A SECRET SANTA QUILT.

merry christmas! i'm your secret santa!

i hope you like your quilt! i am not really great at sewing. i don't cut fabric in straight lines and i don't sew straight either. i've named your quilt a "hodge podge" quilt. i don't know if you saw online or not, but i've started an etsy shop. i wanted to keep myself busy with crafting- well, anything really. i've realized that it's something i need to do to stay content. i need to make. so i've made christmas cards and a print.

for december, i decided that i would make this quilt my monthly project. it is the "season of giving", so i'm not listing anything (this quilt) in my shop. now that you know a little bit about the background, i'll let you in on the story of the quilt.

when rorie was just 5 months old in the winter of 2012 i drove to the lincoln square area and picked up two garbage bags full of fabric scraps. i used freecycle and thought i could make something for rorie. well, i didn't. but i held onto the fabric and moved it with us to NH.

some of the fabric i used was from my old kitchen curtains in chicago.

some are scraps from jacobs crib sheets (stars) and my current kitchen curtains (newspaper).

there's a red sweatshirt material from a "camp squanto" sweatshirt whose original owner was my dad (it was falling apart).

other fabric is leftover from the pillowcases i sewed while pregnant with jake. i was nesting (little red flowers & green).

and lastly, there's fabric from the scraps of a dress my mom sewed for rorie when we were waiting for jacob to make his arrival.

the back of the quilt is an old fleece blanket i impulse bought at old navy when i was in high school in VA. both of my kids have spit-up on it (don't worry, i washed it!).

so there you have it...the story behind this epic "hodge podge" quilt that i made specifically for you,

my "secret santa 2014: out-of-towners-edition" (town=chicago-birth place of the burgh babes)

so merry christmas, again!

i love + miss you!

chelsea

p.s. i had my friend britta... if you were wondering who this was sent to.

OUR WEEKEND.

baby girl got her first taste of apple picking. we literally went ten minutes from our house to poverty lane orchards. it was the perfect distance away, had the best pickings, and was hands-down the easiest and most entertaining place for us on a saturday afternoon.

rorie was all about getting a "pumpkim" and picked the first little guy she could carry. and that's the one that currently resides in the playroom- covered in stickers, might i add.

we went to the first row of trees and picked apples from maybe the fifth tree. filled up a little bag and that was that. rorie was shaking with excitement when she saw the apples on the trees. she just couldn't believe it and she started laughing! it was really cute. the first apple she picked she ate right away and then wasn't really interested in picking anymore. haha!

my grandma was with us this past weekend as aaron was away at a men's retreat. it was so nice to have some backup! and she left us with a freshly made apple crisp. mmmmmm! 

we will definitely be bringing aaron to the orchard soon!

OVERDUE VISIT POST.

spent last night going through my draft posts. couldn't believe i forgot to click "publish" on these. i remember this visit well. grandma d and auntie hannah came to visit. i think jake was two weeks old? was cloudy and rained most of their trip, but it was nice to show them our new home. i also remember this is when thrush reared it's ugly head. i remember i wasn't very good at capturing moments during their visit. stupid thrush. oh well... i got a few. i think we're due for another visit.

sweet boy looks so tiny... and he's SO different now. he has a personality! which really makes all the difference. we are finally getting out of the "haze" of the newborn stage. and boy... it. feels. good.

MMM...MAMA! SLOW COOKER APPLESAUCE EDITION.

last week, after i had bought a 5lb. bag of apples at BJs, and the weather was cool and crisp... i decided to make applesauce with my kiddos. in all the stress of keeping jake alive and tending to my sweet&sour rorie, i needed a break to cook. i've noticed that i always feel a little better when i'm able to create in the kitchen. so i did.

the peeling took a while, but we were able to get into a good rhythm. jakey watched and did his little screeches as we worked. rorie and i snacked on the peels as i went and she was my official seed finder. she'd eat through the core and collect the seeds. it was really cute. so of course we talked about apple trees and planting trees from seeds and all that good stuff. and the applesauce made the house smell amazing.

INGREDIENTS:
a bunch of apples (i used my whole 5lb bag minus one or two)
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. brown sugar (you can add this or not...and i'm not really sure of the amount i used)

DIRECTIONS:
peel, core, and chop the apples. plop them and the water & brown sugar in the slow cooker. mix em up (i did it with my hands). cook on low for 7 hours. then blend together.

wa-la. done. homemade applesauce. and i wish i had a dehydrator or learned how to make apple chips in the oven... because a lot of the peels got wasted. i just couldn't eat anymore!

bring on more fall activities! (you hear that humid weather...stay away!)

THE GOOD, THE BAD, & THE UGLY.

THE GOOD:

baby boy smiles all the time. and everyday i'm so thankful that he's not sick like rorie was. he only fusses if he has a bubble or needs to eat or sleep. other than that he's smiling at everything. which includes smiling at absolutely nothing (so weird...why do babies do that?) and now he's full blown talking and having conversations. he's also super active and very strong, just like his sister. moving like crazy. almost figured out rolling over onto his back...eating his hands constantly. he gets super smiley and then bashful, which is the cutest thing ever! i'm already proud of the little man we created.

as a family, the summer has been great. lots of family and friends. LOTS. lots of traveling for us. a bit of relaxation at camp and touisset. it was just great. we are slowly getting into the swing of things at home and making new routines and grooves. hoping to make some friends and maybe get out more?

baby girl had a fantastic summer. and it ended with her paci's being taken away from her cold turkey. day one there was screaming and crying at nap and bed. day two and beyond... nada. really glad that it wasn't a big to-do. she will proudly tell you that there are "no pacis in MY bed".

aaron and i are not as tired as we were two months ago. (but we are still tired. see the "ugly" section).

rorie says "arts and craftses".

baby girl has almost 100% potty trained herself. she decided to do this the week we went to camp (so fun! nope not at all)...and we haven't really looked back. she also often sleeps dry at nap and overnight. not sure how that happened, but i'll take it.

baby boy is growing like crazy pants! having our first baby not put on any weight was rough, so every morning when i pick him up i am amazed at how heavy he is! and long! he's not a chunker, but he's very tall and has filled in quite nicely. i think he's around 13 pounds? rorie hit that mark around 7 month... and that's just crazy to me.

my last visitor is here: my bro bro, sam. and i love every minute of his existence in my life.

photo by Kelsey Stevens Photography.

THE BAD:

we've had three bats in our apartment. not cool. i captured one. aaron the next. and the third... i called 911. seriously. i'm home alone at 2:30am with two kids. my two year old wakes up right after i feed and get the two month old back to sleep. i walk to her room and the third bat is swooping in the living room right outside her room. i race through the door and i'm pretty sure i yelled "crap". but i can't really be sure because my adrenaline was pumping at that point. rorie was crying about wanting milk? she never gets milk in her bed... but she has a water bottle, so i gave that to her and left- hoping it would do. i ran to my room to put my figurative big-girl pants on and a hoodie to protect my head. ran back to the living room and balled up a blanket and began swinging. by the third bad i no longer wanted to let it free outside. i wanted to kill it. long story short. i became unbearably exhausted and i didn't know what to do. i just knew the bat needed to go. i called the only people i knew would come to my rescue no matter how silly it was- the police. and the nice policeman saved the day just in time for jacob to wake up again to eat and then not go back to sleep. i was very tired the next day.

jacob is sensitive to caffeine. enough said.

THE UGLY:

i absolutely hated saying goodbye to my mom, dad, and gracie this summer. for some reason i've been ugly crying like my first semester in college. i miss them so much. trying to pull myself together, but also letting myself be sad... because it means i love them so much (:

my children are on opposite schedules. the days and nights i'm alone with both of them are very hard, but it can only get better right? i mean, "going to bed" at 9pm, getting up almost every hour some nights, and always starting the day at 4am doesn't really make for an easy start to the next "day"... lets be real. there are no days. it's one continuous day that hasn't stopped yet. my two have a nice nap together in the afternoon that seems like it's pretty consistent, but after that they are on total opposites and i feel like i'm a chicken with it's head cut off (plus i'm watching game of thrones and now i'm picturing lots of severed heads. people's. not chickens. yuck). so my day usually begins at 4am. that's when #2 wants to eat and become unburpable. literally has unending burps. which means he won't go back to sleep until 5:30am. which is when i can finally change my probably soaked from spit-up pjs, pee, wash my hands, lay down, pull the covers up, and listen to rorie yell to me that she's awake from the monitor. see how it doesn't end? i think they're testing me.

thrush. if you don't know what it is you can read about it here. i'm putting this in the "ugly" section of this post because it was ugly and long lasting and really tested my limits as not only a mother, but a human being. it absolutely sucked. jacob and i battled it together for a whole entire month...and it can and might come back. which sucks again. right now i don't think we have it, so it could go in the "good" section. but i'm still mad about it, so it's staying here.



and there you have it... the good, the bad, & the ugly with two kids during the summer of 2014.

and i just noticed photos of our cats are in the right side bar...yeah... they are still alive.

OUR RAINY THURSDAY MORNING PRE-8AM.

dress-up in her bedroom // a view of our porch // rain, rain, rain // none of my clothes fit // typical coffee table

yep, it's not 8 am yet. and yep, the house is already a mess. but that's ok. we need to stay busy because it's day 2 of rain and day i couldn't even tell you of being sick. rorie is back to her normal self. she had a 3-day stint with a fever, but she's fine. i'm on week 2, but i'm over the worst of it. luckily, aaron was home for a few days when i was at my worst. i really credit saline sinus rinses, a raw honey, lemon juice, coconut oil, and cinnamon cocktail, hydrating, and R.E.S.T.

i think this is my first sickness i haven't used ANY medication... and i'm going to tell you... it hasn't been that bad. i had maybe two rough days and one really bad day, but that was it! i suggest trying it. it's much less stressful than popping pills and trying to schedule doctor visits. hopefully this tail end actually ends soon.

it's may! it's due date month! and NONE of my clothes fit. no, none of my maternity clothes fit (see picture above). grrrr... i remember this happening with rorie, but it's still chilly here... so i can't just live in my shorts and dresses. those are the clothes that DO fit me. go figure. oh well. baby boy is extremely active and it's clear that he's running out of room. we are getting really anxious to meet him!

what are you looking forward to in may?

OUR WEEK AND A HALF IN PICTURES.

the above pictures really recap our last week and a half. overall it was great. i'm really starting to fall in love with our new town. it has a lot of great little shops and restaurants, a free bus system, and our neighbors tell us about the great things to come when it gets warm. like a farmers market, kids activities, and bands on thursdays. i can't wait for that! we've gotten a bank, signed up to be members at the local co-op food store, tried a church, and have ventured out to kid playgroups.

aaron worked his first 12 hr shift. we haven't had him gone during the day before because he only worked nights in chicago. it's weird that i prefer the night shift... but i do. he might actually be on night shift after orientation is completed.

the weather has been beautiful and rorie and i have gotten out a lot. it's been nice to use the stroller again. we've started to go to a library playgroup. little lady loves the library. we go at least 3 times a week and pick out new books and a movie. her first trip to the library was complete sensory overload. not only was it the first thing we have done with other little kids, but it was the first time we had been to the library. she was bonkers. running everywhere. excitedly taking books off the shelf. she could NOT focus on one thing. everything was new and exciting... and then her first structured playgroup. sit in a circle and sing a few songs, then sit for a book, then play with toys. our first time there we only got through the songs before rorie had to leave. she also did not sit for the songs. and not for my lack of trying. it's kind of hard when mama no longer has a lap for you to sit in...so i don't really blame her. plus- she loves music and dances to it constantly... so that's exactly what she did. i was that mom who just lets her kid run around and be crazy. but i'm also that pregnant mom... so what do you expect from me? all the parents were chuckling at my dance-in-your-face child... and then she got overwhelmed when a kid next to us had a snack and she didn't and started screaming... so we had to leave in a fit of tears. don't worry... our second try at the playgroup was more than successful. we did leave about 10 minutes early... but that was because i was really hungry for lunch :) haha. true story.

we've been busy getting our house put together. two rooms in our new house are peach...trying my best to make our stuff work with peach. trying to fall in love with peach. it's actually looking pretty good in rorie & jacob's room, so that's a plus. i'm excited to share our place with you soon. 

we are getting ourselves ready for the summer guests and our new baby boy... who we are told is head down now! phew! i was actually a little worried... but he seems to be in a great position to make his appearance in a month and a half!

next week we will travel down to touisset to be with my grandparents and cousins for easter. i'm very excited to be back in RI and just have some quality family time. it's been a while.

OUT MY BACK WINDOW.

i'd like to take a small minute to look out my back window. the first picture was our view from our third floor apartment in chicago. the second is our current view in nh.

there's so much i love about the bottom picture. i love that it's light that early in the morning. i love the colors of the trees. the way the houses look so old and worn. and the power lines are just perfection. mmm... i don't miss our chicago view at all.

have a great weekend everyone!

ADJUSTING.

i've been going through the worst emotional roller coaster lately, but more on that later. i don't really want to even think back to the happenings of last week. i will in time... but for now... i'm moving on.

today i'm thinking about our sweet boy. we went to our new midwife last week and they think he is transverse or sideways in my belly. at this point... we want him to be head down. so think plummeting thoughts for him.

i've been looking at a lot of freezer recipes. i'm trying to find things that are dairy-free for the most part or paleo... since that's my preferred way of eating anyways. i've been doing really bad not eating dairy during this pregnancy. and i've been paying the price... but cheese and ice cream- it's just so good. i stumbled across this article about why cheese is so addicting. makes sense... dang cheese. anyways, i have had some very good luck with slow cooker recipes, muffin recipes, and a bunch of other goodies. i'm going to get started on a few to freeze later this week.

i've been doing a lot of unpacking and trying to get the house in order. rorie and jacob will eventually share a room and it's finally coming together as it is in my head. which is nice... since that hasn't been the case for the whole move here.

rorie and i are adjusting to life here as well. we really miss our friends back in chicago. she talks about sadie and eden often. which hurts my heart. thank goodness for letters, skype, and texting. my aunt, carin, and cousin, maggie, came over this weekend and rorie just soaked up the play time with maggie. i think we are in need of a playgroup... it's on my large to-do list.



now i'm going to rest... and eat a donut. did i tell you my neighbor is a donut shop? it's heavenly.