Where I've Been

I've never been a very consistent blogger. I probably never will be. But I have a few legitimate reasons for my most recent absence!! Life has been crazy. And good. As for the bigger picture, we bought a house (what a process it is to search for a house, negotiate a deal, and close a loan!!), moved again (5 times in 4 1/2 years of marriage!), and are starting to get settled. We have a list of new homeowner projects that will provide us with new challenges every chance we can take! We had blinds installed already, and on the horizon there are rooms to be painted, furniture to be found (and saved up for!), rooms to be shuffled still, boxes of less used items to be unpacked, etc etc etc. But we aren't really in any rush to do any of the above. It will all happen in its own good time, and we've got plenty of other little things to keep us occupied in the meantime!

We are currently potty training Gabriel (or trying, that is... it should be obvious, but still came as a surprise that very strong-willed children are more difficult to potty train than most!) We've been fairly home-bound during the process in order to get a good foundation. Our little man has shown himself totally capable of using the potty as well as knowing when he needs to go #1 and #2 (YAY!!!!). However. He has also shown himself uninterested, and otherwise fascinated with his bodily functions. He has "successfully" peed in a bucket, on several toys, off of a chair (this was his personal favorite), and right up over the top of the potty, and in our bedroom, as well as once or twice in his bedroom because he was mad at me. This has been a challenge I have to say I was not anticipating. But with the support of Dan, my mom, my sister-in-law (who potty trained 3 boys herself - some also very strong-willed) -as well as other friends and family, we are getting through it one day at a time. Tonight was a big success when after being put to bed in a diaper (night training happens much later and pretty much on its own) Gabriel came to find us to tell us he had to use the potty, and he was right! And his diaper was dry! Yay!

Little G-man will be starting preschool in September! Wohoo!! I can't wait, and I think it will be so good for him! Enough potty talk!! Baby Maddox is cruising all over the place at high speeds. He can walk anywhere with a hand or two on something, and he is beginning to practice standing and balancing on his own for longer and longer! We think he'll be walking by his first birthday in September or shortly afterward. HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! IN SEPTEMBER!!! I am having such a hard time fathoming that my little baby boy is turning one! And Gabriel will be turning 3 in October which is no less difficult to swallow! I have to say, there are times when I just can't wait till this phase in our lives is past and the kids are a little older, but then there are those moments at naptime or in the middle of the night when I am cradling little Maddox in my arms and listening to his sweet breath, that I know I will truly miss these times when they are gone. As for Casebolt baby #3, we recently found out its a GIRL!! Yay!! We could not be more excited! I think Dan might actually be even more excited than I am... well, maybe not...I don't think that is possible! She is ahead of schedule by about a week, so we are looking at a delivery of December 21 or earlier, we hope. It will all depend on how she's looking a little later on. We are doing our best to schedule the C-Section so that I will be home for Christmas Eve and Christmas. We are excited to have my parents and my sister-in-law join us here for Christmas and for the birth of our baby girl. And yes, we have a name. She will be named after her two grandmothers; one of whom she will meet, the other who will have passed away one year before her birth. Sara Katherine Casebolt will be her name. :)

Sewing/crafting! Believe it or not I have been fitting in quite a few little sewing projects, mostly in the last few days, and certainly not as many as I had hoped. I have no pictures for you tonight because I can't find the cord to my camera!! Most recently I finished my first "quilt". The "" refer to the fact that it is nothing more than squares pieced together, and as for the actual quilting, I only "stitched in the ditch" since I really don't know how to do the real thing. As for the binding which I was most intimidated by, I ended up taking the easy route and bough Quilt Binding at JoAnns and simply sewed it on! It was actually the easiest part of the quilt. Next time I hope to do it the real way - whatever that is. I used fat quarters from Anna Maria Horner's "Garden Party" collection, as well as a few from her "Chocolate Lollipop" line - both out of need and just because I had them and they were cute! She is definitely my favorite fabric designer! I had to buy the backing, binding, and batting, but the entire quilt-top was made from fat-quarters that I already had in my stash! I also sewed a little curtain for our kitchen window...I hope to sew curtains for at least all of the downstairs windows that open up into the kitchen/breakfast nook/living room. lastly I sewed several diaper inserts for Maddox's diapers using old receiving blankets and some microfiber cloths.

On the list of things to do next are: A rag bag - we plan to start using old T-shirts and other discarded items to replace some of the zillion paper towels we use, so I'd like to sew up a cute little bag to hold them in. This as well as the other ideas I have coming up all come from Amanda Blake Soule's books "Handmade Home" and "The Creative Family." I love both of them, but especially "Handmade Home" which I just got this week. Next I'll be making a little flag banner for Gabriel's room to keep "bad men" and monsters out. Poor kid has a lot of fears these days. Then maybe a quick cute purse for me, and lastly, I'm toying with the idea of making Baby Sara's crib/bedroom set on my own instead of spending the exorbitant amount of money it costs to buy them new. The only ones I like (not really into the whole pastel pink thing) cost like $300...literally...so if I can just make the time for it, I can probably knock a good $200 or $225 off of that by making it on my own. I already have the pattern in Amy Butlers book "Little Stitches for Little Ones". As for what I've been reading...here is the list:

Completed:

The Reader

The No Cry Potty Solution

In Progress:

Potty Wise

The No Cry Nap Solution

The Strong Willed Child

Three Cups of Tea

Hopefully I haven't bored you with too many details, but that's pretty much where I've been and what I've been doing over the last month or so!