Melted Crayons!

Ok so this is the first time I've attempted this. I used up Dominiks broken crayons that he had already peeled the paper off of. I lined my mini muffin tin with paper liners as I've heard the wax will ruin pans. I baked at 250 degrees for 10 minutes. I think they turned out great! Hopefully Dominik likes them!

Pinterest

Well I am slightly addicted to pinterest and I try and do at least one thing that I have pinned a week. This week we made sidewalk paint! It was so easy!
1/4c cornstarch
1/4c cold water
Food coloring
That's it! I divided that between 3 small containers, so I made 3 colors. Dominik had a blast and so did I! I might try and incorporate it into some fancy kid photography some how (also another Pinterest idea).

Love Pinterest

So my biggest time suck lately has been Pinterest. I'm slightly addicted to finding cool things. Well today I was able to try one out. I shall call these newspaper nails. I used white polish, once dry I dipped them in vodka and then pressed newspaper on them. Voila! Newspaper nails. I like them, something different than a normal manicure.

And....HE'S 2!!!

Well our little man is 2!  I can't believe how fast time has gone.  Seems like just yesterday I was waiting for this huge child to come out of me and after nearly 12 hours of labor we were able to meet him!  Our lives definitely haven't been the same since!

Dominik has definitely blossomed in the last month with his language skills.  He is putting together phrases like "Hi, mom/dad" "Ready, set, go", and "one, two, three".  Still loves asking questions like "what's that?" and every kid's favorite "why?"  I figure he's saying on the upside of 30-40 words.

He is also continuing to be HUGE.  He is currently in size 3T and wears size 9 shoes.  His measurements at 2 years were 33 lbs, and 35 inches tall.  I think he just might be a future Husker lineman :)

Dominik also loves to draw lately.  He is very focused and you can barely interrupt him.  He know where I keep the paper, pens, and crayons so he feels free to grab them whenever he can.  Our kitchen table has only had a few casualties with pen, but not a big deal.  It was used when Bruce bought it.
Also turning 2 has brought along some unsettling things.  Dominik has been having night terrors every once in a while.  Two weeks ago it happened 4 nights in a row.  It has happened once since then.  Dominik just starts sobbing in the middle of the night, sometimes screaming.  He's asleep still, so we just try and calm him down as best as we can.  One night it was really bad and Bruce had to stay next to him for a couple of hours.  I talked to the doctor and she said stuff like this happens when they get "off schedule".  I didn't think that we were too off schedule with anything.  Anyways, she said that the best thing to do is just sit/lay with them until they calm down.  Hopefully he'll grow out of this fast!

Dominik loves playing with cars and racing them with all of the new toys he got for his birthday.  His favorite is a fold up race track where 2 cars race down a hill.  He'll line them up and say "ready, set, go!"  We are also working on teaching him the fine sport of bowling.  HIs Aunt Julie, Uncle Mike, and cousin Gabriel got him a Cars bowling set for his birthday.  He prefers to use the pins as a bat to hit the bowling ball with, so we've got a few things to work on! 

tool set from Grandma and Grandpa A



new bike from Grandma and Grandpa L

 Now for the most important part you've all been waiting for....the party!  We had such a good time.  We had about 20 people in attendance.  We lucked out and it turned out to be a gorgeous afternoon so we were able to be outside!  I loved creating his birthday cake.  It was so simple compared to the craziness I did last year.  Also the kids loved eating it along with the Lego Man pops.  Even those were a hit with the adults!  If you are ever looking for ideas, I got most of mine here: Lego Birthday Party.  She had very good ideas and even gives some templates for you to use!



Lego cake and square mini cupcakes

Sneak preview

Here is a teensy preview of Dom's birthday party tomorrow. It's going to be totally awesome-sauce. Be jealous.

Oh Christmas tree...

Well I was able to put up our tree yesterday. Despite only being decorated from the middle up (to avoid any Dominik hands destroying ornaments-hopefully!) I think it looks beautiful!
Anyways, while I was decorating the tree I came across these two ornaments that I made in 1991. That would make me a 2nd grader, 7 years old, almost 8. My classmates and I made these at St. John's. Our priest, Father York, always made baptism candles so he had wax readily available. The wax used to smell of pine (green) and cinnamon (red), but of course the scent has disappeared after 20 years! These ornaments made me think of all of the ornaments I've made throughout the years and still have on my tree. I'm very glad my mom kept these and I hope to be hanging these on my tree for years to come!

Still waiting...

Well we are still waiting for this little girl to make and appearance. She is still early, but I believe that I am ready to meet her and hold her close. I had a doctor appointment today and there was no change from last week. Very frustrating. I'd like to think that I want to naturally go into labor, but maybe inductions are just how I roll :).
So in the meantime, I've been crafting away. Hobby Lobby is my best friend. Bruce is about to kill me with all of the stuff I've made, but its all useful, so I can justify it :). I've made t-shirts, onesies, tutus, and of course crocheting (when I feel like it). I'll post some pictures soon!
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We have an artist!

So I've been trying to think of new things for Dominik and I to do during the day. So I decided to buy some art supplies. I purchased a huge pad of paper, some marker things that look like Weebles (Weebles wobble but they don't fall down) for easy grip, and some finger paints. Now given that Dominik is a genius, I bypassed the age suggestions-paper and paints 3 yrs+, and weeble-like markers 18mo +. I've found he doesn't really "get" the markers, wants to tear up the paper, and doesn't know what to do about the finger paint. Well this morning, it was raining, and we were bored, so out came the art supplies. The picture is the first attempt with finger paints. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Also note, the paper is ripped because Dominik thought it would "add" something to the painting. Quite the Picasso!
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updates galore!

I had quite the busy week despite Bruce being in Omaha for work. Wednesday evening I had child birth prep class and my friend Jamie was the lucky one I got to take instead of Bruce! We watched some videos, looked at some items that help break your water, a catheter, an IV bag, and a bunch of other things. It was like show and tell :) After our show and tell session, we went on the hospital tour. I wasn't too thrilled that Bruce was out of town for work this week since the hospital tour is probably one of the most important things, but we had actually been there before when our friends Nik and Melissa had their daughter Savannah. Now the key part is to see if Bruce actually remembers anything about when we visited them....that is yet to be determined. So Jamie and I trek along with our group touring the hospital. We saw where you register/check in (I've already pre-registered for delivery, so that should save us....oh 15 minutes or so). We saw the area where you go first to make sure you are actually in labor which was kind of a strange area, behind a bunch of closed doors. Oh well, hopefully I won't be spending too much time in there. From that room, we went to the labor and delivery suites. Yes suites. These rooms were HUGE! Granted, everything does take place in there and there has to be enough room for everyone, but still. They have a couch/futon thing that turns into a bed for Bruce. And they also have, 40" (I'm guessing) flat screen tvs. Pretty fancy shmancy. Everything was nice and clean and not hospital like at all. From there, we went upstairs to the nursery. The nursery isn't very large because they encourage "rooming in" so your baby will be with you the whole entire time. After the nursery we went to the post partum suites. These were exactly like the labor and delivery suites, just a bit smaller and less equipment in them. It was a good tour and we are going to try and see if our instructor can do a quick overview of one this week so Bruce can check everything out. On Thursday I had a dr. appt. I met with Dr. James. He was kind of strange and I'm glad I didn't choose him as my OB. But for all of those worrying about H1N1 out there, I DID get my vaccine at that appt. So hopefully I should be good now. I've had both the seasonal flu and the H1N1 shot. If I get sick, I will be royally pissed off! haha. On Friday, Bruce came home. It was good to see him after being gone a week. We bottle beer and then went out to eat and then watched a movie. It was a nice little date night before he had to get back to working his 12+ hour shifts. Oh and our friends Anika and John had their baby boy! Congrats to them. Now it's getting me very excited for when it is our turn! Yesterday, I was quite the busy girl. Waking up early, I made pumpkin muffins/mini loaves/regular loaves. Take your pick, I have them all! I bought a can of pumpkin, well the large can and didn't have a recipe for the bread yet, so when I found a recipe, I was able to make it 1 1/2 times! Thank goodness I can freeze them. I was also being crafty yesterday. I finished my Halloween costume. Pictures will be posted after Halloween, I want it to be a surprise. I also made a hat/coat rack for BBA, it's super cute, now I just have to get Bruce to hang it up. Now on to today. Well I slept like crap. I hate being able to only sleep on my sides. My hips are starting to ache and it is just plain hard for me to find a comfortable position. Grrrrr. So I was up early, and ran to Wal-Mart. I've decided that my "nesting" thing is kicking in because I bought more baby hangers (so I could get rid of the crappy plastic ones that the clothes come on). I bought some special laundry detergent for babies. I went with All Free and Clear. I read this is actually supposed to be better for the baby than the Dreft that everyone advertises. I figured I would give it a try. Plus then I can just use it for all of our clothes too! I also picked up some less glorious item for my hospital "to go" bag. I bought some "crappy" (and by crappy I mean not Victoria's Secret) undies since word on the street is that you'll ruin a few pairs and why would I want to ruin my nice ones that I already have?? I also picked up some nightgowns...moomoos if you will. hahaha. No they aren't that bad, but they do have a few buttons at the top so it will be easier to breast feed in the hospital, plus who wants to wear a hospital gown anyways? So I grabbed two. I'm not really attached to them so it will be ok if they get ruined for some reason. After my trip to Walmart, I came home and the nesting has really begun. I've decided to start washing all of the baby clothes/towels/etc. So I snagged everything out of the closet and dumped it on the living room floor. I am being a good mom and I read every label and sorted the clothes into piles depending on how they need to be washed. I came up with 4 piles. Lights-wash warm, Darks-wash warm, Lights-wash cold, Darks-wash cold. I also had to sit and snip off all of the price tags too. So now I'm just sitting here waiting for the laundry to get done so I can then go back and hang everything up. But this time it will be ready for BBA! Going to try and snag a quick nappy. I'm tired.....