Long time lost

I've been gone for a long time her. I kind of let this blog die in obscurity. I actually really needed to write, but I've just been so overwhelmed that i kept putting it off. So here I am. I'm back.

So much has happened in the last year and change.
  * We moved from Maryland to California
  * Morgen started a new job
  * Tabitha started kindergarten and loves it
  * Eva has started talking
  * I am going back to school after a 5 year absence
  * We are in the process of trying to buy a house.

Its been a crazy busy year. We are still trying to get the girls into ABA therapy, while Morgen has a great job, the insurance that comes with it is awful. I'm also working on getting Eva speech therapy through the school district, because while she has started talking she is still at about an 18 month level and she is almost 3 and a half.
I decided to go back to school this summer. I'm going to Gavalin Community College and working on a triple major in Digital Media, Marketing and Computer Science. I'm really excited about this.
I don't want to say much about buying a house just yet, but we are hoping by the end of the year.

I've been running non stop for about 2 years, and now that Tabitha has started school, I think I may really start to have time to work on some of the crafty projects I have been putting off. Tabitha picked out some cute peacock fabric and wants a poofy late 50's early 60's style dress a la Betty Draper. She also needs a bunch of church dresses, and she only wants to wear skirts and dresses for ply so I'll be working on a lot of those this summer, and hopefully getting those blogged. I am really hoping this won't be the last post for a long time, but that remains to be seen.


Teresa

Long summer break

Hey ya'll! I know its been a while. We've had a long an interesting summer and I haven't had much time to myself lately. At the end of May we moved from Idaho to Maryland, leaving behind all our friends for a new journey. Its been a rough transition. Eva is taking it all in stride being only 18 months old now, but Tabitha has had a hard time. She misses her friends. I've had a rough time as well. I miss my friends. I miss having such an awesome support structure. I also really miss Rexburg. I miss the feel of it. Everyone was a member of the church, you weren't bombarded with inappropriate clothing or language everywhere you go. You didn't have to navigate the hundreds of people smoking at every exit, everywhere you go. There was also the feeling of community. Almost everyone in our complex would spend the afternoons outside chasing our kids together and helping each other out. I really miss that.
Maryland is beautiful. The trees are amazing, I love that there are little ponds everywhere. I love that there is so much historical significance to teach my kids. I love that I can take them to the smithsonian and teach and show them so many things I couldn't have back in Idaho. I have better medical care for Tabitha here. We have started the process to get Tabitha into ABA therapy and into preschool. There are so many programs that will help her that we couldn't get back in Idaho. Morgen has a great job. He just finished his training and will soon be starting actual work, which he is excited about.
I haven't had much time or a place to sew and most of my stuff is still back in Idaho in our storage unit, which is kind of a pain.
I really hope to get back to crafting, and writing soon. I pulled out a dress that I started when Tabitha was 18 months old. I will hopefully finish it soon so Eva can wear it. I have actually made a different version of this dress (its my own pattern) before and I have been wanting to write a pattern for it so you all could make one too so that is my current goal.
When we moved to Maryland from Idaho we couldn't come out first to find a place so we had to hope that we would find something good like we did when we moved to Idaho. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. We ended up in an awful place that was dirty and starting to fall apart. We were able to move again to a much nicer place but it was a stressful move and cost all we had to make a second move.
We are trying to get settled now and will hopefully get back to our regular routine soon.

Not that this has anything to do with the post, its just a fun picture we took before leaving rexburg. 

Playtime! A WAHM event at EG Baby Design Review and Giveaway!

Do your kids like to play kitchen? I know mine do. Tabitha loves to go into her little kitchen and pretend to make us cakes and cookies and drinks. I remember playing chef when I was little, its an important time n a child's life. EG Baby Design has teamed up with some other awesome WAHM buisnesses and created the event Playtime: In the Kitchen, which will run April 28-May 26th. They have a ton of amazing finds for your little ones.

 Here are some of my favorite items for sale:

The Wooden Cookie Baking set by Kat and Company

The Tiny Breakfast Chef set by EG Baby Design

The Deluxe Sandwich set by Little Picklepottomus. 

The Little Sweet Orange Set by EG Baby Design. 

There are tons of other cute things in this special sale for kids of all ages. And the best part is that the prices aren't out of this world. I've seen adorable kitchen stuff like this before and they were all over priced but these are great quality and an affordable price. 

How would you like to win something from this awesome event? EG Baby Design is giveing one lucky Crafting in My Closet Reader a Sweet Oranges Tiny Chef set of a diaper and a chef hat! 

How cute is this?!

Ready to enter?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was not compensated for this post. All views are my own.

What I've been doing...

Hey guys! Sorry its been so long since I've posted. We have had a lot going on. We've been working with Tabitha to try to get her outbursts under control and are trying some aromatherapy with her that seems to help a lot. We've also been experimenting with her diet and have found some foods make her act out more than others.
This is what else we've been up to:

The girls and I have been spending a lot of time together. I've been trying to get us outside as much as possible whenever its not raining. 

Morgen GRADUATED from BYUI (well not technically, he still has to finish his senior project and do his internship, so he technically graduates in July but he walked this month so we wouldn't have to come back)

More playing outside. The girls each got some money from their grandpa Bob so they got new baby strollers, and they love them. 

I've actually managed to get some sewing done but no tutorials. I did come up with a fun new dress that I may do a tutorial for soon, however thats it in the left corner. I wasn't paying attention and I messed up the bubble skirt so I have to take it apart and fix it. 

See that pile o boxes? Its because we are MOVING! Oh my gosh moving stinks! I've been going through everything and we are selling a lot before we move. We are selling all the baby stuff except for clothes, as well as furniture, toys, and a bunch of my clothes. Our house is full of boxes and I am working hard to try to get all this ready before we move on May 25. Thats right we have one month! 

Where are we moving you ask?

Thats right we are moving to Maryland!! 

Why? Because Morgen got a Kick A job! Woot!!! He applied for an internship but was offered an awesome job instead and BYUI is going to count the first few months as an internship!

We are super excited but a little nervous too. I know a friend in DC and my grandfather lives in Maryland, but we don't really know anyone there. But I'm hoping it will be just as awesome as when we moved from CA to Idaho. We were nervous. We knew one other couple. But we made some amazing friends, friends I'm really sad to leave. Tabitha has some Awesome little friends and I've made some Amazing Mommy Friends who I know I will be life long friends with. So here's to new adventures! I hope I will start having more time to blog now that morgen is out of school and has pretty regular hours. My goal right now will be to blog once a week. So I hope you all stay with me! 

Interactive plush pals review

I don't know about your kids, but mine LOVE music. Tabitha sings all day and loves to listen to music. So I was excited to have the opportunity to try the Interactive Plush Pal Freddie Frog from Viatek. These cute animals are a fun new way to listen to music for kids and adults. Tabitha is a huge fan of Phineas and Ferb, so I plugged freddie into the headphone jack of my ipod and put on some music for her. The first time I tried it Tabitha was sleeping and it was just Eva up with me. Eva was freaked out and started crying, but by the next morning she was interested in it and kept trying to make it sing. Tabitha thought it was so funny to see the frog singing one of her favorite songs.

The Viatek Interactive Plush pals come in three varieties, Freddie the Frog, Patch the Dog, and Manny the Monkey. All three are adorable and sure to be a fun way for kids to listen to music. The speaker is really good quality too. You can even plug the interactive pals into your smart phone's headphone jack and watch as Freddie the frog talks for your friends!

There are a few things I would change about this product. First its very top heavy. It falls over fairly easily. So with small kids I had to keep putting it back upright every time they touched it. Its not really a problem if you put it out of small kids reach. Also I would either like it to have a pocket to put your ipod/phone in or a longer cord. The Cord is not very long and as we were trying to let my 3 year old play with it, the 1 year old kept grabbing the cord and pulling the ipod away. It would be nice to be able to put your ipod/phone in a pocket on the back so that there were no cords hanging out to get caught up on. The cord issue aside I think this is a really fun toy and we will definitely be using it for our daughter when she wants to listen to music in the future.

The Interactive pets take 3 AAA batteries which are not included and retails for $39.99.
I received the Viatek Interactive Pal Freddie the Frog for the purpose of reviewing this toy and all views are my own.
This post was originally featured on Mommygaga.com as a guest post.

a range of emotions

When you have kids you start out thinking that your kid will be president or a Dr and all you see is endless possibility. Babies are endless possibility, they are joy, and love and passion. They are dreams come true and all you want is for their dreams to come true. All you want is for your children to be happy and fulfilled. Every parent thinks their kid is specials and gonna change the world. I've always known Tabitha was special, every time she did anything new I always thought she was the smartest kid in the world. She was the best kid ever and after waiting for her for so long she was the perfect kid. Tabitha is my sunshine, she is the light that came from darkness. She is what I waited so long for. But for the last year her light has had a cloud over it. One I had a hard time dealing with. She has had violent fits, crying outbursts, she changed from my happy sweet girl. I took her to the dr time and time again, but they just said moodiness was normal, she was fine. They blew me off time and again. But I knew something was wrong. Every day I watched her grow further and further away from us, that she was changing.
We dealt with the fits and the violent outbursts, we started pulling away from our friends. We stayed home and stopped doing play dates for fear that Tabitha would hurt someone with one of her fits. We started noticing that when someone got hurt she showed no empathy, she would say sorry and give a hug out of some sort of memorized protocol. We noticed that she wouldn't look people in the eye and when she did catch their eye she would freak out. A few months ago she was tested at preschool, and she was tested at an almost 9 year old receptive vocabulary, but she can't use it, and she gets very frustrated when she can't express herself.
There are other things that we noticed, and we tried talking to drs about, but it was just the same old song and dance from them. I finally decided to switch drs. About two weeks ago I took Tabitha to our new dr to talk about what was going on. Things had been getting worse with her for some time. I had bruises, bloody noses, and dislocated fingers to show for it. I'd had enough, I needed answers. I was tired of being afraid of my child, and afraid for her. I needed help.
I sat down with her dr and discussed my concerns and fears.I finally found someone who would listen. I finally found someone who agreed that her fits were not that of a normal 3 1/2 year old. Then he said what I feared he would say. Tabitha is on the autism spectrum. I think I knew for a while, but I had convinced myself it was something else, maybe bipolar or something like that. Something that can be "fixed" with medicine. I wasn't surprised, but I did cry when I got to the car with the girls. I had a hard time not believing it was my fault. With all the junk science, blaming mothers for having epidurals, and c-sections, and vaccinating their children. Even though I know its not my fault, I still blame myself. I think its natural for parents to think anything that happens to their kids is their fault. But while we have been waiting to meet with the therapist and get some diagnostic tests done on Tabitha, I finally stopped thinking that this was something that "happened" to Tabitha, and started realizing that there's nothing "wrong" with my daughter, her brain just works different than other kids.
For the past two weeks Morgen has been trying some tactics he learned from ABA therapy when he used to worked with a friends son who has autism. They seem to be working. Tonight we met with the therapist, he asked lots of questions and listened to our concerns. He stopped short of saying she is autistic, but said he believed she is on the spectrum. She is high functioning, and he said she seems like with the right interventions, she will be ok. We will go back next week for more evaluations, and to talk about our next steps.
I have a range of emotions going through me for the last two weeks. I'm scared, I worry that people wont be accepting of Tabitha, that she will be shunned because shes a little weird and she freaks out at things most kids would let roll off their backs. I'm happy that we are on a path to helping her. The only thing I want in this life is for my children to be happy. I will do whatever it takes to make my children happy. Now that i have some sense of how to help her, I know we will all be ok.
Over the last few weeks, we haven't told too many people about whats going on. But of the few people we have told almost all have been really supportive. They have been true friends. They have been there for me, and they have loved Tabitha and they have been a shoulder for me to cry on. I'm thankful for our friends who have helped us. I'm thankful for the friends who helped me talk through this, who have shown me what real friends are. There are a lot of emotions going though me, there are a lot of unknowns in our future, but one thing I do know, is that Tabitha is loved.

Tommee Tieppee Review

Last month I was sent some awesome Tommee Tippee products for Eva to try out. We already knew my kids were Tommee Tippee fans. Tabitha would only take their binkies when she was little and when she started taking sippy cups I could never find any that she couldn't bang on the floor and make a mess with. Until we found the Tommee Tippee explora straw cups. Tabitha loved those cups and so did I. No matter how hard she banged on the ground with them, they didn't leak. They were easy to clean by popping out the inner seal and putting the small pieces in the basket in the dishwasher.

When Eva came along I tried every bottle I could with her and like Tabtiha she was not a fan. I finally got her to take a bottle when we tried the Tommee Tippee Sensitive tummy bottles. She is not a fan of any binkies except the Tommee Tippe ones so when I got the box of items from Tommee Tippee I was excited to see what they had sent me.

 In the box where two kinds of sippy cups, the truely spill-proof trainer cup girl cups, and the closer to nature first sips weaning cup. We hadn't used any sippy cups up till 10 months because Eva had no interest in sippys. Eva loves both of these cups. We started with the first sips weaning cup because it seemed to be the easier for Eva to use. She took to it right away. She loves these cups. The closer to nature first sips weaning cup really is a non spill drinking cup. Even with everything Eva can throw at it it doesn't leak. The first sips weaning cup is designed to ease the transition from bottle to cup drinking (although Eva is breastfed, it was a great first cup for her). It has a patented advance-flo technology for easy drinking, with ta super-soft and sensitive spout with flexible ribs. It has a 5 fl oz capacity. This cup is BPA and Phthalate free. The awesome part is the cup base is interchangeable with closer to nature nipples. And the best part it has a hygiene cap that will cover the spout when it falls on the floor! This cup is recommended for babies 4 months +.

 As far as the Truely Spill-proof trainer it took a little longer for her to warm up to this cup. This cup being a truly spill-proof cup is harder to suck out of so its not for young babies or for babies first sippy. Its best if they know how to use a sippy for this one. But now that Eva has the whole using a sippy down she loves these cups. I fill one half way with water every day and just leave it for her. She likes to crawl over to it and take a sip every once in a while, she also loves to carry it around with her around the house. Tommee Tippee is our go to sippy cup around here. Until Tabitha stopped using straw cups we only used Tommee Tippee cups for her. The Truely Spill Proof Trainer holds 9 fl oz. It has a dura spout: a soft touch spout for younger teeth. Its guaranteed easy to drink and hold. The lid is interchangeable with all Easiflow cups specifically for baby's age and stages. These cups are for babies age 6 months +. They are super easy to clean and are dishwasher and microwave safe. I will continue to use Tommee Tippee cups for Eva as she gets bigger.

The other thing that was included in the package from Tommee Tippee were two different Chewthers. First was the Closer to Nature Chewther stage 1. This is a really cool Chewther/teether. The Chewther Teether stage 1 was scientifically developed in association with a leading authority in pediatric sedentary. It is designed to support lip, jaw and muscle development. Chewther teethers are supposed to help with the pain associated with teething, and I think they do a pretty good job! Eva loves this teether. I didn't even realize she was getting a tooth in till I thought about the fact that she has had this thing in her mouth non stop for a few days. She hasn't been fussy but she has just been happily chewing on this Chewther.

Here's some of the features of the Chewther stage 1 teether:

Helps prepare baby for thicker liquids
Supports jaw, lip and muscle development
Supports oral development
Self soothe - sized and shaped for your baby to stimulate and develop gums
Speech development - helps develop lip seal and muscle coordination for speech development
Progressive feeding - encourages jaw and muscle coordination appropriate for each feeding stage
Tooth care - textured surfaces help care for fragile new teeth
BPA free

With Tabitha I tried a ton of different teethers and none of them worked. With Tabitha we mostly used teething tablets and that worked well but I could tell she wanted something to chew on and none of the teething rings or anything I could find worked for her. I'm so happy I have these new Tommee Tippee teethers for Eva to try.

The second teether they sent us is the Closer to Nature Dual Ended Teether. It has two different shaped teethers on each end to sooth the pain associated with teething. Eva likes to hold on to one end while she has the other end in her mouth as she cruises around the living room. This teether is must for long car drives too. Eva Loves it and so do I. Some of the benefits of the Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther are:
Helps prepare baby to chew pureed foods,
Supports jaw, lip and muscle development.
Suppoorts oral development
Self sooth-sized and shaped for baby to stimulate and develop gums.
Speech development- helps develop lip seal and muscle coordination for speech development.
Progressive feeding- encourages jaw and muscle coordination appropriate for each feeding stage.
Tooth Care- textured surfaces help care for fragile new teeth.
And its BPA Free!
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther is recommended for babies 4+ months.

This is yet again another win for Tommee Tippee! I've yet to find a Tommee Tippee product that hasen't totally nailed it! Tommee Tippee products are sold at Babies R Us and Target.

The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Dual Ended Chewther retails for $6.99.
The Tommee Tippee Explora truly spill-proof trainer  retails for $8.49 for a 2 pk.
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature Stage 1 Chewther retails for $6.99.
The Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature first sips weaning cup retails for $6.99.

I received these products free in order to facilitate my review. I would never recommend a product I myself would not use for my children. 

Thankful Thursday: Morgen

There are a lot of things I am thankful for, but this week I have come to the realization of just how thankful I am for Morgen. Morgen has been gone for a week for interviews, its been pretty rough on the girls. Tabitha is such a daddies girl and she is having a hard time with him being gone. I have been really sad without Morgen here. He comes home tomorrow night and I couldn't be more excited. Saturday is Evangeline's birthday and I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I Love my family and my husband more than anything and I'm so very thankful for him.

 

 

Thankful Thursday. 9 pm

Today I'm thankful for 9 pm. Tabitha is in bed at 7:45 most nights. Then I come down and nurse Eva on the couch. This is my time to spend with just her. I also get to watch something that isn't animated which is awesome. Morgen and I get to talk without hearing "mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I'm trying to talk to you!" The second we open our mouths. It's not that we don't love talking to Tabitha because we do. It's just nice to have adult conversations too. So today I'm thankful for 9 pm. Tabitha is asleep in her room. Eva is asleep on my chest and I get to lay on the couch and watch alias. Not bad at all. Oh and I get to watch morgen do a little dance to the end credit music which is awesome ;)

Thankful Thursday! 1/10/13

So I missed last week. Its not that I wasn't thankful, but I was having fun playing with the girls and forgot what day it was! so that was last week.
What am I thankful for this week? BYUI R School Preschool. That's Tabitha's school and it has been such an amazing blessing to our family. Tabitha is growing so much and is totally thriving there. the teachers are wonderful especially Tabitha's head teacher this last semester miss Valerie. She was one of Tabitha's teachers her first semester as well and Tabitha really bonded with her. We are sad that she won't be teaching Tabitha this semester, but know she has a higher calling now. She will be serving her mission for the church, and Tabitha is very excited to write to her on her mission.
This Tuesday some of Tabitha's new teachers are coming over to meet us and get to know Tabitha. We are excited for this semester to begin for her. She loves preschool and we are looking forward to how much she grows this semester. I'm sad that this is our last semester at R school because we are leaving after this semester for Morgen's internship. I will always treasure Tabitha's time at the R school preschool. It has been a major blessing for us and I am forever grateful.

Tabitha with her teacher Miss Valerie during their concert with their instruments they made in class.