Happy 6 Months, Lena!

Lena is 6 months old today! She is such a happy little girl. I am not sure what her stats are because she doesn't see the pediatrician until December 3, but I'm guessing she is around 20 pounds. She is our biggest baby by far! 

She can army crawl anywhere she wants to go. She can roll both directions, which she does all the time. She started saying "dada" yesterday. She sleeps pretty well about 4/7 nights, usually only waking twice.

She cannot sit unassisted yet, she can only tripod for a few seconds before falling over. She is a smiling and laughing baby, but for whatever reason, as soon as the camera comes out, she will not smile or laugh. She's a stinker.

She loves her family, especially Landon. They have a great bond and he loves to tote her around and show her things, play with her, and generally love on her. 

She has started sampling food. So far she has had mashed potatoes, avocado, yogurt, shredded chicken, and bananas. She has loved it all and has done well with it. 

She is also still breastfeeding. She is definitely getting more formula than breastmilk at this point, but she is still getting every drop I can produce. I am hopeful that we will make it at least a year. 

Two Months!

Lena is already two months old. I can hardly believe it, but yet it feels like she has been here forever. She fits in perfectly in our family. She is truly a blessing.

At her two month appointment, she weighed in at a whopping 12 pounds, 3 ounces and was 22 inches tall. She is not petite like big sister Alta, but she is "average" on the charts. I am very happy with her size, I would much rather have an average sized baby than a below average sized baby any day, no specialists for her!

Lena can roll from her tummy to back anytime she wants. She can roll from her back to tummy with a little help, I think it won't be very much longer before she can do it by herself. She smiles at everyone but saves her big eyes lighting up smiles for her family. She loves to coo and talk to us. She likes me the best, but that is to be expected right now. She loves to nurse, but we do have to supplement with formula (stupid non working boobs!). She loves all of her siblings, but Landon is her favorite, he can get the best smiles from her. She is trying to laugh, and sometimes she can, but so far no big belly laughs yet. She sleeps fairly well at night now, going down between 11pm-1am and sleeping until 5 or 6, then eating and sleeping until 9.

Perfect little Piggies

She is a pretty happy baby. When she cries she can usually be calmed down easily. But she does hate car rides. I think we are very lucky to have her in our lives.

She was done taking pictures

PS You may notice "ThirtyLittlePiggies" on my pictures now and that you cannot right click to save my photos, this is because there have been pictures stolen of other babies lately, and since it has already happened to me once, I would rather it not happen again. Please note any and all photos used on this blog are property of ThirtyLittlePiggies, unless otherwise noted, and taking these images and using them as your own is a copyright violation. Thank you.

Repurposing A Shirt Into A Clothespin Bag

Sweet summer time! In the summer, and on nicer days during the other times of the year, I like to hang dry my clothes to help offset the air conditioner as well as keep it cooler in our home. The dryer makes it hot!

One thing I hate about line drying is how my clothespins always get nasty out on the line, with dirt and muck, and the worst of worsts, spider webs and spiders. I remember when I was a little girl (do I sound like an old lady now?) my Nanoo would have this nice little purse looking thing that hung on the clothes line and she would take it in and out with her. Her clothespins were always nice. I wanted one. But the problem was, I never thought about it while I was out, plus, if I can make one, that would save at least ten bucks, according to Amazon.

Well, today my machine was already out because I've been working on making some more baby wipes, so I decided to give it a shot.

I went through the boys' outgrown clothes and found a fleece pajama top. I chose fleece because it is somewhat water repellent, just in case it would get wet from the clothes or a surprise shower.

This is a 3T, but I think any smaller size would work.

Then I cut off the sleeves, leaving a little room to sew them together, and cut off the top, above Buzz and Wood's head. I would have cut below the sleeves, but I didn't want to behead the guys, plus the bag would have been smaller.

You can toss the scraps, unless you want to save them for something else.

I then turned the square inside out. I trimmed the sleeves that were left a little more, then sewed the holes shut, I also sewed the bottom shut. Leave the top open.

Inside out.

Then, while it is still inside out, you want to roll the top down to form a cuff around the entire bag. Then sew all the way around the cuff to hold it down. Be careful to not sew the bag shut. 

You don't have to do this if you use fleece, I just think it looks better this way, but if you use a different fabric and you don't do this, it will probably start fraying eventually.

After you get the top sewn, then you cut out two pieces of ribbon the same length. Mine were about 8 1/2 inches long.

You want to sew the ribbon into each side of the bag. 

I sewed them about a half inch down to give it plenty of room in case the ribbon frayed.

Ribbon placement, you want one ribbon on each side of the bag. The other ribbon is on the other side, near the other hem.

Make sure to sew the ribbon on well, it is what will hold your bag to the hanger. I sewed it twice and then back-stitched.

Then flip the bag right side out and it is done.

Clip off any extra strings. Hang the bag on a baby hanger, and there you go! Easy peasy. It took me roughly 5 minutes start to finish. It isn't perfect, but it works well. Alta saw it and wanted it, so I guess I change the ribbon placement and make her a purse out of one. 

Nice, new, clean clothespins!

I'm planning on bringing mine in when I gather my last load of clothes off the line and hanging it in my laundry room. Now I just need a few more lines.

Picture Post

Lena is One Month!

Lena Sue is already one month old! This past month has flown by.

At 2 weeks she started rolling from her belly to back, which seems really early. I thought it was an accident at first, but she has continued to do it, so it is the real deal. At 3 and a half weeks, she started smiling, but in the last few days, she has really started smiling. It melts my heart. She cooed a little today, but only twice, I hope she starts doing it more in the next few days.

I am not sure how much she weighs, but she is a chunk. She weighed 8 pounds 7 ounces at 2 weeks old, so I'm guessing she is at least 9 pounds, maybe 10 now. Her next appointment isn't until July 16.

Breastfeeding is the same as it was with the rest of the kids, it is hard. She is supplemented with formula since my breasts do not make enough milk to feed her exclusively. But she is happy and healthy, that is all that matters.

She is a great joy to us all. Her personality is starting to show and she is a very easy going baby.

Newborn

One week

Two weeks

Three weeks

Four weeks