My "Positive Moments" - Finding out that I was pregnant with Penny and Ruby

I participated in a Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for First Response. I received product samples as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I became pregnant, both times, in June. This month holds a very special place in my heart because I'm reminded that it's the month that I became a mama. I am also realizing that I have been pregnant, breastfeeding, or pregnant and breastfeeding for 4 years! 

Finding out that I was pregnant was so different between the two girls! The road to becoming pregnant with Penny was one filled with uncertainties, anxious waiting and feeling like we hit a wall at the end of each month. We wondered what was God's timing on all of this? And then Miss Ruby happened right when we wanted her to. So incredibly different!

Penny's first positive moment came when I had finally given in to God's plan. We had given up on our own "timing" and relaxed. It would happen when it would happen. It actually happened on an afternoon where I was a week late and I begrudgingly took a test - sarcastically expecting another disappointing result of a few minutes of annoying, yet hopeful waiting. When that positive happened, I stared. And stared. And stared some more. Hold on, really? Am I reading this right? Like every other woman before me, I scrambled back to read the instructions that I had hastily tossed aside thinking that it would be obvious when the result came. And that first positive was ... well, unbelievable. I couldn't believe that this was that moment where I learned that I was going to be a mom! A few weeks later my first ultrasound confirmed it.

Ruby's first positive moment happened on our 4 year anniversary. We had my parents watch Penny for the afternoon and we went out for drinks and lunch. I had a little hunch at that time that I might be pregnant, but didn't really want to get my hopes up. But all through lunch it kept nagging at me and finally we decided to just go buy a test. No bones about it - I was pregnant and found this out in the bathroom at Target. The lady in the other stall probably thought I was really weird when she heard my squeal of delight, but got the message when we washed our hands and she saw me walk out with a beaming face and the pregnancy test box in my hand.

That moment when you realize that you're carrying someone special is unforgettable. The whole world ceases to exist and it's just you and your baby. When the time is right, I'm excited for our "someday baby" #3 and maybe even #4. 

Both times that I confirmed my pregnancies I used the First Response Early Result Pregnancy Test. The new design features a wider tip and a longer handle (no more worries about that special moment being "messy" - you've got lots of time for that!).  It detects all relevant forms of urinary hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) throughout pregnancy and is able to tell you if you're pregnant as early as 6 (six) days before the day of your missed period.  You can find out whether you are pregnant or not within 3 minutes with 99% accuracy - and two pink lines mean you'r pregnant!  First Response Pregnancy tests are easy to find; they are available at all major drugstores, mass and grocery stores for $8.99 - $15.99.

Tell me about your first positive moment with your children!

Catch the Moment: Week 15

A picture a day, for one year.

Again..life got the best of me and I am severely behind in posting my pictures. This week, for whatever reason, I am super mushy and reflective. Here's pictures of my life.

 This is another post in the making, which is regretfully also way behind schedule...but lately I've been partnering with my local women & children's consignment shop and I co-hosted our local Great Cloth Diaper Change event with Grow With Me Boutique. This year I've made it a goal to be present in my community; whether it's as a cloth diaper educator, proponent or encouragement to mothers.

This silly girl of mine. I thought that a 2 year old with a newborn was tough - but I've learned that 3 is even harder. Does it ever actually get "easy"? Probably not. But in the midst of the "no you're not"s and the bazillion questions, she sneaks in one of these silly little smiles and my heart just about bursts out of my heart.

 Lately we have been taking evening family walks, usually keeping the kids in our double stroller so that Adam and I can actually take a brisk walk and focus on conversation between each other rather than making sure that Penny stays safe from the quite steep drop into a creek that's next to the trail. On this evening, Penny gasps with wonder at the field of "bubble flowers," and wanted to pick some. These normally pesky weeds were seen as magical wonder in the eyes of a toddler, who picked each one delicately and presented me with a huge bouquet. She very quickly followed up with "ok, now let's blow them out!" and she blew with all her toddler might, pretending that it was nature's birthday cake. This memory I will treasure close to my heart, forever.

So this day was one where the trenches of motherhood were deep with sticky mud and I was just stuck. I try very hard not to complain about it ever, because in all reality it is such an amazing gift for me to get to spend this time with my children. It is a short season and one day I'll be an old woman who will look fondly back at it. But this day, I just had enough. Somehow my husband knew and he brought home an extremely special treat - a whole pie from our local boutique pie shop - Snohomish Pie Co. It reminded me that even though the days may be hard, my partner will always be at my side and will pull me out of the muck.  

 I guess this week is a very reflective week for me! We were hanging out in the backyard because again, it was an unseasonably warm April day and we had to take advantage of sprinkler time with popsicles. Miss Ruby had finally gotten over her aversion of grass so I was happy to watch her toddle around as she watched her older sister run and shriek through the sprinkler. Adam came home early that day and snapped this picture of Ruby and I. Sometimes it's so hard to come to terms that I am a mama of two, that I've been entrusted in the very important task in raising these girls.

While being a mom of a very opinionated, head and heart strong 3 year old can be hard, it has so many rewarding moments. Sometimes when I am upset with something silly, disobedient and ultimately not important, she stops me and holds my hands and just tells me how beautiful that I am. She compliments my long hair, or my pretty smile and great hugs. She thanks me for making a snack for her earlier that day, and strokes my cheek. Where did she learn this??? It stops me in my tracks and I take a breath to slow down my frustrated heart. On this day she had grabbed my camera and I was showing her how to use it and take pictures. She turns it over to me and says "now you take a picture of me. See how beautiful my shirt is?" This also stopped me and I tried to explain to her that it's not that shirt that makes her beautiful or worthy of a picture. Her sincere heart is just gorgeous to me, and I hope that it teaches me a lesson or two about what is important in life.

On the very rare occasion, Penny wakes up earlier than Ruby. Penny is so much like her dad, and their sleep habits are no exception. They could sleep in until noon if I (and Ruby) let them. This morning she creeped into my bed and whispered "can I give Wooby a kissy-kiss?" and ever so gently gave her little sister a kiss. She silently crept over to the other side of the bed and snuggled in on my other side.

Catch the moment archives

These aren't on Instagram, but most others are!

A Fairy-Dinosaur Party

Yet another post that has been a few months in the making! The girls celebrated their birthdays in March, and I'm just now getting around to filling you all in on the details. Whoops!

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Penny and Ruby shared their birthday celebrations again this year. Last year we held off on Penny's birthday celebration because we weren't quite sure when Ruby would be born (she was born a week after Penny's 2nd birthday), then we rolled together a "meet the baby" with Penny's party. We decided to keep the tradition going and celebrated them together again this year.

To give myself a few months of preparation I asked Penny (who would be turning 3) what kind of party she would like. She thought about this and very seriously responded that she wanted a fairy party with a "sharp tooth" birthday cake. We had watched the original Land Before Time and she was also quite in love with Dinosaur Train, so it made sense that this would be combined with the overall obsession with all things princessy that has lasted the last 9 months or so. And thus, the idea behind the fairy-dinosaur birthday party was born.

I wanted the party to be a memorable one for Penny and her friends. Alas, I'm not terribly crafty thanks to the wonders of Pinterest I was able to pull off a budget-friendly themed party by thrifting and asking around for most of our items.

First, I have to show you this.

Isn't she adorable? I talked to Carly when I was planning the party and she came up with this little cutie. I had a clay cake topper made for Penny's first birthday as well, so I guess this will be our first birthday tradition in our family. Carly's shop is full of different cake topper ideas. Once I found the little dino that I liked, she got the colors down and added the adorable touches like the little hair bow (which actually ended up being very similar to the hair bows that Penny and Ruby wore at their party) and even the little eyelashes for the final girly touch. There's a special shelf in my Sister Room that I have in mind to display these special treasures. Be sure to check out her shop for a handmade cake topper!

No party is complete in my mind without delicious food, so I made sure that our menu was catered towards toddler appetites, keeping a minimum on sticky fingers and messes as well as having a dinosaur theme.

On the menu - 

• Watermelon T-rex heads
• Stegasaurus eggs (deviled eggs with a twist)
• T-rex teeth (cheese triangles)
• Pteranadon wings (chicken wings)
• Corpolite (meatballs)
• Bronto Chow (veggie platter)
• Chips and Lava (chips and salsa)
• Primordial ooze cups - instead of traditional cake, I made dirt cups and added gummy dinosaurs on top. My husband made this awesome platter!

You've probably seen something similar floating around on Pinterest, but it's truly not that hard to make. Just make sure that the models that you use are solid and not hollow.

I also made this awesome paper birthday banner, which is the pinnacle of my craftiness but it came out really well! I learned a lot from making this one, so I think I'll try my hand at it again for different seasons or events.

The only other decoration that I used were thrifted dinosaur models, which I added tutus and wings to. A little bit of frilly pink lace, hand cut wings and hot glue did the trick.

Ok, I've talked about food (check), decorations (check), now for the fun, right? The weather was forcasted as an unseasonably warm 65 degrees, so I decided that we'd have a dinosaur egg hunt. It was about 3 weeks before Easter, so sourcing the eggs wasn't hard. We hid over 200 eggs in the yard and with almost 2 dozen toddlers in attendance, it wasn't a very long egg hunt at all!

My mom also painted a cute mural inspired by the shark birthday party that we were invited to last summer.

We ended with a little birthday song and more fun time with friends.

Can't wait to see what next year's theme is!

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Disclosure: I received product in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Catch the moment: Week 14

A picture a day, for one year.

oh my gosh you guys, I totally messed up the numbers on this week. Oh well. 

Thunder Chicken is one of our favorite stuffed animals. But here's the question that plagues all chicken owners.. hen or roo? 

 There's a beautiful tree on our daily walk that blooms strange purple flowers. Penny asks to pick one each time, and this time we discovered her favorite creature inside.

 My husband loves old BMWs, and our "new" addition is apparently very special. We got together with other local e9 owners for a meet up and a drive. The owners hashed over where to get the parts for this 44 year old car and compared the unique features between these handmade cars.

 It's partly intimidating, partly really awesome to drive the e9! It's like taking a step back into history.

 We had our two favorite besties over for a playdate while their mama interviewed. I couldn't get over the adorableness of a 4 year old, 3 year old, almost 2 year old and 1 year old playing together.

 I shopped at the Just Between Friends of Everett/Monroe Spring sale and saved over $160!!

Poor Wooby. She took a huge chomp of a popsicle and really wasn't prepared for the result. 

Catch the moment archives

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Catch the Moment: Week 13

A picture a day, for one year.

 Our local craft store brings in bunnies for the kids to take pictures with for Easter. All proceeds to to the Behind the Badge Foundation too! How awesome. They had about a dozen bunnies to choose from, and all were so sweet and docile. Penny wanted the "small baby bunny with pink eyes."

 The big girl got her face painted for the first time. A year ago, there was no way she was letting a stranger touch her face. I am so proud of her bravery. And she is so stinkin cute!

 Penny and daddy made Frozen Easter Eggs. Frozen as in the movie, not literally frozen.

 I snagged an awesome deal of 40 pounds for $18 of Golden Delicious apples, straight from the grower. Wow! Well, this meant a week of apple inspired meals.. but I am not complaining! Here's two: Crockpot Applesauce and Polish Apple Pancakes.

 I sneak my snacks in the kitchen when I think the kids aren't paying attention. This time I was discovered. I ended up being nice and sharing my goat cheese, fig-orange jam and poppyseed crackers with this pitiful face.

 My parents separated and divorced over the course of my teens. I don't have many stories that tell about their love, but on the morning of my 16th birthday I visited my dad and he told me one of the sweetest stories I've ever heard. After my birth my dad picked a gorgeous bunch of lilacs for my mom to fill her room with their beautiful fragrance. On that day, he decided that he would do the same for me when I turned 16. Last year my husband planted a lilac bush in our front yard for my Mother's Day gift too.

Another counter top treat discovered. This was our third apple treat of the week, Polish Apple Cake (jablecznik). My mom makes it the best, but she was nice enough to freeze some dough for another time and left it in my freezer. This week I've been missing her and it was a perfect pick me up. My version doesn't really stand up to hers, but it was a good shot.

Catch the moment archives

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Catch the moment: Week 10

 The girls were sick for most of my parents visit. It was so sad to see the runny noses, coughs and tired eyes. It was such a breakthrough when Ruby learned how to cough and stay asleep. Poor thing.

 A new addition to my husband's vintage BMW "collection." He loves the e34 body style and this gem came across our laps and we just couldn't say no to her. This is a 1971 BMW 2800csa.

 As all birthday parties go, mama was too busy being hostess to stop and take pictures of the event. This is my favorite picture from our dinosaur-fairy birthday party. 

 Another peek for what is to come! These girls sure love the sunshine.

 A week after my big girl turned 3, my little baby turned 1. What a blessing she has been to me!

 The turn in the weather has gotten us outside more and with the ground being relatively dry Ruby gets more opportunities to stand outside. Let's just say that she was not entirely ok with it at first! I can't blame her, she's been up in the air for the last 12 months and suddenly it's ok to be on the ground?! What?! 

In lieu of toys for birthday presents, we asked for experiences, projects or outings. The DIY birdhouse was a hit!

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The Pierogie Babies: Birthday Month! Age 3 and 1

The girls were born 2 years and a week apart in March. It was awfully convenient to be pregnant at the same time because I didn't have to change anything about my maternity wardrobe! I thought that I'd luck out and get to pass on all of Penny's clothes to Ruby, but no such luck. Miss Ruby grows more quickly than Penny did; in fact there are many outfits that they share currently. But the silver lining is that it definitely cuts down on dresser space to not have to have two entirely separate sets of clothes for them!For as different in size they are, their differences in personality are also becoming more evident.

Over the last year we've learned that Penny is very much a little version of my husband, Adam. She has the same complexion, his eyes and definitely his love for sleeping in. She has a very analytical mind and I could see an interest in STEM in her future.

When she was 2 years old she was still very much into all things Elmo. Since then she's moved on to being deeply in love with the princesses. Frozen was the thing in our house for a large part of the year, but her big cousin Ella expanded her horizons (and showed her how fun dress up is) so now she has equal love for the different Disney gals. Closer to her third birthday she started watching the show Dinosaur Train and has quickly learned over two dozen different dinosaur species and is really good at pronouncing the 4-5 syllable names (Argentinasaurus, deinosuchus, troodon, pteranadon, just to name a few). This is what sparked her inspiration for a dinosaur-fairy themed birthday party.

Much of this year was spent at home, keeping quiet and getting a handle on having two kids. We have had many adventures with cousins, friends and have worked on making sure she gets a good social outlet with kids her age too. In this next year I'm looking forward to getting more time to sitting down and doing "school work" with her, because that's definitely slid to the backburner.

She also had her very first hair cut, her bangs were just too far down into her face so I gave them a little trim. If you've seen pictures of Penny through the months, you'll know that this girl took a long time growing these precious hairs. She also potty trained at 30 months.

Some of my favorite Penny posts:

Backyard Chicken and Toddlers

Babywearing on Mount Rainier

The Enchanting Fall Ball

Miss Ruby is definitely going to give me a run for my money. She's definitely a trouble maker! She loves opening drawers, figuring out what's inside, manipulating objects and God help us if she doesn't get her way! For the last couple weeks she's been waking up in the middle of the night and wanting to bonk my head or push her head into my face really hard. I'm not sure why, perhaps it's teething, but when I gently tell her no.. she gets really upset! And she never cries at night! Then there's also the cute-but-not-so-cute times where she flops onto the floor and throws a mini tantrum. Those quickly pass and she's back to her bright-eyed-happy self.

My coping mechanism for transitioning to two kids this year has been mainly that Penny leads what activities we do for the day and Ruby is along for the ride (literally, babywearing has saved my life). Now that she is standing, walking with assistance and taking those precious first steps, Ruby is getting a say in what we do too. Now that spring is here we've been outside more often and she has gotten to be on the ground and she is really not entirely ok with this. I can't say that I blame her, for her entire life until this point she's always been up and away. Now I'm encouraging her to get dirty, play in the bark and dirt, touch the grass and feel all the textures. It's taking some getting used to.

She truly adores her older sister. When she wakes up from her nap, the first person she seems to look for is her. If she wakes up first, I take her to crawl into Penny's room and Ruby always exclaims with such glee when she discovers Penny within the sheets. They both play together (I caught them conspiring not too long ago) and even have those typical sister battles over the same doll or book.

Words are coming along, she's still sticking to "mama," "dada," "Nee-nee" (Penny), "this this" (when she points to something)"tickle tickle"and we're working on "book" and discovering body parts (she is very proud of knowing where other people's noses are). It seems that at the moment she is somewhat afraid of the water, there's some nights where she's really against going in the bath tub and during a recent visit to the pool she was really quite scared.

Some of my favorite Ruby posts:

Sisterhood in pictures

Same outfit, two babies

Ruby in her "snail hat"

Newborn photography

Her birth story

Catch the moment: Week 6

More instagram quality pictures. One day I'll pick up my camera for real ;)

 Miss Ruby had some really wrinkly feet after her bath, and it totally brought me back to that super newborn phase where they are still wrinkly and crinkly. We are on the eve of her first birthday (well, it's next month..) and I don't know about you, but with the first baby everything is so new and fresh that I couldn't wait for the next milestone. With Ruby I am finding myself holding back, because I know that she will never be this little again. With the grace of God she will not be my last baby so I will get to relive all those baby moments again :)

 When I ask Penny to smile for the camera, or to say "cheese," this is the face she makes. Gosh I love this girl. She is just too hilarious! She quite enjoyed her cupcake.

 Miss Ruby is now 11 months old and the girls' joint birthday party is in full planning mode. 

 I am a bandwagon fan. I don't know anything about football, but anyone in Seattle these days needs a bit of Seahawks gear. So the day following the Superbowl (this is going to sound really horrible..) I knew that a lot of Seahawks stuff would be on sale so I headed to my local fabric and craft store to buy remnants.  Along with a thrifted scarf and a bit of lace, I made my own Seahawks infinity scarf. Boom.

My sister in law has gone gluten free and she's pretty stinkin good at making macrons. So naturally I had to go out for a visit to watch her make some and then eat them. :)

 Squirt and Ruby have this strange bond that he never grew with Penny. From the very beginning, he knew that she is something to be protected and cared for. And in the last 6 months, also that this is a source of food. He commonly sits under her high chair and waits. Times when I put her on the floor with a snack, he stays close. Today she taunted (and later shared) him with a piece of french bread. But this dog will never snatch from her, he always waits for her to offer. And she squeals when his tongue licks her hands :)

Until we build a new coop, we still be sticking with the 5 hens that I've had since last year (but don't quote me on that). Since it's chick season, we got our chick-fix by visiting our local Co-Op and took a look at the little chickies that are currently in. Maybe later in the season when they have older chicks that never got bought, I'll pick up a pretty one or two..or three.

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