The Kavanaugh Report

Consignment sale season is here again! This past weekend was one of my favorite sales. I happen to be on the committee that plans the sale and it's a fundraiser for Henry's ECFE program. Since I volunteer for the committee, I get to preshop the sale. And, this year's sale was one of my most successful hauls ever!  First, the boy stuff:  This included: 7 polo shirts, 8 t-shirts, 3 sets of pajamas, a sweater and a winter coat! I have noticed that bigger boy stuff is getting harder to find at consignment sales. There's always less boy stuff but the bigger you get {most of this stuff is 3T or 4T} the less quality stuff there is for boys. I'm sure boys are just harder on their stuff and it just doesn't last. Next, the girl stuff: This included: 5 sleepers, 3 onesies, 4 dresses, 2 shirts, and 5 outfits. For me, girl clothes are the last stop I will make at a consignment sale! There is SO MUCH stuff. Here the sizes are pretty varied, but I fou...

Letter I was a surprisingly fun week. I is not the easiest letter and we were a little limited, but Henry was very into a few of the trays. Thanks to a snow day (yes, we are still getting some snow days) for tot school co-op, we had these materials for two weeks, and Henry actually used and enjoyed some of them the whole time. The first tray was an instrument matching tray. The object of this tray was to match the instruments to the letter that they start with. If it was done correctly, the instruments would fill in the letter I. Henry is very interested in what letter things start with so this was a big hit. (And as a special treat, Hen actually let me take some pictures of him working!) The second tray was a variation on the ice cream tray I made last time we did the letter I at tot school . At that point, we were just talking about the color of all the scoops. This time, I included some pattern matching cards to follow. I like this because it worked on a new pattern -- bottom...

Another month down. Yay, but yikes. We are nowhere near ready for this baby to come home, and I think our recent labor and delivery scare has made this very apparent for everyone. But, we're trying and we'll get there.  This month I've just been tired and slow. I have the constant "baby sitting on my lungs" out of breath feeling. My heartburn is bad, and I need to start taking iron. Sleeping is getting harder, I'm more uncomfortable and I'm wide awake super early every morning. But, really I feel pretty good. It's just hard explaining to Henry why I can't run around all the time and need to take breaks and rest.  I've started to notice some weakness in my hands. I think I have a firm grip but then whatever I'm holding is on the floor. I've obviously been having some Braxton Hicks/contractions, they started a long time ago, but since our scare have been a lot stronger and more painful. My doctor checked my cervix again at my fol...

After a perfectly healthy pregnancy with Henry and 31 uneventful weeks with Nora, we had our first pregnancy complication this weekend. Easter Sunday pretty much started out like a normal day. I woke up early super hungry and ate in quiet before anyone else was up. A quick cat-nap later and we were busy celebrating Easter.  It was a beautiful day, so Morgan and I decided to walk the few blocks to our church. Its not an unusually long walk for me and we didn't think anything of it. During Mass, however, I noticed that I just couldn't hold Henry without getting a contraction. Still, I didn't think too much of it. I've had a lot of Braxton Hicks this pregnancy and I figured that's what was going on. We walked home then headed to brunch after I downed a glass of water.  Throughout brunch, around 1:30, I noticed that the contractions were really picking up despite the fact that I was drinking plenty of water and just sitting. I was feeling cranky and off ...

In mid-February Minnesota had wonderful {or so I thought} thaw. A couple of 40 degree days were the perfect reprise from an otherwise miserable winter. Henry and I went outside to enjoy the "warmth" and came back in to water pouring into our kitchen from the window that looks out to our sunroom. The window was a weird leftover exterior window from when the original homeowners put on the sunroom addition.  The water lasted on and off for two days until the cold weather was back. Morgan did his best to clear the roof of the ice and snow and clean the damage. Unfortunately, when Morgan started doing some investigating it was clear that that spot on the roof had leaked for years. The drywall and insulation were completely ruined. Morgan cleaned up the damage, which left a huge hole in our kitchen. And a renovation at a really inconvenient time.  Flash forward to mid-April -- renovations have included {or will when we are finally done} removing the window,...

Nora's is going to be here in a little over two months! Every day that fact simultaneously thrills and terrifies me. Sometimes, I have these moments of "what the heck were we thinking!?"  We are finally getting a tiny bit of independence around here. Henry still doesn't consistently sleep through the night. He's more attached to me then I ever thought possible. But, I'm also so excited to meet Nora, and see Hen as a big brother, and baby snuggles!  So, my fears for baby 2, which I hope you will all tell me are completely normal and will fade as soon as I meet the Wiggly-one...  That Nora will be just like Henry as a baby -- I don't know if I can go back to months of colic, reflux, worry and high-needs.  That Nora will be completely different than Henry and I'll have no idea what the heck I'm doing.  I won't love Nora the way I love Henry.  Baby girl diapers. That Henry is going to lose it and completely hate the baby and me.  H...

Letter H tot school was another one of those weeks where Henry just wasn't super interested in going up to school. I'm not sure why, sometimes the more I push, the more he resists, so I've been trying to take a step back. When he would work, he did seem to enjoy the trays.  On the first tray was letter H hide-and-seek. I created a sheet with a bunch of letter H objects hidden among non-letter H things. Then I included a small bowl of hats. The goal was to cover the letter H objects with a hat. This was Henry's favorite tray for this week. He is very interested in knowing what letter an object starts with and he's getting really good at figuring it out.  The second tray was a set of community helpers (from a Safari Ltd. Toob). Then, I made corresponding pictures of the helpers' hats. This was a good exercise in less direct matching and really good vocabulary for Henry. It led to lots of discussions about what type of work each helper does, in addi...

Yesterday was Elsie's -- our first loss -- due date. Had that pregnancy not ended in miscarriage, we would have a 1-year-old.  It's crazy to think how much time has gone by since Morgan and I have held a baby of our own in our arms. I didn't blog about the due date for our fourth loss, but that also passed in March. I've been trying to focus on the beauty that is my baby bump and the wiggly little love growing inside me, but it's not always easy at times like these.  I hate that seemingly happy times in our lives are still marred by so much pain and loss. I hate how much it still hurts to think about the babies we will never hold. I hate that this pregnancy has been filled with so much anxiety, worry, and distance. I don't think that April 7 will ever be an easy day for me. I don't know why the first loss has been the hardest for me. Maybe it was that I was pregnant the longest -- carrying for well over a month? That we had an ultrasound? That i...

There are so many ways to explore letters with toddlers. Here are some letter g tot school trays that we used to help explore the letter g and its corresponding sound!  Henry is 36 months old.  On the first tray was a basket of Easter grass with some hidden letter g words. Then, a sheet to matching sheet to match them too. Henry always seems to enjoy the sensory aspect of this activity. But, I've come to the realization that it is just way too easy for him now. Sadly, matching only words is still too hard. He's in a weird middle ground now. This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. The second tray was by far Henry's favorite tray of the week. This seems to be the kind of matching that Henry is really attracted to right now. Here, I included all the uppercase sandpaper letters from the letters we have worked on so far {A-G} and a small object that starts with each letter. I thought this would challenge Henry a little, but he knew them all...