In the Mail

Now that they've been sent and hopefully opened, here are some of the projects I made for nieces and nephews this year:

Toddler Backpack. This was for a 2-year-old nephew. Really, he had so many other gifts that I don't even think he noticed it until the next morning when I said, "Hey, Reese, you can carry all your new cars with this!" and he proceeded to load it up and carry it around. It was cute.



Fleece Jacket with Hannah Montana accents. My niece LOVES Hannah Montana and LOVES pink. This is my standard fleece jacket pattern (Jalie 2679) that I've made many times. Works out great, but I see that Burda has one in their latest magazine. I might have to make that one to compare.


T-shirt turned backpack. One of my nephews loves Ed Hardy but I wasn't about to spend $100 on a t-shirt that I was gonna cut up. So I found a screen print kit at Joann's, a t-shirt at Saver's, and this pattern, and ended up with this:



I actually made another t-shirt backpack for another nephew. He was getting a guitar for Christmas and I found a t-shirt at Savers with a cool guitar and skull - it was perfect. And he really liked it too.

I've never ventured into doll making, but I decided to try a Wee Wonderful doll for another niece. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it'd be. Lots of hand sewing, but surprisingly, I didn't mind.


Now that all the gift sewing is done and my sewing area is cleaned, it's time to make stuff for me!

Happy Festivus for the Rest of Us

Today, December 23rd is Festivus. Let's celebrate, shall we?

Over in the corner is my aluminum pole (no tinsel or any decorations of course). Average and plain, isn't it?

Ok, be done looking at the pole.

Let's move on to "Airing of Grievances."

Oh boy, do I have some issues this year. And you people are gonna hear about them. In no particular order:
Who cares about the following:
Tiger Woods, Oprah retiring, Jon & Kate, People who do nothing yet are famous somehow.

Car seats that are safe, yet HUGE! I need a new car to fit this thing, and it's only going to get bigger. Thanks safety for making me sit so close to the steering wheel that, while my kid is safe, I'm not! Jerk.

Verizon Wireless. While you work EVERYWHERE else in the world, you don't work in my cul-de-sac. Seriously? What's that all about? Why am I paying x dollars when I can't even use my phone at home. I'd like a refund for the past YEAR, please.

Ok, now it's time for the "Feats of Strength" but I don't want to embarrass anyone, so we'll skip it this year. But, next year, just you wait. Better watch your back.

And finally, "Festivus Miracles!" A friend said she made caramels. I was going to stop by her office to get one. But she stopped by MY office and brought me one. It was a Festivus Miracle!

Goodbye TPT...

Hello TPT!

I got a new job at tpt (I LOVE that they LOVE to hire within!). When I'm done with the Minnesota Video Vault project, I will have watched about 1000 shows.

One THOUSAND shows. Actually, there will be 1100 shows, but I've had some help (Thank G!) My brain is fried, but my knowledge of Minnesota and its history is unbelievable - or I like to think.

Remember when you were a kid and it was summer time and all you wanted to do was watch tv all day? (Maybe you weren't as lazy as I was. But seriously, it was HOT in Texas during the summer, so unless you were swimming, you were watching tv.) And you wished you could get paid to watch tv all day?

Yeah, I did that. (But I did plenty of other things too!) And while the project was really awesome and ahead of the pack in terms of online archiving, sometimes, watching programs all day sucked. But, I'm proud of my work, my knowledge of Minnesota and the opportunity tpt gave me to take charge of the project.

It paid off.

So now, I'm finishing up my list of shows (1100!)and moving onto another project managing various internal websites. MANAGING, kids.

6 Months

Six months gives us at least two inches (if not more!). Rolling over in every direction in your crib. Which you now love sleeping on your face, freaking both of us out when we go in and check on you. And squealing as loud as possible just to let us know you're ready to get out.


Six months also means you've now got a little stranger anxiety. Nothing too bad, but you're not afraid to cry if someone you don't know well is holding you. But you warm up eventually. You're super smiley and generally happy and excited whenever you see one of us.


You're getting interested in food. Enough to grab at it and want to put it in your mouth. But that's where it ends. You're not sure what to do with it once it's in your mouth. Oh, the faces you make! You had a little bit of cake at a birthday party this weekend and while you really wanted it, you had no idea what to do with it.

You still sleep about 10 hours a night with about 3 hours of naps a day. But you don't do well at other people's houses when it's time for bed. You're definitely a creature of habit.



You celebrated your first major holiday, Thanksgiving, with a trip to Nebraska. Cousin Jordan just loved playing with you and wanted to help take care of you. Everyone loved playing with you and you loved the attention!


Scully is still your pal, but you really prefer me or your dad. And, while we like Scully too, we prefer you even more.

We Replaced the Swing With This

Our bundle of joy.

A Decade in Review

2000 - Was excitingly dating Justin Foell from Minnesota while I lived in a small basement apartment with 5 windows, a killer dog upstairs named "Gangster"(who once tried to bite my face off when I gave him water. Jerk) and his owner "Chris LaDoux" (Can't remember his real name. But he was hick-ish and smoked pot at 5am before working construction.) Hank Hill lived across the street. As did an old bitty who was 90 and called me "Suzie Q!" She also drank her pee. She told me.

2001 - Planned a wedding, got married, moved out of the basement apt (goodbye $300 rent, Chris, Gangster, Hank and Old Bitty!) and moved into our first house (hello mortgage payment!).

2002 - Still in school, worked at the steakhouse off and on as I liked (or didn't like - some managers were JERKS!). Had to sell the house due to layoffs, and moved in with Granny for a few months.

2003 - FINALLY found a cool apartment in downtown SLC. We were hip, until my Jeep was broken into like 3 times. Oh ya, I had a JEEP! It was AWESOME! Justin had a new job too! But it didn't last long and found another one in Vegas. I graduated and we made the move. Scully was my graduation gift. Tender!

2004 - At first, I thought our new apartment was an old folks home because we were the youngest ones there. Turns out, it wasn't an old folks home, but we were the youngest ones there. Jean, our neighbor, would drink and drive a lot. She was also on blood thinners. That's why she wobbled. Sure, Jean. I landed a sweet editing job and sold the jeep at the first sign of hot-ness (you know, 120 degrees. I not kid.)

2005 - Decided to buy another house. This time, we built one. We closed on our anniversary. Tender, again! BUT, then I lost my job. However, I landed another one by that December. I also ran a marathon, vowing to never do that again.

2006 - Started working for the same company as Justin (but we didn't work together). I had high hopes, but they quickly faded when my boss went on maternity leave the day I started. Here starts 2 years of frustrating work.

2007 - I ran a marathon, again. Actually, it was 12 miles. It could have been better. We took a cruise with my family to Central America, we traveled to Idaho for my g-granny's 90th, and we went to San Francisco for the first time.

2008 - We went to Thailand for a wedding and then spent my birthday in London. (Go ahead, be jealous.) I quit my job and we moved to Minnesota where I now work for tpt (PBS affiliate in the Twin Cities - Love it!). I got knocked up and enjoyed a symptom free first trimester.

2009 - It was cold. COOOOOLD all throughout my pregnancy. I wore sweaters one week before Jules was born. IN.JUNE. We spent the rest of the summer traveling to Nebraska, Utah, South Dakota, and Indianapolis trying to take advantage of their warm temps. We bought another house and did lots of updates before Jules arrived. We have, yet again, another old bitty who lives next door. But she's the nicest, sweetest old lady out there. We are also the proud owners of a snow blower. Because, for reals. I'm not shoveling anymore.

It's the First Wednesday of the Month...

And you know what that means...


The CREEPY siren that goes off at 1pm in downtown St. Paul. Like nuclear bomb loud. I'm surprised our windows don't break.

Did I mention it's loud? and CREEPY?

Jinxed

Yep, I jinxed it. Or, it's just November 30th and only one day of snow in October wasn't enough for cold Minnesota.

Today
Nov 30 Few Snow Showers 39°/27°

Awesome huh? At least I'm not out waiting for a bus this time of year. That was fun while it lasted.

But wait, lets look at Thursday!

Thu
Dec 03 Flurries 28°/21°

(Twenty WHAT?!)

I guess I gotta break out the "light" winter gear. I save the "heavy" winter gear for days zero and below. ZERO! and BELOW! Can you believe people STILL live here?

(Oh, Minnesota, don't worry, I still love you. I'm not leaving anytime soon. Unless it's a trip to Hawaii in March when it's 18 below.)

It Has Begun

Mark this date, November 24th, I listened to my Barenaked Ladies Christmas album.

I liked it.

My sister has her tree up already.

Stores have been leaking their Black Friday ads for a week now. (trivia: Does anyone know what "Black Friday" means? Answer at the end of this post.)

So it's not just me getting into the season. Actually, it's really hard to get into it right now in Minnesota. It's been in the 50's! It snowed the first of October, everyone was pissed and now, everyone is so happy it's still warm! (I just jinxed it, didn't I?)

Anyway, with the season, comes deals. Lots of deals. And you just gotta know how to find them and make them work for you. Yes, you can get a toaster for $3 at Target. Is it really worth hauling your butt outta bed at 4:30am, stand in a loooooong line, 30 degrees out, rush in and find the toasters are gone? To me, no. My time is valuable.

Online shopping is the way to go. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your money this holiday season.

Never pay for shipping. Amazon always has free shipping and many other sites are offering free shipping on orders over X dollars. Visit retailmenot.com for coupon codes and free shipping codes to popular retail sites.

Speaking of Amazon, they are taking Black Friday to a new level. It's Black Friday all week this week! I think I see a bread machine I want (looks like it's gonna be cheap too!).

Wanna earn free Amazon gift cards to purchase gifts? Have you heard of Swagbucks? Basically, you earn Swagbucks periodically as you search (they combine the best of Google and Ask.com). You can earn between 1 and 100 Swagbucks each time you search. You cash in Swagbucks for a variety of things like gift cards, clothing, electronics and more. I just cashed in 180 Swagbucks for a $20 gift certificate to Amazon. All I did was search like I normally do!

You can also earn Swagbucks by searching for Swagcodes, promoting, downloading widgets and more. So you don't have to just search.

(45 Swagbucks can get you a $5 Amazon gift card so it's easy to get started!)

Another way to make your dollars stretch even further is ShopatHome.com. If you're gonna shop online, why not get cash back? Search through thousands of online retailers, click and go directly to their site, shop, complete your transaction and receive a cash rebate of up to 30% of the purchase price, discounts, coupons and/or free shipping promotions.

I shopped Old Navy and The Body Shop and received 10% back from both stores. Once you hit $20, they send you a check. You can also use online coupons (provided by them), so not only are you getting a discount with coupons, you get cash back! (Just some of their top 10 stores are Target, Wal-Mart, Dell, Victoria Secret, and Kohl's)

Right now, get $5 just to sign up!
Click here------->

(Like that shameless promotion? Hey, who doesn't want free money?)

Think outside the box. While you may not need to get your baby a train set up this year because he's only 6 months old at Christmas (*cough* JUSTIN *cough*), something like that may go on sale the day after Christmas. Pick it up when stores are clearing out merchandise.

So don't go blowing your budget this year. And don't say I didn't get you anything.

(Trivia answer: Going from being in the red (no profit) to being in the black (making a profit), which usually is because of this day, the busiest shopping day of the year.)

Train

Saturday was the grand opening of sorts of the new Northstar Rail in Minnesota. A big deal here people. Justin is so enthralled with trains that we stood in line for 45 minutes for free tickets to ride downtown. While I wasn't really interested, it turned out to be fun.

Best of all, Jules liked it.




"Yea! I like trains! We go THIS fast!"



The 20 minute ride took us to the new Target field and back. If I worked in Minneapolis, I'd probably take the train.

5 Months

Oh Jules, please slow down. You're growing up too fast!



You prefer to be on your back, although you do tolerate tummy time when the boppy and tpt is involved. You can *almost* sit up but you're not quite there yet. And your legs are getting stronger each day. You can stand for a second or two!

You babble, saying "mamamamama" all the time. I'm gonna go ahead and say that's your first word.

While it seems you hardly smile in photos, you're actually quite the smiler and you love to laugh.

But it's tough to catch on camera.



(I think there's a smile behind dad's yo-yo. And your clothes are getting too tight.)

You reach for anything I have in my hand: the newspaper, cup, fork or spoon. We tried to give you mashed potatoes the other night. And while you did manage to open your mouth, mashed potatoes aren't your thing; oh how they disgusted you. You're not ready and that's ok!

Your new thing is to rotate in your crib. This morning, I found you with your feet on the wall, totally perpendicular in the crib. You must like to kick. You still like to be swaddled, cuddled, carried, swinging; you always want to be moving.



When I get home from work, you see me and light up right away. Like "Huur-RAY! I like her!" It's so sweet. You sleep through the night like a champ but have a few bumps if we don't get you to bed on time. You're leary of new people and that's because you and dad don't get out of the house much. But after a while, you're good.

Scully, your BFF, lets me know if you're crying in your crib. She'll sit next to you, lick your feet or any spit up you may have, well, spit up (NOT all the time peeps, just when I don't get to him in time). She's your pal and you love to look at her.



Happy 5 months baby boy.

Babylegs Tutorial

While Justin thinks they are silly, he doesn't take them off Jules. I like babylegs because they are cute, easy to pull on and off, and can leave them on for diaper changes. They'll fit him through toddler-hood and can double as arm warmers on cool fall nights. Plus, they are SUPER easy to make. Here's what you'll need:

Socks - knee high (I got these in the woman's section at Target-2 for $3)
Scissors
pins
Sewing Machine
or
needle and thread



Cut off the heel and toe of the socks.

Don't these remind you of the socks your 70's dad would wear?


Take the foot part of the sock (minus the heel and toe) and fold it into itself so the right sides are facing out. This will be the new cuff.



Slide the new cuff over the cut end of the sock - right sides together. (You'll actually match the edges, I just went further so you can see.)



Match the edges and pin.



Using a med. zig-zag stitch (for stretch), sew about 1/4" from the edge or as close as you want making sure to catch all 3 layers. If you have a serger, use the knife for a trimmed edge.



Well done! You just saved yourself $10!


For some reason, I don't have pics of Jules wearing this pair, but here he is wearing another pair. Quite the outfit, eh?

D'Oh!

Soooo, I can't find my camera cord. And you'll want to see pictures to help you understand what I'm yapping about when it comes to making these babylegs.

So until I can find the cord - here's Jules all dressed up as a Chef for Halloween.



There, the cuteness should tide you over. (I made that hat thank you very much.)

Doing the Dance

He's a maniac MANIAC on the floor...



And he's dancing like he's never danced before.

You too can make cute little babylegs for your little one. Stay tuned, babylegs tutorial tomorrow!

Part-Time Happy House Wife

I feel like I'm missing something when I come home from work, take care of Jules (which I really miss during the day), make dinner, and work on whatever project needs to be done (right now, it's repairing some used BumGenius diapers I bought on diaper swappers.).

So, I'm trying, with some success at being a part-time housewife on the weekends. This past weekend we did all sorts of household chores and projects.

Friday: Loaded up the car with Justin and Jules and headed to the JBF sale - or as Justin calls it, the baby swap meet. We bought a bunch of second-hand winter clothes for Jules. Now he's set!

Saturday: Justin made pancakes and I did laundry. ALL.DAY. Between loads, we also worked in the back yard. Pulled weeds in the soon to be vegetable garden, trimmed all the ferns, pulled all the stupid, little, naughty trees that are everywhere and yelled at Scully to stay in the yard. I'm still sore. I also made crockpot chicken for dinner, two apple pies (from our apple tree!) and chicken stock from the leftover chicken.

Sunday: I finished the laundry (you should see my laundry room now!), swapped out summer/fall wardrobe with winter wear (booo!), watched the Vikings and told a baby to go to sleep. Which he did. Justin installed our garage door opener (Finally! Well, not like "Finally he installed it-geez!" more like we finally got around to it.).

While the weekend was jam packed, it felt good to get it all done. Hopefully we can finish our outside work before... Well, we all know about Minnesota and how cold it can be here. Let's pretend for a few more weeks it won't happen.


Justin took this last night. That's our garden (next to the black thing on the left - compost bin), it needs work. But look at those colors!

Pumpkins

I don't know what else to call this, except, we went to a pumpkin patch with family. It was fun. We got pumpkins, apple pies (it was an apple orchard too), apple cider, chatted, wore sunglasses, only lost one little, took photos, went home and took a nap.


He loved his sunglasses.


Chilling with the pumpkins.


Too cool to make funny faces with his cousins.


Still too cool to take a photo with his cousins. "I can't be seen with this bunch!"
(Olivia holding Jules, Adrienne holding Natalie - 5 months older than Jules, Reese, Max and Zach.)

Me At 4 Months

Let's talk about postpartum hair loss, shall we? Yes, it's horrendous. Mostly because during my 9 months of carrying Jules (and a few months after he was born), my hair was full, thick, grew like weeds, awesome, and I didn't lose ONE hair. And now, four months postpartum, let's just say don't be surprised if it shows up in cake batter or in my baby's diaper or stuck to your socks or permanently on my fleece jacket.

It's everywhere and I can't stand it. I knew it would happen. And when it didn't happen around two months, I thought I was one of the few who didn't experience it. Ha! Little did I know it usually shows up around three or four months. Basically all the hairs I should have lost (approx 100 a day!) for the past nine months are falling out NOW. This minute!

And there goes 10 more.

The only comforting thought is that it will end, eventually.

4 Months

At four months, he's into Scully. He's enthralled with her.



And, surprisingly, she's very gentle with him. She loves to sit next to him and lick his toes and hands. She'll cozy up to his face, showing her love. And in return, he loves to grab her ears, her necklace, and poke her eyes.



He's also into rolling over. But now that he can do it, he doesn't. Weird huh? He's sleeping through the night and has been since I went back to work. Of course there are a few set backs like he'll wake up around 4am but, the best part is he'll talk himself back to sleep. We just lay in bed listening to him babble then he's out again. It's really cute. He usually sleeps about 10 hours at night and about 3 or 4 hours during the day.



And speaking of babbling, this kid can babble! We don't know who he gets that from. He's also serious. Very, VERY serious. But all you have to do is change his diaper or change his clothes and he's all giggly again.



He's officially in 3-6 month clothes. I think he's around 17 lbs. but we'll find out tomorrow at his 4 month appt. (shots!) Actually, I think he's thinning out a little - staying the same weight but growing in length. Still a boob boy 100% (I work! It's amazing!)



Justin is doing good with him at home. They watch tpt (PBS) during tummy time and lunch, it's the only channel he'll let Jules watch.



"Come on dad, mom lets me watch Maury Povich when she's home."

Perspective

If you have cable television in Minnesota, then you have countless channels of cable access. (Tens of TENS!) We have one for Fridley. Guess what's on it? You name it. From the lunch menu at the elementary school that airs for about four hours, to the most recent city hall meeting.

(booooorrring. Actually, that's how Justin found out the Northstar Rail will start in November. He's all caffeinated up on it and wants to ride it the first day it rolls. Cause that's how he wants to roll, by train.)

Anyway, the cable access channels are something we hurriedly pass over when channel surfing. Because they ARE boring. But I feel bad. I remember when I was in school and parents would record our events. Band concerts, color guard performance, and... well... that's all we did. Oh, wait, I was in some musicals. I'm sure my parents have a tape of those somewhere. Anyway, if Friendswood had cable access, all those things would have aired on it.

Being past musicians (can we call ourselves that? We both played in College for some time. I'm gonna say.... yes, we were musicians.) and Drum Corps alumni, people always ask Jules, "You gonna be a horn player?"

I usually respond for him saying, "He can play anything he wants, even color guard!" (We're still waiting for his answer of course.) But the reality is, he'll probably take up an instrument. An instrument that we won't have any idea about (sax - oh dear, we BOTH hope not.). And he'll play it. Very, very badly for a few years. And we'll be forced to listen to him and 50 other out of tune players. And it will be on cable access boring others and they'll hurriedly change the channel too.

But, we'll do it because we love him and we want to encourage him to be the best player he can be. To be the all-star musician his dad, Aunt Heather and Uncle Joe are - me, I'm mediocre. Our parents had to endure us sucking it up for a few years before we started sounding "decent" (Well, Heather was the exception to the rule. That chick was 1st damn chair from year one. Always jealous of that.) They had to sit through countless concerts and then proceed to tell us we sounded great!

Although Jules is only *almost* four months old, I'm realizing all the stuff we'll have to endure - and possibly hate - is just part of parenthood.* And, you know what, I'm fine with that. Actually, I'm excited to see him learn, grow and excel at whatever he decides to play, instrument or not.

*It's still hard for me to realize we're parents. Parents are adults, Justin and I aren't adults, we don't feel like adults. I'm only 5 feet tall. Adults are taller and so are parents.

We've Been Waiting For This

This could be the reason for some recent fussiness.



And the real thing (it's been really rainy here and I didn't turn on the lights - sorry for the darkness. It was 4pm! Minnesota and your weird weather.):

800

We're heading to Duluth this weekend. I know, super exciting. Actually, it is. I've never been and if Justin has, it's been more than a decade (we're old enough now to measure in terms of decades). Really, the reasons I want to go are 1)I'm still new to Minnesota and want to explore 2) we like stay-cations, and 3)I saw some really cool stuff about Duluth in one of the MANY shows I've watched for work.

(Which, by the way, I've published over 800(!!!) shows - meaning I've watched almost all of them. Yes, this is my job and I get paid to do it. I'm becoming the go-to person if you want to know the gist of a show.)

So, if I may shamelessly plug my work, here are some shows you might find of interest - who knows, it might prompt a visit to Minnesota (Thanks Team Voltron!):

This is for Team Voltron: State Fair People, Summit Ave, The Gateway

I wish I'd gone up north (or Nort as some MN's call it) sooner. I'd be picking blueberry's at the Makinen Blueberry Patch.

I'll have to add this to our list of places to eat. Potica. But it's even WAY more nort than Duluth.

The Cider Man of Duluth - I need to bring him all my apples!

Hmm, this seems to revolve around food. I'm sure Duluth has more to offer. Let's see.

Bayfield isn't that far from Duluth - by boat. But seeing some of the best preserved lighthouses might be worth a boat ride.

Lock and Dam #5

On our way up, we should stop at Frank Lloyd Wright's service station. It's the only one he ever did!

I don't think we can go in, but maybe a drive by of Bob Dylan's childhood home would be interesting.

I could go on and on. 800 shows, remember? Looking for something specific? Let me know, I've probably seen it. And give me time, I'll probably visit it.

In the Land of Pop...

I said Coke and it was clearly a Fresca.

Memories

I can remember the first time I ate a french fry. I'm sure I had one or two when I was a toddler, but in my memory, it happened when I was either four or five years old. It was thick compared to my little fingers and very potatoey and I just about fell in love with them. I also remember them coming from a place with a girl who had red pigtails. My parents brought it home for us to eat and it was a treat because my mom always cooked dinner. After that, I'm pretty sure I wanted a french fry every day.

(Who knows when my love for bean burritos happened. I'm sad it wasn't as magical as a french fry.)

Fast forward 26 years or so. During my first trimester, I had dreams. Weird dreams. Dreams that revolved around Miller Lite. I couldn't HAVE Miller Lite and my mind was laughing at me, teasing me, saying, "You got pregnant and now you can't drink, so suck it up!"

Tuesday was our wedding anniversary (eight years, thank you). Almost one full year since my last cold Miller Lite. I ordered one with dinner. And let me tell you, it was like tasting that french fry all over again. The ice-coldness, the Miller Liteness, it was like I was tasting it for the first time (and this time really enjoying it). I wanted to chug it. But, we were having a somewhat classy dinner, on our anniversary with a baby sitting next to me. So I savored it, enjoying it with my dinner and cheesecake and that was it.



First Miller Lite post-baby. Tender.

3 Months

3 months already? Where did the time go? He's been the best baby, but 3 months, by far is the best age. He's very active. Talking, laughing (LAUGHING! It's so cute!), eating his hand, smiling at anyone who talks to him. He discovered his hands a few weeks back and not only do they taste good, but he realized he can touch things with them.



He loves taking a bath and it shows in all the splashing going on. It's almost like he doesn't know he's doing it but loves it when water goes everywhere. He doesn't like loud noise. No vacuum, cell phones at 7am, or Justin sneezing. He discovered the t.v. and is enthralled with it. This afternoon, he watched "Lord of the Rings: Two Towers." I told him it's a little too scary for him, but he insisted.

Jules' going through a growth spurt right now, but at his 2 month appointment, he weighed 12 pounds. I'm pretty sure he's 2 pounds heavier by now.




I think he's the cutest, happiest baby out there. I'm so glad he's ours.