Memories: Bad Weather

This morning we had an awful thunderstorm. It was lightning real bad and we could see it through our shutters even though they were closed. The thunder was extremely loud. It has been a long time since Wiley and I experienced something like that since England doesn't have much of that. Arianna slept all night until this started happening, which was about 4:50am. Wiley was awake getting ready for w

ork, so when she woke up I just brought her to our room with me. We laid there while we watched and listened. The lights even went out. The funny part was that every time it would lightning, Arianna knew the thunder was coming right after. She would start giggling then would bury her head in my armpit with her bum in the air. I really do think it scared her even though she would laugh about it. She went back to sleep once it calmed down a few minutes later. When she woke up at 9:20am, I had coughed. She thought it was thunder. She did the exact same thing - giggled and buried her head in my armpit with her butt in the air. It was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing, but I tried to explain to her that it was me coughing and not the bad weather. Then she pops her little head up and says, "OH!" like she realized it was me and not the weather. Things like this is what makes being a Mommy so amazing.

A's Favorite Books {19 Months}

A loves to read. I wish I would have started doing this sooner, so I plan on back tracking through her favorite books during different stages of her development.

I will start with what her favorites are right now, then go back and post on ones at different ages to keep for reference with the new baby to see the differences and the similarities.

I always read to A from the time she was born. Every night before bed, I would read her a short story. As she got older, she started playing with the books. Then when she was old enough, she started bringing the books to me. Sometimes she would sit and let me read to her, but other times she was just bringing them to me for the sake of bringing them to me. I think they go through different stages and I believe every child at some point and time become very curious about books as long as they are within their reach and in their life.

Now that A is much older, she is loving her books. She will flip through the pages herself and just look at the pictures or she will bring them to me or Mr. Man to read to her. I love to watch her pick out a book because it shows what she is interested in that point and time.

Here are her most "go to" book right now.

"Where is Baby's Belly Button" by Karen Kate
This book is such a good book. At first A was not interested in this book. It is a lift the flap book so I thought she would be in to it earlier than she was. When she was 18 months, she recognized this book and always brought it to us. It caught her eye because it had a baby on it and she is really into babies. She has been knowing most of her body parts since she was about 15 months old. The basics like - ears, nose, mouth, fingers, toes, hair, tummy, heart, teeth and so on. But this book helped her to recognize her body parts as a whole and introduced her to her belly button. She now knows her hands, feet, and so on. She understands that her belly button is a part of her tummy.

"I took the Moon for a Walk Last Night" by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay from Barefoot Books
This is the first larger book that A has become interested in and will actually sit and listen to the whole thing. I really love Barefoot Books. I have bought a lot of books, and I have bought from several different publishers. Nothing will top the originals, but for more modern yet classy books every parent should check out Barefoot Books. This book is a story about a little boy who takes the moon for a walk before bed. It talks about where they go, what they see, and what they do together.

"I Wish I were a Pilot" by Stella Haskamp
This book is also by Barefoot Books. It is about becoming different things in life from a pilot to a race car driver to a cowboy and more. This book has been a favorite of A's for a few months now. It's small and a board book, but it is also interesting and big... grows well with them. A really loves transportation things, like cars, bikes, boats, etc. This book includes all that. The end of the book also shows all the things they discuss in the book. This is the first book where I tested her by asking her where each thing was and she surprised me by pointing every single one of them out. The weird thing about it is that they do not use the words for the pictures in the actual book. For example, it talks about traveling on sea. It shows a picture of a boat, but it doesn't actually say the word boat yet she knew it was a boat and found it in the last page.

"Eight Silly Monkeys" 
This book is the story of the monkeys jumping on the bed. It's not just about jumping on the bed. It uses eating, tumbling, dancing, and so on. It has a variety of versions, like with lady bugs instead of monkeys. We were given the monkey version and A loves monkeys. She also loves the song so this has also been a favorite. It introduces her to numbers, too.

"Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman
This book is her second book that is larger that she will sit through. It is also a hard back with regular pages. Not a board book. It is much longer than "I Took the Moon for a Walk Last Night". She loves it because of the bird and talking about his mother. I am surprised with this book because I really thought this would be one when she was much, much older. Again, it was a gift.

Internet and Settled

We have finally settled into our house. We have been settled for about a month; however, we have been without internet. The Italians definitely take their sweet time with doing things that need to be done. I have felt so lost the last month without internet. No way to find addresses to go sightseeing or to find places to shop for things we would like for the house and so on. It's been very weird.

However, I must say that it has also been relaxing. I have not had to worry about drama or the randomness that life sometimes tosses out at you. We have been able to enjoy being a family and doing outdoor things. Mr. Man would come home every day and play with the baby while I cook, then we would watch a movie together.

Speaking of... A is really into Mickey Mouse (which she calls "Mouse"), Elmo, and Shrek (which she says "Ek"). She can spot any of these from a mile away in a store or wherever we are. She was introduced to Mickey Mouse and Shrek through some books she has, so then I introduced her to the shows since my Mom had gotten her some for Christmas last year. Then Mr. Man introduced her to Shrek. She has watched a lot of Disney and kid movies over the last month. She's not big into the TV though, but when she wants to cuddle that is what she goes for.

I have a list of things that I want to write about here to keep as a keepsake. From our travels to things that A has been doing to how we spent our Thanksgiving and more. The list is really long, and I am not sure I will ever catch up without having to post multiple times a day, so I apologize in advance. Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon of the growing pouch and the A.

Pregnancy is also going really well. I had my 28 week appointment and we discussed the 22 week scan. They found a spot on the heart, so they ask that I do another scan to see if it is still there. I guess it is a common thing, but normally fades away by 28 weeks. I have that appointment in a week. Then my 32 week appointment and so on. Sugar test went well. I had fruit punch flavored drink this time, and it was awful. With A, I had the orange and I actually enjoyed it. Weird. Other than that things are good, and we are finally getting settled and starting to feel normal again. This has definitely been one of the longest, most exhausting PCS's of life. Of course, I have only moved 3 times..... with many more to go - I'm sure.

So here's to updating. Hope it isn't too much for any of you! And I can't wait to start catching up with everyone else!! :)

Organization?

I thought that if I was going to share our journey through moving, decorating, and organizing our new home then I should probably have a more organized plan instead of jumping around so much.

My plan is to share before and after pictures of each room.

I will always link any additional posts on the house through the posts  so you can reflect if there is more than one parts. I know the two girls' rooms, playroom, and craft room will have multiple parts as there is a lot I want to do to them.

I will start out by sharing you the amount of rooms to get an idea of how it will flow.

I plan to do the basic parts of the house first, then start the official decorating in A's room, then the playroom, then Baby E's room.

The layout of our house has these rooms:

Upstairs:

Entry Way
Living Room
Dining Room/Kitchen #1
Baby E's Room
A's Room
-- First thoughts and ideas
Parent's Room
Bathroom #1

Downstairs:

Kitchen #2
Laundry Room (probably no post on this)
Extra Room #1/Bathroom #2 - used as a "dressing room"
Extra Room #2 - used as an office/playroom
Extra Room #3 - used as a craft room/pantry/storage
Downstairs Entry (not sure about a post on this)
Garage

So of course, I started with some basic ideas for A's room, so I linked it above. I will do the same for each room as I do this.

We officially move in on Monday, so I may not have internet for a bit. During that time I will be working in the house and taking pictures/videos along the way! :)

Soon I will have another series started on our preparation for the holidays. This will mostly be focused on Christmas, but I may do something for Thanksgiving as well. This will be more for A in understanding and enjoying this holiday season!

Inspiration for A's Big Girl Room

So I wanted to do a progress series of our new house. I did a preview video of the house - a basic walk through  once we decided on the house. There were still things in it from the landlord and it was somewhat of a mess, but it was worth it. We showed it to our family and close friends and shared our ideas of what we visioned the house to look like.

There are two large bedrooms. One is the master bedroom that does not have wardrobes in it. In Italy, the houses do not have built in closets. Instead they use wardrobes. The other bedroom, which is meant for a child does have two large wardrobes. One of them is for hanging clothes and the other is shelves for folding and organizing.

Of course, no doubt we thought the master bedroom would be ours because we have a lot of bedroom furniture. Well, Baby A actually has just as much now that she has a big girl bed. Her bed is smaller, but her end table, chest of drawers, and long drawers with mirror are just as big as ours or bigger. We decided that since the two babies will have little hang up clothes that she can have the one with no wardrobe and we can hang up her clothes elsewhere. There are tons of options for this.

As soon as I knew she would be getting a big girl bedroom set, I began searching for bedding. Her bed is a twin size bed, so I went through so many different websites to find the perfect one. I knew I wanted something with paisley or damask. I found the perfect paisley set at Pottery Barn Kids.

The bedding is absolutely perfect. It fits her personality perfectly. She's soft, laid back, independent, and easy going. I knew I didn't want any characters or animals or anything like that because I wanted to make her feel big and grown up. But I also want to keep the room fun and exciting. After all, she is still a toddler.

I will get to the inspiration parts of it at the end of this post. What I wish I could do, what will most likely be done, and so forth. Right now, it's a guessing game until we actually get our things in there and set up.

I decided nothing hanging on the walls or as little as possible. I knew I wanted it to be elegant and classy - but still fun.

I thought over her bed I would put her name. I found 4 wall decals that I really like, and I am still having a hard time deciding which one I prefer. Any suggestions? Here they are:

A little backdrop on these. Before I knew we were having another girl, I decided that A's room would be very elegant and classy. I thought I would incorporate the damask wall decals in order to achieve that. However, after researching options for Baby E's room I decided that she will have the damask theme. I have pulled the damask wall decals out to save for her room for options. So 1, 2, or 3? I have them listed in the order that I like them, but I need more opinions!

I plan on having two canvas's hanging on each side. One of her newborn picture, then we will get another with her two year pictures.

Next comes the thought of a girly, yet "grown up" quote for her room. I thought I would put this over her vanity if I ever got her one, or just on a blank wall. Here are some that I found:

I originally really, really, really liked the first one. I was in love with it. But then I felt like it may be too much and too big. So I went back on the hunt for another one, and I felt the second one fit more of A's style since she is her own little girl. So tom-boyish, yet so girly. A good mix of both and still beautiful. Again, undecided.

These are the more specifics that I have for A's room. I plan on taking pictures before and after it is set up to share. The rest of my thoughts and decor will be done in a combine post for both of the girls' room (A and Baby E).  

Fall Inspiration {Tutus}

As most of you know, I recently started up a page for all my creations. I have come across some adorable thoughts, so to google I go for images. I rarely use someone else's tutorial because I like to look at the pictures and get inspired with my own creativity and call it mine.

With Fall here and Halloween soon arriving, everything is covered in the fall colors, flowers, scents, and so forth. With that, I have thought of some adorable ideas for tutus (and other DIY's). I thought I would share some of the pictures here.

This post will be of things I could see putting Baby A or any other adorable little girl in for a pumpkin patch or fall pictures. I'll do another one of costumes I have thought of.

All pictures were found from google.

Scarecrow:

Turkey:

Pumpkins:

Candy Corns:

Fall Colors:

I can't wait to get moved in so I can start making more things!

Baby A is a Big Girl:

Once we found out we were pregnant again, we knew we needed to start working on transitioning Baby A to a big girl bed. A big girl bed and a new sibling meant it was time for her to become a big girl - on her own time of course.

Through all this transitioning with the PCS, she has naturally settled into new ways. All for the best, too. She sleeps in large beds without railings (pillows stuffed around her) and all by herself. She's always slept by herself, but never in a big bed by herself. She decided she was too big for the bottle and now only drinks from a sippy cup. Then she began starting to only lay down on the side of us to fall asleep instead of having to be rocked.

All of this was so wonderful because -
1. It was time for her to give up the crib. I never planned on moving her out so early, but I did plan on having a baby again this soon. After we thought about it, I had decided that I really didn't want two cribs in the house with Baby A being so close to two years old when this baby is born. With that said, we invested in her a new bedroom set before we PCS'd so we would have it to set up for her in her new room in our new house.

2. I never thought about weaning her off a bottle. She never took a bottle her first year since I nursed her until she weaned. When she weaned, we started giving her cow's milk. I thought it was normal for children to take a bottle until they were 2. I know some babies who never take bottles because they are never interested and some who take a bottle until they are 3. Once I got pregnant, I knew it would be nice to have her off the bottle but I wasn't going to push it. Especially with all the new transitions and moving. It was just easier to give her what she knew rather than try and take it away when there was so much going on. Well while we were home on vacation, she decided she just didn't need it anymore. One day she stopped taking it and never went back.

3. She use to always be rocked to sleep. I always had my recliner in her bedroom because it was where I nursed. It was nice and convenient since I never had her in our room with us except for the first week and a half when she was born. It was nice because I could fall asleep with her when I needed and sleep with her in her own room if I wanted. It was great. I knew I needed to put the recliner in the new baby's room. So during our time traveling and moving, we were without a recliner in her room. With that said, she has now learned to just lay down and fall asleep. I never ever thought it would happen this soon.

So here we are with moving her up into being a big sister. Not because we forced it on her, but because one day she just decided herself. Now she is interested in the toilet and has sat on it several times since we have arrived here in Italy. Of course, I never dreamed she would be potty trained before 2 so I am definitely not pushing it. She lets us know when she wants to sit on the potty and that is that. Some days she is more interested than others... and some days she isn't interested at all.

Next we can move on to the inspiration and ideas of her new big girl room!