Swaps, Amis and Iced Coffee

I haven't been able to post much between needing a new router (we had no internet), having no usb cord to upload pictures.....and taking naps with Ethan instead of posting lol.

We're moving on the 15th! The place is AMAZING! It's huuuuuuge compared to this place, 3 bedrooms (1 downstairs though which sucks), townhouse style, a FULL SIZE dishwasher, it's just awesome. We couldn't be more excited!

I created a prototype for a White Chocolate Dipped Strawberry drizzled with Strawberry Cream that I'll be selling in my Etsy shop, but it's not exactly perfect. I don't like the wave in the white chocolate (I thought I would) and there needs to be more area that's dipped. But here is a picture!



The "One Tiny Sea Creature" Swap from Craftster is also complete, so I can post pictures. I crochet "Willy the Whale" pattern from Shop With Denise. The pattern didn't include any information on yarn size or hook size...so it took me 2 attempts to get the whale down to a smallish size! I normally use a G hook, but it's still bigger then I wanted. I wish I knew what size hook she used to get that cute little whale. I also crafted a starfish out of felt, fishermans netting and embroidery pearls.....and eh it didn't turn out how I wanted. I was kind of rushed and I couldn't get the starfish to glue together all the way...but it's close!





I was super spoiled by my partner, Rippledwater! She painted a box with my username on it, and inside is a sculpy octopus with stitch markers of my favorite sea creatures! It's amazing and I love it :)



This is totally random but here is a great iced coffee recipe:

- 1 tsp instant coffee
- 6oz warm water
- 1 tbs vanilla pudding mix
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tsp sugar

Mix the instant coffee with warm water, then add pudding mix and stir. Add the milk and sugar with some ice and drink up! It's so good, no need for me to run to Starbucks now when I need ice coffee!

Mall Trip!

I took Ethan to the mall yesterday, and it was so fun! He was really well behaved, by that I mean he would sit in his stroller haha and he seemed to have a good time. We got him a couple of new clothes from the Childrens Place:

Links because I didn't have time to save/upload/crop etc:

Jammer Shorts in charcoal gray $8
Surfing Festival Tee $7.50
and pirate themed footie jammies that I couldn't find on the site $6

I should of gotten a couple of pairs of those jammies while they are on sale! But I have a flat tire right now that needs to get fixed. I had only gone into that store once but never bought anything and I didn't even realize how cheap it was! I was expecting it to be expensive like Gymboree, so now I'm addicted LOL.

I had actually gone in to get him this surfer hoodie, but they didn't have any hoodies in store! :( I haven't decided if I will buy it online yet, he has 1 maybe 2 hoodies that are big enough to last him through summer.

Forever 21 has some amazingly adorable necklaces online right now, which I LOVE because wearing necklaces keeps Ethan occupied when we go out! I actually went in to see if they had this mermaid charm necklace




which of course they didn't, but I did finally get some stud earrings! I never ever get to wear earrings anymore since all I have are dangles and Ethan pulls on those. ouch. So now I can wear them again woohoo!

After awhile he was getting kind of antsy so I let him out to walk with me, he was just pushing the stroller basket with me and looking at all the people. He did keep getting distracted by the mall directory, he loved all the colors lol. The only store he actually tried to go in was Victoria's Secret! I don't blame him, it's colorful and pretty in there. Ethan did get excited when we passed some bras in Motherhood Maternity though haha. On our way out we stopped and got a Orange Pineapple Coconut smoothie to share yum!

There isn't much I'll need for the new baby (unless it's a girl and I'll need a meeelllion cute little outfits because they are so fun) but there are a few things that I didn't have the first time around:

A shopping cart cover. They are expensive for what they are! But I do wish I had one, Ethan biting on the shopping cart is gross, and sometimes the carts are really hot or wet so I always put a blanket down anyway. Plus if I could attach toys in it maybe he would want to stay in the cart instead of walking around!

A video monitor. Yes we are only in an apartment so I don't need a sound monitor, but it would be great to be able to check in on them when they are sleeping to see if all is good. It also would of been a lifesaver when we were sleep training Ethan to see if his fussyness was normal or if it was "Ahhh I'm stuck in the crib slats!". Opening the door ALWAYS wakes or disturbs him so I think a video monitor is a must.

A remote control crib mobile. I had one that you had to wind up and it only lasted 3 minutes, plus it was really boring. I've heard a lot of good things about the Tiny Love Classic Mobile and the Fisher Price Ocean Wonders Mobile. This time around we will have more crib time so the baby can get used to it.

Swadding blankets! We never really swaddled Ethan because he seemed to fight it so much....but maybe we were just doing it wrong. I think swaddling will also help with not wanting to be on me 24/7 like Ethan. Not that I didn't love it, but I'll have Ethan to take care of too! :)

I'll also need a double stroller, and a new infant tub (I think ours was missing a piece anyway, it never worked to well).

That's all I can think of for the moment since we still have Ethan's infant seat, Pack n Play (which the baby will sleep in until Ethan is old enough for a toddler bed or the baby outgrows the PnP), and little items.

I have my next doctor appointment on the 28th and I'll be around 17 weeks so hopefully I can schedule my ultrasound then!

Death of a computer.

My computer is slowly dying.

Piece by piece.

It started a few months ago....first, the sound went out. Then my copy of Windows wouldn't authenticate so I couldn't download Windows updates. Then for some reason I have to allow EVERY program that tries to run when my pc starts and any program I try to start up.

Then I couldn't watch my home videos without a huge error in the way, and viewing my pictures doesn't work sometimes.

Now I cant get internet.

Luckily I have Craig's PC but still....mine's pretty new and still under warranty. So we are going to try reformatting and if that doesn't work, well then it's up to Craig since I don't even know where the computer was bought hah.

Tomorrow is my cousin's high school graduation party...and I'm excited because I'm taking Ethan swimming! I have a feeling I'll be in the pool aaaaallll day. This time I'll remember to put more sunscreen on since I still have a slight burn from the beach on Memorial day weekend.

BUT that also means I have to do one of the most dreaded things ever......buy a swimsuit. I had a fine tankini that served it's purpose, but now doesn't fit since I haven't lost all of the baby weight from Ethan yet. So I thought I'd go to Motherhood Maternity and check out there maternity suits since I'll be pregnant all summer and we have a pool at our apartment. I hate wearing swimsuits so this is not going to be fun. But I'm doing it for Ethan so he could have a good time so I have to :P

I joined a "One Tiny Sea Creature" swap on Craftster that I should get started on. I wont say to much just in case my partner reads this....but I am loving the idea for this swap since I can make something tiny and cute in a quick amount of time when Ethan sleeps!

Speaking of which, I need to go get some housework done since he's napping!

I'll take a vallium mocha latte to go please!

Ethan is (hopefully) down for a nap, he's not crying yet so we'll see! If he is...ahh...I can nap too. I don't know how much longer I can raid (on World of Warcraft), we raid every Friday/Saturday night until about midnight. It's a ton of fun but Ethan wakes up at 6am and I am just to exhausted all day then. We've tried playing with his bedtime so he hopefully wouldn't wake up so early....but nope, it's pretty much between 6am-6:30am every morning.

*remembers the days when he slept until 9*

*also remembers when he stayed up until midnight*

I think I'll take his 6am wake up instead lol.

How awesome are these Star Wars Cookie Cutters?!


If I knew anything about piping royal icing I would consider getting them for future Ethan projects (birthday cookies at school? :) BUT...I have no idea how to do that. I can barely frost a cake. So I'll just have to live vicariously through Flickr pictures.

My little garden is doing great, nothing is dead yet! My African Daisies aren't looking the *best* but I think they need a bigger container, and Ethan kinda fell/smooshed into them so I'll re pot them soon. My pumpkins haven't grown yet but it's only been about a week...and my coneflowers never sprouted. I didn't actually think they would because none of my seeds sprouted last time either. I'm dying to plant my Fairy Eggplant Hybrids but I'm waiting until after we get back from Memorial Day weekend/grandpa's 80th birthday in Laguna. I'm going to have to get some of those Aqua Globes so my plants to get to thirsty, I saw them at either Walmart or Home Depot for $10.

What I'd REALLY like to do is get a mini/cheap/handheld drill at Walmart so I can drill holes in the caps of water bottles and then I can make my own little irregation system! I'll have to see what I can find at the store. I saw at walmart.com they had one for $20, but I think it was online only.

My aunt mentioned giving me her AeroGarden! I guess she doesn't use it anymore, but that would be awesome! They are way to expensive to buy, but I've always secretly wanted one. My husband says we don't have the room....but I'm the one who cleans/organizes the house, so I'll find the room :)

I'm worried that our new apartment wont get full sun though! Our current apartment has full sun ALL day. It would be very unfortunate if it was complete shade, I don't know what I would do. Also, I'm hoping that the new place will have room for my Topsy Turvey tomato planter! I've had it for like 2 years lol, but I have no place to hang things on our balcony here.

New Seedlings!

I was very surprised to see these have sprouted! It seems so fast, it was a week or less.

Carpet of Snow, I really could of cared less if this sprouted lol...I just had the starter seeds/pot from Buzzyseeds so I thought what the heck.



A sunflower! Of course it's one of the mammoth ones so if anymore sprout in that container I'll have to transplant them. I also have a dwarf "Sunny Smile" variety that I want to plant, but we might be moving soon so I don't want to plant to much....but we'll see :)



Here's an updated shot of my container garden, don't mind the black bed thing (I cant think of what it's called right now!) It will be moving in our bedroom today. That other big green container in the back is growing Jack Be Little pumpkins! ..hopefully.



I haven't been doing much crocheting but it seems some of the fatigue is passing so maybe I'll try tonight. I did have someone send me a message on Etsy about ordering a few beanies but they haven't replied in 2 days so who knows :)

Ethan has learned to open doors (joy), pretty much say "Elmo" and to grab his shoes when he wants to go for a walk. The only problem is he wants to go for walks all day long lol....the first thing he does at 6am is grab his shoes. I'll take him out later if it's not raining though.

Yesterday I noticed that you can hear a lovely grinding sound from our brakes on our car, so I need to find a way to take it in. It also needs an oil change and to get smogged so there will be big $$$$. My husband just wants me to go take it in....but I'm not waiting around with a 1 year old while they work on it...especially since maybe it would take longer then a day since we need all that done? So we'll have to figure something out.

You MUST try these recipes, I made them for dinner the other night and it was amazing!

Coconut Ginger Rice: I did add the juice of the lime to it and it was even better.
Southwestern Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Salsa: Instead of the chili rub, I used a Grillmates Baja Citrus marinade as a rub, and I bought store bought peach salsa. It was so good though! Ethan didint like it but it might of been to spicy for him.

Started my container garden!

Today Ethan and I had a few errands to run and I ended up picking up a couple more plants for my container garden! It's getting kind of big so once I receive my seed packets that's going to be it lol.



I've got sunflowers (mammoth is all I had), jalapenos, Early Girl tomatoes, African Daisies, Celebrity tomato, strawberries, echinacea, rosemary, sweet pepper mohawk, sweet peppers, and mint.

I'm waiting on:

Balloon Flower Astra Mix
Basil Red Rubin
Arizona Rainbow Cactus (hedgehog rainbow I think?)
Coleus in watermelon colors
Eggplant Fairy Tale Hybrid
Pumpkin Lil' Pumpkemon
Sunny Smile Sunflowers

After the shopping today Ethan was hungry so I went to McDonald's and got him a kids meal....all he will eat are the apples and the juice. He doesn't want the burgers or chicken nuggets ever, so I eat that for lunch lol. At least he likes healthy food! As soon as we got home he went down for a nap, I guess shopping is exhausting for him.....it's fun for his mama though :)

Things are still looking up for the new apartment, Craig's work just got a fax to verify he works there so she must still be doing paperwork. I seriously hope more then anything we get it! Ethan needs his own room, Craig and I are sleeping on a blow up mattress in the living room because Ethan is such a light sleeper.....and it sucks. The only thing I don't like about the new apartments is they seem all squished together and barely have balcony's/decks. These apartments are spaced pretty nicely, but I'm sure I'd get used to it fast! *dreams of having a washer and dryer in the apartment*

Mother's Day

Mother's day was great! Ethan of course woke up at 6:30 am, and Craig offered to be up with him so I could sleep in. But I surprisingly wasn't that tired, and Craig had a long stressful week so I just let him sleep in. I did go to sleep when Ethan was down for a nap though!

We went to Chili's for lunch and it's getting crazy taking Ethan to restaurants already. We ordered him the kids quesadilla, cinnamon apples and a milk. He ate only a little bit...all he wanted was Craig's garlic toast lol. Oh, and the Crayons. He loves to eat Crayons.

After lunch we headed to Home Depot to get some plants! I only got a few because it was freezing (it's mid May in California! Why is it cold?!) but I need to go back anyway to get bigger containers for my tomatoes. I ended up getting:

Mint
Strawberries
Jalapenos
Rosemary
2 different types of tomatoes

I also have some seeds germinating, hopefully they will do alright. Last time when I tried transplanting them I lost a few. So far I've got:

Alyssum Snowcloth (from the $1 Buzzy Seeds at Target lol)
Cilantro
Echinacea
Snapdragons
Sunflowers
Basil
Chives

When I REALLY want to get seeds for are mini pumpkins and dwarf sunflowers. Hopefully I can find them in store, I don't want to order them because then I'll end up ordering more then I need to "justify" the shipping LOL. It's "more then I need" because we will be moving sometime this year....hopefully before the baby comes!

Here is the start of my container garden:



For the blanket I was talking about in my last post, I ended up just going for an easier stripey one. Almost like the Seija Set in the Happy Hooker book. The colors will be the same blues and greens, here is an example of a Neapolitan Seija Set I made for my cousin.



I'm not in to huge a rush though since she's not due until September 16th! I have my yarn for my cropped cardi, and I've started to do the gauge swatch, but I've been so tired! During the day I cant crochet when Ethan is awake, and when he sleeps I either take a nap or clean. Or like right now, blog :). At night when he's asleep I'm also ready for bed so hopefully this fatigue lets up soon. The nausea definitely has...I feel so much better then I did. Luckily this time around it wasn't as bad as with Ethan, I was sick 24/7!