Woke up early and did some hard core plating! Saw daddy off to work then some breakfast. No coffee in this house. So sad!

While Aidan napped I got some cleaning done....not much but some. Dishes, laundey and swept the patio (so much mud)

Headed to the bank after Aidan's morning nap....only to discover that all the paperwork was in. It was affle nice of them to not email me back and let me waste a trio into town. Not that town is that far off....

Since that was a bust we dropped off a soda to daddy then went to visit the new cafe in town.

Ciao Cafe. Interesting name to start. Hi cafe....anywho, interior decor is no different from the previous few cafes to rent this space. I'd almost go as far as to say all the seating came with it. I don't get why the decor around here is lacking.

Plus, it was dirty. When we walked in there was only 1 couple seated and the single employee was doing nothing. After getting our order and going to sit I noticed hair on 1 table & food stuck to another. So hard to find good help!

They specialize in gelato which is cool. We have lots of ice cream around here but with my sensitive stomach I can't do a lot of it. Plus, affogato! However they are pricy. I considered offering affogatos in my cafe but wouldn't have come close to $6.50 a drink. Looking at their menu it's the full cost of their small gelato plus their dopio. You'd think they'd have a small discount. Like an al la cart menu. *shrug* One more rhing I'll have over the others.

Cafe note:  all tables will have a pitcher of ice water!

Now that we are back home it's time to play some then a nap so mommy can brush the dog and de-poop the yard!

JSB came out on Thursday. Said they would be done by time they left that day. I had to work so I wasn't here to see them finish or what it looked like when they left. However, the little I saw yesterday before work and today was....Ok.

I had no choice on the darker siding as what is on our house is discontinued. [That sucks!] After talking with me that morning, we agreed that they could take siding from inside the unit to clean up the outside. They had to get a new corner panel to fix that missing chunk. According to Dan they squished it half assed like then screwed it in place. Now, I'm no expert but even I know that's jankie. When they told me that they were going to use metal sheathing to block off the wood they had to cut...I assumed they were blocking it off from the elements. Apparently they just bent it to cover the outside of the wood so it matched the unit....way past the unit, not matching my house & not protecting the wood from anything. When the snow piles up on the roof it'll just like under the metal and still touch the exposed unpainted part of the wood.

The unit is still leaking. Or rather puddling up from under the frame. Not sure what to make of that. From what I saw of what they were doing [it was concrete patio, caulk, metal sheathing, then door frames.] There may have been caulk before the frame but I didn't see it. Either way if it's caulked why is water coming in?

I love slow mornings. Sleeping in, doing some morning yoga and making a nice cup of tea (or rather nooking last nights)! With a delicate snow fall as my backdrop!

Yesterday Aidan woke up at 3:30 then every half hour to hour later till I said freak it and took him down stairs. Were we played till he passed out around 9-10am. Since I had to work last evening I just got my day started. We ended up getting Georgia's nails done and stopping at Ace for a furnace filter. Our poor furnace was a whistling and that filter...oh boy. They had a very convenient sale!!!

That was Aidan's big nap and he didn't sleep a wink after (I don't really count the car rides). While he was at it I took Georgia out to play in the snow fall and shoveled the drive and sidewalks up to my neighbors' drives. I'm such an awesome neighbor! I almost shoveled the Fishers' driveway for them since they are super kind to us but they like doing yard work and stuff. They went back used their fancy snow blower thingy ... stopped at the edge of their yard of course. *shrug* The one thing I don't like about living in the berbs...shoveling sidewalks.....

Grandma entertained him while I worked. Had some fun customer interactions! (see end note!) My schedule was all messed up (got shorted 1hr which I worked anyways). Then we went home to a puppy in time out (she peed on daddy's office floor) and some homemade sliders! All in all not an eventful day.

This morning proved that wee Aidan had tuckered himself out good. Woke up at 6:30 hungry then promptly passed back out till 9. In fact I woke up before him! By like 5 mins but whatever! I got the changing table cleared off and his humidifier refilled. He was watching me! LOL! Changed his diaper and he let me lay him back into his crib to preform my morning bathroom rituals (minus shower. That waits till his nap time). It was glorious! He's currently bouncing away in his jumparoo while I take care of Georgia's morning routines, get myself breakfast and reheat my tea from last night!

Life's an adventure!

breakfast of champs!

Breakfast:  rice, fried egg in hamburger grease, ground flax, sunflower seeds & sweetened coconut oil.

End Note: Customer interactions!

1st:  Super tall chap. Got his life story! He divorced, his kids call one day (mom had kicked them to the curb....literally) so he has them now. He asked the Dublin schools if they would allow the kids to finish out their school year even though he doesn't live in Dublin. They said nope! They can finish out the week! So 6 days later he was living in Dublin! Awesome dad! He found himself a winner with the new wife. She makes awesome stuff from scratch. Pirogue, ravioli and the like. Actually established a relationship with the kids rather then trying to govern over them. I got photos. Then we talked about my being a new mom! It was just a great conversation. I got a kink in my neck though. Chap was like 6'5" at least! He told me his name too but I completely forgot. I suck at names!

2nd:  She walked in as I was trying to figure out a bundle to put "The Name of the Wind" in. I ended up giving her that & flushing out her reading list with some of my fav fantasy with male leads. We had very similar reading lists & a similar opinion on Anita Blake!

Grandma had things to do last night so we got to go see the newest Kelley addition. & what a cutie she is. Jet black, straight locks!!! Squishy li'le cheeks. Charlie was being a ham & a proud big brother! Li'le Aidan was giving her smiles too. I think she'll be well loved!

On our way home wee Aidan slept the while 1.5hrs then again till 11pm. I should have slept with him but wasn't tired....well now I am! Ugh! & he's so not. In fact he's here trying to type this up for me!

I finally have Aidan's curtains finished. That only took ... what...4 months!? They look good...in my opinion. What do you think? I'll be posting a video of the process. Tedious but easy.

For now I'm gonna go try to finish making my coffee!

The concrete crew showed back up yesterday to clean up the dirt hills. Given the weather (wet plus rain yesterday) I'd say they did a great job. I had moved all the scrap wood and paver stones up into the gravel by the ac unit (like I guess Dan asked them to if they needed to move it). I couldn't get the steps because they were way to heavy for me. I didn't even try! I picked up the plastic that the brick layers didn't bother cleaning up ... it was in the back of my yard.

They needed to move it further a field because they brought in a bigger cat to grade out the dirt. I'd like to know their business name because they cleaned up after themselves in the end. Even picked up and folded the tarp!

Junk moved!

Moved the junk I could

Spread out

JSB missed a gorgeous day Monday to work on the patio. They at least showed up today. So the hole gets back filled with stone and sand, compacted and the slab gets poured! They might actually get to building the room this week! These guys are also gonna move what dirt they can back up around the foundation. I might have to get a rake out to spruce up the yard some!

A little back tracking is in order.

I pulled out the bouncaroo for Aidan. He's been holding his head up rather well and has been standing with some assistance so I figured it was time. Sadly, on the lowest tab it's still too tall for my 2 foot boy. That doesn't stop him from having fun in it!!! He kicks his little legs and makes the music start then coos to it!

Poor guy has a cold though. I'm impressed with his attitude considering he has trouble breathing through a stuffy nose. Said stuffiness makes it hard to eat and sleep. I got a new boogie sucker coming. Hopefully it helps.

Georgia is a bit jelly that Aidan gets all the fun toys. Ones that she could tare apart in a few hours or less!

While he was napping I managed to finish Michael's Tabby Timbuck. Hopefully in time for the convention he has [or possibly had] this month. He's going to take commissions for me and let me keep all the profit so I figured I'd at least try to get him some sells on his books. Posted to Instagram on both my personal [just created] and Iron Shot Cafe's is an offer of a discount on the plushie if you buy his book. I was thinking $10 off. & I need to perfect that sweater so it looks much better!!!!! If interested shoot him an email at FehskensComics@gmail.com. I'll be making his William Purburger OC once I finish a few other WIP.

While that was going on we had JSB beginning their work on our patio. So all that decking was taken away by a lovely young man who was going to build picnic benches and animal shelters to donate. I was super happy to know they were getting reused rather than filling a land fill. What was left JSB relocated to the corners of the house and started digging.

I messed up a bit by procrastinating on relocating all those damn rocks....now they are buried and likely will be hard to find. I might get lucky but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

JSB made a hell'a mess though. In stead of locating the dirt into the center were the patio is going [where they need to raise the ground quite a bit] they covered my grass and some of the rocks that were going to stay pretty.....Clearly not any more. There will be lots of beautifying and landscaping going on in the back yard this spring!

Georgia isn't thrilled by their work. She stands at the back door, did some growling at them and the hole since. Even outside she glowers at the mess. It's adorable!

Ok so then last night once Dan got home and frowned at the mess he decided he needed a drink. I made dinner [bbq chicken, with a delicious potatoe, mushroom soup] and got him that drink. Toasted marshmallow mead in a hot coco! Warm, tingly goodness!

Aidan's new toy

Commission/Trade

The mess

The work begins

Dinner

Mizer's Coco

Georgia being silly at dinner

Typed while sipping a peppermint mocha and eating a pumpkin/mushroom/cheese omelet!

Finally finished the dream catcher. Thoughts?

First trip with the baby and the puppy dog out to get puppy dogs nails trimmed. They were kind of in desperate need. Though Kings Kutz says they looked pretty good.

Georgia was remarkably well-behaved. I believe she was aware that I was carrying Aidan and decided to to be gentle with me. Of course when we got to Kings Kutz she attacks him with love and kisses and jumped right into his arms. When on the table getting her nails trimmed though, she was very well-behaved and stood still. My little girls growing up!

I did some playing around with my sleeping baby...my settings were all wrong and the lighting...Still came out fairly well. If I can't figure out how to fix my camera settings I might have to go back to shooting in RAW to guarantee size.

Can you tell this is the wrecked helmet?

Big sister

Three weeks in and it's time for a diaper review!

Seventh Generation:
I really wanted to love these diapers. They are earth friendly and chemical free for baby. They feel a bit rough which I expect from natural items (sadly) but the inside wasn't so bad. Aidan didn't seem to mind though he's starting to develop a rash (likely from his poop since that doesn't seem to absorb in any of the diapers we've tried to date). Now the reason I'm not happy...they leak 90% of the time. When he's in his car seat all scrunched up like he's safe. When he's laying down, tummy timing or being held [up right or on his back/side] he'll leak all over the place/person. I thought at first it was the direction he was pointing but even when I made sure it was pointing down we still had leaks, from the sides and/or the back. Just not a quick absorbing interior. So sad!

The wipes...well as my sister stated, "they feel like a wet paper towel". Not all that unexpected really. They could be a bit softer but I figure they are like a wash cloth in that they actually scrub off determined poop particles that love to stick places!

Babyganics:
I'm very pleased with these diapers. They absorb quickly and as of yet don't leak.  They fit snuggly and aren't rubbing all up on his belly button (though I do fold down the top some). The material feels soft to my callused fingers (hopefully to his sensitive bits as well). Super absorbent as well.

Up & Up:
Another environmentally friendly diaper (sensing my theme yet?). They are larger then Babyganics but slightly smaller than 7th Gen. They are soft and comfy. Aidan seems to like them. No leaking and super absorbent. The pee indicator...love that thing. Makes it super easy to tell if he's messed his diaper.

Huggies:
Not all that nature friendly but at least fragrance free for sensitive babies. That awesome pee indicator and they fit comfortably and snugly so no leaks. Definitely like these diapers for those 2 reasons. However, because there are earth friendly alternatives that are just as good [or better because they ARE earth friendly] I'll not be purchasing these.

The wipes .... bloody soft they are! Fragrance or fragrance free I'm leery about what's in them! They do seem to clean his bum fairly well with little fuss but they struggle to get some of the poop particles off his bits or even his leg some times.

Pampers:
Again: snug fit, soft and comfy, leak proof [from the few I used at my sister's house] and that brilliant indicator strip these are great diapers. Just not very earth friendly with their plastic bits.

Well that's it! No more diapers or wipes that I've received and used. No pictures either, sorry about that! Till next time.

Side note:  I've started to upload more videos to youtube. Random things like the puppy dog being crazy and reviewing my garden! Go check them out while you wait! My Channel

Edit: Another diaper review 10-9-17

Lovs:

These babies have a smell to them. The smell screams baby. Which I guess is fine, however, once it’s full it strongly smells of urine. The one thing I never mentioned with the other diapers I’ve tried because I never noticed it was the smell….or lack of. These things always seem to smell and the scent permeates the whole room and then some. So besides not being earth friendly they smell. Ok I think I’ve mentioned that enough. They do fit snugly on baby’s waist and they hold quite a bit…unless they are just super puffy with liquid. I’ve also noticed an increase in bum rash! It looks and appears to be far more painful.

1st day home with out Dan working in the garage. We added some finishing touches to Aidan's room.

Open

Closed

All his cards!

Squishy face

Must get as close to tiny human as possible!

Spent the majority of the day at my sister's house yesterday. The purpose was to get some photos of wee Aidan.

Here is a sneak peeks.

Me and my baby!

The godling awaiting his photoshoot to proceed.

1st day home from the hospital. Good dog!

It's so strange to think that I'll be having a baby soon. I never thought I'd have children. At least before I got my farm! & here I am, in my 9th month, due to have wee Aidan in 2 days. Am I ready? I have the skills I think, after helping Stacy raise her 3. I hope I have the patience, though people tell me that I won't let my child's behavior reach the point that I get annoyed! I can only hope. Dan and I have differing opinions on some parenting things but I'm willing to compromise since the end result will be a well behaved child.

I'm definitely of a mind that it's my responsibility to train my child right so that civilization doesn't have to discipline my child later in life. We will give him every opportunity we can without forcing him into something he doesn't wish to do. & I pray he feels he can come to us if someone hurts him though we plan to have him trained to defend himself should the need arise.

Hmm must have some baby hormones going on! Onto lighter topics! His room!!! Almost there, grandma is sanding and painting his changing table. I'm about to finish his curtains and that damn dreamcatcher I've been working at for what feels like forever! Oh, I need to put some sheets on that bed.... well time to get back to it!

Still in need of curtains and the changing table.

The Traveler gift box

I've still been working on my Iron Shot Café. I know it's hard to believe but I have! Just finished putting together my largest gift box "The Traveler". Inspired by my girl Amanda who is always out of town. She informed me that the places she stays doesn't offer coffee ... or breakfast [which is harder to help with, without being there].

If interested in getting this lovely gift for that special traveler in your life just visit my online store.

Some delish spicy fish tacos before replacing outlets in wee Aidan's room!

Finished painting Aidan's room, got his baskets hung, his drawers on (still need to add the handles & do some touch up) and got the custom curtain rod up!

Now besides touch up I need to get some curtains made and finish his dream catcher!

 Enjoying the eclipse outside like back in 1994! Almost missed it thanks to the cloud cover but the 2 seconds it was mostly covered I got on my camera. Here's hoping I didn't damage the sensor. I figured if it wasn't hurting my eyes then my camera should be fine....right!?

I also spent some time photographing my garden.

The eclipse with a healthy dose of cloud cover!

Ground Cherries!

I lost 3 acorn squash. They got a bad case of white mold. I'll be lucky if the last 2 survive after my heavy prune job.

I found a large cucumber while pruning. A tone of baby watermelon some of which I took out for the sake of the larger 2 getting the most focus. My tomatoes are dealing with some rusting of the leaves but it is getting cold up here so they could just be reacting to that.

Some updates on wee Aidan's room! Layer 1 of paint is on the walls thanks to my mate & mother in law! Dan finished the built in shelf. We spent yesterday after I got off work sanding the drawers & he stained part. Once the second layer of stain is added & all buffed it'll be ready to paint the edging!

Moon & Star watermelon & baby acorn squash among the corn

Egg, pepper loaf, mozzi, tomatoe on croissant! Autumn twilight latte & oj!

Built in mostly done. Awaiting drawers.