Sleeping Beauty

I have a sleeper on my hands.  It's such a blessing!  I have been asked SO many times by other moms, or new moms how we conquered the sleep issue with Kenwood.  I just recently have been communicating back and forth with a friend of mine who has a little guy that is having some sleeping issues and it brought a lot of things up that I always took for granted or didn't realize I was doing. So, I thought I'd write a blog about how I think we got such a great sleeper.

Worn out at the zoo this summer, sound asleep in his stroller:

I am a HUGE advocate for On becoming Babywise...some reviews don't like it, but as far as I know, everyone who has used it, recommends it-including myself.  As a new mother a year ago, I had so many questions and so much stress on what to do right, when he should eat, what to expect, how long he should be awake, how could we both get some SLEEP!  It was such a relief to have the book as a guide to remind me each week--and later monthly, what to expect and how to handle it.  Now, I didn't follow as strictly as the book sometimes suggests--but I definitely followed the basic principles that were laid out.

Kenwood's schedule was a consistent sleep-eat-waketime since he was about a week old, we never let him eat before bed (except for the late night feedings--I have to admit at about 10mos he got a bottle in bed...BAD mommy) so after a few weeks of consistent routine, he had learned that when he was tired it was time to sleep rather than time to eat.  One of major misunderstandings is to feed your baby before bedtime, but at the age they are the only thing they learn is the association with eating and sleeping.  So, when baby wakes up at 3:00am screaming they expect milk before they can go back to sleep...while if a babywise baby wakes at 3:00am, they will likely not cry (unless they need something) and put themselves back to sleep because they know HOW.

Once the sleeping routine was down pat, Kenwood was napping routinely and sleeping through the night at 9 weeks....if we ever had hiccups, I looked at the book.  Guess what?  Most babies have these same sleep challenges at about the same point in their lives--so the book addresses what the cause MAY be. Growth spurts, not long enough waketime, time to change from 3hour feedings to 4hours, switch from 3 to 2 naps, etc.

Another thing we did was put Kenwood in his crib for all sleeping at 2weeks.  After a year of sleeping in his crib, he DIVES for it when he is ready for bed.  He LOVES it.

Anyway, today Kenwood goes to bed at 6:30p consistently and wakes up around 8:00a.  He takes either 2, 1.5hour naps or one long 3 hour nap.  I couldn't ask for a better sleeper!

So, if your about to be a new mommy or you have a little one already that hasn't established a sleep routine--I highly suggest this book.

Losing the Weight

It truly is the most wonderful thing to be a mother! Unfortunately, along with the blessing comes 9 months of gradual weight gain that is, for some of us, difficult to get off! I gained far more than the average or "suggested" weight gain of 25-35 pounds, I actually doubled it at gaining 65 pounds in my pregnancy with Kenwood weighing in at 207lbs the day I went in for delivery.  Holy Moly! I have NEVER had a serious problem with my weight so I was never too concerned when I was pregnant, hoping that my metabolism would snap right back into place afterwards.  Well, my metabolism did NOT snap back into place! In fact, I felt like it didn't change at all from my pregnancy! I was just storing and storing and storing the food I ate into fat. I have been extremely self-concious the past 14 months because of my weight. And being by far the heaviest I have EVER been and I vow to myself to never hit that mark again!

If you've read some of my past blogs, I blogged about the Biggest Loser competition we are doing in my family.  If you haven't heard about it, here's a recap-each member of my family entered a $50 entry fee.  Starting January 5th and ending April 5th the person with the highest percentage of weight loss wins the whole pot of money!! Thats like $450! Then, 2nd place at least gets their $50 back.  It's motivating, to say the least.  That is a lot of money! And a lot of bragging rights in the fam! (which is priceless!).  So, Dillon and I have taken this competition very seriously.  For me, the seriousness of the weight loss was more along the lines of my self confidence than the winning.  If Dillon and I want to have more children, which we do, I have to get down to my goal weight first.  It doesn't make a lot of sense to some people, but if I can change my habits NOW I feel like they will continue through my 2nd pregnancy (when it comes to that) and I won't let myself gain as much weight next time around. 

I am feeling so much better about myself these days!  On January 5th, 2010 I weighed in at 171.0lbs.  As of today, I have officially lost 21.0 lbs! Do you have ANY idea how good that feels?!!  My goal weight is 135lbs(about 5lbs less than I was on my wedding day), and I have another month and a half to get there! So, please keep me motivated and accountable!

Alot of people of commented on my and Dillon's weight loss (he's lost 35lbs) and want to know what exactly we are doing. 

Here is what I'm doing:

Eat no more than 1200 calories/day--just calories, I don't worry about sodium, fat content, etc.

Exercise if you want to or when you need to--which I don't...but if I eat more than 1200 calories, I force myself to burn off what I went over.  Dillon works out, so he can eat more.

Weigh yourself everyday at the same time (I weigh when I wake up..it's the lightest I am all day!) on a scale that weighs to the .0 -- you'll be amazed by the satisfaction you get just losing .2lbs!

Log your calorie intake and calorie burn.  I suggest www.sparkpeople.com  they have an iphone app thats free too so you can log your calories as you eat them!

 We do give ourselves "cheat" days on occasion--we feel like if we didn't eat what we WANT on occasion, this diet thing would burn out REAL fast!  We can't be TOO strict on ourselves, or it wont work.  Actually, more times than not we LOSE weight on our cheat days!

Hope this answers alot of questions for everyone! Here are some pics of us throughout our relationship...look at that weight change! O MY!

This is Christmas 2004....

Spring Break 2005

Wedding Registry Summer 2007

5 months pregnant Summer 2008

HEY FATTY! 8 months pregnant...wow.

Stay tuned for all my "After" pictures in April!

You spend the first 2 years teaching your kids to walk and talk....and the next 20 teaching them to sit down and shut up!

I know this is supposed to be a "family" and "parenting" blog, but I really haven't blogged much about that little angel of ours! So here's an update!

As of today, Kenwood is now 14 1/2 months old.  Running...not walking anywhere and everywhere.  He is starting to get into the stage where he wants to play WITH somebody at all times and entertaining himself is no longer a long-term option.  Kenwood's nap schedule is craziness as of lately, it really just depends on the day.  Sometimes, he has a short morning nap from about 10:30-12:00 and then from 3-4:30 and sometimes he just takes one long nap from about 11:30 to 3:00 (I like those days best!)  Regardless of his naptime, he goes "nighty night" at 6:30p every. single. night.  and wakes up anywhere from 8:00a-9:00a....it's glorious!!

The little rascal has been REALLY into books the past few weeks! I have no idea where this came from.  I used to try to read to him but I couldn't get him to sit still for 5 seconds...now we read about 10 books, 10 times over and over again.  Dillon and I are going to buy him a big boy reading chair this weekend (hopefully) and a bookshelf  or book bin to keep his books in, so he can sit and read his books like a big boy (not really read, but look at the pages).  His "Mimi and Donald" got him a book for Valentine's Day that has their voices recorded reading the book to him...it's excellent because that one he can listen too on his own! YAY! Don't get me wrong, I love love love reading to my little angel, I just get so sick of the same stories over and over again....I guess it's just a TASTE of what is to come!

This is his favorite book right now....it was my favorite when I was little:

Kenwood has also entered the stage where he is starting to throw a fit. NOT. FUN.  It is SO hard to just ignore him because the whining is super annoying, so in my midst of horrible parenting I usually give him what he wants.  But, we're working on that.  I'm trying to figure out some sort of discipline for his age that he will understand.  If I spank his hand, he laughs and thinks its a game....if I raise my voice, he does it more because whatever it was that he did got a reaction out of me. Timeout doesn't really work because he forgets what it is that he did. Thankfully, we've finally got all the cabinets "baby-proofed" so there hasn't had to be too many "NO's" or discipline for that matter in the last few weeks, but I am sure there are more to come!

For instance....he dumped a WHOLE bag of Tostitos on the floor of my kitchen...but look at that face!

And our laptop is broken now, because he is VERY intrigued by electronics (see the remote there too?)

Another stage that Kenwood has discovered is music. He LOVES music.  If there is a song on a commercial he will drop everything and start dancing...he has the rythm of his father, I'm sad to say. But it is dang cute. I love babies dancing!

This was a dancing reindeer santa at his grandparents house that he danced with for a good 30 minutes.

He also LOVES to play hide and seek.  I hide around the corner, or behind the couch and he comes to find me...then I pop out and yell "BOO!" and he jumps, scared stiff, and then starts laughing so hard he can't stop and turns in a dead run the opposite direction until I hide from him again.  It is pretty much the most adorable thing you've ever seen --if you don't have your own kids :) 

So, there's an update! I love that munchkin very very much! He is the light of our lives.

Sick Remodel Randomness

My whole world is spinning around with a million things going on right now!

First things first...I just got over being sooo sick you can not even imagine! I was certain it was food poisoning, but low and behold now my mother has it along with one of my friends.  So, I'm thinking it's safe to say there is a stomach virus going around---so here is me being motherly-- WASH YOUR HANDS!!  I am telling you, you do NOT want this bug unless you want to rid your body of everything that is in it...I'll let you use your own imagination.  Gross.  With that said, THANK GOD I am feeling better!! And millions of thanks to my hubby and mom (and everyone else who offered) for helping with the little munchkin while I was on my death bed!  I am back to life! Coincidentally, I felt better on Ash Wednesday....For those of you who are not familiar, Ash Wednesday begins a forty day period during which Christians remember their sinfulness, repent, ask God's forgiveness, and recognize that God's forgiveness comes at an infinite price -- the death of Christ on the cross on our behalf.  Well, let me tell you I was literally begging for forgiveness of whatever I had done because this sickness was obviously some sort of punishment! Except, I'm pretty sure it was punishment from cheating on my diet and eating chicken fingers (which, by the way I'm never eating again)....but still--I begged. And guess what?  God answered my prayers! I'm all better!  


Secondly, and totally off subject, we got some new stuff done on the house this week! (in my time of turmoil)  New concrete work! Yippee!! Advanced Concrete did a flippin' (I gave up cursing for lent...hopefully I won't start back up) darn good job on our front porch!! We did a "wood" stamp with a dark stain.....it looks AWESOME-if I do say so myself.  

We are also getting a new knotty alder door and shutters for the front...another transformation! Yippee! The door will look similar to this one, without the windows on the side and the shutters will be knotty alder board and batten with the same stain.

Thirdly, I went to the dentist --totally off subject again--(Dr. Hancock) today and he fixed a cavity that had corroded (or something like that)  How flippin' cool is it that they re-fill cavities with WHITE now instead of that nasty silver metal color that screamed "HEY! I have a cavity!".  Legit. Oh, and it helps that my best friend is a Dental Hygenist there so I get to chat it up when I see the dentist.  It's the little things in life.

Fourthly, --I know this could be like a tenthly long blogpost-bear with me-- our contractor came over today to finalize our Master Bathroom plans!! whooo hooooo  (ps they might start next week!) I cannot even explain how superbly pumped I am about not sharing a bathtub with my little munchkin anymore!

  I just can't bear the thought of him peeing freely in the bathtub where I'm supposed to be able to relax and have peace and serenity....

Here are some things we POSSIBLY decided on today:

Paint Color:  Whale Gray-Benjamin Moore

Wainscoting (Beadboard) Height:  56" (essentially chest height)

Mirrors: Beveled frameless --this is so the wainscoting can go around the entire bathroom and not have to be stopped for a mirror...also we decided against a matching frame for the mirror to not make the bathroom too HEAVY--this will make it more spa-like than country-like.  Think: Classic

Cabinetry:  White lacquer with a glaze in the creases ONLY...I don't want them to look dirty! The wainscoting will be glazed as well:

I ordered my bathtub too....here it is (with brushed nickel instead of chrome)! I know. You're jealous. It's ok, I would be too.

Okay, fifthly, and finally.  I promise.  I think. Oh darn....I can't think of anything else! Lucky! I'm sure I'll have more soon. Until then. 

The month of LOVE

February is a very important month in the Orr household.  Our Anniversary, Valentines Day, and my dad's birthday all fall in the month of February.

Our anniversary is February 2nd.  Two years ago, I married my best friend and the love of my life.  Our first year of marriage was packed full of alot of surprises.  We got married in 2008, and this is what 2008 entailed for us: our wedding, our first house, getting a surprise pregnancy 5weeks later, the diagnosis of my Daddy's pancreatic cancer, the passing away of my one and only Grammy (she was my best friend), the birth of our 1st child, and the passing away of my precious Daddy. WOW--all of that in one year?!  In our first year of marriage we faced some of the toughest trials we will ever face as a couple.  Needless to say, I didn't think we would ever fall in love MORE than we were.  I was wrong. After celebrating our 2nd year of marriage, I am confident that our lives together are just going to get better and better.

February is also the month of Valentine's Day, which Dillon and I have never really celebrated all that much to be honest!  One year he got a room at a bed and breakfast...that was wonderful, but it ended up being totally awkward because we could hear everyone walking around the house..haha.  Last year, I'm pretty sure we forgot about Valentine's day because we went to the lake for the weekend.  And this year, we don't have big plans---probably just hang out with the little guy and wear red :) Our anniversary present to eachother was the bathroom remodel so I'm pretty positive that combines Anniversary and Valentines!

I however am super excited to celebrate Valentine's Day with my baby boy.  On Friday will be Kenwood's very 1st Valentine's party with all his best friends.  I can't wait to see all the kids (and my mom friends) play and celebrate this holiday of LOVE! Here is the Valentine I made for Kenwood to give to his friends at Mother's Day Out and his Valentine's Party....I know, it's probably a little too much--but I get excited about this stuff!! I must not get out much....

This will be the 2nd year that my dad's birthday passes by without him here.  It's TOUGH.  But, the family still gets together to "celebrate" in his honor.  Last year we went to Dad's favorite place, Eischen's, and put back plenty of fried chicken and beer.  This year will probably not be Eischen's though due to our Family Biggest Loser competition--it's not exactly diet food!  But, nevertheless we will celebrate in some way.  Miss you Pops.

Wishing everyone a month full of LOVE.

Bedroom Complete!

Well, I got my fabric in at the end of last week! How exciting!! They sent me the wrong main fabric for the living room, so it should be getting here tomorrow.  But, since I had all the fabric for the bedroom I started (and finished) the pillow covers and the curtains!

This is the BEFORE...Can you see why I couldn't wait to change that green and gold combo?! YUCK!

Here are some pics of the finished product!

Please excuse Dillon's hat on his nightstand...and the clutter of my Bible and study material...but you get the gist!

Here is a close up of the pillow covers....I stress the word covers because I change my mind so often that I made these interchangeable.  There is a button enclosure on the 2 large pillows and the small envelope pillow, and the middle standard pillow just has an envelope backing to stuff (and unstuff) the pillow into the cover.  It also helps save tons of money because pillow forms are expensive themselves...why not just cover the ugly ratty pillows you already have and save $50!

Behold, the "semi-custom" curtains that are so sadly hidden by our dresser! Essentially, I bought pre-made brown taffeta curtain panels (which may I add were only $20/each and matched our previous bedding PERFECTLY) and sewed a custom-look valance of my coordinating fabric onto each panel.  I opted for rings to clip the curtain into place because of the fabric weight differences between the two...the clips also give a nice pleat look without the extra sewing! Saved me time and money.

You may have noticed these little touches in the first picture.  These His and Hers are SO easy and add a little touch to your Master "Suite" --mine are to prove that HIS side is dirtier than HERS when guests see our room :).  Anyway, before they had a green plaid matting (to match the previous decor) so I just switched to a light blue to keep a little of that accent color in our room.  If you want to make these, just go to Hobby Lobby and get a 12x12 frame (I got these 1/2 off!) and a coordinating piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper.  Then print His and Hers in a font you like onto a piece of white/cream cardstock...tape them together, frame them...and VOILA! Cute cute accents for any room or bathroom!

Can't wait to get my living room finishd now!! Here is a sneak peek of some of the new pillows for my favorite green leather chairs:

This is what I meant by an envelope back...you just slide your pillow in, flip it over, and you have an easy pillow cover without comprimising the pillow inside or the prettiness of the pillow!

MORE TO COME..........

Room Makeover!

So,  I suck at finding the time to blog because usually when I'm on the computer I'm either checking mail, facebooking, working, or online shopping! Speaking of online shopping....

For awhile now, I've been really getting the itch to change some things up around my house.  Since I can't really re-arrange the furniture (because theres not a lot of options that work with our space) I needed to do something else.  We have this HUGE bow (not bay) window in our living room that gives a great view of the lake behind us...but being that the window is a BOW (a half-circle with no angles) it has been nearly impossible to find a window treatment option.  The closest I got was having a drapery company come out to the house to measure for a custom rod....a rod with that curve at the length it was would be a minimum of $8000!!! WHAT?!!  So, guess what?  We never put any curtains up! Not only did we never put curtains up on the bow window, we didn't put any up anywhere...just the wood blinds give us our privacy. BORING.  Custom curtains are expensive...not as expensive as custom rods...but they can get quite pricey! So, good thing I know how to sew!  So, Wednesday I went to a few fabric stores to try to find some fabric for my new project...no such luck...especially not on my budget! I had to find the perfect color schemes, because so much of our stuff is dominant in one color or the other...see explanations below. Then...I found the mother-load!! Fabric.com!! So many choices, discounted prices, aka awesomeness....I got online last week and picked out some new fabrics for our living room curtains and throw pillows for the couch, and new fabrics for our bedroom curtains and throw pillows....now I'm just waiting for the fabric to come in! Here is a sneak peek at some of our fabrics! I'll have another post once the project is completed!

Living Room:

Our living room has a lot of green...we have 2 hunter green leather chairs...and a few distressed green furniture pieces, so I had to incorporate a green tone in there somewhere....right now, it's lots of dark greens, bronzes, and reds with chocolate brown leather furniture and brown paint...I needed to soften and lighten the room a little bit, which i think the sage and teal do. I love love love the green leopard chenille.

Bedroom:

Our bedroom was a little simpler, but still hard. We have a solid chocolate brown comforter, shams, etc...but we have these really expensive sheets in gold and cream...and the current colors are gold and green...so my new fabrics had to have brown, gold and cream b/c I did NOT want to buy new sheets!  Also, our new bathroom is going to have a grey paint so I needed something that would compliment that also...tough choices.