Twice the fun

Cloth Napkins

2011-09-08T10:48:00.000-07:00

As part of my going green, I decided that I wanted to use cloth napkins. At the store they cost around $10 for a pack of four. I made all 20 of mine for $20. I used fat quarters in the same color family. That way as they wear out I can just buy another fat quarter and replace it. Super simple and easy to do. Also this saves me a bundle not having to buy paper napkins all the time.

17 Weeks

2010-08-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

"Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. The umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes are now topped by one-of-a-kind prints."

How far along? 17 Weeks
Baby’s Size: onion
Total Weight Gain: 11 pounds, doing better than with Sheridan
Maternity Clothes: Been in them since 6 weeks, they are way too comfy to not wear.
Gender: Don't know yet, but I have a feeling its a girl. James wants a girl, me a boy.
Movement: I have been feeling movement consistently for a week now. This baby is a mover and shaker
Sleep: Sleep, what's that!! I have really horrible insomnia. I am hoping it gets better.
Symptoms: Tired, pretty bad headaches, otherwise I feel pretty good.
Best Moments this week: Feeling the baby move :)
Food Cravings: Fruit, fruit, fruit!
Food Aversions: anything that is not fruit, I seriously have to force myself to eat.
What I miss: Not feeling so exhausted
What I am Looking forward to: The big ultrasound in September.
Milestones: None this week

Sheridan's a big brother!

2010-05-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just in case anybody missed my post on facebook, I am pregnant!!

This is such wonderful news. With Sheridan we had to do fertility treatments. We figured that we would only be able to have him considering all the costs involved. So we were pleasantly surprised to get pregnant on our own, and the first month trying. This little baby really wants to be a part of our family. We are feeling really blessed right now.

Welcome to Holland!

2010-03-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Holland!
by Emily Pearl Kingsley
I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this . . . When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guidebooks and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum, the Michalangelo David, the gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting. After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes and says, "Welcome to Holland." "Holland?" you say. "What do you mean Holland? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy." But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay. The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place. So you go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met. It's just a different place. It's slower paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around, and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills, Holland has tulips, Holland even has Rembrandts. But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy, and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say, "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned." The pain of that will never go away, because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss. But if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you will never be free to enjoy the very special, very lovely things about Holland.

Christmas Stockings

2010-02-28T09:27:00.000-08:00

I finally finished the cross stitching portion of our Christmas stockings. My next project to sew them together.
Sheridan's Stocking

Detail of Sheridan's stocking

Jim's Stocking

Detail of Jim's stocking

My stocking

Detail of my stocking

A Year in Pics

2009-12-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

A year review of my sweet little man. I hope you enjoy. :)

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Sheridan's New Cross stitch

2009-12-20T23:11:00.000-08:00

I finally finished Sheridan's other Cars cross stitch. I can't wait for him to see it in the morning. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, its dark here and with a flash it was causing a bit of a glare. My next project is my Christmas stocking, then I can put the finishing touches on all three stockings. I'll see if I can pull everything together and take pics. Enjoy :)

Decorated Christmas Tree

2009-12-06T15:16:00.001-08:00

We decorated our Christmas tree tonight. Christmas time this year has been so much more fun than I can ever remember. Getting to see Sheridan's little face light up about everything has been so much fun. I keep getting so excited to see his face Christmas morning when he opens his presents.

Sheridan helping undecorate the tree

Tree with the lights on

Tree after we removed the ornaments except the snowflakes. I was too worried about little hands and kitties.

The tree with the lights, the blur at the bottom is Sheridan running through

Video of Sheridan dancing while we were decorating the tree. Please forgive my singing in the background. :)

Christmas Tree

2009-12-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

I had been complaining non stop to Jim about not having a tree this year. When we moved we sold our artificial tree. It was just too big to move and we really didn't have any place to store it at our new apartment. Our tiny budget wouldn't allow for us to buy a real tree, so we were going to go treeless this year. Well after seeing Sheridan's little face light up when he saw the tree in the lobby of our building I decided that we had to find a way to get a tree. Jim ran to Rite Aid to pick me up some bleach, while he was there he found a artificial tree for only $20. Its 6' tall and the box to store it is very small. I can't wait to decorate it tomorrow, I'll be sure to post lots of pictures.

2009-12-01T14:48:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pixar Cars Cross-stitch

2009-11-13T17:57:00.000-08:00

As most of you know I LOVE to cross stitch. I have several finished pieces hanging in my apartment. I also am in the middle of cross stitching Christmas stockings for all three of us. I have Jim and Sheridan's done, I just need to finish mine and then I can start sewing them together. Well, I decided to take a little break from the stockings and work on a cross stitch for Sheridan's bedroom. When we were at Hobby Lobby I found two cross stitch kits for Pixar Cars. In case you didn't know, Sheridan is completely in love with this movie. So I finished one and just got it framed and ready to hang in his bedroom. I'll be sure to post pictures of the second one when I get it done.

Trick or Treat

2009-10-31T17:29:00.001-07:00

We took Sheridan treat or treating tonight at the Detroit Zoo. I was so worried that I wasn't going to be able to go. I was horrible sick all day, but at the last minute I decided to suck it up and go. I'm so glad that I did, we had such a great time. Sheridan got so excited when a flock of geese flew overhead. He also loved the big turtles in the reptile house. I think this was the first time in awhile that he didn't have a complete meltdown when we were in public. I guess when you're dressed as a pirate you have to act tough. :)

Art Easel

2009-10-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

We had been wanting to get Sheridan a art easel for quite some time now. Every where we looked they cost around $40-50, too much for us. While we were at Ikea we found a art easel for $15. I was very happy about that. It has a chalk board on one side and a wet erase board on the other side. There is also a spot to put a roll of paper for regular coloring. We broke it out today and Sheridan had a blast. He even brought over his step stool so that he could reach the whole board. I got out the camera and he decided to ham it up. I love that little face. :)

I didn't quite capture the look that he was making in this one. I swear he is totally related to his Uncle Mike.

Be sure to check out the video on the right of him coloring.

Slushes Anyone??

2009-10-17T16:52:00.000-07:00

One of the things I have missed from North Carolina is the Sonic that was about 10 minutes from our house. Well while we were out and about today, we came across a Sonic. Can you say slushy heaven!! Sheridan shared a slushy with daddy, I love how the container is almost as big as him.

Happy Slushy Baby Man

Gotta open big to get that straw in there

Sweet yummy slushy

Can you say yummy!!

Sheridan's Haircut

2009-10-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

I had been wanting to take Sheridan in to get his haircut for awhile. With his recent meltdowns about any little thing I decided to take matters into my own hands. Sheridan will not sit still long enough for me to attempt a haircut with scissors so I thought I would pull out the electric clippers that I use to cut Jim's hair. The number four setting always leaves Jim's hair fairly long so I thought that would be perfect for Sheridan. Well half way through I realized that super fine hair with a number four equals very bald child. He still looks adorable, but I miss his long locks. Needless to say I will be letting it grow out and leaving it to the professionals the next time.

I asked him to smile pretty for the camera. This is my new favorite photo.

This one I told him to look angry. This is what I got, he is so funny.

My little man

2009-10-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling really nostalgic lately. Sheridan is getting more and more independent with every passing day. I still get my daily cuddles with him, but then he is off to explore the world around him.

I was remembering the day he was born and the first time I held him. When Sheridan came out he was all red and screaming. The doctor briefly laid him on me, but he needed to be whisked away to be looked at. So it was another 1/2 hour before I got to hold him.

When he was finally placed in my arms he was still crying. I leaned over and said, "shhh, Its okay".

Sheridan's eyes got really big and he turned toward me. He stopped crying and looked at me in wonder. I still have a hard time believing that just the sound of my voice calmed him.I will have that image burned in my mind and I am sure it will never fade.

Laptop Time

2009-10-09T20:28:00.001-07:00

Sheridan loves to play with our laptops. James decided that he would give him a old one to play with. His new favorite thing is to climb on the couch and play with his laptop while Mommy or Daddy are on ours.

Sheridan and Daddy making faces

Don't mind the mess in the foreground. They are too cute.

Drummer Sheridan

2009-06-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

We were at Grandpa and Grandma's today. Sheridan found the paint cans and sticks left over from the remodel and decided that he wanted to be a drummer. It made me laugh that he did this all on his own. I know that he is going to a great musician. :) Be sure to check out the video on the right of him drumming.

Fun at the Park

2009-05-04T18:20:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at Centennial park. Sheridan loved being able to crawl around in the grass. He also got to see his first dutch dancers. It is great to live within walking distance to downtown. Tulip time will be so much fun to share with Sheridan and Jim.

Sheridan is One!!

2009-03-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my baby is already one. His birthday is the 8th, we celebrated his birthday today. He had so much fun, he loved all of the kids that came and he had a blast with his birthday cake. Thank you to everyone for making this a special day for our little one.

Sheridan with his Birthday cake

Sheridan opening presents

New Sheridan Video

2009-01-30T16:11:00.000-08:00

Check out the new Sheridan video under my videos. I finally figured out how to get them off the video camera and onto my laptop so I will be much better about keeping them up to date.

Snow, Snow, and Snow

2009-01-20T08:15:00.001-08:00

We woke up today with 3 inches of the white stuff outside. This is unheard of for North Carolina. So we took Sheridan outside for his first time in the snow. He was clearly unimpressed with the cold wet stuff. In fact we stayed outside for a total of 2 minutes.

Our sweet furbabies

2008-12-23T15:23:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we had to give up our two dogs Kiki and Lana. Today Nox, our Bengal kitty, left for his new home. This has been a really hard transition for our family. We have gone from having seven animals to four kitties. This spring Ebony will be going to live with her grandparents. Which will knock down our numbers by one. I miss these sweet animals, I pray that our puppies will find a wonderful home. Nox is already going to a wonderful family. They are so excited to be getting him.
I apologize if this is rambling, my thoughts are all over the place concerning this matter. For those of you that don't know we had to move from our house to an apartment a couple weeks ago. We are only allowed two pets in our apartment. So came the painful task of deciding which animals had to find new homes. This hasn't been easy, but I know that they are all going to be in loving environments and I pray daily that the transition will be easy on them.

I want my two front teeth

2008-12-02T12:24:00.001-08:00

Well we made it home safely from our trip to Michigan. Sheridan and all of us had a blast. Poor little guy decided while we were there that he really wants his two front teeth for Christmas. He now has all four upper teeth broken through. I'm beginning to think he would like a steak for his first birthday, and with they way his teeth are coming in it might be a possibility.

Fun Hair

2008-11-17T08:44:00.001-08:00

I bathed Sheridan Saturday night and was having a bit of fun with his hair. I'm surprised with how much hair he has already!

8 Months Old

2008-11-09T14:21:00.001-08:00

Well we made it to 8 months. I still can't believe how time has flown. Our cute little man is sitting on his own, and up on all fours rocking back and forth. I think he will be crawling very soon. He is already wiggling his way around on the floor, so I have already had to do some baby proofing. I'm excited at what the next 8 months has to hold.

Sheridan all dressed up for church.

I will eat your soul

2008-11-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

In my many attempts to get a picture of Sheridan's new teeth this is what I got. Those two little white spots are in fact teeth. They are way above the surface and sharp! Now he is teething again and his poor upper gums are all swollen. It looks like he might get his two front teeth soon. Poor little guy just when he gets done with teething he starts all over again.
Oh in case you were wondering he was testing out his new found voice when I snapped the photo. I promise you he is not evil.

Barrett Look-alike Meter

2008-11-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Family photo sharing

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T15:23:00.001-07:00

Here is Sheridan in his Halloween costume. We looked high and low for a turtle costume. All we could find were toddler turtle costumes, so I guess he'll have to wait till next year for that.

Sheridan and Mommy (1st picture of us together since he was 3 months old!)

Sheridan and Daddy (He totally has daddy wrapped around his little finger)

My pumpkin!!

2008-10-31T03:55:00.000-07:00

I turned my back for a second and I found Sheridan all draped over his pumpkin. It was like he was staking his claim. Hope everybody has a super fun Halloween. I'll be sure to add pictures of him in his costume.

We've got toofers!!

2008-10-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

Sheridan has his two bottom teeth coming in. This is not the best picture since he kept biting my fingers. Hopefully I'll be able to get a better one when they come in all the way.

Daddy time

2008-10-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Sheridan was having fun hanging out with his daddy. He looked like such a little man that I had to snap a couple photos.

Your daily dose of LOL cats

2008-10-24T03:44:00.000-07:00

more animals

2008-10-20T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sheridan is doing so well with sitting on his own, although he still prefers to be on his belly.
He is doing really big push-ups, now if he can only get himself coordinated he'll be crawling soon

New Pictures of Sheridan's Catalpa Trees

2008-10-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe what a difference two weeks can make. Sheridan's trees are getting so big. The first picture was from the 6th of October, the second is from today the 20th.

Here I go again

2008-10-10T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well here is our new blog. Nothing to blog about today but wanted everyone to know they found the right place.