give it a try.

i was jumping around on the internet the other day and got the idea to try freezer paper stenciling. i'd heard of it before, but never saw an in-depth tutorial to tell me what to do.

armed with my joann's 10% coupon, i bought some fabric paints this weekend to give it a try.

tools, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

you've probably seen the tutorials on how to do this all over the internet. buy freezer paper, fabric paints, (i was told to use matte finish), and a straight edge knife to cut your template out.

template traced, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

trace your picture onto the flat, non-shiny side of the freezer paper. i chose mickey because andrew loves mickey, and it would be easy for my first try.

stencil created, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

using your straight edge knife, carefully cut out your shape. you want to carefully do this so that you don't cut into the template. your paint will come through if you do.

old shirt made new., originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

i found an old oneside with a screenprint that i didn't mind covering. this project is great if you have a shirt with a stain on it. i knew the screenprint would cause the paint to look a little different in some spots - but since this was my first try, i didn't mind.

painted, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

iron the stencil onto the shirt, shiny side down. if you have an intricate stencil, place the iron down instead of moving back and forth - you'll lift the edges of your stencil if you do that. then the fun part - paint inside! careful or you'll make my mistake and paint outside the stencil.

time to dry., originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

let it dry as the instructions on your paint allow - mine said 2-3 hours. i was impatient and lifted the stencil sooner. next time i'll make sure to wait. the paint bottle did not say this, but i read online that you should iron over your finished product with a towel on top to set the paint so that it does not flake off in the wash.

praying hands., originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

this little guy is growing so fast that this onesie won't fit him for long, especially with a big cloth-diapered bottom. and he's into his hands lately, so most of my pictures have his praying hands pose.

best shot i could get without the hands in the way., originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

here's the best picture i could get without his hands or andrew's big head in the way. you can see the previous screenprint in this picture but it's not too bad. i wish i hadn't gone outside the stencil, but you live and you learn.

little people on a move.

roll out, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

this baby rolled over at 2 weeks old. then again a week later. then again. then he took a little break and then rolled over again last week. unbelievable.

happiness is two kinds of ice cream.

last week was our vacation time as a family. i know what you're thinking - every day is a vacation since i'm at home with the boys, right? ha. it's more of a vacation when chris is around.

we took a day to go to a local amusement park. it was literally the perfect day - plenty of sunshine, a packed picnic lunch, a toddler willing to ride the rides....

why do i have to get off the ride?, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

in fact, so willing that he didn't want to get off the rides. this was the face we saw most of the day. crying as we led him off the ride because he wanted to stay on. this park has a water park area so thankfully we tempted him away from the rides with promises of swimming and splashing because, frankly, i couldn't take any more rides.

mama and christian on the train, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

my favorite ride is the train. you get the wonderful breeze, some shade, and yes, my favorite - sitting down - and its something we can all go on. (what, you are surprised i didn't bring a 9 week old baby on the pirate boat ride?)

daddy and drew on the train, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

all in all, we had a great day. even christian slept. although, he looks like he's making an obscene gesture here.

thank goodness he slept for a while, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

maybe that's because i didn't let him on the pirate ride.

stay with me baby, i've got plans for you.

6 years ago, i woke up on august 16th after only about an hour-and-a-half of sleep. it wasn't nerves, or, maybe it was. i drank peppermint tea at the recommendation of my sister and sat on my couch doing fill-in puzzles. my house was full with shiny new things.

my sisters arrived and helped me into the white dress. hair curled. make-up applied.

we drive in a big white limousine to the church. as i wait for my big walk i lean back because i think they can see me. my daddy thinks i am going to faint.

i cry because i forgot my mom's handkerchief from when she married my dad. my sisters overwhelm me with "it's ok, don't worry" so i forget that i was starting to tear up.

i walk down the aisle and my life is changed with a vow and a kiss.

i wake up on sunday, august 16th, 6 years later. it is early. my wee baby needs some milkies and i am at his call. i am able to go back to sleep shortly before the sounds of my house wake me up.

i don't get into a white dress and i don't walk down a big aisle. i do, however, look around me and see the smiles of the ones i love.

6 years means ups and downs; happy times and sad times; big purchases; vacations; new jobs; disappointments; joyful days; sick days; surgeries; births; laughter.

6 years means 6 autumns, 6 winters, 6 springs, 6 summers. 6 birthdays (oh, how i love birthdays.) 6 chances to experience each year and all that it holds over, and over again.

6 years spent with the one i love.

and it all began with a kiss.

we're taking off, we're dancing now.

2+ years old., originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

andrew, you are now over two years old. you had a great birthday, by the way. you attacked your cake and the cupcakes early in the morning. that was my fault, because i kept telling you that your birthday was coming and that you would get to eat cake. you assumed that the cake on the counter was for you to automatically eat. with your bare hands. in my clean kitchen.

anyhow, you have grown to be what i like to call a spazz. i tell my grandma that you are mischievous and she tells me that no, you are busy. i actually really like that word, busy, because it describes you to a T. you are not bad, but you are so curious that you get yourself into trouble.

you are all for trying new things with climbing and swimming and all the things little boys like to do. when we go to a new park, you climb to the highest point. but then you show yourself to be a little two-year-old and ask for mama to get you down. you're not too big a fan of slides, just yet.

your vocabulary exploded just about the time your brother was born. you started saying words all over the place, and now we can't get you to shut up. in fact, we like your ability to tell us what you want. we're not too big a fan of you shouting POOP when we are out in public. although, shouting ice cream! ME! at friendly's the other day was pure genius. anything to get our food faster.

you can count to ten and you are learning your colors. you give us a hard time eating your food, but hey, who doesn't? you can put your faux-crocs on yourself with a little help as to which shoe goes on which foot. you tried to pick up your brother and you actually succeeded until mama had a heart attack, recovered, and took him from your arms.

needless to say, you are growing up. and i'm excited for all that is to come.

slip and slide on subway grates.

last weekend i headed to brooklyn to meet up with some friends. bringing a baby along is not the easiest thing, but when you are the only food supply for the wee one you can't be separated for long.

traveling man, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

thankfully he behaved and didn't give me a hard time at all. and i now can say that i nursed my baby in a donut factory. which is pretty awesome.

brooklyn bridge. , originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

it was hot, and i was sweaty and tired from all the walking, but it was a really great day. i can say i'm so glad that i did go - there were times when i thought that i was crazy for even attempting it and that i should just stay home - but then i thought to myself that i would regret not going.

and if christian ends up at all like his big brother, this is the only time he'll be able to go into a big city until he's in his mid-teens. and by then i won't want him to be around me anyway.

sit back and wave through the daylight.

most days, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

my sister and i have a saying that i stole from someone's blog a while back - at the park by 11. when i first became a stay-at-home mom, the stay at home part hit me hard. i was tired and would go back to sleep after hubby was up with the baby. i just was overwhelmed. and so, that saying means, get yourself together and get out of the house. don't get caught up in cleaning, tv, internet - whatever. get yourself showered, dressed, and out the door. do something.

i've had to remind myself of that lately. with a little wee one and a toddler, my mornings are busy and i was finding myself showered at 2pm. one day it was at 8:30pm that i finally showered and it was then that i said that's it. that could not happen again.

so i've been in the shower in the morning, and dressed and ready for the day by 11. i don't go out every day although i try to at least go in the backyard the other days.

and most days, even though my hair air dries and my shirt is too tight and it usually has a stain on it, i feel better. i need that, just to get through each day.

at last.

i've driven past a sign for the past 9 months. starting out at once a month, then every other week, and at the end of those long months, once a week. i tried to take a picture today with my camera phone, but alas, driving and picture taking isn't cool and so, we are picture-less.

this drive was to a neighboring town where my midwives office is located. at first, i found myself annoyed at the drive - further than my previous doctor's office. then as my pregnancy continued, we found out that we were expecting a boy, and my belly grew, and my excitement along with it.

this sign barely hit my radar at first. i had a name i'd picked out with hubby, but was beginning to think that i wanted to choose something else. i'd chosen another name, and kept it in my head, not sharing it at first. waiting for that perfect moment to ask him to consider this name.

then one day, as i drove home from a visit, i suddenly paid attention to this street sign and saw the name of the road i was driving under. Christian Rd. it was at that moment that i just knew that this was the right name. and so for weeks i passed this sign, knowing that what i was doing - the effort i was putting into something that, seemingly unimportant to others - was important to me. my baby's name was right there, every time, reminding me - you can hold out. you don't want to regret anything.

and so, on june 17, early on a wednesday morning, i drove by that sign for the last time with my baby still inside. i was excited, anxious, nervous, feeling the contractions that told me that it was happening.

i had put a lot of work into this - eating a special diet, exercise, and researchresearchresearch. my work did pay off, just not in the way i had expected or hoped for. i held my baby in my arms later on that day. i saw his sweet face, his beautiful eyes, his orlowski nose, and i knew that it was right. that this is what my work was for.

i made a difficult decision to depart from what my plans had intended, because, well, plans don't always work out.

life is that way. but one plan did work out - my little sweet baby.


christian hewitt-richard orlowski
june 17, 2009
9 lbs. 4oz. 22 inches

Mommy and Christian, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

bounce.

tigger, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

spring is here. andrew's costume isn't very springish but chris insisted. atleast he's cute, even though very sweaty.

sweet comic valentine.

if you know my husband, then you know he loves to eat. i mean, i'll make tacos, and he eats the rest of the ingredients in a taco salad - this after eating 5 tacos already. where he puts it, i have no idea.

because i am like most normal people, i hate finding food in the fridge that has grown anything. but chris insists on putting every single food item from dinner away as "leftovers." this is ok when he eats them - not ok when he lets them sit.

the other night i reminded him that there was food in the fridge that needed to be eaten. doing this eliminates ever finding food with growth - that is, except for vegetables. those he skips past.

so i tell him that we have leftover "barbechue chicken legs." and that is not a typo, i made a little mistake. honestly, i was probably eating at the time. either way, as soon as i said it i knew the jokes would be coming.

so then he asks me, what barbechue chicken legs are. i roll my eyes and ignore him.

"did you sneeze on them? is that why they're barbechue?"

i think i need a drum set nearby. bu-dum-dum-ching!

so she says.

having a 2 year old and trying to get ready to get out of the house means that i end up with hot rollers (not hot at that moment) all over the floor with their pins. little chubby fingers trying to put them back in their slot, all while mama silently prays that he doesn't drop one on the inside of the roller case where i won't be able to reach it.

it also means throwing on whatever is there for me to wear. must pass certain standards: must be long enough to cover baby belly; must not have stains; must be able to keep me warm during this fickle spring-ish weather all while not keeping me too warm, because, well i am pregnant and we ladies do get quite hot. hormones and stuff, you know.

so i throw on a red shirt with a pink cardigan, figuring it passes the test. who cares if it doesn't match. i put in cute little red heart earrings and figure i'm just going to be 6-year old style cute today. i tell my sister who is outside waiting to pick me up that i don't need to hear it that i don't match; atleast i am ready to go (finally.)

she waits until we have finished shopping and eating lunch to tell me that my shirt is not red. no, she insists, it is magenta. i say, umm, in my house it looks red? and she says, wherever you are, that shirt is magenta.

i am finding some solace in the fact that maybe i didn't mismatch my outfit as badly as i thought (because magenta is just dark pink, right? and the cardigan was light pink) when i tell her, wait, my earrings are red and they match the shirt! AHA, i am right!

she quickly tells me (a little too quickly and with a little too much enjoyment i might add), no, your earrings are most defnitely red. and they do not match.

silently to myself, trying to make myself feel better - its ok. i have on two matching socks. (and then checking just to make sure. you never do know.)

shopping with our friends, shopping once again.

shopping, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

my sister and i went shopping today. surprisingly i left the house without any questions about how much i was going to spend from chris. but, there were really good deals in the baby section at old navy and i was pretty excited - when you're having your second baby and especially if the baby is the same gender as the first, you don't have much reason to shop!

it happens.

one of the side effects of this pregnancy is a bit of insomnia. i wake up and am wide awake in the middle of the night.

i'm thankful that andrew naps well enough to allow me a nap in the afternoons. most days i am able to get the sleep i need.

i usually mind laying there awake while my hubby kicks his feet - this is what he does while he sleeps - but last night i decided i would enjoy the quiet and try to concentrate on going back to sleep.

in the quiet of our house at 4:30 am, i hear andrew talk in his sleep. and what favorite new word did he say?

"WHOA."

grateful friday.

- a new crib from sara and her hubby to use while andrew's waits for new parts. oh yeah, he broke his crib.
- a new changing table also from sara and her hubby since andrew's is cheaper made and guess what? broke and isn't worth us working hard to fix it.
- the smell of the powder the barber uses after a hair cut - both andrew and his cousin smell terrific today.
- a fun weekend ahead.
- finding the best in things - chris' hours changed again and he'll now be home in the morning with andrew and i on the days i don't have class. atleast we'll have good breakfasts together and andrew doesn't have to go to the babysitter's as often.

when i get there i'll go jumping through the air

since i left my job a few weeks ago, the prospect of some new time at home has made me downright giddy. yes, i can finally get stuff done! i'll make homemade cookies daily and my kitchen will sparkle! my child will learn to read by 2 (i do have a few months...) and i'll knit all of us complicated nordic sweaters! (truthfully i haven't knitted a sweater and i'm too scared to try.)

the first week i was at home, chris was working from home and it put a damper on my plans. we ended up relaxing together, not getting the housework done and being kind of lazy.

and who can forget the fact that i now have homework? oh yeah, i have to fit that in too.

you see, all these moms on the internet give appearances that their lives are perfect. they get out the decorations for each new holiday in perfect timing and they would never be left hanging up too late. they make crafts timed perfectly according to their child's development and of course, the upcoming holidays or seasons. they never yell and their children never make messes. they somehow find the ability to nurse a baby through the night and then knit with the baby in their arms during the day. how is this possible? how can anyone try to attain that type of life? the truth is, we all try to attain that kind of life, but we're not perfect.

i was thinking about this after i spent the morning cleaning the other day. i looked around the house and it was still not picked up the way i'd tried. my little guy has learned how to climb and has learned how to tear things up even more than before. it doesn't help that i'd tried to have a tv-free day and put on some music for him to enjoy while he played and i cleaned - except that made him even more anxious to tear apart what i'd done.

my friend recently had this quote as her email signature - "You need both blessings and difficulties, because one without the other is neither." i read that and started to think, sometimes you need those moments where you fail so that you can actually succeed at things. i fail when i can't keep up with my toddler, but i succeed when i make sure that the house is picked up right after he goes to bed, so that chris and i can enjoy a nice evening not surrounded by clutter. i fail when i scold him a little too harshly, but i succeed when i apologize and correct him properly and he rewards me with a kiss and a hug.

life is not perfect. i'm not going to get that valentine's day wreath made and hanging on my door anytime soon. that would mean taking down my evergreen christmas wreath. and apparently i'm not ready to do that yet, either.

grateful friday

polly wanna...?, originally uploaded by sassyladybug.

i'm feeling pretty grateful today.

i'm grateful for:
God keeping my little guy safe today after a scare.
Chris coming home early from his business trip this week - we get a whole 3 days together!
my last day of work today.
some sunny weather (can spring come any sooner?)
friends and family who have me over and keep me company while chris is gone.

i am so sad since you went away.

its been a long time for me. to update everyone, 25 things about me:

1. i took a 3 hour nap today.
2. i get scared of a lot of things, like the fact that andrew has been drinking a lot more lately - i've gotten it in my head that he's sick somehow and that's why he needs more to drink. this happens on all kinds of levels. i worry a lot.
3. i rarely shave my legs. but, on the other hand, i don't need to. i barely grow any hair.
4. i hate maintenance kind of stuff - washing my face at night, putting on lotion - i perpetually wake up with mascara under my eyes and dry hands. i'm trying to change this one, though.
5. when chris is away, i don't eat much. my sister would be unhappy with me, but i
just don't take the time to get something to eat.
6. chris is away for 2 more weeks after this one is done.
7. i am trying not to be angry about all this traveling but i am because he didn't ask me first before agreeing to do it.
8. i'd rather pick him up at the airport at 3am than wait for him at home because i can't stand the anticipation. same thing for driving him there for the days he leaves - i want every last minute.
9. i struggle with disappointment because i set things up in my head about how they'll go. this is why i didn't have a very good christmas - andrew was cranky and i didn't get to buy any gifts for chris. (he picked out his own.)
10. otherwise i was given some very nice gifts.
11. truthfully i was really glad it was over.
12. my last day of work is friday.
13. i'm going back to school to finish up some classes before i can start my masters.
14. one of them is a math class and i'm secretly (not so secret anymore) loving the fact that i can use mechanical pencils.
15. i really love writing with a sharp pencil - hence the love for the mechanical pencils.
16. i can't wait for the snow to go away.
17. i didn't really make any new years resolutions, except that i vowed that i would find the time every day to do something that is good for me - like the things in #4. or taking vitamins. eating meals that are healthy and require preparation. little things.
18. i kept my new years resolution from last year which was to finish my knitting projects and make it an active hobby.
19. i tried a lot of new things with knitting and i have to say that i am proud of myself.
20. at night when i can't fall asleep, i think of things to share here, and then promptly forget them in the morning.
21. i suppose i should put a notepad on my nightstand.
22. every day that andrew does something new i get a thrill. if it feels like this forever i will be content.
23. tonight it was matching up shapes and colors without being prompted.
24. and afterwards he claps for himself.
25. tonight i told him that a new baby is going to come live in our house. a new baby boy. a yet un-named new baby boy that is growing in mama's belly. he made his monster voice, smiled and pointed to my belly.

i'm asking manda, sara and cheri to please update with things that are not mundane. tell me something new.

and try to update once in a while, so that i have reason to as well.