over a rubber band...  He cracks himself up!

The true story is that he was laughing at the fact that he could get Maverick to jump every time he plucked the rubber band.  We hear the same laughter when he chases Maverick around the house with the swiffer or his new roller suitcase.  Mav and Polly are such good sports.

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Sabatage"

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New Year's Resolutions

Here it is, the first day of 2014.

We had an amazingly chill day at my parents' house with my family.

I love the start of a new year.  It brings with it a clean slate and a fresh start.  Though each and every day brings those things, there is just something about the new year that magnifies it all.  Just like most people, I like to make big plans for a new year.  I rarely achieve all of my new goals but taking the time for self reflection and making plans to make changes towards being the best person I can be is refreshing and enjoyable.

David and I sat down together tonight and came up with our goals for 2014.  We did them together because if you really want to make changes, you need to tell people who are close to you for acceptability purposes.  We plan to print them out and post them where we can see them and also plan to remind one another about them if we see the other straying.  Mine were pretty much the same old personal goals that I work on year round already:

- continue to strengthen my relationship with David
- forward thinking
- more reading
- less technology
- focus on health and wellness (and find ways to stay inspired when I need it)
- create regularly (weekly crafting and sewing projects)
- Use my DSLR more
- purge and organize our home
- call my sister in NY at least weekly
- take over our household budget and learn to STICK TO IT

David also has his own list and we made lists for the household and things we want to do for Ayden.

I'm not a huge fan of the term "resolutions" because that word sounds like it is for something immediate and permanent to me. I am a work in progress and can only take it one day at a time. If I am able to make a few changes throughout the year, great.  If I end 2014 as the exact person I am at this very moment, that will be great too.  Most of all, I just want to focus cherishing each and everyday as of there is no tomorrow and relish the love that surrounds me. 2014 is going to be an amazing, exciting year for us!

How do you feel about resolutions?  Do you make them? Share yours below if you have any!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "January Goals"

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